Mark, that engine is a beauty! I bet they are very careful when loading the wood in that tender. I would not want to be the one responsible for putting a ding in the paint.
Bear if when I get back down your way I'll bring some fire water from here and we can compare notes.
Speaking of fire.
Back in the early seventies when I was in high school, I would spend my summers up in Kaslo B.C. with my suppose to be retired Uncle and Aunt. We would spend a lot of time out on the lake fishing. One day after a rough day out on the lake fishing with my Uncle, we were sitting on the deck of their home looking across the lake taking in the afternoon thunder storm when a huge bolt of lightening hit the top of the mountain two miles across the the lake, about thirty minutes later we noticed smoke rising from the same spot. My Uncle asked me to hand him the phone and he called my Aunt who was in charge of dispatching the water bombers in that part of the Province. About forty minutes later a huge four engine bomber flew low right over our heads (on purpose I'm sure) towards the fire on the other side of the lake. The target was hit and the fire was out just like that. Start to finish was less than an hour and a half. What a system.
My suppose to be retired Uncle was often pressed into service with his pickup truck driving everything from helicopter fuel to food up to the firefighting camps when we would have bad fire seasons. It was all a well paid adventure when I tagged along.
This year is going to be a bad fire season and got me thinking of those times and how I wish I was young again so I could roll up my sleeves and help out. I also remember how often the railroads were/are put into service to help where they can.
I came across this video. They need a 1-4-0 to turn the loco.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Way back on page two I posted this photo and wondered what the odd lookig car on the trestle was.
December 12,1897
Today I found a different photo of the same kind of car. Apparently (according to the caption) it is used for lifting "prefab" trestle bents. If you look closely at the photo you can see cables going out from the front of the car.
January 25, 1898
The two cars seem to be different. I wonder if it was a CPR creation or other railroads had them as well. I wonder how many CP had.
In those days, I'd expect a lot of MOW equipment would have been custom built by the railroad themselves. Maybe using a stock steam engine and hoist, and control mechanism, but then the car fitted and built up by the railroad. They may look similar but not identical because there's only so many ways you can build an enclosed hoist and still have the cables some out the front. The fact that they are enclosed probbaly has more to do withthe harsh weather than anything.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
In the second photo, it appears there may be two winch cars side by side. I could see two stacks in the second photo and then realized it must be two seperate cars. The chimneys also seem two be layed flat for transport as I would think there would be height issues. It looks like in the first photo the stack is on its side on the roof of the car. I wonder how much anchoring of the car is required once the winching starts. Just thinking of the physics of the winching of a prefab bent up from laying flat makes me think that they must have had to clamp the car to the rails somehow, or maybe leaving the loco attached was enough.
I think it is something I would like to take a crack at building someday. I have penciled it in for 2056.
I came across this while looking for info on firefighting trains being used to fight forest fires. Not quite what I was looking for. Gotta love these old films.
I've seen that one before, but never noticed before - if the prime mover is on fire, WHY does the fireman come down the mid ladder instead of bailing out fromt eh front with the engineer? Hmm, engine room is full of smoke, think I'll walk through here and then ACROSS between the two motors to get off when we stop.
BATMANToday I found a different photo of the same kind of car.
Seek and ye shall find.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
rrinkerWHY does the fireman come down the mid ladder instead of bailing out fromt eh front with the engineer?
Dramatic effect Randy, dramatic effect.
In my 36 years with the feds, I was involved as an advisor on many training films and/ or manuals. These hired stoops would bring in good looking model types instead of using our own good lookin guy's and gal's. They would have on fresh out of the package coveralls and if a vehicle was involved, it would be a brand new one. I thought most of them were a complete waste of time. These films rarely depicted reality. Everything always went perfectly in the film.
Got to love Shorpy. I wish there was more Canadian Pacific stuff on there. There is a little more every time I look though.
I may have to follow Bear into the boat building business.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/10185?size=_original#caption
I’d like to say “Come on in the waters fine”!! (But only if you’re a polar bear}.
Bear, I love the way the viaduct amplifies the sound of the train as it chuggs across. Unfortunately that is hard to reproduce when using plastic bridge parts. I will be in Alberta for a while this summer, so will try and get some pic's and video's at the viaduct. I hope there are lots of trains that day.
Someone sent me this, so why not.
