Looks like an open-air speeder. Or maybe a compressor, and that's an air hose, the speeder that pulled it and the crew using it hidden on the other side of the locos.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Gidday Brent, having studied this map and Google Maps, I’m not sure whether I most surprised by what has survived or by what hasn’t. http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/ThompsonTom/DearbornTrack.pdf Cheers, the Bear.
No kidding. I wonder if the railyard just over to the West of the river was ATSF or another railway? Rich???
Speaking of before and afters. Here is Vancouver, before and ruined! Don't these condo developers know that there are Steam fans still out there???
You can see the round house buried amongst the condo's.
Where have all the trestles goneLong time passing
One day a few years ago, when I was on standby at work, I had a Government truck to cruise around in and so to kill some time I thought I would go see if the bridge abutments for that old trestle in the first photo were still there. Sure enough, still sitting like sentinels on the shore there they were, along with some very old track and switchstands. I felt like Indiana Jones.
It would be great to see some more "before and afters" from around the world.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
rrinker Looks like an open-air speeder. Or maybe a compressor, and that's an air hose, the speeder that pulled it and the crew using it hidden on the other side of the locos. --Randy
Could it be a welder?
They are really out in the middle of nowhere at this point. It would be a long cold ride in the offseason.
Pay attention, there will be a test at the conclusion.
In this installment we learn the fine art of how to economically collect firewood, track laying techniques, trackside hazards, tunnel portal construction and how to do some intricate switching.
Happy new year everyone!
If anyone has ever been interested in the engineering involved in putting a rail line through the mountains you will fine this long video enjoyable. I have only watched the first 30 minutes so far and have found it fascinating. It sure gives a good understanding of why things are done the way they are done and why things cost so much. If you do watch, just remember the half billion dollar price tag is in 1970s dollars.
BATMAN Also, would the wheeled thing carry a person or be towed behind a speeder or something else.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Bear, that Santa Fe video was perfect timing. Yesterday my kids new $1400.00 gaming computer arrived after an eight day wait and it's not working. So we can blame Santa Fe or Franky Zstripe????? (I think I saw him driving one of those trucks)
1897!!!
Did they have moving pictures back then???? Well I found some Northern Pacific film/video.
I hear the NP is "really terrific"!
For those that have asked on the forum, how a carfloat is aligned with the linkspan at the dock, this video clearly shows it with some good carfloat action. I can't stop thinking about the poor guy that has the job of oiling as the cars are pushed over the hump. I think if I had that job for very long I would throw myself under the train.
If you are a details kind of person, you will see lots of trackside thingymabobs that you can add to your layout for an even better look to the pike.
Cheers, the Bear.
BATMAN1897!!! Did they have moving pictures back then????
BATMAN 1897!!! Did they have moving pictures back then????
Did they have moving pictures back then????
Rich
Alton Junction
Rich ...Made my morning. Not only did they have moving pictures for the chariot races, they also had Timex watches. Throughout the Chariot races, they took a licken and kept on ticken. For those of you wondering what the heck i am talking about, when the movie Ben Hur first came out, moviegoers noticed that some of the centurions were wearing Timex watches.
Bear, great video, I fear we may lose you to the MM (marine modelers) forums as your carfloat comes along.
Todays photo of the day comes from my house. The Daffodils are poking their heads out as Spring is really in the air.
On a more railroad related topic, I came across some Horseshoe curve stuff. I notice they ordered their Loco's "painted but not lettered" versions. Finally I see some Loco's the way I order mine.
Three short ones.
Nah, those PRR steamers are lettered, it's just so faded that in B&W it's not standing out. You can catch it in the first video, when the camera is right next to the loco as it first starts out, you can see the "Pennsylvania" lettering scroll past on the side of the tender, but then in the longer shot it looks like there's nothing there - but it's the same loco.
I had another look Randy and I think you're right, write, rite, correct! Those guys need a little more spit and polish on those tenders.
