richard carr
Western Thunderer
Hi Simon
I think in this case we probably were, but there were no "No Trespassing" signs which you would expect especially as it was a pretty big piece of land.
Richard
Richard's American Train Adventures
- Thread starter richard carr
- Start date
I think in this case we probably were, but there were no "No Trespassing" signs which you would expect especially as it was a pretty big piece of land.
Richard
Mike Walker
Western Thunderer
In my experience everything changed after 9/11. Before then railfans were tolerated, even welcomed particularly if they found you were from overseas but post then the whole attitude became one of hostility. I haven't been there since 2005 after more than 25 years of at least annual visits such was the amount of hassle we were getting even from public streets!
simond
Western Thunderer
I too was a regular visitor, mostly before 9/11. I wasn’t going looking for trains so I don’t know how it was in that respect but generally I found the US to be very welcoming, with one notable exception: when a policeman was called because a doctor was remonstrating (very firmly but very politely) with a spectacularly useless gate agent in DTW - the doctor was trying to get the airline to urgently provide a substitute meal for the one we should have had if the aircraft had been available, to prevent a diabetic lady suffering a hypo.
The cop had an IQ roughly equivalent to the bore of his pistol, (presumably, 9) and would not listen. He’d been called, he’d made his mind up and nothing short of the second coming was going to change it. And he had a gun, and demonstrated the fact. I would not allow him anything more dangerous than a wax crayon.
but we digress…
The cop had an IQ roughly equivalent to the bore of his pistol, (presumably, 9) and would not listen. He’d been called, he’d made his mind up and nothing short of the second coming was going to change it. And he had a gun, and demonstrated the fact. I would not allow him anything more dangerous than a wax crayon.
but we digress…
mickoo
Western Thunderer
I have been approached several times by Railroad authorities, local law enforcement officers and the public. As far as the Railroad goes, the demarcation between Railroad property and public property is rarely marked so it is very easy to end up on the wrong piece of grass.
The Railroads own vast amounts of real estate and it can extend some distance from the tracks, but generally speaking if you're in an area where railfans populate then you'll usually not be bothered, however, us Brits like to look for something different (I call it prospecting) location wise so crews will not be used to seeing railfans there and will usually call up.
I have only once been asked to leave and to be fair I was trespassing, although totally unaware I was doing so; I'd been there (in town) for a few days and the employee said I had my fun and perhaps it was time to move on (read the local swing helper crews had had enough of me poking my camera at them). I apologised, thanked him for the explanation on company property, wished him good day and %^&* off to take pictures a 100 miles away on a different Railroad.
I spoke to a railfan about it and he said, ahhh, the trick is to take a couple of photos and then sod off somewhere else, that way they never send the crews out to catch you, it's only if you 'squat' in the same location all day they get suspicious.
Some locals get upset, call the law who duly arrive, have a chat, check your details and depending on how they feel either ask you to move on or stay until the next train and then move on, but that was only once, all the other interactions have been favourable, interesting and polite. Quite a few of my local sheriff interactions were from locals who called up and concern that I was going to jump under.
Given I did over 7,000 miles in three weeks on my last trip, there's plenty of railway to go to and take photos, so I just move on and enjoy the day.
On the whole I prefer areas out of town and away from people, but then I've been approached by ranchers and farm hands and questioned but those have all been amicable, more so if you explain you're only going to be an hour or so and move on; some have even suggested better spots and given directions to them.
I must have 3-4000 US train photos (not including the 10,000 roster and detail shots) and only once have I been given the 'finger' by a disgruntled engineer.
The Railroads own vast amounts of real estate and it can extend some distance from the tracks, but generally speaking if you're in an area where railfans populate then you'll usually not be bothered, however, us Brits like to look for something different (I call it prospecting) location wise so crews will not be used to seeing railfans there and will usually call up.
I have only once been asked to leave and to be fair I was trespassing, although totally unaware I was doing so; I'd been there (in town) for a few days and the employee said I had my fun and perhaps it was time to move on (read the local swing helper crews had had enough of me poking my camera at them). I apologised, thanked him for the explanation on company property, wished him good day and %^&* off to take pictures a 100 miles away on a different Railroad.
I spoke to a railfan about it and he said, ahhh, the trick is to take a couple of photos and then sod off somewhere else, that way they never send the crews out to catch you, it's only if you 'squat' in the same location all day they get suspicious.
Some locals get upset, call the law who duly arrive, have a chat, check your details and depending on how they feel either ask you to move on or stay until the next train and then move on, but that was only once, all the other interactions have been favourable, interesting and polite. Quite a few of my local sheriff interactions were from locals who called up and concern that I was going to jump under.
Given I did over 7,000 miles in three weeks on my last trip, there's plenty of railway to go to and take photos, so I just move on and enjoy the day.
