SD70DudeGo far enough upstream and you'll find others. Or loop around via Staten Island.
Going via the Goethals and the Verrazano is a very great way round -- even getting to the Goethals from Hoboken is a couple of PSR trainlengths' worth of travel. Of course there are plenty of bridges on the east side of Manhattan, where the water is generally much narrower, for you to cross and get stuck in traffic, but you will be wending your way around on 278 from the Narrows for a considerable time to have the opportunity.
Now, if Lindenthal's bridge project had been approved before WWI, things might have been different. That thing would have had 20-odd tracks to high-level trackage on the island. Then all we'd need would be a double-track freight tunnel under the Narrows to Bay Ridge and everything would be set. And we'd have gotten it, too, if it hadn't been for those meddling bankers who creamed Archie McLeod.
Amusingly, crApple Maps does try to route you from East Hampton to Newark/Liberty Airport via a bridge, the George Washington Bridge (about 22 road miles out of your way), until you discipline it to come to its senses. Then it quite properly takes you via the Williamsburg and the Holland Tunnel/Pulaski Skyway bang! right there.
Well, can that slack action be mitigated with independent isolation of the caboose body much in the way the modern safety locomotive cabs are isolated? Or giving the crew member a roll of bubble wrap before each trip? And besides, adding a caboose is a labor-saving arrangement whereby the RR can have their one crew locomotive work arrangements dream? Just think, eliminating the conductor position upfront altogether as there would only be the need for a "Train Watcher" in the caboose. In fact, this could even be a crowdsource position like an Uber driver or (to quote Mr. Elmer J. Fud "be very very quiet") a railfan.
Slack action on the rear of a 10,000 ft+ train ?? We have read many incidents of slack action on just 5000 ft or less trains. Today anyone assigned to such would or could have OSHA involved. Pass a law and you have 2 conflicting agencies saying yes or no.
Overmod I shudder slightly to think that the generation after ours might be saying the same thing about a wave from a cab...
I shudder slightly to think that the generation after ours might be saying the same thing about a wave from a cab...
Locomotive of the future.. Nothing new under the sun
SD60MAC9500Locomotive of the future..
I do suspect that autonomous locomotives would retain some form of cab and 'built-in' human control equipment and display capability. I'm sure some of the PSR-addled mavens would go to some combination of RCO and shoving-platform mentality -- that would be a mistake sooner if not later.
Jist no friendly wave. I suppose we could rig up a cardboard engineer like those life-size cardboard Queen Elizabeths you could buy with a sort of bobblehead mechanism to do her 'signature' royal wave, to get the effect. A bit like those cardboard state troopers some states tried along with cardboard police cars to scare people. Some people of a certain age might appreciate Max Headroom in a bandana and engineer's hat.
Max Headroom! A blast from the past.
Portrayed by Max Frewer, a blast from the frozen north.
OvermodThis thread is taking up valuable space that should be used for discussing a real issue -- the disappearance of wigwag crossing signals. They were nearly all gone by the time I was a teenager --I found the one remaining one on the Erie Northern Branch in Northvale and was astounded, as if I'd found a dodo or a live dinosaur.
Dang! I wish I could have seen that! The biggest surprise I ever got cruising those old Bergen County towns was the occasional vintage stop sign with "cats-eyes" reflectors.
Flintlock76Dang! I wish I could have seen that! The biggest surprise I ever got cruising those old Bergen County towns was the occasional vintage stop sign with "cats-eyes" reflectors.
I've got one of those in my garage. And even better - it says "FULL STOP," which raises some interesting questions.
Two of the cat's eyes don't reflect for some reason - when I refurbed the sign I simply put them at the end of the horizontal parts of the "L's".
Larry 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...
The reason for the admonition of "FULL STOP" is because it seems many drivers think that STOP is an acronym!
