by CPSK
Hi;
When I was a kid, I was mostly interested in the locomotives, not the cars. Of course when there were cabooses, it was always fun to wave to the brakeman, and something to look forward to when the train was finished passing.
But now, as I have come to think of trains as a lot more than fun things to watch, I look at the cars, think of what they are carrying (sometimes it's obvious, but sometimes not), where they are coming from, and where they are going.
I look for company names on the cars, such as Procor, ADM, OmYa, etc; and oh yes - those cars carrying the Epic trash containers... don't have to guess about them!
Is there a proven method to knowing which cars are empty, and which are full loads? Sometimes you can hear the difference, and of course with some cars it's very obvious And then sometimes I can guess by how much power is pulling the string of cars. 100 cars heading up grade being pulled by only 2 3600HP locos are probably mostly empties.
The other day I was noticing some Omya cars, and found one of their plants up in Vermont on the line between Rutland and Burlington. I have used Google to find other names as well.
Maybe I would enjoy watching some industry or yard switching from time to time, but it's hard to get near them. One place I found to see good yard action is Harrisburg, PA. A road parallels the yard, and it's a good place to hang out.
The first time I was there, I didn't realize I was watching a hump yard, and observed some cars rolling along without a locomotive pushing or pulling them.
Anyone care to comment?
Thanks
FW
When I was a kid, I was mostly interested in the locomotives, not the cars. Of course when there were cabooses, it was always fun to wave to the brakeman, and something to look forward to when the train was finished passing.
But now, as I have come to think of trains as a lot more than fun things to watch, I look at the cars, think of what they are carrying (sometimes it's obvious, but sometimes not), where they are coming from, and where they are going.
I look for company names on the cars, such as Procor, ADM, OmYa, etc; and oh yes - those cars carrying the Epic trash containers... don't have to guess about them!
Is there a proven method to knowing which cars are empty, and which are full loads? Sometimes you can hear the difference, and of course with some cars it's very obvious And then sometimes I can guess by how much power is pulling the string of cars. 100 cars heading up grade being pulled by only 2 3600HP locos are probably mostly empties.
The other day I was noticing some Omya cars, and found one of their plants up in Vermont on the line between Rutland and Burlington. I have used Google to find other names as well.
Maybe I would enjoy watching some industry or yard switching from time to time, but it's hard to get near them. One place I found to see good yard action is Harrisburg, PA. A road parallels the yard, and it's a good place to hang out.
The first time I was there, I didn't realize I was watching a hump yard, and observed some cars rolling along without a locomotive pushing or pulling them.
Anyone care to comment?
Thanks
FW