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David S Send message Joined: 4 Oct 99 Posts: 18352 Credit: 27,761,924 RAC: 12 |
As it is Thanksgiving and this thread hasn't had a boring blue and silver train for months here is one now. The proper name is Platinum Mist, but silver is fine. As it happens the last time I looked at any of the Railstream cameras was 3 months ago just before I left for the Isle of Wight. I was wondering what happened to your posts. Still not sure if I have enough free time to do what I did before but I may watch now and again. Probably to Canal St. Intermodal, around the corner and maybe a mile south. David Sitting on my butt while others boldly go, Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
In honour of the "hated" forum overhaul, I thought I would post another pic of the "hated" blue and " Platinum Mist" boring Amtrak trains. This one at least does a "Heritage unit" at number 2, 184 in Phase IV colours. The California Zephyr yesterday. As an explanation for those who may not read all the threads, I have had to temporarily move in with my 92 year old father on the Isle of Wight to help him cope on a daily basis.I put aside everything I was doing back home After nearly 3 months I am slowly getting used to the daily routine and am hoping to get back to watching the cams now and then. One problem was I had to get broadband installed, then I had problems getting a reliable connection in the spare room and finally had to run cat 5. So now I at least have a stable connection. I wont be able to get back to the level I was before as I just don't have enough free time. |
Mike Send message Joined: 17 Feb 01 Posts: 34258 Credit: 79,922,639 RAC: 80 |
The pics looks great. With each crime and every kindness we birth our future. |
Wiggo Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 34766 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 |
To me 184 looks to have a better colour scheme than 199 Bernie. ;-) But you would think that they'd have airflow diverter on the carriage before the double decker carriage to save on fuel. Cheers. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Trying to get back into remembering the times of all the trains I used to watch!! Today saw a nice pairing on The Lake Shore Ltd through Chesterton. An older P40(upgraded to the same spec as P42) 822 in Phase III livery, leading no 42 the Veterans unit. Nice thing is that with the upgraded east camera, you can get a good shot from both angles, arriving and departing. Nice. PS My favourite colour scheme is, I think the phase 3 as the stripe fits in with the baggage cars |
David S Send message Joined: 4 Oct 99 Posts: 18352 Credit: 27,761,924 RAC: 12 |
To me 184 looks to have a better colour scheme than 199 Bernie. ;-) Many of us American railfans detest the current phase V scheme as seen here on 199. Most of us would like to see a return to phase III and were pleased to see the new baggage cars (such as this one) come from the factory with it. An air diverter might help a little, but not as much as you think and not enough to be worth the effort. The cars are designed to run in either direction, so a diverter would either make the car unidirectional or have to be switched around, taking time that often isn't available in the process of servicing trains, even if extra workers were added (which would increase costs more than the fuel reduction would save). Anyway, there is also a lot of air turbulence and resistance in the gaps between all the cars, so adding a diverter in front of Superliners wouldn't make much difference in the overall problem. The only times when wind is really a problem are with empty unit coal trains where the wind swirling down into 100+ hoppers or deep gondolas creates enough resistance to make the train need as much horsepower to move at full speed as when it's loaded, and when high cross winds can blow a train off the track. Railroads usually issue slow or even stop orders when winds exceed a certain level. The Denver & Rio Grande Western built a wind break on the Big Ten Curve on the approach to Moffatt Tunnel from Denver. Nice page about it: http://www.coloradorailfan.com/TrainLog/logs.asp?p=010602 David Sitting on my butt while others boldly go, Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. |
Jimbocous Send message Joined: 1 Apr 13 Posts: 1853 Credit: 268,616,081 RAC: 1,349 |