It stand for:
Slight Tap On Pedal
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Semper Vaporo The reason for the admonition of "FULL STOP" is because it seems many drivers think that STOP is an acronym! It stand for: Slight Tap On Pedal
This is a vintage piece - it was yellow when I acquired it, having long since been retired by the county highway department.
While I agree with your general sentiment, I wonder if early drivers generally regarded traffic signs as "advisory," hence the need to point out the need for a full stop.
Overmod I suppose we could rig up a cardboard engineer like those life-size cardboard Queen Elizabeths you could buy with a sort of bobblehead mechanism to do her 'signature' royal wave, to get the effect.
Maybe we could do that with "FRED."
Speaking of ancient road signs, anyone remember the old "Children Playing" warning signs with the silhouette of the running boy wearing knickers?
Flintlock76 Speaking of ancient road signs, anyone remember the old "Children Playing" warning signs with the silhouette of the running boy wearing knickers?
Can't say that I remember those, but there are still those insulting signs around that say,
"Slow Children at Play".
tree68Maybe we could do that with "FRED."
tree68Overmod I suppose we could rig up a cardboard engineer like those life-size cardboard Queen Elizabeths you could buy with a sort of bobblehead mechanism to do her 'signature' royal wave, to get the effect.
I suppose we could rig up a cardboard engineer like those life-size cardboard Queen Elizabeths you could buy with a sort of bobblehead mechanism to do her 'signature' royal wave, to get the effect.
When I began riding motorcycles around 1966 or so, it seemed all of us waved at each other as we passed. I think drivers of two-seater sports cars observed a similar custom.
But somehow, by 1980 this motorcyclist-waving seemed to end. Maybe because thanks to the likes of Honda there were now many more bikes on the road than there used to be, and waving would not only happen too often, it was distracting and dangerous to lift the left hand from the handlebars.
It was a nice custom when the BSA's Triumphs, Nortons, BMW's and Harleys ruled the road. Then came the kids on their rice grinders!
Semper VaporoI believe it was as a joke that someone then invented the suction cup with a flat spring wire holding up a hand silhouette, such that motion of the car caused the flat spring to swing the hand side to side...
The real Queen Elizabeth learned a 'royal secret' about waving very early, that on occasions of state she might have to be waving for hours without stint, and that holding your hand up rapidly becomes exhausting -- a variant of that technique being very effectively exercised as discipline in my 7th- and 8th-grade Latin classes! That is where that distinctive 'royal wave' style, a gentle back-and forth twist of the wrist, comes from. And why no other part of the body moves as the hand is waved. This of course can be parodied with simple and cheap mechanics that give 100% of the 'visual effect'... (no disrespect to the Queen or anyone else who has to use the Method, of course.)
I personally think that a proper 'engineer' would be better modeled using the technological approach of one of those inflatable figures you see outside tire shops and the like, which appear to 'dance' as low-pressure high-volume air is blown through fabric tube structure. A small tap of main-reservoir air could easily produce the effect of all sorts of vigilance, perhaps replicating the danse macabre required to simulate watching all the inward-facing cameras, observing and calling signals, keeping watch for all sorts of wayside issues, reading gauges and adjusting controls, keeping whacking at the various vigilance-device resets, etc. -- and incidentally producing the effect of cheery waving.
Speaking of stop signs, my brother picked me up at my girlfriend's house before I was able to drive. Way out in the country it was and he blew through a stop sign without any pretence of slowing down. A cop pulled him over and asked, "What do the letters S T O P mean?" Jeff said and I quote, "Proceed with extreme caution." The cop let him go and I imagine he was cracking up after hearing that!
Regarding yellow stop signs with reflectors, I've seen a lot in old movies- Black and white films but you can tell that the signs aren't red.
NKP guy When I began riding motorcycles around 1966 or so, it seemed all of us waved at each other as we passed. I think drivers of two-seater sports cars observed a similar custom.
Hmm, that's like what the aviators of both sides did at the beginning of the First World War, and it didn't matter who's side you were on, it was a courtesy extended to a fellow flyer.
