Flintlock, from one who rode: By the end of WWII, most Bay Head Junction PRR trains ran to and from Penn Station, not Exchange Place. Jersey City. The CNJ trains all ran to Jersey City, of course. For many years when I used the service for Army leaves and passes and then business trips, there were only two morning inbound and evening outbound PRR Jersey City trains to and from Bay Head, but this was reduced to one, the Broker, which did not even stop at Souh Amboy. All PRR NY&LB trains that ran to Jersey City ran through with K4s and then diesels and did not use the GG1s. The Broker was the last steam passenger train in the immediate NY Metropolitan area.
There were much better ferries in Sydney -- hydrofoils. At least some were based on the PT-20 design made famous as the Disco Volante -- a wonderful name for a car, too -- in Thunderball.
In appearance, though, even these were not quite up to the standard of the Alekseyev Projekt-340 Raketas (think of a chopped '57 Chevy on top of a '50s-modern railroad car that cruises at 40kt). (The succeeding Kometas were even more Googie spectacular, but not to my eyes as stylishly 'wicked fast'.
For a short but wonderful time one of these was brought to Tortola, in the BVI, and was used as the ferry from St. Thomas (in competition with the Antilles Airboats Geese -- it was traveler's heaven). Alas! the owners had an issue with the engine (which I was told was a license-built Mercedes twin-turbo V-12, a sophisticated engine for the time) and made the mistake of disassembling it while waiting for parts. Unfortunately the alloys proved dramatically susceptible to accelerated and vicious corrosion, the upshot being that when I next saw the ship the block was a furry mass of red and it was obvious a re-engining was going to be necessary.
Well, right at this time I had been bouncing around reviving passenger-ferry service on the Hudson, using a report on high-speed ships and the original history of the Erie Northern branch in Englewood. This would use a high-speed boat touching at Alpine, Englewood Cliffs, and Edgewater which would then proceed right around the tip of Manhattan to reach the Wall Street area. Now what I figured was that a rebuilt Raketa would be perfect to start this. Then as traffic increased we could contract for a couple of those Boeing banking-hydrofoil hulls, flip the ferry line, and wind up with a fine 'engineer's private yacht'. I casually mentioned this to Terry at Long Bay Hotel one afternoon and he said 'Oh, you know she's for sale' and invited me to meet with 'her solicitors' -- who, as it turned out, were contemplating a price of about $2400 for her. A quick tow to Florida and refit, an excursion paying her way up past Atlantic Highlands, and away we go... but not so fast. President Carter, who I otherwise liked, had agitated to ban imports of anything 'Russian' and this included stuff sent to the islands (this was the glorious era that you could get duty-free Stoli 100 for $1.50 a bottle) -- and there went the grand idea.
Still... look at one of these up close and you will probably share the interest.
daveklepperFlintlock, from one who rode: By the end of WWII, most Bay Head Junction PRR trains ran to and from Penn Station, not Exchange Place. Jersey City.
As usual you're right David, but that was my "Jersey Central On The Brain" syndrome kicking in! I forgot about the PRR being just a little different.
The picture had me guessing a bit last night, as I told Vince by e-mail. The topography looks very similar to a section of the old PRR mainline that parallels Route 95 in Delaware. Then I looked again and was reminded of a photo in a Don Ball book I've got on the PRR. Pulled the book and sure enough there it was, the section just south of the South Amboy station, and taken from darn near the same angle.
Too bad about the "Submarine" Peter, it looked to me it might have made someone a nice houseboat or yacht if they wanted to put some money into it, what what can you do? Maybe it was too far gone to bring back.
It does look a lot like Claymont (where the GG1 high-speed record was set during testing) but there are different little hills, and the water 'beyond' is a different color.
The only other place that looks like this is the Atlantic Highlands area.
Part of the key here is that Baldwins and E units don't multiple. Someone made that train up to match the power of the one E unit, and the Baldwins stayed made up in pairs like this during regular service -- so you had a road failure and they sent first available power out to retrieve it. They would have little trouble recovering time on the schedule with that, dead E or not.
I have film of rush-hour operation with Baldwins and EMDs in the same consist ... doubtless with an unusually long train loaded near capacity. But of course you see engineers in both relevant cab windows...
Ah-ha! Very good Overmod. Makes sense. A scene with those units and consist now delegated to history. Good to know. Important.
