I thought you might like to see this. It was taken the day I qualified on the streetcar. That's me at the controls (actually posing like I'm running the car, but we weren't going anywhere with the doors open). The older gentleman standing in the doorway was the motorman of the day. Once the guy in charge of training had ridden a lap with me, he took me off and we left this man to run it the rest of the day.

[Photo by Mike Imaoka] (Linked because it's too big to post here as an image.)

---

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

I thought you might like to see this. It was taken the day I qualified on the streetcar. That's me at the controls (actually posing like I'm running the car, but we weren't going anywhere with the doors open). The older gentleman standing in the doorway was the motorman of the day. Once the guy in charge of training had ridden a lap with me, he took me off and we left this man to run it the rest of the day.

[Photo by Mike Imaoka] (Linked because it's too big to post here as an image.)

Qualified Motorman on the Streetcar - Congratulations, David!
What's next?

---

Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

I thought you might like to see this. It was taken the day I qualified on the streetcar. That's me at the controls (actually posing like I'm running the car, but we weren't going anywhere with the doors open). The older gentleman standing in the doorway was the motorman of the day. Once the guy in charge of training had ridden a lap with me, he took me off and we left this man to run it the rest of the day.

[Photo by Mike Imaoka] (Linked because it's too big to post here as an image.)

Qualified Motorman on the Streetcar - Congratulations, David!
What's next?

Coach train conductor, and motorman on other streetcars like that one. One year after my qualification date, I can start learning different types of electric cars: PCC streetcars, older L cars, and interurbans. Once I learn one of those types, I can learn newer L cars.

I don't know what the path is to learning to run diesels. Probably have to help them with restoration for a while.

---

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

Ground Breaking in Fresno CA on Jan 6th 2015 for HSR in CA...

---

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

Watching the web cams at Chesterton and Chicago I am coming to the conclusion that some of the railroads are short on motive power.

Yesterday this gem appeared at Chesterton



And later at Chicago



I seem to remember being told that the number on a US loco had to to be big and easy to see. The last time I saw a loco in that state in the UK was one that had been rescued from a scrapyard and was being towed to be restored!!

Here is another classic



In both cases these were the lead loco also in both cases the leading "8" seems to have been removed.

What is going on here?

---

Watching the web cams at Chesterton and Chicago I am coming to the conclusion that some of the railroads are short on motive power.

Yesterday this gem appeared at Chesterton

And later at Chicago

I seem to remember being told that the number on a US loco had to to be big and easy to see. The last time I saw a loco in that state in the UK was one that had been rescued from a scrapyard and was being towed to be restored!!

Here is another classic

In both cases these were the lead loco also in both cases the leading "8" seems to have been removed.

What is going on here?

Yes, with the surge in traffic over the last couple of years, the railroads are very short of power. Both EMD and GE have been churning out new ones as fast as they can, but as of today, the new Tier 4 environmental regulations are in effect and EMD isn't able to meet them. That pretty much leaves the market to GE for a couple of years.

Anyway, the railroads have been raiding their storage lines like crazy. BNSF is yanking anything that can be made to run out of storage and putting it back in service, with only the minimum required maintenance. So is Canadian Pacific. Likewise Canadian National and Norfolk Southern. I'm not sure how much CSX is doing it, but probably some.

In the case of some of the BNSF units, they were originally bought by the Santa Fe and numbered in the 200s. After the BN merger, they had an 8 added to the front of the number, and more of the same were bought with the 8. Since they went into storage, newer units have been put in the same 8xxx series, so now the old ones are having the 8 removed when they're reactivated.

NS is taking the time to run their old power through a major rebuild program that involves rebuilt engines, new electrical systems, and even new cabs. They're also buying units from other railroads (notably Union Pacific) and including them in the rebuild program -- or not. CP is doing some rebuilds too, but less aggressively and extensively. CN is also active in the used market, but not bothering to rebuild (or even repaint) unless they really need it. UP is only selling one model that they've given up on and still reactivating other old stuff like the other roads. NS picked up some BNSF units whose lease ran out and BNSF declined to buy them outright.

