http://abc7.com/news/amtrak-passenger-train-derails-in-vermont/1017393/

---

An overhead view of the Vermonter derailment.



Loco 102 and the first car derailed to the left and the following car to the right.

---

I got this via FB, so here goes nothing:

AMTK #10001 rides the rear of arriving #6 this afternoon as counterpart #5 begins its journey west from Chicago. Six blocks to the east, the Soldier Field loudspeakers are clearly heard as Da Bears somehow miraculously eke out a season's first victory over the Oakland Raiders.

My question is, what does that Box on the end of the car at the top w/the wiper do?

From Wiki

#10001 Beech Grove, a "Amfleet office car" used for official business by the Amtrak president and other VIPs. This unique car has an open observation platform, lounge seating area, dining room, kitchen and 2 sleeping accommodations. it also has lights, GPS equipment and a camera to inspect tracks for defects.

My guess that is where the camara is placed.

---

So the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners special train The Spirit of St Louis has finally completed it's round trip and returned to Chicago today.

Twenty private cars and a heritage P42 .

Take me too long to separate all the cars into individual pictures, so here is the video of it arriving at Chicago courtesy of Railstream..

https://youtu.be/lK8h_dj0czE

---

So the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners special train The Spirit of St Louis has finally completed it's round trip and returned to Chicago today.

Twenty private cars and a heritage P42 .

Take me too long to separate all the cars into individual pictures, so here is the video of it arriving at Chicago courtesy of Railstream..

https://youtu.be/lK8h_dj0czE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNp7tntexY4 Video taken by a BNSF engineer; I'm not sure where.

I got pictures at Naperville (and also of the four IPH cars on 4, with my friend unloading some passengers), but between the crappy weather and the whistle post at the end of the platform, most of them suck.

MH went out to Berwyn to get pictures of it. (And I believe that's MH's picture Vic posted.)

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

So the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners special train The Spirit of St Louis has finally completed it's round trip and returned to Chicago today.

Twenty private cars and a heritage P42 .

Take me too long to separate all the cars into individual pictures, so here is the video of it arriving at Chicago courtesy of Railstream..

https://youtu.be/lK8h_dj0czE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNp7tntexY4 Video taken by a BNSF engineer; I'm not sure where.

I got pictures at Naperville (and also of the four IPH cars on 4, with my friend unloading some passengers), but between the crappy weather and the whistle post at the end of the platform, most of them suck.

MH went out to Berwyn to get pictures of it. (And I believe that's MH's picture Vic posted.)

Unless MH is known as 'Patrick Emanueal Hill', then I'd say no.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

So the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners special train The Spirit of St Louis has finally completed it's round trip and returned to Chicago today.

Twenty private cars and a heritage P42 .

Take me too long to separate all the cars into individual pictures, so here is the video of it arriving at Chicago courtesy of Railstream..

https://youtu.be/lK8h_dj0czE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNp7tntexY4 Video taken by a BNSF engineer; I'm not sure where.

I got pictures at Naperville (and also of the four IPH cars on 4, with my friend unloading some passengers), but between the crappy weather and the whistle post at the end of the platform, most of them suck.

MH went out to Berwyn to get pictures of it. (And I believe that's MH's picture Vic posted.)

Unless MH is known as 'Patrick Emanueal Hill', then I'd say no.

I went back and checked. That is definitely Mark Hinsdale's photo, taken from his balcony. Patrick Hill must have reposted it. And if he didn't give Mark credit, that's technically theft.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Good, if chilly, day at the museum Saturday. After the graffiti was removed last Sunday, the bilevel train was moved back next to barn 9 on the Car Line. And left there. Thus, no streetcar running on Saturday.

Also, with no one qualified to run the PCC L train willing to come out and do it, that train was cancelled. Subbing for it was IT 415, and I was given "unofficial" training on it. It was the first car to run under its own power when IRM moved to Union, doing so in 1966 (hey, that's when I was born! It's been in continuous service longer than I've been alive). It's a Safety Car, meaning you have to hold down the controller handle or it goes into emergency and cuts off the power. I managed to only do that when it was stopped anyway.

