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Just wanted to add, the 2nd tender/tanker is really a necessity now since most of the trackside infrastructure to support steam is long gone.
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Jun 4, 2019 19:30
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A good video in the APT or tilt train. Paging axemanjim to the thread. https://youtu.be/nDN7PPW4AE8
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Jun 8, 2019 09:40
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Axeman Jim/MikeCrotch/lets go swimming - any word on how good/bad the new Azuma trains are? Particularly in 1st class?
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Jun 9, 2019 08:21
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mekilljoydammit posted:But hey, you can totally keep maintenance up with a fraction of the time! the internal inconsistencies of psr would be funny if you didnt have to live through them. local/yard service, for example. part of the idea behind psr is that we're going to offer a consistent schedule, that we're committed to meeting, for a customer's cars from origin to destination. the customer benefits because we've reduced their variability. but, we're also going to gut all the local/yard jobs so its kind of a crapshoot as to when your cars will get pulled/placed. then, we're going to ignore the fact that we haven't really reduced any variability in their pipeline and punish the customer for having too many cars in the yard. maybe if trainmasters were better at their jobs(not imperious dickheads) and/or employees were compensated better(lol) and/or service design was better and/or middle management had enough authority to push back against a bad plan...etc.
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Jun 11, 2019 22:33
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vains posted:the internal inconsistencies of psr would be funny if you didnt have to live through them. I'm working for one of the major companies supplying MOW equipment so am having a different perspective. Like, if you cut maintenance periods down... you're not cutting down track travel time from the hole to the work area! For one specific idiotic part. Sorta waiting for something major to go wrong with the whole thing and there to be a whiplash reaction leading to buying equipment. Because steel tariffs didn't do anything great for our bottom line.
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Jun 12, 2019 00:23
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mekilljoydammit posted:I'm working for one of the major companies supplying MOW equipment so am having a different perspective. Like, if you cut maintenance periods down... you're not cutting down track travel time from the hole to the work area! For one specific idiotic part. well...idk much about mow. i do know that csx is increasingly insourcing jobs that we traditionally left to vendors. thats a hunter harrison philosophy thing, not necessarily a psr thing, and i dont know how far it'll extend to the other class 1s. i think i understand what you're saying. you have a siding that your equipment is staged at and that siding might be some distance away from the work site. that travel time isn't factored into the curfew and timelines are slipping as a result.
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Jun 12, 2019 01:50
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vains posted:well...idk much about mow. i do know that csx is increasingly insourcing jobs that we traditionally left to vendors. thats a hunter harrison philosophy thing, not necessarily a psr thing, and i dont know how far it'll extend to the other class 1s. Yeah; working with people to test stuff (yes I'm being vague, you know how it is) I've seen it being an hour between roll-off to work starting, to say nothing for the scheduled time on the Form B, and similar to head back to the siding. Which is OKish when you have an 8 hour window to do work, but PSR doesn't give you 8 hour windows. There's all this talk about just increasing the rate work is done, but that doesn't really work when the only way you can do that is throw more men/machines at things... which, even if there were a good faith effort to do so instead of downsizing (no comment) increases the time to sort everything out and begin work. From where I'm sitting, PSR just looks like "reduce maintenance and gamble that we won't get bit in the rear end by it".
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Jun 12, 2019 02:18
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mekilljoydammit posted:From where I'm sitting, PSR just looks like "reduce maintenance and gamble that we won't get bit in the rear end by it". If only there were some kind of historical precedent we could look to and see how that will work out in the long term. *Deliberately ignores Penn Central*
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Jun 12, 2019 13:34
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There’s a lot about PSR that makes sense to me, but the deferred maintenance does not. Fix your poo poo, come on now.
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Jun 12, 2019 14:04
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Also I really do have to note I pretty much am only dealing with the MOW side of things so there may be a lot of other aspects that work better. But everyone I'm informally talking to is on the "... well, we're getting away with it...." sort of tone. It seem like there's a lot of deferred maintenance building up.
