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If you could ride a locomotive cab anywhere in the U.S., where would it be? & Why?

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If you could ride a locomotive cab anywhere in the U.S., where would it be? & Why?
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 3, 2004 9:23 PM
Where: The former Rio Grande Moffat Line (Denver - Salt Lake) jumps out at me.

Why: Tough operating characteristics (grades, curves, tunnels) and beautiful scenery.

How about y'all? [:D]
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Posted by UPTRAIN on Saturday, April 3, 2004 9:29 PM
Here.......I don't like grades............good ole flat running!!!

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 3, 2004 9:42 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by UPTRAIN

Here.......I don't like grades............good ole flat running!!!



Hi Zach [:)]

So when are you going to come to NLR and give me a ride? [8D] ( I would even ride in a nasty GE ) [}:)] But I want to ride across the Bearing Cross Bridge. [:p]

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, April 3, 2004 9:50 PM
Montreal Secondary of CSX. I live near it, hear ops on it all the time. Like to ride it end to end, and maybe back. Wouldn't mind catching a local with a lot of work to do, either.

Second choice would be the Saginaw sub in Michigan - again because I lived near it and saw trains almost every day.

The fact that they are both CSX is coincidence. Montreal Secondary was NYC and Saginaw line was originally PM, then C&O.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by UPTRAIN on Saturday, April 3, 2004 9:51 PM
I may get down there....................this is Northbound territory here!!! get some south bounders.

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 3, 2004 10:21 PM
CSX (Ex-NYC) Water Level Route, over Horseshoe Curve on the NS (Ex-PRR) over the Donner Pass on the UP (Ex-SP) and the parallel Ex-WP route too....too many others to mention...

LC
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Posted by UPTRAIN on Saturday, April 3, 2004 11:05 PM
Horsehoe curve would be neat to run though............hmm..............

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 4, 2004 4:19 AM
LC,
I hadn't thought about your suggestion of the WP in California on the Feather River Route. That's a beauty too. I've wanted to get out there to see that line for quite a while now. The photos I've seen and the topo maps sure show an amazing piece of RR engineering there with the tunnels and with how the line snakes up and back in the valley there.
Good choice! - Stack
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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, April 4, 2004 7:18 AM
....One would be a local route I'm familar with in terrain...and almost did get it accomplished years ago but circumstances didn't quite fall in correct place...Location: On the Somerset and Cambria branch of the ex. B&O now CSX...from Somerset to Johnstown about 30 plus miles....Reason: Heavy grades and curves and even a short tunnel. Elevation change about 1000'. Ex. heavy coal hauler...Now, just some light freight at times.

Quentin

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Posted by Willy2 on Sunday, April 4, 2004 9:43 AM
I wouldn't mind going on the Tehachapi Loop. Steep grade, sharp curves, and tunnels.
I would like to go up the line and back down because first I would experience what the crew goes through to get the train up. Then I could see what they go through to get the train down safely.

My second choice would be the UP triple track mainline in Nebraska. I would want to go one the triple track because the trains go fast non-stop. Then I would get to see Bailey Yard.

Willy

Willy

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Posted by moelarrycurly4 on Sunday, April 4, 2004 11:03 AM
Tehachapi loop defiantely .

because I got to see it when I was little
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 4, 2004 11:36 AM
A BNSF intermodal hotshot going thru the Q's old Lacrosse Div.-Beautiful scenery along the old Mississipp.
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Posted by Noah Hofrichter on Sunday, April 4, 2004 12:07 PM
Anyplace on the Wisconsin and southern's railroad lines in the fall. Most of the running is through hills with lots of trees and if you hit the right time, all the trees would be turning their colors.

Noah
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Posted by pmsteamman on Sunday, April 4, 2004 2:19 PM
tree68, I run on the Saginaw sub everyday. You may be intrested in knowing that the limits of the subdivision have been changed. Saginaw is MP CC1 and it runs south to Carlton Mich at MP CC105. It used to run all the way to the state line of Mich and Ohio. The former part from Carlton to Walbridge is now the Toledo Terminal sub.
As for my dream,, between Hunington W VA to Hinton W VA in a C&O H-8. A tough piece of railroad and a beast of a locomotive.
Highball....Train looks good device in place!!
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Posted by locomutt on Sunday, April 4, 2004 2:55 PM
My personal preference, as far as riding a train, would be riding a GP7/GP9 up the
Big Sandy, or if we were still in steam, one of the C&O BERKS would work.

I don't think H8's ran on the subdivision. If they did, I wouldn't mind being on one.

Last H8 I saw was in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.

Why? I'd just like to be there and see everything from the cab.
Huntington to Hinton would be nice!

Being Crazy,keeps you from going "INSANE" !! "The light at the end of the tunnel,has been turned off due to budget cuts" NOT AFRAID A Vet., and PROUD OF IT!!

