JAMIE'S RANDOM AMERICAN RAILWAY PHOTOS.

[mdvle]

34 minutes ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

When isn't it a tough time for Amtrak...

 

Most of the last 30 or so years.

 

Yes, like most government supported railways they can struggle to get capital expenditure money to buy new equipment or do much needed infrastructure work.

 

But they have cross-party support in Congress that means the periodic desires of Presidents to cut Amtrak are more of a political posturing to satisfy some base than a real threat.

 

But generally speaking once they got all new-to-Amtrak equipment and settled on the F40PH / P42 the equipment problems became manageable vs the run down poorly maintained mix of stuff they inherited from the then financially struggling freight railroads in 1971.

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

 

When isn't it a tough time for Amtrak...

 

Lovely travelogue Jamie, for me the classic era - late 70s to late 90s.  

 

I was lucky to be able to do a serious amount of railfanning in the early 2000s - to 2015, but the mega-mergers had started the decline in my interests. and the current scene has almost no interest for me anymore.  We must be close to the end-game merger wise now.  

There's a quote in the latest issue of Trains somewhere that the Surface Transportation  Board has put an embargo on mergers between the big 6.  The only one that looks as if it will go through is CP and KCS.

 

Jamie

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by jamie92208

[mdvle]

10 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

There's a quote in the latest issue of Trains somewhere that the Surface Transportation  Board has put an embargo on mergers between the big 6.  The only one thatvlooks as if itvgo through is CP and KCS.

 

Which is dead - KCS chose CN and it was made official around May 21st.

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, mdvle said:

 

Which is dead - KCS chose CN and it was made official around May 21st.

Obviously after the last issue of Trains was published.  Thanks.

 

Jamie

Edited May 30, 2021 by jamie92208

[F-UnitMad]

10 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

A tad different to walking the the grotty streets of South Leeds at 3 in the morning.  I'd also been offered a job by the Sherriff.

And what was it, exactly, about South Leeds compared to Cheyenne that made you turn him down??     

Edited May 30, 2021 by F-UnitMad

[mdvle]

9 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

And what was it, exactly, about South Leeds compared to Cheyenne that made you turn him down??     

 

Lack of guns and the related mass shootings?

Edited May 30, 2021 by mdvle

[F-UnitMad]

2 minutes ago, mdvle said:

 

Lack of guns and the related mass shootings?

In Cheyenne, compared to South Leeds?

[pH]

4 hours ago, mdvle said:

 

Which is dead - KCS chose CN and it was made official around May 21st.

I missed any official announcement of that, so I thought the CN explanations treating it as a done deal and how it was going to be to everyone’s advantage were a bit presumptuous. I’ve read that CP are still hopeful that the CN/KCS merger will be rejected by regulators - those two railways are competitors in places in the southern US, whereas there is only a single point of contact between CP and KCS.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said:

And what was it, exactly, about South Leeds compared to Cheyenne that made you turn him down??     

All will be revealed in due course.

 

Jamie

[pH]

1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said:

And what was it, exactly, about South Leeds compared to Cheyenne that made you turn him down??     

 

29 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

All will be revealed in due course.

 

Jamie

I know a guy who was the ‘local cop’ in a small country town in Scotland and became a member of the Vancouver PD, working in the DTES (downtown eastside):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Eastside

I’ve never had a satisfactory explanation from him for that career move.

Edited May 30, 2021 by pH

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

5 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

There's a quote in the latest issue of Trains somewhere that the Surface Transportation  Board has put an embargo on mergers between the big 6.

 

I don't believe that embargo will last.  Capitalism drives business towards monopolies, so I expect the next merger to unite the eastern roads (CSX/NS) with the western roads (BNSF/UP) to initially end up with two coast to coast roads and one north to south road.  (CN/KCS) 

 

PSR will continue and one man crews will arrive... 

 

Mind you, I'm not factoring in developments in ocean shipping... a new Pacific Atlantic canal and the northern trade route becoming ice free among others.

[mdvle]

3 hours ago, pH said:

I missed any official announcement of that, so I thought the CN explanations treating it as a done deal and how it was going to be to everyone’s advantage were a bit presumptuous. I’ve read that CP are still hopeful that the CN/KCS merger will be rejected by regulators - those two railways are competitors in places in the southern US, whereas there is only a single point of contact between CP and KCS.

 

CP refused to better the CN offer, so on May 21st KCS signed an agreement to accept the CN offer - which included a $700m payment to CP for breaking up the KCS/CP agreement.

 

CP is playing a long game, still submitting stuff to the STB, on the hope the STB blocks the CN/KCS merger, which may happen, while also threatening that a KCS/CN merger would force CP to merge with another railroad.

