The other day, I took my one year old son to the park to play on the swings like I do most nights. Now, said park is right next to the NS Piedmont Division main line. My son was tiring of swing when I heard horn. My wife gave me the "go ahead" look and I put my son on my shoulders and walked to where could see the action. A few minutes later, a pair of SD40-2s pulling a trio of covered hoppers ambled by.
That's when it hit, an SD40-2 is to my son what a GP9 or F Unit is to me. A modern wide cab will be to him what an SD40-2 is to me. If he's even interested in trains, and I'm doing everything I can to sow those seeds, he'll be say "yeah, ES44AC!" The way I go "yay, SD40-2s!"
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
I know the feeling. My adult son, who recently took up the hobby, got a picture of a Cargill SD9 in transit on the Burlington at Western Avenue. We both agreed that it was a good catch on that date. What was once ordinary for me is now something special for both of us.
To my mind we are about due for the next 'revolution' in main line power as the AC's have been plying their trade for 20 years.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I hear you my hubby is like a schoolgirl at prom when the local comes to town with something other than the normal B-40-8W's on the point. Couple days ago it came thru with and he about fainted a GP38 and GP50 on it. He was like what are those doing here one of which still was in Blue and Yellow.
And here I have a local shortline with ALCO/MLW power, from C424/425's, C430's, up to big C630's & C636's..... Those must be like seeing (and capturing in a photo) the real Bigfoot, being abducted by aliens flying a UFO, during a blue moon, with rainbows and unicorns in the background.
The other shortline has SD40 series, GP35-40 series, and SD45 series units. Can anyone say Sasquatch, shaking hands with Elvis, during an eclipse?
And, yes, the mainline guys (and gals) near the lakeshore run mainly ES44 series, SD70 series, etc... But, I get to see lots of "dinosaur" power on the shortlines around too.
I just like all of them!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
ricktrains4824But, I get to see lots of "dinosaur" power on the shortlines around too.
Heck, I get to run it!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
True as I was headed to work today I saw a CF-7 on the IL Railnet in Ottawa. I had to look twice. That thing is older than ME.
Over here we get the best of both worlds.. aging RS-18s on the Guelph Junction Railway, high horsepower SD's (including an ex Cotton Belt SD45T-2) on the G&W , and 20 minutes away we have CP's double track main with more up to date power.
When I was a kid (and I know I've said this before), the locomotive in my life was a BL2. That's what I saw, day in and day out. Then, I started getting Trains in 1962. I found out just how rare these beasts were. I also found out about some other locomotives, switchers, etc., that I'd occasionally see. And Trains was running attractive ads from EMD about "The Revolutionary GP30." So that was the gold standard for me. I was on Cloud Nine when we happened on a couple of those engines idling, sounding unlike anything I'd heard before. It was about then that I discovered that Alcos sounded weird (sorry, Larry...they did, then!). And right about the time I saw my first GP30s, we lost the BL2s...those were precisely the units traded in for the 30s!Of course, as an avid reader of Trains, I was up to the minute (or the year, anyway) on the GP35s, and wow!--the 40 series, when it was announced in 1965. I was a victim of the cascading of power...the GP7s and GP9s I was used to were going elsewhere to replace the F7s that never came our way, so the GP30s and GP35s became more commonplace.
Then I left home and moved to the big city. Hired out for a railroad whose mainline power was SD40s and SD45s (impressive creatures), but they still used GP30s, GP35s, and SD35s as well--not much of a change. I should have realized that things were changing because the yard switchers of choice were now GP7s and GP9s.The Dash Twos came, and those were sophisticated units--wow again, they were as common as Geeps were (I still hadn't realized that this was becoming "used to be". I was still seeing mostly Fs and old switchers at Pielet Brothers. When the Geeps started coming around, I thought they were wreck jobs or something. And my railroad doggedly held onto them--rebuilt them, bought more, and cleaned out a lot of older power that way.I was a little sad when the 50-series engines were introduced, because that knocked the SD40-2s off the top of the heap. Or it should have--they weren't that great a locomotive. When the SD60s and Dash 8s were introduced, that was the start of the third generation to me...microprocessors, radar wheel-slip, etc. So the Geeps were really doddering old grandparents.
Then my railroad disappeared. And so did the first and second generations of diesels. The yard engines became GP15-1s. Some third-generation units started to disappear, too (they were really not that great), and the fourth generation--AC power, wide noses, the other AC to keep the crews cool--became normal in most routine operations. Our railroad wasn't all that sure--in the middle of its AC units from GE, it still ordered over 1000 units that could be considered third-generation units. But now, these units find their way to the storage line often enough, along with Dash 8s and Dash 9s. I can remember when our railroad was the first to get Dash 9s, and now they're in storage. Other railroads hang on to older power, so it is possible to visit the CSX Museum, the BNSF Museum, or the CP Museum by just driving a couple of miles. So I'm well into my fourth generation of diesels, with fond memories of every one of them. I suppose the EPA tiers are enough to denote another generation, but there is little else new...I'm ready for a fifth generation that can produce power with less volume (they still aren't ready for 5000-6000-horsepower units), change the appearance (to what?), or something remarkable. Bring 'em on! Preserve what we need to create fond memories, or do the impossible (how about a smoking Tier 4 "Alco"?). But above all, kick back and watch the show!
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
CShaveRRI discovered that Alcos sounded weird (sorry, Larry...they did, then!)
No offense taken - I kinda like EMD's, too. Each has its own "characteristics..."
Tier 5 = electrics !
