I DID NOT KNOW THAT . . . . .

[Anonymous]

I was looking through a railroad book lately and noticed something that I had never knew. I am going to share it here in a few days but wanted to give other people a chance to share "newly learned info" that they might also have recently learned. Or any info that is not just real common stuff, please share it here too. Maybe you know a fact or a piece of railroad trivia that would be appropriate here so please share anything you want about any railroad, railroad people, railroad depots, railroad engines, or any railroad related tidbit. Don't be bashful, it is a chance to help educate other people and share information. It might also just be as fun as educational. Who will be first, step right up to the mic and tell us about . . . [:)]

[Anonymous]

Its my first post is this forum and I'm very excited![:p][:p] I like the colors.
Anyway, I got a few trivia questions. This will test your train knowledge. There are some Alaska Railroad questions. Here.

1. SD stands for:
a. Specific Duty.
b. Special Duty
c. Specific Destination

2. When identifying number of axles "C" generally stands for:
a. 2 axles
b. 4 axles
c. 6 axles
d. 8 axles

3. All these companies make locomotives EXCEPT:
a. EMD
b. GMC
c. ALCo
d. BNSF

4. Alaska Railroad is a:
a. Fallen Flag
b. Railroad Corporation operating 470 miles of track in Alaska.
c. Railroad that runs from Whitehorse in Canada to Skagway, AK, also reffered to as "White Pass and Yukon Route".

5. All freight is transported to Alaska on rails via:
a. Air
b. Ferry
c. Containers
d. Trucks

6. ARR has never owned a:
a. EMd loco
b. GE loco
c. Alco loco

7. ARR boasts to have one of a kind locos left still in service today. They are:
a. GP49
b. Gp30
c. Gp17
d. Sd25

8. Most Sd70 MACs usually have:
a. 3000hp
b. 3500hp
c. 4000hp
d. 4400hp

9. In AC4400CW "AC" stants for:
a. Alternative Current
b. Alternating Current
c. Wide Cab
d. 6 axles

10. In AC4400CW "4400" stands for
a. Horsepower
b. Builder Number
c. Series Number
d. Road Number

11. In AC4400CW "CW" stands for
a. 6 axle conventional cab.
b. 6 axle wide cab.
c. 6 axle
d. Wide cab.

Thats enough for me. But i have more trivia questions. I think these are pretty easy.

[AltonFan]

QUOTE: 2. When identifying number of axles "C" generally stands for:
a. 2 axles
b. 4 axles
c. 6 axles
d. 8 axles

There is no correct answer to this question. "C" stands for three powered axles or six drive wheels. It it theoretically possible to B-C or C-B locomotive. There were A-1-A - B engines.

Pedantry rules!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your correction. I'm only human and i'm not supposed to know everything. Of course, I could have said it was a trick question, but i'm not gonna lie-
I DID NOT KNOW THAT. I knew something was wrong.

[Anonymous]

Yes sir-ree folks, both fun and educational. [;)] Can't beat that with a stick. [:D]


Something I recently learned and I didn't know but thought it was interesting is this :

In the 1930s the people of St. Louis complained [xx(] to the Frisco Railroad about the steam engine whistles. [:(!] So Frisco being a good neighbor installed Volatone Air Horns on all 1500s (4 8 2 s) steam locomotives. Can you believe that ! [:0] They put air horns on a steam loco. [V] And today we can't get enough of a stream engine or its whistle.

[yellowducky]

Dear Alaskaman, I can guess at all of them, pretty sure of most of them, and was right on the money on the correction for #2. But how about the answers anyway? Or am I suppose to "go to a library to look up the answers for myself"?(referring to another forum topic). Maybe this would be more fun if I knew when or if the answers will be posted.

