German rail wolf destroying track in Italy.
German rail wolf destroying track in Italy.
One of the Chicago & North Western's infrequently-seen Class H 4-8-4s with train #14, the Pacific Limited, east of Ames, Iowa, August 10, 1936. When delivered in 1929, C&NW billed them as the "largest dual-purpose locomotives in the world" and called them "Zeppelins of the Rails", since the Graf Zeppelin had just captivated the world's attention. The dual-service H's were delivered just-before and around the day of the Big Crash on Wall Street, and were restricted to the Chicago Passenger Terminal-to-Council Bluffs mainline and Proviso-Milwaukee because of their length and weight, and as a result those were the only routes which also had suitable turntables installed to handle the big locomotives.
C&NW H #3022 in freight service in August of 1933. The big 76"-drivered 4-8-4s had a Mars light tucked under the bell, an outside journal pilot truck and a banjo-style frame that was designed to clear the large ashpans. A 1940 rebuild program added roller bearings on the axles, lighter Boxpok drivers, and lighter main and side rods. The banjo-style frame was a weak design and began to develop issues later in life, and so a refit in 1946 went substantially farther with a new boiler mated to a new firebox and mounted on a cast nickel-steel frame with integral cylinders, air reservoirs, and pilot beam. Between 1946 and 1949, 24 of the 35 were run through this program, becoming Class H-1, but the program was cut short by the arrival of diesels, and they began being removed from service as early as 1950, with all of them gone by 1956.
Class leader #3001 leaving Omaha on what looks like a raw day in February of 1937. Interesting that the boiler jacketing appears to be missing off the rear boiler course over the firebox.
C&NW #3001 flying white flags with a westbound 77-car freight train at Norway, Iowa on September 16, 1931. Look at the size of the counterweight on that main axle! It's nearly half the entire wheel.
C&NW #3003 in 1951, looking a bit grungy, but still hard at work with a 101-car freight. You can see the updated lightweight rods and the Boxpok drivers.
One of the local TV stations has a local interest program on in the evenings called Chronicle. Part of last night's episode was a visit to the WWF Railway Museum which I believe Nick has visited and mentioned on here before. I'm putting on my list for a visit.
In reply to 11GTCS :
Yes, I went to the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington two years ago during the winter and it was an excellent visit. Very cool place, and they are opening the Mountain Extension in about two and a half weeks. I'd love to get back there once that is open. They also do lots of cool events, so it's worth following on Facebook to see if there's an event you want to go to, like the Summer Picnic where they get a bunch of engines together and running, or the Steam & Sleigh to SeaLyon Farms event that I did
Whoa, I didn't see this coming. Just announced by the R&N passenger department:
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The Reading & Northern Passenger Department is excited to announce that the Iron Horse Ramble on August 13 will be pulled by both 2102 and 425! This will be the first time both of our steam locomotives have pulled a train together since the 1988 Rail-fan Weekend!
Our crew is gearing up for this sold out trip. It’s sure to be an exciting day!
I'd love to go, but between having to be out of town the weekend before for a wedding and an out-of-region autocross and going to Ohio two weeks later for the NKP #765 trip, I can't justify it. Still, can't wait to see the photos and videos.
In reply to NickD :
Wow!
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah, an all-day, track-speed, steam doubleheader that was open to the public and only cost $70 for basic coach seats, that's extremely rare. Funny that they announce it long after the trip was sold out, kind of a neat bonus to anyone who happened to decide to go on that trip. I'm sure trackside will be mobbed for the occasion.
Some photos of #425 from her return to service with the July 9th Mountain Top-Jim Thorpe roundtrip. I'm sure that's an excellent trip because that comes down through the Lehigh Gorge, above where the Lehigh Gorge Scenic service ends. While #2102 is an amazing machine, in terms of sheer power, I still like the #425 better. It's probably one of my favorite steam locomotives that I've seen operate.
