Where to start with Canadian / North American railways?

[dibber25]

1 minute ago, mdvle said:

 

It's a fascinating insight into the world of that era when one considers just how many rich and important people perished on the RMS Titanic and how we don't get that many all in one failure mode anymore.

 

Or consider how many of today's equivalents would go down with the ship.

Very true. I did my full trans-continental trip in 2012 (quite by chance co-inciding with the centenary of the sinking). I have long been fascinated by Titanic. It is difficult not to be affected, even at 100 years distance, by the small part of Fairlawn Cemetery in Halifax given over to the 112 bodies recovered by the Mackay-Bennett. So few from so many victims, and most of those identified only as a number. But back to trains. If you're ever in Montreal do go to the railway museum at Delson. It's not particularly easy to access unless you're familiar with the local public transport. I took a taxi and it cost me £50 each way and from memory took about half an hour. There's even an A4 and a Terrier in there as well as some of the best of CP and CN. (CJL)

[davknigh]

This website might prove to be a useful source of prototype pictures; http://www.railpictures.ca/

 

Cheers,

 

David

[justin1985]

The Z scale GP38 and hopper wagon arrived today - I can officially count myself impressed!

 

 

The AZL loco looks much better in person than in the "official" product photos, to me, at least. And the detailing on the Intermountain hopper is absolutely phenomenal!

 

I fear I might be hooked ...

 

J

[F-UnitMad]

37 minutes ago, justin1985 said:

I fear I might be hooked ...

No "might be" about it, matey!!

 

Slippery slope, sir. Slippery slope...

[dave1905]

Quote

Downton Abbey linked the family's lost fortune to the collapse of the Grand Trunk

 

I stand, or actually sit, corrected.  If you look at railroad history, in the 1800's and early 1900's the financial health and ownership of railroads was a huge maelstrom of changing control and bankruptcies.  For example, the railroad I model, the Reading Co. or Philadelphia and Reading, went from a medium railroad to the largest corporation in the US (world?) controlling 70% of the anthracite coal reserves in the US (P&R, CNJ, DLW, LV, LNE) and then 2 years later was in bankruptcy and came under the influence of the B&O.  The P&R had a large number of investors from the UK.

 

Back to the subject at hand.  The mix of railcars is highly dependent on the customers served.  Back in the 1970's I went to college in Philadelphia and commuted by rail.  I saw CP boxcars in Phillie every day because the Bulletin newspaper, right next to the station, received newsprint in CP boxcars.  If you lived in Beaumont, TX on the Gulf of Mexico you would most likely see CP (or at least CP origin) covered hoppers frequently because there was a move of potash from the CP through Eastport, ID to the UP to Beaumont for export.  But if you lived 100 miles to the east, you would never see them.  In Ft Worth, TX the UP has an E-W line cross a N-S line.  Same railroad, same predecessor railroad.  But there are two different traffic mixes.  The N-S line is heavy on bulk trains, grain, coal, potash, and mixed freight with a lot of tank cars, chemical loads north and food products south.  On the E-W line it was heavy in auto parts and intermodal, with a lot more consumer goods.  So the mix of cars is dependent of what route and what customers are served.

[pH]

6 hours ago, justin1985 said:

The Z scale GP38 and hopper wagon arrived today - I can officially count myself impressed!

 

 

The AZL loco looks much better in person than in the "official" product photos, to me, at least. And the detailing on the Intermountain hopper is absolutely phenomenal!

 

I fear I might be hooked ...

 

J

I, too, am impressed with the detail on those models.

 

If you’re going to get into this in a big way, you’re going to have to learn a whole new set of terms. For example, that’s not a hopper ‘wagon’ - it’s a ‘car’. And that’s not a GP38 - it’s a GP38-2 (there are major internal differences, and some subtle external ones):

http://www.mountainrailway.com/Roster Archive/CP 3100/CP 3124.htm
 

As F-UnitMad says, it’s a slippery slope, but enjoy the ride!

 

[jasond]

Here's a GP38-2, no ...THE GP38-2 #3124.  It's got a small inspection window under the right-hand end of the long grill.  That long grill is under the two rooftop fan assemblies mounted close to each other.  The CP versions have a winterisation hatch mounted over one of the fans:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3668828

 

Here's the nearest thing to a GP38 that CP had, a GP38AC an earlier model than the -2. No inspection window, roof fans are visibly further apart than the -2, with two smaller grills below them:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3306766

 

Following the D&H and Lehigh Valley forced all that on me and when everyone stops saying you've forgotten the ..., some smart*** asks if the D&H and Santa Fe GP39-2 were the same?  Great hobby!!

Jason

[BR60103]

Another forum.

https://www.bigbluetrains.com/showthread.php?tid=8523

This thread is mostly current pix from Hamilton, Ontario.

The rest of the forum is North American based.

Edited July 31, 2020 by BR60103

[Happy Hippo]

Not CP but CN, if you go to the Vrtual Railrail site  and search through, you will find a live cam at Waupaca, Wisconsin.

 

CN operated, but it has a local train that turns up to switch the steel foundry, usually after about 2000 UK time, so in their afternoon!

 

The local can just be a light engine to remove empty hoppers and replace with full from the storage siding, or can be a full mix of hoppers gondolas tanks. (or anything in between.  It gives you a very good comparison between the large trains on the main route and the local working.

 

The locals do tend to be hauled by GP38 (not sure of the sub mark)

 

[RichardT]

Definitely a slippery slope. In 1999 I bought a Lifelike Boston & Maine n scale switcher “just as a souvenir” of a New England holiday.  Let’s just say that now it’s got a whole fleet of “souvenirs” to go with it. Having friends in the USA willing to act as a post receiving depot doesn’t help.   But I can quit any time I like, absolutely, no problem...

Edited July 31, 2020 by RichardT
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