by RedLantern
LCJ wrote:What's that have to do with street running?
SP #4433 in helper service under the signal bridge at MP 370 on Tehachapi in May 1978.
Trains aren't dangerous, it's lack of common sense that's dangerous.
Railroad Forums
Street Running
- General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.
Moderator: Robert Paniagua
by Linz
Both the lines i was talking about in my post had sections of stret running. The one to the GM plant was almost entirely street running, about 3/4 mile, and the other had a section about 4 blocks long...
by airman00
Anyone know if that garfield line going down monroe st. still recieves service? And if still on-line, when do they recieve shipments?
Also, I've seen some street running video's, really cool. Any video's of sw1500's street running, or a similiar SW, such as an sw1200, or an sw1001? And a question for you engineers out there...have any of you done street running with an SW as power, and do you prefer that say over regular road power, or do you guys like the bigger engines better?
Also, I've seen some street running video's, really cool. Any video's of sw1500's street running, or a similiar SW, such as an sw1200, or an sw1001? And a question for you engineers out there...have any of you done street running with an SW as power, and do you prefer that say over regular road power, or do you guys like the bigger engines better?
by scharnhorst
airman00 wrote:Anyone know if that garfield line going down monroe st. still recieves service? And if still on-line, when do they recieve shipments?Any yard locomotive would work SW's, NW's, and or even ALCO S units would have a nice all around view and would be a bit safer for the crew to see on comeing traffic. The down side would be running cab forward in semi heavy traffic with itchy drivers who may want to run the intersections or pull out infrount of you. I guess its a double edged sword on this question.
Also, I've seen some street running video's, really cool. Any video's of sw1500's street running, or a similiar SW, such as an sw1200, or an sw1001? And a question for you engineers out there...have any of you done street running with an SW as power, and do you prefer that say over regular road power, or do you guys like the bigger engines better?
no matter the weather or the country I'll still be trackside!
by wigwagfan
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiv ... x?id=52684
Here's a collection of photos I took about a year and a half ago on the SP Newsprint spur in Newberg, Oregon. They currently use a ex-BNSF SW-1200, but formerly used an ex-Rock Island SW8 (#777), and have used W&P/P&W power (including a GP9) before. 1.4 miles from the P&W yard to the west gate of the paper mill at the south end of town.
Here's a collection of photos I took about a year and a half ago on the SP Newsprint spur in Newberg, Oregon. They currently use a ex-BNSF SW-1200, but formerly used an ex-Rock Island SW8 (#777), and have used W&P/P&W power (including a GP9) before. 1.4 miles from the P&W yard to the west gate of the paper mill at the south end of town.
--------------------------------------------------
Erik Halstead - Portland, Oregon
Erik Halstead - Portland, Oregon
by airman00
cool pictures! I like the sw1200 running down the middle of the street.
by scharnhorst
neat!!
no matter the weather or the country I'll still be trackside!
by David Benton
street running returns to a small New Zealand town , who must be relieved thier claim to fame is no longer just the towns public toilets .
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/a ... d=10619147
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/a ... d=10619147
Moderator worldwide railfan , Rail travel & trip reports
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
by westerchester
I spent the first 4 years of my life living on York St. just south of Louisa St. in St Catherines Ontario. I remember the trains running on Louisa St. It was an event for me to go watch them. I was there between 1961 and 1965. I know I was only 4, but I think it was a steam locomotive. Can anyone confirm this, or add other details such as what equipment did run on the line, and when it was retired? Thanks.
by scharnhorst
westerchester wrote:I spent the first 4 years of my life living on York St. just south of Louisa St. in St Catherines Ontario. I remember the trains running on Louisa St. It was an event for me to go watch them. I was there between 1961 and 1965. I know I was only 4, but I think it was a steam locomotive. Can anyone confirm this, or add other details such as what equipment did run on the line, and when it was retired? Thanks.
