"MH" Mark Hinsdale ventured out into the cold today for some photography in the sunshine. These shots of a several hours late #49 Lake Shore Limited (he says it was delayed by both bad weather and engine trouble) at Whiting, IN, in much better light than usually hits it there, are posted on Facebook.

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

Yes NS8978 added near Sandusky after both P42's failed once or twice, one was finally resurrected enough to provide HEP and some tractive effort.

Here passing a sunny but cold looking Chesterton over 5 hours late.



I was surprised how fast it actually went through, normally used to seeing those freight engines going much slower!!

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I was surprised how fast it actually went through, normally used to seeing those freight engines going much slower!!

Probably geared for about 73 mph.

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

More from MH. He braved the snow today, trekking to East Chicago, IN on word that UP 1996 was leading four other UP units on a westbound CSX train.




However, while he was waiting, he got something else that is, to me anyway, far more exotic.




South Shore 804, formerly Iowa Interstate 154. Here's somebody else's shot of it, running down the street in Michigan City.




I must see it this spring/summer. Heck, I'll probably be going to Michigan City in a couple of weeks.

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

No, I don't know anything about trains. But there is a short section of track I know of that makes a slight bend as it crosses a road diagonally and for some reason train parts are always falling off there. I once walked along it with a friend picking up the pieces and took them home. Of course there is no use for mystery train parts. I don't know what happened to them. Maybe thrown in the trash in spite of being huge pieces of metal.
Is it true that once you go train track you never go back?

Thought I will push the thread to a new dimension, or at least a different scale.



These are four locos belonging to members of my club when we visited Newton Abbot club last July. From right to left we have 5" gauge 4-6-0 King Class, 4-6-4T Halton Tank, 0-4-2 'Sweet Pea' and lastly an 0-6-0 'Metre Maid.

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A person who makes no mistakes, creates nothing.

I have a friend who's into live steam.

I model in a considerably smaller scale, HO, 1/87, 3.5mm/ft.

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

I model in a considerably smaller scale, HO, 1/87, 3.5mm/ft.

I started out in OO (1/76, 4mm/ft), and at the club I was invited by the live steam boys to play with their trains and needless to say the smell of coal, steam and hot oil ate into my soul and I have been hooked ever since on live steam, and that was forty years ago. I still dabble with OO, and collect some HO Continental models.

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A person who makes no mistakes, creates nothing.

There was a magazine-style book at a library I saw last year that combined scale trains with miniature landscape plants. Kind of bonsai size trees and small growing bushes and things outside. I think it mostly showed places in Canada and maybe Ohio. I liked the plants.
I cannot see any picture in this thread on my phone, but you maybe know the people with the scale trains and miniature landscapes. Or not.

Oh dear:

Office of Rail Regulation bans West Coast Railways from running services

West Coast Railways are one of the biggest operators of steam excursions in the UK.

Their problems started last year when the driver of a steam train(having disabled the Train Protection System) passed a signal at danger and crossed onto the main line. Luckily there was no accident but the ORR then stated looking at WCRC and this is the result.

If they didn't learn then one wonders if they ever will!!

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That is a real shame, and is not the run of the mill occurrence with Heritage steam companies. Usually they are ultra careful because of the rolling stock they are using :-(

Is it lax management just after profits or untrained drivers and staff?

Well deliberately, disconnecting the Train Protection System, in two separate incidences, either suggests staff who finds the "rules tiresome". Or management pushing staff and turning a blind eye to safety.

I wonder if there are problems with the TPS and staff are being pushed to run the services rather than take the train out of service, which they should if the TPS was not operating correctly.

The original problem was in March, yet in October, it happened again!

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While one would hope that all the (UK) heritage owners and operators would cherish their stock I can say that there are one or two who are in the "We've always done it this way" mold. Very often "this way" is a very long way removed from even "barely acceptable" never mind "best practice" or "industry leading" practice. And said people get very upset when we (as gate keepers) reject their work and make them to do it all again.

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

Office of Rail Regulation bans West Coast Railways from running services

That's a sorry tale of woe, isn't it? Especially the formal 9-page decision letter linked from the press release: that echoed an very old phrase I was reminded of recently: "Fish rot from the head". And a strong smell of rotting fish leaps off the page.

