Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 17 hours ago, Allegheny1600 said: I used to dream of creating a life in the USA, it never happened for me, Same, 2016 did it for me. 14 hours ago, Northroader said: I usually get my fix and go dodging the cops on the “RanOutOnARail” videos. The still is from his Mexico 2018 series, the final episode of which has the bleakest ending of any train video I've ever watched!... His latest vid is of the Ferrocarril Chihuahua Pacifico, once again featuring The Incredible Whining Brit. I do wish he wouldn't spend quite so much time on the top of cars going through tunnels though... even allowing for the inherent risks, that's taking dumb to new heights. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 2, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) Good moaning again, 43 years after I started this journey, the same day a year later I got married. Anyway the Tardis is still aboard the SDP40F near Dale Junction, WY, on the 8th June 1978. We had crossed the high embankment across Dale Creek and were climbing to the subsidiary summit at Hermosa. Here we are approaching the Hermosa tunnels that go under the last ridge. There are many iconic photos of Big Boys and other UP Superpower coming out of these tunnels. Here we have emerged into the daylight and will soon round the curve to Hermosa junction where the east and west bound tracks separate to get better gradients. In no time at all, we had descended the valley to Laramie. The station is just ahead on the right. A long coal train is waiting to depart behind SD40 3001 and other power. There was a crew change here and this is Fireman Maxfield, who had spent the journey looking after the steam heating boiler. I have since found out that he was the fireman on one of the last Big Boy trips over Sherman in 1959. A chance conversation in 2005 told me a bit more about him. At the end of steam all the firemen were offered the chance to retrain as engineers but one or two didn't want to. Maxfield was one of them so got jobs like this on steam heated trains. According to the conductor I talked to in 2005, he was still around then but long retired. He and the engineer had been great hosts during the trip. After this amazing experience it was back to normal and my pre reserved seat in a coach. After we left Laramie to head round through Hanna and Medicine Bow to Rawlins the conductor came and had a chat. He pointed out features along the route. One was the almost continuous mounds of black ash and unburned coal from the steam locos, that lined the tracks. The other was places like this where the tracks had been relocated to eliminate curves, during the Harriman era and later. This stretch doesn't host passenger trains any more, the Zephyr now takes the more spectacular route through Colorado on the former Denver and Rio Grande route. The route that UP took was much better graded and this stretch was high plains with glimpses of more distant mountain ranges. We were still between 7 and 8000 feet up though. More to come. Jamie Edited April 9, 2022 by jamie92208 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anadin Dogwalker Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Absolutely loving this thread! Any recollections on the ride quality in the SDP40s? By this time, they'd derailed a few times, mostly on BN IIRC and the F40s were coming in. Jim Boyd delivered the earlier FP45s to the Milwaukee and their ride was apparently much worse than an SD45. Neill Horton Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) 37 minutes ago, Anadin Dogwalker said: Absolutely loving this thread! Any recollections on the ride quality in the SDP40s? By this time, they'd derailed a few times, mostly on BN IIRC and the F40s were coming in. Jim Boyd delivered the earlier FP45s to the Milwaukee and their ride was apparently much worse than an SD45. Neill Horton Poor old SDP40's getting the blame again. If I may... 'Later FRA investigations concluded that the actual culprit was the light weight of the baggage cars, which caused harmonic vibrations when placed directly behind the much heavier SDP40F.[22] A contributing factor was the sometimes poor quality of track the locomotive operated over.[23]' The boiler set up in the SDP and FP possibly didn't help. Allegedly, a similar problem befell the GP60M as the greater weight of the wide-nose Safety Cab caused worse riding than the previous spartan cab version GP60. I'm not sure how reliable these anecdotes are, although the y seem to get firmly embedded in the railfan canon. Also loving the thread - my favourite era by far. I'll forgive the current UP content and hope we see some proper railroads later! Edited June 2, 2021 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters added reference 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 I went on a Travel Bureau trip back in September 1999 which attempted to reach the area of Sherman Summit, mainly because one of the participants claimed he "knew the way". The tour vans (hardly off-road compatible) duly headed down various dirt tracks, with selected obstacles (mainly wire fencing draped across said dirt tracks) but I seem to recall we were defeated by a proper, locked, gate eventually. Somehow we did actually reach the lines via another dirt track and were able to see one train pass.... The text on the sign on the signalling bungallow appears to read CP - W543, so where exactly that put us in relation to the summit I don't know. Think I've only got one UP Employee timetable, and that doesn't cover anywhere around there. I seem to recall that rail traffic was rather slack as well that afternoon, so much so we all ended up in a shopping mall in Laramie instead! