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String Lining

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Posted by zugmann on Saturday, November 9, 2019 12:26 PM

SD70Dude
The lead unit of their train was not so lucky, I hope the crew made it out ok.

I heard no injuries, but not confirmed.

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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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, November 9, 2019 11:55 AM

NDG

Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  And I say that with all reverence.

The other day, and on another topic concerning NS I said Graham and Bob Claytor must be turning in their graves at 1,500 RPM.

I suppose I should up it to 2,000 now.

PSR at it's best?

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Posted by SD70Dude on Saturday, November 9, 2019 11:35 AM

NDG

How long before the media notices those oil cars that narrowly escaped being smashed up.  The lead unit of their train was not so lucky, I hope the crew made it out ok.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, November 9, 2019 6:58 AM

rdamon

WGN (720kHz) is used for navigation for aircraft and are required to say their callsign and identify at the hour. 

The navigation capability is the reason that Conelrad was developed in the 1950's. I remember that the frequencies were 640kHz and 1240kHz and the Civil Defense symbol was on your radio dial to make it easier to find them.  The system allowed emergency messages to be broadcast without providing a navigation beacon for enemy aircraft.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
NDG
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Posted by NDG on Saturday, November 9, 2019 2:14 AM
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Posted by rdamon on Thursday, November 7, 2019 10:31 AM

WGN (720kHz) is used for navigation for aircraft and are required to say their callsign and identify at the hour. 

But the main use is to listen baseball games in the plane  ;)

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, November 7, 2019 7:39 AM

WGN radio in Chicago probably has the best tone, which is an organ chord.  The tone sounds precisely on the hour regardless of what's on the air.  I've heard it in the middle of Cubs and Black Hawks games.  It is also noted for its accuracy.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by AgentKid on Thursday, November 7, 2019 6:42 AM

NDG
The Beginning of The Long Dash

I'm glad you mentioned it. For reasons that are not clear to me I havn't received any e-mails from the forums for a number of days now.

NDG, you must remember the way the time signal was sent on the telegraph. When I hear mention of time signals my mind instantly goes back to the office in the station in Irricana and the pattern of the clicks.

I never cared for the CBC tone method.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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Posted by Miningman on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 9:32 PM

 NDG-- Does not matter where you go in Canada , West Coast, East Coast, way up North, Southern Ontario, rural or city, everyone knows that signal, immigrant or 4th generation. 

For myself, the beginning of the long dash followed by ten seconds of silence means ' Lunch Is Over' , back to it. 

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 7:36 AM

BaltACD
Are the shop people playing musical govenors?

Nope - I just can't remember which loco has which governor...    One of these days I'll ask and get it set in memory...

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...

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 11:05 PM
FYI.
 
" The Beginning of The Long Dash "
 
 
 
Telephone. 1 800 363-5409 
 
Thank You.

 

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 10:37 PM

tree68
 
BaltACD
Stencil them - tortise and hare! 

No problem remembering which loco is which - it's which governor is in which loco I can never remember...

Are the shop people playing musical govenors?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 9:02 PM

BaltACD
Stencil them - tortise and hare!

No problem remembering which loco is which - it's which governor is in which loco I can never remember...

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, November 5, 2019 8:37 PM

tree68
 
Overmod
If you try to follow loading with the engine governor alone,... 

One of our RS18u's has a Woodward governor, the other a GE.  One loads up nice and smooth, the other responds to a higher notch with a "snort" and it's off to the races.  I can never remember which is which...

Stencil them - tortise and hare!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 7:24 PM

Overmod
If you try to follow loading with the engine governor alone,...

One of our RS18u's has a Woodward governor, the other a GE.  One loads up nice and smooth, the other responds to a higher notch with a "snort" and it's off to the races.  I can never remember which is which...

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 Miningman on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 7:13 PM

Well VIA never figured it out!

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 2:28 PM

tree68
I think I've heard that someone figured out how to minimize the effects of the turbo lag.

It's really comparatively simple.  Keep the main generator relatively unloaded while the diesel engine comes up to the speed predicted for where steady-state balancing speed is to occur, then load it smoothly allowing the governor to stay just ahead of the loading.  

If you try to follow loading with the engine governor alone, the locomotive can take so long to load you start looking at a calendar -- this is one reason some GEs, perhaps tuned to minimize smoke opacity, took so dreadfully long to make any power.

