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Classic Train Questions Part Deux (50 Years or Older)

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 15, 2024 9:10 AM

Change ogf ownership of the operation, with lille or no cgange of service sdoes not make a different service for answering this question.  But here is a hint:  One see saw, and  through much of the classic period, three different services with Stillwell equipment, with one of these only within the city, plus there were two other services linked to the city but outside.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Monday, April 15, 2024 1:53 PM

rcdrye

C&O(of I) and EL shared a couple of miles of track east of State Line Crossing in Indiana, including the Hammond Station.

 
C&O had trackage rights over Erie/EL between State Line and Griffith.
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 Overmod on Monday, April 15, 2024 6:41 PM

Erie, of course.  Meeting up with H&M, but NOT with H&M-PRR joint service (which was Gibbs).  Then you could get on BMT equipment, or toddle north on the IRT to the NYW&B.  And (later) New Haven.  C&EI, C&WI, let me see if I remember any other pre-preservation uses...

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 10:02 PM

You got seven, and there are two more.  One associated with Erie, but not Erie, and one a north-south oriented interurban that may be used today as a freight branch of a very large freight railroad system.

Note that the NYW&B MUs were not used by the NYNH&H as MUs out of NYCity, but replaced the last New Haven woods in Boston commuter service and were replaced post-WWII by parlor heavyeweights reseated for commuter service, keeoing their existing air-conditioning.   Boston still had plenty of woods on the B&M.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 8:44 AM

Considering its ownership and location, the interurban, whech always had dreight interchange with steam railroads, went somwhat "far-a-field for a Stillwell design.

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 7:18 PM

I had Susy-Q in there but the Kalmbach site crash took it out!

Does London & Port Stanley count?

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, April 18, 2024 5:37 AM

Bingo!   And i thought you pointed out the one missimng, the 9ith, and its connections (ownership and partisal terminal use and a bus connection) with Erie.  Possibly it was RC. 

And in addfition, do ask nthe next question.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, April 21, 2024 7:34 AM

Possubly you considered the Syusquahana's use of Erie-originated Stillwells as part of the Erie's and did not included it for that reason.  Pkease do ask the next questioin.

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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, April 27, 2024 6:22 AM

No, I had Suzy-Q as its own line-item, and it got lost in the sauce somewhere.

Sticking with Stillwells, what was unusual about the wheels on the New Haven cars?  (One modeler's article noted that the old Kit Bits 98 Erie-style trucks were the right part to model those cars... but not quite so.)

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 29, 2024 6:04 PM

The "New Haven Stillwells" were originally MU New York Westchester & Bostion cars with motors.  Unlike most passenger-car truvks, they employed both coil and leaf springs in the truck, from photos it seems thatb the bolster was connected to each truck frame by a leaf spring and the two frames to fhe four journal-boxes bu coil springs. The motors had been removed.  They had the wheel-barrow-suspended AC-commutator type as used on the then-current New Haven MUs.

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, April 29, 2024 6:28 PM

But what about the wheels?

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 9:32 AM

Either the pictures aren't detailed enough or there isn't any real difference visually from trackside.

In the latter case:

When the NYW&B was built, the CNS&M had the reputatioin of having very advanced technology for an MU electric passenger line, and the NYW&B possibly adopted this feature:  Almost cylidrical wheel treads, with only a tiny bit of taper, much less than standard for most passenger rolling stock, which itself is usually a bit less than freight.

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 12:21 PM

There's a BIG difference if you appreciate what you're looking at...

There is at least one elevation drawing of a New Haven Stillwell on the Web that clearly shows the issue with the wheels.

Clearly.  With dimensions.

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 4:36 PM

Best I can come up with from photos is maybe 40" diameter (36" was more standard size for MU cars).  I haven't found the drawing with dimensions.

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 4:52 PM

Keep looking.  Both your implied answers are wrong for these cars.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 1:58 AM

OK   I recall that when the cross-bay Far Rockaway and Rockaway Beach lines were moved from LIRR to  NYCTA use, tracks at the stations, all high-platform, had to be raised several inches to match the lower height of subway-car floors.  I don't think this was done on the Dyre Avenue Line, just thin wood strips added because of the narrower width of IRT equipment.

So the wheels of the NYW&B cars must have been smaller in diameter.  And this was not changed when moved to NYNH&H Boston suburban service, which had no high-plotform stations at the time. Today they do.

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 9:23 AM

Nope... hee hee hee, it's the opposite.  But only in part...