Though I never considered myself a trucker in what I consider the the true sense of the word, I have on occasion driven some heavily laden rigs down some very long, steep grades in the mountains. Watching the the air pressure gauges, keeping it in a low enough gear and maintaining a slow controllable speed and being ever so aware of where the runaway lanes are, could leave you with a real sense of relief when you made the bottom.
The guys driving this train have even more things to monitor and be aware of, as they guide this thing down this really steep grade. I think they must feel a real sense of relief after every trip. I was told by both my driving and flying instructors, that if you didn't at least have an increase in your heart rate and a little twinge in your gut when doing things that require 100% of your attention, you probably weren't giving it a true 100% of your attention.
I am not sure anyone is watching and maybe the thread should drift off into the sunset. It may not seem to be the kind of thread that is suitable to model railroading and I am a little surprised that our host haven't given it the axe. One of the reasons I like to watch these old videos and look at old photo's is to look at the trackside details of the different periods on the railroad timeline.
A good friend of mine is a bigtime cinematographer and a train guy and every time he is at the house we are in the trainroom and he tells me how to improve things to be camera friendly. It's all the tiny details that make a scene look real or not. He is full of stories about working with model makers sometimes for two or three years before filming even started. He even went out and learned to fly a helicopter so he could fly the aerial shots himself and get them just right without multiple takes and trying to tell the pilots what he wanted.
After you look at a train in a video or a photograph, go back and watch again and look at everything but the train and add that stuff to your layout. That's how they do it in movie land. I have a loooong way to go in my learning curve.
BATMANI am not sure anyone is watching and maybe the thread should drift off into the sunset
BATMANIt may not seem to be the kind of thread that is suitable to model railroading and I am a little surprised that our host haven't given it the axe
BATMANOne of the reasons I like to watch these old videos and look at old photo's is to look at the trackside details of the different periods on the railroad timeline.
BATMAN I am not sure anyone is watching and maybe the thread should drift off into the sunset. It may not seem to be the kind of thread that is suitable to model railroading and I am a little surprised that our host haven't given it the axe.
I am not sure anyone is watching and maybe the thread should drift off into the sunset. It may not seem to be the kind of thread that is suitable to model railroading and I am a little surprised that our host haven't given it the axe.
Yeah, it is obvious that no one is interested.
BATMANIt may not seem to be the kind of thread that is suitable to model railroading.......
Okay, upon a quick review, sales at the concession stand are through the roof, so we will carry on.
Bear, watching those guys working in that safety film makes me feel awfully old and worn out. The thought of having to do that makes me hurt! But once upon a time!!!!!
so while 15 mph on the new fangled steam train is slow to us zipping along at 60 mph in our air conditioned car,
60 MPH on the commute! I didn't waste time on my commute. Had this baby North of 260 KMH a few times. Owned it for 15 years and only got one speeding ticket and that was in California.
This one is for Rich as we take this visit to the Chicago area. The cars and trucks you see parked really span the years in makes and models and once again I think I saw Frank! The tow motors we see in the wearhouses still look the same as they do today, so either they last a long time or they never changed the design. As a guy that spent a lot of years at airports, docks and railyards I know some of that equipment last a long time. They were later converted to propane in many instances, at least up here in the great white North. So build your wearhouse equipment appropriate to your era.
How many of you have a "snow ice truck" on your layouts???? Come on, hands up! I have never seen one before today in this video.
Don't forget to buy your Beer and popcorn before making your way to your seat.
How about a trip to Calgary?
Sometimes I find the modeling at train shows not the greatest for the simple reason the layouts have been put up and down so many times they look worn out. There is however some really good stuff here.
Maybe I'll make it to Supertrain this year.
First the commercial.
Some good shots in this video. There is a rather large coaling facility shown and I wonder if anyone has one this large on their layout. Also, two questions came to mind while watching. One was what is the temperature difference of the gases in the firebox of where the actual fire is verses when the smoke goes up the stack at the front of the train and did they ever harness any of this left over heat?
