Railroad Forums 

  • Why are some of you folks so ga-ga about Alco's ?

  • Discussion of products from the American Locomotive Company. A web site with current Alco 251 information can be found here: Fairbanks-Morse/Alco 251.
Discussion of products from the American Locomotive Company. A web site with current Alco 251 information can be found here: Fairbanks-Morse/Alco 251.

Moderator: Alcoman

 #162559  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
Well, actually, the T-6 Texan is a pre-WW-2 trainer, 2 seater, radial engined, low wing aircraft, used to prepare pilots for Avengers, SBD bombers, Hellcats, Hell-Divers, etc. Commonly seen in the old tv show Black Sheep Squadron, they were painted to resemble japanese zeros, which at first glance, they look a little bit like. Slightly off topic, but we were trying to find a subject that UPRR could relate to, since the railroad/railfan thing just wasn't connecting with him. We tried cars, planes, etc., but he still doesn't get why some folks are ga-ga over trains, in general, and ALCO's specifically. Sorry for the confusion......... :P Regards :wink:

 #162570  by UPRR engineer
 
Im still waiting for you to reply to our other topic. :wink: I've came to the point of, to each his own, with this subject. Railfans are a weird bunch in my eyes, unless a guy is looking to hire on that is. I lose interest quick in the things im not able to physically touch, shoot, play with (hot chicks), run, drive, ride, catch, or find. Maybe im the odd one.

A little upset i didnt hear more about rubbing the fuel tank and what not, like you said buddy, guys would pay money to do such things to a locomotive. :wink:
Last edited by UPRR engineer on Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 #162572  by thebigc
 
mp15ac wrote: Actually, the Alco T-6 has an inline six cylinder diesel engine. The C-415 has a V-8 diesel.
Stuart
Ya know, I realized this on my way to the beer store a few minutes ago and wondered if I could edit the post before I got caught. Apparently not. :wink:

 #162578  by thebigc
 
GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Well, actually, the T-6 Texan is a pre-WW-2 trainer, 2 seater, radial engined, low wing aircraft, used to prepare pilots for Avengers, SBD bombers, Hellcats, Hell-Divers, etc. Commonly seen in the old tv show Black Sheep Squadron, they were painted to resemble japanese zeros, which at first glance, they look a little bit like. Slightly off topic, but we were trying to find a subject that UPRR could relate to, since the railroad/railfan thing just wasn't connecting with him. We tried cars, planes, etc., but he still doesn't get why some folks are ga-ga over trains, in general, and ALCO's specifically. Sorry for the confusion......... :P Regards :wink:
Just breakin' your chops, G-A. I knew you were talkin' about the trainer. They were very popular in war movies in Japanese markings as the bad guys' planes. Friend of mine who's a machinist on the RR served on the Yorktown in the late sixties told me how the older guys on the ship were upset about having "zeroes" on their ship for a movie shoot. Didn't realize they were US trainers in Japanese markings.

 #162624  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
Based on the content of my, and everyone elses posts, I figured we were all on the same page, regarding those old "Texans" :-D . Those "other" T-6's were also pretty cool, for different reasons though. I kinda liked the evolution of the first generation ALCO switchers, into the later , or second generation, specifically the T series. I did miss, however, the burbling and thumping, of the 539 powerplant, and it's ability to run on one cylinder, on a cold winter morning, while waiting for additional cylinders to "fire-up", accompanied by huge fireballs out of the stack, and a violent shake of the whole loco, as each additional cylinder finally "caught" ! Kind of like a "Century" switcher, if they had included the T series, along with the Century series. The notched corners, with the number boards reminds me specifically of the C-420 rear hood number board area. Another thing to be "GA-GA" over. Regards :wink:

 #162856  by Paul
 
Why do I like ALCO's so much ? Because Paul could fix them, almost as fast as I could break 'em, that's why Very Happy The things were bullet-proof, and IF one did break, repairs were usually quick, and easy. See you soon, Paul, Regards
Hey GA: Your check for twenty dollars is in the mail. :wink:
I was wondering if anyone would catch on to the T6 v T6 thing.
Remember when we took the 206 to Hoboken Station for some train display and I though enough to bring the piston along wih it? I still have the golf shirt Squeak gave me for "donating" my time. To bad the pin head ex-Conrail CMO sold the parts off of her as I was redoing 206's bottom end. God I hated that guy. :(

 #163616  by Champlain Division
 
Dear Ol' Loco Guy,

I shall quote your original question:

"Why are some of you guys so ga-ga about Alcos ? Inquiring minds want to know. Do tell !!!!"

And then I'll quote your signature statement:

"Some folks think being born on third base is the same thing as hitting a triple-Barry Switzer"

The answer to your question is IN your signature statement/moto!

There's a saying among many I have discussed this subject with that is recommended for use in these situations. It goes as follows:

From one railfan/railroad enthusiast/train buff to another, no explanation is necessary. From one railfan/railroad enthusiast/train buff to a NON-railfan/railroad enthusiast/train buff, no explanation is possible.

This, however, is a cop-out statement on the part of railfans when confronted with a critical jerk who thinks he's a normal person who is basically doing nothing but persecuting someone else for being different, no matter how tactful the persecutor is being. When that person says "I still don't understand" he's really saying that he thinks that you're weird and that something is wrong with you AND that he definitely wouldn't let his daughter date you. He's also saying that what he's interested in is perfectly alright and that what you're interested in is just plain a wrong choice on your part.

