Midweek Photos 2/13/2013

How appropriate for Ash Wednesday . . . a group of fellows doing a little penance, out in the cold, re-railing an engine and repairing the turnout.

Tim, I'll take a guess as to why it derailed.  Note the loco was at a switch.  I think the loco was female, and it couldn't decide which way to go.  So, it ended up changing its mind when it was half way through the switch.  Anyway.....we had a small blizzard roll through a few days ago.  I waited until dark, and then headed out.  I was only on the fringe of it and it wasn't as nasty as I hoped.  I got a few shots all the same.  First is of a n/b grain train near Holland, MN.  Second is of tank cars at a corn syrup plant in Marshall.  I've always like to photo this location.  The security guard there has given up trying to chase me off.  Final shot is of a big grain elevator at Ihlen, MN.  There is a unit train in the siding that was waiting to be picked up.  We have some more snow coming tomorrow, and I have my hopes up!


Kent in SD

Happy chasing, Kent!
I really like that photo of the yard of tank cars

Does anyone know how much those cranes can lift?  I'm astounded at the power those things must produce to pull up an engine like that.

1) By the looks of the "big hook" and the number of cables involved, it probably is at least a 100 ton or 125 ton capacity. Although the main line railroads in the U.S. no longer use, or even HAVE, any of the "really big wreckers" (they all just hire Hulcher or R.J.Corman), back in the good old days, most railroads had 250 Ton capacity wreckers. If you look closely at the photos, you'll see that the crane is actually only picking up one end of the unit, by the coupler no less!

 

2) Surprisingly, the "power" required to lift something heavy is not all that great, i.e. only a few hundred HP at most. The real lifting effort is through mechanical advantage with all the different cable runs through pulleys, thus it really doesn't take THAT much horse power to turn the cable drum. 

Wow Tim, great series of photos.  I got nothing this week..busy scanning a bunch of pics from prior excursions and chases...

Knowing that derailments are a part of the business, and being in a few, (very few) slow speed derailments myself, I am surprised that the trucks came apart the way they did. For all the years that the big roads ran Alcos, makes me wonder how often the equalizer bar got damaged in a "split switch" or a spread rail derailment.    

 

Dan

Not my video, but I don't remember it being posted on the forum.

 

CNJ 0-6-0 #113's maiden voyage