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 4, 2004 3:03 PM
How about an Amtrak AEM-7 on the NEC

DOGGY
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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, April 4, 2004 3:26 PM
Willard sub through fostoria deshler all the way to garrett.with yard stop in Defiance.
home territory
stay safe
Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by eolafan on Sunday, April 4, 2004 4:41 PM
Two choices, either one would be fine. First would be the BNSF out of Chicago through the westerb burbs on triple track raceway and then up the C&I line through E. Dubuque, LaCrosse up the MIssissipi River to Minneapolis. Second would be on CN out of Chicago, up the old Wisconsin Central/Soo Line track through Fon duLac and out through Stevens point. An honorable mention would be up to Portage on an Amtrak train and then up the old MILW Valley Line to Wausau.
Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim)
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 4, 2004 7:43 PM
dblstack a very good choice. Back in the 50's and 60's I worked for the Rio Grande and had a number of cab rides. 13 hours in the cab of the CZ Denver to SLC was a long day but a great experience. Mountain railroading with some fast running around Rifle CO and in the Utah desert. Spent a nice evening in the cab of #7 the Prospector, different look at night Denver to Grand Junction. Several trips on #1 and #2 the Royal Gorge thru the canyon of its name, great scenery and some fast running from Colo.Sprgs. to Pueblo. But the best - lots of noise, hot, dirty, rough ride and slow, Alamosa to Chama on a K36 over Cumbres. Unforgettable!!!

Had an authorization for a cab ride on the Super Chief from La Junta to Albuquerque but a family emergency forced cancellation, a great pity as was never able to get it set up again. Raton Pass and some really fast running back in the good old days of the Santa Fe. Might have seen 100 on the speedometer. Amtrak wouldn't even come close.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 4, 2004 10:08 PM
The BNSF C&I Line, Auroua to Savanna. I'd like to see all the spots i railfan at from the engineer's view.
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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 5, 2004 4:08 AM
My cab rides seem pretty tame by comparison, but I did ride a Deltic from London to Newcastle before the East Coast Main Line was electrified, and most of the time we were right at 100mph. Of course I'd love to be in a cab on the CZ StL-Denver or reverse, and on a freight to Craig (David Moffat being one my heros). I was behind an Metroliner engineer in the first year of that operation, before the PC merger, when he hit 136mph on the digital read-out speedometer south of Wilmington. (The first Mteroliners were self-propelled electric mu cars, so standing behind the engineer meant simply standing in the open bulkhead doorway.) So I would not mind a cab ride in an Acela at all. Suprised not to see anyone else mention it. Dave
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 5, 2004 4:22 AM
Hmmmm!!!!!

1: Cajon Pass - BNSF Line
2: Cajon Pass - UP Line

both with a heavy freight or doublestack. Great grade!!! One of the best RR places I had ever seen

3. Sherman Hill - DonĀ“t ask why, but I like this "mountain" line - A mountain line without mountains.

BTW: I had the pleasure to made a cabride with a 300 km/h ICE3 train from Frankfurt to Cologne. 190 mph - a flight a level ZERO!!! And the cab in an ICE 3 is more like a cockpit.
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Posted by Mookie on Monday, April 5, 2004 7:06 AM
to a lot of forum members watch area! Cool - wave as I go by!

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by oltmannd on Monday, April 5, 2004 12:34 PM
Had a cab ride at Steamtown (VT) as a kid (10 year old) and it scared the heck out of me! But, I think if I could choose any cab ride, I'd choose a ride in the PRR K-4 (if and when they finish putting it back together) over the old PRR Middle Div from Harrisburg to Altoona at track speed.

I've had some neat cab rides over the years: Metroliner (tho' I only saw 127 mph, max), E60, an Amtrak FL9 at 90 mph on the Shorline, BN SD60MAC on the CR Pittsburgh Line, the Juice train up the NEC, Selkirk to Collinwood on vans, the B&A on brand new C32-8s (the first production Dash 8s?) and down the Susquehanna on SD40-2, but to get a cab ride in a steam locomotive again would really be neat.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by espeefoamer on Monday, April 5, 2004 3:04 PM
Black Butte,CA.to Eugene,OR.on the Syskiou line.[8D]
Klamath Falls,OR to Flanigan,NV on the Modoc line.[:p]
Mojave TO Bakersfield over the Tehachapi Mountains.My first train ride was over this line.[:)]
All these on the mighty SP.May it live forever!!![:D][:D][:D]
(I have haerd about that "merger" but I'm still in denial about that.)[:(!]
Ride Amtrak. Cats Rule, Dogs Drool.
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Posted by vsmith on Monday, April 5, 2004 3:17 PM
1. Durango & Silverton on one of thier K-27's up the Animas River gorge, Why? Do I really need to say it?

2. Combres & Toltec Chama to Antonio on a K-37, Why? Please see above.

3. UP 844 or the UP Challenger or SP 4449 or SF 3751anytime anywhere. Why? Are you really that dense?

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by jeaton on Monday, April 5, 2004 11:26 PM
If I could get just one, it would have to be Donner. You have to ask why?
Once had a ride on an ICG E-9 on the Panama coming north out of Champaign. Hit 95, but mostly it was corn and beans. Biggest disappointment-in the cab, the bell and horn are just clunky.

"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics

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Posted by cpbloom on Tuesday, April 6, 2004 6:47 AM
I was gonna say the Pittsburgh line from Conway yard to Harrisburg, but since I can ride that on Amtrak (just not in the cab) I pick........THE RATHOLE!
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 6, 2004 7:04 AM
I as a boy 8-11 rode as sat in the cab of Locomotives from RS-10,s to M-630
on CN Rail as lived in Brookville with my dad working at Brookville lime.mostly it
was the wey freight that ran from Saint John to Sussex.my dream is to ride in a
a cab of any diesle on the Horse shoe curve as alway loved Pennsy and Penn
Central.the sight of the area is WOW.

Make Sure the Light is Green
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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, April 6, 2004 7:48 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

to a lot of forum members watch area! Cool - wave as I go by!

Matt would wave back for sure.[:)]
stay safe
joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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