The Romance of working on the Rails

[comfortably numb]

FF to 11:15 to see what I mean

[Indyknut]

Are you a rail fan?

[skypigeon]

My son, about 15 years ago or so, went on a Scout campout on a tourist railroad not far from here. The tourist railroad let his troop use the campground for free, making them do a small amount of maintenance with sledge hammers and pick axes as 'payment.' It was quite the eye-opener for many a young man that day

[goner]

That was pretty cool.
Is Locomotive 3150 a Ferrari?

[comfortably numb]

Are you a rail fan?

You know how it is on YouTube---you watch one video and a list of related ones pop up. But no, I don't know one locomotive from another.
However when I was a kid we went on a monumental vacation and we rode the Union Pacific, Rock Island, Pensylvania, Southern, and Southern Pacific Railroads.
The real rail fans are in Great Britain. UK Rail has live streaming from dozens of stations along with a sidebar live chat

[stockblock]

Your talking to a ex-railroader here. Yes the rails are romantic !

[Jamski]

That was what I always wanted to do. Remember the Parker Bros. game "Careers"? We used to play it, and I always picked "engineer" because I thought it was "the guy who drove the train". Dammit, I barely ever even got to take a train ride, unless you count the South Shore and the old Corydon Scenic Railroad. The former...well, I was on my way to AFEES (and if you know what that is, you know why the trip wasn't that pleasant) and the latter no longer exists and was too short. I do, however, have a coffee mug...

[RacingPortaJohn]

You know how it is on YouTube---you watch one video and a list of related ones pop up. But no, I don't know one locomotive from another.
However when I was a kid we went on a monumental vacation and we rode the Union Pacific, Rock Island, Pensylvania, Southern, and Southern Pacific Railroads.
The real rail fans are in Great Britain. UK Rail has live streaming from dozens of stations along with a sidebar live chat

Got some of that stateside too...

[skypigeon]

You know how it is on YouTube---you watch one video and a list of related ones pop up. But no, I don't know one locomotive from another.
However when I was a kid we went on a monumental vacation and we rode the Union Pacific, Rock Island, Pensylvania, Southern, and Southern Pacific Railroads.

I remember you posting about that before. Just before passenger service on all of them died, and Amtrak became their mutant zombie Frankenstein corpse

That must have been a fun time.

[Davydd]

I grew up surrounded by railroad tracks from the steam locomotive era in West Indianapolis off Oliver Avenue and Belmont. There was an engine roundhouse on Belmont. I've always been fascinated. My two maternal uncles worked on the Nickel Plate RR out of Fort Wayne. My grandfather was a conductor on the Nickel Plate. He had his own red caboose. My older sibling and cousins got to visit it but being 2 years old when my grandfather died I have no memory. The conductors, not the engineers were in charge of the train back in those days. I had a great uncle who died working on the Nickel Plate in a train accident and another great uncle who was the treasurer of the Nickel Plate in Cleveland. The demise of the Nickel Plate restaurant in Fishers was a sad day for me.

[KevMcNJ]

Trains are fascinating.

In my younger days I'd occasionally go to the Princeton junction station just to watch the express trains blast through the station at 70(?) MPH.

I've gone round trip from NC to NJ a couple times and it is wonderful.

They switch from diesel to electric in DC and it's fun to get out and just be in the middle of all the railroad hub-bub for 30 minutes.

You cant wander of course but I see enough on the platform.

[Glass Half Full]

Agreed, Kev. For some folks who ride on a near-daily basis on their commute perhaps the allure loses its luster, but for me it continues to be a treat to ride the rails. DC to NYC on the Acela Express was a great experience; if I lived on the east coast I’d likely choose that option for weekend excursions.

[AGRiculture]

Got some of that stateside too...

I watch the one from LaPlata, MO (the bottom one) every so often, along with a few other cameras. I'll probably do so tonight, since there's not much on.

[AGRiculture]

I grew up surrounded by railroad tracks from the steam locomotive era in West Indianapolis off Oliver Avenue and Belmont. There was an engine roundhouse on Belmont. I've always been fascinated. My two maternal uncles worked on the Nickel Plate RR out of Fort Wayne. My grandfather was a conductor on the Nickel Plate. He had his own red caboose. My older sibling and cousins got to visit it but being 2 years old when my grandfather died I have no memory. The conductors, not the engineers were in charge of the train back in those days. I had a great uncle who died working on the Nickel Plate in a train accident and another great uncle who was the treasurer of the Nickel Plate in Cleveland. The demise of the Nickel Plate restaurant in Fishers was a sad day for me.

Conductors are still in charge of trains, they just do it from the cab of the lead locomotive these days.

[comfortably numb]

Briish high speed locomotives are dual powered---electricity and diesel.
Of course, the are built by Italians.