The old locomotives wore out and were[:)] replaced by units that all looked the same.[:(]. Think what a charge it would to see your local come through with a GP7 on the point!
…the advent of the internet. seems as though it’s channeling railfan’s anger toward one another.
When diesels first came out, a lot of people thought they all looked the same and lamented that steam was much better…
… railroads stopped giving themselves names that mean something. (Stupid CSX and BNSF…)
-Mark
www.fuzzyworld3.com
…they got rid of cabooses and stack trains took over.
Donald.
Nothing ever was the way it used to be.
Well all I have to add is thank God I live on a secondary line than a main line somewhere. Since NS has taking over here from Conrail (In Delaware) they have put SD40-2’s back on the point on the locals (Conrail used GP38’s during the last years) and sometimes they mix them in with modern 3rd generation GE and EMD’s. But the weirdest thing I saw was in the early part of the summer when a standard size local came through one morning (bout 60 to 70 cars) with one NS GP40-2 High nose on the point. Up to this point I have never seen an High nose unit in operation and have not seen one on the local since. But have noticed it in Harrington yard so they must use it for switching.
…since 1980 when the CRI&P, SLSF and CMSP&P PCE disappeared.
…since cabooses disappeared.
…since CP Rail left Vancouver Island.
…since the Mount MacDonald tunnel opened killing the Rogers pusher station.
Logically, the answer would have to be the advent of the diesel locomotive combined with the completion of the Interstate highway system.
Without steam, literally thousands of railroad workers were unemployed. I’d say Americans knew more about railroads when they actually knew people who worked on them. Passenger service, except for the NEC, pretty much died when Americans could drive to work… or fly across country. You don’t come in direct contact with a railroad, or a railroad worker, anymore… except at grade crossings.
That’s why railroads just ain’t the same…
Erik
…Feb 1, 1968, when the Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads left the landscape to form the Penn Central Transportation Company. (The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad was added in 1969 by insistence of the Interstate Commerce Commission.)
… the demise of the Caboose.
…model railroad and real railroad fans bashing one another in cyber space.
The BN is gone[:(].
The MoPac is gone[:(].
The CNW is gone[:(].
The MKT is gone[:(].
Allan.
This is kind of a weird thread. Survival demands adaptation. While aesthetically, that may be a bit hard for us to digest, railroading is still railroading. It’s still heavy trains conquering long steep grades. It’s still men and women devoting their time and efforts to a job that benefits us all. It’s still a flanged wheel on steel track.
I won’t lie. There’s lots of things I would have liked to see. An O5A running at speed in Nebraska. Narrow Gauge freight operations. Pennsy duplexes. Still, I think railroading is as railroading was. Tough, demanding work that makes me glad I have a hobby that most people don’t understand!
Enjoy the past, but be sure to enjoy the present before it’s gone, too.
Well said Copcar…To add my op…the demise of the caboose…now the train is a long string of cars, without life except the {few}, crew up front…Seems the consist was “commanded” from both ends with crew members at the rear end too…
Knowing railroad workers “down the street” did help to keep railroading current with other daily routines ongoing…To go back a bit farther, hearing the sounds of live steam engines blasting through town had a special command and aurora of importance…!
But, overall the railroading that is left in place today, most likely is in much better shape and all though seemingly in the background stll is doing important work in our society.
If it was still like the “good ole days” there wouldn’t be any “good new days”
Adrianspeeder
…the Southern Pacific got married to the Borg.
Hey there are some good things about railroading today!
I don’t have to drive to the yard to “mark off”. I just make a phone call. I can’t tell you how many times my dad sat around the house waiting for the phone to ring.
Now I can get on the internet and approximate when I’ll get out.
Cabooses were dangerous if you had a bad engineer!
New units might all look the same,but hey they have AIR CONDITIONING,and some times it works!
I’ll get in line and agree with all of the postings from CopcarSS onward. Railroading is always changing and while I enjoyed what I saw in my distant youth and would like to have some of that back, I’m old enough to know that I can’t get the past back and have come to enjoy the changes that have occurred since then because they have allowed railroading to continue.
I know, it’s only trains, but I like it, yes I do! (Apologies to Jagger and Richards)
I agree there are many things that are better today than ever before…starting with traffic levels
…deregulation - 1980.
Since then, there is less variety. The box car fleet has gone from colorful to just plain ugly. There are no cabooses. There are fewer employees.
But, w/o dereg, there probably would be few trains!
Railroads aren’t the same…THANK GOD…if they were they would all be bankrupt by now in the era of Worldwide markets and cutthroat competition.
What railroads are left on Vancouver Island? Yes. I’m somewhat ignorant about your part of the continent, but is the island connected to the mainland by bridges?