[Anonymous]

Answers, my friend, are coming. You have to agree, i would make no sense to post answers before giving anyone else a try. Its my first time too. But, anyway, here are the answers.
1. b (Special Duty)
2. Bad question, but c (6 axles) is what I was looking for.
3. d (BNSF)
4. b
5. b
6. b
7. a
8. c
9. b
10. a
11. a

[yellowducky]

Alaskaman, thank you for the answers. I was hoping you were just waiting awhile. But being ADHD, well, thanks for being patient, even though I wasn't. Frank And oh, I missed two.

[Anonymous]

Um, another correction, Alaskaman, regarding question no 3.

I didn't know GMC built locos. I thought they built trucks.[}:)][;)](Should be GMD)
Good quiz, though.[8D]

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your comments. Question number three was a tricky question. GMC trucks are made by GM. GM EMD is a division of GM which is same as first answer.

[Anonymous]

Here's two more questions. Answers will be posted Wednesday, Oct 29 at 7:40am PT.

True or False?

In "EMD E8" E stands for Eighteen - hundred horsepower.

In "EMD F9" F stands for Fourteen - hundred horepower.

I hope the questions are right.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

E does stand for Eighteen hundred HP. The first E's (EA, E1, E2) had Winton engines and that was the horsepower rating.
F stands for Freight. FT (the first F's) were Freight, Thirteen hundred fifty HP.

Belt Railway of Chicago had thirteen owners at one point (prior to Conrail merger in 1976). Can you name them?

[ironhorseman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Alaskaman

Its my first post is this forum and I'm very excited![:p][:p] I like the colors.
Anyway, I got a few trivia questions. This will test your train knowledge. There are some Alaska Railroad questions. Here.

1. SD stands for:
a. Specific Duty.
b. Special Duty
c. Specific Destination

2. When identifying number of axles "C" generally stands for:
a. 2 axles
b. 4 axles
c. 6 axles
d. 8 axles

3. All these companies make locomotives EXCEPT:
a. EMD
b. GMC
c. ALCo
d. BNSF

4. Alaska Railroad is a:
a. Fallen Flag
b. Railroad Corporation operating 470 miles of track in Alaska.
c. Railroad that runs from Whitehorse in Canada to Skagway, AK, also reffered to as "White Pass and Yukon Route".

5. All freight is transported to Alaska on rails via:
a. Air
b. Ferry
c. Containers
d. Trucks

6. ARR has never owned a:
a. EMd loco
b. GE loco
c. Alco loco

7. ARR boasts to have one of a kind locos left still in service today. They are:
a. GP49
b. Gp30
c. Gp17
d. Sd25

8. Most Sd70 MACs usually have:
a. 3000hp
b. 3500hp
c. 4000hp
d. 4400hp

9. In AC4400CW "AC" stants for:
a. Alternative Current
b. Alternating Current
c. Wide Cab
d. 6 axles

10. In AC4400CW "4400" stands for
a. Horsepower
b. Builder Number
c. Series Number
d. Road Number

11. In AC4400CW "CW" stands for
a. 6 axle conventional cab.
b. 6 axle wide cab.
c. 6 axle
d. Wide cab.

Thats enough for me. But i have more trivia questions. I think these are pretty easy.

OK, I went straight to the reply page so as not to be influenced by other's answers:
1. B
2. C
3. Is this a trick question? I'll pick 'D' but I thought it was just GM not GMC.
4. C (but I'm just guessing)
5. C (are you kidding?)
6. C (guessing)
7. A (guessing)
8. D (2nd guess would be C)
9. B
10. A
11. D

Those are my choices without using books or looking at other posts, honestly! [}:)] (pay no attention to that devil, I don't know how he got there [;)])

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
50% - need to study. 4, 5, 6, 8, 11 I got wrong. Shoulda gone with C on 8. Darn.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for taking my lame quiz! Lets go over the answers. (I went over them once, in case you didn't see them)
1. Correct
2. Bad question, but you answer was correct.
3. Correct. See my other post for an explanation. It is kinda tricky.
4. Incorrect. The right answer is B.
5. Incorrect. The right answer is B
6. Incorrect. The right answer is B
7. Correct
8. Correct
9. Correct
10 Incorrect. The right answer is A
11.Bad question, due to question 2 messup. The correct answer isB

6/11

[Anonymous]

Alaskaman did you ever look at the builder's plates on the RS's? If you had you would have found that at least some of those locomotives were built by ALCO-GE. So the correct answer to question 6 is not listed.

