Railroad History Quiz Game (Come on in and play)

[passengerfan]

Oltmann You have guessed the two Canadian Provinces Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Your turn for question?

Al - in - Stockton 

[oltmannd]

Prince Edward Island.

[J. Edgar]

     How about going the other way?  New Foundland and New Brunswick?

Murphy Siding You got one New Foundland.

Al - in - Stockton

Nova Scotia?

[J. Edgar]

Sorry J. Edgar those are territories not provinces.

Al - in - Stockton

well......nit pickin....my wife...born and raised in Canada...lived in Invanuk NW as well as other towns and cities in Canada assures me they are Provincial Territories....just like Ontario or any others.....but either way my guess pooped...

[passengerfan]

     How about going the other way?  New Foundland and New Brunswick?

Murphy Siding You got one New Foundland.

Al - in - Stockton

[Murphy Siding]

     How about going the other way?  New Foundland and New Brunswick?

[passengerfan]

Sorry J. Edgar those are territories not provinces.

Al - in - Stockton

[J. Edgar]

 yukon

 northwest territories

[passengerfan]

Sorry name the two Canadian Provinces that never operated RDC seervices?

Al - in - Stockton 

[passengerfan]

Name the one two Canadian Provinces that never operated RDC services?

Al - in - Stockton

[KCSfan]

The Rock Island Rockettes between Memphis and Amarillo.

Sorry did not get back sooner but have been shut away from my computer room while having Hardwood floors installed last 24 hours.

Al - in - Stockton

Good job Al! It was the Choctaw Rockette all right. You got both runs correct so it's your turn to ask the next quextion.

Mark

[passengerfan]

The Rock Island Rockettes between Memphis and Amarillo.

Sorry did not get back sooner but have been shut away from my computer room while having Hardwood floors installed last 24 hours.

Al - in - Stockton

[KCSfan]

A final hint as to the second run. The streamliner which it supplanted was but one of a whole fleet of similarly named trains.

Mark

[KCSfan]

Here's another hint. The second longest RDC run was a name train and was the successor to a streamliner of the same name (almost). If no one gets it by this evening I think Carl and Passengerfan have tied with their ID of the WP Zephyrette so be thinking of another question guys.

Mark

[KCSfan]

Both Carl and Passengerfan Al are right on the longest run which was the 924 miles covered by the WP's RDC Zephyrette between Oakland and St. Lake City. The eastbound run was made in 22hrs 45mins for an average speed of 40.6mph which is amazing considering all 111 cities and towns on the route were either regular, conditional or flag stops.

The second longest run was not on the GN though the round trip mentioned may well be greatest mileage put in by a single RDC in a 24 hour period. The second longest was 762 miles in length and two RDC's (running singly) were assigned to the round trip service. Let's hear some more ideas as to that route and railroad.

Mark

[passengerfan]

The two longest RDC runs I can think of were the WP Zephyrettes between Oakland and Salt Lake City with a pair of RDC 2s tri-weekly. The other within US boundaries was the GN operating between Havre, Great Falls, Butte, Great Falls, Billings and Great Falls and back to Havre. all within a twenty four hour period.This was accomplished with GN's sole RDC 3 that later was sold to the BCR for futher service.  

[oltmannd]

OK here's a fairly easy one. What were the two longest scheduled RDC runs in the US?

Mark

A couple of WAGs...

Boston to Albany - NYC

Utica to Lake Placid - NYC

or

Chatham NY to North White Plains - NYC

or

Phila 30th St to Cape May NJ - PRSL

is this too many WAGs?

[CShaveRR]

Wasn't there some sort of Baby Zephyr that ran the entire length of the WP?  Would that qualify?

[KCSfan]

Sorry Al but wrong parts of the country and much shorter runs than the two longest.

Mark

[al-in-chgo]

OK here's a fairly easy one. What were the two longest scheduled RDC runs in the US?

Mark

Just a couple of WAG's to keep the pot stirring:  Penn Station to Montauk, L.I. on the LIRR; and

From Seattle to Portland on the old SP&S. 

(I could probably hit closer the mark for Canada - .) 

[KCSfan]

OK here's a fairly easy one. What were the two longest scheduled RDC runs in the US?

Mark

[passengerfan]

I believe it is Marks turn

Al - in - Stockton

[al-in-chgo]

Al

Si (brushing up on my Spanish will probably need it before to long in California)

Al - in - Stockton

 

So who gets to post a new question??  -  a.s.

