Locomotive

[flusher]

Cool video. I'll bet that show and tell setup in Las Vegas put a dent in Cat's advertizing budget

 

[DJ54]

Dad was a railroader for 38 years, as a brakeman. I have a mainline about a 1/2 mile behind my house in a big hollow. You can hear the coal trains coming for several miles. And as mentioned above 3-4 units on the front, and a pusher to get them up over the summit.

Didn't take long to distinguish between the GE's and Baldwins. Dad would always have a few profane words for the Baldwins. Apparently not as responsive as the GE's... Maybe OK on the open road, but not for working the locals. The Baldwins seem to be lumbering along, from the sound of the RPM's.

Love to hear those ole' GE's coming up the hollow, pulling for all they are worth...!! Gives me goosebumps everytime I hear them.

Wouldn't they make a dandy GenSet..!!

 

[V1Rotate]

Dad was a railroader for 38 years, as a brakeman. I have a mainline about a 1/2 mile behind my house in a big hollow. You can hear the coal trains coming for several miles. And as mentioned above 3-4 units on the front, and a pusher to get them up over the summit.

Didn't take long to distinguish between the GE's and Baldwins. Dad would always have a few profane words for the Baldwins. Apparently not as responsive as the GE's... Maybe OK on the open road, but not for working the locals. The Baldwins seem to be lumbering along, from the sound of the RPM's.

Love to hear those ole' GE's coming up the hollow, pulling for all they are worth...!! Gives me goosebumps everytime I hear them.

Wouldn't they make a dandy GenSet..!!

You could power the whole neighborhood.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Dad was a railroader for 38 years, as a brakeman. I have a mainline about a 1/2 mile behind my house in a big hollow. You can hear the coal trains coming for several miles. And as mentioned above 3-4 units on the front, and a pusher to get them up over the summit.

Didn't take long to distinguish between the GE's and Baldwins. Dad would always have a few profane words for the Baldwins. Apparently not as responsive as the GE's... Maybe OK on the open road, but not for working the locals. The Baldwins seem to be lumbering along, from the sound of the RPM's.

Love to hear those ole' GE's coming up the hollow, pulling for all they are worth...!! Gives me goosebumps everytime I hear them.

Wouldn't they make a dandy GenSet..!!

If you think about it for a second, that's exactly what they are. :laughing: I have yet to hear of a direct drive diesel locomotive.
Baldwin's last locomotive was the RP-210 series, built in '56, and had Maybach engines. Alco dropped from the picture in the late '60's.
The big three manufacturers for rail engines now are GE, EMD, and Cat.
I can say that the GE and Cat engines turn their lube oil into asphalt in a very short time primarily because they are four-stroke engines. EMD, being a two-stroke on the other hand, goes a long way between oil changes because the oil is sweetened almost on a daily basis.
I know this because I operate an EMD 710-G 4.16kV quad system.
I can hardly wait to see those new locos on the "Canadian Coal Drag" (BNSF has used up to four pullers, two intermediates, and two pushers for Stevens Pass) blowing heat waves ten feet in the air straight up.

But absolutely NOTHING beats the Union Pacific 3985 Challenger at 70 MPH! (IMHO).

 

[RoyJackson]

But absolutely NOTHING beats the Union Pacific 3985 Challenger at 70 MPH! (IMHO).

Yup!
Union Pacific 3985 with Maximum Smoke in HD - YouTube

 

[DJ54]

Dad started in '47 on the B&O, working the extra board. They were just phasing out steam. He told the story more than several times of one particular time when he got to work a passenger run, from Columbus, OH, to I'm assuming Wheeling W. Va. On the return trip, when they left the station at Zanesville, OH, the engineer informed him they were 3 minutes behind schedule. He told him they would be in Columbus on time.

It was dark at the time. He said he knew they were running faster than usual, but just not how fast. He was getting a run for the Summit near Pataskala, OH. Dad said he leaned over when they got in the town lights of Pataskala to look at the speedometer. Said she was setting right on 93 mph, and that SOB was rockin'.... They made Columbus, right on time.

Still have Dad's Ball, 21 jewel RR watch in the safety deposit box. Doubt they require you to have them these days...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Not sure why, but I've always loved trains. Have only got to ride them twice (besides smaller scale park stuff).

My kids love them too. You can hear them at my house especially at night. About 2 miles away. Perfect distance for noise. Not too much, not too little.

 

[Toyboy]

My Grandfather was an engineer for the EJ&E railroad in the Chicago area. I've got his 45 year retirement wrist watch but don't know what become of his railroad pocket watch.

 

[Bird]

Dad started in '47 on the B&O, working the extra board. They were just phasing out steam. He told the story more than several times of one particular time when he got to work a passenger run, from Columbus, OH, to I'm assuming Wheeling W. Va. On the return trip, when they left the station at Zanesville, OH, the engineer informed him they were 3 minutes behind schedule. He told him they would be in Columbus on time.

It was dark at the time. He said he knew they were running faster than usual, but just not how fast. He was getting a run for the Summit near Pataskala, OH. Dad said he leaned over when they got in the town lights of Pataskala to look at the speedometer. Said she was setting right on 93 mph, and that SOB was rockin'.... They made Columbus, right on time.

Still have Dad's Ball, 21 jewel RR watch in the safety deposit box. Doubt they require you to have them these days...

One of my Dad's sisters was married in Baltimore to the "Chief Clerk to the Superintendant for All Lines", Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. I don't think they'd been married more than a year when he died of a heart attack in his early 40s in 1943 (he'd known for some time that he had a bad heart, which kept him from volunteering for the Army in WWII). Anyway, when my aunt died in 1981, I inherited his new Hamilton watch with chain and penknife, his wallet with ID cards, emergency call list, pay scales (he was quite a high paid fellow for the early 40s), and other papers. I later donated them to the B&O Railroad Museum.

One of Mother's sisters was married to a train engineer in Oklahoma, but I don't remember which railroad. He was killed in train crash about 1948.

My paternal grandfather hauled the mail between the train station and the post office in Ardmore, OK, from 1943 until trains quit carrying the mail.

My father-in-law retired from the railroad in West Virginia, but he had a much harder, hotter, dirtier job; welder repairing damaged coal cars.:laughing:

And now one of our daughters works for the BNSF Railways in their headquarters in Ft. Worth.

 

[DJ54]

Thanks Bird, didn't even know that museum existed. May have to put that on my bucket list to visit..!! I'll have to do some checking, but seems there is some sort of steam locomotive museum in, or near Corbin, KY. Somewhere there around home are books on steam locomotives. I can just remember an older gentleman Dad worked with giving them to him. Don't now if he was an engineer, or was on the mechanicing end. Seems they are exploded views of the locomotives, so may be some sort of repair manuals. I'll have to do some digging this winter, and see if I can find them.