GVDobler posted:So, I wondered how many here have actually see a revenue generating steam engine earning its money.
I sure have. I was born in 1942.
Dominic Mazoch posted:Hot Water posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:In 1984, on the Brooklyn Sub south of Salem OR, 4449 was on the first leg of tHE WORLD'S FAIR DAYLIGHT. HOW FAST WAS SHE GOING?
At least 70MPH.
Now when UP steam runs on the line along the Hardy Toll Road from Belt Jct. to Spring Jct north of Houston, how fast are they going?
What UP steam? They haven't had any for more than 2 years.
When 844 came to Houston for the 150th signing of the Pacific Railroad Act.
If that was after 2010, then it would't have been faster than 60 MPH.
Yes, UP has not had a steamer on the system after that event.
Have two steamers not running, yet are rebuilding a BB.
They are NOT "rebuilding a BB". The 4014 hasn't been worked on since it arrived in Cheyenne, as they are still "taking 844 apart".
Go figure.
I am old enough to see plenty of steam but my family was not interested in RRs so it was catch as catch can. Friday evening we would be heading north along Rt.8 north of Pittsburgh and would sometimes see B&O freights on the parallel line. The best steam I ever saw, and not even close to 90, was the EBT engines rattling and clanking along their main line.
Grew up in pittsburgh in the early fifties...too young to fully appreciate what I saw. Most memorable was the Big 2-10-4 Jay. Cold or hot, running or standing - They were the BOSS !
I recall riding a PRR fantrip to Atlantic City in the late 50's behind a K4. I was riding the baggage car on the return at speeds around 80 MPH, possibly faster. Forget any chugga-chug, the exhaust resembled the report of a fully automatic assault rifle wrapped in a pillow, but with an odd pulsating rhythm.
On the other hand, accelerating from a full stop it was as if you had lined up a row of 12-gauge shotguns and fired them off in sequence!
Well, for everybody that needs a good blast...........
I only took 2 photos of T-1s at speed on the Pittsburgh Division at Greensburg and Latrobe and here they are.
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Images (2)
Back in the day, my folks and I were in the family Packard headed west on Carson St., Pittsburgh. We kept pace with a Big Jay powered freight from the Liberty tubes all the way to West End Circle. Dad kept us even with the locomotive the whole time; my first really memorable experience with this fantastic machine. The train was making the right speed to generate the famous "rox in a box" exhaust cadence. Can still remember the sun glinting off the side rods in a silvery green cast. Has a similar experience about eight years later with a set of PRR freight sharks near Elizabeth, N.J., Kool event ....but not the same !
I saw MR 261 do a photo run by in Tobyhanna Pa by the railroad station a few years back. Don't know how fast it was going but it was fast enough to knock my freaking socks off.
JohnB
My Dad would take us to West Field, NY to see the 20th Century limited go by. This was the 50's
TURTLE 2 posted:My Dad would take us to West Field, NY to see the 20th Century limited go by. This was the 50's
So,,,,,,it was diesel powered then?
I chased Reading T-1 2102 south out of Hamburg about 10 years or more ago. The crew had her up to 60mph for a short stretch. Pretty awesome! It would be great to see her do that again, but I fear that is just a pipe dream.
Chris
LVHR
I chased both the 611 and 1218 when we lived in Virginia back in the early '90s. I do not remember which it was, but I picked it up at Bealeton Rt 17 overpass and chased it through Culpeper to Charlottesville. For a while I was pacing it around 55 mph. I went home, and took my wife and 1 year-old daughter to see it return just past dusk. When he came through Bealeton he was flying I know faster than in the morning. I remember seeing each engine going souths, I wish I could remember which it was I saw on the return trip
Firewood posted:Well, for everybody that needs a good blast...........
Sorry but those LNER A-4s do absolutely nothing for me. Their streamlining has to be among the worst looking ever. The front end reminds me of a Goodwill clothing drop box. I much prefer the look of the Peppercorn A-1 class.
Why do you disparage Goodwill? 
It does provide aid to those in need.
Hot Water posted:OGR Webmaster posted:Think we'll ever see E.D. at the throttle of 844 at 90 mph?
Nope!
Does E.D. stand for Engineer Dysfunction?
I've seen various steamers going full tilt at Train Mountain (7.5" gauge).
Working steam in the real world:
Above: South Australian Railways T class 4-8-0 at Port Pirie 1969. 42" gauge built 1903 - 1917.