The Denver & Rio Grande Western built a wind break on the Big Ten Curve on the approach to Moffatt Tunnel from Fascinating link; thanks for sharing. I live just a few miles from there, and always noticed that there were always some hoppers on a "siding". I know that in Jan 1972, we had tremendous winds which may have been the impetus for this. I was a sophomore in HS that year, and not only did we lose power in school, but all the cars in the student parking lot had windows either blown out or sandblasted into uselessness. Ditto for paint, on some. Also, several houses in the area lost either roofs or garage roofs, not to mention windows. As I recall, the peak gusts at NCAR were measured at 165 mph. I think I still have a newspaper clipping here somewhere. This would be about 10 miles north of the big 10 curves. Those January winds are hell when they hit ... |
Richard Haselgrove Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14650 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 |
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Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Well whilst the next two pics are interesting and both concern the old IC St. Charles Air line Unfortunately I don't currently have the time or contacts to find out the "backstory". I have either Chesterton or Chicago on in the background all day so I don't see everything, but I did notice these two. Yesterday the coal empties came across the airline at Chicago Now whilst CN owns the line I think this is the first time I have seen CN in the lead as it is usually UP or BNSF. Today it was The City of New Orleans that caught my notice. Normally one P42 a baggage car and 5 or 6 superliners. Today 2 P42's and 13 superliners, stretching back out of sight. I wonder what that was all about. Trouble is not being in the loop I miss out on the useful info. |
Jimbocous Send message Joined: 1 Apr 13 Posts: 1853 Credit: 268,616,081 RAC: 1,349 |
Today 2 P42's and 13 superliners, stretching back out of sight. Holiday travelers, perhaps? |
David S Send message Joined: 4 Oct 99 Posts: 18352 Credit: 27,761,924 RAC: 12 |
Today 2 P42's and 13 superliners, stretching back out of sight. That wasn't my first guess, but it's what I'm settling on. This would be the train that left Chicago on Saturday and arrived NOL Sunday, so it could well have had extra cars to get people home. Bernie, do you have images of the rear half of the train? After the bag, I see a transition sleeper, sleeper, diner, I think a lounge, coach, I think another coach (which so far is a normal consist for this train), but beyond that there's not enough detail to make out car types. I had been thinking maybe a previous train was disabled and this one was bringing it back home, but I checked the archives back a few days and don't see any disruptions en route. David Sitting on my butt while others boldly go, Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Today 2 P42's and 13 superliners, stretching back out of sight. As it happens I did video the complete train and as you say it was, trans dorm, sleeper, diner, lounge, coach, coach, coach baggage, then the final 6 were all standard coach. So possibly not another train, but more like holiday extras. Unfortunately I never see the City of New Orleans depart as it leaves at 8:05 pm (2:05 am here) so do't know if it had extra cars. |
David S Send message Joined: 4 Oct 99 Posts: 18352 Credit: 27,761,924 RAC: 12 |
Today 2 P42's and 13 superliners, stretching back out of sight. Okay, good to know. Seems like a lot of coaches and no extra sleepers. Maybe the Sunset Ltd. also had extras and the CONO was deadheading them back to Chicago. Also, that coach baggage could have a cafe in the baggage space. The only way to know is by the car number, which I'm sure you don't have. David Sitting on my butt while others boldly go, Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Well the superliner mystery rumbles on. Today the 381 to Quincy looked like this Normally has three horizon and an Amfleet cafe Today 3 SL coach. Even stranger the 391 to Carbondale looked like this While you can't see the first car due to the glare it is a diner, followed by 2 sleepers?? (Don't often get a double superliner meet on the old airline, that is of course 58 The City of New Orleans) Followed by 4 coach. So I assume the diner and the 2 sleepers were there just to make up the wheel-count. On wonders why?? |
David S Send message Joined: 4 Oct 99 Posts: 18352 Credit: 27,761,924 RAC: 12 |
Well the superliner mystery rumbles on. Strange indeed. Best guess: some sudden need for Horizons somewhere else. (Maybe getting ready for Polar Express later this month...?) Horizons are susceptible to frozen plumbing in winter, but it hasn't been cold enough yet, not even down to freezing last night. David Sitting on my butt while others boldly go, Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
