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Classic Railroad Quiz (at least 50 years old).

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, January 26, 2017 8:07 AM

rcdrye

SP - Ferry Building San Francisco

UP - Council Bluffs Iowa

I think the other two are CB&Q (originally West Chicago IL, I assume renumbered later) and CRI&P.  I haven't found any accounts of negative mileposts yet.

 

The SP is one of the four roads. The UP has oodles of zero mileposts.

Try another section of the country.

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, January 26, 2017 6:43 AM

SP - Ferry Building San Francisco

UP - Council Bluffs Iowa

I think the other two are CB&Q (originally West Chicago IL, I assume renumbered later) and CRI&P.  I haven't found any accounts of negative mileposts yet.

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Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 9:05 PM

Deggesty

Off-hand, I know of four railroads that had one zero milepost each for the majority of its lines (the majority of the lines on each road had a common zero mp). Name four, with the location of the zero mp--and name the two roads of the four that had negative mileposts for their connections with another road (name it), and the locations of the junctions.

 

Two of these roads were bitter rivals for traffic on their mainlines--and had several branchline endpoints in common but did not provide real competition in reaching these endpoints (one road's route to each one of these endpoints was much longer than the other road's route).

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Posted by rcdrye on Saturday, January 21, 2017 7:41 PM

A brief revisit to the GE train - the coaches went to the CRI&P, the PAs to the NYC, so parts of the train may have been reunited from time to time at LaSalle St. in Chicago!

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, January 21, 2017 7:21 PM

Off-hand, I know of four railroads that had one zero milepost each for the majority of its lines (the majority of the lines on each road had a common zero mp). Name four, with the location of the zero mp--and name the two roads of the four that had negative mileposts for their connections with another road (name it), and the locations of the junctions.

Johnny

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, January 21, 2017 6:56 PM

Very good gentlemen ...you are both time stamped at 6:46, however, Deggesty was first in the line. Also expanded on the answer nicely and didn'r answer the question with a question!...so it's all yours Deggesty. 

The history of James J. Hill and the Great Northern is truly remarkable. 

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Posted by NP Eddie on Saturday, January 21, 2017 6:46 PM

Miningman:

Are you thinking of the Great Northern?

Ed Burns

Happily retired NP-BN-BNSF from Northtown.

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, January 21, 2017 6:46 PM

The Empire Builder built his road without asking for land grants, and so the Great Northern came into existence.

He did do a hurry-up job (three switchbacks on the east slope and five on the west slope) to cross the Cascades, and it took two revisions to correct that.

Johnny

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, January 21, 2017 5:40 PM

OK..easy peasy question....Of all the Transcons built this was the only one successfully built with all private money only and no government land grants....actually if you think about that it's quite a feat. 

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Posted by K4sPRR on Saturday, January 21, 2017 5:05 PM

Miningman

The power was Alco-GE PA-1 and a PB...nicknamed Big Red. 

There was one exception regarding public viewing...that was in Schenectady where the employees of the plant and the public could view it at Edison Park.  

 

Big Red was a big part of the question, congratulations.  Miningman I pass the baton to you for the next question.

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, January 21, 2017 4:41 PM

The power was Alco-GE PA-1 and a PB...nicknamed Big Red. 

There was one exception regarding public viewing...that was in Schenectady where the employees of the plant and the public could view it at Edison Park.  

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Posted by K4sPRR on Saturday, January 21, 2017 3:28 PM

Nice video, thanks for posting.  It answers three parts of the five part question.  Still need the other two answers.  Good luck.

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Posted by RME on Saturday, January 21, 2017 12:06 PM

How about a presentation?

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Posted by K4sPRR on Friday, January 20, 2017 5:58 PM

Thanks Csshegewisch, here goes.

The postwar years seen innovations in technology influencing many aspects of our lives, railroads not excluded with experimental passenger trains and modernizations in freight transportation.  Special exhibition trains toured the country showcasing new technology of all types.  One such train was very unique in the fact the general public was not invited to view the displays found in its ten Pullman built railcars as it toured over 28,000 miles across America.

What was this train, its name, the primary sponsor, the power used to pull it and the nickname applied to those locomotives?

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, January 20, 2017 10:06 AM

We have a winner.  CTA last ran wood cars on a shuttle on the Kenwood Branch up to the route's abandonment in 1957.

K4sPRR, it's your question.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by K4sPRR on Thursday, January 19, 2017 1:50 PM

I'm going to take a stab at two in 1957.  The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin discontined use of wood cars that year and the Chicago Transit used wood-bodied cars on a shuttle service to Kenwood (?) that were discontined a few month's after the CA&E.  Not sure if shuttle service meets your questions criteria.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, January 19, 2017 10:06 AM

I'll stick with my hometown.  Who was the last rail operator (steam road, interurban or transit) to operate wood-bodied cars in passenger service in the Chicago metro area?  Also provide particulars of the operation if you know.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 8:02 AM

CSSHegewisch is up since he got the trains right.