It had all the brake shoes on one side replaced on Friday, so it stops very quickly. It handles similarly to, and yet differently from, 3142. You have to be very quick with your movement of the brake handle.

But it's fun! barreling down the main at 40 mph is a blast. THIS is what I signed up as a volunteer for.

With the freight train having been left parked on the main, we were working through East Switch again. This initially caused a problem, with both trains working off of track 1, so we did one shuttle trip west to Jefferson St. and then moved over to Depot St., from where we ran for the rest of the day.

Best of all, we did not have any problems (well, okay, there was a minor issue with the doors at one end, but no big deal). On the last trip, we stopped at several points to pick up discarded water bottles.

If I can get officially trained on this car, I can work during the week next summer.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

So the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners special train The Spirit of St Louis has finally completed it's round trip and returned to Chicago today.

Twenty private cars and a heritage P42 .

Take me too long to separate all the cars into individual pictures, so here is the video of it arriving at Chicago courtesy of Railstream..

https://youtu.be/lK8h_dj0czE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNp7tntexY4 Video taken by a BNSF engineer; I'm not sure where.

I got pictures at Naperville (and also of the four IPH cars on 4, with my friend unloading some passengers), but between the crappy weather and the whistle post at the end of the platform, most of them suck.

MH went out to Berwyn to get pictures of it. (And I believe that's MH's picture Vic posted.)

Unless MH is known as 'Patrick Emanueal Hill', then I'd say no.

I went back and checked. That is definitely Mark Hinsdale's photo, taken from his balcony. Patrick Hill must have reposted it. And if he didn't give Mark credit, that's technically theft.

Mark Hinsdale is mentioned there on FB, I just didn't see it at first, that is My concentration problem rearing its head.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Bernie, did you happen to catch Amtrak 6 yesterday? It had 660 behind the power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu-HkuLX2tA the video includes the Amtrak engineer calling a foreman for permission through his limits. It will give you an idea of American procedures.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Bernie, did you happen to catch Amtrak 6 yesterday? It had 660 behind the power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu-HkuLX2tA the video includes the Amtrak engineer calling a foreman for permission through his limits. It will give you an idea of American procedures.

Yes I did



As to the radio, most of the Railstream cameras include the local scanner feed, however I have found that whilst I can mostly hear what is being said I don't really understand much of it.

Sometimes the accents and interference make it impossible to follow the conversations! As to the video I had assumed that the train number was a routing number but seems it is the the loco number as 195 was in the lead. So at least that is something I have learnt.

PS whilst typing this I had the Chicago camera on and once again I have head a very loud siren, I keep meaning to ask what they are, I assume some sort of test, but what for?

---

PS whilst typing this I had the Chicago camera on and once again I have head a very loud siren, I keep meaning to ask what they are, I assume some sort of test, but what for?

---

Bernie, did you happen to catch Amtrak 6 yesterday? It had 660 behind the power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu-HkuLX2tA the video includes the Amtrak engineer calling a foreman for permission through his limits. It will give you an idea of American procedures.

Yes I did



As to the radio, most of the Railstream cameras include the local scanner feed, however I have found that whilst I can mostly hear what is being said I don't really understand much of it.

Sometimes the accents and interference make it impossible to follow the conversations! As to the video I had assumed that the train number was a routing number but seems it is the the loco number as 195 was in the lead. So at least that is something I have learnt.

In most places, trains identify themselves by the lead locomotive's reporting mark and number. Technically, they should have said AMTK 195, but Amtrak 195 is widely accepted as being easier to say. Here on the BNSF Chicago Sub, they usually use the train ID, mainly because of all the suburban trains that probably don't have the same engine from one day to the next.

PS whilst typing this I had the Chicago camera on and once again I have head a very loud siren, I keep meaning to ask what they are, I assume some sort of test, but what for?

