QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. Time flies when you're having fun. Zardoz: Are we related? I had those same experiences and parents! Mook [:)]
QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. Time flies when you're having fun.
Being Crazy,keeps you from going "INSANE" !! "The light at the end of the tunnel,has been turned off due to budget cuts" NOT AFRAID A Vet., and PROUD OF IT!!
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
QUOTE: part the weeds in a rustic setting delivering two freight cars to some Ma and Pa shop will makes for photography that a drab intermodal train just can't match--though I like watching the intermodal train, just not as much.
Originally posted by CShaveRR [ Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply CShaveRR Member sinceJune 2001 From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois 13,681 posts Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, March 31, 2005 12:06 PM Gabe, your initial post here was very touching, and well written. But I don't think it's worse to be a young railfan. Even we old railfans experience the regret of not having been able to see certain things our predecessors did. Yet we don't avoid the pain--we still get winded walking up those old grades, we still listen to the recordings, watch the videos, etc. You can still have a good time watching today's action, and knowing that a modern locomotive would have had no problem on that grade, up or down. Or that your street running has been replaced by some main line elsewhere on which trains can move faster and more safely. There is a fine group of mentors on this forum--maybe, if you're lucky, you'll meet one who can tell you more about what you've missed (and make it exciting, not depressing), and share some enjoyable times with you. So live in the present, face the future, and remember the great things you have seen, and will see! Carl Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!) CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM) Reply spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:22 AM That is only the 1/2 of it!!!!![:(] Originally posted by gabe Originally posted by spbed [ Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:19 AM Yes that is true. What is even better is going to the newest CVS & printing only the ones the ones you want almost immediately after shooting the pix! Like in Hesperia their is a Walmart right at the end of the hill. So you shoot the pix zip down to Walmart & for $0.31 print it & smile. Now what could be better then that? [:o)][8D] Originally posted by chad thomas Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply eolafan Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Aurora, IL 4,515 posts Posted by eolafan on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:05 AM Gabe, you might find it interesting to hear that I witnessed a rather rare sight last evening when I watched BNSF train symbol BRCGAL setting out and picking up cars at their Eola yard. Yesterdays BRCGAL was powered by a very rare lashup of one Dash9 (nothing unusual there) and a duo of SD9's, one in BN green and black with its original high short hood intact and one in H1 paint with a chopped short hood. Any way you cut it, a rare sighting. Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim) Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:53 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Yes, but they had something worth shooting. Seeing a four-engine yellow and green, 150 car grain train going down the street of a small town--as though it were a car--with residents and motorists taking note and the train dwarfing the town or a 13-car, two geep Chicago Illinois and Midland part the weeds in a rustic setting delivering two freight cars to some Ma and Pa shop will makes for photography that a drab intermodal train just can't match--though I like watching the intermodal train, just not as much. There is something artistic about the former two examples, there is something industrial and ordinary about the later. Gabe Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:49 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe You truely had a neglected childhood. Reply chad thomas Member sinceJanuary 2005 From: Ely, Nv. 6,312 posts Posted by chad thomas on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:48 AM What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Reply tree68 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Northern New York 25,026 posts Posted by tree68 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:47 AM Ah, yes. Seeing a C&O caboose following its train through town, with smoke coming out of the smoke jack. Being amazed, during a tour of a Geep, when the crew member showing me around pointed out that the locomotives on the train that passed us at that moment were BIGGER! And by the way - I did walk to school for several years, about a mile, and it was up hill in both directions. The village straddles a river. I lived on top of a hill on one side, the school was on top of a hill on the other... 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... Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:46 AM I like to look at railfanning as a total experience. For instance, we're having our Pavilion party in Flatonia on Saturday. There will probably be around 75 railfans there. We can talk, enjoy the weather, enjoy lunch together,look at and buy pictures and books, enjoy the two or three speeders that might be there, and oh yeah, watch the trains that might come by (for some reason Saturdays are slow around here). Most of my best friends are my railfan friends, even when we're not railfanning. I would love doing this even if the trains were all exactly alike. mike Reply Edit spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:45 AM When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply arbfbe Member sinceFebruary 2002 910 posts Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:43 AM Gabe, Buy books and videos (DVDs) from those times, get comfortable and use your imagination. What you can see today will be a good reference to what has gone before. Hey, if you invented a time machine to go back and see it all some government agency would have to kill you anyway. Reply BNSFGP38 Member sinceDecember 2004 From: Cab 162 posts Posted by BNSFGP38 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:39 AM I sometimes wish I could travel back to the see all steam,cabbosess,REAL brakemen,wooden cars, heavy wieght cars, streamliners, smoke belching ALCO's. Dunno, I stopped railfanning alot of modern stuff....................to sterile, how many pictures of SD-70's can you really take? Reply zardoz Member sinceJanuary 2003 From: Kenosha, WI 6,567 posts Posted by zardoz on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:37 AM The same can be said of the railroaders of today compared to even 25 years ago. Although in many ways railroading was much more difficult then, it was also much more interesting. I remember how thrilled we (the crew) we were when our locomotive actually had a radio! No more trying to find in the darkness lineside phones to call the dispatcher. I remember how nice it was to get a SD40-2 with dynamic brakes in my train. I remember the interesting combinations of power we were expected to get over the road with (6 unit consist, 3 of them working with 2 of those not making transition). I remember trying to grab the floppies (train orders) at 50mph in the middle of the night (and what we had to go through if we missed). I remember thinking nothing of it to let some train fans up into the cab, and take them for a ride around the yard. I remember 5-man train crews. And cabooses (cabeese). I remember how much more challenging it was operating a train when you had two men in the caboose that you had to be concerned about when considering the various ways to handle a train, so as to not injure the men in the caboose. Were they the "good old days"? I'm not sure; in some ways yes, in some ways no. And just think, 25 years from now, you younger folks will be telling similar stories to the next generation of fans and railroaders. I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. In 1985 I bought my first computer. It had a 4.77mhz clock speed, with a whopping 20MB hard drive, a 5 1/2" floppy drive, and EGA graphics. And it was nearly top-of-the-line at the time! Only 20 years ago!! Time flies when you're having fun. Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:24 AM Oh, I concede it is still a VERY fun hobby. It is just as I was staring at Madison Hill yesterday, it occurred to me that (short of a nifty steam excursion--which isn't really reality railroading--there was nothing in the world--train wise--that I would rather see than a train climb that hill. Gabe Modlecar: I think you raise a very good point about not being able to travel to see sites like you can now days. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 AM Steam was around when I was young, but I don't remember it. I don't remember Alco PA's or F-7's but they were around too... and depots. But I'm not gonna be depressed or worry about what I can't change or what I can't remember. Railfan what you got. It's still a fun hobby. mike Reply Edit Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:11 AM ....gabe....Of course both generations have advantages and disadvantages....I'll just add a bit to it all....We had steam action all around the county in my growing up days and all the other operations of branch railroading happening too...{Much coal hauling territory}....but as close as it was traveling TO some of these places was not as common as is in today's world...Economic times were totally different. I'm sure many people of this generation can't understand such utterings but it was a part of everyday reality. PS: School house was adjacent to my home...Walked about 200 ft. to front door...{and no hills}.... Quentin Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Originally posted by gabe Originally posted by spbed [ Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:19 AM Yes that is true. What is even better is going to the newest CVS & printing only the ones the ones you want almost immediately after shooting the pix! Like in Hesperia their is a Walmart right at the end of the hill. So you shoot the pix zip down to Walmart & for $0.31 print it & smile. Now what could be better then that? [:o)][8D] Originally posted by chad thomas Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply eolafan Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Aurora, IL 4,515 posts Posted by eolafan on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:05 AM Gabe, you might find it interesting to hear that I witnessed a rather rare sight last evening when I watched BNSF train symbol BRCGAL setting out and picking up cars at their Eola yard. Yesterdays BRCGAL was powered by a very rare lashup of one Dash9 (nothing unusual there) and a duo of SD9's, one in BN green and black with its original high short hood intact and one in H1 paint with a chopped short hood. Any way you cut it, a rare sighting. Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim) Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:53 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Yes, but they had something worth shooting. Seeing a four-engine yellow and green, 150 car grain train going down the street of a small town--as though it were a car--with residents and motorists taking note and the train dwarfing the town or a 13-car, two geep Chicago Illinois and Midland part the weeds in a rustic setting delivering two freight cars to some Ma and Pa shop will makes for photography that a drab intermodal train just can't match--though I like watching the intermodal train, just not as much. There is something artistic about the former two examples, there is something industrial and ordinary about the later. Gabe Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:49 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe You truely had a neglected childhood. Reply chad thomas Member sinceJanuary 2005 From: Ely, Nv. 6,312 posts Posted by chad thomas on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:48 AM What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Reply tree68 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Northern New York 25,026 posts Posted by tree68 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:47 AM Ah, yes. Seeing a C&O caboose following its train through town, with smoke coming out of the smoke jack. Being amazed, during a tour of a Geep, when the crew member showing me around pointed out that the locomotives on the train that passed us at that moment were BIGGER! And by the way - I did walk to school for several years, about a mile, and it was up hill in both directions. The village straddles a river. I lived on top of a hill on one side, the school was on top of a hill on the other... 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... Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:46 AM I like to look at railfanning as a total experience. For instance, we're having our Pavilion party in Flatonia on Saturday. There will probably be around 75 railfans there. We can talk, enjoy the weather, enjoy lunch together,look at and buy pictures and books, enjoy the two or three speeders that might be there, and oh yeah, watch the trains that might come by (for some reason Saturdays are slow around here). Most of my best friends are my railfan friends, even when we're not railfanning. I would love doing this even if the trains were all exactly alike. mike Reply Edit spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:45 AM When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply arbfbe Member sinceFebruary 2002 910 posts Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:43 AM Gabe, Buy books and videos (DVDs) from those times, get comfortable and use your imagination. What you can see today will be a good reference to what has gone before. Hey, if you invented a time machine to go back and see it all some government agency would have to kill you anyway. Reply BNSFGP38 Member sinceDecember 2004 From: Cab 162 posts Posted by BNSFGP38 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:39 AM I sometimes wish I could travel back to the see all steam,cabbosess,REAL brakemen,wooden cars, heavy wieght cars, streamliners, smoke belching ALCO's. Dunno, I stopped railfanning alot of modern stuff....................to sterile, how many pictures of SD-70's can you really take? Reply zardoz Member sinceJanuary 2003 From: Kenosha, WI 6,567 posts Posted by zardoz on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:37 AM The same can be said of the railroaders of today compared to even 25 years ago. Although in many ways railroading was much more difficult then, it was also much more interesting. I remember how thrilled we (the crew) we were when our locomotive actually had a radio! No more trying to find in the darkness lineside phones to call the dispatcher. I remember how nice it was to get a SD40-2 with dynamic brakes in my train. I remember the interesting combinations of power we were expected to get over the road with (6 unit consist, 3 of them working with 2 of those not making transition). I remember trying to grab the floppies (train orders) at 50mph in the middle of the night (and what we had to go through if we missed). I remember thinking nothing of it to let some train fans up into the cab, and take them for a ride around the yard. I remember 5-man train crews. And cabooses (cabeese). I remember how much more challenging it was operating a train when you had two men in the caboose that you had to be concerned about when considering the various ways to handle a train, so as to not injure the men in the caboose. Were they the "good old days"? I'm not sure; in some ways yes, in some ways no. And just think, 25 years from now, you younger folks will be telling similar stories to the next generation of fans and railroaders. I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. In 1985 I bought my first computer. It had a 4.77mhz clock speed, with a whopping 20MB hard drive, a 5 1/2" floppy drive, and EGA graphics. And it was nearly top-of-the-line at the time! Only 20 years ago!! Time flies when you're having fun. Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:24 AM Oh, I concede it is still a VERY fun hobby. It is just as I was staring at Madison Hill yesterday, it occurred to me that (short of a nifty steam excursion--which isn't really reality railroading--there was nothing in the world--train wise--that I would rather see than a train climb that hill. Gabe Modlecar: I think you raise a very good point about not being able to travel to see sites like you can now days. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 AM Steam was around when I was young, but I don't remember it. I don't remember Alco PA's or F-7's but they were around too... and depots. But I'm not gonna be depressed or worry about what I can't change or what I can't remember. Railfan what you got. It's still a fun hobby. mike Reply Edit Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:11 AM ....gabe....Of course both generations have advantages and disadvantages....I'll just add a bit to it all....We had steam action all around the county in my growing up days and all the other operations of branch railroading happening too...{Much coal hauling territory}....but as close as it was traveling TO some of these places was not as common as is in today's world...Economic times were totally different. I'm sure many people of this generation can't understand such utterings but it was a part of everyday reality. PS: School house was adjacent to my home...Walked about 200 ft. to front door...{and no hills}.... Quentin Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Originally posted by spbed [ Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:19 AM Yes that is true. What is even better is going to the newest CVS & printing only the ones the ones you want almost immediately after shooting the pix! Like in Hesperia their is a Walmart right at the end of the hill. So you shoot the pix zip down to Walmart & for $0.31 print it & smile. Now what could be better then that? [:o)][8D] Originally posted by chad thomas Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply eolafan Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Aurora, IL 4,515 posts Posted by eolafan on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:05 AM Gabe, you might find it interesting to hear that I witnessed a rather rare sight last evening when I watched BNSF train symbol BRCGAL setting out and picking up cars at their Eola yard. Yesterdays BRCGAL was powered by a very rare lashup of one Dash9 (nothing unusual there) and a duo of SD9's, one in BN green and black with its original high short hood intact and one in H1 paint with a chopped short hood. Any way you cut it, a rare sighting. Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim) Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:53 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Yes, but they had something worth shooting. Seeing a four-engine yellow and green, 150 car grain train going down the street of a small town--as though it were a car--with residents and motorists taking note and the train dwarfing the town or a 13-car, two geep Chicago Illinois and Midland part the weeds in a rustic setting delivering two freight cars to some Ma and Pa shop will makes for photography that a drab intermodal train just can't match--though I like watching the intermodal train, just not as much. There is something artistic about the former two examples, there is something industrial and ordinary about the later. Gabe Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:49 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe You truely had a neglected childhood. Reply chad thomas Member sinceJanuary 2005 From: Ely, Nv. 6,312 posts Posted by chad thomas on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:48 AM What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Reply tree68 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Northern New York 25,026 posts Posted by tree68 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:47 AM Ah, yes. Seeing a C&O caboose following its train through town, with smoke coming out of the smoke jack. Being amazed, during a tour of a Geep, when the crew member showing me around pointed out that the locomotives on the train that passed us at that moment were BIGGER! And by the way - I did walk to school for several years, about a mile, and it was up hill in both directions. The village straddles a river. I lived on top of a hill on one side, the school was on top of a hill on the other... 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... Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:46 AM I like to look at railfanning as a total experience. For instance, we're having our Pavilion party in Flatonia on Saturday. There will probably be around 75 railfans there. We can talk, enjoy the weather, enjoy lunch together,look at and buy pictures and books, enjoy the two or three speeders that might be there, and oh yeah, watch the trains that might come by (for some reason Saturdays are slow around here). Most of my best friends are my railfan friends, even when we're not railfanning. I would love doing this even if the trains were all exactly alike. mike Reply Edit spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:45 AM When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply arbfbe Member sinceFebruary 2002 910 posts Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:43 AM Gabe, Buy books and videos (DVDs) from those times, get comfortable and use your imagination. What you can see today will be a good reference to what has gone before. Hey, if you invented a time machine to go back and see it all some government agency would have to kill you anyway. Reply BNSFGP38 Member sinceDecember 2004 From: Cab 162 posts Posted by BNSFGP38 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:39 