Railroad Practice / Procedures

[Anonymous]

Hi,
Can anyone help a 'Brit' who is as green as grass when it come to American Railroad practice and procedures.
I am building my first layout in 22yrs, I know very little about US railroads, but I am learning day by day.
Perhaps someone who would be willing to correspond on a regular basis by email or MSN....
Perhaps we could exchange knowledge of our rail systems...
Thanking you in advance..

Alan

[Anonymous]

Alan,

If your not shy about being a novice, just post your questions here and several guys are likely to reply to each giving you a broader perspective of the American scene.

There are several differences between railroading in the US and in Europe. The most important is that in the US, railroading is about making money. I understand in Europe, looks are given much emphasis. In the US, if it is efficent and safe nobody cares what it looks like. Most of our system is based on single track with passing sidings. We have almost no passenger rail because there is so little demand. So in the US all we see is freight trains except for an occasional Amtrak running from the northeast to Florida or from the northeast to Chicago or California.

I gotta go indulge my son. Just post here and we will be happy to help. Good Luck - Ed

[Anonymous]

Well, Ed is correct regarding long distance intercity passenger service,there is quite a bit of commuter rail service operating in major metropolitan regions and regional corridors here. This includes light rail vehicles(lightweight EMU)operating on dedicated rights of way as well as "heavy rail" commuter cars,using either diesel or (Northeastern US)electric locomotives operating on conventional lines,often sharing the rails with freight service.These systems are operated by govermental or quasi-govermental agencies,who may own trackage or use privately owned freight lines(often a combination). The American public seems most aware of these services while railfans in the US tend to be more interested in the operations of freight railroads,including the small number of major carriers and the many regional and shortline operations.
American freight railroads are (largely)very successful and innovative private businesses while passenger rail has declined in importance since World War 2 due largely to a highly developed highway infrastructure and individual Americans preference for the private automobile. Intrestingly,this leads to a good deal of political debate amongst railfans. This has a lot to do with American's attitudes towards government,which historically have been very different than that of people in Europe.
In fact,I wouldn't be surprised if my post sparks some debate..........

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of small towns, espcially in the Midwest and Western states, that were built around the railroad. The rails are the main mode of transportation used to haul grain and livestock from the elevators and breeders in the smaller towns to the processing plants in the big cities. Unfortunately, a lot of these rail lines have been abandoned as the companies get bigger and bigger.

In American passenger railroading, May 1, 1971, is the milepost. This was the day when the American Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, took over most of the intercity passenger service in the US from the private companies.

Also, one little historical note: most railroads traditionally ran on the right-hand side of a double-track main. But one railroad, the Chicago & North Western, ran on the left. When Union Pacific bought the C&NW, they kept that tradition. But nowadays, with CTC, any train can run on any track anywhere.