On the whole I prefer areas out of town and away from people, but then I've been approached by ranchers and farm hands and questioned but those have all been amicable, more so if you explain you're only going to be an hour or so and move on; some have even suggested better spots and given directions to them.
I must have 3-4000 US train photos (not including the 10,000 roster and detail shots) and only once have I been given the 'finger' by a disgruntled engineer.
richard carr
Western Thunderer
So Friday morning we set off about 8am and the plan was head to Leipsic, but as we got near we passed the turning for Deshler (2 miles along the road) and couldn't resist popping in, we weren't to be disappointed.
It was as busy as ever, as soon as we arrived we heard the first horn out west. It would be about 5 minutes away.
Once this one had gone past we could hear another horn, but it took a while to arrive and then it parked up by the signal.
A very short stack train
It was waiting to be overtaken by a manifest, most unusual as stack trains generally take priority over everything else.
It sat there for a while too, finally got going.
Once the manifest had gone by a westbound stack train arrived
Then the short stack train got going.
Then the signals cleared for a train to move from main 1 to head south, so I got in position to video this.
First though another westbound train went through on main 2
Then the southbound train arrived, another manifest.
Then finally we set off for Leipsic, following this train until we got held up by a tractor and the train went by us.
It was as busy as ever, as soon as we arrived we heard the first horn out west. It would be about 5 minutes away.
Once this one had gone past we could hear another horn, but it took a while to arrive and then it parked up by the signal.
A very short stack train
It was waiting to be overtaken by a manifest, most unusual as stack trains generally take priority over everything else.
It sat there for a while too, finally got going.
Once the manifest had gone by a westbound stack train arrived
Then the short stack train got going.
Then the signals cleared for a train to move from main 1 to head south, so I got in position to video this.
First though another westbound train went through on main 2
Then the southbound train arrived, another manifest.
Then finally we set off for Leipsic, following this train until we got held up by a tractor and the train went by us.
richard carr
Western Thunderer
So after that train went through we chased after it, it's easy as the roads parallel the line almost all the way to Leipsic, but we got held up by a tractor and the train beat us to a crossing.
When we got there we fund the train I hoped to see the local runs up through Deshler to Toledo and returns in the afternoon.
We couldn't get to the other side of the crossing as the gates were already down, so we got all these fences in the way.
It moved off and then stopped about 500 yards on the other side fo the crossing.
It's picking up those 2 hopper cars, and then moved off again, in the meantime this had arrived in the siding.
A relatively short manifest, the signals in the distance protect the crossing with the Norfolk SOuthern line to Fort Wayne.
A train went across in the far distance.
He's on the move now and had some brand new gondolas built in May this year
After all this we moved on to Defiance to see if the NWD was in action that day.
When we got there we fund the train I hoped to see the local runs up through Deshler to Toledo and returns in the afternoon.
We couldn't get to the other side of the crossing as the gates were already down, so we got all these fences in the way.
It moved off and then stopped about 500 yards on the other side fo the crossing.
It's picking up those 2 hopper cars, and then moved off again, in the meantime this had arrived in the siding.
A relatively short manifest, the signals in the distance protect the crossing with the Norfolk SOuthern line to Fort Wayne.
A train went across in the far distance.
He's on the move now and had some brand new gondolas built in May this year
After all this we moved on to Defiance to see if the NWD was in action that day.
richard carr
Western Thunderer
We got to Defiance about lunchtime, but nothing was happening, they have though got a new loco, a GP15
ON hire from Larry's Truck and Electric by the looks of things
The old Geep is still there.
We went down to the crossing with the CSX mainline, this came through just as we arrived.
That was it for the day as I had a work meeting I needed to Zoom in on, that went on for ages.
Richard
ON hire from Larry's Truck and Electric by the looks of things
The old Geep is still there.
We went down to the crossing with the CSX mainline, this came through just as we arrived.
That was it for the day as I had a work meeting I needed to Zoom in on, that went on for ages.
Richard
richard carr
Western Thunderer
So Saturday the 14th had finally arrived and we were all booked on the The Tri State Rail Experience with the 765, a former Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 loco, to be honest by US standards not that big a loco, but by UK standards it's massive.
We were booked in the coach Lawton Park, an "open air" coach with no air conditioning, it turns out this "coach" was in fact an Elephant car that was part fo the Ringling Brothers circus train. So all the windows open and the elephant doors are open too, with a suitable barrier to stop you falling out. They even encourage you to stick you head out of the window ! They even provide googles so that you don't get hit by the cinders.
You can imagine what would happen if you tried to run this kind of coach in the UK !
This is the view we got when arrived, thats the queue waiting to check in. The train runs from Edon Ohio then into Indiana and on to Hillsdale Michigan, it's not that far about 90 miles but the train only does about 25mph so this takes a while. I had a request for detail shots of the loco, so here are some.