AM I sometimes wish I could travel back to the see all steam,cabbosess,REAL brakemen,wooden cars, heavy wieght cars, streamliners, smoke belching ALCO's. Dunno, I stopped railfanning alot of modern stuff....................to sterile, how many pictures of SD-70's can you really take? Reply zardoz Member sinceJanuary 2003 From: Kenosha, WI 6,567 posts Posted by zardoz on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:37 AM The same can be said of the railroaders of today compared to even 25 years ago. Although in many ways railroading was much more difficult then, it was also much more interesting. I remember how thrilled we (the crew) we were when our locomotive actually had a radio! No more trying to find in the darkness lineside phones to call the dispatcher. I remember how nice it was to get a SD40-2 with dynamic brakes in my train. I remember the interesting combinations of power we were expected to get over the road with (6 unit consist, 3 of them working with 2 of those not making transition). I remember trying to grab the floppies (train orders) at 50mph in the middle of the night (and what we had to go through if we missed). I remember thinking nothing of it to let some train fans up into the cab, and take them for a ride around the yard. I remember 5-man train crews. And cabooses (cabeese). I remember how much more challenging it was operating a train when you had two men in the caboose that you had to be concerned about when considering the various ways to handle a train, so as to not injure the men in the caboose. Were they the "good old days"? I'm not sure; in some ways yes, in some ways no. And just think, 25 years from now, you younger folks will be telling similar stories to the next generation of fans and railroaders. I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. In 1985 I bought my first computer. It had a 4.77mhz clock speed, with a whopping 20MB hard drive, a 5 1/2" floppy drive, and EGA graphics. And it was nearly top-of-the-line at the time! Only 20 years ago!! Time flies when you're having fun. Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:24 AM Oh, I concede it is still a VERY fun hobby. It is just as I was staring at Madison Hill yesterday, it occurred to me that (short of a nifty steam excursion--which isn't really reality railroading--there was nothing in the world--train wise--that I would rather see than a train climb that hill. Gabe Modlecar: I think you raise a very good point about not being able to travel to see sites like you can now days. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 AM Steam was around when I was young, but I don't remember it. I don't remember Alco PA's or F-7's but they were around too... and depots. But I'm not gonna be depressed or worry about what I can't change or what I can't remember. Railfan what you got. It's still a fun hobby. mike Reply Edit Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:11 AM ....gabe....Of course both generations have advantages and disadvantages....I'll just add a bit to it all....We had steam action all around the county in my growing up days and all the other operations of branch railroading happening too...{Much coal hauling territory}....but as close as it was traveling TO some of these places was not as common as is in today's world...Economic times were totally different. I'm sure many people of this generation can't understand such utterings but it was a part of everyday reality. PS: School house was adjacent to my home...Walked about 200 ft. to front door...{and no hills}.... Quentin Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Originally posted by chad thomas Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply eolafan Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Aurora, IL 4,515 posts Posted by eolafan on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:05 AM Gabe, you might find it interesting to hear that I witnessed a rather rare sight last evening when I watched BNSF train symbol BRCGAL setting out and picking up cars at their Eola yard. Yesterdays BRCGAL was powered by a very rare lashup of one Dash9 (nothing unusual there) and a duo of SD9's, one in BN green and black with its original high short hood intact and one in H1 paint with a chopped short hood. Any way you cut it, a rare sighting. Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim) Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:53 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Yes, but they had something worth shooting. Seeing a four-engine yellow and green, 150 car grain train going down the street of a small town--as though it were a car--with residents and motorists taking note and the train dwarfing the town or a 13-car, two geep Chicago Illinois and Midland part the weeds in a rustic setting delivering two freight cars to some Ma and Pa shop will makes for photography that a drab intermodal train just can't match--though I like watching the intermodal train, just not as much. There is something artistic about the former two examples, there is something industrial and ordinary about the later. Gabe Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:49 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe You truely had a neglected childhood. Reply chad thomas Member sinceJanuary 2005 From: Ely, Nv. 6,312 posts Posted by chad thomas on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:48 AM What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Reply tree68 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Northern New York 25,026 posts Posted by tree68 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:47 AM Ah, yes. Seeing a C&O caboose following its train through town, with smoke coming out of the smoke jack. Being amazed, during a tour of a Geep, when the crew member showing me around pointed out that the locomotives on the train that passed us at that moment were BIGGER! And by the way - I did walk to school for several years, about a mile, and it was up hill in both directions. The village straddles a river. I lived on top of a hill on one side, the school was on top of a hill on the other... 