Todays theme is " Lengthy"
1) So here we have a DL109 of the Southern in Meridian, Mississippi. Those Alco's had some real length to them!
2) Sticking with the deep South in Meridian, here we have GM&O DL109's one pic with a lengthy consist.
3) Still in Meridian... here's the Southern again with a pretty lengthy passenger train. 4 E's ( corrected) up front. Southern was famous as an Amtrak holdout as well.
4) This is one lengthy switcher. Early days Missouri Pacific NW4. ( corrected)
As a steam freak I really, really, really hate to admit it, but I just love the look of the DL-109's! Especially in New Haven livery! (Take your pick, there were several, and they all looked good!)
Sleek and sassy-lookin'!
I wish someone would come out with an affordable O gauge model of one. Not much chance of that now with Mike's Train House (MTH) going away.
I'm coughing just looking at that switcher......
And do I smell burning solder from the ALCOs?
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Flintlock76I wish someone would come out with an affordable O gauge model of one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyH00r0dmhQ
(I do have to admit using "affordable" and "Mike's Train House" in the same sentence made me chuckle a bit...)
And #1 is obviously not an NW2, it's an NW4. There were two, built with parts from boxcabs 511 and 512. One of the last hurrahs for the 201A.
3) has 4 E8s. Note the double roof air tanks on each.
4) Note the tiny stack on MP 4102 in front of the cab. It (and 4103) had steam generators, the first EMC switchers so equipped, presumably left over from 511/512. MP also had a pair of NC2s with the same engine and electricals as the NW4. Also 4 600 HP SCs and 1 SW with in-line 8s. The NW4 was built in 1938 while EMC was still selling the 201-A in production switchers, along with the "City" E2 sets and Santa Fe's last E1 sets.
OvermodI do have to admit using "affordable" and "Mike's Train House" in the same sentence made me chuckle a bit...)
Yeah, that's a "Premier" grade scale (1/48) model, which was expensive, too much to pay for a toy, at least for me. It needed layout with at least a 42" curve radius and mines only got a 31" radius curves, so it wouldn't have worked anyway.
Mikes "Railking" models were a bit more affordable, but he never did a DL-109 in the "Railking" line.
So many errors on my part in one day so thanks to all for the corrections: NW2 is a NW4 .. went by memory instead of checking, thanks for the correction Overmod. Had a 50/50 shot at being correct, I lost.
F's are E's on the Southern so thank you rcdrye, made that mistake before, how I don't know, just getting ahead of myself I guess. A steam generator on the MP NW4 Switcher...pretty spiffy!
.. and of course the 2-6-4 is not a 4-6-2 Pacific, a great pic and posting Peter. Thanks to all for being my editors.
Somebody's gonna buy those MTH manufacturing rights sooner or later. I just hope it doesn't go the way the Williams to Bachmann sale went. Prices went up, up, up while selection went down, down, down. It's also funny that MTH didn't do a 109 for tight radius since they had no problem producing "bantam" 4-8-4's with drivers more suited to an articulated:
But, what can I say. I DID buy one!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Yeah, I'd like to see someone pick up the MTH line, especially the "Railking" line, but I'm not holding my breath. All the tooling's in China, they're not going to give it back, and considering what's going on with China nowadays it just doesn't look good.
Bachmann just ruined the Williams line, as I've said either they bought the company and then didn't know what to do with it, or they bought it just to keep someone else from getting it.
You know, I had a chance to buy an MTH "Bantam" Daylight starter set at an antique show in Kutztown PA just about 10 years ago. Passed on it, not sorry I did, but sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing. That's one beautiful engine!
1) Nice pic eh? First thing I thought was how much is their power bill??
2) A few degrees of separation and time from the above photo.
C&NW Proviso Yard Dec. 1, 1942. The War is on. Dark days.
3) The great hope immediately after the war, the shine is off quickly and in full decline. Looking a bit beat up considering not that old.
4) December 1944 and Union Pacific receives its very last new steam locomotive, a FEF-3, the famous and still with us #844. Do you think they actually knew this was the last?
5) Fairbanks Morse C Liner coming at you, Inductive Phone antennas and all. Not all that long on the roster, but a break from legions of F's and E's.
Mifflin, Pa.
6) New York Central looking pretty snappy in Buffalo. Doing what the Central did best but how much worry is going on in the home office right now?
