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gently caress me, man, I'm amazed that I haven't found this thread already. I've worked for two railroads (Dallas, TX and Williams, AZ), and I absolutely love these machines. As someone who has operated the old F40s several times, I can safely say that all the rumors you hear about how awesome they are are understated. They're better when they're left in the original EMD specs.
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Oct 7, 2012 22:10
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Brother Jonathan posted:This thread also might appreciate this video I posted in a YouTube thread. A motorcyclist installs a Leslie RS5T on his bike: I'm going to demand a refund if I don't want to blow my brains out after two hours. New Year's Day of 2011 was the coldest day on record in Williams, AZ, in quite a while. I was fireman on the regular train up to Grand Canyon, and the car we had that generated HEP for the train took a poo poo not too far out of Williams. My engineer and my conductor made the decision to fire up the onboard HEP gen on the F40 we were in and I got to spend the next two hours listening to that stupid thing scream all the drat way to Grand Canyon.
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Oct 10, 2012 03:39
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ijustam posted:So wait, do F40s just stay at max rpm all the time? ijustam posted:Is that why Amtrak seems to always have 2 locomotives on long-distance routes? One for moving power and another for HEP?
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Oct 12, 2012 00:48
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:When I was a kid and rode MBTA commuter rail more often I used to love to go down and stand by the locomotives at North Station. Something about a locomotive just sitting there "idling" at run 8 was fascinating. At least until my eardrums started to hurt. About two hours of that and -15F temperatures (only 5F in the cab!) are enough to make any person question their career choice.
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Oct 12, 2012 02:39
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Does anybody else here work or have previously worked for a railway? As I mentioned earlier, I worked for Grand Canyon Railway for a year and a half. I was a carman, conductor, brakeman, dispatcher, switchman, and hostler helper all rolled into one lanky package. The last few months I was there, I was conductor on almost every work train the railway ran, which worked out to about two days a week for 3 months straight. Most of the time I was dumping ballast, walking alongside the train at 3 miles an hour as the MoW guys opened up the doors on the ballast hoppers. These trains always consisted of a beat up, old, and very trustworthy GP7, five ballast hoppers, and a caboose. Sometimes we'd drop new sticks of rail along the right of way to be replaced later (which meant I got to venture into BNSF territory a bit to pick up the cars loaded with rail!). On the night of Halloween 2011, I helped rebuild a bridge. It was a pretty drat cool job, but the management sucked. Moving on, I took some cool photos while I was there (but never while on duty - the FRA would fine the poo poo out of me), and I'd like to share them with you. All of these were taken with my lovely little camera phone, so I do apologize for the quality. First up is me in the cab of the GP7 I mentioned. I never officially operated this locomotive as far as anyone important is concerned, but I did have to pose for this photo of me in the engineer's seat.  Next is the control stand. This little engine has a LOT of character.  Next is my side of the cab. Yes, it was a bit of a mess, but it worked.  Here's the only complaint I ever had about that little engine: the bathroom door. In order to get through this door, which was only two and a half feet tall or so, you had to squat down real low and scooch your way in. Then, when you got in the nose to take a piss, you can't stand up straight because the ceiling is too low.   Now, I absolutely hate Xanterra Parks and Resorts and the Grand Canyon Railway company, but I still really enjoy the history behind the railroad, the day to day operations, a lot of my former coworkers who are still there, and the cool equipment they have. As such, I still enjoy taking pictures of the train and my friends because I still live in town and it was a very big part of my life. When the ATSF 3751 visited Williams and Grand Canyon in May of 2012, I had to follow the train and see it for myself. I really wish I had a decent camera at that point, but the memories of two live steam locomotives sitting side by side next to the only log railway depot still in use will always stay with me. 
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Oct 14, 2012 22:18
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B4Ctom1 posted:The problem is that there is a habit, especially in places that have laws that require at least one person at the scene of an accident to receive a ticket, since the other party is deceased, to try sometimes to ticket the engineer. If you give them your real drivers license, it will go against your driving record, jack up your insurance, or all of the above. That's what I was always taught when I was a conductor at the streetcar company in Dallas, TX. There was a night my motorman and I were going the wrong way down the road (in a stretch where the company had been doing so in the course of normal operations for 20 years) and we had a rookie cop "pull us over" and was trying to get us to hand over licenses so he could write us a ticket, to no avail. He was getting pretty frustrated, and was red in the face when a cop that I had worked with several times on previous occasions rolled up and asked what was going on. When I explained, he excused himself and his coworker, pulled the rookie cop around the corner, and berated him for doing something so stupid. I heard "what the gently caress were you thinking" several times. The Chief Operating Officer of the same company once told me about a day where they stopped their largest streetcar, weighing approximately 25 tons, at a normal stop, and something went really wrong and they could not get it to move in either direction. The COO was there along with two mechanics trying to figure out what was up so they could get the streetcar out of traffic, as it was backing up pretty badly. A cop rolled up and continually threatened to have the streetcar towed. The COO finally got sick of that and said something like, "Listen, Corporal Cupcake, if you have a tow truck that can move this thing, by all means, please call it, and have them drop it off at our shop because IT'S NOT GOING TO MOVE BY ITSELF." I don't miss street running.