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 11:14 AM

SD70Dude
You probably do regular maintenance, unlike most railroads.

I think I've heard that someone figured out how to minimize the effects of the turbo lag.  

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 SD70Dude on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 9:59 AM

tree68
Miningman

Those smokin' Alcos

Honorary Steam Locomotives.

Ours don't smoke as bad as they probably used to.

You probably do regular maintenance, unlike most railroads.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 4:33 AM

Miningman

Those smokin' Alcos 

Honorary Steam Locomotives.

Ours don't smoke as bad as they probably used to.

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 Miningman on Monday, November 4, 2019 9:55 PM

Those smokin' Alcos 

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, November 4, 2019 8:25 PM

NDG
We rode behind a PA ex Albany on the D&H, it was that long ago.

Ah, memory: to be young again with Karl Zimmermann as your high-school advisor.  We went up to ride that train, going up to Albany behind first those grand black P-motors and then asthmatic E8s; I have pictures of the back end of trains disappearing into the smoke-screen of white unburned exhaust.

Yes to PAs, yes to operating Sharks ... what a brave future Mr. Sterzing built!  And how little we realized how quick, and how badly, the wheels would come off the enterprise! 

Then of course I heard, but was just a little lazy about getting around to watch, the grand experiment with PAs taking over from E-units pulling matching consists of prewar ATSF Budd cars in commuter service.  One caught fire from the repeated heavy acceleration -- perhaps the crews were spoiled by the splendid U34CHs --  and the rest is history, largely Mexican history. 

The S Motors were fossils...

But good-running fossils, right to the end.  I think they may have run longer in service than the GG1s did!  Looked up to see one switching in GCT well into the Eighties ... like seeing a ghost unexpectedly.  Still can't entirely believe it was there...

The CUT Motors incredible.

And they were converted to be that incredible, by people who knew what to do and where not to waste the money.  Why I did not make some kind of effort to preserve the one that survived long, long after the others were retired, in beautiful lightning-stripe paint, outside of Harmon, I have no excuse ... just like I have no excuse for not coughing up the $3000-odd that was asked for the last converted B-unit Shark.

Electric coaches on EL still lettered ' Lackawanna', only.

Of course even the ones that got the full lettering had the 'Erie' shoehorned in on the relevant end, with the 'Lackawanna' still in centered pride of place.  Mind you, I was an Erie person from the age of two and a half, when we moved from Manhattan to Joyce Road in Tenafly and a grand parade of early RS units and Stillwells went near twice a day.  Alas! it was too dangerous to cross Tenafly Road to get to where you could actually see them, and just about the time I could... it was train-off time forever.

We found two 2 PRR Side Rod electrics on a Wire Train somewhere in The City.

That would be the DD1s in Sunnyside.  They might even today be doing the work, had they not been taken for preservation.  Their design was good enough.

Be aware that elsewhere, where you did not see, there were still high-hood Alco switchers and a plethora of Baldwins still running... hell, regularly working very hard.   And sometimes things like Alco C636s, which were exotically large power to someone whose previous 'big railroad' diesel experience was the B-B power dominating the ex-NYC West Shore.

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Monday, November 4, 2019 9:50 AM
Thank You.
 
I understood that some of the NJ locomotives had gone to GCT, but have
 not been back there since 1969.
 
 We rode behnd a PA ex Albany on the D&H, it was that long ago.
 
Half a Century. Pun?
 
The S Motors were fossils, The CUT Motors incredible. Electric coaches on EL still lettered ' Lackawanna', only.
 
We found two 2 PRR Side Rod electrics on a Wire Train somewhere in The City.
 
What once was.
 
 
We did not spend any time @ the NJ Terminal, just looked on from the road,
 as we were travelling to Erie to visit the GE Works, and had to get moving along.
 
CNR had similar GEs and they were, at the time, too new to be worthy of
 much attention.
 
 
 
These CN Steeple cabs came to an ignominious end, the plan being to convert them
 to Diesel  Electrics, but, that failed, they languished, and were scrapped.
 
CN DID get around 45 years out of them, tho".
 
 
If done correctly, a person could make a nice trip within Montreal
using CPR/CNR/Montreal Tramways which included
Steam and Electric Trains, Streetcars and Trolley busses.
 
