87 Year Old locomotive cruising through Los Angeles
84 replies, posted
[QUOTE=richard9311;49814939]This thread:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2_I0EGhcB4[/media][/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/6OKpHb4.png[/IMG]
well they sure know their audience
[QUOTE=DasMatze;49815020][t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/La_Grange_KY_-_train_on_Main_Street.jpg[/t]
[url=http://www.myinstants.com/instant/inception-button/]La Grange (Kentucky)[/url][/QUOTE]
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1khghXRGb6k[/media]
e: oh my god I didn't even notice the button you linked :v:
[QUOTE=Trekintosh;49817009]When or where was this video actually taken? The actual rail lines in the middle of the I-10 have been gone for more than a decade, all that's there now is the Metro Gold Line, which is light rail. You try and put a big steamer like that on those rails and it would sink like a rock.[/QUOTE]
2 years ago. I'm not sure exactly where it was, but looking at the Metrolink line from LA to San Bernadino, I saw it ran along I-10, so I assume that is where it was recorded.
[QUOTE=pentium;49816104]Vancouver would like a word with you.
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_kmLz7ZhDY[/url][/QUOTE]
Sounds like something out of Half-Life 2
[QUOTE=ichiman94;49818501]Sounds like something out of Half-Life 2[/QUOTE]
You just reminded me of this clickbait back in the day haha.
[video=youtube;HUmvhnYSW0g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUmvhnYSW0g[/video]
If there's ever gonna be a half-life 3 it needs a return to the railways for sure.
[QUOTE=Ridge;49811453]This is pretty awesome to see. Surprisingly fast, and bad ass to look at and hear cruising down I-10
[video=youtube;xp-b4Ce4Mf4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp-b4Ce4Mf4[/video][/QUOTE]
This is pretty awesome. I love the old steam engines. But this thing is definitely not under full power. I'd wager the engine behind it is providing most of the power and allowing it to go so fast, because the 3751 isn't under full steam. There's no exhaust at all coming out of the main chimney, only the secondary chimney, so its boiler can't be running at full steam.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;49814898]I hope that within in my lifetime, that these beautiful pieces of machinery start becoming common place again, and instead of just flying Point A to Point B, you instead get to go across country on a really fancy train with the whole line of bar cabins and all.[/QUOTE]
taking empire builder from the midwest to seattle was one of the best things i've ever done. 44 hours of sitting and watching glacier national park, puget sound, and other parts of the rockies. and it was cheaper than a plane ticket. not to mention they got a fuckin observation car and a full diner car, which they pair you with people you've never met before. met a woman who started in maryland, took northeast corridor to chicago, and was coming out to seattle. her whole trip was like a month
[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6164/6149921007_10e6e61a32.jpg[/img]
not to mention the last hour or two between everett and seattle runs along the shoreline overlooking pudget sound, fuck it's nice
[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3297/3510485423_5041efceb9.jpg[/img]
took this pic coming through Snoqualmie
[img]https://scontent-ord1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e15/11018469_1546897688908114_528355986_n.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=GameDev;49819499]taking empire builder from the midwest to seattle was one of the best things i've ever done. 44 hours of sitting and watching glacier national park, puget sound, and other parts of the rockies. and it was cheaper than a plane ticket. not to mention they got a fuckin observation car and a full diner car, which they pair you with people you've never met before. met a woman who started in maryland, took northeast corridor to chicago, and was coming out to seattle. her whole trip was like a month[/QUOTE]
Dude how did you get a train trip for less than a flight? Every single time I looked at taking a train anywhere it was 3x-5x as expensive as flying.
[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;49819547]Dude how did you get a train trip for less than a flight? Every single time I looked at taking a train anywhere it was 3x-5x as expensive as flying.[/QUOTE]
at the time round trip was about $340 for me and flights were at least $100 more. this was for amtrak empire builder on value seats.
here's things you should consider:
you can check 2 bags in for the mail car with a ~60lbs weight limit, but you can also carry basically as many bags as you want on. I carried on two ENORMOUS camera equipment bags with my glidecam, tripod, light stands, and a shit ton of other stuff that was easily 150lbs, and they didn't bat a fucking eye. they just told me to throw it on the shelf downstairs. my dad brought his laptop bag, our personal bags, and a COOLER with snacks. they're so chill about that stuff. just make sure that shit has a padlock.
sleeper cars come with a meal plan. they're about $100 more, but after you look at the food prices in the dining car you'll understand. not going to lie, for train food, it's pretty damn tasty.
observation car is fucking sweet. it's like a community room that everyone can chill in if they're not sleeping. one of the days i just plopped my laptop on one of the tables and played Civ for 8 hours straight. If i was hungry, i'd go downstairs and the cafe car was down there. people played board games in that car. Hell, someone brought a monitor and a PS4 and set it up to play with their friends. on a 44 hour train ride.