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Nov 18, 2012 05:08
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:took this the other day, westbound at sunset. Wait a moment, I remember you. You're that track worker for BNSF that I chatted with in my A/T thread months back. Are you still working with the two dudes that I used to work with at GCR?
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Feb 27, 2013 23:55
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Fire Storm posted:Wow, that's pretty damning against the eastbound crew. Is there the train equivalent of a cockpit voice recorder in trains? Wouldn't there be a fuckton of alarms going off in the eastbound car after they ignored 4 signals? And which train was the conductor that survived on? I'd guess the westbound, since the eastbound crew didn't know what the gently caress. Anytime voice recorders in the cab are mentioned, crews throw a gigantic hissy fit about invasion of privacy and such.
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Mar 7, 2013 21:52
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BrokenKnucklez posted:Man... the best dirty jokes are always from rails. Amen to that, and they're usually quite creative! I once picked up a train, and after doing a job briefing with the conductor I was relieving, he picked up his stuff and started to walk off. He stopped, turned to me, and said, "Tex, do you know the difference between toilet paper and a shower curtain?" "No, what?" He stared at me, stony faced, and said, "So you're the one, huh?" and just walked off. I lost it in view of a roughly a hundred passengers gathered on the platform.
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Mar 17, 2013 16:03
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InterceptorV8 posted:Kinda surprised that they have at grade crossings without any warning signals at all. For an alert driver, the cross bucks are warning enough. I feel bad for that crew, but not for the dude driving the car.
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Mar 24, 2013 22:22
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BrokenKnucklez posted:1. We had a rail car that was shipped back and forth between 3 yards for about 3 weeks. If your wondering how I know this is because I worked the job that was to go between those 3 yards and do a pick up and set out of cars. The car is very noticeable, it had a D9 Cat bulldozer painted on the side. It was on our work order to do so, so I just complied. I told people that had the power to do something about it, but they really could care less. This kind of poo poo really pisses me off. The Grand Canyon Railway has two cars that are exactly the same, save for the name and the number, called "Arizona" and "Bright Angel". There was two loving weeks where every night, I would get orders to take one off, put the other one on. There was nothing wrong with the cars mechanically, it was just the guys setting up the manifest were dicks. It's annoying and inefficient. In other news, I'm going up to Anchorage next week to interview for a conductor position on the Alaska Railroad. Has anybody here had any experience with them?
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Mar 25, 2013 19:11
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:You work on the GCR? Are you or anyone else there aware how idiotic and obnoxious the cowboy "entertainment" is on those train rides? If I'm on a train going to see one of the greatest natural wonders in the world, who can possibly believe that it elevates the experience to have a man dressed as a cowboy with a guitar telling jokes? Who loving thinks that? What is this, a county fair sideshow in Kansas? I know you have nothing to do with that, but honestly. Honestly. I USED to work for the Great Cockup of a Railway. Yes, it's loving horrendous. Yes, most everyone who is there knows it. I hate it. My wife, who is still a train attendant, hates it too. Since we're on the subject, I'd advise everyone AGAINST riding that train. The parent company runs resorts, and GCRy is the only railway they own, and it shows. I was qualified in a wide variety of positions, and I was available 24/7, and they paid me the measly sum of $11.00 an hour. I barely made rent on that.
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Mar 26, 2013 04:05
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zundfolge posted:That, and the "train robbery" for tips at the end of the trip is just obnoxious. Dunno if they still do that, but it was definitely a downer when my family rode it a few years back. This is the highlight of my list of reasons of what's wrong with that railway. They'll tell you all fuckin' day, "Tip the singers, get out some money for the robbers!" Those cowboys keep the money for themselves. Meanwhile, the car attendant who's been making drinks, handing out information, and basically being your planner for the day usually doesn't bring home much in tips, and they are strictly forbidden from making it known in any way that they accept tips. gently caress that place. Yes, I'm a little biased, but even if it weren't for the fact that this affects my wife's already lovely income, I'd be pissed.
