Part of what drew me to model trains as a kid was the sight of a real train. There was so much more variety then, in terms of the types of cars, the shapes, the colors, the names of the many railroads, their slogans in large brush script across the box cars, the bulldog F-unit locomotives, and the caboose at the end of the train.
When I see a freight train now - on the rare occasion that one actually lumbers by - I see a locomotive pulling a string of colorless, blank shipping containers, all of identical size and shape.
It makes me wonder if kids are actually inspired by trains anymore, and if they are, if it is primarily through an existing layout in their grandparents’ basement as opposed to the real objects.
The trackside experience is revelatory. The few minutes it takes to sit by a crossing, hear the signal bells and horn, feel the world-coming-to-an-end rumble, man. It’s fun to watch their eyes go wide.
First allow me ask you do you railfan or just see a occasional intermodal train? Spend some time on you tube watching railroad videos or better still go railfaning and see the big picture.
If you lived in this area you would find freight trains is as exciting as ever since you see boxcars,flats,bulkheads,gons,covered hoppers, tank cars just like the old days. Unlike the old days you never know what motive power will show up in the locomotive consist.
The younger modelers have a better grip on today’s railroads then most believe and in all truth far more knowledgeable…
BTW.The same was said when I was a teen in the 60s… Does today’s boring look alike diesel locomotives interest kids like steam locomotives?
I don’t have time to be a railfan. Perhaps it is simply the geographical regions where I’ve lived in recent decades, but I can promise you, all I see is engines and shipping containers. And while my love for trains may be clouded by elements of nostalgia, the amount of variety on a train is an empirical fact and not an opinion. A string of identical shipping containers with no discernable markings on them inherently has less variety than a train with box cars, tankers, flat cars with various loads, hoppers, gondolas, reefers, etc. It is good to know that there is more variety on the freight trains where you live.
I am not a railfan, but have watched trains for a lot of years!
What I see now I don’t like, endless strings of look alike tank cars, gray covered hoppers that all look alike with tons of graffiti, rusty boxcars that are ready for the scrap heap, and intermodal cars with look alike containers.
Even when the railroads were going bankrupt in the 70’s there were various colors on the boxcars that were well kept up compared to today, as well as more railroad companies. Same with Covered Hoppers etc. The railroads took pride in the look of their equipment, now it is the almighty dollar that counts and not the image.
50 years ago, you might have seen a greater variety in cars than today, but less variety in locomotives. For example, in the last couple of years I’ve seen quite a few unit tank trains. 50 black tank cars with minimal lettering isn’t that exciting. However, years ago, you would only see the engines of that railroad pulling trains. Now, due to run through agreements, I get to see tank trains with Norfolk Southern (including many of the retro paint schemes like NYC, Reading, etc.) and Kansas City Southern, even FCM (I think that’s what it’s called now, used to be Nacional de Mexico?)…despite the fact that those railroads nearest connection is hundreds of miles away from where I’m at.
I saw plenty of different engines right in my back yard, NKP, Wabash, C&O, D&TSL, B&O, PC, N&W, TT and WM. This is all in one week, every week, not just once in awhile. If I went a little further you could add EL and DT&I along with visiting engines of the SP, Southern and others.
Now most of what I see is NS and filthy CSX engines, with an occaisonal UP and BNSF.
I like variety, and I agree there’s not a lot of variety to be seen in modern freight trains. I have modern railfan friends who find a lot of interest there. They know more about the modern engines, cars, and operations than I do. I can’t fault them for finding their satisfaction in areas that don’t excite me.
I prefer the transition era in Ohio because there are many reasons for variety:
Lots of different railroads as well as private owners are represented in the interchange car fleet. This means a big variety in liveries.
The change from composite to all-steel cars was still not complete, and there were more carbuilders represented, including railroad shops. There were a lot of approaches to problem solving, and there was no “typical” freight car.
Trucking was having an impact on the railroad industry, but it had not taken over to the extent it has today. Railroads still offered LCL and served small industries that are mostly truck-served today.
There were more work trains and more interesting flanged-wheel work equipment. Hulcher doesn’t excite me.
Diesel motive power was more interesting. There were diesels from 5 major builders: EMD, Alco, Baldwin, F-M, Lima Hamilton, plus industrial engines from GE, Plymouth, and others. They ranged from switchers through A and B cab units, B-B hood units, to C-C hoods.
Steam motive power was still in operation, which meant lots of variety in designs and functions, even within the roster of a single railroad.
My chosen geographical area, Ohio, boasted a concentration of railroads that compares pretty favorably with most other areas. East-West mainlines of the NYC, NKP, B&O, PRR, Erie, N&W, and C&O ran through. Important regionals such as B&LE, DT&I, and AC&Y were prosperous contributors to the mix. There was a lot of interchange work.
I know this conversation relates to freight operations, but I must ad
Until recently, I lived near active Norfolk Southern tracks. I have to agree with those in the boring camp. Many of the trains were nothing but coal hoppers headed to power plants.
The only thing that changed was the graffiti, something I absolutely detest. Even the other freights provided little in the way iof nteresting variety, other than the ever present graffiti.