From what I do know Steam did last a bit longer on CN and CP Rail mixed with diesel locomotives that much I can tell ya.
no matter the weather or the country I'll still be trackside!
by Desertdweller
Great thread!
When I worked for the Mississippi & Tennessee RailNet, we had a two-block section of street running in the center of the business district of New Albany, MS.
There were (are) a couple of blind intersections in this stretch.
One day I was running a single GP-9, light, long hood forward. My conductor was riding the point as we approached a blind corner. I was making plenty of noise with the bell and horn. Suddenly he yelled "Plug it!"
A compact car had suddenly pulled in front of us and was hit. Fortunately, the driver was not hurt and the damage was limited to the bumper. I got down and began my report by talking to the driver.
"Why did you pull out in front of me?" I asked.
"I pulled out to see if a train was coming." Guess what? There was.
Another day, I was running a pair of GP-9's pulling a freight up the same track. Low hood forward, my conductor protecting the crossings on the ground. It was a beautiful fall morning, just after sunrise.
I pulled across Bankhead Street. Bankhead is the de-facto Main Street. The real Main Street runs under a grade-separated crossing, but has not been the "main" street for the past one hundred years or so.
I heard a loud crash behind me. Looking back, a couple teenage boys had driven directly into my fuel tank with an old Ford convertible. They had been blinded by the rising sun, and continued blind onto the crossing. Fortunately, neither were injured.
The boys' mother worked in an office at the end of the block, where I had hit the car mentioned previously. I went to tell her about it. I felt especially bad, as my wife and I had dinner with her and her husband the evening before.
Then, there was the weird situation I encountered on the Connecticut Southern. I was delivering cars to the P&W interchange in Hartford. The interchange track was a stub spur off a route we called "The Weatherfield Main". I think all this track was ex-NH.
This spur was on an extremely steep grade. I had a good-sized cut of loaded cars. I was running a GP-38, single unit. There was snow covering the ground.
I had been in there before and knew the layout. The track was a stub that crossed a private parking lot and ended with a bumper. My conductor was protecting my move, which was more of a battle with gravity than a shove.
It seemed to me we were going back farther than we should have been. I knew it would not do to leave cars blocking the parking lot. Sure enough, after I stopped, I was told to pull ahead. Using much sand, I pulled ahead, no doubt to clear the parking lot.
I put a full set under the cars and my conductor went "in between" to tie brakes. Something told me something was not right. I got off the power and walked back for a look.
Unknown to me, the owner of the parking lot had paved over the track since I had been there last. Two flangeways were newly cut through the fresh asphalt, all the way across!
That move has popped up in my dreams a few times since.
Les
When I worked for the Mississippi & Tennessee RailNet, we had a two-block section of street running in the center of the business district of New Albany, MS.
There were (are) a couple of blind intersections in this stretch.
One day I was running a single GP-9, light, long hood forward. My conductor was riding the point as we approached a blind corner. I was making plenty of noise with the bell and horn. Suddenly he yelled "Plug it!"
A compact car had suddenly pulled in front of us and was hit. Fortunately, the driver was not hurt and the damage was limited to the bumper. I got down and began my report by talking to the driver.
"Why did you pull out in front of me?" I asked.
"I pulled out to see if a train was coming." Guess what? There was.
Another day, I was running a pair of GP-9's pulling a freight up the same track. Low hood forward, my conductor protecting the crossings on the ground. It was a beautiful fall morning, just after sunrise.
I pulled across Bankhead Street. Bankhead is the de-facto Main Street. The real Main Street runs under a grade-separated crossing, but has not been the "main" street for the past one hundred years or so.
I heard a loud crash behind me. Looking back, a couple teenage boys had driven directly into my fuel tank with an old Ford convertible. They had been blinded by the rising sun, and continued blind onto the crossing. Fortunately, neither were injured.
The boys' mother worked in an office at the end of the block, where I had hit the car mentioned previously. I went to tell her about it. I felt especially bad, as my wife and I had dinner with her and her husband the evening before.
