Is this barbed wire fence along the track prototypical?
- Thread starter JonMyrlennBailey
- Start date
Nope.
https://goo.gl/maps/56eJnecu9NnDUFjr6
It's not as obvious as I hoped, but these posts belong to an old barbed-wire fence. The fence was in better shape when I used to bicycle riding through here and also when the trees weren't as thick which made the fence more obvious.
The fence was probably used to keep cows off off the tracks. To the left and to the right of this particular location was once a large pasture, but that's given way to a nature preserve and NIMBY houses.
https://goo.gl/maps/56eJnecu9NnDUFjr6
It's not as obvious as I hoped, but these posts belong to an old barbed-wire fence. The fence was in better shape when I used to bicycle riding through here and also when the trees weren't as thick which made the fence more obvious.
The fence was probably used to keep cows off off the tracks. To the left and to the right of this particular location was once a large pasture, but that's given way to a nature preserve and NIMBY houses.
JonMyrlennBailey
Active member
John:
The barbed wire as shown on my layout is to keep people from falling off cliffs or high embankments. A 25 to 75 foot fall must hurt worse than getting scratched by the wire. I suppose railroads could run safety railings along high edges too. People include railroad workers on foot and passengers who might possibly detrain up in those high places during emergency situations. The train may catch fire and people may need to get off in a hurry. I have fencing track side in other areas to keep off cows and other large animals. Whenever I design a road, I always have safety in mind.
The fencing may also deter right-of-way trespassers as little boys who like to play on the tracks. I used to like to walk along one rail trying to keep my balance. It was also fun to jump from one rail to the other without falling off. A boy in the 5th grade used to like to put coins on the track to flatten them out and removed the stampings. In the 1960's - 1990's, I lived in Novato, CA where the old SP line came through town. There is still an old abandoned passenger depot in town. Transit bus service in the early 1970's effectively killed SP regional passenger service in that town. SP GP 7/9 road switching engines hauled the local passenger trains, Pullman heavyweights. Those gray locos with red nose wings are so familiar.
The barbed wire as shown on my layout is to keep people from falling off cliffs or high embankments. A 25 to 75 foot fall must hurt worse than getting scratched by the wire. I suppose railroads could run safety railings along high edges too. People include railroad workers on foot and passengers who might possibly detrain up in those high places during emergency situations. The train may catch fire and people may need to get off in a hurry. I have fencing track side in other areas to keep off cows and other large animals. Whenever I design a road, I always have safety in mind.
The fencing may also deter right-of-way trespassers as little boys who like to play on the tracks. I used to like to walk along one rail trying to keep my balance. It was also fun to jump from one rail to the other without falling off. A boy in the 5th grade used to like to put coins on the track to flatten them out and removed the stampings. In the 1960's - 1990's, I lived in Novato, CA where the old SP line came through town. There is still an old abandoned passenger depot in town. Transit bus service in the early 1970's effectively killed SP regional passenger service in that town. SP GP 7/9 road switching engines hauled the local passenger trains, Pullman heavyweights. Those gray locos with red nose wings are so familiar.
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The reason you have makes sense a bit of safety of course, which is rare for a railroad to think of though.
I saw kids place coins on the old Boston and Maine tracks. One day unknowingly, I picked up about $5 bucks in change. Some little rich brats had placed their spending money on the tracks and I came across it while walking along the path that crossed by near the Rose Glen ice cream stand. They were mad when I came back with an ice cream on their cash and they could smash it down to nothing. Ooops!
What happened to your SP branch happened here as well. The B&M ran short commuter branches all over, but in many locations the rail service was stopped due to "temporary" cost-cutting moves only never to return. One of the branches I remember ran from Swampscott and Salem (there was a big wye) to Marblehead. The Swampscott end served Cliftondale and a few other commuter destinations on its short trip to Marblehead where as the Salem branch served the state college and a few other places on its way up to Marblehead. The terminus in Marblehead Mass. was a gorgeous ca. 1850 passenger station. My mom told me of riding in the old wooden coaches with the velvet seats to the station and how the station had an old Ben Franklin potbelly stove in the waiting room. Today, the station is gone and the small yard are parking lots and stores. The tracks disappeared sometime in the early 1960s and the old station was ripped down along with the row of weeping willows that stood along the railroad street. Today, Marblehead is a congested mess with no main roads and served by buses from Boston and Salem.
JonMyrlennBailey
Active member
American railroads are not known for spending money on safety enhancements for their personnel, the general public and their passengers unless forced by regulation to do so. When I build a Trainz layout, I imagine I'm a conscientious railroad owner and operator. I would not tolerate my RR personnel's beating up people who trespass on my railroad as seen in some movies. Personnel would only be allowed to use force in self-defense. I would let local law enforcement deal with trespassers. I would also offer leashed-dog-friendly passenger service and free train rides to low-income veterans. I would also be a gun-friendly railroad. No policy against armed passengers or railroad personnel. There are many instances where it's prudent to carry a gun. Imagine you are a freight train conductor who has to walk alone at night, track side, to operate a switch in some creepy dark woods somewhere or you are working a yard in some unsavory part of a city.
