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I think the most telling thing is all the people racing up to the railway to grab dropped unburned coal (and burning coal, which I assume they put out) after the engine has passed by. The burning fuel will be the fireman using the grate sweeper to distribute the fire more evenly through the firebox.
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Jun 17, 2013 03:47
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Zeether posted:When I was a kid I used to read issues of Trains magazine and I distinctly remember one all about how China was one of the few countries that still used steam locomotives regularly and going to see trains there was called "the greatest show on earth." Apparently it's still a thing there, but while I was looking at videos of Chinese steam locos I came across the Shibanxi Railway, which operates this small 0-8-0: Wow, what a dirty machine. I'm so used to seeing steam engines in museums or on train expeditions where they are kept perfectly clean with all of the metal brightly polished. I am reminded of this famous picture of the UP "Big Boy": 
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Jun 17, 2013 04:58
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steam locomotive I've ever seen, it dumps what seems to be molten fuel between the rails and at 4:28 in the video it blows off a ton of steam to clear mud from the boiler. If you listen closely too the wheels seem to slip a lot and the chuffing becomes really small "ch-ch-ch-ch" noises like it's popping popcorn or something.
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Zeether posted:When I was a kid I used to read issues of Trains magazine and I distinctly remember one all about how China was one of the few countries that still used steam locomotives regularly and going to see trains there was called "the greatest show on earth." Apparently it's still a thing there, but while I was looking at videos of Chinese steam locos I came across the Shibanxi Railway, which operates this small 0-8-0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJVNZRKiiH0 That's pretty cool! It looks to me like they're dumping clinkers, which are little bits of coal that just won't burn, but they get nice and red hot from sitting in the firebox for so long. Typically, this is done at an ash pit or somewhere else where clean up is easy, and while the locomotive is stopped. You're also supposed to reach into the firebox with a rod and pull out the clinkers that don't fall out on their own when you open the grates.
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Jun 17, 2013 05:54
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:Talking of accidents, drill baby drill! how in the gently caress do you balls up a drilling job that you manage to loose 2 lengths of loving auger? The only way you could do that is if you didnt bolt the things together, and then how the hell did you expect to get them back out of your hole in the first place?
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Jun 17, 2013 09:57
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Ferremit posted:how in the gently caress do you balls up a drilling job that you manage to loose 2 lengths of loving auger? The only way you could do that is if you didnt bolt the things together, and then how the hell did you expect to get them back out of your hole in the first place? I think it's something to do with accidentally drilling into a working railway tunnel.
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Jun 17, 2013 12:55
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And how the gently caress do you do that? Does digsafe not exist wherever this was? Did they not hear the trains thundering by all the time?
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Jun 17, 2013 14:10
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Well it was built in 1904 and planners weren't quite as good at mapping as they are these days, but they still should have known they were in the area of the railway line so someone done hosed up.
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Jun 17, 2013 14:41
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I posted this before, but it warrants reposting. The Big Boy is Big.
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Jun 17, 2013 14:58
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bisticles posted:I posted this before, but it warrants reposting. The Big Boy is Big. Either that's a singularly tiny woman, or someone was loving with that image. For comparison: 
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Jun 17, 2013 23:47
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Looks about right to me, her head is slightly below the big pivot pin thing in the guide slot because she's leaned over a bit and standing on the side of a slope in the ballast, the dude's head in the other picture is slightly above it because he's standing up straight and is on level ground. The person taking the picture might have taken angles to their advantage, but it doesn't look like much of a difference. It's a goddamn huge steam engine.
