For Railfans Only

[Mark F. Jenkins]

19th Century earworm. Thanks, Sam...

 

[rebelatsea]

I had two Great Uncles who worked for the Great Western Railway in the 1930s, one was a Royal Train Guard, the other worked on the track as section foreman at Southall. My Father was a driver on the london Underground, and I was attached to English Scottish and Welsh Railways working with the mail trains for 16 years. I've also been an operational railroad volunteer for over 40 years, firstly on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, and Ruislip Lido Railway ,and now on Faversham Miniature Railway.
I was a member of the project 5AT team designing a modern high speed steam engine, and am a member of the P2 trust.
My son has followed me and is a passed firelighter on the Romney, passed steam and diesel driver at Evesham Vale Light Railway, and about to become a passed cleaner at the Bluebell Railway.

You could say Steam is my blood !

 

[Patrick H]

Nice pictures and videos from everyone. I'm enjoying this. I don't get to see steam engines often, but the UP brings either 844 or the Challenger through Boonville every few years. They are both enormous engines. 844 came through a couple of years ago carrying a train full of reenactors to Shiloh. That was pretty cool. It stopped for water and a grease job so we got to see the engine up close for about an hour. Then she pulled on out and of course the passengers all waved to us as their cars went by. But then two flat cars came up the rear, loaded with cannon for the event. That brought applause from the crowd.

 

[AndyHall]

844 came through a couple of years ago carrying a train full of reenactors to Shiloh. That was pretty cool. It stopped for water and a grease job so we got to see the engine up close for about an hour. Then she pulled on out and of course the passengers all waved to us as their cars went by. But then two flat cars came up the rear, loaded with cannon for the event. That brought applause from the crowd.

That's fantastic.

 

[28thNewYork]

Thank you on behalf of myself and the rest of the ferroequiologists on the forum.

 

[Bob Owen]

On the "Family" channel on Friday night at 11pm central is the show "Trains and Locomotives". It is a great hour of entertainment for train lovers. Many episodes are concerning steam locomotives. The "Family" channel is an associate of RFDTV. I don't miss it if I can help it. One of my best vacations was taking the Empire Builder out of Chicago to Seattle and back and getting to Chicago from Memphis on the City of New Orleans. After getting to Seattle for a visit with relatives, I couldn't wait to board the train back. The ride was the best part of the vacation!

 

[John Winn]

Thanks Andy et al. for the videos and photos. Really cool to see and hear what one of those old chuggers were like.

 

[Elennsar]

Thanks Andy et al. for the videos and photos. Really cool to see and hear what one of those old chuggers were like.

I figure this means we need to post one of the weird ones:

Shays: Because nothing says "BEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF ANYTHING EVER" quite the way a steam locomotive does. And no steam locomotive says it better than the quirky kinds.

 

[AndyHall]

Ah, the Shays. So much gearing they go ninety miles an hour standing still.

 

[kevikens]

Wonderful video and a reminder to us that because only black and white photography was available in CW times that these early locomotives were brightly colored, at least until coal replaced wood. Coal smoke grimied up everything around it. Speaking of the engines' fuel. Cordwood was commonly used in the South and the West but by the time of the CW Northeastern railroads were switching to coal where they could get it. This explains why some CW photographs show the locomotives with smock stacks narrower than the balloon stacks on the wood burners. No embers from the coal burners, no ember trapping wide stacks needed.

I loved the sound of that whistle and it brought back fond memories of my boyhood when we still had steam locomotives around. I can still recall, and hear, and smell, those old steamers. We lived close to the Phila. and Reading and at night when I heard that whistle it was more comforting than the sound of my mother's voice. I always imagined myself in the caboose and wondered where that car would be by sunrise and I wished I could have been on it. Oh, one other thing I remembered. Carrying a handkerchief for the cinders that would inevitably come through the open coach windows and get all over your clothes and frequently in your eyes. Thanks for the memories.

 

[Elennsar]

Although it must be noted that coal dependent British locomotives stayed colorful. I'm fairly sure that's true of other nonAmerican locomotives, but not enough to swear by it.