For the answer for what the F in FT stands for look in your early 1940's railway magazine ads. GM was advertising a "F"iftyfour hundred horsepower locomotive and a "T"wentyseven hundred horsepower locomotive. So the F and T stood for both horspower levels that the locomotive was sold as. Remember, at that time railroads bought locomotives, not units. Most lines even numbered the entire set identically.

[ironhorseman]

The End of Norfolk and Western

I think I've pieced together what happened to the N&W. They were purchased by a holding company in 1982 and by 1990 had been completely absorbed by the Southern Railway and became the Norforlk and Southern, that's how N&S came about.

Now, as to why N&W was purchased by a holding company may have something to do with finances, I don't know. I have found out that the N&W used steam engines all the way up to the 1980s.

N&W became world famous from the O. Winston Link photos. I think that the N&W would be my favorite railroad I never saw and considering I live in area that never saw the N&W (Kansas) and in an era when the N&W quickly faded away I think that's pretty good for what I know.

Plus I had some help from the trains archive in addition to some old videos.
http://www.trains.com/content/dynamic/articles/000/000/000/385hxunm.asp

[Anonymous]

Jeff [:D]

Thanks for sharing this with us. This is what the thread is intened to do--share info or trivia that others might not know. Even tho we as railfans do know alot of stuff we just never know everything. I love history so keep sharing these types of things with us whenever you can.

[coalminer3]

Permit me to add a few things, based on memory. There will be a quiz after class (LOL)

1. The railroad name is Norfolk Southern

2. Corporate lineage for NS can get a bit tangled. We'll start with Norfolk and Western (N&W). The "old" N&W was primarily a coal hauling railroad. In the mid 1960's the old N&W decided to expand so it took over the Virginian Railway, the Wabash Railroad and the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate). All of these lines came under the name Norfolk and Western. It led to some interesting sights around here as we had mixtures of N&W, VGN and NKP coal cars on mine shifters, and Wabash cabeese on the old N&W, etc. Green Frog Production's video on the Wabash will give you good sense of what it was like. One thing I recall quite well is NKP engines (barely painted over) working the yard at Elmore, WV. Some of you out there may remember the "plug in" Trainmaster at Oak Hill, WV.

The N&W ran a holding company for awhile (1968 to 1975) which was called Dereco. Dereco included the Delaware and Hudson, Erie-Lackawanna, Reading and IIRC, the Jersey Central.

Some of these lines came into Conrail which is another staory.

The D&H, out of all of them, is the only one "still standing" and they are not really an indpendent entity today.

Norfolk Southern came about in 1990. Southern led the way here. I refuse to try and explain how the Southern came about as we would run out of space on this forum. Let's just say they combined "lotsa" small roads and a few bigger ones into a still larger system.

N&W did run steam in regular service until 1959-1960; date of final run is still in question.

Later, of course, they participated in Southern's steam program, which gave me a chance to see 611 and 1218 in their "home country." Still recall riding in the observation car behind 611 on a lovely fall day's trip from Bluefield to Iaeger and back. Then there was watching 1218 come up the hill at Christiansburg in a heavy rain. The "hooter" whistle would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Anybody out there recall riding the "Pocahontas" when it had the Wabash dome car? Coach fare +$10 would get you sleeper space from Cincinnati to Roanoke. Oh well...

Richard Saunders's book, Merging Lines American Railroads 1900-1970 is a good source for additional information. They important thing to remember here is that Penn Central (and attending fallout) changed a lot of things; some for the better and some for the worse. But again, that's something for another time.

Hope this helps.

work safe

[coalminer3]

Just when you thought it was safe to come out again...

