If you could ride a locomotive cab anywhere in the U.S., where would it be? & Why?

[Anonymous]

As a 15 year old kid I rode in the cab of the Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Daylight
from Martinez to Crockett for which act of deliberate rule breaking the engineer
was punished with a ton of demerits at the hand of the assistant trainmaster,
Cy Napper. Mr Napper also made it pefectly clear that I was no longer welcome
on railroad property. Ah, but it was all worth it! A few months later the superintendant
of the Salt Lake Division offered to let me ride the cab of the City of San Francisco
from Ogden, Utah to Carlin, Nevada. I declined for fear of jail time in light of my
previous experince.
Now my choice would be: DONNER PASS in a blizzard.
There never has been or will be any railroad quite like the mighty SP!

[Anonymous]

Well it will have to be Donner Pass and the Feather River canyon over the Keddie "Y"

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dblstack

LC,
I hadn't thought about your suggestion of the WP in California on the Feather River Route. That's a beauty too. I've wanted to get out there to see that line for quite a while now. The photos I've seen and the topo maps sure show an amazing piece of RR engineering there with the tunnels and with how the line snakes up and back in the valley there.
Good choice! - Stack

When my orders transferred me from San Diego to Norfolk (VA), we drove up through the Feather River Canyon area taking the scenic routes all the way. I thoroughly enjoyed that drive, and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. I especially remember driving along the Feather River and seeing the railway across the river, following the route of the river. That seemed to me to be one of the best places to cabride.

I had originally planned to say anywhere in the mountains of Montana & Wyoming as well as points north (first) and south (second), but the Feather River takes first choice.

Thank you both for suggesting the FR.

[Anonymous]

I would like to take an Acela from Boston to Washington. Non-Stop. I live in Delaware near the NEC.

If the Acela is off limits then a GG1.

[JoeKoh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

to a lot of forum members watch area! Cool - wave as I go by!

Matt would wave back for sure.[:)]
stay safe
joe

[Anonymous]

I as a boy 8-11 rode as sat in the cab of Locomotives from RS-10,s to M-630
on CN Rail as lived in Brookville with my dad working at Brookville lime.mostly it
was the wey freight that ran from Saint John to Sussex.my dream is to ride in a
a cab of any diesle on the Horse shoe curve as alway loved Pennsy and Penn
Central.the sight of the area is WOW.

Make Sure the Light is Green

[cpbloom]

I was gonna say the Pittsburgh line from Conway yard to Harrisburg, but since I can ride that on Amtrak (just not in the cab) I pick........THE RATHOLE!

[jeaton]

If I could get just one, it would have to be Donner. You have to ask why?
Once had a ride on an ICG E-9 on the Panama coming north out of Champaign. Hit 95, but mostly it was corn and beans. Biggest disappointment-in the cab, the bell and horn are just clunky.

[vsmith]

1. Durango & Silverton on one of thier K-27's up the Animas River gorge, Why? Do I really need to say it?

2. Combres & Toltec Chama to Antonio on a K-37, Why? Please see above.

3. UP 844 or the UP Challenger or SP 4449 or SF 3751anytime anywhere. Why? Are you really that dense?

[espeefoamer]

Black Butte,CA.to Eugene,OR.on the Syskiou line.[8D]
Klamath Falls,OR to Flanigan,NV on the Modoc line.[:p]
Mojave TO Bakersfield over the Tehachapi Mountains.My first train ride was over this line.[:)]
All these on the mighty SP.May it live forever!!![:D][:D][:D]
(I have haerd about that "merger" but I'm still in denial about that.)[:(!]

[oltmannd]

Had a cab ride at Steamtown (VT) as a kid (10 year old) and it scared the heck out of me! But, I think if I could choose any cab ride, I'd choose a ride in the PRR K-4 (if and when they finish putting it back together) over the old PRR Middle Div from Harrisburg to Altoona at track speed.

I've had some neat cab rides over the years: Metroliner (tho' I only saw 127 mph, max), E60, an Amtrak FL9 at 90 mph on the Shorline, BN SD60MAC on the CR Pittsburgh Line, the Juice train up the NEC, Selkirk to Collinwood on vans, the B&A on brand new C32-8s (the first production Dash 8s?) and down the Susquehanna on SD40-2, but to get a cab ride in a steam locomotive again would really be neat.

[Mookie]

to a lot of forum members watch area! Cool - wave as I go by!

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm!!!!!

1: Cajon Pass - BNSF Line
2: Cajon Pass - UP Line

both with a heavy freight or doublestack. Great grade!!! One of the best RR places I had ever seen

3. Sherman Hill - Don´t ask why, but I like this "mountain" line - A mountain line without mountains.

BTW: I had the pleasure to made a cabride with a 300 km/h ICE3 train from Frankfurt to Cologne. 190 mph - a flight a level ZERO!!! And the cab in an ICE 3 is more like a cockpit.