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blueodessey
Well-known member
The reason you have makes sense a bit of safety of course, which is rare for a railroad to think of though.
I saw kids place coins on the old Boston and Maine tracks. One day unknowingly, I picked up about $5 bucks in change. Some little rich brats had placed their spending money on the tracks and I came across it while walking along the path that crossed by near the Rose Glen ice cream stand. They were mad when I came back with an ice cream on their cash and they could smash it down to nothing. Ooops!
What happened to your SP branch happened here as well. The B&M ran short commuter branches all over, but in many locations the rail service was stopped due to "temporary" cost-cutting moves only never to return. One of the branches I remember ran from Swampscott and Salem (there was a big Wye) to Marblehead. The Swampscott end served Cliftondale and a few other commuter destinations on its short trip to Marblehead where as the Salem branch served the state college and a few other places on its way up to Marblehead. The terminus in Marblehead Mass. was a gorgeous ca. 1850 passenger station. My mom told me of riding in the old wooden coaches with the velvet seats to the station and how the station had an old Ben Franklin potbelly stove in the waiting room. Today, the station is gone and the small yard are parking lots and stores. The tracks disappeared sometime in the early 1960s and the old station was ripped down along with the row of weeping willows that stood along the railroad street. Today, Marblehead is a congested mess with no main roads and served by buses from Boston and Salem.
As a young Lad, I walked more RR Tracks, climbed on-top of more RR Boxcars/Flat Cars than you could shake a Stick at . And watched 70 Plus MPH UP Passenger Consist blaze past me.....Played in an old Granary Mill tool.....Yup ran into some unsavory characters on occasion, some Hobo's luckily didn't get hurt.....But that was the simpler life and times in 1950-1960's......Only memories now.....
And we believed Buses would do a better job than Trains.....What a Crock of.....@!@#$#%%...:hehe:
Now we need to build more 1-5 Million$$$$$ Light Rail PER Mile systems etc to keep up with the times....What Bill of Hogwash we were served..........
Alluding to Red and White Car Line, in California ran 350 miles to anywhere you wanted to go.........I digress now....!!!
Please excuse my Rant.......I go stand into a dark corner and think about it some more.....:wave:
As a young Lad, I walked more RR Tracks, climbed on-top of more RR Boxcars/Flat Cars than you could shake a Stick at . And watched 70 Plus MPH UP Passenger Consist blaze past me.....Played in an old Granary Mill tool.....Yup ran into some unsavory characters on occasion, some Hobo's luckily didn't get hurt.....But that was the simpler life and times in 1950-1960's......Only memories now.....
And we believed Buses would do a better job than Trains.....What a Crock of.....@!@#$#%%...:hehe:
Now we need to build more 1-5 Million$$$$$ Light Rail PER Mile systems etc to keep up with the times....What Bill of Hogwash we were served..........
Alluding to Red and White Car Line, in California ran 350 miles to anywhere you wanted to go.........I digress now....!!!
Please excuse my Rant.......I go stand into a dark corner and think about it some more.....:wave:
No, rant on and on! You lost quite a system in California. Greater LA with the PG&E and the same in the north with the Sacramento and Northern and Key System that created a near car-free commute with a direct connection to the MUNI.
Pennsylvania lost its Liberty Bell lines and parts of the Philadelphia and Western.
Chicago lost two great systems in the early 1960s which I'm sure the residents are still cringing over today. The famous North Shore and Milwaukee and Chicago, Aurora and Elgin both had connections right to the EL. The passengers could take an interurban from the outskirts and end up right on the EL in downtown.
Boston lost the Eastern Mass. Street Railway system, which took care of everything from Lowell to the shore in Salisbury as well as all the way to Boston, had a highspeed line through the Fellsway in Medford and Stoneham. A couple of their concrete viaducts still exist but are now on walking trails. The line its self was killed when Interstate 93 opened up in the 1950s. The Narrow Gauge (BRB&L) survived as a short stub from East Boston to Wonderland Park. The rest of the ROW was built-on so that puts that out of business. There are talks about extending the line again, but using the nearby commuter tracks back to Lynn. I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Like all rail projects, it's a pipedream for those that want rail.
We also lost the great Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension due to stupidity. If that line was still here, we would have quite a freight line today capable of easily carrying double-stacks and bulk freight. The Northeast lost the Erie and Lehigh Valley lines which both came out of greater NYC region, and were much straighter than the rival NYC and and Pennsy who both became the PC and eventually Conrail. Once Conrail became solid, the others were "voluntarily" merged in and snuffed because the EL and LV competed directly against the old Penn Central. Gone for good now with lines turned to trails or built over.