The boys hanging out of the big window. I have to say that travelling in this coach was excellent, nice big arm chairs to sit in and all those windows. If it was pouring with rain I'm not sure it would have been quite so good.
We have now arrived in Hillsdale
We were booked in the coach Lawton Park, an "open air" coach with no air conditioning, it turns out this "coach" was in fact an Elephant car that was part fo the Ringling Brothers circus train. So all the windows open and the elephant doors are open too, with a suitable barrier to stop you falling out. They even encourage you to stick you head out of the window ! They even provide googles so that you don't get hit by the cinders.
You can imagine what would happen if you tried to run this kind of coach in the UK !
This is the view we got when arrived, thats the queue waiting to check in. The train runs from Edon Ohio then into Indiana and on to Hillsdale Michigan, it's not that far about 90 miles but the train only does about 25mph so this takes a while. I had a request for detail shots of the loco, so here are some.
The boys hanging out of the big window. I have to say that travelling in this coach was excellent, nice big arm chairs to sit in and all those windows. If it was pouring with rain I'm not sure it would have been quite so good.
We have now arrived in Hillsdale
richard carr
Western Thunderer
We eventually got back to Edon about 6:30 pm, so a full day out on the train, it had been a lot of fun.
There is a triangle in Hillsdale and the whole train had been turned on it. So now a diesel was going on the front to take the whole train back to Hillsdale to turn it and bring it back to Edon so the whole thing can happen again on the Sunday.
So we set off on Sunday morning to follow the train, we picked it up at Pleasant Lake Indiana.
Here's the video
I didn't get to take many stills as I was too busy filming.
We then drove off to Elkhart once we had chased the train to Hillsdale.
There is a triangle in Hillsdale and the whole train had been turned on it. So now a diesel was going on the front to take the whole train back to Hillsdale to turn it and bring it back to Edon so the whole thing can happen again on the Sunday.
So we set off on Sunday morning to follow the train, we picked it up at Pleasant Lake Indiana.
Here's the video
I didn't get to take many stills as I was too busy filming.
We then drove off to Elkhart once we had chased the train to Hillsdale.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Drool, LIMA's near perfect Berkshire class and probably one of the very best all round steam engines ever designed, lb for lb (weight - tractive effort) they're rumoured to be the most powerful/efficient engines ever built.
Note trailing coupling rod has no knuckle, it's a lapped rod with bigger journals to take all the power, quite common on 'super power' engines toward the end of steam design. The phrase (LIMA) super power is often associated on their engines with 4 wheel delta trucks or more.
Note trailing coupling rod has no knuckle, it's a lapped rod with bigger journals to take all the power, quite common on 'super power' engines toward the end of steam design. The phrase (LIMA) super power is often associated on their engines with 4 wheel delta trucks or more.
simond
Western Thunderer
Looking at the photo, I can see what you mean, but I can’t see it being an advantage as there are two axles ahead of the drive, so logically there should be higher loads in the central coupling rods, so why stiffen the rear drive?
The balance weights are enormous, they require the rods to be outboard - but that would also apply to the centre rods, as well as the rear.
The balance weights are enormous, they require the rods to be outboard - but that would also apply to the centre rods, as well as the rear.
Brian McKenzie
Western Thunderer
Look at the size of those cylinders powering the mechanical stoker!! Large enough to haul a Welsh slate train.
Allen M
Western Thunderer
It reminds me of the days of my childhood. Hornby O clockwork then OO 3 rail laid out on the lounge carpet and dodging the furniture.
Where have those 75+ years gone?
Regards
Allen
richard carr
Western Thunderer
After the 765 we set off to Goshen about 10 miles south of Elkhart, we watched the Canadian GP in Starbucks while a few trains went by outside, then headed outside once the race had finished. It wasn't long before another train arrived.
A Southern Liveried boxcar
An ACe on a grain train
Then another stack train
Yes a green signal on the gantry, it didn't take long for it to arrive but I only caught that on video.
We didn't hurry to get started on Monday morning, so after a nice breakfast in the hotel we headed down to the station to see what was going on. It was busy as usual.
The 2 bay hoppers, it's unusual to see CN power on this.
A manifest creeps into the yard
A triple stack car in the middle of a manifest, so no reason not to have one on my layout.
More hoppers
Another manifest heading into the yard
now passing the hoppers
A Southern Liveried boxcar
An ACe on a grain train
Then another stack train
Yes a green signal on the gantry, it didn't take long for it to arrive but I only caught that on video.
We didn't hurry to get started on Monday morning, so after a nice breakfast in the hotel we headed down to the station to see what was going on. It was busy as usual.
The 2 bay hoppers, it's unusual to see CN power on this.
A manifest creeps into the yard
A triple stack car in the middle of a manifest, so no reason not to have one on my layout.
More hoppers
Another manifest heading into the yard
now passing the hoppers
Have we taught you nothing..?? *sigh* 
