Very strange things

[rcdrye]

Maybe the inspiration for Santa Fe's Hi-Levels?

[daveklepper]

Double-deck transit buses are an old story, more than 100-years.  And Chicago Motor Coach and New York's Fifth Avenue Coach Co. used double=declers on most routes for many years, up to government authroity operation.  Neoplan made an excellent intercity double-deck used in Europe, and Egged bought a few for Tel Aviv - Jerusalem, but then converted them for sight-seeing service.

Most transit buses in the UK, today, are double-deck  Blackpool heritage trams and Hong Kong trams continiue a double-deck tradition.

[daveklepper]

Neoplan:

[Overmod]

The weird thing is that I distinctly remember 'Santa Fe Trailways' designing large double-deck buses by 1940, as a kind of intermediate service between typical buses and trains.  The sort of thing the Pickwick Nite Coaches pioneered... but bigger.  What I remember was that Missouri slammed the door on these bigger and bigger combinations (circa 1938?) and other states through which most of the prospective superbuses would run were planning to follow suit.  I think of this a bit like a roadgoing DST.

Here is a contemporary newspaper account of the 'Victory Liner'

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19420730&id=zmdeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KWENAAAAIBAJ&pg=1960,1346525&hl=en

Now who's going to post pictures of Australian Dysons?

 

[Miningman]

The Plywood Bus!

 

Wichita Eagle, Sept. 10, 1942

Santa Fe Trailways will exhibit its new 117 passenger “Victory Liner,” built at its shops

in Wichita, to the public at the Union Bus depot this evening. The bus body is constructed

mostly of wood. This is the first of a series being built to carry workers to war production

plants. It will operate between Kansas City and the Sunflower Ordnance Works at Eudora.

 

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DjMAAOSwDLhdS7mo/s-l1600.jpg

 

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7d8AAOSwOZBdS7nC/s-l1600.jpg

 

[Flintlock76]

Body made out of plywood?  Not surprising since it was 1942, that's one way to get around strategic metal shortages.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Flintlock76

Body made out of plywood?  Not surprising since it was 1942, that's one way to get around strategic metal shortages.

 

Not unlike the Illinois license plates made out of soybean meal in one year.

[Jones1945]

Jones1945

Miningman

 

//ia802907.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/31/items/vintageroadsceneissue205december2016/Vintage%20Roadscene%20-%20Issue%20205%20-%20December%202016_jp2.zip&file=Vintage%20Roadscene%20-%20Issue%20205%20-%20December%202016_jp2/Vintage%20Roadscene%20-%20Issue%20205%20-%20December%202016_0030.jp2&id=vintageroadsceneissue205december2016&scale=4&rotate=

More:

 

[Flintlock76]

I don't know why I didn't remember this sooner ( Gettin' old?) but we had something very similar to those caravan coaches when I was in the Marines, but not as stylish-looking.

We called them "cattle cars," basically converted semi trailers, and they were used to haul troops out to the training areas.  When we got on board it never failed, someone would start going "Moooooooo..." and everyone else would join in!   

[Miningman]

The Plywood Bus!

Wichita Eagle, Sept. 10, 1942

Santa Fe Trailways will exhibit its new 117 passenger “Victory Liner,” built at its shops in Wichita, to the public at the Union Bus depot this evening. The bus body is constructed mostly of wood. This is the first of a series being built to carry workers to war production plants. It will operate between Kansas City and the Sunflower Ordnance Works at Eudora.

https://img.kansasmemory.org/00074548.jpg  https://img.kansasmemory.org/00221690.jpg

https://img.kansasmemory.org/00221000.jpg

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/soldier-holding-a-bullet-during-the-testing-of-explosives-in-works-picture-id1187498836?s=2048x2048

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/soldiers-during-the-testing-of-explosives-in-sunflower-ordnance-works-picture-id1187498832?s=2048x2048

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/soldiers-loading-a-canon-during-the-testing-of-explosives-in-army-picture-id1187498798?s=2048x2048

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/soldiers-during-a-tank-testing-in-sunflower-ordnance-works-united-picture-id1187498807?s=2048x2048

 

https://img.kansasmemory.org/00696286.jpg

https://ia800901.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/7/items/priceofvictorysu00vans/priceofvictorysu00vans_jp2.zip&file=priceofvictorysu00vans_jp2/priceofvictorysu00vans_0002.jp2&id=priceofvictorysu00vans&scale=2&rotate=0

https://archive.org/details/priceofvictorysu00vans/mode/2up

https://live.staticflickr.com/8786/27626702154_48dbfd10ed_z.jpg

 

[Jones1945]

Flintlock76

I don't know why I didn't remember this sooner ( Gettin' old?) but we had something very similar to those caravan coaches when I was in the Marines, but not as stylish-looking.

