Your Experience Working on Locomotives.

[illinoiscentral]

As with all of my threads, I like to share my own thoughts and hear yours too. So once again I'm starting a thread, not a poll, on your experience working on locomotives. This means operating, mechanical, maintenence and any other locomotive work related thing. Whether it be on the Mainline of Mid-America, the Indiana Railroad, or just some museum line. Big or Small, US or UK, Australia or Germany. Share your thoughts right here. It is those who bulid and maintain that keep the wheels turnin' and the rails shinin'!

 

[tdstaylor]

Well, you might not believe this, but everything I'm about to say is 100% true... It was back in..... 2002 I think it was, when I was 8 years old. We were in the Cumberland Falls area in South Central Kentucky for the annual Family Reunion. (Good times... ) In the historic town of Stearns, there's the Big South Fork Scenic Railway. I remember the crew was in the coaches turning all the swiveling seats around for the next trip. I asked one of the guys a question about the name of the train (which I can't remember anymore... ), and he turned out to be the engineer. He asked me some q's about railroading and was surprised at my knowledge. (Not meaning to brag) Then he invites me and my dad into the cab for a ride!!! Then, on the return trip, I got to DRIVE THE TRAIN!!!!!! :udrool: I started the engine up before we left, then I was at the throttle, and the whistle (This was a diesel loco, but it has an air whistle.), but not the brakes. Lord, if I was in command of the brakes, I'd knock a few people out of their seats! Wow... I think I need to wrap this up, this is the longest post I've ever made!!! >___< Oh yeah, here's the railroad's website if anyone's interested: http://bsfsry.com/

 

[LVman]

I've been in the cab of many units.. GP9s, B23s, U23s, H12-44s, RS3m's 45/85 tonners.. gosh.. but.. i have driven a GP9 on the Finger lakes railway.. on Santa runs last year. Quite fun, when i originally asked if i could try a shave n' a haircut. the engineer was so nice about it, i got to drive. hehe.
Cheers.
Sean

 

[jadebullet]

Lets see. Track work is hell. I worked up in Honesdale over the summer(birthplace of the US railroad) and one of the things that we did was to get the tracks ready for the excursion. There were two main projects. Rerailing a washed out bridge, and moving a section of tracks over 5 ft to take out a dog leg. It was alot of hard work because we used old fashion methods and tools. Those class A railroads with their ballast cars, temping tools and other mechanized equipment are lucky. All we had were hammers, ballast forks, tie pullers and wrenches.

Over all it was pretty fun though, and I got a heck of alot of money.

 

[illinoiscentral]

Oh, jadebullet, I feel your pain! There at Monticello we use old stuff and ailing MOW equipment. I told you that I wash locomotives at MRM, well when the were working on the wye at White Heath, they left 1649 idleing all day. I had spent 6 hours and brused a shoulder washing that thing only to have it scuzzy in a week!

 

[Iced8383]

Post Removed-wrong topic.

 

[007007]

I'm pretty good at kicking my feet up and blabbing on the radio.

 

[illinoiscentral]

Good one 007007! I know some people like that!:hehe:

 

[0099]

I take photos of trains, That helps somewhat

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

Lets see. Track work is hell. I worked up in Honesdale over the summer(birthplace of the US railroad) and one of the things that we did was to get the tracks ready for the excursion.

Tell me about it! You're either dodging trains, or the (some times wet) sleepers, which means, you end up doing the splits. I've had close encounters with trains many times and we even ask them to give us a mile notice (25mph, loud whistles, plenty of time). When you have 300 tons worth of train charging towards you, its no fun!

I was somewhere near Alton at one time, emptying out a van which had spares, the only way to get to it, was next to the running line and in the six foot. So i got a wheel barrow from Alton station, wheeled it along the ballast, did a few trips and returned to the van on my own, while there where trains running. The problem is, I had a wooden board and rope on the barrow and this train came out of nowhere. I could hear it, but I couldn't determine if it was a train or an aircraft!
Thats until it emerged 200yards or so infront of me from a deep cutting, my first words? Well, it begins with S, hid the barrow on the under frame, hid myself there and got out the way in time.

Not long after that, 3 of us were walking the very same section and yes, we asked the same request, one trip, too late, his face was right near us when we saw the train comming and I was right up next to a bank (the other 2 guys were in a safer position! In the six foot with wagons that have their handbrakes on!). The best idea is to lay on the bank, but banks have nasty plants on them and ouch, that hurt!!! They recently cut the bank too, so, you got sharp bits of sticks, sticking up your back.


However, lunch by the lineside was nice. Early summer, in the shade, while the service trains go by.

 

[knil2gni]

Railway Signal Work.

I am an ex signalman British Railways (Class 3 Junction working). Prior to that post I was a porter/shunter at a small goods station in the North East of England.
This was back in the days before automatic couler light aspect signalling. i.e. Semephore Signalling, which was all manual work.
I have had published in Railway magazines here in Britain some accounts of my experiences.
For example one winter in the ice and snow, when a porter/shunter, in order to get our 9ton hand crancked crain to work. We had to set fire to the cable drum and pully wheels, before we could get the damned thing to work. Ever heard of anybody shunting rail waggons with a ROAD VEHICLE, because the steam locomotive never turned up we did. It seemed unbelievable, what at times we had to do.

 

[jadebullet]

Wait, did someone die? Sorry, I couldn't under stand that one paragraph. I guess that I am lucky that there were no trains running when we started. And then, of course, when it did start running, it was only one. Nothing like having all but every third tie ripped out, the cribs cleared out, and then we get the call that the train is 10 minutes out, so we had to quickly shove the rest of the ties back under for the train to go over. Thankfully we only had to do this once.

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

Wait, did someone die? Sorry, I couldn't under stand that one paragraph. I guess that I am lucky that there were no trains running when we started.

Nope, no one died, trains are light enough and slow enough to yank on the brakes! The problem is that we ask for adequate warning, their idea of adequate is when our faces are touching the buffers!! Only 'cuz we are diesel freaks and almost everyone else on Ropley shed, is a kettle basher.

There seems to be a very strong divide with not only regions (Southern and Western all dislike each other!), but traction type and even steam engine types. Since I started working at that shed, I've started loving the Standard 5. A nice noisy, powerful and reliable beast she is. (73096)

Sorry, I should of revised the paragraph, but I was rushing to get a train to uni, hence the rough paragraph.



I have to say, there's been only one known death in recent times on the MHR, it happened in 2007 and I really can't comment any more about it.