Miningman Jones--Nice pic on the Super C .. a photo worth further discussion as the thread implies. Perhaps the umbrella plant that built the Sardonicus Talgo Train could build your ultimate umbrella. Built in an umbrella factory! Mr. Sardonicus
Jones--Nice pic on the Super C .. a photo worth further discussion as the thread implies. Perhaps the umbrella plant that built the Sardonicus Talgo Train could build your ultimate umbrella.
Built in an umbrella factory!
Mr. Sardonicus
Who would have thought that Talgo would turn out to be a successful locomotive manufacturer in 1942!
Some good stuff from Arts and Culture Google:
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/dAJSHI2dUkr-Ig
11:09, some interior shot inside the Talgo II. Note the color temperature of those fluorescent light used inside the car was around 4500K "sunshine daylight" instead of those 6500K "overcast daylight" fluorescent light tube that overwhelmed the planet in the 1970s.
Jones 3D Modeling Club https://www.youtube.com/Jones3DModelingClub
Penny Trains Whenever I see that thing it just makes me want to yell out what the???????
Whenever I see that thing it just makes me want to yell out what the???????
Makes me want to get a can of "Raid" or "D-Con." Or a good, strong, flyswatter!
I found my cellphone grabshot of the RI trailer.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Very nice. Imagine stumbling upon that on a foggy morning... like seeing a ghost! A "mighty fine line", ...once a household name.
Dee-Leeted
Like seeing a ghost all right, the Rock Island's been gone since 1980.
Three, maybe four years ago I saw an old, moldy, rusty and crusty boxcar come thorugh Richmond with that "Rock" marking on it. That was a bit of a shock.
They say boxcars are on the way out. I don't know, some of them aren't going without a fight!
It's still fairly common to see 'Bankruptcy Blue' grain hoppers in CN trains out here. I think Illinois Central bought a big chunk of Rock Island's fleet after the final shutdown.
Some still say "The Rock" or "Route Rock", albeit in ever-fading paint.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
A vast system serving the heartland, stretching West, North and South. With multiple routes to each.
Yet another how could this happen story.
Trains and/or Classic Trains have had several really good articles covering the later years of the Rock Island system.
What that map doesn't show is that Rock Island's lines went very few places that were not already served by competing railroads, usually took a longer and slower route, and usually involved trackage rights over competing railroads in major terminals.
The simple, unfortunate fact is that the Midwest railroad system had way too much track to be profitably supported by the remaining traffic in the post-WWII era. Rock Island drew the short straw as the "one-railroad too many", as I believe one of the articles put it.
If the merger with UP had been allowed to go ahead as originally proposed I wonder if the C&NW would have suffered Rock Island's fate instead.
"One railroad too many." Yeah, the same thing happened in the Northeastern US. The collapse of the anthracite trade, the "Rust Belt" phenomenon, and the Erie, the Lackawanna, the Lehigh and New England, the Lehigh and Hudson River, the Jersey Central and others found themselves in big trouble.
Too many railroads, not enough business. And then the superhighways and the trucks.
Doom.
Erie RR station in Susquehanna, PA.
Stumbled across this picture of the Erie RR fabulous station. Now I know Susquehanna is no Cleveland or Buffalo so why the enormity of this station? Kind of reminds me of St. Thomas, Ont. along the CASO.
That is quite a structure!
It was called Starrucca House, and not only was it a station, it was a hotel with a capacity for 200 guests!
Susquehanna PA was also the site of a major repair facility for the Erie. Here's the whole story...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susquehanna_station
Fascinating. Quite the history. Thank you.
WAY better looking than the Cleveland station:
I'll tell you who did have a neat station in Cleveland, the Wheeling and Lake Erie:
Can't say I'm totally unhappy with what replaced these 2 stations...
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Is that Cleveland by way of Youngstown?
The thing that amazes me about the Starrucca House is the size of it, and it was built in 1863! 1863!
That place is bigger than most of the factories we had here in the US in 1863! But not for long, of course.
Love that black and white shot of the Wheeling and Lake Erie station! Reminds me of a German restaurant! I wonder if it had a bar with Lowenbrau on tap?
That film from the 70's is a very interesting time capsule, but a bit depressing. Dirty diesels, dirty cars, weed-grown yards and right-of-ways, that muddy-looking station stop, just the general air of decay.
Reminds me of a line from Walter Lord concerning dying transportation systems...
"The railroads sagged into decrepitude like a Bowery bum!"
Well, it was the era of course. Times were tough for the railroads, especially the ones in the Northeast.
I like that picture of the crossing watchman's tower; it reminds me of the one that used to be at the Southern's mainline crossing of State Street in Bristol. That one was on the Tennessee side of the crossing (the station was on the Virginia side). One day, as I was walking back to the college, a friend drove up and stopped on the crossing. We began talking. When the watchman noticed us, he began ringing his bell and lowering the gates--even though no movement was approaching. We took the hint and moved on.
There was a sign at the base of the tower, that read "No loitering allowed," which someone had altered by adding a "w" to the end of the first word and inserting "is" after "loitering."
Johnny
Flintlock states " That film from the 70's is a very interesting time capsule, but a bit depressing. Dirty diesels, dirty cars, weed-grown yards and right-of-ways, that muddy-looking station stop, just the general air of decay.
Well, it was the era of course. Times were tough for the railroads, especially the ones in the Northeast."
Sad and barely understandable
White lined Centipede, busted windows, no dignity
The mighty New York Central. No dignity here either.
Flintlock76The thing that amazes me about the Starrucca House is the size of it, and it was built in 1863! 1863! That place is bigger than most of the factories we had here in the US in 1863! But not for long, of course.
