What's wrong with letting your pre-conceived ideas and refusal to observe closely get in the way of reality?
Johnny
Must be the same production outfit that does "ice Road Truckers" as every shot of a truck passing by has the sound of a air horn.
I watch and enjoy Alaska Railroad, and watch it as entertainment and not as a documentary, same as with Ice Road truckers, Ax Man, Highway thru Hell, and many other shoes of that nature. For doocumentaries, I watch the PBS stations.
I quit watching Alaska Railroad after seeing the episode where a car suddenly appeared on the tracks. No sign of wheel tracks in the snow and the state of the car made it extemely unlikely that it could even move under its own power, so it was probably dropped into place by helicopter. That and the inane comments from the crew - presumably they are real railroaders but their conversations are obviously scripted and so unreal.
A pity really as this show could have been really interesting had the producers been a lot more realistic with their weekly scenarios.
But I did find it fascinating that the AAR has at least one specialty hi-rail truck that is used to supply off-grid residents with heavy materials right to their trail head.
You guys seem to think that the show is about the railroad. Like several other "reality" shows, it is about Alaska. Ever since the former governor was selected to join the political circus, there has been a strange fascination with that frozen wilderness state. When I see the residents featured in most of those shows I can't help but wonder from who or what they are hiding.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
For some reason, Alaska attracts a fair number of characters that can't or won't fit in with a modern urban society. The Tina Fey lookalike may just be a more visible member of this subculture.
As I composed my last post I struggles with how to point out her involvement in the sudden fascination with Alaska without launching a political tangent.
On the accuracy of the shows: One of the "hillbillies" living off the land in the hills of NC is actually a college educated school teacher and I have seen the "before" picture of the Duck Dynasty cast...
There is nothing real about reality TV shows.
This discussion of "reality" on TV reminds me: Rember the crazy Louisiana character, Shelby, on "The Axe Men" who would wildly tear down the bayou whooping loudly and lived in a run-down camp at the water's edge? One of my wife's co-workers knew him personally and said that he and his wife lived in a nice house in a local subdivision.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
When I first heard about the series, I was excited that there was going to be a reality TV show on railroading, but after watching a few episodes on youtube, I was disappointed. It is still better than derailing, crashing and blowing them up as hollywood often does, but there is lots of room for improvement. To begin, it is way too formulaic. A train leaves from a terminal, barely making it out on time. Up ahead, the track crews find a problem with the track. "Oh no, we have to fix this before the train comes through!!!" They fix the problem just on time so the train arrives on schedule with no problems.
Secondly, they only concentrate on one train which has to deliver some desperately needed equipment that needs to get through on time, when there are mulitiple trains on the railroad at a given time.
Thirdly, they concentrate too much on the offgridders. I know that offgridders give the railroad a purpose, but, as some have mentioned previously, the problems are scripted.
If I was making the show, I would put a camera in the dispatcher's office and the Anchorage shops, with every train and track crew, and without scripting. Im sure that there would be enough for a seasons worth of real drama if this was done for a whole year, but I guess Joe public would be bored by the lack of drama and that us railfans aren't a big enough market to do it this way. Oh well, I guess that is what youtube is for.
Lone Geep
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CSSHEGEWISCH For some reason, Alaska attracts a fair number of characters that can't or won't fit in with a modern urban society. The Tina Fey lookalike may just be a more visible member of this subculture.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Hey Phoebe Vet - Not to nitpick, but your slogan is supposed to read LACKAWANNA, the Route of Phoebe Snow (not the Phoebe Snow). Just sayin'.
The proof is in the pudding:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2657883
I like the show and understand all the fake drama. I just wonder who that woman is who's always in the cab and does mothing.
She's the "brakeman" - the crew member who checks out any problems with the equipment en route, and lines any switches necessary if any switching of cars is done en route. If the train crew is a three person crew, they will be the engineer, conductor and brakeman. Most of the time, the brakeman has approximately nothing to do except to look back along the train for anything that might appear unusual, and repeat signals (which the conductor also does). Most over the road crews these days, at least in the Lower 48, do away with one member, and have only an engineer and a conductor, the latter performing any necessary brakeman's duties as well.
Thanks, Joseph, have no idea of what engines were used or what they are capable of doing. I don't know diesels at all except for the old E and F that pulled the trains I saw and rode as a kid. But my friend would know about traction, he's driven big rigs but does agree trains can haul more than trucks at one time.
Thanks for your input too, Traisessive. My friend is not into railroading other than we talk about, but he could spot things that were wrong, like the trains banking on that curve and not falling over, as he said law of physics. He's into guns too and hates to watch a movie or TV show, because he sees all the mistakes that are made about firearms.
sad but true today. Have a friend who's retired BNSF engineer, came up the old way, trained as fireman for 3 years and then took over running the train. He's commented on how it's done today and no shortcuts to learning how to work a train. My grandpa was Frisco conductor and he also served his time as brakeman before moving up. You can't learn from a similator what really goes on, you need to be out there doing it for a long time.
Having only been in the cab of a DM&E engine decades ago I'm guessing operating a train could be difficult with slack and uneven track.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Boyd Having only been in the cab of a DM&E engine decades ago I'm guessing operating a train could be difficult with slack and uneven track.
Controling slack within the train is where the engineer's skill, or lack thereof come to the fore!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD Boyd Having only been in the cab of a DM&E engine decades ago I'm guessing operating a train could be difficult with slack and uneven track. Controling slack within the train is where the engineer's skill, or lack thereof come to the fore!
Speaking strictly as an interested observer who has spent some times close to the tracks and listening to trains starting and stopping....The level of skill in train operations is surely evident; brake action, and the 'voices' of the couplers are certainly evidence of the operator's train handling skill.... At night some can glide by with practically no notice, while the next one will practically shake the pictures of the walls... Thank God, there are more of the former in the employee of Mr. Buffet's railroad than the latter
samfp1943 BaltACD Boyd Having only been in the cab of a DM&E engine decades ago I'm guessing operating a train could be difficult with slack and uneven track. Controling slack within the train is where the engineer's skill, or lack thereof come to the fore! Speaking strictly as an interested observer who has spent some times close to the tracks and listening to trains starting and stopping....The level of shill in train operations is surely evident; brake action and the 'voices' of the couplers are certainly evidence of the operator's train handling skill.... At night some can glide by with practically no notice, while the next one will practically shake the pictures of the walls... Thank God, there are more of the former in the employee of Mr. Buffet's railroad than the latter
BaltACD Boyd Having only been in the cab of a DM&E engine decades ago I'm guessing operating a train could be difficult with slack and uneven track. Controling slack within the train is where the engineer's skill, or lack thereof come to the fore! Speaking strictly as an interested observer who has spent some times close to the tracks and listening to trains starting and stopping....The level of shill in train operations is surely evident; brake action and the 'voices' of the couplers are certainly evidence of the operator's train handling skill.... At night some can glide by with practically no notice, while the next one will practically shake the pictures of the walls... Thank God, there are more of the former in the employee of Mr. Buffet's railroad than the latter
Engineers, at least on my carrier, are being mandated to use the 'Trip Optimizer' on their locomotives - I don't know how 'skillful' the Trip Optimizer is in controlling slack in the the train sizes that are currently being operated.
BaltACDControling slack within the train is where the engineer's skill, or lack thereof come to the fore!
Not always a question of skill. Sometimes a result of train handling rules written by very clueless people.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
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