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Classic Train Questions Part Deux (50 Years or Older)

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RME
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Posted by RME on Friday, May 6, 2016 11:15 AM

Hint: Think of a famous brand of pencil!

The railroad involved in the joint service was famous for compounds.  And if I'm not mistaken, Vermont public television has a film about the object and its rail trip.  Sometimes mourning is NOT associated with Electra...

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, May 5, 2016 9:04 AM

In 1955 a Rutland Railroad local had to stop and wait for a large object to cross the tracks before it could proceed.  The large object was formerly used in a joint service with another railroad.  Name the object and the railroad.

RME
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Posted by RME on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 9:44 PM

Close enough.  The mirror blank from Corning.  Plenty of interesting detail on the Web including some video (that looks quicker than the indicated 25 mph!)

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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, April 29, 2016 1:23 PM

The Mt. Palomar telescope?

RME
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Posted by RME on Friday, April 29, 2016 12:39 PM

Well, I thought someone would surely have gotten this - the answer is found many places on the Web, including videos...

It took fourteen years for the 'finished product' to make it up (that's a hint) to its final destination.  That trip was not made by rail, and it was not an overheight move but was very wide...

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Posted by RME on Thursday, April 21, 2016 4:27 PM

Most definitely interline.  As a hint, the route included St. Louis.

As another hint, we had a discussion a few days ago on the Trains forum about special tariffs permitting 'milling' stops for certain shipments.  The commodity carried on the car in question set something of a record for processing 'in transit' before delivery.

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, April 21, 2016 7:00 AM

Interline move or purely NYCentral?

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Posted by RME on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 4:24 AM

daveklepper
Flatcar moving the central portion of the riverfront arch in St. Louis ...

Interesting idea, and I'd like to see how it was moved if so.  But that would be in the 1960s, while the car in question operated several decades earlier.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 3:49 AM

Flatcar moving the central portion of the riverfront arch in St. Louis, with excessive hight allowing a larger portion of the arch to be jointless and thus less subject to deterioration, as well as stronger structurally. 

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Posted by RME on Sunday, April 17, 2016 8:03 AM

daveklepper
Was the clearance problem as much width as height?

Very astute question, as I would expect from you.

No, no, a thousand times no. 

(And, although it was possible to carry with 'excess width' rather than height, and in fact delivery would be made without excess height for other reasons, there are very good reasons why that was not done here... go ahead and name them in your answer.)

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, April 17, 2016 4:43 AM

Was the clearance problem as much width as height?

RME
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Posted by RME on Friday, April 15, 2016 6:52 PM

daveklepper
Note that I at least got the restricted clearances right

Not for the reasons you think you have!!

Another hint, sort of:  There were some arguments that the Erie, which also served the 'point of origin', was a more likely road to handle this, and they did apparently have the same general car construction type involved.  But in the event, the Erie did not.

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, April 15, 2016 8:17 AM

Note that I at least got the restricted clearences right

Possibly moving rail equipment that cannot be moved on its own wheels?

 

or military equipment?    or was I correct with a connection to electric power?

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Posted by RME on Friday, April 15, 2016 12:36 AM

rcdrye
For the Chicago Railroad Fair?

No.

(In fact, some pains appear to have been taken to avoid Chicago completely, I suspect for some good operational reasons.)

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, April 14, 2016 12:37 PM

For the Chicago Railroad Fair?

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Posted by RME on Thursday, April 14, 2016 10:11 AM

Not even remotely close; in fact, going in the wrong direction almost as far as you could go and still be involved with the New York Central.

I will give you a hint: the restricted clearances were "institutional" on NYC, not location-related... and the very small wheels were apparently essential.

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, April 14, 2016 7:33 AM

I would guess to carry a high load into the restricted clearances of the Park Avenue tunnel leading to Grand Central Terminal.   Possibly a replacement electrical transformer.

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Posted by RME on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 10:03 PM

In the mid-1930s NYC fitted very small wheels on one of its flatcars.  Specifically why?

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 6:51 AM

SP/IE was also 1200V.  SN and IER used 1200V overhead, key used 600V third rail on the Bay Bridge.  Once bridge operation began, SN ran at 600 volts with the 600/1200 switch set at 1200 while on Key trackage.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 3:33 AM

Remember that Norther Electric started with local streetcars in Marysville-Uba City and had to get their local cars to from Sacramento shops.  The local cars were not equipped with 1200V capability.  Also applied afterward to Chico local cars.  These eventually were all four-wheel Birneys, and this was the only applicaton I know of where Birneys operated on third rail, running to and from shoping.

But the SN overhead Oakland - Sacrameneto was 1200V!  Ditto on the Bay Bridge.  Key used 3rd rail at 600.    IE/SP?   I think the 1200 overhead, but unsure. 

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, April 11, 2016 8:15 PM

Zzzzapp!  Michigan Railways did try 2400 volt third rail on the Grand Rapids line.  The need to set up stations with "cattle chutes" and equip crews with shorting bars to trip the substations in the event a journal caught an arc caused them to drop to the "more conservative" 1200V.  Central California Traction used an open 1200 volt third rail between Stockton and Sacramento with very little fencing.  Kind of surprisingly neighbor Northern Electric/Sacramento Northern stuck with 600 volts on its much longer stretches of third rail.  NOW it's your turn!

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Posted by RME on Monday, April 11, 2016 4:05 PM

Central California Traction and Michigan Railway Co. (various permutations of name) would be my thoughts.

I still find it amazing that 2400V third rail was tried up there!

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, April 11, 2016 12:18 PM

Name both of the 1200V third rail interurbans in the U.S.

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Posted by RME on Monday, April 11, 2016 11:01 AM

rcdrye
RME got the location - I'm just filling in details.

But he asked for details...  Your question.

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, April 11, 2016 10:11 AM

Broadway station on the Red Line, at Broadway and Dorchester Ave.  The only center platform station on the older sections of the Red Line.  I wasn't aware of the training center - an interesting re-use of otherwise wasted facilities.

RME got the location - I'm just filling in details. 

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 11, 2016 8:40 AM

The map pinpoints the north end of the still-existing ramp, where an entrance gate is located.  It does not show the exact location of the station.

Please use the information given up to now, a good Boston transit map, and give the exact location.  The name of the rapid transit line and its station will be counted as sufficient.

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Posted by RME on Sunday, April 10, 2016 6:21 AM

daveklepper
The lowest level of the three-station comples still sees rapid transit services, more than at the time middle-level station was in use. The upper level, street level, is now used by buses.

Current Facebook page for the training center, complete with location map:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/MBTAMass-DOT-Emergency-Training-Center/610263472353006

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, April 10, 2016 2:55 AM

The station was opened in November 1917 upon the opening of the rapid transit station immediately below, which is still in use.  It was closed in October 1917 when the streetcar line that used it was discontinued.  It now contains one retired Blue Line rapid transit car and part of a retired Boeing Light rail car  ---  emergency response training,

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, April 8, 2016 7:36 AM

May have been but not now or recently       Again, use of this station for streetcars, use for regular passenger purposes, less than two year and all well before WWII.

The lowest level of the three-station comples still sees rapid transit services, more than at the time middle-level station was in use.   The upper level, street level, is now used by buses.

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Posted by narig01 on Thursday, April 7, 2016 11:44 AM

Wasn't one of the MBTA underground trolley stops turned into a fallout shelter? Was that the station.

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