[daveklepper]

My cab rides seem pretty tame by comparison, but I did ride a Deltic from London to Newcastle before the East Coast Main Line was electrified, and most of the time we were right at 100mph. Of course I'd love to be in a cab on the CZ StL-Denver or reverse, and on a freight to Craig (David Moffat being one my heros). I was behind an Metroliner engineer in the first year of that operation, before the PC merger, when he hit 136mph on the digital read-out speedometer south of Wilmington. (The first Mteroliners were self-propelled electric mu cars, so standing behind the engineer meant simply standing in the open bulkhead doorway.) So I would not mind a cab ride in an Acela at all. Suprised not to see anyone else mention it. Dave

[Anonymous]

The BNSF C&I Line, Auroua to Savanna. I'd like to see all the spots i railfan at from the engineer's view.

[Anonymous]

dblstack a very good choice. Back in the 50's and 60's I worked for the Rio Grande and had a number of cab rides. 13 hours in the cab of the CZ Denver to SLC was a long day but a great experience. Mountain railroading with some fast running around Rifle CO and in the Utah desert. Spent a nice evening in the cab of #7 the Prospector, different look at night Denver to Grand Junction. Several trips on #1 and #2 the Royal Gorge thru the canyon of its name, great scenery and some fast running from Colo.Sprgs. to Pueblo. But the best - lots of noise, hot, dirty, rough ride and slow, Alamosa to Chama on a K36 over Cumbres. Unforgettable!!!

Had an authorization for a cab ride on the Super Chief from La Junta to Albuquerque but a family emergency forced cancellation, a great pity as was never able to get it set up again. Raton Pass and some really fast running back in the good old days of the Santa Fe. Might have seen 100 on the speedometer. Amtrak wouldn't even come close.

[eolafan]

Two choices, either one would be fine. First would be the BNSF out of Chicago through the westerb burbs on triple track raceway and then up the C&I line through E. Dubuque, LaCrosse up the MIssissipi River to Minneapolis. Second would be on CN out of Chicago, up the old Wisconsin Central/Soo Line track through Fon duLac and out through Stevens point. An honorable mention would be up to Portage on an Amtrak train and then up the old MILW Valley Line to Wausau.

[JoeKoh]

Willard sub through fostoria deshler all the way to garrett.with yard stop in Defiance.
home territory
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

How about an Amtrak AEM-7 on the NEC

DOGGY

[locomutt]

My personal preference, as far as riding a train, would be riding a GP7/GP9 up the
Big Sandy, or if we were still in steam, one of the C&O BERKS would work.

I don't think H8's ran on the subdivision. If they did, I wouldn't mind being on one.

Last H8 I saw was in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.

Why? I'd just like to be there and see everything from the cab.
Huntington to Hinton would be nice!

[pmsteamman]

tree68, I run on the Saginaw sub everyday. You may be intrested in knowing that the limits of the subdivision have been changed. Saginaw is MP CC1 and it runs south to Carlton Mich at MP CC105. It used to run all the way to the state line of Mich and Ohio. The former part from Carlton to Walbridge is now the Toledo Terminal sub.
As for my dream,, between Hunington W VA to Hinton W VA in a C&O H-8. A tough piece of railroad and a beast of a locomotive.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Anyplace on the Wisconsin and southern's railroad lines in the fall. Most of the running is through hills with lots of trees and if you hit the right time, all the trees would be turning their colors.

Noah

[Anonymous]

A BNSF intermodal hotshot going thru the Q's old Lacrosse Div.-Beautiful scenery along the old Mississipp.

[moelarrycurly4]

Tehachapi loop defiantely .

because I got to see it when I was little

[Willy2]

I wouldn't mind going on the Tehachapi Loop. Steep grade, sharp curves, and tunnels.
I would like to go up the line and back down because first I would experience what the crew goes through to get the train up. Then I could see what they go through to get the train down safely.

My second choice would be the UP triple track mainline in Nebraska. I would want to go one the triple track because the trains go fast non-stop. Then I would get to see Bailey Yard.

Willy

[Modelcar]

....One would be a local route I'm familar with in terrain...and almost did get it accomplished years ago but circumstances didn't quite fall in correct place...Location: On the Somerset and Cambria branch of the ex. B&O now CSX...from Somerset to Johnstown about 30 plus miles....Reason: Heavy grades and curves and even a short tunnel. Elevation change about 1000'. Ex. heavy coal hauler...Now, just some light freight at times.

[Anonymous]

LC,
I hadn't thought about your suggestion of the WP in California on the Feather River Route. That's a beauty too. I've wanted to get out there to see that line for quite a while now. The photos I've seen and the topo maps sure show an amazing piece of RR engineering there with the tunnels and with how the line snakes up and back in the valley there.
Good choice! - Stack

[UPTRAIN]

Horsehoe curve would be neat to run though............hmm..............

[Anonymous]

CSX (Ex-NYC) Water Level Route, over Horseshoe Curve on the NS (Ex-PRR) over the Donner Pass on the UP (Ex-SP) and the parallel Ex-WP route too....too many others to mention...

LC