Then, there was the weird situation I encountered on the Connecticut Southern. I was delivering cars to the P&W interchange in Hartford. The interchange track was a stub spur off a route we called "The Weatherfield Main". I think all this track was ex-NH.
This spur was on an extremely steep grade. I had a good-sized cut of loaded cars. I was running a GP-38, single unit. There was snow covering the ground.
I had been in there before and knew the layout. The track was a stub that crossed a private parking lot and ended with a bumper. My conductor was protecting my move, which was more of a battle with gravity than a shove.
It seemed to me we were going back farther than we should have been. I knew it would not do to leave cars blocking the parking lot. Sure enough, after I stopped, I was told to pull ahead. Using much sand, I pulled ahead, no doubt to clear the parking lot.
I put a full set under the cars and my conductor went "in between" to tie brakes. Something told me something was not right. I got off the power and walked back for a look.
Unknown to me, the owner of the parking lot had paved over the track since I had been there last. Two flangeways were newly cut through the fresh asphalt, all the way across!
That move has popped up in my dreams a few times since.
Les
by scharnhorst
you seem to jump around from one location of the country to another on several different railroads that you have listed in different trends I'm beginning to wonder if your telling story's or just a railfan that's been reading the news paper to much. Vary few Railroad employees are as open as you about telling there experiences of hitting cars and crunching people like bugs.
no matter the weather or the country I'll still be trackside!
by Desertdweller
Scharnhorst,
What would you expect from a Buckaroo?
Since neither of us know each other personally, I'll give you my professional history and you can either believe me or not.
During my college years, I developed an interest in the railroad industry by riding passenger trains. This began in the pre-AMTRAK days of 1968.
I graduated in March 1972 with a BA degree in Political Science and a minor in depth in Geography.
In January 1973 I was offered a clerk's position with Milwaukee Road. I worked clerk's jobs in Winona, Mn, and LaCrosse and Madison, WI. After being laid off MILW, I worked outside the industry until taking an Assistant Trainmaster's position with RI in Iowa Falls, IA.
The Rock went down and took me with it. In 1986, I was on the start-up team for Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern in Pierre, SD. I then worked as a Transportation Assistant (freight agent with expanded territory) in Pierre, SD for the next seven years. It was like being an Assistant Trainmaster. I was responsible for coordinating freight traffic on the west 250 miles of the railroad.
In 1993, a new company policy closed the agencies and consolidated operations into a customer service center. I worked there (Brookings SD) for a year, but was unhappy with the change. I found a position with an OmniTrax railroad in Borger TX and worked there until summer of 1998. While there, I became a locomotive engineer.
I was then offered a Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers position in New Albany, MS. This was a startup railroad owned by North American RailNet. I moved there in 1998 and worked there until 2003. In 2003, the holding company sold the railroad to another holding company. I did not want to work for the new company, and was offered a transfer to Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado Railnet in Grant, NE. I worked there as SLE until 2005, when our friends at Goldman-Sachs forced the sale of all RailNet railroads to the highest bidder, my old employer OmniTrax.
I found I could do better as a temp with a couple different temp firms. This was a great career move for me. It was very profitable and allowed me to gain experience in widely diverse areas of the country. My first assignment was Carolina Piedmont out of Laurens, SC. Then, my next assignment was Connecticut Southern out of East Hartford, CT.
My next temp assignment was Meridian and Bigbee out of Meridian, MS. I worked two job assignments with them, working mostly in Alabama.
My last assignment as a temp was with Nebraska Central, out of Grand Island, NE.
My fellow SLE from NKC was now managing a shortline in New Mexico. He wanted to hire me as an SLE. I worked there out of Deming. NM for several months in 2008. When the railroad slowed down due to a drop in copper prices, I took a transfer to Cimarron Valley RR out of Santanta, KS. When business picked up in NM in 2009, I went back to them. While there, I ran trains, worked as SLE, and as temporary Operations Manager. I quit when I had accumulated enough credits to retire. I had been working away from home since 2005, and two years straight in Deming.