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Jun 12, 2019 14:41
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mekilljoydammit posted:Also I really do have to note I pretty much am only dealing with the MOW side of things so there may be a lot of other aspects that work better. But everyone I'm informally talking to is on the "... well, we're getting away with it...." sort of tone. Similarly, I do only intermodal and always have, so the general concept of running trains to a strict timetable is my default.
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Jun 12, 2019 16:09
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdVD2M2xxsM
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Jun 12, 2019 23:57
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Wobble Wobble says the water tank. Great video though, thanks!
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Jun 13, 2019 02:56
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I spent the weekend at a place in Australia called Kingoonya. It’s on the trans Australian railroad before it splits at Tarcoola and goes west to Perth and north to Darwin, so we got to sit there and watch every single piece of freight from northern and Western Australia headed to and from the eastern seaboard roll through. A 1.8km long train full of reefers thundering past 70m from your tent at 100kph at 3am will most definitely wake you up!
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Jun 13, 2019 12:35
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Diesel electric trains huh? https://twitter.com/thebashmash/status/1138916421361111040?s=19
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Jun 13, 2019 15:30
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"in my day, we had lines for the fuel pump stretching around the block"
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Jun 13, 2019 20:10
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mekilljoydammit posted:Also I really do have to note I pretty much am only dealing with the MOW side of things so there may be a lot of other aspects that work better. But everyone I'm informally talking to is on the "... well, we're getting away with it...." sort of tone. Yup, it feels that way. Infrastructure always gets the chopping block after labor can't be cut anymore. The ill effects don't show up till later.
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Jun 13, 2019 21:14
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drunkill posted:Diesel electric trains huh? Remember to back out after paying. Remember to back out after paying. Remember to back out after paying. Remember to back out after paying.
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Jun 14, 2019 04:23
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Everyone seems to have a relevant reply so I can't legitimately say "This thread got off the rails pretty quickly."
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Jun 14, 2019 06:17
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drunkill posted:Diesel electric trains huh? Lads' night at the maintenance depot got a little out of hand, I see.
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Jun 23, 2019 01:02
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I've been reading a book recently called 'American Steam Locomotives: Design and Development, 1880-1960' by William Withuhn. As you might imagine based upon the title, it is an in depth look at how steam locomotives developed in the US with focus on major design innovations that improved power output, efficiency, and dynamics. If you are a train nerd and have any interest in the mechanics steam locomotives you'll love it. There is one particular anecdote from the book I wanted to share here, because it's very Locomotive Insanity. Back in 1939 the Pennsylvania Railroad worked with Lima and the Franklin Railway Supply Company on the installation of an experimental new type of poppet valve gear on one of their K4s class Pacifics (4-6-2). The advantage of poppet valve gear on a steam locomotive is that it allows for independent steam inlet and exhaust timing, something not available with the typical cylinder or slide valves used on almost all American steam locomotives. When steam locomotives run at high speeds the inlet valves are open for a shorter time to allow less steam in, and take advantage of its expansion within the cylinder to avoid consuming more steam than the boiler can produce. Because the same valve controls both intake and exhaust of steam, this means the exhaust valves are also open for less time which produces back pressure on the cylinder and substantially reduces efficiency and power at high speeds. By installing poppet valves on this K4s Pacific the PRR found it could produce 20-30% more drawbar horsepower at 50-70 mph, and more than 40% more above 80 mph. In once instance, they actually found that at 95 mph with a 1,000 ton 15 car train the locomotive produced more than double the horsepower of a standard K4s. Around the same time, the PRR was experimenting with another fairly new technology, duplex-drive locomotives. These locomotives had two sets of drivers each with their own pair of cylinders, on a single rigid frame. The idea was to get more power out of smaller cylinders and rods, thereby reducing reciprocating mass in a high horsepower locomotive well suited to heavy high speed passenger trains. The first experiment with this technology was the S-1, a monster of a machine nearly 124 feet long with a 6-4-4-6 wheel arrangement. It