We called them "cattle cars," basically converted semi trailers, and they were used to haul troops out to the training areas.  When we got on board it never failed, someone would start going "Moooooooo..." and everyone else would join in!   

It seems that the tradition of using "cattle cars" still exists! The truck can pull other things when the cattle car is not needed (I guess). 

[Flintlock76]

Yeah, that's a cattle car all right!  They haven't changed much.

That video of those kids dressed up like soldiers ( I'm 66, I can't think of them any other way!) made my day!  Their morale must be sky-high, none of them's going "Moooooo" like we used to do!

 

[Miningman]

One for Peter... in Australia a cane train hits a harvester

https://www.foxnews.com/world/australia-train-collision-sugarcane-video

 

[Flintlock76]

Ouch!  You think they edited out the accompanying profanity?

Interesting line though, looks like two-foot or 60 centimeter gauge.

How's about a look a another sugar cane train?  You love this one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LZKPIiisM8  

Here's the story of that gorgeous locomotive.  Reminds me of an Erie K-1.

http://www.railfan.com/u-s-sugar-4-6-2-steams-again-in-florida/  

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Not a whole lot of difference between the two gauges but I believe that the sugar cane lines were 60-cm gauge, this being in addition to Australia's three mainline gauges.

[Miningman]

All Stop! You mean to tell me there is not one open track forward? 

 

2)  Probably because this is ahead... 75 trains!  Now that's a Broadway.

 

3)  Well you can steer with your knees.. heck we've all done that... just don't admit to it. 

 

[Flintlock76]

Well, what do we have here?

Photo 1)  Talk about redundancy!  And there's only three tracks in view!  That signal bridge would turn a Christmas tree green with envy!

Or maybe some railroad official had a brother-in-law who sold signals?

Photo 2)  Classic ad from WW2!  And they weren't kidding about how many trains it took to move a division either!

Photo 3)  What the hell is he driving anyway?  

[pennytrains]

Aye chihuahua!    Maybe the upper set of bridge signals is for low flying aircraft? 

[M636C]

Miningman

One for Peter... in Australia a cane train hits a harvester

https://www.foxnews.com/world/australia-train-collision-sugarcane-video

 

 

The sugar cane railways in Queensland are two foot gauge (60.96 centimetres).

I don't recognise the location in question, (although it could be south or west of Mackay, a big sugar centre) and Wilmar operate most of the mills in Queensland. Wilmar is a German company which bought most of the operating mills.

The sugar cane wagons shown are fairly large, many mills using wagons half that size. Most wagons are four wheeled. These do not have continuous brakes, which shows up in the video after the locomotive is turned through 180 degrees by the force of the train after derailing. Some trains have remote locomotives or brake wagons which have brakes that can be remotely actuated.

The sugar wagons use Willison couplers which interlock but don't use a knuckle. The Willison is used in Russia on main line trains.

Many sugar lines use concrete ties which last better in the damp tropical environment

Peter

[M636C]

All Stop! You mean to tell me there is not one open track forward? 

 

Firstly, this gantry is owned by the London and North Western Railway.

The set of arms with black rings in the middle of the gantry refer to access to goods lines (freight only). I suspect they refer to the same tracks as the right hand signals, but give access to different tracks ahead. Note that the pattern of arms is repeated on these two sets of signals.

Looking at individual posts, it can be seen that the upper arm has a flat end and the lower arm has a vee-end (called a fishtail). The upper arm is the "home" signal, which controls the location in question. The lower arm with the fishtail is a "distant" and is an indicator of the position of the next signal.

So if the upper arm is "on" (horizontal), the train must stop. If the upper arm is "off" (angled) and the lower arm is "on" (horizontal) the train may proceed at reduced speed prepared to stop at the next signal.

This refers to the signals on the upper level of the gantry.

The signals on the lower level are "shunting signals" and replicate exactly the signals above them, but they all have shorter arms to indicate their subsidiary function.

The shunting signals allow a train to pass the signal otherwise at stop at low speed for the purpose of moving vehicles around the yard. The "distant" shunting signal indicates the position of the next shunting signal, as described for the main signals.