A similar chronology could also be written for electric locomotives in the NorthEast, where there have been several generations on the PRR, and then Amtrak, plus a few commuter lines such as SEPTA.
- Paul North.
tree68 ricktrains4824 But, I get to see lots of "dinosaur" power on the shortlines around too.
ricktrains4824 But, I get to see lots of "dinosaur" power on the shortlines around too.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
But not, I think, the MM&A's...
CShaveRR Then I left home and moved to the big city. Hired out for a railroad whose mainline power was SD40s and SD45s (impressive creatures), but they still used GP30s, GP35s, and SD35s as well--not much of a change. I should have realized that things were changing because the yard switchers of choice were now GP7s and GP9s.
Then I left home and moved to the big city. Hired out for a railroad whose mainline power was SD40s and SD45s (impressive creatures), but they still used GP30s, GP35s, and SD35s as well--not much of a change. I should have realized that things were changing because the yard switchers of choice were now GP7s and GP9s.
And now SD40-2 engines are yard/local power.
I grew up near a railroad that used mostly 4 axle units. They (RI) had a handful of SD40-2 and U30C engines. Now what I saw has road power growing up is only used as yard or local power. (I remember hearing that when their first GP38-2 units started arriving on the property, they weren't supposed to be used on local trains. Of course that edict wasn't always followed.)
It used to be that those SD40-2 engines looked so big. Now they look small.
The other day I was working a train on former RI trackage. I showed my conductor what that subdivision looked like in the last RI employee time table from 1979. He saw the date and said he wasn't even born yet. Now that's Scary!
Jeff
jeffhergert The other day I was working a train on former RI trackage. I showed my conductor what that subdivision looked like in the last RI employee time table from 1979. He saw the date and said he wasn't even born yet. Now that's Scary! Jeff
There is only 1 dispatcher on our roster that was born before my hire date. I am the only one that has a seniority date from the 20th Century, which is also before all but 2 on the roster were born. Talk about scary!
Balt, I will pull a little age on you. I rode behind passenger steam (2 trains--Birmingham #11, and #136 two years before the Southern pulled all its fires. Until all steam was taken out of service, the Southern proudly noted in its passenger timetable which trains were Diesel-powered, and the terminals for the steam operation (the trains that came through Bristol were diesel-powered between Washington and Monroe and between Bristol and their destinations.. I remember the steam engines that used to come through my home town (and watching a pig that someone kept in his back yard, right next to the track, going crazy when a train went by), and the first Alcos that I ever saw (Roadswitchers) on the same branch.
I miss the opportunities I had to interact with men in road service (of course, after moving here, going on 42 years ago, I had no opportunity to even talk with such). It seems that trainmen seldom even come through the passenger cars now.
Johnny
Hellova way to run a railroad.
Deggesty Balt, I will pull a little age on you. I rode behind passenger steam (2 trains--Birmingham #11, and #136 two years before the Southern pulled all its fires. Until all steam was taken out of service, the Southern proudly noted in its passenger timetable which trains were Diesel-powered, and the terminals for the steam operation (the trains that came through Bristol were diesel-powered between Washington and Monroe and between Bristol and their destinations.. I remember the steam engines that used to come through my home town (and watching a pig that someone kept in his back yard, right next to the track, going crazy when a train went by), and the first Alcos that I ever saw (Roadswitchers) on the same branch. I miss the opportunities I had to interact with men in road service (of course, after moving here, going on 42 years ago, I had no opportunity to even talk with such). It seems that trainmen seldom even come through the passenger cars now.
As a kid (7-8 or so), I recall riding behind steam in revenue service on the carrier I hired out on. Later in Junior High school I can recall playing on retired steam engines on the shop track, after working hours, in the town we were living in.
Well, I guess I have to fess up. I, too, rode behind steam when mom sent me to my uncle's farm for a few weeks so she could have some peace and quiet. The last revenue run of steam I can recall on the line near me was in the early sixties. I still miss how those engineers could play a steam whistle. Each one seemed to have his own signature on it.
Norm
I know that feeling, too, Jeff, about working with "kids". There were two milestones there: working with people born after my seniority date, and working with people younger than my own kids.Of course, the opposite held true, too: I worked with people who had been around before I was born (including one old-timer who was around before Proviso was built, and lasted well over 60 years), and whose kids were older than mine (in fact, there was one father-and-son combo on the roster, both of whom predated me).
jeffhergert CShaveRR Then I left home and moved to the big city. Hired out for a railroad whose mainline power was SD40s and SD45s (impressive creatures), but they still used GP30s, GP35s, and SD35s as well--not much of a change. I should have realized that things were changing because the yard switchers of choice were now GP7s and GP9s. And now SD40-2 engines are yard/local power. I grew up near a railroad that used mostly 4 axle units. They (RI) had a handful of SD40-2 and U30C engines. Now what I saw has road power growing up is only used as yard or local power. (I remember hearing that when their first GP38-2 units started arriving on the property, they weren't supposed to be used on local trains. Of course that edict wasn't always followed.) It used to be that those SD40-2 engines looked so big. Now they look small. The other day I was working a train on former RI trackage. I showed my conductor what that subdivision looked like in the last RI employee time table from 1979. He saw the date and said he wasn't even born yet. Now that's Scary! Jeff
Last night I caught the third trick yard goat (No, no one really talks like that anymore.) off the extra board. Our power was two of the SD40-2 engines that have been refurbished for yard/local duty. It seemed weired kicking cars with what once was standard road power.
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