For those that model the 50/60s you need to dirty your layout…Railroads was filthy,ran down and in overall deplorable condition.Passenger train was filthy,late and apt to have a break down enroute. There was few exception but,the heyday was over and Government bailouts was the norm.
As a youthful and naive modeler I got a shocking surprise once I became a student brakeman I learn the cold facts breakdowns,bad track, poor equipment was the norm—just like my railroading family said.
I don’t know about rusty boxcars because I haven’t seen any and I railfan daily even if its from my man cave window that faces the NS Sandusky mainline. My man cave is the former master bedroom that is now filled with my video gaming table with 32" LED TV,switching layout,work desk and computer desk. I spent most of the morning reading MR,Trains Magazine,Railfan and watching NS trains.
Last year I “camped out” next to BNSF tracks on the Columbia River for a few days. I photographed every car in every train I saw.
I assure you, neither the cars nor the containers were all the same. And each train was different than the others. For a start, there were the “JBHunt” trains, which had a whole lot of, yup, JB Hunt containers (in at least three versions). And fewer of the three different kinds of orange Schneider. And those were just the biggies. There were also a small assortment of reefers. And the occasional 20’ tank container. And then there were the trailers. LOTS of different trailers. The cars tended to be 3 unit 53’ well cars plus 53’ and 57’ spine sets. But there were other cars, too. An assortment of 53’ singles, plus, as I recall, a 5 unit 40’ well car (with 53’ boxes on the top of the first, third, and fifth well).
And then there’s the “international” container trains. Those are carrying 20’, 40’, and 45’ boxes. Typically on 5 unit 40’ well cars. But, again, not always. The 53’ wells show up. And there’s even an occasional 56’. And the paint schemes on those containers varies with each train. There’ll be an “Evergreen” train, or a “Hyundai/Hanjin” train, for example. And those trains also carry a vast mix of other leased and other lines’ boxes.
The container trains of today remind me a lot of the “typical” freight train of the forties: a lot of boxcars, mostly 40&#
When I rode my second cross-country passenger train in 1964 (first was 1950 on the Super Chief), it was from Washington through Chicago, Portland to Berkeley CA. On the run to Chicago (on the B&O), it certainly looked like what Brakie describes.
But I also recall crossing on the GN line, where every station I saw looked freshly painted and weed free. Many had flowers in window boxes (September).
The GN certainly would have been one of those exceptions.
A year ago I stayed the night at an Amtrak station in downtown Austin, TX and slept out there all night. 2 homeless people were sleeping there also.[:^)] I was planning to catch the morning train to back east. The tracks were 50 to 75 feet away. Every hour a BNSF freight train went by with all kinds of cars with it.[+o(] The noises that came with the trains were more intriguing than the cars themselves. Wish I had a recorder with me. The wheels squeeling, the reefers reefing, the engines, and other strange noises. The Amtrak cars are not clean either inside or out. I take an Amtrak at least once a year to visit Sister.[:)]
I have to agree that watching a train now isn’t as exciting as it was in the 1950s and '60s. The lack of railroad names, colors, car types and all just isn’t as inspiring. I remember the steam to diesel transition and I always thought the diesels were pretty exciting too.
I lived for 35 years in Scum City (Houston) and when I first got there in 1978 a couple RRs were semi friendly but a few were downright hostile. It only got worse to the point where watching and taking pictures on public streets generally brought a rude, fat, hostile RR Cop waving a pistol in your face. Thank God HPD seemed to understand and could control these jerks. After several of those experiences and the lack of neat RRs sucked up by the Horrible Yellow Horde it just wasn’t worth going out any longer. I fully understand theft, trespassing, etc but viewing from a public acess point should never have brought those actions from a RRcop.
My grandsons are of the Thomas age and love seeing model trains, train shows and even the new locomotives but I watch them lose interest as the long stacks of containers start passing by. They just aren’t as exciting.
Some people like all the vulgar graffitti on the cars and locomotives but I don’t see that as “art” and see it as a very negative thing and I don’t waste my time looking at it.
Watching the A&M in my new area is another thing all together. While UP stack trains seem to bore them, they get very excited with the A&M and the noisy Alcos and passenger trains.
Things change and that’s why we all live in the past through our model trains and slide collections.
I live near the CSX. Lots of trains, but little variety. Most are solid trains of containers. Next in number would be coal, auto racks, covered hoppers. Only occasionaly will a classic freight come by with a mix of cars. Most locomotives are blue and yellow CSX. Once in a great while there will be a UP or BNSF in the mix.
When we get over to South Carolina on the NS, there seems to be more variety in the individual trains. So it may be a regional thing.
It does sort of depend on the area you’re in. Up here in Palmer, MA, I see stack trains, mixed freight, auto racks, and tank trains all equally. But other places may see almost all coal, or stack, or other. There are usually 1 or 2 gems hidden in a mixed freight, such as ex-Milwaukee cars for salt, or an array of patched lease boxcars.
In al fairness, Im sure there are those in the 40s and 50s who didn’t find long trains of brown 40’ boxcars exciting either.