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 7 minutes ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: Also loving the thread - my favourite era by far. I'll forgive the current UP content and hope we see some proper railroads later! Brilliant, I love it. I believe Dr G-F is, like me, a Southern Pacific fan and I think it’s known that I love the C&NW too. Therefore please forgive us if we poke fun at “Uncle Pete” for taking over our beloved roads (not to mention making an almighty mess of it into the bargain!). Don’t get me wrong though, I do love Cenntenials, Turbines, Articulateds and especially UP9000’s as they were really special, phwoar! Cheers, John 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike_Walker Posted June 2, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2021 43 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said: I went on a Travel Bureau trip back in September 1999 which attempted to reach the area of Sherman Summit, mainly because one of the participants claimed he "knew the way". The tour vans (hardly off-road compatible) duly headed down various dirt tracks, with selected obstacles (mainly wire fencing draped across said dirt tracks) but I seem to recall we were defeated by a proper, locked, gate eventually. Somehow we did actually reach the lines via another dirt track and were able to see one train pass.... The text on the sign on the signalling bungallow appears to read CP - W543, so where exactly that put us in relation to the summit I don't know. Think I've only got one UP Employee timetable, and that doesn't cover anywhere around there. I seem to recall that rail traffic was rather slack as well that afternoon, so much so we all ended up in a shopping mall in Laramie instead! Control Point W543 is the crossovers at Dale about a mile east of "Dale Junction" or around 3 miles west of Sherman. TB tours, ha, that brings memories! Never did their homework. When we did some SPV tours to events they were attending too, i.e. the Sacramento Railfairs, we had some fun as they tried to follow us to the more obscure locations and we tried to give them the slip... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 55 minutes ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: Poor old SDP40's getting the blame again. If I may... Well, they were bought to pull passenger trains and couldn't without derailing. The potential issue with baggage cars is a distraction - the only engine that had a problem with the baggage cars was the SDP40, no other previous or following engine had issues. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 2, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, Anadin Dogwalker said: Absolutely loving this thread! Any recollections on the ride quality in the SDP40s? By this time, they'd derailed a few times, mostly on BN IIRC and the F40s were coming in. Jim Boyd delivered the earlier FP45s to the Milwaukee and their ride was apparently much worse than an SD45. Neill Horton My memory, 43 years older is that they rode very smoothly. However the UP track is superb. 16 hours ago, Mike_Walker said: Control Point W543 is the crossovers at Dale about a mile east of "Dale Junction" or around 3 miles west of Sherman. TB tours, ha, that brings memories! Never did their homework. When we did some SPV tours to events they were attending too, i.e. the Sacramento Railfairs, we had some fun as they tried to follow us to the more obscure locations and we tried to give them the slip... Yes that is the grade crossing on the road that comes down from the Ames monument. The locals are very jealous of their privacy and virtualy every road has no trespassing, private road signs on it. When I was there in 2012 a certain obnoxious well known British photographer ignored my warning about not going down the private road to Dale ranch. I warned him that he would be met by a rancher with a rifle. He was seen coming back in a cloud of dust 20 minutes later. The full story will be told when I get to my 2005 and 2012 trips. As to the SP AND CNW, it all comes to them as wait. Jamie Edited June 3, 2021 by jamie92208 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Mike_Walker said: Control Point W543 is the crossovers at Dale about a mile east of "Dale Junction" or around 3 miles west of Sherman. TB tours, ha, that brings memories! Never did their homework. When we did some SPV tours to events they were attending too, i.e. the Sacramento Railfairs, we had some fun as they tried to follow us to the more obscure locations and we tried to give them the slip... Bit of thread drift.., but the first one of theirs I did was the tour "run" by Todays Railways in 1998 to PA/MD/NY/NJ, followed by this CO/UT one in 1999 and one around Chicago in 2000. The one that finished me was one around Lake Erie (US & Canadian shores) in 2001 where a replacement tour leader was "nobbled/had his arm twisted" about 2 days before it was due to leave the UK so had done no preparation beforehand. A couple of us then decided we could do better ourselves, so did our own fly/drives thereafter!! Edited June 2, 2021 by Johann Marsbar missed date out! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 13 minutes ago, jamie92208 said: a certain obnoxious well known British photographer Looking forward to that story! In a similar vein, it reminded me I once found myself in China in the company of the redoubtable Basil Roberts, an absolute diamond gentleman but also rather firm of opinion. We were photting steam, and he was a 'rods down' man and loathed the steam shows that some crews put on for the camera, all drain cocks and shrouded in steam etc. He was of the opinion that it was all the fault of a certain well known British photographer (not obnoxious, indeed he was another gent I was pleased to have known) As his latest shot was ruined by clouds of unnecessary steam and a crew gurning for the cameras he was heard to remark 'That c*&t Garratt's been here again!' As with Allegheny, I too am a fan of the CNW and was amazed and pleased on my first trip to Tehachapi in 2003 to phot a CNW Lightning Bolt Dash 9. I'll forgive the 1970s UP as being a very different beast to the current UP... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 3, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) Good morning. You will probably e glad to hear that the Tardis is still in Wyoming on the 8th June 1978, a day that quite a lot happened. It's fairly late afternoon and the next stop was Rawlins where these two cabooses, or is it Cabeese, were parked. A UP and a Frisco. There ware also reminders of steam days. Rawlins is still a major train servicing point as most trains stop for fuel. Anyway we then crossed the Continental divide then the red desert through Wamsutter and finally the Continental divide again. It's a rather barren place. Then through Rock Springs and round this bend And definitely wild west country. Then into Green River. You could imagine John Wayne riding down to meet us. After that it got too dark for photography. I therefore repaired to the bar car where a group of fellow travellers ended up having a great evening. Someone had a guitar and someone else played the piano. I sang Ilkley Moor for them, but had to translate each verse. Our last stop in WY was Evanston and about 10.30. After that the bar tender told us that he was going to have to stop serving as we were going into Utah. He offered to fill a bucket with beer cans and ice. A kitty was soon arranged and we emptied the bucket as we went down Echo and Weber canyons, which unfortunately we couldn't see. Then a stop at Ogden. The group f us from the bar decided to stay up and went up to the dome car to watch the stars as we crossed the Great Salt Lake. Great experiences. Then back to my allocated seat to find a note from a young lady from Evanston who had left the party early to get off. We finally arrived at the 9th June and I awoke to find us crossing the Nevada deserts. This was the view with a triple trailer rig heading east on I80. Though I had an idea of the geography, I'd never realised that there were two great basins with no outlet to the sea. We were now heading down towards the Humboldt sink. More to come. Jamie Edited April 9, 2022 by jamie92208 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaned Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) Wonderful photos and memories, thanks for sharing them with us, such an interesting period. I can add a little info to the mix. The GM&O F unit seen in Chicago was likely to be working their commuter train to Joliet, known colloquially as "The Plug" https://metrarail.com/about-metra/our-history/heritage-corridor-history There was an article in the Continetal Modeller a few years ago regarding a model of the formation. Some of the GM&O F units have lasted until fairly recently , having been rebuilt as F10s with HEP for MBTA in Boston then later moved to Metro-North for New York area commuter service, indeed MNCR 413 was originally GMO 880A, built in 1948. There was also a Conrail operated train to Valpariso IN which may well be what the Conrail GP7s were up to in the train shed at Chicago Union. The link here lists the units known to have worked on that train and indeed both Geeps tally: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1737467 A photo of the said train with a mixed pairing - very modelable. Edited June 3, 2021 by Supaned 12 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 24 minutes ago, Supaned said: The GM&O F unit seen in Chicago was likely to be working their commuter train to Joliet, known colloquially as "The Plug" 24 minutes ago, Supaned said: There was also a Conrail operated train to Valpariso IN which may well be what the Conrail GP7s were up to in the train shed at Chicago Union. The link here lists the units known to have worked on that train and indeed both Geeps tally: A good reminder for those not familiar with the 1970s in the US that the formation of Amtrak in 1971 didn't mean the end of all the host railroad passenger operations. Many of them were still burdened with commuter operations that the various States were either slow to take over or offered subsidies for their continued operation - hence Conrail which was created 5 years after Amtrak operating a passenger train. Similarly not all the private railroads transferred their passenger operations to Amtrak - joining Amtrak (as that's what they initially did, many receiving shares) involved money whether a direct cash payment or through equipment "donations" (or a combination). Thus only 20 of 26 eligible railroads joined Amtrak, with the most notable holdout being the Rock Island who apparently couldn't afford the entry fee so continued to operate a passenger timetable (with subsidy from Illinois) until the end of 1978 with eventual bankruptcy 27 months later. Thus anyone modelling the 1970s can still have a home road passenger service either accurately or with a bit of modeller's license. