Honestly I would want to run three Western Pacific GP7's on a freight through the Feather River Canyon.
Beyer Garratt and a double Fairlie.
A pair of DD40AX'es with a SD-40 Fast Forty sandwiched between hauling a long freight at 70 mph.
DDA40Xman (and fan)
I was lucky enough to run the F and one of the switchers at Portola many years ago...
Mr. McCormacks PA would be outstanding.
An F40 would be on the bucket list as well.
Oh The things I could post.
In Cincinnati you find everything from ex Alaska GP49's to the PRR heritage Es44 to SD 80 macks and even the NS f9's.
but down south in latonia , an old PRR E8A sits in an old L&N storage yard, now the Railway museum of greater cincinnati.
That's where I found the GE center cab, but boy would I give to run that engine and their set of PRR passenger cars to Union Terminal and back, with both prime movers running in full. Roots blowers howling, feet kicked up on the little box under the control stand, AC running...
The best part would be a crowd of spectators at Union terminal, hearing the sound of pure Power.
just hope it doesn't fall apart, it's been sitting since the 80's
That or. E of the u23b's on sterlimy rail
http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=34525
Pin my ride!! I think with double turbo charger and double header. We could do 5.3 seconds..
Would really like the chance to run Steve Lee's machine , and Doyle's PA ! DPH The Travler
For me -anything from a ole Shay -DDA40x Really wouldn't mind sitting in the drivers seat on the Santa Fe Superchiefs or a big 2-8-8-2 Rio Grande 3700 series,lugging up the hill near Mitchell,Colo( Tenn Pass)
VGN H24-66
I had an engineer a few years ago who had a coal train with SD40-2 and 2 CW44AC's. It was summer and he did everything he could to bad order that SD40-2 so he could get the AC (for both Alternating Current and Air Conditioning!) in the lead!
As for me, I would love to run an AEM7 again.
An SD50/60 type, but on a long train where it is pulling like mad.
The EMD SD40-2
A UP turbine across wyoming and into utah.
I have operated Union Pacific AC4400CW's and SD9043MAC's as well as BNSF SD70MAC's, and I would have to say my favorite was the AC4400CW. The throttle response and pulling power were unmatched. However I would jump at the chance to operate a 4-8-2 Mountain, specifically Frisco 1522.
BigJim Out of curiosity, why the SD40-2 Because they were the best darn diesel locomotive ever made!
Out of curiosity, why the SD40-2
I'll second that !
.
I'm not picky. I would run anything, new or old, steam or diesel, I like them all. Now for the short list.
NKP 587 ( a USRA 2-8-2 )
N&W J class ( Beauty, power and speed all in one package )
NKP S class Berkshire
SD70MAC ( in earthquake mode )
Any early U-boat
Erie Triplex
A four unit set of FTs
ATSF U30CG + U28CG ON THE POINT OF THE SUPER-C THROTTLE WIDE OPEN;SEEN THESE BABIES WHEN I WAS A YOUNGSTER,WHAT AN AWESOME MEMORY,DOIN 75 IN THE DESERT. TRULY WAS SANTA FE ALL THE WAY!!!!
Does it have to be real?
If not, I would pick the ACE 3000.
If it does, I'll have to think about it.
EMD SD40-2 in it's prime......there isn't anything better.
While the 3985 would literally be a "DREAM COME TRUE" it and the UP 844 and the SP 4449, still are in service, they are about as likely as it is for Bill and Melinda Gates are to call and tell me I am a long lost Nephew.
8 Big boys still exist, but the chances of one running again are pretty slim.
And for one of the Beauties to happen again would take new construction way beyond what the Brits managed with their NEW Tornado Pacific. Hey "Uncle Bill, Auntie Melinda"?
But any of the above would be beyond description if it were to happen. Guess I will have to be content running 1:48 scale models of them.
Doug
May your flanges always stay BETWEEN the rails
former Westside Heisler #3...I have fond memories climbing on it in 1960 when parked adjacent to the mill in Tuolumne. Too bad Roaring Camp has had difficulties keeping it in running in recent years. Also, any Mallet (compound steam) articulated would be a blast. Are there any still running?
Mark
Thank You AGAIN RWM,
You are a wealth of knowledge, when it comes to rail related topics, I can't recall many (any) questions that you haven't had the answer too, usually more info than the poster asked for.
I will have to check into the FRRS in Portola. Hopefully the economy will a least show some improvement, I have done Engineer For a Day (EFD) programs each year for the last couple years, and hoped to continue, but this year isn't looking to good right now, but there is next year and the year after that, and after that and....
I never paid union dues in TY&E service, only into other crafts and then went exempt. If I had spent my career with my behind in a cab seat, I might have a different answer.
I think the Feather River Rail Society in Portola, Calif., offers hands-on in an F7
RWM
Thanks RWM,
I have read numerous posts about working rails prefering wide cabs to spartan cabs for numerous reasons, and was a little surprized that you picked the SD40-2(though I would enjoy that opportunity myself)
Speaking of F-Units, do You know of any place that offers an F-Unit in a rental program? I have run the NNRY's 4-6-0 #40, their SD9 #204, the SVRY 2-8-2 #19, a Privately owned H.K. Porter 0-4-0T, and more than 25 years ago a GP38-2, that I will avoid giving specifics on, though that engineer retired shortly after, and may not even still be alive (things were much different back then) An F-Unit is very high on my list, along with the SVRY's Heisler #3 and the NNRY's 2-8-0 #93 and their Alco RS's, in the future.
Thanks again, Doug
Not nostalgia. In fact, it seems strange to be living longer than the Dash 2s, which were new when I started my career. So were C30-7s -- now where did all those disappear to!
Actually any six-motor Dash-2 will do -- SD45-2, SD40T-2, SD45T-2. They all feel and run the same. An SD will just float through bad track whereas the big GEs sort of crash through it; you wonder if they're about to derail.
It's just personal preference.
Railway Man SD40-2 with an air conditioner.
SD40-2 with an air conditioner.
RWM,
Out of curiosity, why the SD40-2 ( I can understand the air conditioner part) is it Nostalgia, as they are in their last years of service? Or is there some other reason that you would prefer them over a more modern locomotive, esp one with a Wide/Safety/Comfort Cab?
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