Just throwing this one out here.
We are all railroad nuts, that's why we're all here. Do you think? We love the sight, the sound, the thrill of a train going by. The rumbling of the ground shaking and the satisfaction of the train!.....A big steel monster going by....... Nothing Better.......Seeing and Experiencing it.......Yaaaaaah.
Yes this is what we all like. This is what we like to recreate to a model form. Our most fond memories put on a board to our best ability.
Mine is the Burlington Northern Green Machines coming down from the Iron Range Duluth area (Long taconite pellet drags) to the steel mills in the City of Minneapolis.
I remember the high-speed lines. I remember two of them going in full and one of them going out empty or vice-a-versa. This is my love of the Railroad, and my love of Model Railroading. Please share yours.
Track Fiddler
PS Please share your steam memories that you are modeling. I wish I had those memories. These had to be the best.
Well, almost my whole layout is based on some personal memory, or "wish I could have had that memory" theme.
One of my favorite recollections was during a Thanksgiving, 1971, jaunt I was on with a friend. Amtrak wasn't even a year old and we were headed from Cleveland to New York City on the Lakeshore Limited.
Being from Cleveland, I was always fascinated by the electrified lines into Cleveland Union Terminal that handled passenger trains pulled by brutish Alco/GE 2-C+C-2 heavy electrics in the P1a class built in 1929.
As the Lakeshore was pulling into Harmon for the change from diesel (we had three NYC E-8s on the head end) I got out to watch the engine swap in a wet, heavy snow that was blowing in off the Hudson River.
Well, it was quite a thrill to finally be able to see these big motors which had been modified and sent to the Hudson Electrified Division in 1953, and realise that they were once from my hometown. It wasn't long before a single P2b, as they were re-classed, was tied-on to the head end and the steam, signal and air brake lines were secured.
I rode the first open Dutch-door vestibule and had my face outside for the whole 33 miles into Grand Central. That motor accelerated our fourteen-car train and got us up to 60 in no time at all. You could just feel the nearly silent power.
That memory will stick with me forever The sights, the sounds, the smell (of the arcking third-rail shoe) mixed with steam and brake shoe smoke!
So one of my (many) passions was to have a P1a (or two) as it would have run in Cleveland on my layout:
IMG_6782_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
Once we arrived in GCT the P2b pulled ahead, a diminutive S-3 electric took over, which was already 63 years old at this time) which would then turn the train and pull it out to Mott Haven yard for servicing.
One of the famous duties of these little guys was to bring the Century, back-end first, into Grand Central every afternoon.
IMG_6933_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
I'm very grateful that I could have these memories, and many more, that I can replicate on the layout and help to "keep the memory alive"
Thanks for starting this thread, Track Fiddler!
Regards, Ed
Thanks for sharing your experience Ed. It's nice to see you could incorporate that memory into your layout I think that's what makes things fun. I enjoyed the pictures too. Switcher 1144 reminds me of a diesel version of a shay. I like it.
The great thing about memories is we keep them forever. As old as those memories are, they become new again when shared with someone else.
Thanks Ed. Track Fiddler
I lived close enough to the B&O tracks that they became part of the scenery. I do remember being amazed at how big the engines were ( EMD F units? ) and the sound of them when they started pulling the trains. I remember seeing steam engines being pulled by the diesels. I remember all the banging and clanging noises they made as they went by. My Dad told me the steam engines were being taken to the scape yard.
I remember all the noises when all the slack was taken out of the couplers when the train started up. Dad and I would sit on the front porch and see which cars were empty and which cars were full by looking at the truck springs. We realized that the slack being removed made different noises depending on whether the cars were loaded or empty. And I remember the clickety-clack of the trains as they went by at night.
It seems so long ago...
The first train memories I have, involved a trip to north eastern Ohio in the early 50's. We were in the Akron area, and drove by the goodyear blimp hangers, which blew my mind because they were so huge. Then not too long after that we went past a yard full of steam engines and I saw my first diesel, an F unit.
When we lived in Greenville, there was a track that came down the middle of the street in front of our house. I got my first up close and personal look at an 0-6-0 switcher creeping down the street pulling the local freight. I was only about 10 feet from the side of it. I was almost overwhelmed by the smells, sounds, and the feeling of the ground shivering as it rolled past. Then I almost needed a change of underwear when the engineer blew his whistle at me as he waved.
Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. It just came to me that we model what we saw as kids or young adults. In my case, I saw a lot of EMD F units as a kid. I have 60 Stewart/Kato F units for my layout. Plus some Proto 2000, Athern, and Intermountain. I know, there's something wrong with me.
Not at all South Penn. I enjoyed reading what you had to say just as much as everyone else that shared a memory or experience here.
A memory of railroad equipment without the scenery and sounds wouldn't be quite complete. Incorporating scenery on your layout from your memory counts. I see it as just as good.
Speaking of f units. I don't remember ever seeing one and if I did I was awfully young. Funny enough I have a Kato Great Northern AB unit I purchased last spring, and the CD unit to complete the set my wife gave me for Christmas. The way I figure it, they are affiliated with Burlington Northern so they will be run at different times when I decide to change things up.
Thanks all, feel free to join in, we're not that strict here. Track Fiddler
Edit I changed the last word in the thread title. It definitely makes more sense.