 

[passengerfan]

Al

Si (brushing up on my Spanish will probably need it before to long in California)

Al - in - Stockton

[al-in-chgo]

Mark

Sorry for the delay once again in getting back to you. Actually I was referring to the diesel engine it was the forerunner of the EMD 567 in the Pioneer Zephyr and everything about the beast was a one of a kind. It certainly made some money for my Uncle with all of the custom machining he had to do for it. But by that time the Pioneer Zephyr had a lot of miles under its streamlined exterior and I guess it can be forgiven for its old age problems.

Al - in - Stockton 

Does this mean the question has been answered correctly?  - a.s.

 

[passengerfan]

Mark

Sorry for the delay once again in getting back to you. Actually I was referring to the diesel engine it was the forerunner of the EMD 567 in the Pioneer Zephyr and everything about the beast was a one of a kind. It certainly made some money for my Uncle with all of the custom machining he had to do for it. But by that time the Pioneer Zephyr had a lot of miles under its streamlined exterior and I guess it can be forgiven for its old age problems.

Al - in - Stockton 

[CShaveRR]

He's referring to EMC/EMD's basic series of diesel engines (so named for 567 cubic inches displacement per cylinder), used from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s.  The original Zephyr was powered, I believe, by a Winton distillate engine (somebody will correct me if that's wrong!), but the point is, it was not exactly easy to fix in the era when everything else the Q operated (practically) was powered by EMD 567-series engines.

[KCSfan]

 Right it did serve as the Silver Streqk Zephyr at one time but its final run was an obscure St. Joseph Omaha Lincoln round trip daily and its maintenace base was St. Joseph. I believe this run was operated prior to the Pioneer Zephyr by a Doodlebug with a trailing coach. Often times the trailing coach was the CB&Q Silver Pendulum. My uncle knew a couple of the St. Joe maintenance guys at that time and they cussed the day it was ever built as everything was custom on the Pioneer Zephyr and the power was the forerunner of the 567. My Uncle was a Machinist with his own shop in St. Joe and that is how he meant the two machinists from the CB&Q, if it required anything more than what a basic machine shop could do they brought it to him to duplicate. Of course nothing from a 567 would fit or work so everything was hand machined to work. I personally can remember many times during that period shortly before retirement that some diesel would be towing the Pioneer Zephyr back from its daily run as it had broken down somewhere in route.

TTFN Al - in - Stockton

I'm drawing a blank when it comes to remembering specifically what your mention of "the 567" refers to. I'm guessing the 567 was the number of one of the Burlington's second generation shovel nosed Zephyr engines. If so, weren't these non-articulated and didn't the Q have more than one of them? I vaguely remember seeing pictures of them heading (IIRC) the General Pershing and the Mark Twain Zephyrs but it's been a long time ago and I could easily be mistaken.

Mark

[CShaveRR]

Stockton is having its annnual Asparagus Festival. This is the 23rd annual and it may be the last. Farmers are saying they can grow corn for ethanol and make three times the money.

We spend a couple of weeks during the summer in Western Michigan's asparagus country.  Guess we're a couple of people that Mookie won't "stalk"!

[passengerfan]

Mark Close but no cigar.

Sorry I did not get back to you sooner but Stockton is having its annnual Asparagus Festival. This is the 23rd annual and it may be the last. Farmers are saying they can grow corn for ethanol and make three times the money.

My memory is pretty vague on the details but didn't the Pioneer Zephyr trainset operate as the Silver Streak Zephyr on the KC - Lincoln run at one time? Perhaps before being retired its route was cut back to either KC - Omaha or Omaha - Lincoln. I'll take a WAG and say that Omaha was its maintenance base.

Mark

Right it did serve as the Silver Streqk Zephyr at one time but its final run was an obscure St. Joseph Omaha Lincoln round trip daily and its maintenace base was St. Joseph. I believe this run was operated prior to the Pioneer Zephyr by a Doodlebug with a trailing coach. Often times the trailing coach was the CB&Q Silver Pendulum. My uncle knew a couple of the St. Joe maintenance guys at that time and they cussed the day it was ever built as everything was custom on the Pioneer Zephyr and the power was the forerunner of the 567. My Uncle was a Machinist with his own shop in St. Joe and that is how he meant the two machinists from the CB&Q, if it required anything more than what a basic machine shop could do they brought it to him to duplicate. Of course nothing from a 567 would fit or work so everything was hand machined to work. I personally can remember many times during that period shortly before retirement that some diesel would be towing the Pioneer Zephyr back from its daily run as it had broken down somewhere in route.

TTFN Al - in - Stockton