As ratty as those BNSF units look, we fans like to see them because we know that if they get repainted, it will be in the latest version of orange and green. (Or is it black?)

---

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

NS is taking the time to run their old power through a major rebuild program that involves rebuilt engines, new electrical systems, and even new cabs.

That explains why all the NS power looks good, as you say I have even see several older ones that looked like they had had a repaint.

Just had to like this one.




Wonder if that will get a repaint!!

---

but as of today, the new Tier 4 environmental regulations are in effect and EMD isn't able to meet them.

Which explains a very cagey inquiry we've had at work about certifying a "new type of engine" as a re-power unit for the Class 66. EMD were very cagey about the details of all aspects of the job... I guess they've got some red paint on their faces as T4 has been in the wings for a good few years, and a bit of forward planning would have made sure they'd got both the new engine for new locos and the re-power situation sorted.


(Re-power is not the same as service-exchange, but means that a conscious decision has been taken to replace one engine type with another regardless of engine condition; service exchange is the swap at a scheduled interval, or on major failure, for another engine of the same type.)

Some day we will look back nostalgically at the now familiar whine of the scavengers on those sixteen cylinder two-strokes...

---

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

In the context of lack of motive power, this went past the Railstream Chesterton West camera yesterday

http://youtu.be/Z-79KUyiMVg

I think someone was moving engines, there were only 70 cars in the consist!!

---

NS is taking the time to run their old power through a major rebuild program that involves rebuilt engines, new electrical systems, and even new cabs.

That explains why all the NS power looks good, as you say I have even see several older ones that looked like they had had a repaint.

Just had to like this one.




Wonder if that will get a repaint!!

See the black line through the name SOO on the side? That means it no longer belongs to them. The current owner is the reporting mark under the number on the cab side, CEFX, which is a leasing company (probably the one that actually financed it for SOO in the first place; most new locomotives in the US are actually owned by a bank's leasing subsidiary under a long term lease to the railroad whose name is on the side). It's now in short or medium term lease service. Off the top of my head, it's probably leased to BNSF, but I don't know that for sure.

The blue one in your video clip is also a lease unit, probably the same company or a related one. Looks like the UP yellow one in the video is too.

---

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

In the context of lack of motive power, this went past the Railstream Chesterton West camera yesterday

http://youtu.be/Z-79KUyiMVg

I think someone was moving engines, there were only 70 cars in the consist!!

Yes, they do tend to move power when it gets out of balance. It's likely most of them were offline, either idling or dead in consist.

Did you notice the heavy duty flat car?

---

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

That last picture brings back memories of life in North Dakota, in the '50's.
SOO line, strictly freight, ran from south-central N. Dak. N-West to the northern border. I don't recall whether it is its own company, today, or not.

That last picture brings back memories of life in North Dakota, in the '50's.
SOO line, strictly freight, ran from south-central N. Dak. N-West to the northern border. I don't recall whether it is its own company, today, or not.

Soo Line is one of the three US subsidiaries of Canadian Pacific (the others are Delaware & Hudson and Dakota Minnesota & Eastern). It's all just operated as CP now, but a lot of engines have yet to be repainted for CP. (A lot probably never will. As some railroad managers have pointed out, paint doesn't pull freight.) All three are combined under the SOO name for Surface Transportation Board reporting purposes. CP had controlled the original SOO Line as far back as 1888, but only got full ownership in 1990. SOO did run a few passenger trains all the way to the Canadian border as late as 1968.

I wasn't sure of the history myself, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Rather interesting, if you like that kind of thing (which you probably do if you're reading this thread).

---

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

Thanks, for the update, David. I'll check it out a bit more, as well.

As some railroad managers have pointed out, paint doesn't pull freight.

Indeed it doesn't however as a customer you might wonder if it looks like a rusty old heap on the outside, is it a rusty old heap on the inside, and will it be able to pull my freight from A to B.

---

Just thought I would post this.

As I was watching the Chicago cam waiting for the Southwest Chief to arrive, another train reversed into the "Y" to turn round and these two were on the rear.

Apparently special "Pullman excursions" on The City of New Orleans

Pullman Rail Journeys




Plus it looked quite good with the snow and skyline

---

Just thought I would post this.

