Bob Womack
Friend of Leo's
Thank you! We had some family who retired to Quarryville so we did, indeed, visit your lovely museum and ride the Strasburg Railroad.
Bob
Train Watching
- Thread starter Gardo
- Start date
Bob
When I started at my present job, our offices were upstairs in an Amtrak station, so there was a parade of trains going by all day, three stories down from my office window. Most seemed to be coal trains going from somewhere in the northeast toward Texas. The passenger train usually runs at night, so if we ever saw one during business hours, we knew it was very late, and the people on it would be irritable.
We moved office about three years ago, across the river, but there's a RR bridge and the same track that went by the old office has a grade crossing about half a block away. The passing trains are even more annoying now, they are capable of disrupting my morning and afternoon commute.
Still, although they're an annoyance, I look at every train and try to imagine the number of big trucks it would take to haul the same load. The interstates around here are already wall-to-wall trucks, it would be unimaginably worse without the trains.
We moved office about three years ago, across the river, but there's a RR bridge and the same track that went by the old office has a grade crossing about half a block away. The passing trains are even more annoying now, they are capable of disrupting my morning and afternoon commute.
Still, although they're an annoyance, I look at every train and try to imagine the number of big trucks it would take to haul the same load. The interstates around here are already wall-to-wall trucks, it would be unimaginably worse without the trains.
Wow, small world
WingedWords
Friend of Leo's
I spent my first 10 years in a house with a railway line at the bottom of the garden, about 60ft away. Just standard South East suburban electric, but twice a day a steam hauled goods train came past. Most days it stopped at the signal by our house and, as often as possible, I was there waiting to chat with the crew. It left me with a lifelong love of railways and rail travel, especially heritage steam lines (the Fort William to Mallaig line in Scotland and the Llangollen in Wales) and had a great trip years ago from London to Budapest, via Vienna.
Sadly, heritage steam lines in the UK are suffering huge increases in coal bills (up from around £7m to £20m per year) and a decline in post 2020 passenger levels. A very tough situation for them. We spend as many of our day trips out as we can afford visiting them.
My dad spent his retirement scratch building this 5" gauge live steam model engine, a Stroudley Terrier.
It was completed in the summer before he died, and we ran it on his club track in Norfolk, but he never got to paint it. It would have looked like this. A pretty complex livery.
Sadly, heritage steam lines in the UK are suffering huge increases in coal bills (up from around £7m to £20m per year) and a decline in post 2020 passenger levels. A very tough situation for them. We spend as many of our day trips out as we can afford visiting them.
My dad spent his retirement scratch building this 5" gauge live steam model engine, a Stroudley Terrier.
It was completed in the summer before he died, and we ran it on his club track in Norfolk, but he never got to paint it. It would have looked like this. A pretty complex livery.
I retired from a company that was beside the the Amtrak Pittsburgh - Philly route. I often borrowed a song from Johnny, substituting my company name for Folsom Prison because it fit perfectly in more ways than one
Just had a flashback:
"I can tell by the tears on your anorak
Than you never never ever think you're coming back"
Amazing to have such a great tribute to your dad, that’s fabulous
radtz
Friend of Leo's
I don't have much to add other than my Dad grew up in Altoona Wisconsin and my grandfather was a fireman for the railroad there.
Am I the only person who never heard of an anorak?
Chiefly British, I think: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anorak
(person with obsessive interest): Originally referring to train spotters (because they would wear anoraks while looking out for trains).
(Britain, slang) A person with an unusual or obsessive interest in a niche subject.
https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-19185,00.html
nvilletele
Friend of Leo's
My favorite movie about trains (sort of).
THX1123
Tele-Afflicted
When I was a toddler they retired "the last steam train" in our area, and trotted it out to all the small towns to give people short rides. My dad took me, and somehow we got our picture in the local paper. I think I have a scan of the captioned photo clipping, I'll post it when I get home from work if I can find it.
I’ve seen someone like that on YouTube
Surely no life I would choose.
Bob Womack
Friend of Leo's
My great uncle spent his career as a brakeman on the Southern Railway. He retired to a broad bend in the French Broad tributary to the Tennessee River, with the Southern mainline running around the bend on the opposite shore of the river where he could watch the trains come and go. When his buddies at the railroad got wind of his retirement location they had the railroad set up a whistle board, requiring all trains to blow the horn directly opposite of his home. Kind of cool.
He also had a HUGE HO model railroad layout. I inherited his HO Rivarossi Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated compound locomotive.
Bob
He also had a HUGE HO model railroad layout. I inherited his HO Rivarossi Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated compound locomotive.
Bob
WingedWords
Friend of Leo's
I had a compact but much loved model railway as a youngster. I tried to get my son interested. No go. Working on my granddaughter.My great uncle spent his career as a brakeman on the Southern Railway. He retired to a broad bend in the French Broad tributary to the Tennessee River, with the Southern mainline running around the bend on the opposite shore of the river where he could watch the trains come and go. When his buddies at the railroad got wind of his retirement location they had the railroad set up a whistle board, requiring all trains to blow the horn directly opposite of his home. Kind of cool.
He also had a HUGE HO model railroad layout. I inherited his HO Rivarossi Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 articulated compound locomotive.
Bob
dkmw
Poster Extraordinaire
When I was a kid there was a line about 250’ from my grandparents house in north Florida. Tiny little community, just homes save a general store that also served as post office. The outgoing mail was hung on a hook by the tracks and was snatched off as the train sped through. I guess they threw out the incoming (can’t remember). Anyway, it was a big deal when an actual concrete block post office was constructed about 1965.
