Steam locomotives

[PioneerGuy85]

Are just fantastic. Most beautiful and amazing pieces of machinery ever built.

Ever.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=owou1PF3OM0

Oh and don't get me started on that whistle. I could listen to it for days.

I was born waaaaaaaaay too late. :tears:

[salred]

Then I think you'd enjoy the photography of O. Winston Link: http://www.linkmuseum.org/

-- Steve A.

Added a favorite photo -- and it definitely predates "Planes, trains, and automobiles"...

[6thumbs]

I remember a summer day in 1965 driving on Rte 14 thru Des- Plaines Illinois when this huge black locomotive came steaming by slow enough to see every moving part,, and a sound you never forget ,,It must have been on its way to a museum as steam had long since been replaced

[Celt]

Here are a few pics I took in June 1990. These are of a passenger train that belongs to The Cotton Belt Historical Society and was refurbished in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. On this occasion, Engine 819 ran from Pine Bluff to St. Louis, MO and back again. Our store was a little over a block away from the tracks and I could feel the train coming several moments before it made its stop here in Paragould. BTW: "Paragould" was named after John Paramore and Jay Gould who were famous railroad tycoons. I included a pic of one of the ultra-cool passenger cars (there were several attached to it on this run).

[ozmoid]

Beautiful engine, Celt. That's about half of a UP "Big Boy". :yes: I'm also a fan of the Challenger series, the Big Boy's little brother. Tremendous engines.

[Luckyman]

some great pictures there, everyone! :thmbsp:

[vinyldavid]

Great stuff!

FYI, to anyone in STL, we got the Museum f Transportation, with a BIG BOY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, and other things like the Daniel Nathanson, Bobby Darrin's Dream Car, the Chrysler Turbine car (that RUNS, no less), and many other reclis of a long gone era.

My mother WORKS there, (no, not with trains, with preschoolers) so yeah, if anyone wants to stop in, lemme know, and I can get you a great tour.

[TVTeufel]

Be sure to check out the Shay locos on Youtube.

Ron.

[gearhound]

Three of the nicest steam locomotive museums I've visited are located in:

Baltimore, Md
Sacramento, Ca.
Strausburg, Pa.

Steve

[ozmoid]

From the 1950-52 Locomotive Cyclopedia:

Clinchfield 4-6-6-4 Challenger:
Number built: 8
Date: 1943

Weight on Drivers (in lbs): 420,000
On front truck: 79,000
On trailing truck: 108,000
Total Engine: 607,000
Tender (2/3 loaded): 316,900

Wheel Bases (ft - inches)
Driving, each: 12 - 2
Engine, total: 59 - 11
Engine and tender, total: 106 - 8
Driving Wheels, Diameter: 69 inches

Cylinders, diameter & Stroke (inches): 22x32

Boiler
Steam Pressure (lbs. per sq. in.): 265
Diameter (first ring): 94 9/16 inches
Firebox, L x W (inches): 213 1/32 x 108 3/16
Tubes (number and diameter): 222, 2 1/4
Flues (number and diameter): 60, 5 1/5
Grate area (sq. ft.): 108

TENDER
Water Capacity (US Gallons): 22,500
Fuel Capacity (tons): 26
Trucks: 6 + 6

GENERAL DATA
Tractive Force, engine, lbs: 101,120
Piston Speed (@10 mph, in feet): 259.7 (*there is no time reference for this data, so I'm not sure how to interpret this one!)

Up next: The Big Boy!

[ozmoid]

From the 1950-52 Locomotive Cyclopedia:

UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boy:
Number built: 20
Date: 1941

Weight on Drivers (in lbs): 540,000
On front truck: 97,000
On trailing truck: 125,000
Total Engine: 762,000
Tender (2/3 loaded): 342,200

Wheel Bases (ft - inches)
Driving, each: 47 - 3
Engine, total: 72 - 5 1/2
Engine and tender, total: 117 - 7
Driving Wheels, Diameter: 68 inches

Cylinders, diameter & Stroke (inches): 23 3/4 x 32

Boiler
Steam Pressure (lbs. per sq. in.): 300
Diameter (first ring): 95 inches
Firebox, L x W (inches): 235 1/32 x 96 3/16
Tubes (number and diameter): 75, 2 1/4
Flues (number and diameter): 184, 4
Grate area (sq. ft.): 150.3

TENDER
Water Capacity (US Gallons): 25,000
Fuel Capacity (tons): 28
Trucks: 4 + 10

GENERAL DATA
Tractive Force, engine, lbs: 135,375
Piston Speed (@10 mph, in feet): 263.6 (*there is no time reference for this data, so I'm not sure how to interpret this one!)

