Railroad History Quiz Game (Come on in and play)

[snagletooth]

RS-1

S2

RS-3

FA-1/FPA-1

RS-11 

[Murphy Siding]

     Score so far...

Chad:  1 for 5

Dale: 2 for 5

Carl: 4 for 5

 

[CShaveRR]

Let's guess:

S2

S4

RS-1 (had a long production period)

RS-3

C630/M630.

[nanaimo73]

ALCos and MLWs?

S2, S3, RS3, RS18, C424

[chad thomas]

Purely a guess.....

S1

S2

S3

RS2

C630

[Murphy Siding]

     Well, I'm not Jeff, but I *did* sleep at a Holiday Inn last night!

     Keeping things rolling:

     What were the top five ALCO/MLW diesels, based on numbers produced? 

[nanaimo73]

 So was I also wrong about the soon-to-be famous lawyer?  I had guessed Abraham Lincoln.  -  a. s.

Al, you were right, it was Abraham Lincoln.

Jeff, do you have a new question for us?

[al-in-chgo]

Sorry Al.  The company that had the structure built started at Chicago, but the structure was at the other end (at that time) of the line.

Jeff

 

 

So was I also wrong about the soon-to-be famous lawyer?  I had guessed Abraham Lincoln.  -  a. s.

 

[Railway Man]

Open to anyone who wants to pose a question.  Don't wait for me.

RWM 

[jeffhergert]

I would've never got the name without the hint.  When I think of Vickers I think of WWI biplanes.

This question is about a railroad structure.  It was opened on April 21/22 1856, depending on if you go by the first actual use or the grand opening celebration.  On May 6, 1856 part of it was damaged by fire due to an "accident" and it was not back into service, according to one source, until September of 1856.

What was this structure? 

A hint.  One of the lawyers that became involved wasn't widely known at the time, but he went on to greatness a few years later. 

Jeff

Oh, good question!!!!

Answer is the Rock Island Bridge between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, whacked by the steamboat Effie Afton on May 6, 1856, 14 days after it opened to rail traffic, the steamship and one span of the bridge destroyed by the collision and subsequent fire.  The bridge company was sued by the steamship company for erecting an obstacle to navigation, and successfully defended by one A. Lincoln, the suit ruled in favor of the defendent by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1862.

Appropo nothing, was there ever a case of a steamboat not catching on fire after colliding with something?  Seems every historical record of a steamboat ends with " ... and then burned to the waterline."

RWM 

We have a winner!  This was the first railroad bridge over the Mississippi.  They originally lost in lower courts, but as Railway Man says, won on appeal to the Supreme Court.  

All yours RWM.

Jeff 

[Railway Man]

I would've never got the name without the hint.  When I think of Vickers I think of WWI biplanes.

This question is about a railroad structure.  It was opened on April 21/22 1856, depending on if you go by the first actual use or the grand opening celebration.  On May 6, 1856 part of it was damaged by fire due to an "accident" and it was not back into service, according to one source, until September of 1856.

What was this structure? 

A hint.  One of the lawyers that became involved wasn't widely known at the time, but he went on to greatness a few years later. 

Jeff

Oh, good question!!!!

Answer is the Rock Island Bridge between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, whacked by the steamboat Effie Afton on May 6, 1856, 14 days after it opened to rail traffic, the steamship and one span of the bridge destroyed by the collision and subsequent fire.  The bridge company was sued by the steamship company for erecting an obstacle to navigation, and successfully defended by one A. Lincoln, the suit ruled in favor of the defendent by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1862.

Appropo nothing, was there ever a case of a steamboat not catching on fire after colliding with something?  Seems every historical record of a steamboat ends with " ... and then burned to the waterline."

RWM 

[jeffhergert]

Sorry Al.  The company that had the structure built started at Chicago, but the structure was at the other end (at that time) of the line.

Jeff

[al-in-chgo]

I would've never got the name without the hint.  When I think of Vickers I think of WWI biplanes.

This question is about a railroad structure.  It was opened on April 21/22 1856, depending on if you go by the first actual use or the grand opening celebration.  On May 6, 1856 part of it was damaged by fire due to an "accident" and it was not back into service, according to one source, until September of 1856.

