Random Railfan Prototype Photos For All

I just can't understand the weight limitation of 5 tons for road traffic when thousand-ton trains proceed over there...

Dom

 

Perhaps survival of the pavement is the concern. Hopefully not the structure.

 

CRR 359 takes a rest in Erwin, TN in May 1979. She's an NW-2, retired from the road in March of 1983.

 

Thanks, Dan! My grandfather I never knew (he died two years before I was born from tuberculosis as a result of being exposed to mustard gas in WWI) was probably in some of that type of "shed" many times as he was a section gang foreman on the Chicago Great Western in the nineteen twenties and thirties.

Doug

 

That must have been a thoroughly tough job, working in all weather, within time limits and with hand tools throughout. I knew a guy who retired as a Section Gang Foreman off the SAL. He was a lean and lanky fellow that weighted perhaps 150 LBS, every pound of it muscle.

 

Boy Scouts has a property in New Mexico called Philmont. It is a large ranch where expeditions can go on hiking trips. One of the staffed camps we visited on my trip was called Metcalf Station, where they are building a railroad line. A logging road called the Cimarron and Northwestern, long since pulled up, ran through one of the canyons in the early 1900’s. I think it was abandoned and the rails pulled up in the 1940’s. While on the topic of section gangs, I was able to spike a few ties of the recreation line they are working on. It was hard work, even for just the hour or so we were there working. It’s crazy that guys went out and did that for a career. Now we just have MOW vehicles do it all.

This is a photo of a photo that is framed in their depot. This locomotive was owned by a few different railroads, one of the being the Pennsylvania Railroad, before it came to New Mexico. It was built as either an H2 or an H3 class locomotive, from what I can tell. They had some other photos and maps, but the glare from the picture frame glass didn’t make my photos look very good.

 

N&W 611 makes her way into Chattanooga, TN on Saturday, April 1st 1989 with the first fantrip of the season. A look toward the rear gives an idea of the length of these trains. This big 4-8-4 needs no helper.

 

My mother used to tell me stories about him having to get up in the middle of the night in -20 degree weather to repair a broken rail and yes, while they had motorized section/gang cars by then, they had no mechanized repair methods. All still by hand. He was tall and slender, too. My mother told me was was about 6' 4", same as I used to be. He was paid well. She said they had the only house in Taopi, MN with indoor plumbing.

Boy, I would have had a ball had he still been alive, working, and let me go with him on jobs, though!

Doug

 

That is a cool shot Hardcoaler! I'm sure I was out and about chasing that day as well. Great memories.

 

BNSF DPU - NS Inman Yard - Atlanta GA 2004

 

When utility coal was still king, loads in and empties out. Former L&N main, Binfield, TN, August 1990.

 

Another 611, but this one by EMD, not Roanoke. Former GM&O GP-35 611 as seen at the ICG's Paducah, KY Shops in April 1987.

 

Since we are rolling old school this week - a pair of cabeese I shot in Hamburg, NY in 2013:

 

I think GM&O trade-in FA-1 trucks found their way under these? I'm not totally certain tho.

 

2 Tunnels surround 2 Flares, as SSW 6887 west cruises though Lancaster CA, with the LAPCX

 

I also found these three beat-to-heck BN SD-45s at the at Paducah, KY Shops in April 1987. The ICG sold the facility to VMV.

 

And this old soldier I shot yesterday:



Ex-SBD 8291, Ex-CRR 3016 (Rebuilt SD40 by VMV)