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/7883079/canadian-pacific-kansas-city-southern-offer/

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from the Charente, where it's sunny again. The hens have been let out, breakfast has been taken, the domestic authorities are still asleep so it's time to see how the Tardis is doing.  Ah ha, it's just leaving Cheyenne, WY on the afternoon of the 8th June 1978 in the form of an Amtrak SDP40F. As we left Cheyenne we passed a long empty coal train that was waiting to head west, either for Hanna or Rock Springs. These had at one time been UP owned mines and their loco coal came from there, one of the reasons that steam's last stand was in Wyoming. I think it's three large GE's, U28C's or U30C's plus an SD40.

We then crossed over to track 2 and continued to head along the original route over Sherman Hill.  This crossing is just west of where the Colorado and Southern line crosses the UP main. On the right is a very good truckstop that does excellent breakfasts.  The tracks are numbered from the right. 1 and 2 are the original 1869 route, 3 is the 1950's route to Dale Junction that most westbounds now use due to easier grades. However track 3 has a 55 mph speed limit. As a class 1 passenger train we were headed on the original route that is signalled for 79 mph.  Track 4 heads to Speer and Denver.  Almost all eastbounds use tracks 1 and 2. Ahead of us is approx 30 miles of 1in 65. 

As we got up to speed an eastbound headed by a Centennial is approaching with three lesser units behind it. The road alongside is US30 also known as Otto Road.

After about 15 miles of steady climbing we passed Granite, aptly named as it's the source of most of UP's ballast. I'm not sure what the locos waiting there were. 

A few miles further on, still climbing at 1 in 65 the current route swings south away from the original 1869 route at Buford. This was one of many improvement made by E H Harriman, who bought the UP out of bankruptcy in the late 1890's.  This relocation lowered the summit from 8400' to just over 8000'. We are running at a steady 79 mph and another Centennial hauled freight is approaching.   

It was from about here that a 450 ton 4-8-4 of the same class as 844, ran away, unmanned light engine in the 50's and got all the way down to Cheyenne, allegedly doing something over 130 mph by the time it ran through the station.  It derailed east of the depot on a curve and destroyed a diesel in the process. It was repaired and back at work a few months later.  

 

I apologise for the poor quality of the above picture but there are a few like this. I'd changed films at this point and didn't allow for the tinted glass in the windscreens.

 

Jamie

 

 

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

Excellent... 

 

The two units at Granite appear to be C&NW SD45s... odd looking things.  

 

Also note the uncovered autorack in the last pic.  

[Allegheny1600]

2 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

Excellent... 

 

The two units at Granite appear to be C&NW SD45s... odd looking things.  

 

Also note the uncovered autorack in the last pic.  

Indeed, they are! C&NW 947(?) and a mate.

About the auto racks, I understand they were open when introduced, then the sides were enclosed and finally, the roofs were added - all because of vandalism. Why would people want to throw stones or worse, at passing new cars, I don’t know. I only gathered this information from the various models of auto racks over the years so please correct me if this is incorrect.

[jamie92208]

46 minutes ago, Allegheny1600 said:

Indeed, they are! C&NW 947(?) and a mate.

About the auto racks, I understand they were open when introduced, then the sides were enclosed and finally, the roofs were added - all because of vandalism. Why would people want to throw stones or worse, at passing new cars, I don’t know. I only gathered this information from the various models of auto racks over the years so please correct me if this is incorrect.

You are correct. There was an article in Trains about them a couple of years ago that gave their history.

 

Jamie

[PaulRhB]

Thanks Jamie I’m really enjoying this and even the slightly blurred photo captures interesting detail. Some great shots showing the staff and other details of the period  

[Mike_Walker]

20 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

You are correct. There was an article in Trains about them a couple of years ago that gave their history.

 

Jamie

I think they were targeted when conveying Japanese imports when passing through certain parts of the mid-west.

[mdvle]

4 hours ago, Allegheny1600 said:

About the auto racks, I understand they were open when introduced, then the sides were enclosed and finally, the roofs were added - all because of vandalism. Why would people want to throw stones or worse, at passing new cars, I don’t know. I only gathered this information from the various models of auto racks over the years so please correct me if this is incorrect.

 

It wasn't just at new cars - vandalism aimed at trains has been a long running problem in some areas for the railroads with the "ghetto guards" used to protect locomotive and caboose crews from projectiles in some areas.

 

Amtrak E60 with ghetto guards - http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3081169

 

Apparently ghetto guards started back when NH was still around, so pre-1968.

 

Sometime around 1990 the FRA finally required impact resistant glass to be used.

