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String Lining

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 10:59 AM

Very interesting story NDG.  Amazing what some people wil steal, and sometimes for no apparant reason.  Like Mount Everest, "Because it's there?"

Thieves have tried to steal bronze cannon from some of the Civil War sites around here, typically without success.  1300 pounds of gun barrel is pretty tough to move without calling attention to yourself!

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 10:33 AM
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Posted by SD70Dude on Sunday, February 23, 2020 10:57 AM

NDG
The End of Steam, CNR.
 
 

Thank You.

Terrific commentary.  I especially liked the review of the U-4's streamlined casing (it just blew hot air into the cab!).  And the novelty (to coal men) of sanding the flues on a oil-burner, I suppose cinders would perform the same function naturally on coal-fired engines.

That video contains footage from the final operating days of 6000, the first steam locomotive purchased new by Canadian National, and also 6079, their last. 

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by Overmod on Sunday, February 23, 2020 10:01 AM

tree68
BaltACD
Why is a 74 year old person taking a drivers test?

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Sunday, February 23, 2020 2:27 AM

 

The End of Steam, CNR.
 
 

Thank You.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 8:48 PM

tree68
 
BaltACD
Why is a 74 year old person taking a drivers test? 

I believe it's pretty common, actually.  I've seen some folks in that age range who had no business being behind the wheel.  

I think if they've had some sort of incident it may be required as well.

It would be ironic if the individual was 'sentanced' to driving school account of not paying proper attention to railroad crossings on the highway.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:49 PM
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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 5:07 PM

And just think: if the First Nations protesters had targeted the St. Jerome line instead of Candiac, both the driver and inspector would be fine today!

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 4:44 PM

BaltACD
Why is a 74 year old person taking a drivers test?

I believe it's pretty common, actually.  I've seen some folks in that age range who had no business being behind the wheel.  

I think if they've had some sort of incident it may be required as well.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 4:35 PM

cx500

Why is a 74 year old person taking a drivers test?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by cx500 on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 4:31 PM
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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, February 16, 2020 6:05 PM

NDG

Looks like a big screen wind break.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Sunday, February 16, 2020 5:00 PM

 

End of Steel. Looks like a Wall??
 
 

Thank You.

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Posted by Miningman on Sunday, February 16, 2020 2:40 PM

Yeah they sure are. Any structure using the terms 'long and wall' together and the Chinese will be there. 

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Posted by Overmod on Sunday, February 16, 2020 6:17 AM

Miningman
 A new long wall method developed by the Chinese.  Did not know they had it going. 

Well, they would be the experts, wouldn't they?

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Posted by SD70Dude on Saturday, February 15, 2020 11:07 PM

As far as I know Wolverine is the only mine currently operating at Tumber Ridge.

HD Mining's Murray River project got permission to bring in foreign workers several years ago for their 'unique' longwall mining method, but that project was put on hold when coal prices were low, and I am not sure if it was ever reactivated.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, February 15, 2020 10:18 PM

They open, they close, they open , they close!

That one operating Mine is that the one with the Chinese Miners and speaking Mandarin is the reason why?  A new long wall method developed by the Chinese.  Did not know they had it going. 

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Posted by SD70Dude on Saturday, February 15, 2020 9:45 PM

The Tumbler Sub was not idle for long, another company resumed mining not long after Bullmoose's 2003 closure.

World coal prices dropped dramatically in 2013-14, and all the northern BC mines closed again, along with the Grande Cache, AB and Line Creek, BC (near Sparwood) mines.  But after a few years prices rose again, and the Tumbler Sub was reactivated in late 2017.  It remains in operation today.

Current trains normally consist of up to 116 aluminium rotary-dump cars powered by three GE AC locomotives, in a 2x0x1 configuration on loaded trains. 

CN did not make any friends by dragging its feet on repairing and reopening the railroad:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cn-agrees-to-reopen-tumbler-ridge-rail-line-to-start-shipping-coal-1.3969825

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, February 15, 2020 4:55 PM

Electroliner 1935---  On August 19, 2000, the Quintette mine closed, and the portion of the Tumbler Ridge Subdivision between Teck and Quintette, British Columbia, was abandoned. The last electric locomotives ran along the line on September 29, 2000, after which the line was worked by diesels. The Bullmoose mine closed on April 10, 2003, after which the remaining 69.6 miles (112.0 km) of the Tumbler Ridge Subdivision between Teck and Wakely was abandoned, although the track is still in place. The electric locomotives were shipped south to TacomaWashington, where they are being dismantled by CEECO Rail Services. One of the locomotives (6001) was purchased by the Paul D. Roy family and they donated it to the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum in Prince George where it is being preserved.

The town is still there pop. ~2,000. It relies mostly on tourism, hiking trails and natural beauty. Also excellent dinosaur fossils found in the area are a draw.

The Mines are all on Care and Maintenance, which allows them to start up again on short notice.

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Saturday, February 15, 2020 2:43 PM
 
Currently on ebay.
 
CP Car 22. Penticton. October 1952
 
 
 
One legend says the ' Shorty ' cars were used as longer 12-wheel cars would hang up making the transition from Slipway to Barges on Lake Routes. 
 