Below: Queensland Railways BB18.25 class 4-6-2 at Mackay 1969. 42" gauge built 1950 - 1958.
all photos by Ace
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FzWh3Sqhnw
Never had the opportunity to see steam, not much around in the fifties in
southern New England. Seeing video steam locomotives operating at
high speed gives an idea of just how powerful they were.
I have seen UP 844 and 3985 do the speed limit along the Hardy Toll Road near Bush Airport.
I also have been a passenger behind AFT, then SP 4449 on two trips Houston to San Antonio. She was running well except for the climb just east of Schulenburg TX, about 100 miles west of Houston. She came down to a crawl!
Lewrail,
Those are wonderful photos of my favorite steam engine,the venerable PRR T1 ! What a bonus that they were taken in my backyard,so to speak.
I may have seen a T1 when I was little,but remember a whole lot of Pennsy steam hauling it along the straightaway from Manor to Irwin back in the day.
Norm
Dominic Mazoch posted:I have seen UP 844 and 3985 do the speed limit along the Hardy Toll Road near Bush Airport.
I also have been a passenger behind AFT, then SP 4449 on two trips Houston to San Antonio. She was running well except for the climb just east of Schulenburg TX, about 100 miles west of Houston. She came down to a crawl!
Speed Limit? Do you happen to know what the speed limit is for them? I know here in the north east on the North East Corridor, steam isn't even allowed unassisted. Bennett Levin has run his '50s E8s on the NEC, but they are only certified for 90mph, where a modern commuter will top 100 in some sections between NYC and Trenton.
UP has published the will take the 844 to Memphis sometime in October. I am hoping they will publish her route and maybe even where they expect her hitting her speed limit. Unfortunately I am sure that modern regulations will prevent her from being allowed anywhere near her 100+ mph capability.
I personally am not old enough to have seen steam at full speed and I am not sure if I ever will. For the most part, I am glad we still have what we have. I live within earshot of 2 steam excursion lines but I think if they ever hit 20 mph, it's only because they are late...
Tony
Tony_V posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:I have seen UP 844 and 3985 do the speed limit along the Hardy Toll Road near Bush Airport.
I also have been a passenger behind AFT, then SP 4449 on two trips Houston to San Antonio. She was running well except for the climb just east of Schulenburg TX, about 100 miles west of Houston. She came down to a crawl!
Speed Limit? Do you happen to know what the speed limit is for them?
Pretty sure he is referring to the track speed limit. Any territory on the UP NOT equipped to cab signal/train control, the max allowable train speed is 79 MPH.
I know here in the north east on the North East Corridor, steam isn't even allowed unassisted. Bennett Levin has run his '50s E8s on the NEC, but they are only certified for 90mph, where a modern commuter will top 100 in some sections between NYC and Trenton.
UP has published the will take the 844 to Memphis sometime in October. I am hoping they will publish her route and maybe even where they expect her hitting her speed limit.
Since the 2011 operating season, 844 rarely exceeds 60 MPH!
Unfortunately I am sure that modern regulations will prevent her from being allowed anywhere near her 100+ mph capability.
Absolutely correct. The UP Employee Timetable, Special Instructions, list 844 as being limited to 84 MPH. Of course that would have to be operating in cab signel/train control territory.
I personally am not old enough to have seen steam at full speed and I am not sure if I ever will. For the most part, I am glad we still have what we have. I live within earshot of 2 steam excursion lines but I think if they ever hit 20 mph, it's only because they are late...
You might consider planning a trip to Chicago, for the June 2017 "Galesburg Railroad Days" event. I'm pretty sure they will try an organize having the NKP 765 run trips from Chicago to Galesburg, and the BNSF track speed is 79 MPH, for passenger trains.
Tony
Once. It was 1959. It was a railfan trip out of D.C. to Norfolk, VA and back to ride behind 611 for it's "final run"........which, of course, at that time was as far as they could project funding and public interest in high-iron steam railroading.
Ol' 611 was put on the train for the run between Roanoke and Norfolk. On the return trip, on what was purported to be the longest stretch of tangent (straight) track in the U.S....about 50+ miles, I believe...they stopped the train in the middle of a cornfield to let everyone out for a run-by. Dad, in his fedora and proudly clutching his Kodak Retina 35mm camera, shepherded me, clutching my Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, to the 'perfect' spot for the upcoming drama.