 

In some places local authorities have resorted to putting up chain link walls on the sides of overpasses to prevent people from dropping items onto stuff below - and it doesn't have to be trains, people will also attempt to drop stuff onto cars and trucks with occasional fatal results - https://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-threw-rock-off-highway-overpass-killing-man/story?id=66631347

 

As for autoracks though, rocks and other projectiles would have only been part of the issue - theft would likely have been an issue as well as eventually graffitti.

 

And not just a North American issue - see how even UK car carriers had to be changed to offer more protection in the description of this Revolution Trains product - http://www.revolutiontrains.com/ipa-car-carriers/

 

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

Ghetto Guards are a feature in Mexico, even with FRA approved impact resistant glass...

 

 

and the view from inside...

 

 

The stack trains in this chap's videos feature automatic rifle toting security personnel riding the wells...

 

In all my years of railfanning I got a visit from the Border Patrol once, down near Shawmut, and plagued by cops on the last trip to Tehachapi.  But other than that, never saw a soul... mind you, I avoided yards and built up areas as a rule.

[Allegheny1600]

Thanks Guys!

Sorry to veer off topic, Jamie - on my one and only trip across the pond, I stayed in and around Culver city, California for the most part (except a two day stopover in Chicago and a trip up the coast to S.F. and back) and one day my friends and I were looking at an exotic car showroom downtown and just around the back of the premises, were parked all the exotics! They were only protected by a simple mesh fence and even then (1995), I thought how easily someone could throw stones over and cause many thousands of dollars worth of damage.

 

Back on topic, sort of, I used to dream of creating a life in the USA, it never happened for me, it very nearly did for a good friend of mine until 9/11 when many foreign nationals were invited to leave.

That’s one reason why I love modelling US roads, that dream can live.

Cheers,

John

[Northroader]

I usually get my fix and go dodging the cops on the “RanOutOnARail” videos.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning, hens out, breakfast nearly finished and the supermarket awaits but first a another trip in the Tardis.  It's still on Sherman Hill on 8th June 1978. This is the crossing of the Front range of the Rockies but not the Continental divide. That comes later and about 1000' lower.  However it's not spectacular mountains but high plains with rocky outcrops. This is between Buford and Sherman.

Don't try and drive round there, the locals are well armed and like their privacy.

Anyway before long we rounded a final curve and arrived at Sherman as a freight went past us. There was still a triangle there, used for turning assisting locos.

Then the sign between the tracks. As said before I was a rather happy bunny.  As I once said in a talk, if the Good Lord had given me a tug at that point I wouldn't have objected. My other similar moment was watching a maroon Duchess in the evening sun whilst England thrashed the Aussies in a test match. 

Sherman is the first of two summits with a dip to cross Dale Creek between them.  This is part of the descent towards Dale. The 1869 line is a few miles to the north.

We then approached Dale Junction where the 1910 line loops round various rock formations.

And the 1953 built No 3 track trails in from the left. Yes this is  Dale Junction. You can just see the buildings of a ranch below and to our left. That will feature again in the coming months.

More tomorrow.  Now to enjoy the Glorious First of June, yet another day when the Royal Navy beat the French.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by jamie92208

[Mike_Walker]

Dale Junction from (above) the lineside in 1984 when you could still drive along the lineside - it's all gated and locked these days!

 

 

2941, U30C; 2429, C30-7; 3373 and 3341, SD40-2's, on a 105 car eastbound coal train on track 3 at Dale Junction WY. 3 August 1984.

 

Hermosa Tunnels are through the ridge in the background.

 

 

2823, U30C; 3329, SD40-2; 6924, DDA40X; and a SD40-2, westbound on track 2 at Dale Junction WY at 15:57. 3 August 1984.  Track 3 can be seen at the lower level on the right.  The first shot was taken from high up on that mound.  I was younger then - I don't think I could scale it now even if it were accessible!

 

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Mike_Walker

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

Dale Junction from (above) the lineside in 1984 when you could still drive along the lineside - it's all gated and locked these days!

 

2941, U30C; 2429, C30-7; 3373 and 3341, SD40-2's, on a 105 car eastbound coal train on track 3 at Dale Junction WY. 3 August 1984.

 

Hermosa Tunnels are through the ridge in the background.

 

2823, U30C; 3329, SD40-2; 6924, DDA40X; and a SD40-2, westbound on track 2 at Dale Junction WY at 15:57. 3 August 1984.  Track 3 can be seen at the lower level on the right.  The first shot was taken from high up on that mound.  I was younger then - I don't think I could scale it now even if it were accessible!

 

 

Great photod. Thanks.

 

Jamie