Just thought it would be nice to hear about your favorite RailRoad and what memory you have that made it your Favorite?. Pereonally I have been a Pennsey fan sine I was a small child visiting the Sunnyside Yards in Long Island City Queens.My Dad and I would watch the GG-1s swing in to the yard. Those childhood memories of Pennsey train watching with my DaD remain with me and I relive it every day on my layout as I watch my GG-1s run[:)]
Very much like your childhood, Richard. Though I lean more toward the NYC, but where I grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio we had the NYC & Pennsy side by side, especially down in our harbor on Lake Erie. I would walk to the harbor a lot & see all the steam engines there, plus my Dad worked for the NYC & at Christmas time we would take the train to Cleveland. This was in the 50s. Also, in the summer we would go to Niagara Falls & take the Bee -Line. An RDC, & that was really my favorite ride, as I remember, it felt like we were flying, at my young age ! I road in quite a few steam engines then too, as we had neighbors that were engineers & would take me on them. Today, it is all N&S & CSX in this area. Thanks, John
Great memories thanks for sharing!![^]
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
I hate to admit it, but I am originally from NJ. We had the Pennsy, NJC, NYC with a 4 trackage at the end of my street. Eventually it was Penn Central and then Conrail. I enjoyed watching and taking pictures of all the trains. It was amazing in retrospect, all the exposure to trains that I had, even the Bicentenial trains. Occasionally, I would go up on the engines and get to visit with the crews. A friend of my Dad was a engineer with the LIRR and Pennsy, so I too got to goto Sunnyside yard and actually drive a few engines. He also gave me the operators (engineer)manual for the GG1. We had another friend of the family that worked for Erie and I got to goto work with him one day and operate the switch tower and bridge tower in Perth Amboy.
These were great memories, but I think my favorite railroad (s) would have to be Susie Q and NYC. I used to goto the yard in Little Ferry, NJ and get into the roundhouse and check out the old RS units and I even have pictures of one of the NYS&W “Susie Q” cars, I think it was the last one before D&H took over. When I get the trains going, it brings those memories back to me.
Dennis
I grew up in Conn. along the NH’s electrified main line but trains were just a tool to get into NYC. It was until I got more into the hobby as an adult - reading Trains, MR and CTT too - and moved to the Midwest, that I enjoyed the railroading scenery. My favorite steam road is the Chicago and North Western. My current favorite electric railway is the Elgin and Belvidere…
Well I’m English and when I was a kid it had all been nationalised to British Railways but my favorite railway company was the Great Western followed by the LNER. I was lucky enough to enjoy the last days of steam and in fact I played hookey an awful lot just to see all the great locos.
However, even though nationalisation had occurred, the Western Region still had that certain something left over from the days of its greatness, their expresses were the best and my grandfather worked for BR so I had an unlimited railpass and could ride down to the West Country First Class being treated like Royalty from Silver Service meals in the dining car to Pullman coach accomodation with tea and cookies being brought round regularly whilst some of Englands most beautiful scenery and oastline went by outside the window.
I was also lucky enough to see a Gresley Pacific being thrashed full on on the Stevenage section of the LNER line that leads into London from the North and again with my youngest son in the 80’s seeing an HST on the same stretch being given full power which was magical to hear those turbo-charged Gardners with that wonderfully weird whistling whine over the sound of a screaming diesel.
I grew up next to a mainline station and one of my best friends was a driver for BR so I also got some illicit footplate rides on the late night milk trains out of Liverpool Street Station!
Best I can do I’m afraid, sorry about it being ‘foreign’. I was also a founder member of the Tallylyn Railway, a Welsh narrow gauge preservation line and spent many happy hours meandering up and down that.
I only wish I was around to see live steam in action,not the tour trips but the real down and dirty every day operations!! Those who did are very lucky!!!
[wow]
“You go GREAT when you go GREAT NORTHERN!”
Hi richard Well it seems that we are close neighbors I live in syosset. How about the LIRR. Felix Send me some email let’s talk trains.
Northern Pacific is my favorite. My hometown, Forsyth MT, where I still live, was founded by the NP as a division point in the late 1800s. The railroad (now BNSF of course) parallels Main Street through the city, so I grew up listening to the trains at night (and waiting at the crossings for them). Lots of people gripe about having to wait for the trains at the crossings but I like to look at the 1:1 equipment so it doesn’t bother me. At least 15 or 20 trains go through here every day, so we can pretty much hear/see the action any time of the day or night.
It’s fun when the railroaders come into the store to look at our Christmas layout every year. They let me know if I have a car placement error on a freight train!
Milwaukee Road, hands down! I grew up in Aberdeen, South Dakota and am old enough to remember steam very well. I also remember the diesels coming in and was disapointed by the lack of action. We had the M&St. L, The Great Northern, and the Chicago Northwestern, but the Milwaukee was the mainline to Seattle and Aberdeen, Washington. If you go to my Update Pictures post you can see a picture of my 2056 as a Milwaukee engine. Now I live in Broadus, Montana and they never had a railroad, but the stage still comes through![:D]
MTsteam, what store in Forsyth do you have the trains???
Favorite road would have to be the PRR, but I am to young, I was born a while after the PRR’s disappearance, and was about 10 when the Conrail split up occured. I love the PRR because I belong to a garden railway club, and we happen to have members of the PRR Technical and Historical society. I learned so much from them, and a few even worked for the PRR. One guy who I always see at the train shows where I help run the club display always tells me about how he worked on the MOW trains. That is only something I can learn because I am only 15. Second would have to be the N&W, the NYC, Lehigh Valley, and the Reading.
I don’t have any stories bout trains growing up because I didn’t see many. if we did drive past Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna, NY I would see the South Buffalo RR moving steel around the plant. That’s why I was thrilled to get a SBRR Beep to use with some of my Bethlehem Steel cars. Buckeye posted a picture of it about a week ago here on the “Coffee Pot.” My dad boght me an HO engine as a kid that was an Atlantic Coast Line F3. I have collected the 2 ACL passenger trains that Lionel come out with over the years. The purple makes a nice looking engine.
Tom S
There is only TWO railroads, Norfolk Southern and Canadien National [spelled in French]. Rest are nothing but short line RR’s. [;)]
When I was a child we rode the B&O National LImited to Baltimore. On the trip home we got into a little trouble in West Virginia. See photo below.
The B&O in its prime was absolutely a great ride with the blue china and sterling silver in the dinning car. [:)]
I also rode the South Shore, Pennsy, NYC, Erie, Burlington and Wabash RR.
I’m a W.P., N.P., S.P., & U.P. guy only because my dad talked only of these. He worked for N.P. back in the 70’s I think. not sure what he did though, but I remember him talking about it.
Cade
The correct sentence is: There are only two railroads, Norfolk Southern, and Canadien National [spelled in French] in my mind. The rest of them are greater than the two I personally picked[:0][:0][:p][:D][;)] Chiefie, I couldn’t resist.
NYC, GN, SF
For me, it is Conrail and Norfolk Southern all the way - the two most ingored names in the 3 rail hobby when it comes to low end affordable product. I have had a number of PRR and NYC locos and cars, but all locos and many cars have been repainted to roads that Lionel and K-Line just would not make. Beats me why.
Young people who see my trains all agree they want modern road names on low end beginer product. Last year was the first year in almost 15 years that there were 3 modern road names available in starter set train cars from Lionel.