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Jun 18, 2013 00:11
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kastein posted:Looks about right to me, her head is slightly below the big pivot pin thing in the guide slot because she's leaned over a bit and standing on the side of a slope in the ballast, the dude's head in the other picture is slightly above it because he's standing up straight and is on level ground. The person taking the picture might have taken angles to their advantage, but it doesn't look like much of a difference. Even the kid is about as tall as the wheel... she's not THAT tiny. I'm gonna go with someone played with the image. Edit: CURSE YOU PERSPECTIVE toplitzin fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Jun 18, 2013 |
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Jun 18, 2013 00:35
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I've seen the Big Boy at Steamtown, and I can confirm that they are completely and utterly ridiculously large. That wheel is about 5ft 8in tall (there are taller, but not on locomotives that weigh 540something tons). Everybody should go see one of them someday. It's really hard to take in. Same deal with the Alleghenies. e: She's standing on the ballast. Rail is somewhere around 6" tall, throw in an inch or three for the ties and the picture is completely accurate. Big boy is just really, really big. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Jun 18, 2013 |
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Jun 18, 2013 00:45
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toplitzin posted:Even the kid is about as tall as the wheel... she's not THAT tiny. I'm gonna go with someone played with the image. The diameter of the driver wheels of this engine are 68 inches. If "the kid is about as tall as the wheel," that would make his father about eight feet tall. Also, the woman is about the same height at the driver diameter in the original image. That would make her height 5 feet 8 inches. That image looks perfectly fine to me. You are being confused by the perspective.
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Jun 18, 2013 02:55
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Yeah, the photo is framed so as to make the locomotive look as big as possible. Which is fair, your average photo rarely gives you the sense of scale of the real thing. I haven't seen the Big Boy personally but going just by the much smaller locomotives I've seen up close the photo probably does a good job.
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Jun 18, 2013 03:34
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It's pretty drat enormous.
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Jun 18, 2013 05:03
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One of my trains is delayed 2 hours because there was a portashitter on the mainline.
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Jun 20, 2013 09:52
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Veins McGee posted:One of my trains is delayed 2 hours because there was a portashitter on the mainline. How, uhh. What needs to... why? Fell off a truck, maybe?
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Jun 20, 2013 21:44
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madeintaipei posted:How, uhh. What needs to... why? Fell off a truck, maybe? Depending on where it happened, it could have flown there. I've seen porttashitters on those little trailers take off and go for a ride. Hell, about half a year ago somehow a FULL one was blowing down the interstate in Reno spreading joy and happiness everywhere.
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Jun 20, 2013 22:08
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Kids like to steal them from work sites and leave them in inconvenient places too, cause gently caress da man bro!!!!
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Jun 20, 2013 22:39
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welp.. discuss http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2013/130618.html we were told locally through the hyperbole grapevine that the engineer that was violating his signals did it on purpose. It appeared that he had found out that his conductor he was working with (who was sleeping at impact) had been screwing his wife behind his back.
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Jun 20, 2013 23:22
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B4Ctom1 posted:welp.. discuss You'd think there would be easier ways to commit murder/suicide.
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Jun 20, 2013 23:26
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InterceptorV8 posted:You'd think there would be easier ways to commit murder/suicide. Yeah, use a plane: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Air_Lines_Flight_773 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Southwest_Airlines_Flight_1771
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Jun 21, 2013 07:36
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I've learned from this to never take a flight with 770 in it's number. Hell, flight 1771 crashed at 770 mph  It was also on December 7th, 1987!! 7s don't go well with planes. Disgruntled Bovine fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jun 22, 2013 |
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Jun 22, 2013 03:26
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No Pun Intended posted:This is what is called a set of catch or trap points (depending on where you are from). It is a protection method designed to derail anything in the siding/loop/docking road before it fouls the main line (when the mainline switch is normal). This does make sense, except in the case of Marrickville station in Sydney, where there is something like this pointing at the stairs down to the station from a busy road bridge... Hmmmmmmmm...
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Jun 22, 2013 08:13
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:I've learned from this to never take a flight with 770 in it's number. Hell, flight 1771 crashed at 770 mph None of the 777 rides I've been on have crashed.
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Jun 22, 2013 16:20
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Cocoa Crispies posted:None of the 777 rides I've been on have crashed. How many times have you been on one? Presumably you'll be at most risk on the 77th!
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Jun 22, 2013 20:06
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Jonnty posted:How many times have you been on one? Presumably you'll be at most risk on the 77th! More times than I've been in a Piper Cherokee, and the best I can say about that is that nobody was injured.
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Jun 22, 2013 23:02
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According to The Onion, repairing the tracks on subways is a dangerous business: "Report: 80% Of Subway Track Repairmen Run Over Each Day."
