Railroad images fading into history

[EMDDIESEL]

That is overhead Catenary wires in the pic. But no, they only electric locomotives still in use today by Amtrak or any other Commuter line are E60's which have been around since 1972. The electrics they use now are AEM-7's, ALP-44's, and electric "MU" (Multiple unit) cars. There are some GG1's preserved in museums, but nobody runs them anymore.

As for Train horns, i collect and sell them. I have an account with the only 2 Locomotive horn companies in the US. So if anybody needs one, let me know. They have single chime up to 5 chime. They are made out af aluminum and have 3/4" air inlets on most. You could adapt one to your truck if you wanted.

 

[Doc Tinker]

There's a KOA campground in Oscoda, Michigan that has one of those campside railroads. The entrance to the campground is a railroad crossing. At about midnight everynight the train runs through.



My Powerstoke driving buddy camped at that KOA a couple years ago and he claims he'll never return. I guess they placed him on a site right next to the tracks and didn't advise him that the tracks were active. He says the train woke him up and scared him so bad that he jumped out of bed and ran out of the camper thinking that the camper had rolled onto the tracks, during the night.



Doc

 

[Piersol]

hey guys, great thread. For you steam engine buffs. Go to the library or bookstore and look up a guy named O. Winston Link. Fantastic black and white photos. "The Last Steam Railroad in America" is the name of the book. Here in Erie, Pa is where GE builds their locomotives. They cranked out over 400 last year here. Unfortunately are not going to come close this year.

 

[Andy Perreault]

Originally posted by Doc Tinker

... He says the train woke him up and scared him so bad that he jumped out of bed and ran out of the camper thinking that the camper had rolled onto the tracks, during the night.



Doc

Doc, did you ever see the movie "My Cousin Vinnie"?

Andy

 

[Hammer]

Its a shame that the once great locomotives of the past seem to be fading from sight,,My grandfather was an engineer for the defunct Lehigh Railroad till he retired long ago here in PA,,When he passed I was left all his old memorabilia from his job,since I myself love trains,,The old images I'll never let die in my heart or the many books I have,,I,shamefully enough,did not follow my true love of trains when it came time to work and ended up driving truck,,After many switches from job to job,i ended up with UP's freight outfit(Overnite) and have been there for 14 yrs,, Trains and trucks keep the fire burning in me still today,,Best part is,Our state last year offered a plate commerating the railroad heritage of PA and there is one on the rear of my Dodge,,The liscense plate is a work of art and a thing of beauty to me,,So fading into history??,,Only if you let it... ... ...

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

This is kinda off topic but I'll bet you train guys will love this. A TDR member brought his train set to Thunder in Muncie a few weeks ago. Now this isn't your AVERAGE train set - 1/8th scale and is an actual diesel electric engine. It has a Peugot 4 cylinder diesel driving a generator driving electric motors in two engines, the forward engine also has the diesel powerplant, it has air brakes and horns and all. He said that he was going to be at a train get-together in Grand Rapids right after father's day (that's about an hour from my house). I told him that my dad was a train nut and would love to see it, he invited us. Unforetunately we passed him on the road on the way in and he missed us (was told he was headed to a funeral) but we went in and checked it out as there were others still there. To bring this sorta back on topic there were a bunch of steam engines there and everything was 1/8th scale. This place has a HUGE track layout with switches all over and signals, etc, rolls through the woods. Here's a couple of pictures of some of the steam engines. People actually ride on these trains, they were quite impressive!



#ad


#ad


#ad


#ad


#ad

 

[EMDDIESEL]

I have spent enough money buying HO scale stuff. That size would definatley kill me. They have a magazine called "Garden railways" that has big trains in there like that. Some of those engines are like $10,000. It would be a cool thing though if you had alot of property, and alot of money

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Griffith Park in LA

There is a 2-3 mile layout of that scale (7. 5" gauge I think) in Griffith Park, which is next to the Los Angeles Zoo. Since it's in a public park, those guys have to give rides to the public each Sunday. I stopped by and went for a ride on one pulled by a 4-6-0 steam locomotive (which of course functions exactly the same as the real steamers). What an amazing experience. . . the sound of the engine, clickety clack, etc. sounded just like the full size counterparts, but in miniature. The train was about 8-9 cars long, flatbed, so people could sit on them... they had stools you sat on and feet rested on the car floor. You had to keep straight or could easily upset the train. The funniest part was on a grade, when the engine lost traction and we slowed way down. The engineer did what Fred Flintstone would do on a motorcycle. . dropped his feet down to the ground and peddled with all his might to keep enough momentum to crest the hill. Talk about a funny sight!



I heard that a medium sized steam locomotive running 7. 5" scale can weigh 1200 pounds!



You may also want to spec out http://www.trainmountain.org



Vaughn

 

[WOWZY]

I have been one of the lucky few who have actually ridden in the grand ole #4501 and I was saddened to here of her retirement. I would've liked to have taken my kids for a ride on that behemoth.



She now is resting at the Tennesee Valley Railroad museum. I may have to make a trip there to see her again. I sure miss that loud steam whistle coming through town in the spring

I hear that she may be getting renovations to be put back on tour.

#ad


#ad




For those #4501 Extremists her's a link to getting a great replica of this southern gal: http://www.crescentmodels.com/trains/GreenMikado.html

 

[Blakers]

Is that the locomotive that Billy Byrd ran?



Blake