Watching the train whiz by and flattening pennies on the tracks were some of the more exciting things to do.
This thread reminds me that I’ve never ridden on a real train. Commuter trains in Atlanta and Washington DC are as close as I’ve come. Maybe an easy to achieve bucket list item?
Watching the train whiz by and flattening pennies on the tracks were some of the more exciting things to do.
This thread reminds me that I’ve never ridden on a real train. Commuter trains in Atlanta and Washington DC are as close as I’ve come. Maybe an easy to achieve bucket list item?
THX1123
Tele-Afflicted
Yep. That's Hobo Shoestring. He has a Youtube channel. He's been riding since 1989.
I think it would be interesting to ride the rails. I'm thinking it would be a cool summer vacation to try.
Bob Womack
Friend of Leo's
I've heard the local train three times today.
There used to be a rail barge operation in the area called the Bay Coast Railroad that linked Maryland and Virginia Beach, VA and interchanged with the Delmarva Central and the Norfolk Southern. The main business of the line was transporting new cars on railroad car carriers from the north across the Chesapeake Bay, though secondary business was generated by serving the agricultural interests down the Delmarva Peninsula. They had a small yard and repair shed in Virginia Beach and docks with float bridges 9on both sides of the Bay to allow loading the barges. Their two barges had 25 and 15 rail car capacities and were designed with four parallel sets of tracks.
My father and I drove up to watch operations and got a whole lot more than we bargained for. The engineer on duty saw us watching and asked if we'd like to ride the GP-15 low-nose locomotive while he loaded a barge. He fielded all our questions while he worked as well. The loading method was to place a flatbed car at the front of the locomotive to space out the load from the loco because the float bridge couldn't take the weight of the locomotive. The loaded railcars were removed from a southbound barge and formed into a string in the little yard and the string of empties was broken up and then loaded back on. Care had to be exercised to empty and load the barge in an alternating, side-by-side sequence, in order to prevent capsizing it. The two inner rails were loaded first and the two outer rails were loaded last. Care was taken to stretch the loads before setting the brakes on each car individually to prevent load shifting. Once loaded, the barge was towed across the bay every other day.
The road operated a small fleet of engines, two former military Alco MRS-1s, two GP-10s, a GP-15, and a GP-38. It ended up turning into a fascinating afternoon.
The line ceased operation in 2018. Several non-functional locomotives were scrapped in place. More, HERE.
Bob
There used to be a rail barge operation in the area called the Bay Coast Railroad that linked Maryland and Virginia Beach, VA and interchanged with the Delmarva Central and the Norfolk Southern. The main business of the line was transporting new cars on railroad car carriers from the north across the Chesapeake Bay, though secondary business was generated by serving the agricultural interests down the Delmarva Peninsula. They had a small yard and repair shed in Virginia Beach and docks with float bridges 9on both sides of the Bay to allow loading the barges. Their two barges had 25 and 15 rail car capacities and were designed with four parallel sets of tracks.
My father and I drove up to watch operations and got a whole lot more than we bargained for. The engineer on duty saw us watching and asked if we'd like to ride the GP-15 low-nose locomotive while he loaded a barge. He fielded all our questions while he worked as well. The loading method was to place a flatbed car at the front of the locomotive to space out the load from the loco because the float bridge couldn't take the weight of the locomotive. The loaded railcars were removed from a southbound barge and formed into a string in the little yard and the string of empties was broken up and then loaded back on. Care had to be exercised to empty and load the barge in an alternating, side-by-side sequence, in order to prevent capsizing it. The two inner rails were loaded first and the two outer rails were loaded last. Care was taken to stretch the loads before setting the brakes on each car individually to prevent load shifting. Once loaded, the barge was towed across the bay every other day.
The road operated a small fleet of engines, two former military Alco MRS-1s, two GP-10s, a GP-15, and a GP-38. It ended up turning into a fascinating afternoon.
The line ceased operation in 2018. Several non-functional locomotives were scrapped in place. More, HERE.
Bob
That would have been something to see for sureI've heard the local train three times today.
There used to be a rail barge operation in the area called the Bay Coast Railroad that linked Maryland and Virginia Beach, VA and interchanged with the Delmarva Central and the Norfolk Southern. The main business of the line was transporting new cars on railroad car carriers from the north across the Chesapeake Bay, though secondary business was generated by serving the agricultural interests down the Delmarva Peninsula. They had a small yard and repair shed in Virginia Beach and docks with float bridges 9on both sides of the Bay to allow loading the barges. Their two barges had 25 and 15 rail car capacities and were designed with four parallel sets of tracks.
My father and I drove up to watch operations and got a whole lot more than we bargained for. The engineer on duty saw us watching and asked if we'd like to ride the GP-15 low-nose locomotive while he loaded a barge. He fielded all our questions while he worked as well. The loading method was to place a flatbed car at the front of the locomotive to space out the load from the loco because the float bridge couldn't take the weight of the locomotive. The loaded railcars were removed from a southbound barge and formed into a string in the little yard and the string of empties was broken up and then loaded back on. Care had to be exercised to empty and load the barge in an alternating, side-by-side sequence, in order to prevent capsizing it. The two inner rails were loaded first and the two outer rails were loaded last. Care was taken to stretch the loads before setting the brakes on each car individually to prevent load shifting. Once loaded, the barge was towed across the bay every other day.
The road operated a small fleet of engines, two former military Alco MRS-1s, two GP-10s, a GP-15, and a GP-38. It ended up turning into a fascinating afternoon.
The line ceased operation in 2018. Several non-functional locomotives were scrapped in place. More, HERE.
Bob