So that is where I am coming from. I've been a model railroader since 1968. HO for the first 10 years, then N-scale since 1978.
I am now a Flotilla Commander in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. We have four facility boats and 14 members in our Flotilla. We are part of Division One, based in Colorado. In turn, we are a part of the US Coast Guard, a part of the Department of Homeland Security.
I really enjoyed being a railroader, but retired when I did because I felt I had spent enough time away from my family. The industry has been good enough to me that I do not have to work in my retirement. I enjoy telling about my experiences, and sharing them here. If you choose not to believe me, that's OK, too.
What's your background?
Les
What would you expect from a Buckaroo?
Since neither of us know each other personally, I'll give you my professional history and you can either believe me or not.
During my college years, I developed an interest in the railroad industry by riding passenger trains. This began in the pre-AMTRAK days of 1968.
I graduated in March 1972 with a BA degree in Political Science and a minor in depth in Geography.
In January 1973 I was offered a clerk's position with Milwaukee Road. I worked clerk's jobs in Winona, Mn, and LaCrosse and Madison, WI. After being laid off MILW, I worked outside the industry until taking an Assistant Trainmaster's position with RI in Iowa Falls, IA.
The Rock went down and took me with it. In 1986, I was on the start-up team for Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern in Pierre, SD. I then worked as a Transportation Assistant (freight agent with expanded territory) in Pierre, SD for the next seven years. It was like being an Assistant Trainmaster. I was responsible for coordinating freight traffic on the west 250 miles of the railroad.
In 1993, a new company policy closed the agencies and consolidated operations into a customer service center. I worked there (Brookings SD) for a year, but was unhappy with the change. I found a position with an OmniTrax railroad in Borger TX and worked there until summer of 1998. While there, I became a locomotive engineer.
I was then offered a Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers position in New Albany, MS. This was a startup railroad owned by North American RailNet. I moved there in 1998 and worked there until 2003. In 2003, the holding company sold the railroad to another holding company. I did not want to work for the new company, and was offered a transfer to Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado Railnet in Grant, NE. I worked there as SLE until 2005, when our friends at Goldman-Sachs forced the sale of all RailNet railroads to the highest bidder, my old employer OmniTrax.
I found I could do better as a temp with a couple different temp firms. This was a great career move for me. It was very profitable and allowed me to gain experience in widely diverse areas of the country. My first assignment was Carolina Piedmont out of Laurens, SC. Then, my next assignment was Connecticut Southern out of East Hartford, CT.
My next temp assignment was Meridian and Bigbee out of Meridian, MS. I worked two job assignments with them, working mostly in Alabama.
My last assignment as a temp was with Nebraska Central, out of Grand Island, NE.
My fellow SLE from NKC was now managing a shortline in New Mexico. He wanted to hire me as an SLE. I worked there out of Deming. NM for several months in 2008. When the railroad slowed down due to a drop in copper prices, I took a transfer to Cimarron Valley RR out of Santanta, KS. When business picked up in NM in 2009, I went back to them. While there, I ran trains, worked as SLE, and as temporary Operations Manager. I quit when I had accumulated enough credits to retire. I had been working away from home since 2005, and two years straight in Deming.
So that is where I am coming from. I've been a model railroader since 1968. HO for the first 10 years, then N-scale since 1978.
I am now a Flotilla Commander in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. We have four facility boats and 14 members in our Flotilla. We are part of Division One, based in Colorado. In turn, we are a part of the US Coast Guard, a part of the Department of Homeland Security.
I really enjoyed being a railroader, but retired when I did because I felt I had spent enough time away from my family. The industry has been good enough to me that I do not have to work in my retirement. I enjoy telling about my experiences, and sharing them here. If you choose not to believe me, that's OK, too.