The November 6th trip is the last scheduled run for the #425 before it's due for it's 1472, and I'm curious if they're going to do something special for it as a kind of temporary farewell. I definitely want to get to see the #425 run one more time before it goes down for overhaul.
The R&N F-units have also been pretty busy this year. Usually just brought out for special occasions, like Office Car Specials or the Fall Foliage Excursions, they have been running in Lehigh Gorge Scenic service this year. Since they only have an A-B set and there is no other diesel cut in behind them, I'm not sure if they have another diesel on the back and are running in push-pull service, or they have a crew member on the end and are doing a shove move down through the Gorge. There's only one crossing right at the Jim Thorpe station, so a shove down to Jim Thorpe from Penn Haven wouldn't be too risky. For flexibility's sake, it would probably help if they had another A-unit, so they could run in A-A or A-B-A configuration. They have a pair of ex-B&LE F7s at Port Clinton, which they were originally going to overhaul but then purchased the ex-NS executive units. Not sure if they still plan to do anything with those, although they are in rough shape.
NickD said:
That's a great pic of a beautiful train. Did you take that?
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:NickD said:
That's a great pic of a beautiful train. Did you take that?
No, sadly I've never gotten to see the F-units in action. They were parked at Reading on display when I rode the Budd RDC charter trip last year, they were on display at Port Clinton when I rode behind #425 last fall, and they were parked in Jim Thorpe hauling railroad president Andy Muller's private car when I chased R&N #2102 in May. For the fall trips, they are #2102 on Saturday and the F-units on Sunday, and I've considered riding behind the #2102 and then chasing the F-units the next day before heading home. Also worth noting that in this shot, the tracks the #270 is on are ex-Lehigh Valley, while where the trail is is where the Central Railroad of New Jersey's line up to Scranton ran. Yes, competing railroads ran side-by-side up through Lehigh Gorge. Central Railroad of New Jersey, in an attempt to get around paying NJ state taxes on their PA operations, spun off all their PA operations into the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania. It worked for a short while, but then the ICC stepped in and put an end to that. Since the CNJ was in such poor shape, they were forced to hand over their Pennsylvania operations to the Lehigh Valley, and the Lehigh Valley consolidated operations, eliminating the excess trackage.
The unsung heroes of the Reading & Northern passenger department are the Budd RDCs. Everyone flocks to the steam locomotives or the F-units, but R&N runs the wheels off their fleet of RDCs going here, there and everywhere. Reading-Pottsville, Tamaqua-Jim Thorpe, Reading-Jim Thorpe, you name it. They actually have some of the last mainline RDC traffic in the US, and the only trip longer is VIA Rail's 383-mile Sudbury, ON–White River, ON train, formerly the Lake Superior, informally called the Budd Car. I'll admit, I never really paid much interest in RDCs before, but last summer I took the RDC charter trip from Reading to East Mahanoy Junction and then up the typically freight-only line to Girardville and back and I really enjoyed it. They ride pretty well (it's a pleasant floaty kind of sensation), the seats are comfy, the AC is pretty good, and they use Detroit Diesel 2-stroke 6-110 engines that sound pretty cool. They also are as flexible as it gets, in terms of use. You can run as many or as few as you want, and you don't need to turn them or run an engine around to the other end. The engineer just removes that throttle and reverser key from one unit, walks to the other end of the consist and puts them in their and away you go.
On the return run of the National Museum of Industrial History charter trip last year, myself and four other railfans crammed into the vacant rear cab of R&N #9167, a well-traveled machine formerly of the New York Central, Penn Central, NYS&W and Southern Railroad of New Jersey, at Port Clinton when no one was watching, and watched the rails unfold behind us as the R&N crew clicked off 50+ miles per hour between Leesport and Reading, a-bobbing and a-smoking the whole way. Part way back, an R&N conductor opened the cab door and we all had an "Oh E36 M3, we're busted" moment, but he just smiled and said "How's everyone doing back here?" and handed us R&N passenger department fridge magnets.