A contemporary of Starrucca House was Cleveland's old Union Depot:
It was built in 1864 after the original wood station burned down. Lincoln came through the original on his way to Washington in 61 and his body passed through the replacement in 65.
Tearjerker coming! Here's a local tv news film of it's demolition in 1959:
In the end only the Pennsy used it. Here's the one that never was:
It was part of the original "group plan" for Cleveland that was interrupted by WW1 initially and later by the Van Sweringen's ambitions.
Flintlock76Love that black and white shot of the Wheeling and Lake Erie station! Reminds me of a German restaurant! I wonder if it had a bar with Lowenbrau on tap?
No idea! Maybe one of the 26 locals such as Gehring, Schlather, Star, Fishel, Bohemian, Columbia, Gund, Leisy, Pilsener or Diebolt. The favorite of many was Standard's "Erin Brew" or "Ehren Breu" to appeal to the city's equally large German population.
Anyhoo. Here's some more of the W&LE station on "Vinegar Hill", which I'm sure was NOT served at local pubs!
It came down in 1929 to facilitate construction of the east approaches to the CUT.
Very nice compilation Penny... insightful. Luv the history and the information.
Penny Trains WAY better looking than the Cleveland station: Can't say I'm totally unhappy with what replaced these 2 stations...
Upper pic: Good old days when even a private utility was built by handmade wooden structure and decoration!
Lower pic: I wish I could travel every top floor of these vintage skyscrapers in America, explore all the secret stairs, rooms on the top proportion of these towers. I note there are apartment units for rent on the Terminal Tower nowadays.
That magnificent Cleveland Union Depot, built not for a time, but ALL time!
And I'll bet they had their hands full knocking it down too! I'm sure it didn't go easily.
Yes, we can be logical as all get-out and say "Well, it outlived it's usefulness, and the concept of re-purposing hadn't been thought of yet, so it had to go," but still, when I see something like that the words of the dying Christ pop into my mind...
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"
I was under the impression that the Tower and Union Station built by the van Sweringans (Sp?) still exists, with two tracks for the Green and Blue lines (Shaker Heightds - Watefront) and two for the Red Line (Airport - W...?) and much of the rest of the track area a parking lot, but the buiding still used for offices and shops and restaurants. No?
daveklepperI was under the impression that the Tower and Union Station built by the van Sweringens (note sp.) still exists ...
It does. They're referring to the Union Depot Penny posted.
I don't know the reason(s) the PRR kept using the facility, but as noted they were the last to use it, and they did right up until it began to be demolished in 1959.
The 'replacement' for that depot was supposed to be the gray building 'on the lakefront' that Penny also posted. That was stillborn on account of the Great War and the depression that followed in the early Twenties, and when the idea of a 'new' union station was taken up again Mantis and Oris left their very distinctive stamp on the project...
Thanks!
Jones1945Lower pic: I wish I could travel every top floor of these vintage skyscrapers in America, explore all the secret stairs, rooms on the top proportion of these towers. I note there are apartment units for rent on the Terminal Tower nowadays.
Well there's the Greenbrier Suite which was the Van's home but it's part of a law firm these days:
The view from up top has changed a bit since 1928:
The photo above looks north toward the 1864 Union Depot.
The tall white building on the right is the Ohio Bell building which is purported to be the model for "The Daily Planet" because of it's array of antennas on the roof.
Looking towards "the oxbow".
Southwest flats.
This is the west approach showing the CUT viaduct with it's catenary fanning out into the coach yards.
Now, if you reallywant a top down view...
Construction train. I assume these switchers were owned by the construction company but since the CUT was part owned by the New York Central they may have belonged to them.
The view today:
The brick building to the right of the white tent (outdoor stage) accross the river is the old powerhouse for the city's trolley network.
Looking down on Public Square and "The Old Stone Church" as Clevelanders call it.
East. The Engineer's bank building is in there somewhere.
And yes, you can live there these days:
https://www.terminaltower.com/
Beware the ghost!
Considering the view the Van Sweringens had from their apartment I'm amazed they got any work done running their empire!
Is the CUT viaduct across the river still used for anything?
I thought I'd add a pretty classic photo, from the source introduced by North West in the Israeli Locomotive thread.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/40528159793/
The discussion regarding the photo on the webpage is pretty much correct except for the date. This photo was taken in 1905 and was the third of a group of four taken to illustrate the development of passenger trains for the 50th anniversary of the NSW railways.
I know this because many years ago I inspected the old Stephenson locomotive No.1 in the Museum (only allowed by request with an attendant). On the locomotive footplate were the four photos, enlarged and in wooden frames, and had possibly been there since 1905 (although the loco was pulled out again and replaced in 1955- I (just) remember seeing it.)
These days the loco is on open display and I don't know what happened to those particular prints.
The first of the series illustrated the Stephenson 0-4-2 No. 1 (actually No. 2 renumbered) with a train of four wheeled vehicles. Close examination of the photo showed that the passenger cars had duplicate stock numbers, introduced in 1891.
The second photo showed a C class 4-4-0, so far in its original condition with round top firebox and open cab, hauling a train with Redfern type compartment cars and an 1870s Pullman type sleeping car.
The fourth photo included a Mann-type compartment sleeping car with the Pullman styled sitting cars, and there may have been a more modern mail van...
The loco 513 was in fact the 42nd of the first 50 P class and was delivered with a six wheel tender, so the tender had been replaced by 1905.
Peter
Very nice. Beebe would approve. Gorgeous train.
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter