In reply to NickD :
80mph in the city is a little nutty. I guess they could argue that it's private property but still...
Everything I've seen move through our cities is 40-50mph at most by my estimate.
In reply to NickD :
80mph in the city is a little nutty. I guess they could argue that it's private property but still...
Everything I've seen move through our cities is 40-50mph at most by my estimate.
In reply to ShawnG :
The CSX line that runs through my town must be limited to 35 mph and they run that exactly, because you can pace them on a parallel stretch of street.
In reply to ShawnG :
It was the old days of the early '50s where they did E36 M3 like that. I recall reading a story of a crew on a PRR T1 trying to make up time and passing two mile posts in less than a minute for miles on end. Oneida got testy with the NYC saying the speed was excessive and they were at fault, NYC said that the firefighters were at fault for ignoring the crossing signal. NYC lost the lawsuit, and moved the main line outside the city with no crossings after that.
ShawnG said:We had a good one in Quebec a couple years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disaster
I remember some silly person was on the news, fuming about "How could they allow the railroad to run right through the center of town like this?!?!?!".
Clearly she didn't realise that the railroad had been there all along and the town grew around it.
Wow! Read most of the Wiki page, what a goat rodeo. As with most disasters, seems like about 7 or 8 things all had to go wrong for it happen, and they went 7/7 or 8/8. Usually, that sort of precision requires government intervention. (No flounder, it's a joke people)
On the subject of street-running, here's a fun one: The New York, Susquehanna & Western delivering car loads of grain inside the FX Matt Brewery, which is where they make Utica Club beer (dreadful E36 M3, by the way, but it was the first beer sold after Prohibition). And yes, literally inside. They back two hopper cars and the engine inside the building and around a curve. Its a tight fit. If the Susie-Q ever put another coat of paint on #3040, she might not fit inside.
Also, #3040 has some serious years under her belt. She was built in 1973 for the Atlanta & West Point as #732, then became Seaboard Systems #6652 when A&WP became part of the Family Lines, then became CSX #6652 and then in the '90s was sold to the NYS&W. Almost 50 years and still in regular operation.
In reply to NickD :
Is that some kind of air pump that sounds like a Model-T?
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
If you're talking about the ticking noise being emitted by the locomotive, that's electromagnetic noise from the traction motors.
In reply to Recon1342 :
Interesting, I don't remember hearing that sort of arrhythmic pattern before.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
It's harder to hear at anything above idle speeds. The local switchers all make that same noise at low speeds. The mechanics behind it are pretty fascinating...
Took a vacation day yesterday, because I have a bunch to use, and me and my best friend headed down to Watkins Glen to go hike the trail. Made a slight detour to go through Trumansburg, NY though and find the now-defunct Black Diamond Diner. At one point it held the record for the world's smallest diner, as it only seated two people and is made from the cab and truncated short hood of an Alco RS-1.
The owner passed away a few years back and it has been closed and fallen into disrepair. It is for sale if anyone is interested. This is how it looked back in 2014.
What is interesting is that while it is labeled as Lehigh Valley #212, the Lehigh Valley did not own any Alco RS-1s. They did have a #212, but it was an RS-3, and the cab and hood would have been very different. The actual identity of the cab seems to be a bit of a mystery, although I have found one person saying they were pretty sure it was ex-Portland Terminal Company, but I can't find any mention of Portland Terminal Company ever owning an RS-1s either.
Today's oddity from Virtual Railfan: About 5:45pm, Ft. Madison, IA. A BNSF "train" went by with 7 engines . . . and nothing else?!??! I'm assuming it was some sort of power transit (it looked like only the front engine was running), but I've never seen that before.
NickD said:Some pretty big news is that Reading #1187, an 0-4-0 Camelback, has been sold by Strasburg Railroad to Age Of Steam Roundhouse. But for Reading in 1907, the little 0-4-0 was used until 1946, at which point it was sold to E&G Iron Works in Birdsboro, PA and renumbered to #4. In '62, E&G retired the engine and Strasburg Railroad, who was still newly reorganized as a tourist line, decided to purchase the #1187, which was only 1 of 5 surviving Camelbacks and the only one still operational. But when the flue time ran out in 1967, #1187's historical curiosity wasn't enough to warrant keeping it in operation. Even with just a short 4.5 mile route with minimal grade and the short 2-3 car consists that Strasburg ran in their early days, #1187 still had to stop several times on each trip to build up steam pressure. Also, by this time, Strasburg had acquired bigger and more powerful motive power in 2-10-0 #90.
So the #1187 was retired and, because Strasburg was not in the display business, they sent it across the street to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, who put it on display. And there it sat for 5 decades. The problem was, RRMoPA had limited outdoor storage space, so the engine severely degraded over the years.
The RRMoPA's own restoration shops weren't capable of repairing it, as they were primarily focused on the PRR engines in their collection, and Strasburg's shops aren't in the business of cosmetic restoration, plus are so busy that they haven't finished the overhaul of their 0-6-0 #31. After the engine's center cab literally fell apart, it was moved back across the street to Strasburg and shoved out in their dead line. Over the years, people have begged Strasburg to restore and fire up #1187 again, but they don't have the time and it's even less practical for their use nowadays, as they move 300,000 people a year currently and run longer trains.
And then out of the blue, Strasburg announced they had held a private auction and sold off #1187 to Age of Steam Roundhouse, and #1187 will be headed to Ohio to be restored. Apparently, a number of historical societies and museums were interested in #1187 and had made offers to Strasburg, so Strasburg held a private auction with those groups and AoS won. AoS founder J.J. Jacobson had ridden behind #1187 during its short tenure and always wanted to purchase it, plus AoS was looking to add a Camelback to its collection, and there are only 5 of them. No word on if they will restore it to operation, but they will at least cosmetically restore it, which is good news for the little switcher.
Well, #1187 has left Strasburg property to head to Ohio. People caught it being moved on low-boy trucks on Virtual Railfan
On one hand, its good to see the engine go to a new home that will give it TLC. On the other hand, its leaving it's home of almost 50 years and it's headed out of Reading's primary territory to a state (Ohio) where the Reading never had a single mile of track.
In reply to 914Driver :
That looks like "The Empress", CP #2816. Too bad Hunter Harrison essentially killed off the CP steam program, and then after he left he put his protege Keith Creel in chage, who has the same mentality.
In reply to NickD :
Not only Utica Club but the infamous "Matts Beer Ball" from my college days. Kind of like a plastic disposable keg about the size of a volleyball. God we must have been desperate.... LOL.
In reply to 11GTCS :
I've heard of the Beer Balls but those were before my time (surprised they haven't brought them back) but I've tried UC and, ugh. My friend had bought a twelve pack and said it was good and offered me one and I took a swig and nearly spit it back out. At our company Christmas party, he was drinking those and somebody said "You know it's an open bar, right? You don't have to drink that E36 M3, you can get the good stuff" and he admitted he was drinking UC not because it was cheap and he thought he had to pay for drinks, but because he liked it. Oh, the ball-busting he endured over that.
EMD SD40-2 locomotive, in operating condition, Blue Carded and is equipped with alignment control couplers, 26-L brake, 645E block, currently being shopped for bad rod bearings.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
How are we gonna get it to the Challenge?
In reply to Recon1342 :
I'm about 300-yards from the CSX East-West line across the coast, it's no problem! :-D
Nick, this one will make your brain hurt.
With funding assistance available in most States, this locomotive will provide an ideal cost effective product to address emission reduction needs while filling the heavy duty application requirements of the market and is particularly suited to road switcher/short line locomotives. This locomotive design is currently available in switching and low speed Short Line configurations. Some of the mechanical details include' EPA Tier 4 John Deere 600 HP engine, air conditioned cab, per axle traction control, rebuilt trucks, SD40 cab, all new LED lighting, all new wiring, 1 year parts & labor warranty, roller bearings, excellent body and cab, new wheels, new brake rigging, rebuilt D-77 traction motors, built on a GP9 frame.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
The John Deere engine is unusual. I've seen a lot of those style rebuilds with Cummins and Caterpillar engines. I don't know, I don't really get the point of those rebuilds. They seem way more expensive than just going and buying a used EMD SW900 or SW1200 switcher, of which there are plenty floating about. And EMD is still pretty good about parts support for older models, so its not like you're buying some old relic Baldwin or F-M that you can't get any repair parts for.
CP #2816 climbing the grade at Lake Louise. The smoke plume doesn't even look real, it looks like a movie special effect. Whoever the fireman was, he knew his stuff too, because there isn't a hint of black or gray to the exhaust.
In reply to NickD :
They had her singing, for sure.
In reply to Recon1342 :
No diesel assistance either, which is a rare sight. Too bad that #2816 seems unlikely to turn a wheel any time soon.
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