 

[godofredus]

Am a railfan also. There is a theory which I read somewhere, don't remember where, that what makes steam locomotives so addictive is that they seem alive.
What that is, is when a steam locomotive gets up a head of steam it has to stay there. No such thing as an off/on switch.
So it sits there, dripping water, making noises, maybe even moving a few feet forward or back. A living, breathing thing.
Love all the pictures. I've ridden Amtrak Chicago to Springfield Mass, Chicago to New Orleans, Chicago to Springfield IL.
I believe Amtrak gets a raw deal. We can do a lot better, but what the heck.

 

[AndyHall]

"Cordwood was commonly used in the South and the West but by the time of the CW Northeastern railroads were switching to coal where they could get it."

It was much the same on the rivers. On the Ohio, coming out of Pennsylvania, [West] Virginia and Kentucky, coal was plentiful and the preferred fuel. The farther south you got, the more prevalent wood become. Some boats used both when available, and steamboat engineers sometimes developed their own mixtures of coal and cordwood to achieve best results.

 

[godofredus]

"Cordwood was commonly used in the South and the West but by the time of the CW Northeastern railroads were switching to coal where they could get it."

It was much the same on the rivers. On the Ohio, coming out of Pennsylvania, [West] Virginia and Kentucky, coal was plentiful and the preferred fuel. The farther south you got, the more prevalent wood become. Some boats used both when available, and steamboat engineers sometimes developed their own mixtures of coal and cordwood to achieve best results.

Someplace in River of Dark Dreams, the author mulls on the ecological disaster using cordwood for river steamboats caused on both sides of the Mississippi.....

 

[John Winn]

I figure this means we need to post one of the weird ones:

Shays: Because nothing says "BEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF ANYTHING EVER" quite the way a steam locomotive does. And no steam locomotive says it better than the quirky kinds.

Now that is an odd beast ... but way cool too. Thanks !

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Shays: Because nothing says "BEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF ANYTHING EVER" quite the way a steam locomotive does. And no steam locomotive says it better than the quirky kinds.

What in blue blazes?!?

 

[pamc153PA]

This is so cool! My son the 11-year old is a steam train fanatic, and has been since he was about 3. He never grew out of the "Thomas and Friends" phase, he just moved up to HO trains, and the real things. He knows more about Berkshire engines, Shays, and Baldwin engines than you'd imagine possible! We spend most of the summer going to Steamtown, Strasburg railroad, and the RR museum of Pennsylvania, as well as local festivals and excursions that have steam trains. Our town and the next town over are in the process of starting up a historic, CW railroad on the 9-mile rail line between the towns, and so far have a caboose, two open passenger cars, and a Diesel engine. As you can imagine, my son is beyond thrilled. He is going to love all the videos posted here!

 

[AndyHall]

Someplace in River of Dark Dreams, the author mulls on the ecological disaster using cordwood for river steamboats caused on both sides of the Mississippi.....

It was us or them, @godofredus .

 

[pamc153PA]

This is so cool! My son the 11-year old is a steam train fanatic, and has been since he was about 3. He never grew out of the "Thomas and Friends" phase, he just moved up to HO trains, and the real things. He knows more about Berkshire engines, Shays, and Baldwin engines than you'd imagine possible! We spend most of the summer going to Steamtown, Strasburg railroad, and the RR museum of Pennsylvania, as well as local festivals and excursions that have steam trains. Our town and the next town over are in the process of starting up a historic, CW railroad on the 9-mile rail line between the towns, and so far have a caboose, two open passenger cars, and a Diesel engine. As you can imagine, my son is beyond thrilled. He is going to love all the videos posted here!

Oh, by the way, I know diesels were not around in the CW, but I suspect that was the engine the foundation could afford, not the CW era steamie they'd ultimately like.

 

[Elennsar]

Now that is an odd beast ... but way cool too. Thanks !

No problem. It had to be brought up.

What in blue blazes?!?

It is conceivable that I might have crossed from "railfan" into "steam locomotive fanatic" somewhere in that post.

. . . okay, that's not true. I crossed from "railfan" into "steam locomotive fanatic" years ago.