These phrases were very familiar from my years of working with the voluntary sector:

Further, the Chairman is making the decisions for WCRC regardless of the views and advice of other staff members and contrary to WCRC's safety management system.

WCRC informed us that it had recruited a nonexecutive Director, General Manager and additional staff to supplement its safety management team.

WCRC's written submissions further confirmed that the General Manager had left,

change the make-up of its Board, specifically the Executive Group. This should include the appointment of:
• an autonomous Chief Executive who is fully responsible for the operation of the company and its safety management systems;
• an executive in charge of safety who is suitably qualified and competent;
• an executive in charge of engineering who is suitably qualified and competent;
• for the Chairman to step back as proposed in his letter.

All-in-all, it doesn't feel like a transport operation at all - just a bunch of small boys playing with a train set several sizes too large for them (a phrase that came to mind in connection with the original privatisation and Balkanisation of British Rail into disconnected and competing companies). It works for a small, self-contained, private line, but not when their operations cover the length and breadth of the country.

I wonder how many of those £450 passengers know that - or have thought through the implications of - their trains being operated by 'staff' on zero-hours employment contracts?

That is a real shame, and is not the run of the mill occurrence with Heritage steam companies. Usually they are ultra careful because of the rolling stock they are using :-(

Is it lax management just after profits or untrained drivers and staff?

Well deliberately, disconnecting the Train Protection System, in two separate incidences, either suggests staff who finds the "rules tiresome". Or management pushing staff and turning a blind eye to safety.
...
The original problem was in March, yet in October, it happened again!

Corporate types, I bought the liability insurance, what's the problem?

Now they have "transportation experience" so when they leave here they will go buy airplanes!

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If anyone was wondering what I might be up to on the first Sunday in April, this should answer your question.

[edit]

That's also opening day at the museum, but even if I weren't doing this trip, I'd have to decide among three other things to do that day.

I did send in requests for a whole bunch of days' assignments this year, up to mid-September (I want to be night conductor on the steam coach train for Saturday of Showcase Weekend). I also put in for Percy conductor for the two Saturdays of Thomas (we supposedly won't need a switchtender this year).

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

Siemens installs the engine in the first new Charger.

(bfd)

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

...I'm plotting a little train journey later on in the year: Toronto, Jasper, Prince George, Prince Rupert (and a few flights to get there and back)

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

...I'm plotting a little train journey later on in the year: Toronto, Jasper, Prince George, Prince Rupert (and a few flights to get there and back)

I'd like to do that someday. Probably never will.

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

Seems that one of the Amtrak heritage paint locos was involved in an accident yesterday

It was leading train 303 Chicago to St Louis, when a semi in Joliet for some reason was only halfway across as 66 arrived.



Apparently there were no injuries. The train was towed back to Chicago.

Picture from Joliet FD Facebook page.

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Sorry for not getting back earlier, been rather busy.

Some of that 5" and 7 1/2" stuff is drop dead gorgeous, but the s/h prices are a shaker. Mind you for the bigger boys the 15" RH&D is hard to beat.

It depends on what you think is too much, for 5" gauge prices vary from around £3000 (for small engine) to £10000 for a large engine. Prices will vary on condition and quality of build, but the important variable is if there is a current boiler certificate. Not having can one knock the price down by half especially if the boiler is not in good nick. Like in most spheres of life people will pay stupid amounts for certain models, like exhibition gold medal winners, or models that have been owned by celebrities and here prices can shoot upto £100000 and over.

There was a magazine-style book at a library I saw last year that combined scale trains with miniature landscape plants. Kind of bonsai size trees and small growing bushes and things outside. I think it mostly showed places in Canada and maybe Ohio. I liked the plants.
I cannot see any picture in this thread on my phone, but you maybe know the people with the scale trains and miniature landscapes. Or not.

I have seen photos where I have trouble to distinguish whether it a photo of the real thing or a model. There was an article recently in 'Engineering in Miniature' about photographing models. It explained that most common mistake that people make is that they take picture of a model from above, whereas in real life you take a picture looking up (real locos are big, even a small loco is big) so to a model look real you have take picture from low down. Of course now a days you don't have bother with growing miniature plants, but use photoshop software instead.

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A person who makes no mistakes, creates nothing.