Packer betamaxLet's be honest: Edison would never have anything that was powered by Westinghouse's Alternating Current technology! Edison desinged the electric chair to run on AC
betamaxLet's be honest: Edison would never have anything that was powered by Westinghouse's Alternating Current technology!
Edison desinged the electric chair to run on AC
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
I really like to kick the banter up a notch when I find out the person busting me for liking trains, is a NASCAR fanatic. Oh, boy.
I saw the Big Bang Theory referenced and found it very funny (Sheldon's "HO: it's half the size but twice the fun"). My kids consider me (yes, an engineer w/o a train) a bit of a nerd and I'll accept some of that. People are different!. I've infected my grandkids with trains; e.g., the oldest one with a 4' x 6' layout and the younger grandson with Thomas. They know my grandpa was a UP (real) engineer and my other grandpa built steam engines at the Baldwin loco works. And they all (yes, the girls, too) wanted to run the trains each day they were here over Thanksgiving. It's addicting and bonding; e.g., when the older grandson and I had two shots at chasing the UP #844 across Texas.
I take the jibes as kidding, not criticism. If it were criticism, I'd just blow it off, not whine. "Each to his own" or "whatever fits your pistol". It's a hobby (for Pete's sake) and they need to be enjoyable, not make sense to everyone. Heck, Rosey Grier liked to needlepoint. No need to defend it if I like it. Doesn't hurt anyone, helps the economy, etc. I like trains, old cars (GTO) and boats. Others like x,y,z which may not interest me.
Just my reactions.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I remember an episode of Happy Days, where the family travelled to a dude ranch by train, pulled by a GG1.
The one that always kicked me was the movie Pearl Harbor. That movie alone is FULL of flaws that I can't even begin to get into. As far as the trains go, they appear to get onto an old train, but in the background are Amtrak diesels, amfleets and modern automobiles!
Modeling Conrail, Amtrak and NJ DOT under the wires in New Jersey, July 1979.
Joe Staten Island West
Jumijo "The Men Who Built America" episode about Edison showed a die cast Lionel locomotive running on a circle of 3 rail track in Edison's shop - some 50 years before it was made, and roughly 15 years before Lionel Corp. even existed.
"The Men Who Built America" episode about Edison showed a die cast Lionel locomotive running on a circle of 3 rail track in Edison's shop - some 50 years before it was made, and roughly 15 years before Lionel Corp. even existed.
Let's be honest: Edison would never have anything that was powered by Westinghouse's Alternating Current technology!
dknelsonThe sad fact is, that if you know -- really know -- something about any particular topic, then the treatment given that topic by the media, be it TV or movies or popular fiction or frankly even the news media, is likely to send you off the deep end. Indeed it might be that railroads are treated rather better than most specialized topics. Artists and musicians and other creative people are particularly disdainful about how the "creative process" is portrayed in popular media. But from my perspective, business, legal, and financial topics are easily handled the worst. But then I am closest to that world. Model railroaders or toy train fans are handy metaphors for eccentrics -- either the lovable kind or the sinister kind. Next time some manufacturer gets the grills and vents wrong on a GP38-2 model, read the resulting comments on various forums and chatrooms etc. and decide whether we are being unfairly treated! Some of the flame wars on this and other forum sites would not exactly refute that characterization of eccentric. Dave Nelson
Artists and musicians and other creative people are particularly disdainful about how the "creative process" is portrayed in popular media. But from my perspective, business, legal, and financial topics are easily handled the worst. But then I am closest to that world.
Model railroaders or toy train fans are handy metaphors for eccentrics -- either the lovable kind or the sinister kind. Next time some manufacturer gets the grills and vents wrong on a GP38-2 model, read the resulting comments on various forums and chatrooms etc. and decide whether we are being unfairly treated! Some of the flame wars on this and other forum sites would not exactly refute that characterization of eccentric.