Then some killjoy brought a pistol aloft and started popping rounds at the other guy, and it was all downhill from there!
Semper VaporoI bring that up, because I saw a FRED with one of those hands on top of it waving wildly on the end of a train one time. I thought it was funny!
And here I thought I had an original idea...
Elesiastes 1:9
Overmod Elesiastes 1:9 "And He saith unto them, Let those who are without steam cast the first smoke." Then He saith unto the Alco diesel, "As no railfan doth condemn thee, neither do I comdem thee. Go thou and smoke no more. And they departed, each unto his own railroad." Here endeth the Lesson.
"And He saith unto them, Let those who are without steam cast the first smoke."
Then He saith unto the Alco diesel, "As no railfan doth condemn thee, neither do I comdem thee. Go thou and smoke no more.
And they departed, each unto his own railroad."
Here endeth the Lesson.
Great excitement on the rail cams today as a heavyweight coach was tacked on the end of a CSX freight. Some who probably have never seen a real caboose in person thought that it was a ... caboose.
Looked to be Cayuhoga Valley...
tree68Great excitement on the rail cams today as a heavyweight coach was tacked on the end of a CSX freight. Some who probably have never seen a real caboose in person thought that it was a ... caboose. Looked to be Cayuhoga Valley...
Passenger cars don't have the structural strength to withstand the beating they would sustain at the head end of PSR sized trains.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
tree68 Great excitement on the rail cams today as a heavyweight coach was tacked on the end of a CSX freight. Some who probably have never seen a real caboose in person thought that it was a ... caboose. Looked to be Cayuhoga Valley...
That's interesting. I've never seen a coach, heavyweight or otherwise, as part of a CSX train consist. I have seen the CSX "Engineering Train," which was made up of what looked like modified heavyweights, complete with diner and living spaces.
"TRAVEL AT YOUR OWN RISK"
When don't you travel at your own risk?
Electroliner 1935 Flintlock76 Speaking of ancient road signs, anyone remember the old "Children Playing" warning signs with the silhouette of the running boy wearing knickers? Yes but I always had issues with the "TRAVEL AT YOUR OWN RISK" When don't you travel at your own risk?
Yes but I always had issues with the
In some areas you can sue a highway department if your car is damaged by a poorly maintained street/highway. But if that sign is at the entrance to that section of road, and your car falls into a chuckhole so big it requires a crane to lift it out, you have no hope of recouping the cost.
Flintlock76That's interesting. I've never seen a coach, heavyweight or otherwise, as part of a CSX train consist. I have seen the CSX "Engineering Train," which was made up of what looked like modified heavyweights, complete with diner and living spaces.
The Adirondack acquired a dome and a diner. I saw the dome crossing the diamond at Deshler enroute.
If someone wants to run their private car on a shortline, it has to travel there via a freight train. Except where they are set up to do so, Amtrak won't drop a car enroute.
CSX's current geometry train that passes Deshler has a couple of fairly modern coaches. The FRA inspection cars are also reasonably modern. The Sperry "doodlebug" does appear to be an older heavyweight.
Larry, I take it you mean the Cayuhoga Valley Scenic Railroad? (Or, a car named "Cayuhoga Valley?" I could see where CSX might own a car with that name, as part of an executive train.)
What's the most likely scenario? The car was going somewhere for repairs, or coming back? I guess it could have been sold.
Would a person be riding that car, to keep an eye on things, or would that be against safety rules?
With no more cabooses, are engineers as careful with how they start a train (regarding slack action) as they would have been when there was crew riding on the tail end?
Lithonia OperatorLarry, I take it you mean the Cayuhoga Valley Scenic Railroad? (Or, a car named "Cayuhoga Valley?" I could see where CSX might own a car with that name, as part of an executive train.)
As it was a heavyweight, I imagine it was CVSR. I don't recall the reporting mark, and that video is long gone. I would imagine it was going somewhere, either for work or having been sold. It was headed the wrong way to be going home.
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