I subscribe to e-mail from the Heritage Units website that tells me when a "heritage" or unusual train has been spotted within 25 miles of Chesterton. Mostly I read them well after the train has passed. However today I read it before the train got to Chesterton. Now it was 3 am at Chesterton and you don see much at that time, however this particular train was difficult to miss Apologies for the quality but the camera couldn't cope Yes the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train It looked a bit better live but unfortunately as it was at a strange time I was using my main machine and had forgotten to suspend crunching, so the recording is very jerky!! A longer view from the other cam, the loco is CP 2246 which is a rebuilt EMD GP20C-ECO Even at 3 am there were some people waiting. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
OK two posts in a row I know, but the subject matter is rather different. Today I had cause to take an almost "coast to coast" trip. Now anywhere else that would seem like a long trip, here on the island it was 17.4 miles. I went to Ryde in the east, where I discovered, Railway tracks, and possibly a station. To be fair I did know about this it is called The Island Line and is all that is left of a proper passenger carrying railway. However it has a few interesting features, the terminus in Ryde is at the end of this Ryde pier, why you ask, would you take a train to the end of the pier, well if you look closely there is a catamaran moored on the end of the pier and it provides high speed service to Portsmouth so you can catch a train to London. In fact the timetable lists London Waterloo as the final destination. Also to a Londoner the trains look strangely familiar They are London Underground 1938 stock. There is even a tunnel. Which is not high enough for standard coaching stock hence the ex-underground stock as it fits the tunnels. I didn't have time today to go to the end of the pier, which by the way you can drive down. Hopefully I can do that on another sunny day. |
Jimbocous Send message Joined: 1 Apr 13 Posts: 1853 Credit: 268,616,081 RAC: 1,349 |
Thanks, Bernie, nice pics! |
David S Send message Joined: 4 Oct 99 Posts: 18352 Credit: 27,761,924 RAC: 12 |
Best guess: some sudden need for Horizons somewhere else. (Maybe getting ready for Polar Express later this month...?) Looks like I was right. There was a blurb on the news this morning that the Polar Express runs this weekend through the first weekend of January. In all the years the CP Holiday Train has been running through the Chicago area, I've never had a chance to see it in person. I may change that tomorrow. If I can kick myself out of bed early enough (and if nothing better for my birthday comes along) I might drive down to Peoria to shoot the Keokuk Jct. Santa Train, then up to Davenport for the CP train. On the other hand, I've already burned a lot of gas in this credit card cycle and I have things I can do at home. But back on the first hand, next weekend is supposed to be really cold, a good time to stay home. But over to the other hand again, I should go out to the museum at least once for Happy Holiday Railway. Decisions, decisions. Meanwhile, here I sit watching Xena, without having taken my Ambien. Not conducive to getting up early (and I'd have to leave at the time I usually get up). David Sitting on my butt while others boldly go, Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Well time for a few pics perhaps. Firstly this looks like just another shot of yet another Lake Shore passing Chesterton. Except to "anoraks " like me it is unusual. 711 is not a P42, it is in fact a P32AC-DM. The DM standing for "Dual Mode" i.e 3rd rail electric and diesel. If you look closley in the center of the bogies (wheels) you can see the red conductor shoe, which 186 doesn't have. It is one of the locomotives that work in the tunnels in and out of Penn station in NY. They normally work around NY, Albany and upstate NY. The Lake Shore is in fact P32AC powered to and from Albany. I suspect this one is going to Chicago for a repaint into "Empire Service" livery. joining 701, 704, 707, and 710. Just happened to see this yesterday NS 8105 ES44AC in Interstate heritage livery. Interestingly the two guys by the track "high fived" after it had gone past, so made someones day. If you are currently not in Illinois you may not be aware it it snowing quite well So here is my first "snow train" of this winter in Coal City IL Was waiting for a train at Chicago but very quiet there today. Finally a I saw a strange thing today at Chesterton, that was not train related. Just what is going on here. They were there for perhaps 30 seconds then all flew off at once and did not return. |
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