Mark, that engine is a beauty! I bet they are very careful when loading the wood in that tender. I would not want to be the one responsible for putting a ding in the paint.[:O]
Bear if when I get back down your way I’ll bring some fire water from here and we can compare notes.
Speaking of fire.[^o)]
Back in the early seventies when I was in high school, I would spend my summers up in Kaslo B.C. with my suppose to be retired Uncle and Aunt. We would spend a lot of time out on the lake fishing. One day after a rough day out on the lake fishing with my Uncle, we were sitting on the deck of their home looking across the lake taking in the afternoon thunder storm when a huge bolt of lightening hit the top of the mountain two miles across the the lake, about thirty minutes later we noticed smoke rising from the same spot. My Uncle asked me to hand him the phone and he called my Aunt who was in charge of dispatching the water bombers in that part of the Province. About forty minutes later a huge four engine bomber flew low right over our heads (on purpose I’m sure) towards the fire on the other side of the lake. The target was hit and the fire was out just like that. Start to finish was less than an hour and a half. What a system.[tup]
My suppose to be retired Uncle was often pressed into service with his pickup truck driving everything from helicopter fuel to food up to the firefighting camps when we would have bad fire seasons. It was all a well paid adventure when I tagged along.
This year is going to be a bad fire season and got me thinking of those times and how I wish I was young again so I could roll up my sleeves and help out. I also remember how often the railroads were/are put into service to help where they can.
I came across this video. They need a 1-4-0 to turn the loco.
Way back on page two I posted this photo and wondered what the odd lookig car on the trestle was.
December 12,1897
Today I found a different photo of the same kind of car. Apparently (according to the caption) it is used for lifting “prefab” trestle bents. If you look closely at the photo you can see cables going out from the front of the car.
January 25, 1898
The two cars seem to be different. I wonder if it was a CPR creation or other railroads had them as well. I wonder how many CP had.[^o)]
In those days, I’d expect a lot of MOW equipment would have been custom built by the railroad themselves. Maybe using a stock steam engine and hoist, and control mechanism, but then the car fitted and built up by the railroad. They may look similar but not identical because there’s only so many ways you can build an enclosed hoist and still have the cables some out the front. The fact that they are enclosed probbaly has more to do withthe harsh weather than anything.
In the second photo, it appears there may be two winch cars side by side. I could see two stacks in the second photo and then realized it must be two seperate cars. The chimneys also seem two be layed flat for transport as I would think there would be height issues. It looks like in the first photo the stack is on its side on the roof of the car. I wonder how much anchoring of the car is required once the winching starts. Just thinking of the physics of the winching of a prefab bent up from laying flat makes me think that they must have had to clamp the car to the rails somehow, or maybe leaving the loco attached was enough.
I think it is something I would like to take a crack at building someday. I have penciled it in for 2056.[(-D]
I came across this while looking for info on firefighting trains being used to fight forest fires. Not quite what I was looking for. Gotta love these old films.[(-D]
I’ve seen that one before, but never noticed before - if the prime mover is on fire, WHY does the fireman come down the mid ladder instead of bailing out fromt eh front with the engineer? Hmm, engine room is full of smoke, think I’ll walk through here and then ACROSS between the two motors to get off when we stop.
Having a look through Shorpy the bridge construction in this photo was what first caught my eye, but on a closer look and as RDG Caseyhas been doing a fantastic build on a camelback, I thought I’d link this photo. http://www.shorpy.com/node/19504
Cheers, the Bear. [:)]
In my 36 years with the feds, I was involved as an advisor on many training films and/ or manuals. These hired stoops would bring in good looking model types instead of using our own good lookin guy’s and gal’s. They would have on fresh out of the package coveralls and if a vehicle was involved, it would be a brand new one.[(-D] I thought most of them were a complete waste of time. These films rarely depicted reality. Everything always went perfectly in the film.
Got to love Shorpy. I wish there was more Canadian Pacific stuff on there. There is a little more every time I look though.