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Mar 26, 2013 05:41
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InterceptorV8 posted:Huh, I know someone who worked/works on that as well. Don't you guys do the Santa Express thing? Also, why the gently caress don't you have a Tex Avery avatar, you lazy rear end. If you have private messaging, drop me a line and let me know who it is. I'm curious. It's "The Polar Express." You heathens can't ever get it right.  Just kidding. I had a love/hate relationship with that train. I still stand by what I tell everyone that the only good thing for me to come out of the Polar Express is meeting my wife.As for the avatar, 
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Mar 26, 2013 20:53
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:I did the GCR twice and although I loving HATED the cowboy poo poo, I loved the overall experience. Trains are awesome and the grand canyon is awesome. Both times the attendant ladies were good, and one time she was totally great. Told us all kinds of interesting historical things about the high desert, what the native americans called the canyon, told us about the hiking she did in it and how seriously you have to plan for hiking in it. That whole railroad is goofy. I was underneath a car one night and another carman released the handbrake. He knew I was down there, and he had just spoken to me less than 20 seconds before hand, but he released it and the car rolled quite a bit. He didn't even go for a piss test. Later, I got fired for pointing at a guy. No poo poo. He said he felt threatened by that. They fired me on my 20th birthday. That was an awesome day. 
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Apr 13, 2013 17:46
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9axle posted:It is, but I get to drive trains, which is cool as poo poo and therefore makes it all ok. gently caress yeah, trainbro. That's the only reason I stuck around GCR as long as I did and would have, had I not been canned.
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Apr 14, 2013 02:43
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BrokenKnucklez posted:I enjoy road conductors doing set outs.... Good for 30 cars, clear track. (train moves 1 car) ok good for 20 now! Best I've heard is "Clear back 15, two to the joint."
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Apr 15, 2013 20:16
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EightBit posted:It looks like, unless the footage is obscuring some details of that bit of track, that traveling across it is impossible in either direction without derailing Those points are moveable, much like the points of a switch, intended to make the section passable if conditions allow, ie, the signalman has permission to put them on the main. Catch points are actually fairly common. The Wikipedia page will explain everything in detail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_points
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Apr 30, 2013 19:46
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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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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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Brother Jonathan posted:"Uncoupled from the engine"? Why wouldn't the air brakes have engaged? If the reports are correct, this sounds like sabotage. That's what I've been saying over in the GBS thread, but it seems to have been drowned out by "DEM TRAINS R DANGEROUS".
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Jul 7, 2013 23:02
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Guy Axlerod posted:I heard a train blow their whistle to the tune of "shave and a haircut, two bits". I'd be doing that all the time if I were an engineer. An engineer I used to work with got tired of playing "Shave and a Haircut" all the time, so he became proficient at playing other short tunes. I heard him do several, ranging from "LA Cucaracha" to "Jingle Bells".
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Aug 12, 2013 05:30
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ijustam posted:I bet that job was a hoot. Basically a death sentence. Or at least a good way to lose your hands. I read once that during the day of link and pin couplers, the best way to determine how long a man had been a brakeman was to count how many fingers he was missing.
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Sep 4, 2013 16:21
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Strawberry posted:Peak intermodal season means I get the month of December off Forethought can save your rear end if you use it correctly. Enjoy your time off!
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Nov 22, 2013 02:50
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Can't have MoW out there with all those UPS Z trains running around.
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:So on the tail of UP reaffirming their commitment to their steam program (and insanity) by deciding to resurrect a big boy, NS has given the railfans a bit of a token apology for canceling their steam program by donating 1.5 million dollars to the effort to restore 611 to operation. I was unaware that the 21st Century Steam Program had been canceled. What's the story behind that?
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Jan 1, 2014 09:27
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ijustam posted:So if I understand railway airbakes, which I probably don't, if you took a running locomotive that was fully charged and connected it to a consist that had no air, wouldn't connecting the two pipes cause the locomotive to go into emergency? It could, yes, but there is a very easy way to prevent that. The cars and locomotives all have valves that control air flow through the brake pipe between cars called an angle cock. When you couple a fully charged locomotive to a cut of dry cars, it won't just automatically dump all of the air at once. Even physically connecting the brake pipes won't do that. It's not until you open up the angle cocks that air begins to flow. Let's assume we're coupling a fully charged locomotive to a cut of cars. Both sides have their angle cocks in the fully closed position. You connect the glad hands (air hoses), and you want to go ahead and open up one angle cock now since you're on the right side. The one closest to you is the angle cock on the locomotive. You can open that valve almost all at once because the air only has maybe four or five feet of brake pipe to fill before it hits a stop - the angle cock on the car you coupled up to. This is such a small amount of air that your engineer probably won't even notice it. You clamber over to the other side of the rail, and you are ready to open up the angle cock on the car, which will fill up the entire cut of cars with air. The trick to doing this is to not be too quick on the draw, and to listen. If you open it just a little bit, piece by piece, you can control the flow rate of air into the empty cars at such a rate that the air compressor on the locomotive can keep up. If you were to take the angle cock and open it the full ninety degrees in the time it takes to sneeze, you're going to put the locomotive into emergency because it senses a pressure drop that's too rapid. Opening it slowly, the pressure drop is so slow that the locomotive brake valves just assume that it's a standard application, and don't do anything except to recharge the main reservoir and the brake pipe. As a disclaimer, my only experience with this sort of stuff is on setting up relatively short work trains and 1400' passenger trains. I don't know if the guys with mile long trains do it any differently.
