What is the image that to you just invokes the feeling “now that is railroading?”
.
For me, it is the image of a steam locomotive on a turntable. Nothing else looks more “railroady” to my eye.
.
It seems like Model Railroader rarely features a turntable on the cover. I must be in the minority on this one.
.
What is “the shot” for you?
.
-Kevin
.
An H-10 2-8-2 Mike…
Tom
So MANY images come to mind, difficult to choose only one—
While not exactly “The Centuries Pass In The Night”* this shot has always been one of my favorites.
I’m on a heavyweight excursion train and we’re passing what remains of the Century, Penn-Central train No. 27 westbound near Cleveland.
The friendly wave, E-8s and Budd diner and sleeping cars, the kerosene markers on our train.
The only thing missing is the smell of the steam heat, brakeshoe smoke and diesel exhaust. That— and of course, the sounds.
Regards, Ed
*The famous W. H. Foster painting made for New York Central Lines.
Good topic, Kevin.[tup]
For me, at least, the only thing better than one NZR Ja class locomotive, is two of them.
on Flickr
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
I am an Auzzie and a steam fan, but the image I regard as railroading is of a Santa Fe Warbonnet F unit ABA consist with some stainless steel behind it.
I’d have to say a Nickel Plate Road Berkshire pulling a good freight consist on a crisp and clear winter morning in the latter 1950s…
.
I was told once, by someone who was in a position to know, that when Trains Magazine put a Santa Fe Warbonnet F Unit on the cover, sales would bump up slightly.
.
I have often wondered if that was actually true.
.
-Kevin
.
Alan … I hate to sound like a rivit counter, but Santa Fe passenger F-units were mostly ABB or ABBA, but almost never ABA. They had more warbonnet F7B’s than F7A’s. … That said, I certainly agree with you the Santa Fe warbonnet scheme is icnomic.
Kevin … To me, an iconic railroad image is a Burlington stainless steel EMD E5 locomotive. … Also, PRR had pictures of Horseshoe curve on its public timetables which were iconic in my opinion.
Piece of Cake…
It is true. I see it when I post videos in FaceBook or YouTube for the Lake Shore Model Railroad Association(Chicago,IL). Between UP and SF it is a hard choice because they both have huge followings. They each lead over other railroads hands down.
Also, while not officially, the first railroad each of my sons could identify was Santa Fe and it was due to the red and silver warbonnet colors…
I’m diehard UP and even I admit the red and silver looks good!
Like this one?
Anything by O. Winston Link is awesome.
While I can’t verify that, I would say that from a very early age, the Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme, for me, would epitomise US Railroads, even if at that age I couldn’t name the railroad, (or knew what epitomise meant![swg])
Cheers, the Bear.
.
Oh Yeah, Baby!
.
That is a picture made just for me.
.
-Kevin
.
Have you been to the O. Winston Link museum? Its across the tracks from the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
No, I have only been to Virginia once, earlier this year.
.
I visited the USS Wisconsin while I was there. That was amazing. I am going there again in April of 2018, I will try to make a visit to this museum. Thank you.
.
-Kevin
.
To me the iconic “this is railroading” photo is the black and white one the great David Plowden took out on the praries, with a boilingly stormy looking sky, and a string of boxcars in silouette on the horizon, one of which had its doors open on both sides you could see a sliver of white sky. It conveys all the size and scope of the west, the pure desolation of the places “in between” the cities, and the intrusion of the railroad into that desolation. It is viewable on Google images but I chose not to copy and paste it here as Plowden’s copyright should not be violated, at least not by me.
Here is a link to one version: http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-10-07-plowdenboxcarscopy.jpg
Many Plowden photographs could qualify as the most iconic, but that is one I return to.
Dave Nelson
The J crossing the CNW at JB Tower in West Chicago. I cn still hear the sound.
From my collection,
Good thread Kevin.
First off, I really like this pic of a turntable in the Rockies at Field B.C. Note the rings in the pit that help melt the 50+ feet of snow they get every year.
While I model railroads from this side of the pond. I tend to think of the British when it comes to the more iconic railroad pic’s. My brain makes me think with a more historical point of view when the word iconic is thrown into the mix. The more I read, the more I realize that we are still the “Johnny come lately” in many things on this side of the pond. Just look at high-speed rail as an example.
I love the dirt and grime of the steam era and spend hours looking at old photo’s, however iconic to me is where it all began.
Stephensons Rocket comes to mind.
OOPS!
The original
