Long ago, a senior in high school, my friends convinced me to accompany them on a Steam Excursion trip from Chicago to Galesburg (IL) and back to be held on a Sunday. An REA (Railway Express Agency) baggage car was directly behind the tender of the second locomotive, this being a double header, the front loco, Chicago Burlington & Quincy No. 6315, A Texas-type 2-10-4, followed by their # 5632 Northern, 4-8-4. Fantastic experience, my friends and I were in an REA (Railway Express Agency) baggage car right behind the 5632 tender, the big double doors open all the way, 2X6s nailed across the opening! Halfway to Galesburg the 6315 broke down, it's R.H. side eccentric rod fractured in two. After considerable deliberation, the crew decided to attempt to have the 5632, behind the disabled 6315, push it, dragging the whole trainload of passengers behind, to the nearest siding, which, after a lot of wheel-slipping and straining, it did. The 6315 was uncoupled, the entire entourage then proceeding on to Galesburg, returning to Chicago, several hours late due to the breakdown, the 5632 performing incredibly above expected limits. I saw telephone posts "look like a picket fence"! It was rumored that the "Q" had removed "stops", giving the crew unprecedented control. The 5632 hit 100 mph easily bringing us back to Chicago, late, yes, but carrying a lifetime experience within us. I hope the print below the pic is seeable; it tells the story. That trip convinced me that somehow, someday, I would re-create the 5632 in miniature, a dream smoldering all my life until 2003, when I began work on it. In the pic, the open door of the baggage car is visible, I was in that car, when the pic was taken, Sept 6, 1959! One cannot today imagine the awesome power of these huge beasts! mo.
I can. Just watching the Spokane, Portland & Seattle #700 or the Southern Pacific #4449 'Daylight' 4-8-4 Northerns perform at speed (which, unfortunately, is not all that fast as the BNSF restricts top speed because they think either Northern's gonna beat the p!$$ out of their rails), let alone either of Union Pacific's thoroughbreds, FEF-3 Northern #844 or Challenger #3985 (Whyte arrangement 4-6-6-4, simple articulated) tells anyone the awesome power of the last of the "superpower" steam locos. Which, unfortunately, just could not compete mechanically with diesel-electric locomotives, and sometimes could not even match their capabilities.
Trains, from a nostalgia standpoint are great. Why most of them are still running today is another issue as more than half of the trains running today are not, and never will be, economically viable.
The newly restored N&W steam engine, 'Roanoke', just chugged through Charlottesville a few days back. I didn't find out about it until it was outta here. They say this type was built around 1950 and was the last of the steamers.
What a beaute! Trains are the awesomest. Shoot, trains, airplanes, cars, construction vehicles, ships... All the things we've developed to help us scurry along faster are awesome.
That they are. I know a few idiots who really don't care for them. Same people that don't really care for anything, or anyone. What about this machine? It helps us scurry faster.
Slap a few NASCAR stickers and some red stripes, and you have a keeper. It's not the scooter's fault it's pink.
Nice to see her back on the rails. I believe 611 was built in the NS shops rather than by a 3rd party builder. UP has also re-aquirred one of the 4-8-8-4 "Big Boys" to restore. That should be quite the show.
Yeah, that's 4014. I have a DVD of her removal from the Pomona fairgrounds and move to the UP steam shop in Cheyenne(?), WY.
4014 was ripe for restoration as it saw fewer years of service before retirement, and the folks in Pomona did a good job of looking after it. I have seen UP's other 2 steam locos running, 4014 will be a treat.
The "Big Boys" pretty much only ran over the Wasatch and back, farther east lacked adequate rail strength? If 140lb/yd was ever needed, those monsters did. As I understand, PRR had even heavier in places, 155lb/yd. Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy's 3 mainline tracks running through my hometown of Berwyn, IL, had rail at least 8" high; walking on it, slip, ya turned an ankle, sure. Spent many a day in my youth along those tracks. In high school, I parked facing them, did my reading homework! There was a train passing on average about every 20 minutes. mo.
Only other place I can think of with 155lb rail was SP&S' mainline between Spokane and Pasco. Totally surprised me when I read that, and Dad confirmed it for me. Unfortunately, since it had a steeper gradient, BNSF removed it several years ago. So you did your homework on the "Racetrack," eh? Lucky b@stard. Dad was born in Aurora, and it's a bucket list item.
Andy, I'm sorry I may not be as knowledgeable as you give me credit for......"Racetrack" ?? Aurora, Illinois? mo.
Here's my little girl when she was 6, on the C & O Allegheny #1601, built in 1941, at the Henry Ford Museum. This locomotive has fascinated me, ever since I was a kid (we lived 3 miles up the road from the museum, and visited it at least twice a year). They have 5-6 locomotives on display. If you've never been, you should go. Finding this photo sort of made me sad. It didn't seem that long ago, but she's 14 now, and not so small. Still cute, though. My Mom has a photo of me when I was a kid in that same spot.
Good idea. Can you explain to my Mom how to scan a photo? I don't have a month. As boring as all of yours? Or as boring as Mo's?