The engine/train slowly backed up until it was just a dim headlight against a small black spot in the distance down the track. Two hoots echoed across the land, and she was off. The smoke, the bark of the exhaust, the growing image....the anticipation....it was more powerful to a snotty-nosed kid than any amusement park ride, visit to the Lionel trains store, or dreams of Christmas morning. I'll never ever forget it. Even Dad was excitedly hootin' and hollerin' behind me as the spectacle unfolded.
Then 611 was upon us. Even if I wanted to step back from my spot in fear or homage to this beast, I couldn't. I was literally glued down...until I heard Dad utter words not unlike what Ralphie said when the wheelnuts went flying! Yepper, ......blue language....a memorable introduction. Thanks, Dad.
Seems he had forgotten to check the film shot-count before disembarking. He only had one good frame left....which was used for about the quarter-mile image. The 100-foot comin'-attcha image?..............about a half-frame was all she wrote. I still have it.....somewhere. Priceless.
As the eleventy-seventy cars raced by at...what?...70+ mph??, with Dad hanging onto his fedora, I noticed his eyes were rather moist. Ever stoic, he never admitted it was from the missed photo-opportunity. Dust kicked up from 611, coal ash from the smoke, disappointment in his own preparation for the moment, ...his own emotional thrill from the run-by experience for just being there a few feet away from 611's finest moment...who knows? There were tears, for sure. Stoic.
It's the first time for that sort of experience that you truly remember, I believe. It's almost cathartic. I'm glad to have been there.
KD
Not only have I seen a steam engine at track speed. I was on one many times. I was part of the engine crew for C&O 614 for 6 years when we ran from Hoboken NJ to Port Jervis NY. Those were the days.
As a youngster watching the LIRR G-5's and K-4's. Lived across from the station in Patchogue for years. There was a stretch of track from the main line down to Babylon where the road paralleled the tracks--my parents would stop the car there and we'd watch the trains come through in the dark, still a treasured memory.
Remember getting on the train to go to NYC and being disappointed that we didn't get a diesel! The folly of youth.
Scotie
bn614 posted:Not only have I seen a steam engine at track speed. I was on one many times. I was part of the engine crew for C&O 614 for 6 years when we ran from Hoboken NJ to Port Jervis NY. Those were the days.
Hi Bob, I was on one of those trips. The ill-fated one where the locomotive broke a piston ring but however briefly I did ride behind 614 one time. I had a really good time. Those were the days as there never seems to be any trips like that close to where I live anymore.
bn614 posted:Not only have I seen a steam engine at track speed. I was on one many times. I was part of the engine crew for C&O 614 for 6 years when we ran from Hoboken NJ to Port Jervis NY. Those were the days.
I still can't decide which trip was my favorite - the 614 Hoboken to Port Jervis in the Sound & Fury Car, or open window car behind 765 on the New River trip. Both were incredible!
Is there a reason Union Pacific is limiting UP 844 to 84 MPH now?
Dominic Mazoch posted:Is there a reason Union Pacific is limiting UP 844 to 84 MPH now?
Yes.
Years ago, in about 1979, I was invited up to the cab of GTW #5629, a beautiful proportioned, USRA Pacific, owned, at that time, by Dick Jenson of Chicago. The engine was on a ferry move to Detroit and only pulled about 4 or 5 cars. We rode it to Durand,MI and then took the Maple Leaf back at the end of the day .
In Valpariso, IN, three of our group were invited to the cab to ride to South Bend. But in South Bend, we didn't stop so we continued our cab ride all the way up to Battle Creek, MI. I remember the incessant noise of the engine, the wind and all, so loud that you had to go right up and shout in a person's ear to be heard. The coal soot was blowing back around the back of the cab roof, the floor of the engine moved so erratically that you needed to hang on to something, you could feel steam escaping from the rear of the backhead..... I can tell you, it was the most wonderful experience of my life!
With that short train, the #5629 could really haul and according to a trainmaster riding with us, there were several time when Bud Young, our engineer, well exceeded 80 mph. I'll never have a chance to experience something like that again.
Paul Fischer
I was blessed to have a Dad who loved and appreciated trains. One cold, clear, Winter day with fresh snow on the ground, in late 1940's, Dad loaded two of my brothers and I in his car and we drove to the track pans on the NYC four track main south of Albany, NY. The rails looked like they were smoking, due to the heated water in the pans. Shortly we heard a steam whistle and the Empire State Express came into view. Dad told us they usually did not slow below the 80 mph pan speed limit and as they started to scoop water the spray went everywhere. The droplets froze instantly in the air and the magnificent locomotive and cars flashed past with a rainbow of spray as the sun shown through!
