Rail roads and their tracks.

[KilroyJC]

My grandfather was a Gandy Dancer on theNew Haven Lin before WWII. SAID IT WAS SOME OF THE HARDEST WORK HE EVER DID IN HIS LIFE. He later was a foundryman.

 

[RoyJackson]

My grandfather was a Gandy Dancer on theNew Haven Lin before WWII. SAID IT WAS SOME OF THE HARDEST WORK HE EVER DID IN HIS LIFE. He later was a foundryman.

Definition of GANDY DANCER

a laborer in a railroad section gang; an itinerant or seasonal laborer… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[bdhsfz6]

A professionally made video of the 4014 and the 844 on there way to Ogden Utah on the 4014's maiden voyage after its rebuild. They did include lots of good info with it..

By coincidence, I was at Steamtown National Park over the weekend and took these shots of their recently restored #4012 "BigBoy":

Definitely impressive when seen in person.

There is talk of further restoration to full running condition but it will cost several million $$.

 

[ArlyA]

N

By coincidence, I was at Steamtown National Park over the weekend and took these shots of their recently restored #4012 "BigBoy":

View attachment 739772 View attachment 739769

View attachment 739773 View attachment 739770 View attachment 739771

Definitely impressive when seen in person.

There is talk of further restoration to full running condition but it will cost several million $$.

Now I don't know if we should travel east to see the 4012 or west to see the 4014....

 

[bdhsfz6]

Now I don't know if we should travel east to see the 4012 or west to see the 4014....

Definitely nicer scenery if you go west.

If you go east, Steamtown NP is railroaders heaven IMO. There's a lot to see & do at the museum.

Steamtown National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

find your park national park week parkrx #weareparks

www.nps.gov

Indeed a tough decision!

 

[spitter]

use to take the kids there every year in the fall and take the steam train ride and spend the day taking pictures and reading the stories under each exhibit. If you have time at the end of the day, there is a coal mine about 15 20 minutes away that has a mine car ride and a guided tour. pretty interesting too.
We were in awe of that big boy so much that I bought my son a challenger Lionel. That was the closest we could find that match. When he was young, he had the croup bad and couldn't sleep so I made a shelf around his room and use to run the train at night, and it would calm him down and make him fall asleep.

Then we had a friend that was an artist, and he came in and painted a Murial of the train going through a tunnel from one wall to the other in his room.

steam town is a must go for anyone who's into RR.

 

[ArlyA]

Definitely nicer scenery if you go west.

If you go east, Steamtown NP is railroaders heaven IMO. There's a lot to see & do at the museum.

Steamtown National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

find your park national park week parkrx #weareparks

www.nps.gov

Indeed a tough decision!

I used to reside in Wyoming and been through Cheyenne many times but that particular city, I'm not clamoring to get back to. Seems like heading east to Steamtown might be more interesting.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I used to reside in Wyoming and been through Cheyenne many times but that particular city, I'm clamoring to get back to. Seems like heading east to Steamtown might be more interesting.

I live just an hour away from Steamtown and visit at least once a year, usually when friends & relatives are in town. Many of the exhibits have been closed for the last 2 years due to the pandemic, including the shop area where they work on the locomotives. Unfortunately, I've missed that section every time I was there. This last trip was no exception. Fortunately, Steamtown plans to be fully operational by Memorial Day so I'll likely be going back.

 

[bdhsfz6]

use to take the kids there every year in the fall and take the steam train ride and spend the day taking pictures and reading the stories under each exhibit. If you have time at the end of the day, there is a coal mine about 15 20 minutes away that has a mine car ride and a guided tour. pretty interesting too.
We were in awe of that big boy so much that I bought my son a challenger Lionel. That was the closest we could find that match. When he was young, he had the croup bad and couldn't sleep so I made a shelf around his room and use to run the train at night, and it would calm him down and make him fall asleep.

Then we had a friend that was an artist, and he came in and painted a Murial of the train going through a tunnel from one wall to the other in his room.

steam town is a must go for anyone who's into RR.

On my last visit, I took my brother in law who is a retired mechanical engineer. He used to work for GE-ALCO in Schenectady NY., where the Challenger & "Big Boys" were built. In all the years he worked there, he heard stories and saw pictures but had never seen one in person. It actually brought him to tears when he saw the #4012 in person for the first time. It was very touching.

 

[oliver1555]

Not trying to come across wrong here, but the Challengers were 4-6-6-4 configurations. Union Pacific 3985 is an example.
Challenger No. 3985
Big Boys were 4-8-8-4 and originally slated to be known as Wasatch class, because of their intended route.
Both were built by ALCO.