Trains...

Man, I wish this was a more common way of travel here in the US.

Jim Thorpe?

Dream On

Tom... Out West we lived for an opportunity to shoot a Steam Locomotive as they came thru the Cajon Pass. Luckily both the Union Pacific and the Santa Fe (now BNSF) were represented at least once a year with runs thru the mountains and the desert. The Santa Fe Locomotive (#3751) is owned and operation by a private rail preservation group, but the Union Pacific still has two functioning steam Locomotives  in the company (# 844 and #3985) I believe #3985 is currently under 'restoration' again so it has not been active for a couple of years.  Here are two of the three, bringing back fond memories of those days of Rail-Glory!
 
First is the  Santa Fe 3751, at Frost CA (near Victorville) in 1999. Behind her are a couple of Amtrak Genesis Locomotives and a stream of "Very Full" passenger cars loaded with Rail Excursion Fans !
 

 
Then we have the Union Pacific's 3985 waiting to hook up it's consist of business cars. It is often used to haul the 'Executive Office Cars" of the UP leadership around the company rails.
 

 
Yeah Steam Power has a magic all it's own!!
 
However, It IS RARE! And sometimes the modern equipment lends itself to a quality shot as well! Here the UP 7292 leads  its load of Utah Coal Cars Westbound at the Mojave River Bridge in East Victorville in bright desert sunlight, while a thunder cloud darkens the Western sky promising showers to come shortly. The coal is on its way to Korea.
 

 

Here's one for you then, Al, from Sunday:



I got a shot of one of those huge 4-8-8-4s, but it isn't processed yet.

Outstanding !!

joerogo


Jim Thorpe?

Joe; Steamtown!

Al, I love all of those shots. Great photos, all.

Here is the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, 4012; I think it is the largest steam locomotive every built, but I'm not sure on that one. (Just checked; the largest SUCCESSFUL steam locomotive.) I'm experimenting with a look here, I'm trying to get a "back in time" effect, using a new B&W editing tool called Silver Efex.

Trains are a regular occurance here, freight of course, but they are huuuge and we are kinda fascinated by them.  Canadian Pacific decorates one with lights for Christmas and drives across Canada stopping at various towns.

Here's a video we took one day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiA40mzKnJ4

Mosca,
  The UP's Big Boys were used a lot during and right after WWII mainly on the run between Cheyenne WY and Salt Lake City/Ogden UT. The closest thing to them were the C & O's Allegeny's. Depending on who's publication you read as to the comparison Horsepower rating and weight. I have climbed all over a Big Boy (on permanent display at the L A County Fairgrounds) and it is impossible to describe the magnitude of that monster.
Thanks for posting this thread and bringing back some fine memories. Your silver toning looks fine!

Al, its size can only be conveyed by seeing it next to other steam engines. It simply dwarfs everything else at Steamtown.

Greetings, Mosca!

What a very nice topic, here some links for you, I hope, you will like the videos...

The Train (1964):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Train

The Train (Filming):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2pEvr32C7g

The Train (Trailer):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ5CXkaOzYk

You may download the whole movie at YouTube, a classic, great movie!

------

German Armored Train (Oct 1943):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSb0kHn_RU

Armoured train, Parolan panssarijunaa ihmettelemässä. (Finland):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZigzEvgeA

German railway gun "Siegfried", Ca. 380mm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAxySDG_jjs

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...t_of_railway_artillery


Enough for today, more to come...

Kind regards


Michael

mayor al



First is the  Santa Fe 3751, at Frost CA (near Victorville) in 1999. Behind her are a couple of Amtrak Genesis Locomotives and a stream of "Very Full" passenger cars loaded with Rail Excursion Fans !
 

 

For those who say the high desert's all brown and ugly... I give you this picture.

Capt Jack,
  The photo shows the rails and in the background is the Mojave Narrows County Park. Built at the point where the 'mainly underground' Mojave River is forced to the surface by underlying rock formations, it is indeed a beautiful green area "year-round"!!

Greetings!

If you love trains & thrill, (No Steam-Engines...), this is your movie...

Runaway Train:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_Train_(film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTdjoA8HeAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akUtLs9teQ


Michael

Al, I've made two trips to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union IL this summer, and while I go primarily to see and ride the streetcars, interurbans and rapid transit cars, I do enjoy checking out the steam engines and the older diesels. Here's a shot of a CB&Q steam locomotive getting a bath...   

...and here's a center-cab diesel that ran on the Minneapolis Northfield & Southern. According to the museum people, this is the only full-length center-cab engine still in existence. This engine is a Baldwin Locomotive Works product; the model is the DT-6-6-2000 and it was built in the late 1940s. 

Greetings, steam locomitive fans!

On the the german TV channel SWR, there is a weekly TV show, Eisenbahn-Romantik,
their thematic priority are old steam locomotives.

Eisenbahn-Romantik:
http://www.swr.de/eisenba...8578/uodus4/index.html

You will like the many videos on this website, sorry, only in german language.

Kind regards

Michael

OK, Here is a bit of current rail-lore to help folks get an understanding of the new trains being used, especially in the American West. Both the Union Pacific and the BNSF (Burlington/Santa Fe) are running this now. Below are three photos taken in the Cajon Pass (My Mayordom) yesterday (8/21) by a fellow railfan friend of mine.
 
This is what is being called 'informally' a Monster-Train. It uses 7 locomotives rated at 4300 hp each for a combine horsepower rating of 31,100. The train is 12,000 ft long (2-and-a-quarter MILES) and weighs in at 11,000 tons (22 MILLION Pounds). The crew of two operates from the lead locomotive, with the others connected via remote control operation from that lead crew.  It is a double stack container train. These are becoming more common as the traffic load from the L A and Long Beach Ports increase their volume of Container shipping.
 
Here is the lead locomotive set.
 

 
Here are the MID-TRAIN Helper Units
 

 
On the rear are two more locomotives, often called DPU, or Displaced Power Units. They operate by remote control from the two man crew at the front end. This is one very long train!!!
 

 
Bob-
  I will add a photo of a locomotive being transported from the California Rail Museum to the Illinois Museum. We have visited the Illinois Museum several times. This old Fairbanks-Morse should be in New Mexico right now on it's way East. Maybe you'll spot it when they unload it in Union.