I may have to follow Bear into the boat building business.[oX)]
Bear, I love the way the viaduct amplifies the sound of the train as it chuggs across. Unfortunately that is hard to reproduce when using plastic bridge parts.[(-D] I will be in Alberta for a while this summer, so will try and get some pic’s and video’s at the viaduct. I hope there are lots of trains that day.
Someone sent me this, so why not.[8][{(-_-)}][8][C]
I’ve been looking at some historic railroad and other history of my region lately.(Northern Nevada…Carson City and Lake Tahoe to be a bit more specific) I think the shot I posted last week of the Glenbrook got me going. I also remembered a lake steamship called the S.S. Tahoe, scuttled in 1940, that was rediscovered in Lake Tahoe in the early 2000’s. I found a photo that shows a Victorian Age view of the railroad pier in Tahoe City, California where the railroad and the steamship share the view with people in period attire.
The railroad’s name escapes me at this point, but it was originally built in the very late 1800’s as a narrow gauge line to connect Lake Tahoe in Tahoe City to the Central Pacific at Truckee. The line was later standard gauged, and eventually abandoned in 1941…IIRC.
Mark, that is a great photo. It would be great to see more about that connection. Lots of RRs obviously had close associations waterway connections. For me, the interest lies with the Stern wheelers of the CPR in British Columbia. I have previously mentioned I spent my Summers in a place called Kaslo B.C. There is a stern wheeler on the beach there now as a museum, its last voyage was 1957 the year I was born. Lots of remnants remain from when the Great Northern Railroad (narrow gauge) would meet up with the boat at Kaslo. The CPR later took over the operation.
There are lots of ghost towns to explore in the region.
Brent, the more I look the more I realise how large the scope is for modelling water/rail operations. Apart from the Inter Islanders, the New Zealand Railways had the TSS Earnslaw and as a kid in the early 60’s, a trip on the Earnslaw, when she was still a part of the Railways, was part of our annual holiday. One trip I remember all the passengers were asked to go to the top deck as sheep were loaded on board at one of the sheep stations. The Americans were quite taken by this. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/queenstown-tourist-attraction-returns-video-4959520
I had (re)discovered a stack of 8x10 photos from my collection and came across a few interesting subjects. I’ll post some here over the next few weeks and see what you fella’s think.
One of the more interesting ones is below. The Erie #300.
Erie Railroad Photo; Collection of gmpullman
The caption reads:
Susquehanna, Pa. — H.J. Wecheider, division engineer of Hornell, makes an inspection trip in his “300” special car motorized and equipped for making various tests. Here he is shown in the Susquehanna shop yards with (left to right) Wecheider, E.H.Ness, Cleveland, superintendent of work equipment who built the car; J.L. Leonard, track supervisor of here; H.F. Pierce, master carpenter of Hornell and R.J. Pierce, assistant division engineer of Hornell. File: Sept. '41.
I’m curious about the E.H. Ness of Cleveland. Any relation to the Cleveland safety Director Eliot Ness?
This photo is from the Erie Railroad publicity department. I wonder if anyone else has any further information or photos of the “300”? Sure would make a neat scratchbuilding project!
No. 300 looks very similar to an Evans Roadrailer, but I never knew the Erie owned any. I’ve always thought this would be an interesting model to build and operate, but never found scale drawings. I know Roadrailers were operated by Washington & Old Dominion, Bellefonte Central, and a number of other lines.
I saw that also. Now I want to know how that came about. But alas, the Honeydo list is calling.
Keep those photo’s coming Ed. I am quickly finding out that You-Tube isn’t the only place to find obscure video’s.[~] We may actually find some moving pic’s of the Erie #300.
On the last page Mark (NP2626) was off to see “The Black Hills Central” I am glad to see he made it and got to ride behind the Mallet.
I wonder whether dimensions or scale drawings exist, or where they might be found. If not, I guess the photos might provide useful information for a modeling project. Unfortunately, it appears that the carbodies differed from one unit to another. If somebody produced a body casting, Darth could certainly turn it into a gem!