[twitch54]

Three of the nicest steam locomotive museums I've visited are located in:

Baltimore, Md
Sacramento, Ca.
Strausburg, Pa.

Steve

one miight want to add, Steamtown, Scranton, Pa.

But for a living, breathing and working bit of History it's difficult to beat Chama, NM. Myself, a third generation railroader, and a student of the D&RGW narrow gauge, I never grow tired of this place.

I've attached a few pics of "Steam" the one is a pair of Mikado's ascending the 4% grade out of Chama on their way to Windy Point and Cumbres Pass.
Might just be some of the very best 'stack talk' one can still get here in the lower "48" !

the other two are of live steam on my garden railroad, my Shay and my 2-8-0 'Consolidation', both are butane fired.

[ozmoid]

Be sure to check out the Shay locos on Youtube.

Ron.

Shay's are very cool, radical design difference from standard loco's. Mostly used in narrow gauge logging, IIRC. Neat little rigs.

[similost]

Too cool.. I didn't know they had a museum in Baltimore... Thanks gearhound.. that's on the "to do" list this summer too... I've always loved everything about the old steam engines.. the smells, sounds, mechanicals... they are just so cool.. I had ridden on one when I was a kid up in the rockies for a mine track tour, and it was the coolest thing having your head out the window, and the smoke and steam wrapping around your head... I'll never forget it..

[TVTeufel]

Three of the nicest steam locomotive museums I've visited are located in:

Baltimore, Md
Sacramento, Ca.
Strausburg, Pa.

Steve


I've visited these three also. All well done. I was impressed with the "cab-forward" locos in the Sacramento museum. The adaptation was needed so the engineers wouldn't gag on smoke while chugging through long western tunnels.

Ron.

[botrytis]

http://www.pageantofsteam.org/

How about these? These are bad boys too!!

[gearhound]

There is also a vintage TROLLEY museum located outside of Kensington, Maryland.
A friend of mine at work, has spent most of his spare time there, doing restoration work.
He just finished restoring a 1911 Pennsylvania RR snow plow!!
They have about 2 miles of track.
ONE DAY a year....they have an open-house....trolley rides included!!
Very cool!!

Steve

[rickr15]

If you want a cool ride back in history this is a neat outing.

http://www.durangotrain.com/

[gearhound]

NOT my Dad's finest hour!?
He was stationed in Memphis, Tenn. during WW II.
Memphis was a large RR center during the war.
He was an MP with the rank of Sargent.
One day my father was in charge of a small MP detail at the train station.
I guess his Lt. figured it was a "slow" summer day.
So he ordered my father and the other MPs present, to unload an ammunition train that had just pulled in.
My father was thrilled!!
Who doesn't like to bus-a-gut under a hot summer Southern sun!?
Right after his officer left....another train pulls up to the platform.
A train full of Italian prisoners-of-war.
Now dear old Dad gets one of his brain flashes....or maybe it was the heat....but HE decides to have the Italian POWs unload the ammunition train!?
All goes well....until the Lt. returns.
The officer goes ballistic seeing Italian POWs carrying boxes of ammo, and GOD-knows what else?
So now my father is hot, tired.....and BUSTED!!

Sgt. York he ain't!

Steve :nono:

[twitch54]

Shay's are very cool, radical design difference from standard loco's. Mostly used in narrow gauge logging, IIRC. Neat little rigs.

Here in the East it's Cass, WV for some great Shay action, upwards of 9-11% grades. Not far from Cass in Durbin, WV is home to the "Durbin Rocket" a 'Climax' class of Locomotive also used in the logging industry as opposed to the Shay's with their vertical pistons driving shafts that work through ring and pinion gears on each wheel / axle, the Climax pistons are @ 45 degree angle and operate through a gear box. The 'Heisler' class of Locomotives are somewhat similar.

[thunderroad]

Too cool.. I didn't know they had a museum in Baltimore... Thanks gearhound.. that's on the "to do" list this summer too... I've always loved everything about the old steam engines.. the smells, sounds, mechanicals... they are just so cool.. I had ridden on one when I was a kid up in the rockies for a mine track tour, and it was the coolest thing having your head out the window, and the smoke and steam wrapping around your head... I'll never forget it..

