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So, the radar speed detection alarm system feeding into the CSS that I suggested maybe six pages ago on the other thread is feasable; should not be too much of a problem for a good C&S engineer to put together. I would imagine that if it worked well in test the FRA would certify it in a heartbeat.

Think about how the NY subway has operated for years (maybe since Day 1) with timing circuits and trippers. A good motorman, running at the right speed, will come to within a few feet of a yellow signal, than have it turn green. Bring the technology forward many decades; a radar system could clock s...

The media has become way too airline oriented in their reporting. The so-called '"black boxes" are really called event recorders. And there seems to be some confusion between 'conductor' and 'engineer'. I've seen some reports that seem to indicate that the conductor was operating the train...

Who is the Jersey Shore Railroad? I thought I had a pretty good handle on all the current players, but this is a new one to me-

Going back a page or so, it is possible that the utility company map was not correct nor up to date. Just recently here in New Jersey, a paving contractor, using a BRAND new milling machine (maybe even for the first time-), hit a major gas line. The utility company had been out to mark their lines, ...

Sand, coal, and other materials can indeed be pumped through pipes. How do you think they dredge harbors and channels, and also replenish beaches? It can be done with a bucket on a crane, but more frequently a suction dredge and pipes, on floats, are used. A good friend of mine, recently departed, s...

Going back a half dozen posts or so, the RDG test in the 40s or 50s used a switcher, not exactly a road unit, and not geared for passenger speeds. Not the most fair comparison...

To muddy the waters a bit, Alco/GE had automatic transition on the RS-1s, (first built in 1941) and I would imagine on the earlier S-1 and S-2 switchers as well. So the technology was there in the form of the VI relay. I'm surprised EMD didn't copy it, like they did with the GE 716 traction motor. T...

Chain driven Roots blower? I believe you will find that they were gear driven. Some of the earliest GP-20s went to the WP, (D-Day on the Western Pacific, Virgil Staff-) and EMD had to experiment with the gear ratio to get things just right. If I recall my reading correctly, EMD replaced, under warra...

I don't have any thoughts on gear ratios right now, but have to say that even on the best of track a T-6 won't get up to 65 MPH, at least not with 74:18 gearing. One T-6 operator once told me that they tend to poop out at around 40. The 752 motor is a 600 volt motor, with enormous lugging ability, m...

The centerplate in the drawing of the Blomberg is about the width of the bolster; the Alco/GE centerplate overhangs on either side. With regard to attaching the motor to the bolster, it really isn't rigidly attached. The motor rides on the axle at the outboard end, which keeps the gears in alignment...

Its been some time since I did these measurements, but the centerplate on the drop equalizer Alco/GE is around 22 inches in diameter; I remember the Blomberg as being about 18 inches. Height may not play as big a factor as the centerplate diameter here. I never got a definative answer on this, but t...

The industrial plant is one of PP&L's generating plants; the bridge was part of the DL&W Old Road, which was the main line before the Cutoff was completed in 1912.

1178 was the obs used on the Mainline Steam Foundation trip in Dec.,'75. I'm not sure but the name may have been DeVico in ages past. NJT retrucked the car with inside bearing Vomet trucks, and used it as an inspection car and for PV purposes. I don't know if it is still around, but maybe URHS has i...

An historical question: there is an LIRR rotary snow plow up at Steamtown. It that the only rotary that was ever sold to a US railroad east of the Mississippi? If so, it says something about Long Island's winter weather, especially out in Suffolk County.