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... Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:46 AM I like to look at railfanning as a total experience. For instance, we're having our Pavilion party in Flatonia on Saturday. There will probably be around 75 railfans there. We can talk, enjoy the weather, enjoy lunch together,look at and buy pictures and books, enjoy the two or three speeders that might be there, and oh yeah, watch the trains that might come by (for some reason Saturdays are slow around here). Most of my best friends are my railfan friends, even when we're not railfanning. I would love doing this even if the trains were all exactly alike. mike Reply Edit spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:45 AM When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply arbfbe Member sinceFebruary 2002 910 posts Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:43 AM Gabe, Buy books and videos (DVDs) from those times, get comfortable and use your imagination. What you can see today will be a good reference to what has gone before. Hey, if you invented a time machine to go back and see it all some government agency would have to kill you anyway. Reply BNSFGP38 Member sinceDecember 2004 From: Cab 162 posts Posted by BNSFGP38 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:39 AM I sometimes wish I could travel back to the see all steam,cabbosess,REAL brakemen,wooden cars, heavy wieght cars, streamliners, smoke belching ALCO's. Dunno, I stopped railfanning alot of modern stuff....................to sterile, how many pictures of SD-70's can you really take? Reply zardoz Member sinceJanuary 2003 From: Kenosha, WI 6,567 posts Posted by zardoz on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:37 AM The same can be said of the railroaders of today compared to even 25 years ago. Although in many ways railroading was much more difficult then, it was also much more interesting. I remember how thrilled we (the crew) we were when our locomotive actually had a radio! No more trying to find in the darkness lineside phones to call the dispatcher. I remember how nice it was to get a SD40-2 with dynamic brakes in my train. I remember the interesting combinations of power we were expected to get over the road with (6 unit consist, 3 of them working with 2 of those not making transition). I remember trying to grab the floppies (train orders) at 50mph in the middle of the night (and what we had to go through if we missed). I remember thinking nothing of it to let some train fans up into the cab, and take them for a ride around the yard. I remember 5-man train crews. And cabooses (cabeese). I remember how much more challenging it was operating a train when you had two men in the caboose that you had to be concerned about when considering the various ways to handle a train, so as to not injure the men in the caboose. Were they the "good old days"? I'm not sure; in some ways yes, in some ways no. And just think, 25 years from now, you younger folks will be telling similar stories to the next generation of fans and railroaders. I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. In 1985 I bought my first computer. It had a 4.77mhz clock speed, with a whopping 20MB hard drive, a 5 1/2" floppy drive, and EGA graphics. And it was nearly top-of-the-line at the time! Only 20 years ago!! Time flies when you're having fun. Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:24 AM Oh, I concede it is still a VERY fun hobby. It is just as I was staring at Madison Hill yesterday, it occurred to me that (short of a nifty steam excursion--which isn't really reality railroading--there was nothing in the world--train wise--that I would rather see than a train climb that hill. Gabe Modlecar: I think you raise a very good point about not being able to travel to see sites like you can now days. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 AM Steam was around when I was young, but I don't remember it. I don't remember Alco PA's or F-7's but they were around too... and depots. But I'm not gonna be depressed or worry about what I can't change or what I can't remember. Railfan what you got. It's still a fun hobby. mike Reply Edit Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:11 AM ....gabe....Of course both generations have advantages and disadvantages....I'll just add a bit to it all....We had steam action all around the county in my growing up days and all the other operations of branch railroading happening too...{Much coal hauling territory}....but as close as it was traveling TO some of these places was not as common as is in today's world...Economic times were totally different. I'm sure many people of this generation can't understand such utterings but it was a part of everyday reality. PS: School house was adjacent to my home...Walked about 200 ft. to front door...{and no hills}.... Quentin Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with.
QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe You truely had a neglected childhood. Reply chad thomas Member sinceJanuary 2005 From: Ely, Nv. 6,312 posts Posted by chad thomas on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:48 AM What about the ease of photography for todays railfan. Today we can go out and shoot dozens of color pictures on digital cameras. Then take those pictures and upload them on the internet and share them the same day !!! Now contrast that with the effort that the pioneering railroad photographers had to deal with. Reply tree68 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Northern New York 25,026 posts Posted by tree68 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:47 AM Ah, yes. Seeing a C&O caboose following its train through town, with smoke coming out of the smoke jack. Being amazed, during a tour of a Geep, when the crew member showing me around pointed out that the locomotives on the train that passed us at that moment were BIGGER! And by the way - I did walk to school for several years, about a mile, and it was up hill in both directions. The village straddles a river. I lived on top of a hill on one side, the school was on top of a hill on the other... 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... Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:46 AM I like to look at railfanning as a total experience. For instance, we're having our Pavilion party in Flatonia on Saturday. There will probably be around 75 railfans there. We can talk, enjoy the weather, enjoy lunch together,look at and buy pictures and books, enjoy the two or three speeders that might be there, and oh yeah, watch the trains that might come by (for some reason Saturdays are slow around here). Most of my best friends are my railfan friends, even when we're not railfanning. I would love doing this even if the trains were all exactly alike. mike Reply Edit spbed Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Austin TX 4,941 posts Posted by spbed on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:45 AM When I was a kid I lived in Brooklyn NY no RRs their. No $$$$$ or car either to go out into the countryside to see real trains. The NYC subway system had to suffice in my childhood. [:o)][:p] Originally posted by gabe Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply arbfbe Member sinceFebruary 2002 910 posts Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:43 AM Gabe, Buy books and videos (DVDs) from those times, get comfortable and use your imagination. What you can see today will be a good reference to what has gone before. Hey, if you invented a time machine to go back and see it all some government agency would have to kill you anyway. Reply BNSFGP38 Member sinceDecember 2004 From: Cab 162 posts Posted by BNSFGP38 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:39 AM I sometimes wish I could travel back to the see all steam,cabbosess,REAL brakemen,wooden cars, heavy wieght cars, streamliners, smoke belching ALCO's. Dunno, I stopped railfanning alot of modern stuff....................to sterile, how many pictures of SD-70's can you really take? Reply zardoz Member sinceJanuary 2003 From: Kenosha, WI 6,567 posts Posted by zardoz on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:37 AM The same can be said of the railroaders of today compared to even 25 years ago. Although in many ways railroading was much more difficult then, it was also much more interesting. I remember how thrilled we (the crew) we were when our locomotive actually had a radio! No more trying to find in the darkness lineside phones to call the dispatcher. I remember how nice it was to get a SD40-2 with dynamic brakes in my train. I remember the interesting combinations of power we were expected to get over the road with (6 unit consist, 3 of them working with 2 of those not making transition). I remember trying to grab the floppies (train orders) at 50mph in the middle of the night (and what we had to go through if we missed). I remember thinking nothing of it to let some train fans up into the cab, and take them for a ride around the yard. I remember 5-man train crews. And cabooses (cabeese). I remember how much more challenging it was operating a train when you had two men in the caboose that you had to be concerned about when considering the various ways to handle a train, so as to not injure the men in the caboose. Were they the "good old days"? I'm not sure; in some ways yes, in some ways no. And just think, 25 years from now, you younger folks will be telling similar stories to the next generation of fans and railroaders. I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. In 1985 I bought my first computer. It had a 4.77mhz clock speed, with a whopping 20MB hard drive, a 5 1/2" floppy drive, and EGA graphics. And it was nearly top-of-the-line at the time! Only 20 years ago!! Time flies when you're having fun. Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:24 AM Oh, I concede it is still a VERY fun hobby. It is just as I was staring at Madison Hill yesterday, it occurred to me that (short of a nifty steam excursion--which isn't really reality railroading--there was nothing in the world--train wise--that I would rather see than a train climb that hill. Gabe Modlecar: I think you raise a very good point about not being able to travel to see sites like you can now days. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 AM Steam was around when I was young, but I don't remember it. I don't remember Alco PA's or F-7's but they were around too... and depots. But I'm not gonna be depressed or worry about what I can't change or what I can't remember. Railfan what you got. It's still a fun hobby. mike Reply Edit Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:11 AM ....gabe....Of course both generations have advantages and disadvantages....I'll just add a bit to it all....We had steam action all around the county in my growing up days and all the other operations of branch railroading happening too...{Much coal hauling territory}....but as close as it was traveling TO some of these places was not as common as is in today's world...Economic times were totally different. I'm sure many people of this generation can't understand such utterings but it was a part of everyday reality. PS: School house was adjacent to my home...Walked about 200 ft. to front door...{and no hills}.... Quentin Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Originally posted by gabe
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...
