So far, everyone has been commenting on the visual aspects of a freight passing. For me, it’s a lot more than that as it includes audio too – the singing rails, the thump-thump-thump of a flat wheel, and the strange groaning you get from the drawbars. There’s the tactile sensation also such as the wind in your face from a hotshot at speed and the feeling in your feet as the ground shakes. It’s all part of the experience for me - it’s the whole ball of wax, not just what a camera can pick up-
You gotta open up the doors and covers to see the REALLY interesting stuff on the locomotives.
Randy
Obviously its not just me that enjoys the complexity of the roll by. When you consider the many facets of railroading one can be pretty dimwitted to only be enamored with locomotives… As illustrated in a couple of these rude replies.
People enjoy different aspects of the hobby. To each his own. Downright silly to criticize others’ hobbies.
I haven’t done much train-watching lately, but something I used to do on a manifest train was watching each truck as it went by and noting the spring compression and the amount of deflection of the track to guess loads and empties. Why? I don’t know.
My inteest sort of speaks to what Randy Stahl mentions… I glance at the locomotive, and generally note if either GE or EM (CAT (?)… Then look at the trucks to see what type of power arrangement is there. More variety where the wheels meet the rails.
UPR power around here generally comes up the Ark City sub or OKT(nee:Rock Is.) sub to our west.
Mostly around here, on locomotives, it is a variety of the varient BNSF paint schemes. New units paint is bright and clean, as they age not so much, Pink Warbonets on the grain trains, and if on the Stacks or TOFCs either second or third out, and on the Grain trains, in any position. Not a lot of CSX run thrus out here, but When NS appears, they are the lead and head-end power.
Oh ye of everchanging avatars…Why don’t we see any original artwork?
Please discuss this topic without insulting one another.
Thank you.
Ang
One reason I brought this up is that many times the producers of the many rail videos will show the passing of a unit train in its entirety while a mixed freight, with all its variety, isn’t. I always thought that odd.
Thankfully, Big E Productions has carved out a niche as they show the entire train with information regarding the various traffic routing and loads. Thats always interesting to know where a load originated and terminates. I guess thats one of the reasons that locomotives rank down a position or two. (this in not a plug for Big E!)