proved too long to be practical for use on many of the PRR's lines, despite achieving the goal of pulling a 1,000 ton train at over 100 mph. It also gained a reputation for being a "slippery" engine, with wheel slip at high speeds being a relatively common occurrence. PRR S1:  As a result of this experiment the PRR decided to build a somewhat smaller design that could haul 880 tons at 100 mph. They also decided to include the new poppet valve gear to help achieve the goal of maximum power at speeds above 90 mph. This locomotive was called the T1 and had a 4-4-4-4 wheel arrangement. Regardless of its successes and failings its Raymond Lowey designed streamlining made it one of the most interesting looking steam locomotives ever built. PRR T1:  The T1 was initially assigned to the highest priority trains with the most experienced crews and was found to be successful, with only a few complaints of the slipperiness seen with the S1. However, as time went by and more T1's were delivered they began to see service on lower priority trains with less experienced engineers and reports of wheel slip increased substantially. Additionally, a new problem began to be reported: failure of poppet valves. Here I will quote from the book, because I can't say it better than Withuhn did: A few times each month, a T1 limped into a terminal with a broken valve, the valve body shattered against its seat. Maintenance practices and inspections were tightened up, but the breakages continued. Kirchhof (lead designer of the poppet valves) was not only embarrassed but profoundly puzzled. Based on six years experience with the 5399 (K4s Pacific) and elaborate bench testing in 1941 for the first T1s, Franklin (valve manufacturer) had warranted the new T1 valves for sustained speeds up to 100 mph and short durations of 125 mph. By late 1946, elaborate analysis of production and maintenance records had yielded little insight, and nearly every valve in the T1 fleet had been individually inspected for flaws. The valve breakages seemed to occur randomly, but they were concentrated on the high-speed line between Crestline and Fort Wayne where the authorized speed was 100 mph. Kirchhof decided to send out a "spy" - a Franklin staffer to ride trains anonymously for a month on the Fort Wayne Division and clock their actual speed. In telephone and letter reports, the staffer verified the not-infrequent slipping at speed, as well as numerous milepost timings of 100 mph and above. Some of his reports seemed unbelievable, including some instances of speeds up to 140 mph. When he returned to Baltimore, he met with the group and presented his findings, and he gave his log and watch to Kirchhof for verification. Once or twice per week in the recorded month, when a train was ten cars or less in length and running behind schedule, the engineer had made up time by exceeding 125 mph. Twice in the month, with short trains of six or seven cars, speed had reached 135 to 142 mph, as clocked over several miles. Careful inspection of logged entries and watch, as well as the consistency of successive time intervals between mileposts on all the timed runs, attested to the veracity of the log. The widely accepted official speed record for a steam locomotive is held by the British 'Mallard' 4-6-2 Pacific at 126 mph on a downhill grade. I think it's safe to say that the T1 broke that record (and its valves as a result) on level track, hauling heavier trains, on a fairly regular basis, even if it was never officially verified. Here's a link to the book if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/American-Steam-Locomotives-Development-1880-1960/dp/0253039339 Disgruntled Bovine fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jul 7, 2019 |
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Jul 6, 2019 19:52
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Just want to drop this here: https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/ Pretty ambitious venture.
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Jul 6, 2019 21:06
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:PRR T1: I was expecting some British Rail engineering shenanigans, but that is just awesome  .
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Jul 7, 2019 04:06
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:Regardless of its successes and failings its Raymond Lowe designed streamlining made it one of the most interesting looking steam locomotives ever built. The same Raymond Loewy that went on to design the iconic livery for the USAF’s VC-137 fleet (which persists to this day on our VC-25s,) among numerous other things through the twentieth century. The man is a loving legend, basically.
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Jul 7, 2019 04:08
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MrYenko posted:The same Raymond Loewy that went on to design the iconic livery for the USAF’s VC-137 fleet (which persists to this day on our VC-25s,) supposedly they're painting over that soon because Donald doesn't like it
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Jul 7, 2019 04:24
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FuturePastNow posted:supposedly they're painting over that soon because Donald doesn't like it Trump wants the replacement jets to have a flipped version of his own Trump livery, basically: https://twitter.com/JDiamond1/status/1139153329769123840 However Congress has legislation filed to prevent it from being changed without Congressional approval so we'll see where that goes.