While R&N #9167 and #9168 are the common 90-passenger all-coach RDC-1s, R&N #9166 is the much rarer RDC-3 variant, which had a Railway Post Office, a baggage compartment and 48-passenger seating. It's distinguishable by the side doors and the lack of regularly-spaced windows at the front end. R&N has converted the baggage and RPO compartment to a snack bar for passengers instead. The only RDC version that was rarer was the RDC-4 which was just over 11 feet shorter, and had only the railway post office and baggage area.
NickD said:They actually have some of the last mainline RDC traffic in the US, and the only trip longer is VIA Rail's 383-mile Sudbury, ON–White River, ON train, formerly the Lake Superior, informally called the Budd Car.
Out of curiosity, I looked up the VIA Rail Sudbury-White River service, and discovered that for a trip that is 383 miles/8 hours and 50 minutes one way, it is only a $72 fare for round trip. Supposedly it's a pretty scenic ride through Northern Ontario, through some rather remote territory. A lot of the photos show it with a rare RDC-4 leading the way and a typically an RDC-2 and sometimes an RDC-1 trailing. Seems like a pretty unique trip, since there aren't many major carriers still running RDCs and long-haul trips with RDCs were never very common (in fact, Budd stated that RDCs were not intended for long-haul service, something which the Rock Island, and likely others, ignored.)
The Budd RDC is a severely underrated design and sadly underrepresented in preservation. It's pretty impressive that in 1949, they were able to design a self-propelled passenger car that seated 90 people while packaging two Detroit 6-110 engines, and all their ancillaries, with a fluid coupling drive powering both trucks, and it was still a pretty reliable machine that was easy to work on. The problem is, a lot of railfans look down on the RDC because of what it represented: a dark time for railroads and the beginning of the end of passenger service. A lot of people watched famous and beloved passenger train nameplates reduced from streamliners with dining cars and observation cars to a couple RDCs with a snack bar. But they were a certainly a sales success, with Budd selling 398 of them (Boston & Maine owned over a quarter of total production, with 108 of them in various configurations). The problem today is, the average museum-goer just doesn't get that thrilled over a self-propelled stainless steel coach, they'd much rather ride behind a classic diesel or a steam locomotive. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum had an RDC that they fixed up to run some excursions with, and barely anyone ever wanted to ride it, resulting in them selling it off to Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. But R&N proves that for those who aren't diehard railfans, they work just fine, and they pay the bills shuttling people around to various locales. A lot of the people who ride the Tamaqua-Jim Thorpe RDC runs do so because they don't want to bother with driving in Jim Thorpe and trying to find parking, and R&N has capitalized on that. NYS&W's short-lived OnTrak service in Syracuse was the same way, it provided a way to get around the city without having to walk or drive and find parking (being unable to build the necessary bridge to connect with the Amtrak station ultimately doomed OnTrak).
Sixteen years after the RDC left production, Budd decided to offer a replacement for all the RDCs that were getting long in the tooth. It was known as the SPV-2000, or Self-Propelled Vehicle 2000. Budd had built the bodies for PRR/Penn Central's Metroliner high-speed EMUs in 1968, then gutted all the electrical propulsion gear of a Metroliner to make the Amtrak Amfleet coach in 1973, and then tried installing a diesel drivetrain in an Amfleet coach to make the SPV-2000. But Budd had apparently forgotten everything they knew about making a good DMU in the 16 years between, and the resulting SPV-2000 was a disaster. Hideously unreliable and difficult to maintain, they became jokingly known as Seldom-Propelled Vehicles, they sold 30 complete units and another 14 incomplete shells sat around until the mid-'90s, unable to find a buyer for them. Many purchasers ended up parking the relatively new SPV-2000s and extensively overhauling their old RDCs, and ConnDOT gutted the running gear from their SPV-2000s and basically turned them back into Amfleet coaches.
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