TomMarkert

So much talent and inturpretations represented here. I am impressed with all the art work displayed. From the wonderful free hand pencil sketches to the intricate oils and watercolor works, it great to see them all. I hope to get back into my art someday, and it will certainly include British railway subjects. Thank you everyone, for sharing your art. Tom

The fire truck in real life, is red and white. Thank you for your kinds comments on my art. I actually owned the truck for a number of years. It is a 1952 Maxim pumper built on a International L-180 Chassis. I purchased it, restored it and eventually sold it back to the original fire department which purchased it new, sixty three years ago. They were glad to get it back after it passed through the hands of five different owners before I purchased it. Thanks again for your praise. The drawing is an ink wash done with India ink watered down and applied in layers to achieve the wanted contrast..

Some more U.S. Drawings...sorry. An Erie mainline engine and a switcher owned by a pig iron producer..

So much of the industrial art here has so much atmosphere and feeling to it, especially the paintings. The work is wonderful and amazing. Railway art tends to be unappreciated in the hobby field. I am glad this thread exists. Here is my contribution...a pen and ink and a ink wash (unfortunately not railroad, but fire department related)... Tom

I like the subtle "face bomb" in the left pic and the lady contemplating the selection in the right pic.....

Just bought this Bowser Alco C-628. Long hood forward....The real thing must have been a beast to run... More of a 1960's era locomotive, but it has that N&W feel to it....

Not UK, but relative to the topic...

Certainly. The crossing accident which occurred on Metro North, in the U.S., a few months ago illustrates that. Five fatalities on board the train in addition to the driver of the vehicle the train struck...all with families. Not to mention the personal trauma the Enginemen experience....

Years ago, Athearn/ Bev-Bel did N&W GP-9s in the maroon paint scheme. They were the older, wider body design which you may find on EBay now and then.... TJM

People seem to see the railroad tracks as a relatively harmless place to venture upon. They certainly would have the sense to not do a similar stunt on a busy motorway or on somebody's private front lawn. What possesses people to think that being on a active rail line which is NOT public property is acceptable, is beyond me. The people in the photo are trespassing. The owner of the tracks could press charges and take them to court. Unfortunately, it isn't worth the time and effort in the eyes of the carrier. Only when an accident happens, does the railroad take action, usually in the form of offering a monetary "out of court" settlement to end the issue as soon as possible. It doesn't matter that the trespasser is at fault. It is a item which is actually budgeted into the operating costs of the railway. Cost of doing business. Trespassing on the railway is like smoking cigarettes. Keep doing it and eventually it may kill you. It is a perceived risk. Finally, thanks to those who have shown support and interest in my post. The incident happened almost two years ago and a day doesn't go by where I don't think about it. Sometimes it helps to share the experience and for the opportunity to do so, I thank you too.

His rates may have gone up, but he and many other truck driver/owners buy the absolute minimum of liability insurance. Since his business was a Limited Liability Corporation, his personal assets could not be taken through the courts. Only the insurance payoff could be taken through suits and claims...

There has been quite a bit of interesting discussion here about level crossings and issues related to them. The issue is enormous in terms of situations in which factors that make the crossing hazardous, in terms of motor vehicle operators, pedestrians and trains them selves. Crossing users ignore signals, become trapped in traffic on crossings, get stuck on tracks, drive onto tracks (thanks GPS), strike trains already occupying crossings...the possibilities seem endless. In the U.S., we attempt to engineer the "perfect crossing" but never achieve that level. The introduction of four point protection, cameras, extensive warning lighting, pavement markings and a multitude of safety precautions simply end up with one result: something or some one still gets through and an accident happens. We can educate drivers, post signs, lower train speeds ect, but we will still have these accidents. It is, and always has been, a part of "doing business" in the railroad industry. Even if we could eliminate every crossing with a bridge or closing, pedestrian accidents would still occur. There is simply no getting away from it, just minimizing it. In my 30 years as an Engineman, I have struck five motor vehicles, two pedestrians, and had too many close calls to keep track of. Three motor vehicle collisions were due to the drivers ignoring and intentionally circumventing the crossing protection. Two collisions were vehicles stopped on crossings, one stuck in traffic, and my last accident, a truck trying to make a too sharp a turn beyond the crossing, and not being able to clear the crossing in time as the driver continued a back and forth maneuver to make the turn, despite a school crossing guard warning the driver of my approaching train. That particular incident put me in the hospital for a couple days and kept me out of work for another thirty days. It injured 20 people on my train, none seriously, thank God, destroyed the cab car, and did hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to neighboring structures and railway signaling equipment. The railroad police issued numerous summons to the driver of the truck as he violated at least five major traffic laws. In the end, the truck driver's one million dollar insurance coverage was exhausted by claims from passengers, the railroad, the municipality where the accident happened, utility companies and cleanup costs. His liability ended there. The traffic summonses issued by the police were "pleaded down" in traffic court and the driver paid only $388 in fines with no negetive record attached to his operator's license. He is back in business, with no online record as to the extensive damage he caused with his negligence. Here are some photos of the scene, to give you an idea of the destruction...and keep up the discussion. It is very interesting.

N&W was always one of my favorites as their 1964 merger with the Nickel Plate brought them through my hometown. Another source of information you may consider would be an employee timetable from the era you are modeling. They are often available from various online dealers and of course, eBay. Not easy to come by, but they are out there... http://www.ebay.com/itm/N-W-Norfolk-Western-Railway-Co-Radford-Division-4-April-26-1953-/161726794278?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25a7ab0a26 A book of rules may help with some signaling and operational questions...even with a later date, it would still be useful as rules were pretty much the same right up through the 1980s... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Norfolk-and-Western-Railway-Company-Operating-Rules-Eff-1-1-67-/221778432928?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a30653a0 Good luck with your venture. Tom

Great railroad story! Our older locomotives had simple hand brakes which were basically a ratcheted lever pulling a chain attached to the brake lever on one wheel. Failure of this style brake was mostly failure to release, thus preventing the engine from being moved. Our new locomotives use a spring design to apply the hand brake shoe to the wheel and air to release the handbrake. However, there are cut outs on the side of the trucks which allow enginemen to cut out the "parking brake" by retracting the springs, rendering them ineffective. We always are on the watch to make sure the parking brakes have not been disabled....new technology requiring more diligence...

Certainly, hand brakes, a "sufficient" amount are applied as well as a full service train brake application and fully applied locomotive brakes. Chocks are not universally used though. We did have some accidents in the past due to crews not securing trains properly. Chocks may have prevented them but that is not definite as the weight of the train and grade conditions can cause a good size train to simply roll over the chocks. Basically, if a train crew fails to properly secure a train with hand brakes and air applications, is is doubtful they would bother placing chocks...

The railroad I work for requires the placement of chocks as a step in the proper securing of any unattended locomotive. However, the practice is rarely followed except in shop areas. In our case, it appears to be an attempt to add another level of protection in the event the locomotive shuts down and looses air pressure in the brake system or if the hand brake is defective or inadvertently released, which is a rarity. It is viewed as a way of "idiot proofing" the railroad by adding more and more requirements to ensure undesired movement. The problem with chocks is that they are not a fail safe application as they can fall out of place with slight movement of the locomotive or actually be removed by an unauthorized person. They are a smart application in shop areas but not in more "public" places. Another railroad I worked for in the past, utilized "wheel skates" to provide absolute protection against undesired movement. the only draw back being skates are much more expensive than chocks...