7) One more late add on ! Here we are in Watkins Glenn, famous for racing, but back in the day the home of Hippos and Decapods!
Includes a bonus video! Not bad, Decapods in the raw, home movies but it gets better. Not long.
Bonus Video Pennsy Decapods
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu34hQfnlK4&list=UUpAxlhe2QWOECupW5rXHCKA
Correction on picture No.5: that is not a C-Liner but what is termed an Erie-Built. It has the F-M prime mover but was assembled by GE in Erie for Fairbanks--Morse, likely because at the time they did not have full manufacturing capability themselves. The big radiator panel at the rear of the unit is diagnostic.
John
1) We rarely, if ever, mention Mongolia. Well here we are in Tuul-Khonkhor Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on the Mongolian Rwy with 2TE116UM units. Looking pretty good.
2) Depiction of B&O 2-8-8-0's .. captures the power of steam quite well.
3) Is the South African 4-6-2 the most beautiful Pacific ever built?! What a beauty.
That South African Pacific's a looker all right, a neat blend of British and American styling and tastefully painted as well.
I don't know if it's the most beautiful Pacific ever built, but it's certainly a contender!
Miningman 1) Funky 2) Very Funky 3) Overwhelmingly Funky
1) Funky
2) Very Funky
3) Overwhelmingly Funky
Number 2 is a Photoshop creation, right?
No it's real. Here is rcdrye's comment with 2 videos of it in motion.
xRotd 9213 im Einsatz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfKCglgIO98
and the NZZ video from 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxhDJVucFqE
The class designator for the rotary:
x = service (no character is used for revenue)
Rot = rotary (rotierend) - surprised its not Dp (Drehpflug)
d = Dampf (steam)
Thanks to the political wonderland of the former Soviet Union, these locomotives are actually Ukrainian.
There is a good summary of the whole class at
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/2%D0%A2%D0%AD116
This is of course in Russian but will (sort of) translate by the usual means.
The 2TE116UM is a Mongolia only version of the 2TE116U used in Russia and elsewhere. The original 2TE116 is 3060 HP per unit and the 2TE116U is 3600 HP per unit both from a 5D49 four stroke V-16. There are 2176 pairs, 4352 units, known to date.
Mongolia also has five 2TE116UD (of 63 built in 2012 onward) which each have a GE GEVO V-12 rated at 4250 HP.
This is 2TE116UD-006.
Peter
Thank you Peter, great information. Who knew? Your interest in these things is quite valuable.
A few more pics perhaps worthy of discussion.
1) C&NW Alco C628 High Hood! Why?.... because ex N&W. Here we are in Altoona, no not that one, the one in Wisconsin. Apparently they were seen on this line many years then they finished their days hauling Taconite ore up North.
2) Here's the Royal Train in jolly old England. Apparently it came within an inch of the scrapper, old fashioned and all that, until it was deemed or re-discovered as quite a good way to get around the country and sees occasional use by the Royal Family.
3) Might as well call this "I've been working on the Railroad" . Here we have the Virginian 2-6-6-6 beast looking like it's earning its keep. Fabulous, stunning actually.
4) While we are on hard working and magnificence here is a Santa Fe Northern going full out and putting on a show. Luv those drivers! What a beast.
5) Need to cool down a bit in all the heat? Need an escape from all nonsense going on in the world? Well you can lose yourself for a minute in a simplier time when all was right and life was not so frantic.
I've experienced a scene like this a hundred times or more as a kid in similar settings and I am forever grateful that I can draw on such memories and been around at the right time to appreciate it all.
Miningman 4) While we are on hard working and magnificence here is a Santa Fe Northern going full out and putting on a show. Luv those drivers! What a beast.
That particular engine is still around today, currently undergoing her 1472 day overhaul at Amtrak's Los Angeles yard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to_idu0dp7k
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/649871/
Miningman 4) Departing with the Liberty Limited in the Fleet of Modernism scheme. Make Jones happy anyway.
4) Departing with the Liberty Limited in the Fleet of Modernism scheme. Make Jones happy anyway.