Dave Nelson
Boy, Dave, you nailed that one. I'm always infuriated at how the engineering profession (the building-designing one, not the train-driving one) is portrayed. We're always weak and crooked, either in the back pocket of a corrupt builder or corporation, or taking bribes to overlook inferior construction.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
mobilman44 Yup, I saw that too! I have to say I am a little sensitive about how the movies and tv shows portray railroads. The other day I saw part of the History Channels "The building of America" and they showed what was supposed to be an early "oil train". Well, it was flat cars with drums (of oil), which is reasonably accurate for the pre tank car period. However, these were metal 55 gallon drums that have a fully removable top (typically used for solids or semi solids) rather than the 42 gallon drums with wood or metal bungs (like corks). Also, the drums they used in the movie were only available many years later. By the way........... the standard volume measure in the oil industry is the barrel. In other industries (i.e. edible oil, etc.), a barrel typically means 55 gallons. In the petroleum oil business, it is 42 gallons. In Canada a drum is 45 gallons (imperial gallon) oil is measured in 35 gallons per drum, I have never seen a 35 gallon drum, all other liquids in Canada are shipped in 45 gallon drums, everyone in Canadaland has a 45 gallon drum (barrel) beside the house to collect rainwater, all very confusing.
Yup, I saw that too!
I have to say I am a little sensitive about how the movies and tv shows portray railroads. The other day I saw part of the History Channels "The building of America" and they showed what was supposed to be an early "oil train". Well, it was flat cars with drums (of oil), which is reasonably accurate for the pre tank car period.
However, these were metal 55 gallon drums that have a fully removable top (typically used for solids or semi solids) rather than the 42 gallon drums with wood or metal bungs (like corks). Also, the drums they used in the movie were only available many years later.
By the way........... the standard volume measure in the oil industry is the barrel. In other industries (i.e. edible oil, etc.), a barrel typically means 55 gallons. In the petroleum oil business, it is 42 gallons.
In Canada a drum is 45 gallons (imperial gallon) oil is measured in 35 gallons per drum, I have never seen a 35 gallon drum, all other liquids in Canada are shipped in 45 gallon drums, everyone in Canadaland has a 45 gallon drum (barrel) beside the house to collect rainwater, all very confusing.
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
In "The Men Who Built America", what's supposed to be an oil refinery is actually a blast furnace. In another scene, Edison hasn't even wired New York City yet, and already he has a Lionel O-27 Steamer running in a loop on his desk.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
One of my favorite bloopers is the close-up of the knuckle coupler that Marty McFly uncouples to separate the train from the locomotive in Back To The Future III in the year 1885!
More recently and according to my son, the physics major, Big Bang Theory goes way out of their way to ensure that the physics calculations, terms and theories are all real and accurate. Similar research seems to occur for their comic book arguments. Yet, even though the main characters are supposed to be train fans, they still get the model railroading jargon wrong. Likewise, they often correctly refer to "the train store in Pasadena" but constantly refer to other SoCal trains stores that don't exist. Likewise, you can see the Pasadena City Hall through the rear window of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, yet they complain it takes them 20 minutes to drive to Cal Tech that is in reality only a few blocks away!
Hornblower
duckdogger Setting: In White Christmas, Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby board a train in Florida bound for NYC (and subsequently on to Vermont), scene shows Santa Fe Warbonnet F-units. Later, the final leg is a mail express train pulled by SP Black Widow Fs. In an earlier scene set in Italy, all the GIs have M1s except for the one guy pensively remembering home as Crosby sings White Christmas . He is fooling with the bolt of an 03 Springfield from WW1.
Setting: In White Christmas, Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby board a train in Florida bound for NYC (and subsequently on to Vermont), scene shows Santa Fe Warbonnet F-units. Later, the final leg is a mail express train pulled by SP Black Widow Fs.
In an earlier scene set in Italy, all the GIs have M1s except for the one guy pensively remembering home as Crosby sings White Christmas . He is fooling with the bolt of an 03 Springfield from WW1.
He might have been the unit's designated sniper. The '03 was used as a sniper weapon during WWII because it was more accurate than the M1.
I forget which film had West Point cadets boarding a train, supposedly at West Point, pulled by a CNJ camelback...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - without snipers and camelbacks)
jeffrey-wimberly These reports on crossing accidents, BRAKIE nailed it! 'Train hits car in wrong lane!'.
These reports on crossing accidents, BRAKIE nailed it! 'Train hits car in wrong lane!'.
hahaha! oh the throttle notch isn't a steering wheel? my bad. the brake notches? dynamic brakes? steerable trucks? trains can't swerve on their own?
people have no respect for trains these days. "nah, it's ok my 1-2 ton car can take on a varied ton locomotive."
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
BRAKIE Indeed I like those ads that read: "Relive your childhood." Really? What morons.. A lot of stuff I do today wasn't even dreamed of in the 50s!