I've been looking at some historic railroad and other history of my region lately.(Northern Nevada...Carson City and Lake Tahoe to be a bit more specific) I think the shot I posted last week of the Glenbrook got me going. I also remembered a lake steamship called the S.S. Tahoe, scuttled in 1940, that was rediscovered in Lake Tahoe in the early 2000's. I found a photo that shows a Victorian Age view of the railroad pier in Tahoe City, California where the railroad and the steamship share the view with people in period attire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Tahoe#/media/File:SS_Tahoe.jpg
The railroad's name escapes me at this point, but it was originally built in the very late 1800's as a narrow gauge line to connect Lake Tahoe in Tahoe City to the Central Pacific at Truckee. The line was later standard gauged, and eventually abandoned in 1941...IIRC.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
Mark, that is a great photo. It would be great to see more about that connection. Lots of RRs obviously had close associations waterway connections. For me, the interest lies with the Stern wheelers of the CPR in British Columbia. I have previously mentioned I spent my Summers in a place called Kaslo B.C. There is a stern wheeler on the beach there now as a museum, its last voyage was 1957 the year I was born. Lots of remnants remain from when the Great Northern Railroad (narrow gauge) would meet up with the boat at Kaslo. The CPR later took over the operation.
There are lots of ghost towns to explore in the region.
More reading.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaslo_and_Slocan_Railway
A couple of video's
The Moyie near the end of her life was used to push rail barges full of ore cars down the lake.
The CPR had a vast marine arm, however it is the multitude of stern wheelers that can make for some good modeling.
I have no idea who built or owns this model, or where I got the photo.
A list of the CPRs ships.
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cp.shtml
I had (re)discovered a stack of 8x10 photos from my collection and came across a few interesting subjects. I'll post some here over the next few weeks and see what you fella's think.
One of the more interesting ones is below. The Erie #300.
Erie Railroad Photo; Collection of gmpullman
The caption reads:
Susquehanna, Pa. — H.J. Wecheider, division engineer of Hornell, makes an inspection trip in his "300" special car motorized and equipped for making various tests. Here he is shown in the Susquehanna shop yards with (left to right) Wecheider, E.H.Ness, Cleveland, superintendent of work equipment who built the car; J.L. Leonard, track supervisor of here; H.F. Pierce, master carpenter of Hornell and R.J. Pierce, assistant division engineer of Hornell. File: Sept. '41.
I'm curious about the E.H. Ness of Cleveland. Any relation to the Cleveland safety Director Eliot Ness?
This photo is from the Erie Railroad publicity department. I wonder if anyone else has any further information or photos of the "300"? Sure would make a neat scratchbuilding project!
Enjoy, Ed
No. 300 looks very similar to an Evans Roadrailer, but I never knew the Erie owned any. I've always thought this would be an interesting model to build and operate, but never found scale drawings. I know Roadrailers were operated by Washington & Old Dominion, Bellefonte Central, and a number of other lines.
Tom
I was quite surprised to see in your link to CP ships, that the CP and the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, jointly owned the MV Aorangi.
I saw that also. Now I want to know how that came about. But alas, the Honeydo list is calling.
Keep those photo's coming Ed. I am quickly finding out that You-Tube isn't the only place to find obscure video's. We may actually find some moving pic's of the Erie #300.
On the last page Mark (NP2626) was off to see "The Black Hills Central" I am glad to see he made it and got to ride behind the Mallet.
I see the similarity, Tom.
Here is an interesting 1935 promo video from Chevrolet showing the features of the Evans Railbus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6z3LJjP8aE
There were crazy motorists back then? 1:05 . Who knew!
I found a color photo here, since renumbered 800.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Erie-RR-Rail-Bus-800-4x6-color-photo-/400927479424?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d5923d680
I don't have too much reference material on the Erie but I'll keep my eyes peeled for any further information.
Looks like the car went on to the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Hope-Ivyland-RR-Rail-Inspection-Bus-8x10-color-photo-2-/161221971217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2589940d11
Thanks, Ed
Wonder whether any real Evans Roadrailers still exist. Doubtful, I guess.
Some of this Ed has already referred to, but good ole Shorpy.....
http://www.shorpy.com/node/17521
Cheers, the Bear.
I wonder whether dimensions or scale drawings exist, or where they might be found. If not, I guess the photos might provide useful information for a modeling project. Unfortunately, it appears that the carbodies differed from one unit to another. If somebody produced a body casting, Darth could certainly turn it into a gem!