I had the opportunity to visit the B&O Museum in Baltimore back in 1994 and it is a VERY cool museum with lots of restored steam locomotives displayed in the old roundhouse. A lot of the locomotives were the old coal-burning Camelback style which was an entirely new type to me. Really interesting stuff. Eastern and Western railroading are completely different breeds of the same animal, each taylored to the unique needs and requirements of the respective operation. I really enjoyed my vist and hope to get back there someday soon. Plan on spending the whole day, bring your camera, and wear loose clothes because you'll be climbing in and out of a lot of locomotive cabs (now how COOL is that?!).

[twitch54]

If you want a cool ride back in history this is a neat outing.

http://www.durangotrain.com/



Yes the D&S (former D&RGW narrow gauge) makes for a great trip.

Attached pics are of the train from Durango arriving in Silverton.

FWIW, every year there is a bike race that is held whereby bicyclists compete against the train from Durango to Silverton, the better bikers usually win !

[Celt]

When I was a kid there were at least six sets of tracks that went thru Paragould. All but two have since been removed. At the south end of town sat a large roundhouse owned by the Iron Mountain Railway out of St. Louis. It was torn down many years ago (as were all the depots and stations), but I do have a postcard pic of it.

[chuckworkb]

Steam Powered Locomotives are Machines you never forget.
I still remember in 1976 the Liberty Train came to my town. Big Steam engine pulling cars loaded with Americana displays.

It was the coolest thing to see that thing coming down the track,and you got to get up close.

Steam powered anything is cool. They used to have a steam powered weekend at a museum upstate from me. I went a few times, saw all sorts of steam engines, including a real steam roller, and steam powered tractors- very cool.

[twitch54]

When I was a kid there were at least six sets of tracks that went thru Paragould. All but two have since been removed. At the south end of town sat a large roundhouse owned by the Iron Mountain Railway out of St. Louis. It was torn down many years ago (as were all the depots and stations), but I do have a postcard pic of it.


It is good to see alot of the current efforts to preseve RR architecture, for it is a large part of our Nations history.

[PioneerGuy85]

It is good to see alot of the current efforts to preseve RR architecture, for it is a large part of our Nations history.

Indeed.

They were so damn short-sighted back then, it's silly...tearing down all the disused railroad buildings and lines.

Ah well, as they say, hindsight is always 20/20...

[Celt]

Sadly, our town was more than willing to buy the depots. All were made of red brick and many had beautiful inlaid tile floors with colorful designs. The city wanted to turn these into RR museums, but Cotton Belt wanted them all torn down, saying they were unwilling to sell any of their land and didn't want to accept any responsibility that might befall them if someone was injured while on their property.

[wbain]

I'm an N&W fan and I think the three steam engines they made, the Class A, the Class J and the Class Y were the finest ever made. Designed and built by N&W in Roanoke Va. I love trailing edge technology, vacuum tubes and steam engines.

[Tripod]

Hi

I am a member of Cape Town's Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (the Society was 100 years old in 2007). There's also another society lacally called Live Steam.

Do you have similar organisations in your locality? Both are heavily orientated towards steam propulsion but cater for all kinds of other interests.

tripod

[ARguy]

At least once a year, sometimes more often, a steam locomotive runs right past my house on it's way to Milwaukee or Chicago. The old Milwaukee Road tracks now used by CP are the northern border of my property. So who needs an HO scale train when you have a full-scale set in your back yard? The old steam engine Milwaukee Road 261 is a welcome sight during the summer and I never miss a chance to see it up close when she thunders by.

[ARguy]

I was just on the Milwaukee Road 261 website and it will be rolling past the house again during June 18th-23rd...and since it happens to fall on my birthday I think I will hitch a ride this time! I haven't ridden the train since the Milwaukee Road stopped running the Cannonball to Milwaukee.

[wineslob]

Shay's are very cool, radical design difference from standard loco's. Mostly used in narrow gauge logging, IIRC. Neat little rigs.


I love Shay's, Climax's and Heislers. The reason for this is when I was a young boy (4-5 early 60's) my father was involved in Roaring Camp, Big Trees. He was working for US Plywood and sold the T111 siding to the owner for the open cars on the little RR. They had/have the "Dixieanna Shay" and other gear driven loco's.
I can still remember going there many times while they were building the corkscrew trestle, and having to back down the hill because it wasen't finished yet.
Sadly, in the 1980's an arsonist torched the trestle, and it hasen't been rebuilt yet.

http://www.roaringcamp.com/steam.html

[twitch54]

Hi

I am a member of Cape Town's Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (the Society was 100 years old in 2007). There's also another society lacally called Live Steam.