Next is, I wonder what happens to foreign objects such as ballast and other items that end up in the track pan. How much and what kind of damage occurs to the engine when hitting these.
That's what feedwater heaters were for - harnessing the leftover heat that otherwise just went up the stack. There are also some other oddities made over the years but it seems like other than the feedwater heater, they were all more trouble than any extra efficiency was worth.
Thanks Randy. I knew about the feedwater heaters, but I have never been able to find any technical data on how efficient they were other than the vague quote of "it depended on the engine". I tend to be a facts and figures guy and have a peculiar need to delve into such things when something catches my interest. Drives my wife nuts sometimes.
This little video sure made the memories flood back. The trains start around the 8 minute mark, however the whole thing is really interesting. Check out the sound system. Was this the first MRR sound system?
BATMAN...Next is, I wonder what happens to foreign objects such as ballast and other items that end up in the track pan. How much and what kind of damage occurs to the engine when hitting these.
There was an interesting account of a related occurence in the July 1979 issue of TRAINS magazine.In 1945, a Mohawk on a westbound freight extra operating between Englewood, Ill. and Elkhart, Ind. scooped water 8 miles west of South Bend. According to the article, pick-up rate was 2.5 gallons per linear foot of trough. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to the fireman, the scoop failed to fully retract, and ripped through the 4"x8" planks of two grade crossings.With the train moving at 38mph, one of those planks hit the switch rod of a facing point turnout, opening the switch and derailing the rear tender truck and 17 of the trailing freight cars, one of which fouled the adjacent eastward main line.As per the rules, the fireman lit a couple of fusees to protect that track. However, an eastbound passenger train, cruising at 79mph, was approaching only 1400' from the point of impact. The engineer dumped the air on the month-old Niagara, and had the speed down to 65mph when it hit the derailed car. The locomotive ended up 406' east of the impact, lying on her side at a 45° angle, along with 10 of her 15 passenger cars. Miraculously, the toll was only 39 injured.Upon investigation, a tie and a crossing plank were discovered inside the Mohawk tender's cistern!
The article also notes that Central's wreckers were unable to lift the 471,000lb. Niagara, necessitating the leasing of big hooks from the Grand Trunk Western, Pere Marquette, and Santa Fe, with the line remaining closed for 2 1/2 days.
Track pan depths varied between 6"-8", with the top 1" below the rail tops. The scoop was normally carried 5.5" above the rails and could descend 6.25" below. According to another TRAINS article in May, 1993, the pans often collected small fish and turtles, along with the usual debris, and had to be cleaned out periodically, as the material could (and occasionally did) block the water supply to the locomotive. In winter, the pans were heated using steam from stationary boilers.Since water was scooped at speeds up to 80mph, it wasn't an especially neat operation, and there were accounts of conductors warning passengers in the first few coaches to close windows when they approached track pans. Another told of the water blasting through the unsecured vestibule door of a coach right behind the tender, and then washing down the aisle.
Wayne
Wasn't there also a story told in Trains about the crew that found a dead hobo, encased in ice, who had been riding behind the tender of a locomotive that took water on the fly in winter, unprepared for the gush of water that would escape through the venting system that prevented the tender tank from exploding from the pressure.
Dave Nelson
Yeah, that was apparently not uncommon. That article did mention that some firemen, before the track pans were reached, would climb over the coal pile to check for hoboes riding "in the blind". I'd guess, though, that many more didn't bother, as it would have been a fairly dangerous practice in its own right.
Here is a link to a good "track pans" page.
imquest.com/writ/trains/pans/Track_Pans.pdf
So Jason Shron of Rapido has broken into the British market and has made several trips over the pond. Maybe next time he is over with his laser measuring and audio recording equipment he can jump in the Tardis and go back in time to get the specs for and then produce this little beauty.
Brent:
Fascinating and frustrating! Every time it looked like the camera was going to show us how it worked, the photographer moved the camera or framed the engine in such a way as to obscure the workings! Interesting that it had some advanced ideas for the time, such as a horizontal boiler.
Thanks for the look.
Tom