DavidB-AU

This one is doing the rounds of mailing lists. http://goo.gl/maps/dy6g3 http://binged.it/1nNOSEl It is used by Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota for training conductors. Cheers David

6029 has moved under its own power for the first time in 33 years. Cheers David

How close is the wheelbase of the Baldwin to the Hunslet WD 4-6-0T? That's probably my favourite 2' gauge loco. Cheers David

No operational preserved loco ever wore a regular service livery in their current form. In their current form they have Hasler speed recorders, often auto couplers instead of screw, steel fireboxes instead of copper, ashpan flushers, etc. All sorts of modifications without which they just wouldn't be allowed to run. I have no problem with it being painted blue. It would be even better if there was a set of blue and cream set of L cars behind it, even if it's not the original set 86. Cheers David

Yesterday afternoon I got some pics of the Gold Coast light rail at Broadbeach North. Intensive testing is being carried out ahead of the official opening next weekend. They were running the full Saturday timetable all day, without passengers. A couple of trams had people with laptops on board. Note the monorail track in the last one. Cheers David

The frame is what gives the loco its identity. You can replace every other component and it's still the same loco. When you build a new frame, you are essentially building a new loco. Hence there was a very serious suggestion at the time that it should in fact be called G43. Cheers David

That suggests to me the story is apocryphal. Coal wasn't an issue for a 38 on a Flyer. The biggest challenge with a full HUB set load was water management. On the down, if the loco so much as slipped on Epping Bank it would waste so much steam recovering it could not get to Newcastle without stopping for water. On the up there was a similar problem on Hawkmount and Cowan. Cheers David

3801 is easily capable of high speeds but wasn't the best performer, in fact it was one of the worst. 3830 was always regarded as the best performer in the class and reached 90mph on an ARHS trip to Goulburn a few weeks before the famous Newcastle speed run in 1964. On the Goulburn run the train was officially permitted to travel at whatever speed the driver considered to be "reasonably safe". The driver in that instance was Jack Sparks. 3830 was to have been used on the Newcastle speed run and there was going to be an attempt to officially reach 100mph, but NSWGR insisted on 3801 being used and IIRC reached an official top speed of 85mph. There were rumoured to be some unofficial timings beating the 1964 record of on occasions when a 38 worked the train all the way (remember there was normally a loco change at Gosford). The absolute Sydney - Newcastle record is currently held by a 2+5 XPT which did it in 1:56:49 in October 1988. John Glastonbury reckoned 3801 could do it in 1:54 following the 1990s track upgrades but was never allowed to try. Cheers David

If you can venture a bit further afield the Cleveland line as far as the junction to the Port of Brisbane is also a good place to see freights, especially coal trains. The footbridge at Morningside has good views in both directions. If you want to do a bit of track bashing, a day trip to the Gold Coast (train to Varsity Lakes then bus to Coolangatta) or Sunshine Coast (train to Nambour) are easy days out. The line to Nambour is particularly scenic. Certainly visit the Workshops Rail Museum at North Ipswich. There is a bus from Ipswich station which stops right out the front. There is a bit of main line steam action in the time you will be here. There are Steam Train Sunday runs on 7 September and 5 October. The short rides around the suburbs are not expensive. The Laidley Spring Festival Steam Train on 13 September. Late September is the Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba. The steam trains from Brisbane to Toowoomba operated by ARHS are an annual event, running on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September this year. Certainly a fantastic day out and the best way to experience the torturous climb up the range if you can fit it into your stay. If you can choose your day, the Sunday trip is usually the better one as on Saturday it usually has a longer train which requires diesel assistance up the range (although last year both days were diesel assisted as the steam loco was starting grass fires). Certainly plenty of opportunities to photograph any or all of them even if you don't travel. If you head west out towards Ipswich, the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway is worth a visit on a running day. The Brisbane Tramway Museum is at Ferny Grove, a short walk from the station. Also the Redlands Model Railway Show is on 14-15 September at Cleveland. Cheers David

Post-Cowan, during the NSWGR 140th in 1995, they were still driving 3801 properly and doing close to regular service timings. Cheers David

Age has very little to do with it. If properly maintained, steam locos much older than 3642 can run quite suffessfully without failing. Look at Puffing Billy where NAs between 100 and 113 years old run daily, working harder than they ever did in regular service. Not much of the 36 apart from the frame is 88 years old as it was rebuilt in 1956. My personal opinion is they baby the locos too much, underestimating what they can do and overestimating the likelihood of failing. This seemed to start around the time the preservation groups began providing their own crews. State Rail crews drove them properly and got the best performance out of them. For example in regular service, a 38 with a full HUB set (310t) could run Hawksbury River to Cowan in 12½ minutes on a Flyer. The 1990s track upgrades should allow a (very) slight improvement on that time. In the 1990s, 3801 with a State Rail crew was regularly doing the section in around 15 minutes with a similar load from a standing start at Hawksbury River. But when I last did a 3801 Limited Gosford Flyer, it was timed for 25 minutes from Hawksbury River to Cowan with a load of around 240t. This is not to denigrate the skill of the RTM and 3801L crews, I think they are just overly cautious. By way of comparison have seen recently what the 77 year old Bittern can do and even then it wasn't working that hard. Cheers David

Almost put this one in the 567 ear candy thread. Cheers David

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

I posted this on a couple of other sites a few weeks ago, but it might be appropriate to add here. A nice small yard that could be a layout design element for any North American layout. It's on the Union Pacific Oakland Subdivision next to the BART at San Leandro. A bit hard to see on the Google image, but there are tracks on both sides of the platform. You can see them better on Street View and the Bing aerial image. Google Street View: http://goo.gl/3bHgyT Bing aerial: http://binged.it/1mHVAc6 Cheers David

Bradken's Chinese lease units finally getting a workout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8kcsKXBUhg Cheers David

I agree, do The Canadan instead. You see much the same scenery for a fraction of the price. Plus the stock has some history behind it. Most of the VIA stainless steel stock dates from the 1950s and some from the late 40s. Cheers David

I finally got to ride the West Coast Express, although only from Waterfront to Coquitlam. At Waterfront. At Coquitlam. Part of the SkyTrain Evergreen Line extension at Coquitlam, due to open in 2016. Cheers David

I've done all the SkyTrain lines except the airport, because of the premium fare. I'll do that the day I leave. From Richmond I got the bus to Steveston. Unfortunately the museum with interurban car 1220 was closed. Cheers David

A Canada Line train at Richmond-Brighouse. Looking out the front of an Expo Line train from Stadium-Chinatown to Commercial-Broadway. Cheers David

You could try a bit of false perspective with a slightly under scale car. Cheers David