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  • All about the Arcade & Attica Railroad
All about the Arcade & Attica Railroad

Moderator: Benjamin Maggi

 #612564  by Mountcastle
 
30 Random Unsolicited Observations About the Arcade & Attica Railroad...


1. The interior of the Arcade depot always has smelled like and continues to smell like a fresh urinal cake.

2. The old Cattaraugus Creek bridge had more charm.

3. Every A&A engineer should be forced to change his name to 'Manley'.

4. A ride on the excursion train is incomplete without popcorn. Those who purchase candy, instead, are doing it wrong.

5. The panhandler makes me uncomfortable. Panhandling you expect on Allen Street in Buffalo, not on a scenic railroad.

6. I miss the crazy guy who used to walk through the train selling souvenirs with an emphasis on 'pinwheels'.

7. Newcomers don't know that they can just board the train without handing someone their ticket first. Somebody should tell them that they should just board the train so that they don't mill around, all confused.

8. No. 18 smells, sounds and 'feels' exactly like No. 14.

9. But 14 was better than 18.

10. That having been said, 18 is wonderful.

11. The current paint scheme of the steam engine and tender is not traditional.

12. The tracks actually run across somebody's front yard and driveway. I've always found that amusing.

13. I always leave the gondola and walk into the first coach when the train passes between the two buildings just before it crosses Main Street on the return to Arcade. The whistle reverberating off the walls is defeaning.

14. 18's 'number plate' looks better painted in red than it did before.

15. The depot's old porch was nicer, but at least they still have the slamming screen door.

16. After a ride on the train, you cannot get the sound of 18's bell out of your head for days.

17. The horns of the diesels sound like church organs.

18. If you brave the gondola on the return trip, you will be showered with both soot and unsolicited facts from camera-toting railfans.

19. Yes, the engineer and the fireman are checking out your girlfriend, sir, and there's nothing you can do about it; so get over it and wipe that indignant look off your face.

20. Parents completely lack common sense. I'm surprised every time some kid doesn't get himself killed.

21. No matter how many times a crew member is asked "how fast can it go?" he'll still answer the question cheerfully, as if it were the first time he'd ever heard it.

22. I liked it better when steps were set up on either side of the cab at Curriers so that passengers could walk through and take a look.

23. Motorists wave at passengers as if they were all celebrities, and vice-versa.

24. Sometimes the engine has flags waving from the smokebox and sometimes it doesn't.

25. The bell is filthy.

26. The hotdogs at Curriers are the best hotdogs anywhere.

27. Kids love the toilets on the train. Adults...not so much.

28. I always know exactly where my ticket is until the conductor shows up.

29. You take your life into your hands trying to cross Main Street on foot.

30. The excursion experience is only complete if you go to the creek to watch the next train pass over the bridge...and wave to all the passengers as it does.
 #628543  by Alcophile
 
Here are some of mine:

1. The house is for sale (I'm sure you're thinking, what I am)

2. I never asked about the train's speed, but I was actually asked by the Conductor once.

3. Someone forgot to close the door on 110

4. There are two speeders in Curriers (I wonder if they run?)

5. I was told by an employee that it costs $1500 a month for Diesel Fuel in both 111 and 112.

6. It used to be $950 a month.

7. The right rail when crossing the street to the enginehouse from the station is loose.
 #630197  by Mountcastle
 
The house is for sale (I'm sure you're thinking, what I am).
I had two 'dream houses' when I was a kid: The White House and that house. Today I have no interest in either. :wink:
 #630278  by Benjamin Maggi
 
The house is for sale (I'm sure you're thinking, what I am)

I am not sure if you are talking about the same house that I am thinking of, but I always wanted to live in the one by the Fire Station that had its driveway intersected by the railroad just after leaving Arcade. As for someone who used to live by the railroad, my wife grew up TWO HOUSES DOWN from the enginehouse in Arcade (facing the enginehouse, count left two houses) and she tells me stories of playing by the tracks and watching the trains. Of course, once I found that out I married her!
 #630281  by Mountcastle
 
That's the one. It's so odd to have railroad tracks crossing one's property where a sidewalk normally would, particularly when a steam train is involved. It must seem very strange to look out one's living room window to see that passing by rather than a big wheel or a kid on roller blades.
 #630342  by Benjamin Maggi
 
It's a problem when you put out your laundry to dry and #18 goes by on a windy day!
 #630374  by steamfan6325
 
Just take the laundry in when you hear the whistle. :wink: Personally I wouldn't mind living there.
 #630532  by jgallaway81
 
Ben, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret...

They have these new fangled technology things... they run on natural gas or electric. The major appliance companies call them (shoosh, don't tell anyone I told you) "dryers".

:-D :P :-D :P
 #630724  by Mountcastle
 
If I lived there, I'd be too tempted to put a lemonade stand on the right-of-way before every excursion, just to screw with them.
 #779506  by jpp452
 
9. Since when are there degrees of perfection?

21. Can't speak to the steam locomotive speeds, but remember riding with Manley one time when #14 was down for service and #111 substituted. As we rattled and vibrated up the hill out of Arcade, the rear-view mirror on the left side of the cab fell out. Without a pause, and with a twinkle in his eye, Manley said "The wind sucked it out."

I've never ridden a train anywhere else that ran fast enough for that to happen.
 #779544  by jgallaway81
 
Sorry, but I disagree on the 14 better than 18.... you will never convince me that a 6-driver is better than an 8-driver.

18 has three things that make it completely superior to 14.... 1) 8 drivers - 2) 18 was built by the AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY (sorry, anything with "American" in it is special to me) - 3) 18 runs!!!!! :-) :-D :P


EDIT: I just HAD to add this.. Since when have you ever heard of a forum limiting the number of smilies in a post? Especially to only 3??????
 #780631  by Benjamin Maggi
 
jgallaway81 wrote:Sorry, but I disagree on the 14 better than 18.... you will never convince me that a 6-driver is better than an 8-driver.

18 has three things that make it completely superior to 14....
1) 8 drivers -


But for pulling passengers, a high-stepping ten-wheeler is surely better then a lowely consolidation?
jgallaway81 wrote: 2) 18 was built by the AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY (sorry, anything with "American" in it is special to me) -


Um, wasn't it built by COOKE in New Joyzee?
jgallaway81 wrote: 3) 18 runs!!!!! :-) :-D :P
In this case, I agree that an OPERATING 8-drivered engine is better than any static 6-drivered engine. If they would take the silly walkway off from the front of #18's smokebox, my opinion on #18 might change. I just like the way that the front of #14 looks... like a steamer should.



jgallaway81 wrote:EDIT: I just HAD to add this.. Since when have you ever heard of a forum limiting the number of smilies in a post? Especially to only 3??????