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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, January 13, 2017 6:32 AM

GM&O must have borrowed a third car for the Chicago rotation.  Their own Pullmans in 1950 included the following:

The two plan 4090b 8 sec 3 dbr 1 DR cars "Show Me" and "Deep South"

four plan 3410 or 3410A 12 sec 1 DR cars (St. L- Montgomery)

two 10 sec 2 Cpt 1 DR cars (assigned Chicago-Springfield on the "Midnight Special")

two 13 DBR heavyweight rebuilds (ex-B&O? York A/C)

two 14 Sec. heavyweights

four plan 9012 8 sec, 4 Rmt, 3 DBR 1 Cpt ACF lightweights (Midnight Special). These cars were delivered in July of 1950.

The cars dating from the Alton/B&O era have B&O-style York A/C, the original GM&O (inc. lightweights) have Waukesha A/C and the two 14-secs have Mechanical/Brine.

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, January 12, 2017 12:49 PM

Deggesty
If the Abraham Lincoln carried the southbound car to St. Louis, there was quite a layover--from about ten one evening to about six the next afternnon. It was the Limited (was it still the Alton Limited after the GM&O absorbed the C&A?) that carried the southbound car.

Southbound on train 1 (The Limited), Northbound on the Abraham Lincoln.  Layover in St. Louis was around an hour in each direction.

The car list shows sections, drawing rooms and bedrooms which match the rebuilt heavyweights (plan 4090b) done in 1940.  Pullman had more of them in the "Tower" series.  The St. Louis-Montgomery car could be any plan 2410 or 3410 car.  GM&O's four ACF lightweights were assigned to the Midnight Special (7 and 8).  I'll try to dig up a list of GM&O-owned Pullmans.

The Humming Bird/Georgian combo was part of a large system of Pullman lines, so it's possible that some cars had rotations on other trains as part of their assignment.

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, January 12, 2017 10:59 AM

If the Abraham Lincoln carried the southbound car to St. Louis, there was quite a layover--from about ten one evening to about six the next afternnon. It was the Limited (was it still the Alton Limited after the GM&O absorbed the C&A?) that carried the southbound car.

And, it took three cars for each line--for the GM&O, leave St. Chicago in the morning and return in the afternoon (or, a Chicago-St. Louis car could be worked in so that only two more cars were needed for the run); for the C&EI-L&N, arrive in Mobile in the afternoon and leave the next morning.

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, January 12, 2017 10:23 AM

Good enough. The Abraham Lincoln carried the cars (by description the rebuilt heavyweight 8-3-1 cars "Show Me" and "Deep South", since roomettes weren't listed).  Through operation doesn't seem to have lasted very long.

The Georgian/Humming Bird carried a Chicago-Mobile 8-5, replaced by a 6-6-4 when the 1953 order came.  The sleepers to New Orleans came from Cincinnati.

The two trains also competed for St Louis-Montgomery business, with GM&O providing a 12-1 and L&N using an 8-5 (later 6-6-4).

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, January 12, 2017 10:04 AM

I would say that one route was on GM&O, part of which was the "Gulf Coast Rebel" south of St. Louis, not sure of the Chicago-St. Louis portion.  The other route was the "Georgian-Humming Bird", Chicago-C&EI-Evansville-L&N-Mobile.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 4:31 PM

For a period around 1950, two different Pullman lines were available between Chicago and Mobile Alabama.  Name the railroads and trains involved.

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 4:07 PM

 Aha! You found the zero milepost! I do not know when the change was made, but the unlettered Southern miles went all the way from Washington, D.C., to Columbus, Miss. They did not go through the Atlanta Terminal Station, though. As I recall, the SoRY's passeger TT showed the distance from Washington to Birmingham to be 805.1--and the mp just west of the station in Birmingham was 798 (it is more than forty years since I saw the mp).

 

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 3:45 PM

Deggesty

Southern passenger trains leaving this zero milepost ran over two foreign roads and made a station stop before reaching Southern rails. 

 

Washington DC Union Station. WTCo/PRR, RF&P then SR.  Station stop at Alexandria on the RF&P.

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 1:43 PM

Southern passenger trains leaving this zero milepost ran over two foreign roads and made a station stop before reaching Southern rails. 

Johnny

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 7:53 AM

No, it is not in Georgia. Do you have any Southern passenger timetables? If so, you should be able to determine where the zero milepost is.

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 6:53 AM

How about Georgia Milepost 0 on the W&A in Atlanta?

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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, January 9, 2017 3:58 PM

Not Richmond, though (I believe that) Richmond did have the zero m.p. for the Richmond Division, which ran to a point just above Danville.

Johnny

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