I did not think this question would be nearly this fun, or take this long to answer.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 9:47 AM

The trucks, not obvious from the views I have, were similar to streetcar "maximum-traction" one-motor-per-truck, two-motored cars, with the wheels of the powered axle larger than usual.

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 1:19 PM

No.  But you're all around the answer.  I'm not sure how you've avoided it so completely in detail!  Whistling

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, May 2, 2024 1:52 AM

What is left?  Wider than usual, possibly for smoother rides over switch and crossing frogs?

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, May 2, 2024 10:05 AM

Since there's a question how long this forum will stay running: 

The New Haven cars retained the two extremely different wheel sizes on the NYW&B cars.  Both wheelsets in the 'motor truck' had 42" wheels (which is a substantial diameter for any passenger car!) while the visibly-different truck at the other end had only 36" wheels.  

There is a good side-view diagram of one of the New Haven rebuilds that clearly dimensions the two sets of wheels.  Once you know what you're looking at, it's pretty obvious, if not exactly something that would be expected...

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, May 3, 2024 6:41 AM

Overmod, if you had correctyed me by telling me that the NYW&B cars had one (2-motor) truck and ione trailer truck, not two one-motor trucks, then I would have given you the right answer.

Will you ask another question.

 

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, May 3, 2024 9:34 PM

That was the reason I posted the picture of the car, to show that there were two very different trucks under it, each with its own wheel size.

You got that it was an artifact of the car being motored, and it would not have taken long for you to confirm how the NYW&B motored their cars, so go ahead with an interesting question.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, May 5, 2024 7:55 AM

In the early 1939s, a city and several suburban towns were served by two electricrailway systens and a steam railroad.  Both the steam railroad and one of the two electric railways served a much wider area, and were  far larger operations.

To reduce the operating expense of all-night nervice, the smaller electric operation bought two electric cars from the larger.  Modifications definitely included the trucks. The smaller ioperation was unique in important characteristics.

You should be  able to name all three systems and dexcribe them.

 

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, May 13, 2024 4:20 AM

See what rcdrye said on the other thread.

Lynn, MA (with the 3' narrow-gauge BRB&N and the Eastern Massachusetts ex-Bay State ex-Boston &Northern).  BRB&N in financial trouble by 1937 and abandoned in late January 1940, which might account for this expedient to extend service a bit.

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, May 13, 2024 6:10 AM

The smaller operation was the Winthrop Loop, which is where the streetcars were used.

And, of course, the Blue Line only got as far as Revere, though everything I said about Lynn was actually true of Revere.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 6:17 AM

The smaller voperation was the the whole Revere Beach and Lynn,,

Wynthrop is the only town served by the BRB&L that does not see  some kinfd of passenger rail service.  At the cessation of RBB&L service, a private bus company provided service to the Boston Elevated's Rsdt Boston Tunnel's Maverick Station, and this  became an MTA busw, then shortened to run to Orien Heughts Station, when the Blue Line began runhningv to Orient Heights.

The two ex-Eastern Massachusetts streetcars were bought and  converted  to narrow-gauge  primarily for "owl" service.

 

But by all means adk the next question.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 6:41 AM

The smaller voperation was the the whole Revere Beach and Lynn,,

Wynthrop is the only town served by the BRB&L that does not see  some kinfd of passenger rail service.  At the cessation of RBB&L service, a private bus company provided service to the Boston Elevated's Rsdt Boston Tunnel's Maverick Station, and this  became an MTA busw, then shortened to run to Orien Heughts Station, when the Blue Line began runhningv to Orient Heights.

The two ex-Eastern Massachusetts streetcars were bought and  converted  to narrow-gauge  primarily for "owl" service.

 

But by all means adk the next question.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, May 27, 2024 6:24 AM

How about a question here, RC?   nOr would you rather defer?

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, May 27, 2024 7:45 AM

Southern Pacific had two groups of boiler-equipped GP9s. The Pacific Lines group (and a couple of the Texas lines group) had one other feature that made them unique on the Southern Pacific, and led to their long service lives.  This feature was removed during 1970s rebuilds.  They remained in passenger service until CalTrain F40s took over in the 1980s.

The other feature was essential for their use on one of SP's name trains, and handy for use on another that was essentially a connecting train to another name train, both of which lasted until April 30, 1971.  Describe the feature.

(SP did have one SD7, a former EMD demonstrator, that also had this feature).

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