As I was watching the Chicago cam waiting for the Southwest Chief to arrive, another train reversed into the "Y" to turn round and these two were on the rear.

Apparently special "Pullman excursions" on The City of New Orleans

Pullman Rail Journeys




Plus it looked quite good with the snow and skyline

That is the company my best friend works for. However, I doubt that is the New Orleans trip you see there. New Orleans would only have a painted dome car (if it had one at all), and the rear car would be an observation (probably the flat end Adirondack Club; this isn't the greatest picture of it, but it's the best I could find online quickly). Besides the obs, there is always a sleeper. A dome is only added if there are too many passengers to serve dinner to in the obs, and then there would probably be enough passengers that they would add a second sleeper, so there would be four cars.

I saw this dome (I'm pretty sure this one) a week ago, in a ferry move of equipment from Wisconsin to the Chicago Terminal RR, an affiliate of Pullman. If you saw this today, I'm a bit surprised that it made its way down to the Amtrak yard. I can't tell what the other car is. Looks like some sleeper or other, but I can't see a name below the windows.

If you just saw this this evening, it's the wrong time to be the New Orleans train anyway.

---

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

Just a quick question. We here in the UK get criticised for our railways failure in bad weather.

I was wondering if the recent extreme cold and snow had anything to do with a lot of Amtrak trains to and from Chicago being late, er well very late, some 6-8 hours and the Lake Shore yesterday I believe left Chicago 14 and a half hours late!! Now I know the trip takes 19 hours but that is some delay.

What do you do with a trainful of people for 14 and a half hours.

Seriously though the weather didn't seem to slow down the freight trains!!

PS if a train in the UK was that late it would be the next days train!!

---

Bernie, if you were watching Thursday night for the Pullman cars going to New Orleans, they didn't. Therefore, they will not return tomorrow morning either. I can't go into details, but suffice it to say the cars were frozen. Even big heaters that look like jet engines blowing under the cars could not thaw out the plumbing.

If you want to better understand the routes of the railroads in North America, I suggest you buy the atlases at Steam Powered Video. They are getting to be a bit out of date, with publications dates ranging from 2009 back as far as 1999. I have all of the US ones, but not the Canadians. (Wait, I'm not sure I have the one with Alaska in it. Funny, I know they did that one, but it's not on the site.) Chicago is in the Great Lakes West atlas. Chesterton is in Great Lakes East. I carry GL West in my camera bag at all times, and if I'm heading to another area I take whichever else I need.

They also have a lot of videos and distribute books for American publishers.

Best of all (from your perspective) their address is Upper Harbledown, Canterbury, Kent.

---

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

Just a quick question. We here in the UK get criticised for our railways failure in bad weather.

I was wondering if the recent extreme cold and snow had anything to do with a lot of Amtrak trains to and from Chicago being late, er well very late, some 6-8 hours and the Lake Shore yesterday I believe left Chicago 14 and a half hours late!! Now I know the trip takes 19 hours but that is some delay.

What do you do with a trainful of people for 14 and a half hours.

Seriously though the weather didn't seem to slow down the freight trains!!

PS if a train in the UK was that late it would be the next days train!!

In the case of that Late Shore Limited (not a typo), first the passengers were kept in the station for several hours, and then they sat on the train for a while before it left.

Believe me, the weather does slow down the freight trains too. Just for starters, some railroads have speed restrictions when the temperature gets below a certain point (brittle rails are at increased danger of breaking). Switches freeze and/or get choked with snow. Crews take longer to inspect trains. Engines fail more.

I heard a story recently about a train crew who were sent out to relieve another crew on a train in a siding somewhere. They sat there for their entire 12 hour maximum on duty time, were taken to a hotel to rest, went back out and got on the same train at the same place, and again sat there for 12 hours -- without ever moving the train an inch.

This winter has not been as bad (at least so far) as last, but there have been some problems. Metra publicized all the measures it was taking with the first major freeze of the season coming recently to avoid the problems it had last year. Most of them worked, but like I said, it hasn't been as bad either.

---

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