BATMAN I was quite surprised to see in your link to CP ships, that the CP and the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, jointly owned the MV Aorangi. I saw that also. Now I want to know how that came about. But alas, the Honeydo list is calling. Keep those photo's coming Ed. I am quickly finding out that You-Tube isn't the only place to find obscure video's. We may actually find some moving pic's of the Erie #300. On the last page Mark (NP2626) was off to see "The Black Hills Central" I am glad to see he made it and got to ride behind the Mallet.
Brent, I linked to this video in my thread on the BHC, thanks for the link!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Here's some more information on the Evans Auto-Railer
http://www.oocities.org/trackworker.geo/evanstext1.htm]
And more. Check out that funky double-ended thing about halfway down.
http://hankstruckforum.com/htforum/index.php?topic=57125.0
And coincidentaly, next hit down is a shot of a similar double ended 'thing'
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrscharroo/8160604664
Digging through the links Randy provided, two pic's caught my eye.
"The Bomb Train" Would like to find out more about this.
And this!..... Really?????
A video link posted by DigitalGriffin reminded me of this. For those that may have missed it the first time.
Ha! Just when you thought you had seen the last of this thread. Things just keep showing up in the mailbox.
There are some interesting examples of, shall we say imaginative engineering in the following. There are three parts, so if you are so intrigued, wait for the next part to begin.
I am curious to see if anyone has a model of any of the following rarities on their layouts. If you do, please share a photo of it with us.
The journey we are about to embark on, even has a train that requires a sea Captain and lifeboat on it.
MTH made an O model of the Erie L1. First time I saw one, I didn't believe it was real.
Thanks for the video Bear, that is a very cool model. Seems to be few models of the weird and wonderful out there.
Well, the kids have finished with Provincial exams for another year (both made the honour roll) so it is time to hit the road. I put new tires, shocks, exhaust and new bushings on the stablizer bars on the truck and new tires on the trailer. The wife was a little worried last week with all the truck parts spread all over the driveway. So was I! Thank goodness for You-Tube "how to" Videos. She said are we going to be ready ten days from now? I said "Aye Captain, she'll launch on time". Alway's good for a roll of her eye's.
This is what we look like, so drop by for a drink if you see us.
You don't have to go very far in Canada before you are completely off the grid. No cell phone service and no internet. The are still times when all is right with the universe.
I remember a recent thread by smkid51 asking about maintenance of our loco's. I don't think this is what he had in mind, however, someday he may want to change scale's.
See you in September if all goes well.
Here's a "What Is It?" photo for everyone to ruminate over...
Erie Railroad Photograph by Charles E. Coe; Collection of Gmpullman
The back of the photo only has the word "mole" lightly written in pencil. It is from a collection of Erie Railroad photographs that I recently purchased.
Now, I am well aware of ballast cleaning equipment and those trains are usually pretty heavily laden with equipment and several hoppers to load all the dirt and cinders that are screened out. This thing obviously runs on the two "racks" that are laid on adjacent ties and I see the small conveyor and the "scooper arm" similar to what is used on mining equipment like the Joy continuous miner.
So, where is the ballast going? How is it powered? There looks like an electric motor all the way aft but I do not see any cabling. There looks like a wooden beam or trough spanning the left hand track which seems to tie into the "tool-box" looking thing with the hinged lid.
My only assumption for the use of this machine is to clear away ballast prior to replacing ties to make it easier to pull the old ties out from the end (modern methods are to chop the tie in thirds) and shove the new tie in.
Anyone have any more information or ideas?
Happy Railroadin'
Ed
Looks like the ballast comes out the back, only shaped nicely. In front, it seems like the ballast has no shoulder, it just fills in the space between the parallel tracks. Behind the machine, it looks like it is nicely shaped with the drainage ditch in the middle.
Here's one on the NYC:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/deepcontent?recordId=olvwork359844
You're right, Randy. The Mole must be for cleaning small areas around switches and other hardware. Note the caption on the photo in your link says the dirt is deposited into buckets, obviously not a large volume operation and I can't imagine those racks that the machine propels itself on are very long therefore I would see this in use for smaller jobs.
The "chute" out the rear almost looks like a Simplex locomotive stoker! You can make out spark plug wires under the conveyor, too, answering how it was powered.
Thanks for finding that link... very interesting!