Most localities, at least in this region, test their air raid / tornado warning sirens at 10 or 1030 AM. Out here, it's done on the first Tuesday of the month, but it used to be every Tuesday and may still be in Chicago. (If there is threatening weather in the area, they will skip the test to avoid confusion with a real warning.)

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Bernie, did you happen to catch Amtrak 6 yesterday? It had 660 behind the power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu-HkuLX2tA the video includes the Amtrak engineer calling a foreman for permission through his limits. It will give you an idea of American procedures.

Yes I did



As to the radio, most of the Railstream cameras include the local scanner feed, however I have found that whilst I can mostly hear what is being said I don't really understand much of it.

Sometimes the accents and interference make it impossible to follow the conversations! As to the video I had assumed that the train number was a routing number but seems it is the the loco number as 195 was in the lead. So at least that is something I have learnt.

In most places, trains identify themselves by the lead locomotive's reporting mark and number. Technically, they should have said AMTK 195, but Amtrak 195 is widely accepted as being easier to say. Here on the BNSF Chicago Sub, they usually use the train ID, mainly because of all the suburban trains that probably don't have the same engine from one day to the next.

PS whilst typing this I had the Chicago camera on and once again I have head a very loud siren, I keep meaning to ask what they are, I assume some sort of test, but what for?

Most localities, at least in this region, test their air raid / tornado warning sirens at 10 or 1030 AM. Out here, it's done on the first Tuesday of the month, but it used to be every Tuesday and may still be in Chicago. (If there is threatening weather in the area, they will skip the test to avoid confusion with a real warning.)

Air Raid!! Air Raid!! MASH episode, Frank got ditched. LOL! :)

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

PS whilst typing this I had the Chicago camera on and once again I have head a very loud siren, I keep meaning to ask what they are, I assume some sort of test, but what for?

Most localities, at least in this region, test their air raid / tornado warning sirens at 10 or 1030 AM. Out here, it's done on the first Tuesday of the month, but it used to be every Tuesday and may still be in Chicago. (If there is threatening weather in the area, they will skip the test to avoid confusion with a real warning.)

Air Raid!! Air Raid!! MASH episode, Frank got ditched. LOL! :)

Dear Sigmund

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Now here is something a little different!!

On my walk this morning I noticed something unusual parked on platform 4 at My local station



Yes it's that time of year again! One of Network Rails leaf cleaning trains

With a Class 73 on this end and something a bit different on the other.

As you can see from this shot, the all stations to Brighton line stretches off in front. The all stations to East Grinstead branches off to the left. So what happens is that the leaf cleaner comes up the Brighton line stops at South Croydon station the crew change ends and as you can see the signal has just changed for the left branch.

I did just manage to get a shot of 73119 "Borough of Eastleigh"



However the much rarer Class 20 on the front was a bit too far away for a clear shot before it moved off.



The unusual feature of the class 20 for a British loco was the single cab. This in fact did cause visibility problems when running "long hood forward" and resulted in the class often being used in pairs.

Whilst there are a few left and this is the fist one I have every seen in service!

---

As the younger ones say, kewl.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

We "suffer" the MPV versions of the leaf busting trains passing our office a couple of times a day. Trouble is because they don't run on a fixed schedule, but "grab an available path" it is hard to get a good picture as they are only in sight for a few seconds...

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Heading off to Minneapolis tomorrow, chasing whatever trains I see along the way. Mike is going with me. Then on Saturday, we're chasing MILW 261 to Superior, WI, and back, and on Sunday to Willmar, MN. There is no wye at Willmar; they're turning 261 on the turntable, and then I assume it's pulling the train backwards back to Minneapolis. We may take off rather than chase it back, since it's a long drive home and I have to work on Monday.

Also having a pang of jealousy, or deflated ego, or something. I see that two other guys are getting trained on 415 this weekend.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

261 is the sister to 265 at IRM?

---