This is explained at https://www.railsigns.uk/

Peter  

[Miningman]

Here I thought PreCambrian geology was complex. Thanks Peter, read it three times now, slowly, think I got it. 

[Miningman]

Gantry Signals

 

https://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/getobject?rnum=L2217

 

[Overmod]

Flintlock76

Photo 3)  What the hell is he driving anyway?  

Quad box, I think.  Common on older very heavy trucks with engines of relatively low power and narrow, low power bands.  There's an art to driving them while 'splitting' properly -- there is not only steering with the knees as a technique, there is reaching through the spokes of the wheel while double-clutching.  I know the theory but have never actually run one.

[Flintlock76]

Thanks Mod-man! Never driven one?  I'm not sure you'd want to!  Me neither!  I rented a Penske box truck in 1982 that had a double-clutch set up.  Not bad once I got used to it, but it would have helped if I was told it was in there! 

Anyway, it makes a lot more sense than that gaggle of British signals!  I've read M636's explaination three times and still can't get my head around it!  But I'll keep trying!

As they used to say on "Monty Python,"  "My brain hurts!"  

[Overmod]

Flintlock76

Anyway, it makes a lot more sense than that gaggle of British signals!  I've read M636's explanation three times and still can't get my head around it! 

Think of it, conceptually, as a more complicated version of the NYC searchlight signal setup.  There, you have a completely different physical aspect for freight at every signal post than for passenger.  Now imagine that you had both distant and predictive-home doubling each of the aspects.  And then the same thing for what would be dwarfs at the individual crossover switches in a CTC setup ... that's two aspects plus at least two more for each CTC control point.  Follow me?  That's what those coded aspects in each 'stack' would be doing if it is as he says.

My imaginary high-speed railroad used four stacked aspects to show all four block occupancies in front of the supposed 135mph traffic... this allowing shorter control blocks for 'more traffic' while preserving the predictive ability to do smooth high-speed braking of the special passenger trains.  The advantage here is that there is no real way to misread which aspect applies to you in the relatively few seconds you have approaching at what are legitimately TVM-style speeds... 

[Miningman]

1)  Look ma, no rails! 

 

2)  A wee but more sensible... but what are those tires?

 

3)  Remember the Byrd Arctic thingie... well here we are on the deck, and that looks a bit precarious... hope that spare tire is lashed down too! 

 

4) If this is what it looks like it is then how the heck does this happen?

[Flintlock76]

Here we go...

Photos 1 and 2)  Very ingenious!  A trackless electro-train and an electro-bus!  Why put down rails if you don't have to?  

Photo 3)  From the practical to the impractical, the "Byrd-mobile" on its voyage of no return.

Photo 4)  How do you explain THAT?  Well, ever see that TV show "Hoarders?"  I wonder what the rest of the property looks like?

By the way, Lady Firestorm LOVES "Hoarders!"  Not me, I get so grossed-out I have to leave the room!  

[pennytrains]

Miningman

3) Remember the Byrd Arctic thingie... well here we are on the deck, and that looks a bit precarious... hope that spare tire is lashed down too!

Nah!  If it was lashed the crew couldn't go tubing! 

By the way, here's Byrd's ship at the Great Lakes Expo:

Funny story, while it was docked in Cleveland for 2 years somebody built a bridge which trapped the vessel. 

[Miningman]

Penny.--  Friggin in the riggin' ... check out that sailor bottom left peering out the hatch, nice seat!

 

[M636C]

https://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/getobject?rnum=L2217

 

Guys, I was wrong - Sorry

 

Go to the signalling site I linked in my earlier post and check out section 7...

 

It was only the last photo which showed me clearly what was going on, although the clues were there in the original shot..

 

These are classed as co-acting signals. The upper gantry was only added in an attempt to provide a clear indication after construction of the girder bridge, as can be seen in the photo...

 

(The linked page says)

 

The most impressive array of co-acting signals ever seen first appeared on the London & North Western Railway in 1895. The Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway's new London Extension line was to cross over the existing LNWR line on a new bridge at the south end of Rugby station. Prior to the bridge's construction, it was realised that the complex background it would introduce would have an adverse effect on the sighting of the three adjacent Down lines' signals on the approach to the LNWR station. The LNWR therefore erected an enormous two-level gantry on which all twenty-two semaphore arms (thirteen stop arms and nine distant arms) were duplicated at different heights. The MS&LR paid for the work. On account of its appearance, the gantry became known as "the Rugby Bedstead". It was removed in 1939 and replaced by three colour light signals.