Here's one that isn't my favorite, but maybe the most unusual.
Ed
Took an 8 MM or super 8 movie in color of an NP 4-8-4 and 4-6-6-4 double headed somewhere in Montana in 1954. That was unusual for an east coast guy to see NP steam, but I took a 5 week trip to tour the US back then and this was probably the most scintillating movie I took during that trip.
It was normal to take plenty of photos of B&O and PRR steam power back then. I also have a color movie of a PRR B8 (?) being turned on the turntable at Orangeville (Baltimore) roundhouse. Orangeville had a lot of steam power in those days due to the Northern Central line which ran north from Baltimore to York and Harrisburg.
Ed Mullan posted:I liked it, never had a cab ride I did not like...in one way or another...
And if I was retired, I'd like something like this to see once in a while. By the way, Jimmy, what was
the locomotive, how many engines did you have, what were you hauling, and what was the speed of the
train in the video?
But this is my favorite Big Jim video... 611By the way, what was the grade here, and what do you suppose the horsepower output
of the big beauty was at that time hauling all that trailing tonnage, what a display!
Ed
Ed,
The engine was a GE Dash-9 and there was probably three of them hauling a mixed freight of about 8000 tons. When the video started the speed should have been 40 mph. That is a pretty good grade there, so, the train would have slowed to about 30 over the next mile to the next whistle board. Going down through the dip the train would come up to the 50 mph speed limit by the time it passes the next road crossing past where the guy is crouched down railfanning on the left. The next left hand curve is limited to 45 mph and after clearing that, it is 50 mph to the end.
The 611 video you mention was done on the 1.32 % grade at the east end of Shawsville, VA. N&W tested the J way back when on this grade and came up with the following:
Here is the video that I did in '15 taken about a mile west of the other.
{CORRECTION}
Interestingly, the NS test car was in town and they put it in the train on this westbound trip and tested her again. It can be plainly seen on the head end. I haven't seen anything official on the test, but, I have heard that the results were very close to the original tests.
And, since I love to bore HW to death here is another cab ride through the snow.
This one was taken about two and a half miles further down the road. The engine is an EMD SD70 and the video starts while running 40 mph and as we are starting up the grade, it ends running somewhere around 15 mph.
Since February 26 is National "Bore A Curmudgeon To Death Day", here is a northbound trip climbing the other side of the mountain.
Again, the engine is an SD70. Note that when the video starts you can hear the POS bell that NS had installed that you can't turn off from when it is automatically activated by the horn. Also note the tire tracks through the snow beside of the train. This area is the former roadbed where the N&W so ignorantly pulled up the part of the double track that goes the over the top of the mountain.
Attachments
Images (1)
Big Jim posted:Interestingly, the EMD test car was in town during some of the trips and they put in the train on one of the westbound trips and tested her again. I haven't seen anything official on the test, but, I have heard that the results were very close to the original tests.
You must mean the N&W/NS "test car", as I don't think EMD would be very interested in testing ANY steam locomotive.
I took this photo almost 10 years ago. I was testing a new lens. The photo is slightly doctored. There were people in the photo by the light posts with the wreaths. This was taken in New Hope, Pa. at the New Hope and Ivy Land RR station.
Tony
Attachments
Images (1)
The curves that BigJim posted are from the original test report developed by N&W for Class J 604. The note at the upper right of the graph explains that the curves are calculated using a method developed by Baldwin, and in common use through out the railroad industry in 1945. I'm calling attention to this because although BigJim is familiar (very) with the test report and its details, others may think that the curves are actual. They aren't, but there is one very important detail on the graph. The two dashed line partial curves ARE actual performance, both DB pull and DBHP, with 604 operating at 275 psi. AFAIK, it's the only actual graphed data available from the tests. Check the DBHP curve. It's still climbing when truncated!
I'd love to see some modern data from the 611 and see how it compares to the testing done by the N&W back in the day.
I didn't make this video, but it's what happens when no snow plow is commissioned in the area. Motorists are probably freaked out when they look down the tracks and see a tsunami of snow coming for them!
