Hi all
Have just been watching a DVD on shortline Railways in the south.
What exactly is a short line RR
The standards seem to vari from extremely good, to What they are allowed to run that??
Train length and motive power seems just as varied as the over all conditions of the lines.
No definition of a short line was given hence the question
regards John Busby
For the past 40 years CB&Q, BN , BNSF has been servicing the plant I work at as far as picking up and dropping off freight car's. They would come out every other or every few days with 2 random engines to pickup/drop/move cars.
Last week the job was taken over by Burlington Junction a Class III shortline RR who operate a SD7 and SW1200 on our 2 miles and change of track and handle all of the dutys that BNSF did. when they arnt moving car's the two engines stay parked on a siding out by where the tracks connect to the BNSF
So basicly CLass III shortline RR's service industries because Class I RR's dont want to.
I dont know if that helps you any thats all I know
Yup, that's most of it, industry and interchange service.
There's a modern day shortline in my back yard - http://www.mmidrwy.com/index2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortline
-Brian
It's generally considered to be a class III railroad, i.e. less than $20 million revenue. It can be a small switching line of a couple of miles or extend several miles, usually less than a 100. It usually has few locomotives and in these days the crew may well not be unionized.
Here's a site for Genesee & Wyoming, Inc which operates several shortlines.
Enjoy
Paul
John,
That was a very good and thoughtful question. In my opinion this is exactly the kind of stuff we should be doing more of on this forum. I've learned something valuable from the responses, thanks to you all.
Walt
I agree with you Walt. I would love to see more practical (and difficult) questions/answers posted on this forum. There are no reasons that I can see as why it can't be this way IF we, as the users, post something useful. Nobody else will do it for us.
This is a good topic. What exactly is a short line, by definition, and how does one interact with major railroads? Good stuff. There was another good question a while back about wood track- I had to do some research on that one and I learned a lot.
I am now working at Plasser (what a joke- retire from the Army and then go to work!). So if anybody has a question about maintenance of way, I would be happy to take photos, videos, and operational info (sorry, can't divulge the inner tech workings of the equipment-trade secrets). Searching all trains.com forums reveal scant information about MOW of any kind, yet this is a major part of rail operations. Look to the future for some unsolicited postings from me about this subject.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
tangerine-jack wrote: So if anybody has a question about maintenance of way, I would be happy to take photos, videos, and operational info (sorry, can't divulge the inner tech workings of the equipment-trade secrets). Searching all trains.com forums reveal scant information about MOW of any kind, yet this is a major part of rail operations. Look to the future for some unsolicited postings from me about this subject.
So if anybody has a question about maintenance of way, I would be happy to take photos, videos, and operational info (sorry, can't divulge the inner tech workings of the equipment-trade secrets). Searching all trains.com forums reveal scant information about MOW of any kind, yet this is a major part of rail operations. Look to the future for some unsolicited postings from me about this subject.
Jack, Love da MOW!
What I would like is old drawings, you know feet with inches, etc....don't care for tech trade secrets. And the new MOW I have come to LOVE to! I have pictures some where but no drawings with ft. and in.. All I wish to do is reproduce the machine but with some being so long will they handle the 8' curves on a layout?
Toad - typen with a finger
newto gscale wrote:Ok i have a question. Replies on this post talk about mow what is mow? I have seen mow in other post and on other forums.
M aintenance
O f
W ay
It's a generic catch all term that relates to repair of track, bridges, roadbed and trackside structures (including signal) and the men and machines that repair them. It has to be the least modeled of any aspect of railroading operations due to its unglamorous nature. Yet, without maintenance of the track deterioration sets in and gradually speeds are reduced (resulting in decreased revenue) until the track is condemned and subsequently abandoned.
Proper maintenance can increase track life theoretically forever since various components (ties, tie plates, rails, ballast etc) are replaced gradually over time. Back in the "old days" MOW was little more than some track going trucks and maybe a crane, couple dozen big men with shovels, and a whole lot of sweat. On average, a few hundred feet of track could be repaired in a day. With the invention of dynamic tampers, unimats, and spikers, TKOs and such, up to 5 miles a day is about average. Modern Dyna-CATs can lift, level, correct geometry, tamp, and settle track in one easy pass while the single operator sits in an air conditioned cab.
Railroads recognize the need for geometrically correct track in good repair, but battle for time on the rails with trains. Trains make money hauling goods, MOW consumes money. Yet without good track, trains run slower or not at all. This is interesting operationally on a model railroad, but one I've never seen done.
but with some being so long will they handle the 8' curves on a layout?
Yes, I believe they will. Even the longest machines are articulated at some point or have satellites so that where on a model you can have a pivot. Compromise is of course the name of the game when scaling down 1:1. It may be tough to find drawings fit for model building. A blue print of the machine is excellent material, but several hundred pages long. Perhaps I can scrounge something up.....
Jack,
Since the era I'm interested in is ca 1845 to no later than 1900--if that far--I've figured out a way to 'clad' the top of plastic rails with flattened 12ga copper wire (single strand, i.e. house wire). A strip of matboard glued to the outside radius and the whole painted can make a reasonable facsimile of a wood track. The copper is flattened in my slip roll to between .010 & .015". I've elected to go with track power instead of battery/RC. Of course, for tighter radii I'll have to boil 'n bend my own wooden rails, but the plastic will do for the 'feet wet' portion of building.
As far as a MOW thread, there was one last winter that died out. I have a goodly number of pictures I've stored up, because you're quite right that a MOW portion, at least, would make a very interesting scene in a layout.
The first problem I had was to figure out not only what the various cars did (save for cranes and snowplows) but how they did it and, did they lend themselves to mechanization when modelled.
As an aside, in logging RR's, firefighting equipment was kept 'made up' with steam up, at least out west, according to my best data. The consist was of water tankers (duh), tool cars and a crew car, plus whatever local operators felt necessary. The pressure for the pumps was gotten from the engine itself. (I wish I knew how). FWIW, I intend to build as complete a MOW train as practicable and would enjoy following a thread like that.
I too, learned some good stuff so far, on this one.
Les W.
"Inside the body of an old man is a young one ... wondering what the hell happened."
hoofe116 wrote: "Inside the body of an old man is a young one ... wondering what the hell happened."
Ain't that the truth!!!!!!
A few years back I visited the Sumpter Valley Railroad in Oregon. It was in the middle of the summer and very, very dry. The railroad had rigged up a flatcar and tankcar as MOW firefighting equipment to minimize the risk of starting a fire with the hot cinders coming from the engine's stack.
The flatcar was equipped with a high pressure/high volume pump, and a water cannon. The water source, of course, was the tankcar. As we rode along the operator would spray the right-of-way anytime he thought the cinders might have gotten onto some dry grass. Talk about finding an elegant solution to a tricky problem.
Heres what Durango & Silverton use for fire suppression
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