Does this mean you were also responsible for the Ball Signals at White River Jct., VT, Waumbek Jct., NH, and Whitefield, NH, or had they all been replaced by the time you were assigned to the Conn River? Were they de-iced by locals or did your crew have to go out in the middle of a blizzard and clear them?
Mainland China is still very heavy into steam, especially in the middle and western areas of the country, away from the coast and big cities. I believe there are travel agencies in the US and UK that occasionally offer steam railfan tours to China. From what I have read, their engines are mostly 8- and 10-coupled non-articulated freighters, but I believe that they also have some 6-coupled passenger engines. I think their newest engine is only about 10 years old. The Essex Railroad in Connecticut bought a Chinese steam engine in the 1970's, which I think (hope?) is still in operation. It is doubtful that China will give up steam in the near future since they have huge coal reserves and a tremendous labor force that needs jobs. Also I read that dieselization would put a major strain on the economy because China has virtually no oil reserves and must import almost all of the oil they use. Maybe some of our friends in AUS/NZ can run up to China some weekend and check it out? [ 30 January 2002, 14:29: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
I can't say that I lived thru steam,but the more I research my wifes family history,the more I find out how much railroading was a part of thier lives.Sue's grandfather worked for the IC from 1900-about 1945,I think.If I can figure out how to post these pictures I'll post-em.I have a great shot of a 4-4-0 with her g-daddy sitting on the cowcatcher,and pictures of her mom at harrahan yard about 1909.wish me luck.Have pictures of some ice reefers.
Hey Valvegear2K1, You got the right idea pal! I'm 72 now, and I have been buying and trading for engines all my life. By the time I was your age I had two HO gauge! (I got my first one in 1933, a wind-up, 1935 an electric Ives, 1937 The Lionel Hudson, and 1939 the Mantua Eight Ball Mogul HO Scale.) Back then, (1944) there was World War II going on and every scrap of lead we could find, we melted and poured into one pound coffee cans to turn in to the Government to make bullets for the War effort see? They paid us a dollar for every can that was full of melted lead. They were really heavy too! A couple of us kids excavated an old dump site and made enough money to buy our HO engine, and car kits with, see? Engines (HO) were expensive, $24.95, and that had to be cash! We could buy box car kits for fifty cents to a dollar 45 but we had to save up to get an engine! (I also got a twenty-five cent weekly allowance that helped!) I still have that HO Mogul, and it still runs like new, but it is all metal, no plastic at all. I doubt if any of the plastic engines made today will still be running like new 58 years from now! HA! My dad was good about taking me out to the roundhouse and spend the better part of a day together! We got to talk to the men and knew most of the Hostlers enough to get to ride in the cabs when they would back a finished engine out of the roundhouse onto the turn table, turn it around, then run it down to the coal tipple to fill the tender up. By the time I was 14, I could run a steam engine while the Hostler was there. Later I worked in a roundhouse, and got some good experience there too. With a War going on you could do a lot that would be impossible today. Hang in there and read all you can, and try to collect all the VHS tapes you can get hold of, and the Age of Steam will still be there for you too! Steamers have a romance about them that diesels will never have. The diesels are the show pieces, the race horses of today's railroads; all pretty colors and fast! They don't get into your blood though, there are too many of them. I remember reading that it took three to four diesels to pull the same tonnage of one of the really big steam engines. The diesel replaced the steamers because of profit to the railroad. One diesel could eventually start almost any train rolling from a dead stop, but didn't have the tractive effort to pull the train very fast, or up hill. Neither could a small steam engine. Before they had diesels, they built huge steam engines to pull the 10 and 15,000 ton trains, which they did quite well. The thing is, it costs too much to run a really big steamer on a light train for a short distance, see? That is where the diesel excells. They could put one diesel on to pull the light train, then hook up five diesels to pull a heavy train back. Diesels are not just one engine, like a steamer. Diesels are thought of as "units", however many there are "on line" (MU'd together as one "engine power unit"). Steamers could not be MU'd, it took an engineer and fireman to operate each engine even when double headed. That's the difference, see? Steam engines had all that side rod and valve motion going, made a lot of smoke, noise and steam then when they blew a shreeking blast on one of those "Wild Cat" Mountain Whistles, it could make you wet your pants the first time you heard one! (You didn't hear anything else for a minute or two afterward either!) Diesels moan, groan, snort, rumble, and go Boop-Boop-Dee-Doop! Yeah, its a LOT different! YOU were assigned a steam engine, and it was YOURS to take care of and keep up in good shape. That was part of your responsibility! Diesels are assigned to the TRAIN, and you have to run any one you are assigned to, so it is different. You may run a diesel today, then never see that one again, one like it, maybe, but not the SAME one, see? Diesels are impersonal, like a rented car. You learned to respect and love your steam engine, that's why they are referred to as "her", but more fun than a girlfriend....well...almost! (A lot more fun than some I had at your age!)
[/QUOTE]Does this mean you were also responsible for the Ball Signals at White River Jct., VT, Waumbek Jct., NH, and Whitefield, NH, or had they all been replaced by the time you were assigned to the Conn River? Were they de-iced by locals or did your crew have to go out in the middle of a blizzard and clear them? [/QB][/QUOTE] It may seem strange but the Ball Signals were maintained by the Bridge & Building people and were not part of the signal system. The last ball signal on the B&M was at Whitefield, NH where the MEC crossed the B&M. I think it was taken down but it would be sometime after 71. I will have to check with a friend. Gil
One of my relatives on my father's side was Pullman's Barber (the big one in passenger cars)...I forget exactly which one, but if I remember corectly, it was my grandfather, or one generation before that. Wish I knew more, but most of my family history has been accidently burned , lost, or locked away. Seems that artists' blood runs thick in my lines, many artists and designers in the ol history. Perhaps a reason why I love building things like model trains.
