Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

photogdm wrote:Actually, the photo on the front page of the official G&U web page, night shot was mine. The lumedyne lighting was courtesy of two other rail photographers. There were several other rail photographers there for that evening, photos taken with permission of the GU of course, and permission to be on property was authorized.

I also used that night shot as the cover of my 2011 Railroad Calendar, Featuring the G&U. The GU also used several of my photos for use in thier marketing brouchures and web page.

Dan
http://www.photographybydmwenc.com

I must admit, it was a very good shot. Maybe you could do the company pictures.

I noticed on-line that an F-unit is coming to the G&U. Haven't seen any RR press on this.

Can't figure any freight-related use for this type of locomotive, but I can see how it would look nice in excursion use....

The current passenger equipment on the G&U is the 6-wheel observation car, probably not useful too much on the G&U.

Does anyone have insight into potential G&U 4-wheel passenger car acquisitions for equipment that could be utilized ?

Might be a " pipe-dream ", but fun to speculate on.....

CF7s are equivalent to F7s, so I don't see why they couldn't use it in freight service. There are still shortlines that use covered wagons, and more locally Mass Central leased one in the mid 90s.

g-u-rr wrote:I noticed on-line that an F-unit is coming to the G&U. Haven't seen any RR press on this.

Can't figure any freight-related use for this type of locomotive, but I can see how it would look nice in excursion use....

The current passenger equipment on the G&U is the 6-wheel observation car, probably not useful too much on the G&U.

Does anyone have insight into potential G&U 4-wheel passenger car acquisitions for equipment that could be utilized ?

Might be a " pipe-dream ", but fun to speculate on.....

There are a lot of passenger cars for sale.

I think the Ozark website has 115 passenger cars for sale.

They made F units into CF's as you aren't supposed to use hood units for switching due to visibility and ground crew safety issues. (i can't cite it but i remember reading that ysage is specifically restricted by FRA though I can't swear to that). Through freight work with an occassional set-out is one thing, local service quite another. It will pull an occassional special and get its' picture taken a lot. But little practical use on a shortline. Still it provides a safe haven for an older unit needing to avoid either the scrapper or museum life.

I guess the f unit will be facing the same direction all the time, i don't think the gu has a wye.

Maybe hes going to pull that f unit out of edaville and make a tandem!

g-u-rr wrote:Can't figure any freight-related use for this type of locomotive, but I can see how it would look nice in excursion use....

F's can be used in freight or passenger service, no restrictions.

Does anyone have insight into potential G&U 4-wheel passenger car acquisitions for equipment that could be utilized? Might be a "pipe-dream," but fun to speculate on.....

Most likely acquiring a couple of passenger cars to entertain potential shippers, government representatives. I'm not sure how an excursion would fit into their business plans. Very expensive to operate, low return. What's to speculate?

RS115 wrote:They made F units into CF's as you aren't supposed to use hood units for switching due to visibility and ground crew safety issues. (i can't cite it but i remember reading that ysage is specifically restricted by FRA though I can't swear to that). Through freight work with an occassional set-out is one thing, local service quite another. It will pull an occassional special and get its' picture taken a lot. But little practical use on a shortline. Still it provides a safe haven for an older unit needing to avoid either the scrapper or museum life.

Better find a citation... Santa Fe converted a bunch of F7's in CF7 hood units as part of a rebuild program to get more life out of the old locomotives. The hood body and the additional steps help make switching easier, but there's nothing illegal about using an F-unit to switch road, freight, local, yard, or otherwise that I know about. Unless you can find me an FRA directed order that says otherwise. Please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CF7

Why would a small railroad spend good money on a locomotive that might see "occasional service?"

-otto-

[quote="Otto Vondrak"


Why would a small railroad spend good money on a locomotive that might see "occasional service?"

-otto-[/quote]


Nice addition to the profit loss statement for tax purposes. Have to show something for the money being burned up.

It occurs to me that the G&U is obtaining an ( operable ? ) cab unit. My understanding is that Edaville also has a static ex-MBTA cab unit on display also. The MBTA Cab's were used in push-pull service so just MAYBE if the control wiring is still in place in the MBTA unit that you could put the Adirondack unit on one end, a couple of cars with pass-thru cables in the middle and the ex-MBTA unit onto the other end, that you could have a push-pull train for the G&U...... Probably a wishful pipe-dream, but fun to speculate on.....

BSRR wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote: Why would a small railroad spend good money on a locomotive that might see "occasional service?"
-otto-

Nice addition to the profit loss statement for tax purposes. Have to show something for the money being burned up.

That makes no sense at all. This is not a toy train set we are talking about here.

g-u-rr wrote:It occurs to me that the G&U is obtaining an ( operable ? ) cab unit. My understanding is that Edaville also has a static ex-MBTA cab unit on display also. The MBTA Cab's were used in push-pull service so just MAYBE if the control wiring is still in place in the MBTA unit that you could put the Adirondack unit on one end, a couple of cars with pass-thru cables in the middle and the ex-MBTA unit onto the other end, that you could have a push-pull train for the G&U...... Probably a wishful pipe-dream, but fun to speculate on.....

Why are you making up stories about push-pull trains? Is it too much that we report on facts here? Your idea of "fun" alarms me.

I believe, if you go back far enough, it was reported someplace that Mr Priscoli DID mention excursion service, or at least, when asked, said something to the effect of it's not being out of the question.
Also, there was much discussion in the news of utilizing the G&U to extend MBTA service back when Priscoli first bought the line..

One of the perks of owning a railroad besides making money is the ability to show off your stuff to customers, politicians, would be investors, newspapers, etc etc. A business train, be it small or large, is an ideal format for handing out shrimp chablis and your story on a medium that your trucker competitors can't touch for ambiance and Vanderability.

Safetee wrote:One of the perks of owning a railroad besides making money is the ability to show off your stuff to customers, politicians, would be investors, newspapers, etc etc. A business train, be it small or large, is an ideal format for handing out shrimp chablis and your story on a medium that your trucker competitors can't touch for ambiance and Vanderability.

That I would tend to agree with.