I would be even happier if the entire consist was modernized or "Raymond Loewyized", including the steam engine that powered the Liberty Limited. PRR probably thought that not even a fully streamlined consist could attract regular patrons of B&O's Capitol Limited and Royal Blue so that in this case, they didn't spend money on unnecessary things like modernized the whole train to beat their competitors. I wish I could hear the thoughts of B&O's regular patrons on PRR's FOM project, like how many of them switched to PRR's trains just because part of the Liberty Limited consist was attached with brand new sleepers and lounges. Not many I guess. The Broadway Limited went FOM but that didn't change its extremely low ridership until 1943.
Jones 3D Modeling Club https://www.youtube.com/Jones3DModelingClub
Jones1945PRR probably thought that not even a fully streamlined consist could attract regular patrons of B&O's Capitol Limited and Royal Blue so that in this case, they didn't spend money on unnecessary things like modernized the whole train to beat their competitors. I wish I could hear the thoughts of B&O's regular patrons on PRR's FOM project, like how many of them switched to PRR's trains just because part of the Liberty Limited consist was attached with brand new sleepers and lounges.
This is all for the best, of course, because nothing PRR could have built would have prevented the disaster that came when B&O got operating rights over the P&LE in the mid-Fifties. Better food AND a better ride AND a faster schedule added up to 'no real competition at all'...
MiningmanI've experienced a scene like this a hundred times or more as a kid in similar settings and I am forever grateful that I can draw on such memories and been around at the right time to appreciate it all.
Oh my, steam in the snow!
I like the way the artist (Howard Fogg? Ted Rose?) left the locomotive ambiguous, it could be any railroad anywhere, so it's guaranteed to set anyones nostalgia motor into overdrive.
It could be my North Jersey around Christmastime. The Pascack Valley Line, the Northern Railroad, the Erie Main Line, the West Shore, the Lackawanna, the Susquehanna, it doesn't matter. It's a reminder of a saner day, good times, and enough to bring a lump to your throat.
Great find Vince! Thanks!
Overmod The problem here is that 'nothing succeeds like success' -- the streamlined 'perception' of the train in Washington involved GG1s, the west end wouldn't support a required large pool of streamlined engines in the late '30s, and the very logical streamlining/moderninzation target, the two K5s dedicated to the Northern Central part of the Liberty Limited's route, would run at the wrong time of day through 'who cares?' country as far as making an impression of modernism with the streamlining expense would be concerned. This is all for the best, of course, because nothing PRR could have built would have prevented the disaster that came when B&O got operating rights over the P&LE in the mid-Fifties. Better food AND a better ride AND a faster schedule added up to 'no real competition at all'...
The problem here is that 'nothing succeeds like success' -- the streamlined 'perception' of the train in Washington involved GG1s, the west end wouldn't support a required large pool of streamlined engines in the late '30s, and the very logical streamlining/moderninzation target, the two K5s dedicated to the Northern Central part of the Liberty Limited's route, would run at the wrong time of day through 'who cares?' country as far as making an impression of modernism with the streamlining expense would be concerned.
Thank you for the inspiring respone. I almost completely forgot the role of the K5s! As a railfan who loves PRR and streamlined steam engines, I wish Pennsy had streamlined a small fleet of Pacific and E6s, maybe 20 of them, to establish something like Southern Pacific, MILW and NYC's streamlined steam engine fleet before the coming of class T1, even though Pennsy already had a large fleet of streamlined electric engine GG1 serving the east end in the late 1930s. It didn't happen (until T1) but there is nothing wrong with it because it is just my railfan fantasy.
At the end of the day, PRR wasn't the only RR that used unstreamlined steam engines to haul streamliners, let alone the whole steam-streamliner era only lasted about 10 years. From my point of view, it was the best 10 years, but I understand that for people who took train but wasn't a railfan, many of them care more about the quality of service inside the car instead of the appearance of the train. Simple and straightforward.
Briightening up the Royal Train:
Holeeee... that's a BIG Tank Locomotive.
That's a Riddles 4MT 'British standard' 2-6-4. It has 68" driving wheels (so those men are not midgets like the ones in some past posts about C&NW power) but the design was tweaked a bit to fit a loading gauge a bit restricted even by British standards. Put one next to a B&A 4-6-6 and you'll see what a HO-LEE big tank engine really is...
Designed around 1951, and all but one in regular service until 1964. Then they went fast. i think this one was built circa 1955 [EDIT;I was wrong, 1957... see below], and was retired in 1966, so about the same waste as a Niagara
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BR_Standard_Class_4_2-6-4T
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