The long awaited day finally arrived, Big Girl’s first train ride!! We got up bright and early, and grabbed the gear we had laid out last night. Only the essentials for rail travel. Radio, camera and food!
Twenty minutes later, we were standing in line, listening to the radio and waiting to get a glimpse of 261. A cloud of smoke on the horizon. Nope, it was only 2816 out for her morning jog. What a tease, the lighting and the chain link fence made picture taking worthless. A few minutes later another cloud of smoke, and 261 backed into the track along the fence. No pictures please, and we climbed aboard, along with about 400 other people.
All aboard! And we chose our seats in the second car, which was really about 400’ back from the engine because of all of the other equipment that made up the train.
As we waited for traffic to clear, the rails were incredibly busy this Friday morning, the car attendant came into our car and told us a little about the train. He advised that, if we wanted to stand in the vestibules, and look out the dutch doors, we should have eye protection, as 261 being coal fired, throws off a lot of cinders. He also said thet there were still a few sets of safety goggles for sale in the consession car.
I got lucky and managed to get the last ones available. Eye protection had never crossed my mind for this trip, but boy was I glad to have them. By the time I returned to our seats with the goggles, the train had managed to get into the traffic pattern, and we were slowly working our way out to the main. I sat there with Big Girl for a few minutes, and had a sandwich, as in our excitement we had run out of the house without even thinking about breakfast. As the train picked up speed, I figured it was time to try out the new goggles, and politely excused myself, leaving Big Girl with the radio. Here is a photo of Big Girl enjoying her first train ride.
Nice work, thanks for the coverage. Other commitments have precluded any chance for me to get over to see 261 this tour. She is an awesome piece of work, and remaining a coal burner only adds to the sight.
Big Boy…Interesting photos. Enjoyed them and they do a good job of relating the ambience of your train ride. Mind mentioning what camera you are using for this display…Must be digital with photos avail. so soon…Again, good colors.
Thanks for your pictures and narrative of your trip , brought back memories of loco haulage in UK , coal fired steam!!. I found the car behind the tender always proved best for avoiding cinders , although not the best place to be when it picked up water from the in track troughs !!!
Darn, Now seeing these pictures really makes me wish we could have gone over to portage WI to see the steam train on Fathers day when it came through, I shouldn’t have dropped the topic so easily. oh well. Nice shots by the way.
Wow… You’re right about photographing the train you’re riding… It is hard to see it except when you’re going around a curve. The best pics, though, came from going around the curves. I got several from Branson’s Scenic Railway. (I may just have to put a web page up so you all can look at the train pictures. ;0))
Also, if you want to ride behind a coal fired steam locomotive without spending a lot of money, head up (and I mean up to about 9695 feet) to Cripple Creek, CO. You get a 45 minute tour, and have opportunities for some awesome photos. Glad I had my digital.
While I’m going on about vacation, don’t bother driving up to the top of Pike’s Peak. It’s much more fun taking the COG RAILWAY! You only have about 45 minutes at the top, but it’s just awesome. Let someone else do the driving, and take pictures! You will be IN the clouds! Those dark rain clouds are dark rain clouds up there too. (I thought perhaps they looked dark on the ground, but were like thick fog in the sky.)
It was our pleasure sharing our experience with you, it was almost as much fun as taking the ride ourselves.
Eolafan, sorry I didn’t include exactly where we went in the original story. This was a circle trip to LaCrosse WI, departing St. Paul and returning. The really cool part was on the way to LaCrosse we traveled on the ex-CB&Q down the WI side of the Mississippi.
Then we switched back to the ex-Milwaukee and returned on the MN side, which is the normal route of Amtrak’s Empire Builder.
What made this trip extra special is the fact that we traveled over part of the area that I am modeling. [swg]
One final thought, I couldn’t believe how many people had [|)]dozed off [:0]in their seats by early afternoon. It’s cheaper to buy a movie ticket.[:p][;)] Maybe they needed to stick their heads out of the window to wake up.[:D][:D][8D]
The only other way to get a good shot of the train is if a photo runby is included in your trip. May not have been a good place for the train to stop & do them.
Also, if at any time during your trip you have an extended stop for coal/water.
There may also have been some pro’s doing video of the move. Pentrex may have a tape/DVD available soon. The program will not be as good as being there, see how many people are at crossings or on the road chasing the train.
Thanks for the pictures!
That’s one thing that I never understood when I used to ride the Rotal Hudson steam train between North Vancouver and Squamish! People would bring their pillows and sleep on the train on the way up, and then have the day in Squami***hen sleep all the way back home!
The train ride was the best part, that was the only reason for going up to Squamish was for the train Ride!
Correct Glenn, however on this trip was over live working railroads. No stops except for traffic. At LaCrosse they took on a little water while we waited for the Empire Builder, but there wasn’t time to FILL the tender at that water pressure. No coal either, strictly business.
I’m sure there will be videos for sale later. Pro cameras were everywhere along the route. I’ll be buying one the instant they come out!!![swg]
Still looking forward to a trip on mainline steam. Have ridden behind the real McCoy in museum settings, though, and loved it all. Thanks for sharing - great account!
Reading the subject, though, made me think that it sounds like the beginning of an infomercial…[:D]
One final thought, I couldn’t believe how many people had [|)]dozed off [:0]in their seats by early afternoon. It’s cheaper to buy a movie ticket.[:p][;)] Maybe they needed to stick their heads out of the window to wake up.[:D][:D][8D]
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People dozed off on trip like THAT!
THEY MUST BE CRAZY![:0][:0][:)]
I think we were on the same train with you. I remember you in one of the vesibules. One of the “staff” told me the passenger count for this excursion was 806. Anyway, we brought our own food and drink and had a good time. The scanner battery died in Wabasha. I enjoyed seeing the people lining the tracks along our route. It was a long day not being able to get off the train but I imagine it would have been a nightmare rounding everyone up to get back on.
I thought the concessions were rather expensive but we did get a couple of great Grand Excursion tshirts for $15 each.
All in all, a good time and brought back many memories of my childhood logging thousands of rail miles traveling with my parents