Our poster has declared in his signature statement that he has a particularly strong interest in/feeling for something that seems to be loosely related to baseball. His User ID also indicates that he might have some sort of interest in trains. Based on that, he has no excuse for asking what amounts to be a very DUMB question that he should know better than to ask!

Whether it's fishing, hot chicks, Harley-Davidsons, Vintage Warbirds, woodworking, coin collecting, Alco-haulics....whatever....every person that asks this kind of question should consider what a PASSION is.

I would say that you have a passion for something if you have a library of, or subscription to, magazines about what you're interested in. If you have a favorite subject that you like to read about in your spare time, or on the crapper, then you're guilty of having a passion. Alco-philes/Alco-haulics have a passion for ALCOS! What's your's?

I think I have clearly demonstrated that our poster has a passion for at least two things that are important to him. Let me make another clear statement. There is room for any related interest that comes under the broad heading of Railroad Enthusiasm. And I mean any!

Just look at our Forums Page. I have just about zero interest in many of the forums listed there. However, I would never think of, nor consider......for even a second.....questioning or criticizing in any way why someone else would be interested in them. Their interest in them is okay with me no matter how much it differs from mine.

Sir, consider yourself chastized. If you're interested in winning friends and influencing people positively then this is the kind of question you need to leave alone permanently.

 #163626  by MEC407
 
Champlain Division wrote:... a (person) who thinks he's a normal person who is basically doing nothing but persecuting someone else for being different ... he's really saying that he thinks that you're weird and that something is wrong with you ... He's also saying that what he's interested in is perfectly alright and that what you're interested in is just plain a wrong choice on your part.
That pretty much sums up UPRR Engineer's thoughts on the subject. :P LOL

 #163780  by N. Todd
 
Champlain Division wrote:
... a (person) who thinks he's a normal person who is basically doing nothing but persecuting someone else for being different ... he's really saying that he thinks that you're weird and that something is wrong with you ... He's also saying that what he's interested in is perfectly alright and that what you're interested in is just plain a wrong choice on your part.


That pretty much sums up UPRR Engineer's thoughts on the subject. Razz LOL
[Chuckle]

 #163807  by Alcoman
 
Ok, lets get back on topic please. Its almost time to lock this thread. HINT! HINT!

 #163924  by Typewriters
 
I believe that one of the best terms you can use is NOT "railfan," or "train nut." Or anything like that.

I like the term used quite often overseas. It's "enthusiast." No direct involvement with the actual interest is implied, and none taken. It indicates an interest in, with enthusiasm for, a particular -- well -- hobby or interest. Nobody who refers to themselves as an enthusiast in a field is ever mistaken for an employee, but certainly can be taken seriously.

As for ALCOs and their following? The mystery of the "gone." Just like interests in any sort of archaeology -- and isn't a vast amount of time and effort in our hobby given to nostalgia, and the past? It's actually not surprising at all, then, but keeping right in-theme. Naturally, when I put down one of the Don Ball books I love to just look through (without reading the captions) I have to come back to "now," and perhaps the interest in ALCO is a sort of disconnect between our favorite images of four-unit sets of ALCO-GE freighters hurtling along with Erie's 'Flying Saucer' and the ALCO-less present day.

Just my two cents.

-Will Davis

PS -- Oh, one more thing. You wanna be called a nut? Try to tell somebody you have two hundred and thirty typewriters. Even when I tell them that I write a regular column for ETCetera, the journal of the Early Typewriter Collectors' Association which is sent literally world-wide, they still can't take it seriously. Being a railfan is nothing compared to that. It still doesn't stop me, and I don't offer excuses.
 #164110  by pablo
 
You collect that many typewriters? Wow....that is wierd...

I'm just kidding. This site wouldn't exist if we all didn't like trains, from any perspective. To each their own.

Dave Becker

 #164154  by N. Todd
 
Collecting typewriters is not weird in my opinion, just kinda different. Going for fingernails, sheet rock, light switches, paper cups, every version of AOL, and buses is weird.

People have called me a nut because I have two stacks on my desk of magazines, roster data, and locomotive drawings going halfway to the ceiling. My aerial photos, maps, and about 60 sheets of paperwork for my employer don't even come close. I must have cleared out a forest, but try to reuse paper though a printer...

Anybody else considered/called crazy here?

 #164160  by MEC407
 
*raises hand*

Yup, been called crazy/nut/weird dozens of times.

Some of my unusual/odd/obscure interests/obsessions include:
  • school buses
    marching bands
    phonographs
    and of course, anything related to trains and railroads
And even within the rail hobby, there are specific subsets of the hobby that have caused me to be ridiculed by other railfans -- for instance, my interest in GE U18B locomotives. This is similar to how some ALCO fans are ridiculed by other railfans.

I know several people who collected "railroad ephemera" -- tickets, ticket stubs, employee timetables, seat checks, that sort of thing. Those items don't particularly interest me, but I certainly don't think that the people who are interested in them are any more or less crazy than I am. :-D

 #164533  by UPRR engineer
 
MEC407 wrote:
Champlain Division wrote:... a (person) who thinks he's a normal person who is basically doing nothing but persecuting someone else for being different ... he's really saying that he thinks that you're weird and that something is wrong with you ... He's also saying that what he's interested in is perfectly alright and that what you're interested in is just plain a wrong choice on your part.
That pretty much sums up UPRR Engineer's thoughts on the subject. :P LOL
In a round about way maybe. I was just trying to get a better understanding is all. I never bashed anyone, it just seems a little weird, besides the Arm who gets to run the things. I understand him. Carry on guys!!! :wink:
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