I watched a training film by the Long Island Railroad. One question they ask every aspiring engineer is (Close to a Quote) In your career as an engineer, you will be involved in a grade crossing accident where someone in a car or truck will die. Can you live with that?"
I think that the term engineer came from the steam days. You really had to almost be a steam engineer to properly operate a steam locomotive. Today the European (or at least British) term "Engine driver" is probably more accurate, but I would hasten to add that operating a train is still a very highly-skilled occupation.
I did. She is so regal in action. Both 4014 and 844 double headed. pure history. 1000s of train watchers where in the area. I saw plates from across the country. not to mention the number of rental car plates. ( you can tell Colorado rental cars) Tim
4-10-4 Bessemer and Lake Erie #643 ... Someone started a restoration in 2015 but funding was shallow.. ws
Mike Wolf from MTH is going to be at the ceremony--of course. I have lusted after a Big Boy or a Cab Forward for years, but just can't seem to put together the funds. When they were 1100 I was amazed; they are closer to 1700 today, so keep getting out of my range. Truly an accomplishment driven by need, and shows how the business drove innovation at the time. Wish I could be there to see it all! Cheers, Richard
My dad bought 2 Winchester Golden Spikes in there boxes for 90 bucks from an old gun trader that was very very old and not in good health. he was my dads friend. (Lyle) They are now above my fire place that i hand built as he gave them to me. After he passed an old friend of his said that he had a commemorative Cane and a coin they gave out to passengers from the 1939 Omaha golden spike days ride. He gave them to me a few weeks later with pride..... They hang there to this day
The Union Pacific has a video of the 844 coupling on to the rear of a stalled Diesel freight train and shoving it up a steep hill into a freight yard.
Thanks for sharing that. I wrote to Union Pacific 52 years ago when I was in 5th grade and got a few pictures of their trains and that was one of them I got in the mail. That video was great I was almost crying seeing that Thanks Again!!! That is one BMF
UP USED to have a calendar...I have a few of them from the '90's or early 2000's I think. If you write their office in Boise at the right time, they may sell you one. They seem to go to insiders first, however, if they are still made. Pretty cool big pics of their stuff--very neat! Cheers!
My mother used to have some shares of UP stock. When she sold it she was bummed because she no longer received the UP calendar.
Last year we road the Mag Lev train in Shanghai. The speed is so great that the cars bank into the curves similar to that of a motorcycle. The acceleration was unprecedented for a train and many airplanes that I have flown. Each car has its own speedometer. Here is a picture that I took:
Blame the federal government on that, it’s a national park. The amount of money they invested since the mid 90s has been fantastic for the city, and museum itself.
...how's that go, "for the want of a nail..." See this all the time with bridges, ignore paint until bridge unsafe, then multi-million rebuild...
Ahh yes, the New York Central's streamlined Super Hudson. Take a look at the Boxpok drivers, the connecting rods that clearly are for serious power. The Hudsons pulled the fast passenger trains from New York City to Chicago faster in the late '30s then Amtrak does today (Not entirely Amtrak's fault). The Hudsons and the Central's fabulous Niagaras scooped water from pans between the tracks at speeds of up to 80 mph so that they wouldn't have to stop for water. They did the thousand-mile trip with one refueling stop. A couple of the greatest steam locomotives of all time. Sadly, the NYC was a very business-oriented company and none of either type were saved. A real tragedy.
