Working rail roads and their tracks.

[cqaigy2]

Railroads seem to have the most waste of any industry I’ve ever seen. Thousands of miles of abandoned steel rails rotting away across the country, real estate under them just left abandoned, engines and rolling stock left to decay. Little attempt (at least that I see) to scrap anything, clean anything up, recycle.
It doesnt seem like other industries leave so much behind and unused?

I've wondered about economics of that too.

 

[jjeff]

Railroads seem to have the most waste of any industry I’ve ever seen. Thousands of miles of abandoned steel rails rotting away across the country, real estate under them just left abandoned, engines and rolling stock left to decay. Little attempt (at least that I see) to scrap anything, clean anything up, recycle.
It doesnt seem like other industries leave so much behind and unused?

But rusty relics and old industrial sights always have and always will peak my interest.

 

[Hay Dude]

But rusty relics and old industrial sights always have and always will peak my interest.

Me, too.
Wish they were still working. If you really like that stuff, come visit my area. I can show you hundreds of rusty relics and old industrial sights lol

 

[jjeff]

Me, too.
Wish they were still working. If you really like that stuff, come visit my area. I can show you hundreds of rusty relics and old industrial sights lol

These days I walk out to my shop and wish some of my junk was still working. Lol

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Cool video

 

[BoylermanCT]

While flying the other week I looked down and saw this loop railroad in Minnesota.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Google picture of the Hiwassee loop.

 

[jjeff]

Google picture of the Hiwassee loop. View attachment 773032

So they built the loop to eliminate switch backs on an old line? Thanks for the map it definitely helped explain things better for me anyway halfway through your video I thought I was watching two separate trains. Lol

 

[buckeyefarmer]

So they built the loop to eliminate switch backs on an old line? Thanks for the map it definitely helped explain things better for me anyway halfway through your video I thought I was watching two separate trains. Lol

That video was cool, same train going under the bridge with the tail end still going over.

 

[jjeff]

That video was cool, same train going under the bridge with the tail end still going over.

What was confusing for me anyway, it looked like the end of it was going the same direction as the engine on different grades/ lines why I initially thought there were two different trains running parallel on different grades. Your map clarified why I thought that.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

What was confusing for me anyway, it looked like the end of it was going the same direction as the engine on different grades/ lines why I initially thought there were two different trains running parallel on different grades. Your map clarified why I thought that.

Yea, the engine was going on the lower grade the same direction as the end of the train on the upper grade. I think They sent that long empty train just to made the video.

 

[BravoXray]

Did anyone get to see the CP Christmas Train this year?
I came through Chicago, South Bend, Elkhart, Goshen and down to Ft. Wayne last week. Came through Goshen around 3:00AM I think, I didn't know it was coming until the next morning when they shouwed it on the news.

CP Holiday Train

 

[MossRoad]

Did anyone get to see the CP Christmas Train this year?
I came through Chicago, South Bend, Elkhart, Goshen and down to Ft. Wayne last week. Came through Goshen around 3:00AM I think, I didn't know it was coming until the next morning when they shouwed it on the news.

CP Holiday Train

We've tried numerous times over the years, but it's hopeless. As typical of a train, it cannot keep a schedule.

 

[jjeff]

If you have little people in your life here's a few Xmas excursion trains in lower MI, the one out of coopersville also has an easter oriented excursion I've been on. 4 Polar Express Michigan Train Rides for Winter 2022

 

[Hay Dude]

We have a local micro railroad that does a beautiful Holiday train

Wilmington & Western Railroad - Delaware's Operating Railroad Museum

 

[MossRoad]

That looks great!

Appears to be popular, too, as it's all sold out for the rest of the year.

 

[Hay Dude]

runs VERY close to my house.
They like to lay on the horn lol

 

[MossRoad]

I miss train horns. They passed noise ordinances here and they can't blow unless there's an emergency.

The South Shore inter urban is still allowed to blow in town because they have about a dozen crossings with no lights or guards. But they have a weenie horn.

 

[Hay Dude]

Train horns are ingrained into our life around here. The East Penn freight train horn to me sounds like part of my life my hometown. The Christmas Express train is a little “excessive”.
Let’s put it this way: I’d rather have trains with some horns than no trains.

Took a few pictures of some rail repairs on Fairville Road next to East Penn’s “Y” in my hometown.

They have installed thousands of new ties up & down the lines. Great to see.
If I could have done it all over again, I would have applied for a job with them when I was young. My kind of work!

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, working on the rail lines would be interesting. Driving a train, not so much. My wife's nephew just quit the RR after about 4-5 years. It was great pay. But the on-call and life interruptions were too much and it cost him his marriage. He said it would be a good life for a single person. But he wanted to spend time with his kids. His wife, not so much.

A few years back they came trough the tracks at the end of our street and welded all the joints together to make it continuous rail. Pretty interesting project. Long train with a bunch of specialized cars. Grinding, welding, grinding, removed old ties, installed new ones. It went on 24/7. Took them about a week to get through the town. And man was it loud! Went down there at night to watch the sparks.