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Mar 6, 2014 01:41
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MassivelyBuckNegro posted:Its kind of funny that the guy taking the video tries really hard to avoid getting any diesel locos in the frame. I've never understood why people get so upset about diesel locomotives on these trips. I guess my practicality and years of running trains, both with air brakes and dynamic brakes, makes me say, yeah, it's a good idea just to have it. Foamers get so drat butthurt about it.
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Mar 22, 2014 19:27
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drunkill posted:The W classes are far more iconic, hell, we gave two to San Fransisco for their network and a car or two run on a few other networks around the world. The W classes let you hang onto the side of the tram if you weren't at a stop either, with the wooden step along the side of the tram, I remember running alongside trams and jumping on as they went past our house as a kid on the way to the footy. I was just running one of the W2s in Dallas this morning. W2 369 is one of the workhorses of the fleet of streetcars operated by McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, which runs streetcars in Dallas, TX. MATA actually changed up the W2 to be totally enclosed, with a major PITA manual door in the center of the car. 95% of our operations are done without conductors, so every time someone wants on or off the car, I have to stop, run to the middle of the car, open the door, let people on/off, get back up, close the door, run to the front of the car, and start moving again as quickly as possible so that I don't clog up traffic too badly. Oh yeah, this is all on a major busy street, too. However, to the credit of the M&MTB, that car runs amazingly well, and it has taken so many beatings over the last twenty plus years without quitting. Good on them, I suppose.
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Apr 17, 2014 01:25
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some texas redneck posted:Small world, I've been on Matilda a few times. We don't scream at the morons who cut us off. We grumble at them under our breath where no one can hear! Don't worry about where you board - the middle doors are the only ones we can safely load through anyway. It's not that bad until you get the straphanger that insists on planting himself in front of the door.
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Apr 17, 2014 16:39
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nmfree posted:"They knew where some of their trains were, but not where all of their trains were." That shot of the guys just flipping their speeder over to get off of the rails was a major  for me. Holy poo poo.
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May 24, 2014 02:16
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:So those of you in the industry, what are your feelings regarding GE vs EMD? Pre-80s(roughly) EMD is god tier if maintained properly. My only experience with GE is ALCo, which was basically GE Lite, and they suck. God only knows why railfans love locomotives that seem to actively try to kill the operating crews.
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Nov 10, 2014 11:19
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I got bored at work last night and decided to play with my new phone. This is the end result.
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Jan 3, 2015 21:10
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Das Volk posted:Do you work in 1915? Nah, it's 2015 here... most of the time. I work for a company in Dallas that runs vintage streetcars in a modern day commuter service.
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Jan 5, 2015 20:27
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ctishman posted:What sort of background do you have so as to get such a position? City bus, I'm guessing? Your dirty secret is safe with me, goon.
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Jan 6, 2015 08:42
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Another shot from work: necessity is the mother of 
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Jan 12, 2015 09:51
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bytebark posted:Train hits car somewhere in Kentucky (warning: you see it pretty drat well*): http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=616_1426435652 Dude, what a buzz kill. Those railfans were out just having fun and had to watch two people die due to the driver's impatience. That blows.
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Mar 17, 2015 19:35
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Axeman Jim, thanks for taking the time to write these up. I love it! It's nice to see failures on the other side of the pond.
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Mar 28, 2015 22:36
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I set up an impromptu dash cam on a Dallas streetcar and recorded a round trip with it. Video incoming shortly.
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Apr 5, 2015 23:02
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God drat, I do apologize for the delay, but here's the quasi- dash cam footage of the streetcar line I work. Sorry for the vertical video, but I couldn't find another way to set my phone up where the camera could still see out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I5adNDsDTw For reference, here's the streetcar I was operating in the video. Car 369 was built in 1925, measures 48' 10" (almost 15 meters), and weighs in at 25 tons (roughly 23,000 Kilos). Ignore my conductor doing a weird curtsy; he was trying to get out of the photo. 
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Apr 20, 2015 19:20
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Yup. It's a W2.
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Apr 21, 2015 17:10
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The chugging noise is the standard two cylinder air compressor. The whistle on this car was added around two years ago. It's definitely a Melbourne tram.
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Apr 21, 2015 18:58
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