All too many years ago.
 
Thank You.

 

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, November 4, 2019 8:03 AM

CSSHEGEWISCH
When NJ's electrification was shut down, the steeplecabs were rebuilt for third-rail pickup and sent to GCT to replace the last S-motors.

If I recall, only three of them ... and they were bought off the scrap line, not converted as retired.  

I looked for them at GCT, but despite seeing S-motors late, never saw an E-10-B working.  I think they were out of service again in 1998 and not scrapped until after 2003... but I think all three are gone now; only the one in the Niagara museum survives.

Locomotives built in 1952 deserved better.

Ironically, it appears one of the N.J. engines displaced by the E10Bs went to PATCO for construction in the early '60s, and is preserved.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Monday, November 4, 2019 7:16 AM

When NJ's electrification was shut down, the steeplecabs were rebuilt for third-rail pickup and sent to GCT to replace the last S-motors.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
NDG
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Posted by NDG on Sunday, November 3, 2019 4:55 PM
What a Difference  three 3 Miles Makes.
 
No Snow.
 
 
Snow. Elev. 4172.
 
 
 
Control Stand CP 4105. Crossing Lethbridge Viaduct.
 
 
Dynamic Brake has Mechanical Interlock which obliges Engineer to step slowly
thru Transition to allow Relays in Electrical Cabinet time to progress in proper sequence.
 
Engineer had to lift handle grip and release, then move handle in arc, to prevents arcs.
 
Portable radio as Locomotive Radio B/O???
 
Each Terminal painted different colour to differentiate re Channels at Terminals w more
than one Crew.
 
 
They looked terrible at the end. CP 4057. Colvalli.
 
 
CP 4057 froze it's Engine Block.  Here it may be being moved into shop for Stripping,
and then Scrapped.  CP 10 is CLC, also.
 
 
 
CP 4105. Nelson. Had S/G until Scrapped. Water Filler in in Skirt. S/G Stacks. 8 months to go.
 
 
 
Another Sweated Asset.
 
A Tired Locomotive in a Tired Place.
 
 
FWIW.
 
This is Second CP 4016.
 
First CP 4016 was wrecked in Head On at Attean, Maine August 8 1957.
 
New. Honker Horns.
 
 
Standard Horns. Later Units in same order had one CENTERED Horn Cluster.
 
 
Parts used to create CP 8824. RS10.
 
 
Years later CP created SECOND CP 4016 using carbody from trade-in CP 4014.
 
Last A-B Set received Farr Grills.
 
 
 
Thank You.
 
Blah, Blah, Blah.

 

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, November 2, 2019 12:08 PM

I remember the Niagara Junction steeplecabs from a family vacation there in the mid-1960s - I wasn't a teenager yet.  I have a really dark, muddy of one photo in my album, but it's one of my favorites.  They had great proportions to my mind, and they and their crews were approachable at that time.  I believe there's a photo in Middleton's When the Steam Railroads Electrified.  Someday when I have time (retire?) I'm going to build a model railroad with some of them (or similar).  

https://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0107/jt408.jpg

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/214272894746933923 

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, November 2, 2019 8:38 AM

NDG
Pictures and Information can be greatly improved by using resources available.
 
Imagine explaining a Hulett Unloader in WORDS only?
 
OR seeing a Still photo of one and wondering how it worked? 
 
 
Ditto Valve Gears on Locomotives.
 
Wonderful!
 
Thank You, Sirs!

The pictured vessel's history

https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/a/affleck-b-f

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Saturday, November 2, 2019 4:55 AM
Thank You Sir, TOO!
 
I have not been there for years, et Viola!
 
As here on Google Maps, Scow upstream in distance.
 
 
Great tips, and a great source, the Internet to illustrate information provided.
 
Pictures and Information can be greatly improved by using resources available.
 
Imagine explaining a Hulett Unloader in WORDS only?
 
OR seeing a Still photo of one and wondering how it worked? 
 
 
Ditto Valve Gears on Locomotives.
 
Wonderful!
 
Thank You, Sirs!

 

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Posted by SD70Dude on Saturday, November 2, 2019 3:57 AM

Not far from the 'scow' there is a locomotive of sorts on display, with a big arm hanging off one side.  It used to run back and forth along the water intake in the video to keep ice from clogging it up.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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