What was this structure? 

A hint.  One of the lawyers that became involved wasn't widely known at the time, but he went on to greatness a few years later. 

Jeff

 

I will guess that the bridge was a kind of wooden causeway that connected (what was then) mainland Chicago's near south side to a railhead farther downtown.  The causeway was necessary to span (what was then) Chicago marshland just west of Lake Michigan, paralleling (today's) Michigan Avenue, passing roughly by (today's) Art Institute and Metra-Electric station up to (again roughly) the "original" Prudential Insurance Bldg., 1955.  (First significant "air rights" sale so that 1955 bldg. could be built IIRC). 

Recalling that Metra-Electric station was formerly called I.C. Electric, I'll guess even farther back and say that the lawyer was that (then) hard-working corporation attorney named Abraham Lincoln.  I don't know if there is any better name for the causeway than "Illinois Central" right-of-way or something like that. 

G'nite!  For once I am going to bed early!  - a.s.

 

[jeffhergert]

I would've never got the name without the hint.  When I think of Vickers I think of WWI biplanes.

This question is about a railroad structure.  It was opened on April 21/22 1856, depending on if you go by the first actual use or the grand opening celebration.  On May 6, 1856 part of it was damaged by fire due to an "accident" and it was not back into service, according to one source, until September of 1856.

What was this structure? 

A hint.  One of the lawyers that became involved wasn't widely known at the time, but he went on to greatness a few years later. 

Jeff

[al-in-chgo]

My guess is Bombardier for the company and Montreal for the plant location.

Jeff

 

Definitely in Montreal, Quebec; but company is not Bombardier.

Hint:  Rhymes with "snickers."   -  al

Vickers, maybe?

Jeff

 

  It's yours, Jeff!    My source authority for the clue and hints is a 56-page book published in 1990:  The Lindenwold High-Speed Line:  The First Twenty Years of the Port Authority Transit Corporation, author J. William Vigrass, publisher and (c)holder West Jersey Chapter of the N.R.H.S. 

  oltmann, you are quite correct:  the quickest physical distinction between the Budd-built cars and the Vickers contract is that the Vickers (Patco II) generation have a small skirt at the end of each car; the Budd's do not.   Also, the Patco II's were designed for couplers from Ohio Brass, and Budd's first-generation Lindenwold cars were delivered with a more conventional coupler.  The Ohio Brass couplers were phased in to Patco I as a replacement, so I wouldn't expect to see any of the type of coupler Budd built to be in use today, if they hadn't already been replaced by 1980 - 81, when Patco II cars entered service.

  BTW:  Official name of company that built Patco II was "Canadian Vickers, Ltd."  and to quote from p. 34 of the aforementioned book:

      "Vickers was not in the design business, but did build others' designs.  They had built Montreal Metro cars to a French design and Canadian Pacific Railways' gallery cars from a Budd design (for the Milwaukee Road**) for Montreal suburban service.  Budd agreed to license Vickers to build the Patco [II-a.s.] car."  

       In the seventies, also BTW, Canadian Vickers, Ltd. changed its name to "Vickers Canada, Inc." and then later on to "Versatile Vickers, Inc." and then went out of business in early 1990.  (Also from p. 34).

      ** I don't really understand the parenthetic expression two grafs above, "(for the Milwaukee Road)".  Would those galleys have been for some sort of Chicago commuter service, perhaps pre-Metra?? 

So, oltmann, if Jeff should prove unable or unwilling to fulfill the opportunity to post his own question, you can be runner-up if you wish. 

Take it awaaaay, Jeff!    -  al s. 

 

[oltmannd]

     How about a reletively easy one?

     In 1991, there was 31 railroads, plus Amtrak, certified as American Class 1s.  A handful of *mega-railroads*, sometimes refered to as the "super 7", had 75% of the route miles, and carried 88% of the freight.  Who were the "Super 7"?

Union Pacific 

Burlington Northern 

ATSF 

Southern Pacific

CSX

Norfolk Southern

Conrail

Is it fair to assume all the Super Seven's were headquartered in the U.S.A., as well as owning/controlling the preponderance (75%) of the route miles of the U.S.A.?   - al

 

Way to go Al!  7 for 7.  The super seven were all American railroads.