Do you have similar organisations in your locality? Both are heavily orientated towards steam propulsion but cater for all kinds of other interests.

tripod

Tripod, Here in SE Pa we have "The Pa Live Steamers" , Rohns, Pa

Attached is a picture of my two cyl Shay operating on my Garden railroad

[jerrymrc]

one miight want to add, Steamtown, Scranton, Pa.

But for a living, breathing and working bit of History it's difficult to beat Chama, NM. Myself, a third generation railroader, and a student of the D&RGW narrow gauge, I never grow tired of this place.

I've attached a few pics of "Steam" the one is a pair of Mikado's ascending the 4% grade out of Chama on their way to Windy Point and Cumbres Pass.
Might just be some of the very best 'stack talk' one can still get here in the lower "48" !

the other two are of live steam on my garden railroad, my Shay and my 2-8-0 'Consolidation', both are butane fired.

I have ridden the Cumbres and Toltec 3 times and the Durango train twice. Both are nice rides. Guess I am lucky to live where I do.

[rickr15]

I have ridden the Cumbres and Toltec 3 times and the Durango train twice. Both are nice rides. Guess I am lucky to live where I do.

Ever ridden the Cripple Creek and Victor RR?
Last I was up there they still had it going it was one of the old narrow gage mining engines.

Its not steam anymore but the Pikes Peak cog railway is pretty cool as well. Can't beat the view.

[twitch54]

Its not steam anymore but the Pikes Peak cog railway is pretty cool as well. Can't beat the view.


agreed the Manitou & Pikes Peek RR is an enjoyable and scenic ride for sure.

For those back east we still have steam powered cog railways......up Mt Washington. A couple pics attached from a ride a couple years back.

[Aage]

We collect old trains too.

Well, when I say "we", I mean the Canadian government. :D

The Canada Science and Technology Museum (http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/collection/index.cfm)in Ottawa has a bunch of them in a covered, heated museum in downtown Ottawa, so if any of you "railheads" get to Ottawa, be sure and drop in.

[jblmar]

There was a show on PBS a few years ago that was a real treat. I forget the name but I taped all the episodes.

Ron

[twitch54]

I'm an N&W fan and I think the three steam engines they made, the Class A, the Class J and the Class Y were the finest ever made. Designed and built by N&W in Roanoke Va. I love trailing edge technology, vacuum tubes and steam engines.


The attached pic, poorly scanned by me, is a slide my Grandfather took back in 1954. My Dad was the second trick operator at the time. He was standing on the back "stoop" of Bay view (BV) tower on the NYC west of Buffalo. I say the back stoop because this pic is of the NKP which was only a 100 yds apart from the NYC main.

I believe it to be a Berkshire ??

[Telecolor 3007]

In Romania the demn bloody bastards scraped about 1,100 (yes one thouthand one hundred) steam locomotives between 1990-1997! And a lot of the locomotives still preserved are in very bad condition.
Locomotives used in Romania where built here (generally copied after German or Austrian locomotives), or bought from Austria and Germany. We have an U.S.A. locomotive preserved and the Sibiu depo is an '10's small one made by Baldwin Locomotive Works from Philadelphia.
The oldest preserved are an 1869 British one, used on the Bucharest - Giurgiu line (the 1st line built on the Vechiul Regat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vechiul_Regat)) and an 1872 built at Reşiţa (one of the 5 built before they really started make steam locos, in 1923)
I belive the steam locomotive is the greatest machine ever to be built by man.

Here are some 1969 pictures of steam locos in Romania
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3194045
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,1414207,1414225#msg-1414225
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3559241
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3565436
1969 & 1970:
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3565436
And some from 1969, 1970, 1978:
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3542634

1969. Narrow gauge:
http://drehscheibe.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,1141004,1141004#msg-1141004
http://drehscheibe.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,1141084,1141084#msg-1141084

Newer pics:
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3158419
http://drehscheibe.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,1413795
http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,3159683

The Park from the Reşiţa where steam locos are displayed:
http://drehscheibe.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?17,1414030,1414030#msg-1414030

And a picture that I love: an 142.000 pulling an Oradea - Bucharest train: http://www.dampflokomotiven.net/Bilder/Image76a.jpg

Guess if where 35 years old now, not 25 I would have got to see more amazing things...