trains are totally different vibes than planes. you don't feel uncomfortable sitting by someone you don't know. you're all cooped up in a rolling town for esentially 3 days, you just inherently get to know people. its pretty great
[QUOTE=GameDev;49819639]at the time round trip was about $340 for me and flights were at least $100 more.
here's things you should consider:
you can check 2 bags in for the mail car with a ~60lbs weight limit, but you can also carry basically as many bags as you want on. I carried on two ENORMOUS camera equipment bags with my glidecam, tripod, light stands, and a shit ton of other stuff that was easily 150lbs, and they didn't bat a fucking eye. they just told me to throw it on the shelf downstairs. my dad brought his laptop bag, our personal bags, and a COOLER with snacks. they're so chill about that stuff. just make sure that shit has a padlock.
sleeper cars come with a meal plan. they're about $100 more, but after you look at the food prices in the dining car you'll understand. not going to lie, for train food, it's pretty damn tasty.
observation car is fucking sweet. it's like a community room that everyone can chill in if they're not sleeping. one of the days i just plopped my laptop on one of the tables and played Civ for 8 hours straight. If i was hungry, i'd go downstairs and the cafe car was down there. people played board games in that car Hell, someone brought a monitor and a PS4 and set it up to play with their friends. on a 44 hour train ride.
trains are totally different vibes than planes. you don't feel uncomfortable sitting by someone you don't know. you're all cooped up in a rolling town for esentially 3 days, you just inherently get to know people. its pretty great[/QUOTE]
No, bro I understand, trains are fucking awesome. I used to take the Amtrak from Tampa to DeLand when I wanted to visit my parents across the state because even though it was an hour longer than driving, it was cheaper than the gas and it meant I didn't have to drive literally the entire length of I-4 plus like half of I-275. Also bar car.
But for anything out of state the price goes up exponentially. I just checked and a round trip from DeLand to Salt Lake City is $610 - $740 meanwhile a round trip flight is $290-$350.
I'd totally do it one way when I move for $370 if I didn't have to get my truck over there. DeLand to New York City, New York City to Chicago along the border of Canada and the Great Lakes, then Chicago to Salt Lake City.
[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;49819665]But for anything out of state the price goes up exponentially. I just checked and a round trip from DeLand to Salt Lake City is $610 - $740 meanwhile a round trip flight is $290-$350.[/QUOTE]
shit. empire builder must be super cheap then.
[QUOTE=GameDev;49819678]shit. empire builder must be super cheap then.[/QUOTE]
Is Empire Builder an Amtrak line, or is it a completely separate company?
[QUOTE=patq911;49811498]no not at all, los angeles is a very crowded place and this is space efficient.[/QUOTE]
I live in a pretty rural area where everything is spaced out and we still have active train tracks running parallel right next to roads, crossing them, etc.
[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;49819472]This is pretty awesome. I love the old steam engines. But this thing is definitely not under full power. I'd wager the engine behind it is providing most of the power and [B]allowing it to go so fast[/B], because the 3751 isn't under full steam. There's no exhaust at all coming out of the main chimney, only the secondary chimney, so its boiler can't be running at full steam.[/QUOTE]
in this case she's definitely having plenty of help from the P59, but that's a 90mph steam engine. It could easily pull the train they had that fast by itself, and would regularly pull far heavier trains significantly faster back in her day.
[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;49819696]Is Empire Builder an Amtrak line, or is it a completely separate company?[/QUOTE]
empire builder is a line; every intercity passenger service in america is amtrak afaik
The Coast Starlight is also an awe-inspiring line with gorgeous scenery and reasonable prices compared to plane tickets.
[editline]26th February 2016[/editline]
Here's the biggest thing about train travel though: it's just so nice. You can get on a train, relax for five hours or more, and then get off feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. It's the exact opposite of air travel which leaves you feeling drained and cranky. On a train you get to stand up, move about the cabin, chat, go get a snack, stretch out, recline your seat all the way back without upsetting anyone, it's great.
[QUOTE=Trekintosh;49819788]in this case she's definitely having plenty of help from the P59, but that's a 90mph steam engine. It could easily pull the train they had that fast by itself, and would regularly pull far heavier trains significantly faster back in her day.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I'm aware that the 3751 is a fast steam engine. That's because it runs on fuel oil, not coal. It's sort of like a proto-diesel locomotive. But yeah the P59 is doing most of the work, otherwise the main stack of the steam engine would be belching exhaust moving that fast.
[editline]26th February 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Trekintosh;49819895]The Coast Starlight is also an awe-inspiring line with gorgeous scenery and reasonable prices compared to plane tickets.