Re air horns on stea[8D]m locomotives. IIRC New York Central's Niagaras had them, so did SP 4-8-4s, and Milwaukee Road 4-8-4s. I don't have my reference stuff handy, but I'll bet there were some others, too.

work safe

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by coalminer3

Just when you thought it was safe to come out again...

Re air horns on stea[8D]m locomotives. IIRC New York Central's Niagaras had them, so did SP 4-8-4s, and Milwaukee Road 4-8-4s. I don't have my reference stuff handy, but I'll bet there were some others, too.

work safe

Well we are surely learning some new stuff now. [8D]

The Frisco put their air horns on because of complaints from the public. I would much rather hear a nice steam whistle than the air horns. [;)]

Now a question for anyone who knows, or can find out. Why did these others put air horns on their locos. [B)] Did they still have the steam whistle?

[Anonymous]

A short quizz . . . . .[?]


During WWII American Locomotive Company also made which of the following?

A. Navy subs

B. Airplanes

C. Army tanks

D. Bombs

[Anonymous]

Ill try and say subs...........

p.s. Youre info on NS was wonderful!!!! thank yall for good up to date information. TM223

[ironhorseman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

A short quizz . . . . .[?]


During WWII American Locomotive Company also made which of the following?

A. Navy subs

B. Airplanes

C. Army tanks

D. Bombs

I would guess 'A' because in Abilene they said their S1 has an old engine in it from a submarine or something like that. The S1 they have was built around 1946 or 1948. Planes were made by the aircraft industries, tanks by the automobile industry (Ford) and bombs by the amunition plants.

So, assuming I made the correct choice, and based on my added info, did Alco build the whole submarine or just the prime mover?

[espeefoamer]

The SP locos had both air horns and steam whistles. I don't know about the other roads.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Most American submarines during WWII had OP engines, which is how FM gained most of its early experience with diesel engines. Alco 539 engines may have been a bit large for a submarine of that era.
Railroad-size diesel engines are quite common in marine applications and the US Navy has a fair number of ships equipped with FDL and 251 engines.

[dehusman]

Tanks. I think they made some M3 Grants and Sherman M4's. They had the technology for making large steel castings (engine frames, etc) to make one piece tank hulls.

Dave H.

[squeeze]

While on whistles, anyone remember the PRR's I class banshee screamer??

[464484]

I think I read that the SP put air horns on their Daylight 484's because the sound could penetrate fog better and thus be safer at road crossings. I have recordings of 4449's air horn they sound a lot like a GG1.

Now that's not so bad!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

A short quizz . . . . .[?]


During WWII American Locomotive Company also made which of the following?

A. Navy subs

B. Airplanes

C. Army tanks

D. Bombs

Answer - - Army Tanks

[Anonymous]

Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . .


By October 28, 1941 (yes, correct date) Alco plants were producing the following items for warring countries:

M3 Tanks
Boilers (for British ships)
Heavy Marine Forgings (for the Army and Navy)
105 mm gun carriages
155 mm gun carriages
Condensers (for Navy ships)
Coolers and heat exchangers (for Navy ships)
Kingposts (whatever that is, for the British)
Marine diesels (for Navy and Merchant Marine ships)
Fragmentation Bombs (guess who just found out his quizz was flawed?)
(Well this topic is called -- I Did Not Know That) lol lol
Springs
Gun Turrets


By 1942 Alco began producing the M4 Sherman Tank. Also in 1942, Alco began producing the M7 Howitzer Motor Carriage (basically a tank with no turret but still sporting a big gun). In 1944 Alco produced the "Slugger", officially the M36 90mm Howitzer Tank Destroyer.

I must credit Richard Steinbrenner's book, The American Locomotive Company -- A centennial Remembrance. This info was gleaned from the pages of his book. If you are an Alco fan this book is a "must have" It is advertised in some of the issues of "Trains". [:D] What are you waiting for -- Order it ! You won't be sorry. [;)]