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Jul 7, 2019 05:47
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mekilljoydammit posted:Just want to drop this here: Yeah they're a wee bit nuts, but more power to them if they pull it off.
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Jul 7, 2019 21:56
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I went for a romp through parts of Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska and managed to get some decent pics. I'll try to remember to post them this weekend.
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Jul 8, 2019 05:14
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drunkill posted:Diesel electric trains huh? "It wanted to go for a drive"
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Jul 10, 2019 15:51
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:Yeah they're a wee bit nuts, but more power to them if they pull it off. The T1 is a bigger engine, but very similar things have been done - like the A1 Peppercorn project, which built a new from-scratch British 1940s mainline steam locomotive, more or less from the original blueprints. That has been running fine for some years now, so the this project seems completely plausible to me. Computer viking fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Jul 11, 2019 |
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Jul 11, 2019 14:49
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Computer viking posted:The T1 is a bigger engine, but very similar things have been done - like the A1 Peppercorn project, which built a new from-scratch British 1940s mainline steam locomotive, more or less from the original blueprints. That has been running fine for some years now, so the this project seems completely plausible to me. Isn't there also one that's basically "We're building a whole new steam engine, only with modern advances in steam technology"?
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Jul 11, 2019 15:00
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Computer viking posted:The T1 is a bigger engine, but very similar things have been done - like the A1 Peppercorn project, which built a new from-scratch British 1940s mainline steam locomotive, more or less from the original blueprints. That has been running fine for some years now, so the this project seems completely plausible to me. True, but the T1 is nearly twice the weight, with twice the number of cylinders and the aforementioned complex experimental poppet valve system. I'm not saying they can't do it, but it's a very ambitious project which so far has only made relatively minor progress. I feel like they would be better off putting their resources towards restoring another rare locomotive that still exists particularly given that the T1's were not exactly trouble free in operation. I'll gladly eat my words if they succeed but I'm not terribly optimistic about it.
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Jul 11, 2019 17:03
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In fairness though, what is as cool as a T1?
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Jul 11, 2019 17:56
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mekilljoydammit posted:In fairness though, what is as cool as a T1? Allegheny.
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Jul 11, 2019 23:41
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Log082 posted:Allegheny. Yep. It'll never happen because 47 ton axle loadings, but a boy can dream. Or 2156 (Y6a) or 1218.
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Jul 12, 2019 01:22
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I actually visited the B&O Railroad Museum last weekend with some friends from out of town. I will never not enjoy sitting in the Allegheny's cab and poking at the random levers and buttons. You're allowed to mess with pretty much everything; they just have the gates to the firebox pinned so small children can't open them up and slip inside, or close them all the way and pinch their fingers. As a bonus, since it was so hot, they had the back door to the car shop open and I could see one of the steam engines that normally isn't on display. Have a link to some pictures: https://imgur.com/a/FYYEMnj I took these on a cell phone, so they're not great quality, and I didn't have any of the Allegheny without my dorky rear end in them but there's still some cool stuff.
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Jul 12, 2019 01:37
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Here's some other footage from my trip in May, this time not of the Big Boy but a couple of BNSF trains in Wind River Canyon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqw6M_sgSv4
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Jul 14, 2019 04:47
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Going to be doing field testing support on one of my company's machines in an area the Big Boy is rolling through, albeit not exactly when it is. I, uh, may have to see if I can... ahem... work in my test machine in the siding.
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Jul 14, 2019 04:54
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Hello friends, I bring great tidings! https://i.imgur.com/ZrnlN0j.mp4 Yes, yes it has sound 
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Jul 24, 2019 03:35
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Awesome, I'm hoping to go see it this Sunday.
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Jul 24, 2019 05:16
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