[editline]26th February 2016[/editline]
Here's the biggest thing about train travel though: it's just so nice. You can get on a train, relax for five hours or more, and then get off feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. It's the exact opposite of air travel which leaves you feeling drained and cranky. On a train you get to stand up, move about the cabin, chat, go get a snack, stretch out, recline your seat all the way back without upsetting anyone, it's great.[/QUOTE]
Tell me about it. I love trains. I just wish it was cheaper.
[video]https://youtu.be/teflLxaiE-c[/video]
meanwhile in wi
A few years ago, I had the pleasure to witness that beast on the barely active line (10 small regional autorails/day) near my house. I live in the south of france.
[IMG]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5615/15782605995_ca843b2b4d_o.jpg[/IMG]
They are such majestic machines !
All this steam makes me want to post a good cartoon about trains.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbTBk4pDIHA[/media]
[QUOTE=gdfsgdfg;49812792]Speaking of metro trains, I absolutely love those that do this soothing whizzing sound when they arrive and start-up.
-snip-
Sadly they want to replace those with some newer set of "CAF" trains that don't do that cool sound anymore, well they still do but its shorter and not the same pitch :frown:[/QUOTE]
This cool sound is apparently to do with something called 'Chopper Control'. It's basically regenerative braking for trains, as well as smooth acceleration.
[QUOTE]Chopper control provides "stepless" acceleration and also allows regenerative braking, where some of the kinetic energy lost in the braking process is converted back to electricity and recycled into the third rail. This produced a distinctive buzz whenever the train accelerated and decelerated.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5504.shtml"]From this website.[/URL]
[QUOTE=gdfsgdfg;49812792]Speaking of metro trains, I absolutely love those that do this soothing whizzing sound when they arrive and start-up.
[video=youtube;I4S-ZMVwSHs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xm9NG9VGAQ[/video]
Sadly they want to replace those with some newer set of "CAF" trains that don't do that cool sound anymore, well they still do but its shorter and not the same pitch :frown:[/QUOTE]
You would love it here then.
[video=youtube;8apjbf74Z0c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8apjbf74Z0c[/video]
[video=youtube;EtaECBvRxIo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtaECBvRxIo[/video]
[QUOTE=ichiman94;49812302]Let's convert this thread to train/metro chat v1
[video=youtube;diQWQ0PhaLs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diQWQ0PhaLs[/video]
I travel with this old ass '70-'80ies soviet electric train on a daily basis, they are roughly 120 m long and they make terrific sound! These trains are present in Russia too if I remember correctly.[/QUOTE]
[url=https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1508097]Why not a dedicated thread?[/url]
[editline]27th February 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=FlandersNed;49822130]This cool sound is apparently to do with something called 'Chopper Control'. It's basically regenerative braking for trains, as well as smooth acceleration.
[URL="http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5504.shtml"]From this website.[/URL][/QUOTE]
The one in the video gdfsgdfg mentioned was variable frequency drive, which uses AC motors and is somewhat more energy efficient. The pitch of the sound is too high to possibly be chopper control. Chopper control is older, has a lower pitch to the noise it generates and uses DC motors. Like this:
[video=youtube;JU8pcMQtRWk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU8pcMQtRWk[/video]
We are now a train thread.
[QUOTE=Ridge;49811453]This is pretty awesome to see. [B][I]Surprisingly fast[/I][/B], and bad ass to look at and hear cruising down I-10[/QUOTE]
Steam is incredibly powerful. Modern locomotives would be incredibly impressive to make half the power of a middle of the road late steam engine above 40mph. I guarantee that thing was only at half throttle and 15% cutoff
[QUOTE=DasMatze;49814979]For those surprised how big it is: have you never seen the UP Big Boy before?
[t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Steamtown%2CScranton%2CPA_%28201036412%29.jpg[/t]
Biggest locomotive on this planet.[/QUOTE]
Well, i know i'm jumping straight into [I]"that guy"[/I] territory here, but the big boys are the longest steam locomotive by engine alone, there were some bigger.
[T]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3TwfGu8c7I/TaJIUhe6-5I/AAAAAAAACLI/yxQCw4cwzLU/s1600/prr+s1.jpg[/T] [T]http://www.smartage.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1215.jpg[/T]
The S1 was the longest steam engine in the world if you include the tender, which is kind of dubious. It still is the largest frame casting in history though, so i suppose that's still pretty impressive
[T]http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r293/VIEWLINER/PTA/CO1.jpg~original[/T]
As far as i know, this is the biggest single locomotive ever built, the C&O M1. They spent 3-4 million dollars in 1948 on construction and then canceled the only reason they had for existing before they were finished. Then N&W built their own a few years later, which also bombed
what really baffles me about all this is the fact that private railroads could afford shops and facilities and workforces to build all this stuff inhouse, but 70 years later, there's not one foundry in america that could produce any of these frames. largest i know of could only pour a finished casting at 35 tonnes, where the S1's frame weighed around 43-50 tonnes. Surely things should be getting bigger and more complicated as time goes on, but that really isn't the case
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