 

Basically a lucky guess, Murph. 

So I get the next question?  Okay, here's one of those annoying "I have the book but you can't look in yours" type of questions. 

In the 1960s, when the 1936 rapid transit line from Philadelphia, PA to Camden NJ was modernized and extended into the Lindenwold Hi-Speed line by the service agency PATCO, the first generation of cars was built by Budd.  Around a year after operations began, though, the agency knew it needed to order more rolling stock.  PATCO decided to keep the basic Budd concept design but improve it in various ways, most notably redesigning the motors so that they wouldn't burn out so often.  This project came to be called Patco II. 

For this new generation of RT cars, Budd constructed and built only the trucks. The cars were "final assembled" in Philly.  In between, a different company in a different city constructed Patco II, using funding from PATCO and other sources and design permissions from Budd, and incorporating the new specs. 

Tell me, please, (a) the name of the company that constructed Patco II, and (b) in what city the new cars were constructed, before coming to Philly on long flatcars for final assembly. 

Hint 1:  If you get the name of the company right, that will get you a leg-up on the second (where?) part of the question. 

Hint 2:  It wasn't GE. 

  Good luck!   Al 

 

The new motors were a bust, just like the originals.  The original design speed for the line was 75 mph, but motor troubles reduced it to 65 mph.  There was at least one attempt to get back to 75 mph, but it didn't last long and it's been 65 mph ever since.   

[oltmannd]

My guess is Bombardier for the company and Montreal for the plant location.

Jeff

 

Definitely in Montreal, Quebec; but company is not Bombardier.

Hint:  Rhymes with "snickers."   -  al

Vickers, maybe?

Jeff

Darn.  I'm too late.  I knew this one w/o the clue.  I was a Patco rider for years and years.  I believe the Vickers cars were all married pairs.  The original Budds came in singles and married pairs.  There weren't many ways to tell the two apart other than the builder's plate on the inside of the end doors.  One was the Vickers cars had corrogated flooring on the aisles where the Budd's had solid sheet.  Later the Budds were upgraded.  I seem to remember something about the skirting between the trucks being different, too.  Patco actually had a contest to see if you could find all the differences....

 I think the Vickers cars came on line just before the construction of the Woodcrest P&R station along I-295 circa 1979.

[jeffhergert]

My guess is Bombardier for the company and Montreal for the plant location.

Jeff

 

Definitely in Montreal, Quebec; but company is not Bombardier.

Hint:  Rhymes with "snickers."   -  al

Vickers, maybe?

Jeff

[al-in-chgo]

My guess is Bombardier for the company and Montreal for the plant location.

Jeff

 

Definitely in Montreal, Quebec; but company is not Bombardier.

Hint:  Rhymes with "snickers."   -  al

[jeffhergert]

My guess is Bombardier for the company and Montreal for the plant location.

Jeff

[al-in-chgo]

Was it Hawker Siddeley in Ontario?

 

 

 

Right country, wrong province . . .  look east to the largest city in la belle province.

[paulsafety]

Was it Hawker Siddeley in Ontario?

 

[rrnut282]

Got another hint?  24hrs later, I'm ready to cheat on the internet if it would help.

[al-in-chgo]

Bombadier in the old ALCO plant in  Schnedecty, NY?

 Edit: Nevermind, I just realized you're talking about the sixties! ALCO in Schnedecty, NY

 

Good guess, but think farther into the 1970s.  Between wanting new cars and knowing what to ask for in terms of funding the construction and approving the improvements; and submitting to the then-new UMTA a request for partial funding; and going to Budd re the new construction, which eventually decided it was content to build non-self-propelled cars for the foreseeable future (i.e., Amfleet coaches, but Amtrak surprised them by not putting in orders for the multiple phases of Amfleet augmentation the company had assumed it had coming to it); and [pause for breath] finding a new construction agent for the new Patco II specs; and getting the union and the feds on board to allow Patco a no-bid contract; and awarding same, it was 1975 already.  

Keep trying! 

 

[snagletooth]

Bombadier in the old ALCO plant in  Schnedecty, NY?

 Edit: Nevermind, I just realized you're talking about the sixties! ALCO in Schnedecty, NY

[al-in-chgo]

     How about a reletively easy one?