[imready]

There is bigboy in Cheyenne, Wy and also a railroad museum. Cheyenne was/is still a huge hub for the Union Pacific. My neighbor works for the ATSF , which has I believe the busiest rail line tonage wise in the U.S. do to the coal mining in Gillette, Wy. He said they run 100 trains a day out of the mines, that's not counting the empty trains in to the mine. In the 70's (?) the U.P. sued the then B.N. for trackage rights saying they had a monolopy to the mines and won. Now the UP can use the rails but has to pay 60% of maintainence. They are adding a 4th track up to the mines this summer. It's pretty cool because you see the best and most modern equipment hauling that coal from the mines. Hopefully I got the facts right.....

[Telecolor 3007]

I just love those giant Big Boy and Challangere locomotive of yours! To heavy to run on Europeanen tracks!

[pdxotica]

We are fortunate to have a great group of volunteers at the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation here in Portland, that maintain several great engines and coaches.

They bring them out a couple times a year for special events, or the occasional Bicentennial....

:zoom:


I did a recording of the Christmas train this year for a podcast I occasional post. Some great sounds of live steam, you can find it here:

http://web.mac.com/pdxbales/iWeb/Minions%20to%20the%20Mouse/Minions%20to%20the%20Mouse/C475A93B-64F2-4474-A529-C3D08241FCF4.html

:banana:

[merrylander]

Where I grew up in Quebec there were four small towns (more likely villages) that were divided by the Richelieu River and the Canadian National tracks. The diesels did not come in until my late teens, so watching stem locomotives was par for the course. Where we skied after school was easily accessed by the RR right of way and on more than one occasion I would have one of those huge CN locos pass right beside me.

Out in British Columbia they have one (or more) of the big Canadian Pacific locos that pulled the Royal Train during King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's visit in 1937 that still offers rail trips up the coast.

You can't pay me to get on an airplane but I will pay to ride a train. For our son's wedding we took Amtrak' Supertrain to Aspen (well to Glenwood Springs) and that was a most enjoyable two days going and two more comiing back. You see country that you simply can't from 30.000 feet. People on trains are polite and friendly, not like on airplanes.

[Cleve]

I subscribe to Classic Trains magazine - some beautiful photography, and interesting articles - both steam and diesel classics are featured.

http://www.trains.com/ctr/

[electronjohn]

I come from a railroading family...Great Grandad was an engineer on the Milwaukee Road. Died in a head-on crash between two steamers near the Iowa/Minnesota border back in '36. My Dad worked for the Rock Island for a while...I even worked as a gandy dancer for the Mighty Soo Line as a kid. I grew up in a division point on the Soo...practically every kid I knew had a railroader for a Dad. We'd get a big snow and the call would go out to all the railkids and their pals to head up to the yard and shovel switches, etc. The REAL job was shoveling out the turntable in front of the "half-roundhouse". No such thing as a Bobcat back in the '60s...just high school kids armed with grain shovels hungry for cash. 'Round Labor Day, Rothsay, MN is the place to be...big steam threshing fest along with cool old gas engines, steam tractors...you name it. They have track laid around the festival site and a steam loco runs constantly hauling folks around. Of course, the vintage radio area is a magnet for me!

[pdxotica]

great stories. what a wonderful era.

we took Amtrak' Supertrain to Aspen (well to Glenwood Springs) and that was a most enjoyable two days going and two more comiing back. You see country that you simply can't from 30.000 feet. People on trains are polite and friendly, not like on airplanes.

I did that trip from portland to colorado, and was one of my best memories ever.

leisurely meal in a real dining car, gleaming rails stretching out straight across the plains as far as you could see, and the Rockies looming in the blue distance.

nothing in the world like seeing the West by Train.


And that Sacramento train museum is knock your socks off awesome!

Been there 4 times, and can't wait to go again!

[merrylander]

Here are some things you won't see from 30,000 feet up, the cloud formations are awesome, running along the Colorado River you pass a dam and suddenly the river is almost dry, where did the water go? They tunneled through the mountain and diverted the river then it drops through the two huge flumes into the electric generators and voila, the river is back. Last shot is Gore Canyon, one of the two the tracks run through, the other is Glenwood Canyon.

[twitch54]

Blue Mtn and Reading #425 4-6-2 back under steam this past weekend for a run from Port Clinton, Pa to Jim Thorpe, Pa and return.