My video of 611 last year at Linden, Va on route to Front Royal. I'm not a rail photographer -- I really prefer working on trains to filming them...
Hot Water posted:Big Jim posted:Interestingly, the EMD test car was in town during some of the trips and they put in the train on one of the westbound trips and tested her again. I haven't seen anything official on the test, but, I have heard that the results were very close to the original tests.
You must mean the N&W/NS "test car", as I don't think EMD would be very interested in testing ANY steam locomotive.
Yes, you are absolutely correct! It was the NS car. It can be plainly seen to the head end of my video taken at the West End of Shawsville above. Correction made.
Well, if we're sticking to steam, I don't have all that much. This will have to do. As always, click on the photo to enlarge and see the detail captured.
Kent in SD
I understand it was taken at night, so where did that big burst of light come from? Lightning? An oncoming train? Link's genius was placing the light where it appeared to come from a natural source, even if exaggerated.
Kent in NJ
Not
Good evening, on the video that Brody Brown posted pushing this much snow with a locomotive is there a chance that the snow could build up under the front truck lifting the locomotive slightly and causing the locomotive to derail ???
By the way Brody thanks for posting this video !!!
MarkStrittmatter posted:Good evening, on the video that Brody Brown posted pushing this much snow with a locomotive is there a chance that the snow could build up under the front truck lifting the locomotive slightly and causing the locomotive to derail ???
By the way Brody thanks for posting this video !!!
The snow seems fluffy and I'm sure there's enough traffic to keep the flange clear so I doubt it.
The flange at a railway road crossing can be troublesome but section crews do a great job of keeping them clear.
What can be a problem is ..... snowmobiles on a branch line crossing the track at an unauthorised location in wet snow. It freezes over to ice... Now we have a problem...
Kent Loudon posted:
I understand it was taken at night, so where did that big burst of light come from? Lightning? An oncoming train? Link's genius was placing the light where it appeared to come from a natural source, even if exaggerated.
Kent in NJ
Link's genius was (1) creating equipment that didn't yet exist (2) getting people to cooperate. He had a different style than I do, probably a result of our differences: he shot steam, I mostly shoot diesels. He shot in summer, I mostly shoot in winter. He shot in the hilly East, I shoot on the Northern Plains. His shots were usually highly planned and staged, mine are almost always candid. We also live in very different times. My shot came out exactly as I wanted. Below is another shot I took that I also like. It's very simple--one light. Again, I'm not copying anyone; I'm blazing my own trail.
Kent in SD
Attachments
Images (1)
Not entirely Railroad related, but best photo I have taken in a while. It was near the tracks somewhere in Georgia.
Attachments
Images (1)
>>Below is another shot I took that I also like. It's very simple--one light. Again, I'm not copying anyone; I'm blazing my own trail. - Kent in SD.
Actually, I like it. That light looks like a sunrise in the desert. Just my opinion, night photos should look like they were taken at night. Think about it, at night color vision is virtually nill, so b&w looks more natural.
Here are a couple favorites of mine.
Detroit and Lima Northern #7, an 1897 Baldwin 4-4-0 fresh out of restoration and on it's third test run. This was taken in 2013, and prior to this it had not operated since the late 1920's when it was put on static display in The Henry Ford Museum.
I also liked that the above photo was fairly comparable to this one from the mid 1920's near the end of it's service life for the DT&I RR before being backdated and placed on display in the museum.
This was taken a couple years ago prior to a private event utilizing the train. Our 1932 4-4-0 Edison and our 1873 Mason 0-6-4T "Torch Lake" posed as a doubleheader for a couple quick pictures before Edison headed back into the roundhouse for repairs. Edison had been out during the day for troubleshooting, so we figured we'd take the photo opportunity before it headed in for the night.
Attachments
Good evening, thanks for the reply Gregg !!!!!!!!!!
Caught this puppy idling in the Cumberland Yard. The conductor was sitting on a bench nearby and I asked him if I could step on the track and take a shot. This works as a great wallpaper for a mobile device. Enjoy!
Attachments
Images (1)