Originally posted by gabe Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply arbfbe Member sinceFebruary 2002 910 posts Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:43 AM Gabe, Buy books and videos (DVDs) from those times, get comfortable and use your imagination. What you can see today will be a good reference to what has gone before. Hey, if you invented a time machine to go back and see it all some government agency would have to kill you anyway. Reply BNSFGP38 Member sinceDecember 2004 From: Cab 162 posts Posted by BNSFGP38 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:39 AM I sometimes wish I could travel back to the see all steam,cabbosess,REAL brakemen,wooden cars, heavy wieght cars, streamliners, smoke belching ALCO's. Dunno, I stopped railfanning alot of modern stuff....................to sterile, how many pictures of SD-70's can you really take? Reply zardoz Member sinceJanuary 2003 From: Kenosha, WI 6,567 posts Posted by zardoz on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:37 AM The same can be said of the railroaders of today compared to even 25 years ago. Although in many ways railroading was much more difficult then, it was also much more interesting. I remember how thrilled we (the crew) we were when our locomotive actually had a radio! No more trying to find in the darkness lineside phones to call the dispatcher. I remember how nice it was to get a SD40-2 with dynamic brakes in my train. I remember the interesting combinations of power we were expected to get over the road with (6 unit consist, 3 of them working with 2 of those not making transition). I remember trying to grab the floppies (train orders) at 50mph in the middle of the night (and what we had to go through if we missed). I remember thinking nothing of it to let some train fans up into the cab, and take them for a ride around the yard. I remember 5-man train crews. And cabooses (cabeese). I remember how much more challenging it was operating a train when you had two men in the caboose that you had to be concerned about when considering the various ways to handle a train, so as to not injure the men in the caboose. Were they the "good old days"? I'm not sure; in some ways yes, in some ways no. And just think, 25 years from now, you younger folks will be telling similar stories to the next generation of fans and railroaders. I'm only 51, but I remember my parents had only one tv, and it was black & white. The fridge had to be defrosted every month. The milkman came daily. There was no central air. What's a computer? What's a remote control? Gas was 29 cents per gallon, and you could actually see the road under the car if you looked in the engine compartment. In 1985 I bought my first computer. It had a 4.77mhz clock speed, with a whopping 20MB hard drive, a 5 1/2" floppy drive, and EGA graphics. And it was nearly top-of-the-line at the time! Only 20 years ago!! Time flies when you're having fun. Reply gabe Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Indianapolis, Indiana 2,434 posts Posted by gabe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:24 AM Oh, I concede it is still a VERY fun hobby. It is just as I was staring at Madison Hill yesterday, it occurred to me that (short of a nifty steam excursion--which isn't really reality railroading--there was nothing in the world--train wise--that I would rather see than a train climb that hill. Gabe Modlecar: I think you raise a very good point about not being able to travel to see sites like you can now days. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 AM Steam was around when I was young, but I don't remember it. I don't remember Alco PA's or F-7's but they were around too... and depots. But I'm not gonna be depressed or worry about what I can't change or what I can't remember. Railfan what you got. It's still a fun hobby. mike Reply Edit Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:11 AM ....gabe....Of course both generations have advantages and disadvantages....I'll just add a bit to it all....We had steam action all around the county in my growing up days and all the other operations of branch railroading happening too...{Much coal hauling territory}....but as close as it was traveling TO some of these places was not as common as is in today's world...Economic times were totally different. I'm sure many people of this generation can't understand such utterings but it was a part of everyday reality. PS: School house was adjacent to my home...Walked about 200 ft. to front door...{and no hills}.... Quentin Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Quentin
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.