Indeed I like those ads that read: "Relive your childhood." Really? What morons..
A lot of stuff I do today wasn't even dreamed of in the 50s!
dknelsonThe sad fact is, that if you know -- really know -- something about any particular topic, then the treatment given that topic by the media, be it TV or movies or popular fiction or frankly even the news media, is likely to send you off the deep end.
The news story on a train /vehicle accident can make it sound like the train swerved to hit the car.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
7j43k It's been years and years, but I think I recall an episode of "Hogan's Heroes" that featured a train. Well, not a German one, of course. I swore it was pulled by 4449 back before it got famous--when it was just another GS4. Since I was watching over the airwaves, there was no way to stop and rewind. Sniff. Ed
It's been years and years, but I think I recall an episode of "Hogan's Heroes" that featured a train. Well, not a German one, of course. I swore it was pulled by 4449 back before it got famous--when it was just another GS4. Since I was watching over the airwaves, there was no way to stop and rewind. Sniff.
Ed
Actually, Hogan's Heroes started production in the mid-sixties, about a decade after SP went completely diesel, so 4449 really wasn't "just another GS4"...although it's possible they used color film taken in the fifties for the show.
In the original TV "Superman" series, the first season or two they used a GS4 as the "more powerful than a locomotive" engine. Later (I think when they switched to color) it became E-units.
BTW back to the original post, but some railroads equipped their diesels with Hancock air whistles, which sound like steam whistles. Progressive Rail engines have them still today, at least some of them, although they generally have horns which they use more often.
The sad fact is, that if you know -- really know -- something about any particular topic, then the treatment given that topic by the media, be it TV or movies or popular fiction or frankly even the news media, is likely to send you off the deep end. Indeed it might be that railroads are treated rather better than most specialized topics.
joe323As I recall trains were destroyed in several Hogans Heroes episode (or at least RR bridges).
7j43kIt's been years and years, but I think I recall an episode of "Hogan's Heroes" that featured a train. Well, not a German one, of course. I swore it was pulled by 4449 back before it got famous--when it was just another GS4. Since I was watching over the airwaves, there was no way to stop and rewind. Sniff.
Have you ever watched one of those Italo-Western movies? Take an Italian 0-6-0 T, add a dummy pilot with front wheel and cow catcher and think it is a true US prototype 2-6-0!
It´s not only that the folks in Hollywood have little to no knowledge of railroads and railroad history, it´s the movie makers all over the world .
There is a movie about the Great Train Robbery of 1961, when the infamous Ronald Biggs and his gang robbed a Royal Mail train in the UK. Filmed in Gemany, the train was pulled by a German Diesel loco, sporting a Deutsche Bundesbahn logo, and stopping at a German-style signal.
The most common mistake is to show locos and rolling stock which were built decades after the era the movie is supposed to be set in.
tstage When those occurrences happen, I just chuckle to myself and move on... Tom
When those occurrences happen, I just chuckle to myself and move on...
Tom
My late father was a career fighter pilot, and he used to get a kick out of tv shows, i.e., "The Six Million Dollar Man. Col. Steve Austin (before he became a wrestler ) would take off in an F-100, fly in an F-4 and land in an F-101, all in the same flight.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Hoople mobilman44 I have to say I am a little sensitive about how the movies and tv shows portray railroads. The other day I saw part of the History Channels "The building of America" and they showed what was supposed to be an early "oil train". Well, it was flat cars with drums (of oil), which is reasonably accurate for the pre tank car period. You're thinking of the show "The Men Who Built America" which, imo, is excellent- but their trains are just wrong. For the episode on Cornelius Vanderbilt, many of the trains are actually European, among other faults. And sometimes they even had diesel horns! Putting aside the nitpicking, the show actually was quite good and informative.
mobilman44 I have to say I am a little sensitive about how the movies and tv shows portray railroads. The other day I saw part of the History Channels "The building of America" and they showed what was supposed to be an early "oil train". Well, it was flat cars with drums (of oil), which is reasonably accurate for the pre tank car period.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I have to agree about Hollywood using stock footage or railroad locales. I was watching an episode of one of my favorite shows growing up, "Combat!". Sgt. Saunders and his squad walked between some boxcars, which were American 4 axle cars, with knuckle couplers. Most of the European boxcars I'd ever seen were 2 axle cars, with hoop and pin couplers.