Random railroading Q&A thread

An interesting note is that there were tank engines, with wheel arrangements such as Illinois Central's 2-6-4T's, were used for commuter services. They were, in fact, designed to run backwards, coal bunker first, hence the four-wheel trailing truck.

Buster Keaton was a pioneer in this technology....

Thank you for the answers to my question. It was because when I read the railway series book "Troublesome Engines", the story of "Tenders and Turntables" confused me because it said in the story that tender engines had to be turned around because 'it is dangerous for tender engines to go fast backwards', but from what I seen in photographs and film documenteries, it doesn't appear to be true all the time cause tender engines has traveled backwards, is it?

Next question.

What did the dunkirk vertical boiler engines actually do on logging railways?

Did they perform any kind of function?

where they built to different gauges?

Asking this because I don't know much about them.

What is a dunkirk vertical boiler? Were they trains, or stationary steam engines? It seemed a little unclear from the post

Pretty sure it's this.



They are almost like trams. They have a vertical boiler and were older models.

Keep on truckin',

Coal Siding Ladder?

This is from a 1929 topo map of Spruce, Pennsylvania (Clinton County). The railroad leads to a coal mine at the top of the mountain and is along New York Central trackage. How was it operated and what was it called? A "siding ladder"? Was it automatic (gravity led - like a hump yard) or did an engine or switcher lead the cars up or down? It doesn't look like it could handle many cars at once...




Thanks for your consideration.

Andrew

Bump! I can't believe there's not any railroad buffs that can explain this siding in my above post.

Fine.

I'll just find a time machine and go back and check it out myself.

I'll post pictures when I return.

Andrew

SharkNose said:

Bump! I can't believe there's not any railroad buffs that can explain this siding in my above post.

Fine.

I'll just find a time machine and go back and check it out myself.

I'll post pictures when I return.

Andrew

Click to expand...

I don't always look at this thread!

It may have been a combination of cable haul and locomotive like the old Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity Railroad a bit farther east and south in what is now Jim Thorpe, PA. This line out lived its usefulness as a coal carrier and became a tourist attraction that lasted until the Great Depression.

http://www.switchbackgravityrr.org/

John

Thanks for the reply and link, John. I'll have a look at the Jim Thorpe area on historical topo maps to see if I can find something similar. Maybe a railfan trip to Spruce, PA in the Spring is in order as well although there's probably nothing left of the siding now.

Andrew

SharkNose said:

Thanks for the reply and link, John. I'll have a look at the Jim Thorpe area on historical topo maps to see if I can find something similar. Maybe a railfan trip to Spruce, PA in the Spring is in order as well although there's probably nothing left of the siding now.

Andrew

Click to expand...

You'll like visiting Jim Thorpe. It's a railroad-oriented town with a refurbished downtown, which the GF/wife will love browsing, and you'll love taking pictures of for modeling. There is a scenic rail ride on the old CNJ line, which leaves from the historic Jim Thorpe CNJ station. http://www.lgsry.com/ The other museum is located a short distance away, although you need to drive, a short distance is somewhat of an understatement, but relative to where everything else is. Also right in the downtown, across from the station is a brick office building which once belonged to the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. This company had a very interesting, if not brutal, history in the region and was eventually owned by the CNJ.

The rail line through Jim Thorpe is also an active freight line run by the RBMN, and there is an active NS line on the opposite side of the river. I think the freights run mostly at night, however, I did see a coal train on the NS line across the river. There were once a lot more tracks here, and a bit south on 209 in Lehighton, the lines were consolidated so lines south on the Leighton side are abandoned, but they continue on the east side towards Easton and Allentown.

While you are down there, I recommend visiting the coal mining museum in Lanesford. http://no9mine.tripod.com/ This is what's left of the last operating underground mine that closed in the early 1970s. The tour is quite informative and fun, and you'll actually ride on a small mining train into the mine, albeit, a short ride. The rest of the exhibits, photos, and gift shop, are located in the former wash house where the employees washed up before they went home.

It's quite an interesting area and one I'm working out a route for a project some day. With it's complexity, and amount of lines, it's an area that needs to be chosen carefully.

John

I have a story about the scenic railway. I was on a family camping trip at Hickory Run state park, and we had left and were driving thru Jim Thorpe. I wanted to go on the train ride, and I heard the train's bell as we drove past. We walked to the station, only to found out that that was the last train of the day! Darn it! But we got to watch as the engine ran around the train, and went really close to the platform. It was amazing! They have a monument to coal which is just a large piece of coal with a plaque in it. They have several small restaurants, one of which is the Brown Bear Cafe, which has a fantastic (and large) BBQ panini. Also, Jim Thorpe was nominated to be the prettiest small town in the USA, I think it came in forth. Look around the train yard, there are derelict passenger cars and cabooses, I also saw a parked Reading and Northern SW1500. It was the first SW1500 and first RBMN loco I have ever seen.

This isen't a joke question, I'm serious with this..


You know when you do what your not meant to in Cab mode with steam trains, when you put full throttle backwards because you can't be bothered to wait some time to stop?(It's like a handbrake, only you should NEVER really do it)

Did anyone ever do that in real life on a steam train.

That's how trains were stopped before brakes became standard. It wouldn't be full throttle but steam would be let in to dampen the motion of the cylinders.

Kieran.