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I guess Things With Wheels . . .

2K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  Bloofington 
#1 ·
doesn't mean discussing the beauty of EMD cab units, the late lamented super powerful Union Pacific Gas Turbine or how cute those Alcos sounded in their heyday while making a name for themselves as extremely efficient and durable locomotives.

Any other railroad buffs around here? Maybe we could get Bigg Bosss Mann to add another forum to Things With Wheels. Maybe I should go look for some other railroad buffs before I open up my big mouth whining about no place to discuss railroading.

Well, they don't call me The Great Dumboni fer nuthin', pardner!!!

Pennsylvania Railroad GG1's, anyone???
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Oh yes, I've read fond railroad stories about the ACL's Silver Meteor. How fortunate that you got to experience railroading in such a fashion. How unfortunate that The Golden Age of Railroading is long past.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I'm with you all the way, only I'd throw ships in there too. I just don't understand why we created a world where there's this imperative to go faster and faster. To do what??? And now, with the digital age, fax machines, text messaging, laptops, etc., we don't have to go anywhere!!!

The Metro-North Railroad commuter trains I take to go to and from NYC to work reach speeds of 85-90 mph along certain stretches, especially up near my area. I once timed a train on my way home between mile post's 63 and 64 in 39 seconds, which if the 64th mile is perfectly spaced would be an average speed of 92.31 mph. That's fast enough, thank you. 50-70 most of the time would be just fine otherwise.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Hey Jar, how's it goin'? Folks, do you hear this guy? Nothing like the sound of a 4-6-4 or a 2-6-6-6! Red Caps, CABOOSES!!!

Folks, I sit at the feet of such people. I am sooooooooo jealous, . . .

in a good and very respectful way, of course. A man or woman who can talk about the sound of a 4-6-4 or know what a Red Cap was, has truly seen a part of America long since past, a time when the country (for the most part, I know plenty about our sins, not here to get into that) was still filled with a spirit of cooperation, and was still being built, so that folks my age (now 47) could live an easier, better life, with greater advantages and opportunities.

What Jar has experienced was an age of railroading when the railroads didn't have to contend with the crimes perpetrated daily upon freight trains in the desert and yards these days, and overzealous railfans grilling burgers and making themselves unsafe and obnoxious around railroad tracks. To know what a steam locomotive is, much less to have ridden in the cab in an age when engineers and caboose workers could afford to be friendly is truly the stuff of which the rich lore of American history is made.

Yes, I've seen my share of 'F' units pulling 100 car freight trains and real cabooses, and I remember when FRED was the guy in the caboose's real name, not Flashing Rear End Device to denote the back end of the train these days, but what Jar is talking about goes back to stuff I only read dreamily about as a very young child when my interest in railroading was ignited by a gift of a Lionel set from my father for my fifth or sixth birthday.

I never really lost it for trains, although my interest has waxed and waned through the years. Still and all, 40 years after watching 80-120 car freights pulled by as many as seven 'F' units for Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, I still love railroading, and living where I do now, tucked into the Lower Hudson Valley, that interest is burning brighter and brighter since I ride along a historic portion of railroad back and forth to NYC at least four days a week, and also get to look across at long freight trains pulled by semi-modern diesels of CSX on the freight line across the river. What's really interesting is seeing 100 car freight trains on my side of the river!!!

Thanks for stoking the fire, Jar.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
YOU'RE KILLING ME, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY KILLING ME!!! A TURNTABLE!!!

Folks, I hope you realize what we have here. We have some of the most profound pages in American history being opened for us, as Ed Sullivan would say, RIGHT HERE ON OUR SHOE!!!

Man, you're pretty good lookin' for 641 years old, LOL!!! What incredible memories. Keep going. We've gotta get a railfans forum going here.

Oh, and by the way, I and some folks from the Union Pacific like Steve Lee might dispute you on the 2-6-6-6's size and power next to a Big Boy or even Challenger. I'll be doing some brush up research, as I've forgotten enough about railroading to get most people a college level degree.

Thanks for the history. I love it.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Yup, I know about wheel configurations and the purposes that various locomotives were built for, and I'm going to check that out, but as far as I know the Big Boy was tested at a higher horsepower rating than any steam locomotive in history.

Here's some facts I just discovered upon some quick research in my Guide to North American Steam Locomotives. Although I have quite a bit more in my house, it's scattered everywhere. I also haven't read my TRAINS magazine in over five years, and I haven't looked at Model Railroader in 11 years, even though both magazines and a lot more still come in every month or two depending on the publication's schedule.

The Guide I looked in lists C&O Nos. 1600-1644 as being 778,000 pounds and "the heaviest reciprocating steam locomotives ever built" and having 67 inch drivers.

The Big Boys are listed at 772,000 pounds and "the heaviest reciprocating-piston steam locomotives ever built" with 68 inch drivers. I know some people have said that the Alleghenys were a formidable challenge to the Union Pacific's claim of Big Boy's world beating horsepower, but alas, no formal tests were ever done, and Big Boy was put through quite a bit of scrutiny and achieved in typical U.P. fashion, quite a bit of public relations, while C&O pretty much went about its business. At any rate, there's no denying that the Alleghenys were an incredible machine. Any locomotive built for hauling coal through mountainous terrain had to be.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
Yes folks, csmkersh chiming in with some more of the Wonderful World of American Railroading here!!! Yes, those Texas 2-4-0's are indeed just as prominent in our nation's railroad history and lore. I've read plenty about them as well as the one you mentioned in Colorado? Is that the one known as Cumbres and Toltec???
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Hey Jar, I did a wee bit of research, just a wee, and it didn't take me long to find out that the Alleghenys were in fact tested and topped out at around 7,000 horsepower!!! Wow, let me hear ya give it up for the most powerful STEAM locomotive in history!!! That definitely tops Big Boys. Thanks for the tip.

Now, if you wanna talk about the Gas Turbine, that's a horse of another color.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
WOW!!! You SAW Tom Thumb?!?!?!??!!!??? What wonderful memories, Jar. Yes, it was a great time to be a kid, a great time in America, despite certain self-evident flaws that still existed at that time. As for me, being born in '56, and growing up mostly in ghetto neighborhoods in NYC, I missed that America, although I knew/know people who lived it, and I heard plenty about it, leaving your doors open when you left the house, etc.

By the way, I apologize for saying that you looked good for 641 years old. 40's and 50's, huh? Well, in that case, how does it feel to be 573, LOL!!!

Oh, . . .

Thanks For The Memories.

I had a picture of a South American Annulated Boa on a shipment of bananas in an old snake book I used to own.
 
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