Abandoned trains -- Chile (and beyond)

[Nathan]

Pennsylvania Express!

[gilt]

Nathan-

What road is the PA Express??????????

Based on where I think you live your vote should be for the LVRR "The route of the Black Diamond"

Tom-

[astixjr]

It's gotta be Frisco or Burlington.

First Three Things I'm doing after I win the next 150 Million Power Ball Jackpot

1) Restore the Big Boy at the local Transportation Museum

2) Build a full size replica of a Civil War River Monitor or River Gunboat like they built here in St. Louis.

3) Recover that B-32 the Aliens are hiding on the back side of the moon.

[mustangdriver]

Yes restore the Big Boy. Why on earth it is outside is beyond me.

[Tom Moungovan]

Chilean railroads did utilize steam fairly late, along with Argentina, Brazil, Peru & Equador. Paraguay also and they used wood for fuel.
Chile had several private railroads that hauled copper and also nitrate along with the nationalized common carriers.
There have been public excursions in recent years too with steam.
Prevalent wheel arrangements were 2-6-0, 2-8-0, 2-8-2 and 4-8-2.

[Nathan]

Nathan-

What road is the PA Express??????????

Based on where I think you live your vote should be for the LVRR "The route of the Black Diamond"

Tom-

Oh I just made it up. I have no prior knowledge in railroading . Wish I did though. Was watching a show last night on the History channell on trains. Pretty cool stuff! I am trying not to get hooked though. Airplanes are enough for me. haha

But this is 10 mintues from me:
http://www.lvrr.com/index.php?album=%2F ... e-1948.jpg

[Tom Moungovan]

Yes restore the Big Boy. Why on earth it is outside is beyond me.

Regarding the Big Boy or 4-8-8-4 type built by American Locomotive Company (Alco) for the Union Pacific in the 40's...out of 25 examples constructed, a total of 8 were saved, a pretty high percentage. Some talk was raised recently about restoring the one in Texas for a movie, but it did not come about. They are as labor intensive to work on as war birds, are REALLY heavy (over one million lbs.), burn coal and turning one today is a problem given their weight & wheelbase.
Union Pacific still operates two steam locomotives out of Cheyenne, a 4-8-4 numbered 844, the last new engine obtained by them and a 4-6-6-4 Challenger type numbered 3985, a smaller version of the Big Boy. The 844 was never retired by the UP, having been kept around for specials and excursions. These were legitimate 100 mph machines when built, a very modern engine with 300 lb boilers, a combustion chamber & 80" drivers.

[cg51]

Since we are talking trains, I am a train nut also! I was out taking pictures a few days ago at the Homewood train watching platform and at the UP/CSX & EJ&E Junction near my house, If CN gets there way the J will be no more and train traffic will go from 8 a day by my house to over 30 a day, great for train watching but not good for car traffic!

[Nathan]

Any body been to Steamtown?


2317 in my backyard!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owou1PF3OM0

[mustangdriver]

Any body been to Steamtown?


2317 in my backyard!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owou1PF3OM0

Hell yeah man, it is a great place. I was there last fall.

[Matt Gunsch]

Some of my train pics, Promontory Point, UT,







http://www.nps.gov/archive/gosp/history ... steam.html

[Cripes A Mighty]

Heres a few of mine from this last month



















*unfortunately our Big Boy is outside as well....but not for long!

[maxum96]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I live near the UP mainline that runs between Cheyenne and Denver. UP stores their historical fleet (steam and vintage diesel engines) in Cheyenne and runs them down to Denver. So I get to chase them at times. I've even been to the Cheyenne engine house and toured through all the cabs of their historical fleet. They even have stuff stored in a roundhouse that the public is not aware of.

With all that said, they told me that anyone that tried to restore a BigBoy would have a tough time trying to run it. The Challenger locomotive 3985 gives them fits when they run that with respect to places to turn it around and etc. They said the weight and size of a BigBoy would make it impractical to try to run today.

Please excuse the poor quality pictures. They were taken on an old digital camera while we were driving alongside the train. But what an awesome sound traveling alongside a steam locomotive at 60mph!

[Hal B]

So tom when is roll call for the recovery expedition? Just paint "southern railway" on the side....

See now we can flame this sucker out. No way we are painting them Southern. They will be painted in ATSF !

I say we save that roundhouse too.

*oh wait a second........this isnt Railpictures! Yeah I love my trains too yall, CAP you ever railfan around here?

I vote for "F & S" markings

[AviaS199]

I can't resist anything that's been abandoned. Planes, trains, cars, buildings ...

A few years ago, Hemmings Motor News published a calendar called "The Abandoned Trucks Calendar." Sounds kind of odd, but the photos were really compelling. Shot after shot of old trucks lying in fields, or in the woods, or in some old building. Sure wish Hemmings would reissue that calendar.

By the way, for you non-West Coast types: If you're ever in Kahleefornia, try to stop by the railroad museum in Sacramento. Even if you're not particularly interested in trains, it's a great place to visit. And if you ARE a train buff, your friends will have to drag you out of there.