What's your background?
Les
by airman00
Well I found your experiences to be quite interesting. Wouldn't it be sorta illegal for someone to pave over an active railroad line?
by Desertdweller
Airman,
Normally, it would be. But the track in the parking lot was an industrial spur. I don't know who owned the part of the track in the parking lot. I expected to catch some flack over that incident, but as far as I know, no one complained. If anyone had, I'm sure I would have been told.
But, I do know one instance where a city just went ahead and paved over some rail crossings and, in doing so, put a shortline railroad out of existence. In Colorado, the Rock Island main line ran from the Kansas line to Colorado Springs. The Rock had trackage rights over the UP (ex-Kansas Pacific) line from Limon to Denver, but served Colorado Springs directly. The Rock joined the D&RGW main line just north of downtown, where they had a wye and roundhouse. They shared a station and yard downtown with D&RGW.
When the Rock was dissolved, most mainlines were not abandoned and taken up. Rather, the railroad was broken up into portions and sold to a variety of short lines and regionals (Iowa Interstate, Kyle). The segment between Limon and Colorado Springs was sold to a Michigan short line company, Cadillac and Lake City.
In typical short line fashion, C&LC forwarded freight from Limon to Colorado Springs. Presumably, they interchanged with Kyle and UP at Limon. At the time, UP had no direct access to Colorado Springs.
The city of Colorado Springs was eager to close rail crossings. They had scored a major victory when joint line traffic through the city was routed over the D&RGW track, and the ATSF track through town was taken up. In what I took to be a unilateral move (I don't know what the legal maneuvering amounted to), the city paved over the grade crossings on the C&LC line, which crossed many major north-south streets. This killed the possibility of interchange for C&LC. The few remaining industries that the C&LC served were insufficient to support the railroad.
I don't know how this was allowed to happen. For years afterward, C&LC equipment, including F-units, could be found abandoned on track east of Colorado Springs.
Maybe the whole operation was too marginal to be worth fighting the city for, but that is just my guess.
I'm glad you enjoy my posts.
Les
Normally, it would be. But the track in the parking lot was an industrial spur. I don't know who owned the part of the track in the parking lot. I expected to catch some flack over that incident, but as far as I know, no one complained. If anyone had, I'm sure I would have been told.
But, I do know one instance where a city just went ahead and paved over some rail crossings and, in doing so, put a shortline railroad out of existence. In Colorado, the Rock Island main line ran from the Kansas line to Colorado Springs. The Rock had trackage rights over the UP (ex-Kansas Pacific) line from Limon to Denver, but served Colorado Springs directly. The Rock joined the D&RGW main line just north of downtown, where they had a wye and roundhouse. They shared a station and yard downtown with D&RGW.
When the Rock was dissolved, most mainlines were not abandoned and taken up. Rather, the railroad was broken up into portions and sold to a variety of short lines and regionals (Iowa Interstate, Kyle). The segment between Limon and Colorado Springs was sold to a Michigan short line company, Cadillac and Lake City.
In typical short line fashion, C&LC forwarded freight from Limon to Colorado Springs. Presumably, they interchanged with Kyle and UP at Limon. At the time, UP had no direct access to Colorado Springs.
The city of Colorado Springs was eager to close rail crossings. They had scored a major victory when joint line traffic through the city was routed over the D&RGW track, and the ATSF track through town was taken up. In what I took to be a unilateral move (I don't know what the legal maneuvering amounted to), the city paved over the grade crossings on the C&LC line, which crossed many major north-south streets. This killed the possibility of interchange for C&LC. The few remaining industries that the C&LC served were insufficient to support the railroad.
I don't know how this was allowed to happen. For years afterward, C&LC equipment, including F-units, could be found abandoned on track east of Colorado Springs.
Maybe the whole operation was too marginal to be worth fighting the city for, but that is just my guess.
I'm glad you enjoy my posts.
Les