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 3, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 3, 2021 IIRC Southern and Denver and Rio Grande Western stayed out of Amtrak as well. The San Francisco Zdphyr which I rode moved to the Rio Grande route when they pulled the plug. Jamue 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 1 hour ago, jamie92208 said: IIRC Southern and Denver and Rio Grande Western stayed out of Amtrak as well. The San Francisco Zdphyr which I rode moved to the Rio Grande route when they pulled the plug. Correct, Wikipedia has a page the lists the participating / non-participating and ineligible railroads at the formation of Amtrak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railroads_eligible_to_participate_in_the_formation_of_Amtrak 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 12 hours ago, Supaned said: Some of the GM&O F units have lasted until fairly recently , having been rebuilt as F10s with HEP for MBTA in Boston then later moved to Metro-North for New York area commuter service, indeed MNCR 413 was originally GMO 880A, built in 1948. I photographed this one at Ipswich Station back in August 1987... MBTA 1105 was originally GM&O F3A 801B and apparently survives, out of use (for spares), on the Idaho Northern & Pacific RR, 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 4, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 4, 2021 (edited) Good moaning from a rather damp Charente. Fortunately the Tardis is somewhere warmer. It's the 9th June 1978 and I'm on the San Francisco Zephyr crossing the barren wastes of Nevada. At the moment we are on the paired track section between Wells and Winnemucca where the Western and Southern Pacific RR's had a paired track arrangement where one railroads track was used in each direction. I think the SP was westbound and we were on it. Somewhere on this stretch we crossed the Humboldt sink, where the Humboldt river dries up, the salt flats aren't as extensive as the Great Salt Lake but still desolate. Every now and again we would pass a typical Southern Pacific Station. I've no notes but this was somewhere between Winnemucca and Sparks. We eventually came alongside an eastwards flowing river, possibly the Truckee, that also heads into the sink. As we were heading for Donner Pass I'd bagged my place in the dome car, early on. By chance the guy in the seat next to me had grown up in Cheyenne. He told me that he always knew when a Big Boy was leaving town as the sound was totally distinctive. He was a musician and railfan had had a dream and for a few years had had a dream job, playing piano in Amtrak bar cars and being paid to ride the trains. The dome cars were great to travel in, much better than the modern Superliners. We eventually stopped for a crew change at Sparks, the railroad division point just east of Reno. Then 10 minutes later stopped at Reno and brought the city to a halt for 10 minutes. The Railway is now in a trench under the town. That's it for today folks. Jamie Edited April 9, 2022 by jamie92208 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 3 hours ago, jamie92208 said: Every now and again we would pass a typical Southern Pacific Station. I've no notes but this was somewhere between Winnemucca and Sparks. Fernley, judging by the ruddy great name painted on the roof !!!!! 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 4, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 4, 2021 (edited) On 04/06/2021 at 12:50, Johann Marsbar said: Fernley, judging by the ruddy great name painted on the roof !!!!! Derr. Thanks for that, my wife tells me I'm blind. Yes Fernley Nevada. Funnily enough we spent a night there in 2019. The depot doesn't exist anymore. However I described the place as a boil on the backside of the world. Jamie Edited April 8, 2022 by jamie92208 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 7 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said: Fernley, judging by the ruddy great name painted on the roof !!!!! Well done, Sgt Wilson. I wondered who would spot that. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 5, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 5, 2021 (edited) Good moaning. The rain has gone apparently and it's sunny, just like it was as we headed west from Reno, it's still 9th June 1978 on board the San Francisco Zephyr. I had managed to retain my seat in the dome. I think that Reno is at about 4000' but we had to go up to 7.500' at Donner summit before getting down almost to sea level at Roseville. Initially the valley of the Truckee River is quite broad. But the valley narrowed, with a large wooden aqueduct on the opposite side. The mountains were now in sight. The best view was from the back of the dome where the glass was cleaner. These were taken standing on the stairs. Past Truckee, the route goes into a long valley with a 180 degree curve at the west end so I was able to get a view of our locos. We then headed east, climbing all the time before heading west again with a view of the snowcapped Sierras. There were quite a few snowsheds along the way. Sorry about the fact that all these are taken though glass but I think they are worth it. Jamie Edited April 9, 2022 by jamie92208 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted June 5, 2021 Share Posted June 5, 2021 On 16/05/2021 at 09:46, jamie92208 said: I was still single and was also rather brassed off with my pay scales as a young police officer in Leeds. Trips to the USA, pre-Edmund Davies..............and how did your bosses allow you to take your annual leave allocation in one hit ? . You wouldn't have got away with that in South Wales. . Jammy devil. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted June 5, 2021 Share Posted June 5, 2021 On 03/06/2021 at 07:54, jamie92208 said: Then back to my allocated seat to find a note from a young lady from Evanston who had left the party early to get off. When do we get to find out what the note said? You can't just throw in little details like that and then leave them hanging.... 6 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 5, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted June 5, 2021 53 minutes ago, br2975 said: Trips to the USA, pre-Edmund Davies..............and how did your bosses allow you to take your annual leave allocation in one hit ? . You wouldn't have got away with that in South Wales. . Jammy devil. I only took 14 days and took it in June outside school holidays. Yes pre Edmund Davies. Jamie 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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