I'll have that image in my mind to may last day. What a Gift Dad gave us.
Phil Irish
PhilJ posted:Dad told us they usually did not slow below the 80 mph pan speed limit and as they started to scoop water the spray went everywhere. The droplets froze instantly in the air and the magnificent locomotive and cars flashed past with a rainbow of spray as the sun shown through!
What a mental image that conjures up. Amazing!
My son and I waited with the motor running for the Freedom Train headed by 4449 along US 29 just north of Cullpeper, VA on it's run to Alexandria VA. My intent was to pace it for several miles while my son videoed it from the right seat of our Ford Pinto. Running late it flew by at 80 mph. In that dog of a car we never stood a chance of catching up to it - just smoke on the horizon. I'll never forget the sound as it raced by our position along the road. I only know the speed it was running as a friend was aboard the train in a car with a speedometer.
I've seen shays running at full speed.
Does watching a steam engine race a multi team stage coach count? About 40 or less years ago the Strasburg RR had a recreation of sorts of the historic Iron horse verses real horses race.
You ain't seen nuttin' until you've seen a 7 car passenger train full of passengers, roar to life from a 5mph rolling start. The announcer said the ICC would not approve of a true drag race. Within a quarter mile up to about 35 mph nose to nose. I could not remember which one was ahead by the finish line. Fantastic day with full grand stands set up just for the event.
In addition to riding a 611 excursion this past June, I spent many hours as a kid during the late 1940's riding behind LIRR G5's and H10's from Woodside, Queens to Eastern Long Island. Got many a cinder in my eye and soiled clothes during the summer when all windows were open.
At 84 I'm old enough to remember seeing lots of steam at speed. On the South side of Chicago our apartment's back porch overlooked the NYC/Pennsylvania main line out of Englewood station. Not many of us left who actually saw the 20th Century Limited and the Pennsylvania streamliners racing for New York side by side.
Later, in the Southwest, big Southern Pacific AC-9 articulateds racing between El Paso and Alamogordo and other heavy steam, including the occasional cab-forward speeding heavy freight between El Paso and Tucson.
Not nearly so fast, but beautiful in green, silver and gold, the Southern's PS-2 Pacifics made good time with the 3 or 4 car passenger runs between St. Louis and Louisville. I could see them from our house in southern Illinois. Others, too on the Illinois Central and the B & O were impressive, even at normal speeds.
Great memories...but those days are gone forever. Thank goodness we still have the 765, 611 and a few others that still can demonstrate the power, strength and beauty of steam.
I miss it.
Logan
You can still see/ride steam locos going full tilt any summer day.........the steam locos that run up Bald Knob on the Cass RR in WV. Two locos pushing a fully loaded train up 13% grade......the sound will make you think you are going much faster than the 12 mph or so!!!!!
Mainline steam.....yep.....riding behind #611 during the old SRR steam program......in the good ld days they would open her up pretty good on trips. You will understand 'Iron Horse' when you ride at speed.
bn614 posted:Not only have I seen a steam engine at track speed. I was on one many times. I was part of the engine crew for C&O 614 for 6 years when we ran from Hoboken NJ to Port Jervis NY. Those were the days.
I rode 3 of those trips and chased and shot video of most of the others. ( I skipped one of the Saturday runs when there were monsoon-like rains and also the trip on the Sunday after she blew her piston rings the day before).
I made on-board sound recordings on 6-8-97 and again on 10-26-97.
The other trip was on was the day O. Winston Link was aboard and the 614 was carrying a Norfolk and Western hooter in his honor. On that trip I was determined to soak in the experience, free from worrying about focus, aperture, shutter speed, audio levels, white balance etcetera. The only device I took with me that day was my handheld radio scanner.
My videos can be seen on my YouTube channel
Two tracks of audio are on my Soundcloud channel
A couple of years ago I provided 2 CD's covering audio from the two recorded trips to Ross Rowland. He told me he was very impressed with the quality of the recordings, and that they brought back great memories.
Galloping along at the maximum authorized speed of 79 MPH, I'm pretty sure that 614 was running about as fast as she ever regularly ran in her C&O career. I don't think the C&O was ever known for sustained high speed running.