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Jun 25, 2013 20:43
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Severe rain and flooding have indefinitely halted service on the McHenry branch of Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line because of standing water on the tracks and a nearby mudslide
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Jun 26, 2013 20:59
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Northern Illinois has been getting a ton of rain over the past few weeks. I took this picture this morning: that's ~3 foot tall foliage growing right next to the third rail at the UIC/Halsted CTA stop. Should be tons of fun in late July once things dry out and a train starts throwing sparks off its third rail shoes while pulling out.
bytebark fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 00:45
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This term maybe old hat but one of my workmates referred to train pictures as "Foamergraphs".
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Jun 27, 2013 02:47
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bytebark posted:Northern Illinois has been getting a ton of rain over the past few weeks. I took this picture this morning: that's ~3 foot tall foliage growing right next to the third rail at the UIC/Halsted CTA stop. Should be tons of fun in late July once things dry out and a train starts throwing sparks off its third rail shoes while pulling out. Yea but how many spiders are there and what size are they?
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Jun 27, 2013 02:49
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Preoptopus posted:Yea but how many spiders are there and what size are they? Bing "Huntsman Spider"
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Jun 27, 2013 05:05
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Used to live in the lovely and man are them guys ever populous.
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Jun 27, 2013 05:26
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No Pun Intended posted:This term maybe old hat but one of my workmates referred to train pictures as "Foamergraphs". Hardcore Foamography.
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Jun 27, 2013 23:42
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2 train CSX derailment caused by a sinkhole underneath the tracks in Upstate New York, 2 non-lifethreatening injuries.
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Jun 28, 2013 04:38
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I was just catching up on the failed/obsolete technology thread and came across these two posts:Ofaloaf posted:
And... Ofaloaf posted:They were built by the Holman Locomotive Company. I've no idea if they had any fancy name associated with them, but I'd be surprised if they didn't. I love that last locomotive there, looks like something I'd find in a cartoon from that era or shortly after.
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Jun 28, 2013 05:31
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Wilford Cutlery posted:I love that last locomotive there, looks like something I'd find in a cartoon from that era or shortly after. A locomotive streamlining style that I like, the PRR T-1:
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Jun 28, 2013 05:45
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Veins McGee posted:2 train CSX derailment caused by a sinkhole underneath the tracks in Upstate New York, 2 non-lifethreatening injuries. Holy poo poo, I covered for the Roadmaster of this very subdivision for about a month last August. This line is very, VERY busy with most trains running close to the track speed of 60/80mph. It's miraculous there was no loss of life, and thank god it wasn't an Amtrak coming through. The mainline tracks in NY are inspected at least every other day, and I can tell you personally that the inspectors of the Fonda sub are on the ball. The tracks themselves were in great shape last I came through, but the culverts I can't really speak to. Not much mud or standing water, anyway. The tracks run right along the Mohawk River, a sinkhole could have opened up from a hard rain coming down the hill... but inspectors are always required to patrol during/after a flood watch. I'm not in the area anymore, maybe a watch wasn't issued? Not to bring E/N into this, but wrecks like this is what kept me up at night and ultimately led me to leave the railroad. It's an incredibly stressful and demanding career, the hours are long and the ramifications of your decisions are serious. I loved the work, but I did nothing else. It really takes a special kind of person to thrive in that environment. e: tracks are pretty far from the river, but there's a culvert right there. There's also a crossover and a turnout pretty near the scene... very interested in knowing the true cause of this 
NoWake fucked around with this message at 08:24 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 07:59
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NoWake posted:Holy poo poo, I covered for the Roadmaster of this very subdivision for about a month last August. This line is very, VERY busy with most trains running close to the track speed of 60/80mph. It's miraculous there was no loss of life, and thank god it wasn't an Amtrak coming through. The mainline tracks in NY are inspected at least every other day, and I can tell you personally that the inspectors of the Fonda sub are on the ball. The tracks themselves were in great shape last I came through, but the culverts I can't really speak to. Not much mud or standing water, anyway. The tracks run right along the Mohawk River, a sinkhole could have opened up from a hard rain coming down the hill... but inspectors are always required to patrol during/after a flood watch. I'm not in the area anymore, maybe a watch wasn't issued? Hey NoWake, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about working for your company, vs the RR that I work for? If you don't mind, my email is dan.kleman AT gmail.com Thanks
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Jun 28, 2013 14:15
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