Note Radio Antenna.
 

Thank You.

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 5:25 PM

Overmod
 
SD70Dude
... the EMD electric units that were produced for BC Rail's Tumbler Ridge line. 

And here's what they actually looked like as produced:

Here's a roughly half-hour documentary about how the Tumbler Ridge line came to be:

 

Thanks for the link to the video. My dad was in his 90's and wanted to see the WAC Bennett Dam and the mine back when it was operating. He sent letters to the brass at BC Rail and the mine and arranged for us to meet with various personel.  We flew to Vancouver and took the RDC's to Prince George, rented a car which I drove up to Chetwynd where we used a motel as our base. Saw the dam and got a tour of some of the facilities at the mine. Had a young lady tour guide and saw the HUGE coal hauling trucks, saw the locomotive maintenance facility and got to look down on the top of those locomotives. Last I heard, they were running diesels through the tunnel but that was a few years ago. 
Are the two mines completely shut down, or exhausted? Are the rails still there and what of the town that was built? 
NDG
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Posted by NDG on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 2:00 PM

 

Scrap.
 
From the Internet.
 
All the same at the end.
 
Just Scrap.
 
 

Thank You.

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 1:22 PM

SD70Dude
... the EMD electric units that were produced for BC Rail's Tumbler Ridge line.

And here's what they actually looked like as produced:

Derived from the GM6Cof the 'White Wonder' pair, as here:

 

Here's a roughly half-hour documentary about how the Tumbler Ridge line came to be:

 

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Posted by SD70Dude on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 12:23 PM

Jumping forward a few decades, here's an early drawing of the EMD electric units that were produced for BC Rail's Tumber Ridge line.

Image may contain: outdoor

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Saturday, February 8, 2020 2:28 PM
CN 85.
 
 CNR Mogul. Moncton 1955.
 
 
Note Coal Boards on Tender.
 
Raised Cast Numbers on Cab Sides.
 
Large Headlight, does not swivel.
 
Air Bell.
 
 
CN 77.
 
 
Note ' Spans the World ' on CP Reefer, Rear. 
 
CLC Builders Plate, Frame, Right. Under Cab.
 
Thank You.
 
 
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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, February 8, 2020 10:14 AM

Paul of Covington
Overmod
4-8-4 two years earlier that ran at 850psi...

   Must have been water-tube?

Schmidt system.  As noted, Canadian Pacific had a Selkirk with a similar arrangement.

This got around the issues of high-temperature heat transfer by minimizing the potential issues of scale and oxygen in feedwater by using 'powerplant' thermodynamic design without need to condense oily cylinder exhaust.  It used a sealed circuit of distilled, degassed water (at 1200-1600psi!) which transferred heat to a high-pressure watertube boiler (at 850psi).  There was also a LP boiler of cheaper firetube construction.  The HP cylinder (as you might imagine) was very small, I believe something like 10" diameter, and the two LP cylinders were fed by a mixture of HP cylinder exhaust and 'bottoming' mass flow from the LP boiler, both I believe appropriately combustion-gas superheated.

You almost have to make up a heat-balance diagram to see how all this worked; there may be something on the inimitable Douglas Self site (perhaps in conjunction with the ill-starred Schmidt locomotive LMS Fury) that shows the idea and the technology needed to implement it.

Reductions in fuel consumption and 'feedwater' water rate could be substantial.  But -- as noted -- crews apparently did not like that nominal pressure; it did not help at all that on the HS-1a there was a very large steam gauge with a very prominent hand pointing at 850psi.

Apparently on test the thing happily ran at Hudson speed.  However, in order to do that, the thrust from the three cylinders would have to be balanced at that rpm as well as reasonably equalized in net thrust.  This would NOT be something I'd expect most contemporary NYC engineers to care to do "continuously", as 'mecaniciens' did on the de Glehn-du Bousquet 4-cylinder compounds.

On top of the potential operational issues it was just never cost-effective as the 'next big thing' in cheaply-fueled maintained-at-lowest-cost American power.  (As was high pressure in general ... or duplexing as a reducer of augment forces.)

You may compare the details of these locomotives with the GE high-pressure design a decade later: it solved the HP feedwater issue by using a full condensing cycle at 1200psi mass flow asynchronous with road speed, and the power-transmission problem as the Heilmann locomotive did, with full electric drive.  

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Saturday, February 8, 2020 5:54 AM

NDG
https://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no159_1964.pdf Thank You.

   Thanks, NDG.  Makes me wonder what kind of minds came up with that complicated arrangement.

_____________ 

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NDG
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Posted by NDG on Saturday, February 8, 2020 2:40 AM

Did the crews draw straws as to who runs that thing?

 

CP 8000.
 
High Pressures 3-Cylinders.
 
 
 

Thank You.

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Saturday, February 8, 2020 12:03 AM

Overmod
4-8-4 two years earlier that ran at 850psi...

   Must have been water-tube?

_____________ 

  "A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner

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Posted by Miningman on Friday, February 7, 2020 10:38 PM

850psi... Did the crews draw straws as to who runs that thing? 

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