     In 1991, there was 31 railroads, plus Amtrak, certified as American Class 1s.  A handful of *mega-railroads*, sometimes refered to as the "super 7", had 75% of the route miles, and carried 88% of the freight.  Who were the "Super 7"?

Union Pacific 

Burlington Northern 

ATSF 

Southern Pacific

CSX

Norfolk Southern

Conrail

Is it fair to assume all the Super Seven's were headquartered in the U.S.A., as well as owning/controlling the preponderance (75%) of the route miles of the U.S.A.?   - al

 

Way to go Al!  7 for 7.  The super seven were all American railroads.

 

Basically a lucky guess, Murph. 

So I get the next question?  Okay, here's one of those annoying "I have the book but you can't look in yours" type of questions. 

In the 1960s, when the 1936 rapid transit line from Philadelphia, PA to Camden NJ was modernized and extended into the Lindenwold Hi-Speed line by the service agency PATCO, the first generation of cars was built by Budd.  Around a year after operations began, though, the agency knew it needed to order more rolling stock.  PATCO decided to keep the basic Budd concept design but improve it in various ways, most notably redesigning the motors so that they wouldn't burn out so often.  This project came to be called Patco II. 

For this new generation of RT cars, Budd constructed and built only the trucks. The cars were "final assembled" in Philly.  In between, a different company in a different city constructed Patco II, using funding from PATCO and other sources and design permissions from Budd, and incorporating the new specs. 

Tell me, please, (a) the name of the company that constructed Patco II, and (b) in what city the new cars were constructed, before coming to Philly on long flatcars for final assembly. 

Hint 1:  If you get the name of the company right, that will get you a leg-up on the second (where?) part of the question. 

Hint 2:  It wasn't GE. 

  Good luck!   Al 

 

[Murphy Siding]

     How about a reletively easy one?

     In 1991, there was 31 railroads, plus Amtrak, certified as American Class 1s.  A handful of *mega-railroads*, sometimes refered to as the "super 7", had 75% of the route miles, and carried 88% of the freight.  Who were the "Super 7"?

Union Pacific 

Burlington Northern 

ATSF 

Southern Pacific

CSX

Norfolk Southern

Conrail

Is it fair to assume all the Super Seven's were headquartered in the U.S.A., as well as owning/controlling the preponderance (75%) of the route miles of the U.S.A.?   - al

 

Way to go Al!  7 for 7.  The super seven were all American railroads.

[al-in-chgo]

     How about a reletively easy one?

     In 1991, there was 31 railroads, plus Amtrak, certified as American Class 1s.  A handful of *mega-railroads*, sometimes refered to as the "super 7", had 75% of the route miles, and carried 88% of the freight.  Who were the "Super 7"?

Union Pacific 

Burlington Northern 

ATSF 

Southern Pacific

CSX

Norfolk Southern

Conrail

Is it fair to assume all the Super Seven's were headquartered in the U.S.A., as well as owning/controlling the preponderance (75%) of the route miles of the U.S.A.?   - al

 

[Murphy Siding]

     How about a reletively easy one?

     In 1991, there was 31 railroads, plus Amtrak, certified as American Class 1s.  A handful of *mega-railroads*, sometimes refered to as the "super 7", had 75% of the route miles, and carried 88% of the freight.  Who were the "Super 7"?

[Murphy Siding]

A slip of the mind, I was thinking of one of the trains, ADVGFR.

I'd ask what that symbol means, but I think I'll throw out one dealing with a Rock Island passenger train.

In early 1945 the RI inaugurated a new passenger train between Minneapolis/St Paul and Houston.  What was it's name and what did the name signify.  

Jeff 

A hint, if needed, for the significance, think about the end points.

 

Was it the Twins/Lone Star Rocket?

Murphy wins it.  The train was actually called the Twin Star Rocket.  The twin stars are derived from connecting Minnesota, the North Star state, with Texas, the Lone Star state.

Jeff 

I was just guessing on the name, remembering that Rock Island had some train with *stars* in it.  I didn't quite get the reason for the name though.  In our part of the country, Minneapolis/St. Paul is always refered to as the twin cities.