HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: schumann@msus1.msus.edu
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Why do New England Express trains slow down...
Date: 15 Nov 92 16:55:19 -0600
Organization: Minnesota State University System

In article <1992Nov11.212235.22444@icaen.uiowa.edu>,
saevans@l_cae06.icaen.uiowa.edu (Scott A Evans,,,) writes, in part:
> From article <lg2sgqINNhg9@news.bbn.com>, by rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman):
>> ....when passing through certain stations that they do
>> not stop at, such as Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut?
> 
> Some towns have laws prohibiting trains from going through their 
> borders at above a certain speed.  I guess that the rationalle for this
> is the decreased danger of major accidents and the reduced noise.

I just read somewhere (CTC Board, I think, in the Union Pacific 
column) that the Supreme Court has overturned the rights of 
communities to set speed limits for railroads.  As I recall the story, 
there was a town in Idaho that set a 35 mph speed limit.  When the 
Supreme Court made its decision, the UP promptly raised the limit to 
60 mph for freights and 70 mph for passenger trains (or was it 
50/60?), much to the dismay of the town.
--
   Paul L. Schumann, Ph.D.           |  VAX:  IN%"schumann@MSUS1.MSUS.EDU"
   Professor of Management           |  Office Phone:       (507) 389-5349
   Mankato State University          |  Secretary's Phone:  (507) 389-2966
   Mankato, MN   56002-8400          |  Fax Number:         (507) 389-5497

Organization: Freshman, CIT general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 10:56:13 -0500 
From: Colin John Brodsky <cb4n+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: AMTK SW-1's

Regarding the three letter codes:

Although the codes simplify the reservation system, I noticed that for
Pittsburgh, at least, they are different.  If I remember right, Amtrak
uses PGH and the airlines use PIT.  Guess that must throw people if
they're used to one set of codes.

My 2 cents worth - 

Colin Brodsky 
Carnegie Mellon University
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie)
Subject: is Conrail on Internet ?
Organization: Center For High Perf. Computing of WPI; Marlboro Ma
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:26:08 GMT


Does anyone know if the Conrail computer network is email 
accessable from internet? 

Please email any info to : rboudrie@chpc.org

ps: "postmaster@conrail.com" doesn't seem to work.

Thanks,
Rob Boudrie
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: billg@bony1.bony.com (Bill Gripp)
Subject: Re: Air whistles (was Scaring away meese)
Organization: LA&W RR
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 06:37:05 GMT

In article <1992Nov15.070123.8912@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> zephyr@cory.Berkeley.EDU (COIFMAN) writes:
>In article <6km8TB2w165w@1776.COM> bob@1776.COM (Robert Coe) writes:
>>CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94) writes:

> At least one disel railway had whistles instead of horns. When absorbed
>into the Soo Line, all of the locomotives on the Minneapolis Northfield
>and Southern had air whistles. As the engines were absorbed and
>repainted, the whistles came off. A couple of these whistles are now in
>use by the Minnesota Transportation Museum on an NW2 and an SW1200. Oh,
>btw, the whistles fit the same mounting brackets as the normal air horns.


The New Haven FL9's had Nathan Air Whistles.  Some of their other
diesels many have had these too.

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: zephyr@cory.Berkeley.EDU (COIFMAN)
Subject: Re: Air whistles (was Scaring away meese)
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 01:05:13 GMT


 Now that I think of it, there were a number of steam engines with air
horns by the twlight of steam. The Daylights had 'em and I think the
Hiawatha's had them too. Not to mention all of the lowere profile steam
engines that must have had air horns.



    r++-----------,---,-------------.            Benn Coifman 
   /~____________/ ""||      @      |       zephyr@cory.berkeley.edu
  / o-o  (*) (*)  o :  o-o-o   o-o-o      zephyr@robotics.berkeley.edu
From: Steve_Hooper@mindlink.bc.ca (Steve Hooper)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Stupid People
Date: 22 Nov 92 07:33:17 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

> COIFMAN writes:
>
>  If we lived in a world that worked the right way, the rail road would
> be preparing to take legal action against the driver for tresspassign,
> damage to their locomotive, loss of revinue do to having the main shut
> down, etc..


I dunno about the Yank railways, but on one occasion, a train on the E & N on
Vancouver Island hit a truck. The truck had stuck his nose out too far at a
crossing.  No injuries were reported but the front end and side of this guy's
truck were smashed up pretty bad.  What did CP do?  They sued the driver and
made him pay for all damages to the lead unit (some bent handrails and a
smashed ditch light) and made him pay for a paint job on the WHOLE UNIT!

I loved it  :)


--

 steve_hooper@mindlink.bc.ca   []  The Great White North in
 OR      a777@mindlink.bc.ca   []   Vancouver, BC, CANADA
From: rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: More on Bos to Portland, Me rail service
Date: 20 Nov 1992 23:11:20 GMT
Organization: Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: spcsun25.bbn.com

In article <1992Nov20.210241.27931@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john) writes:
|> In article <lgqcmdINNgd6@news.bbn.com> rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman) writes:
|> >
|> >On the other hand, I recall that Amtrak DID use to run shuttle
|> >trains between Penn and Grand Central stations in New York,
|> >even though it's a short walk (or subway ride) between them.
|> >Never understood why Amtrak provided that service.
|> 
|> Ron, could you (or anyone else for that matter) elaborate on this?  Unless I am
|> totally mistaken, the closest common steel is up in Westchester county for these
|> two points (Well maybe the Bronx 8-)!

All I know is that these shuttle trains appeared in Amtrak schedules
until Amtrak left Grand Central last year.   They were called
something like "Amtrak Station-to-Station Shuttle".

Presumably they did indeed run from Grand Central up the
MetroNorth New Haven Line to Westchester, then reverse 
(or is there a wye there?) back to Penn Station over
the Hell Gate bridge.

The question is:  why did they bother?

-- 
Ron Newman		rnewman@bbn.com
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: pratta@aix01.lost.in.dreamland (Anthony Edward Prattico)
Subject: Re: Smokey Alcos...(Was: Re: GE chugging)
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
	<1992Nov18.145240.16329@bony1.bony.com>
	<1992Nov22.015323.1@fnalo.fnal.gov>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:44:13 GMT

In article <1992Nov22.015323.1@fnalo.fnal.gov> khartman@fnalo.fnal.gov writes:

>	Yeah, what about the smokey Alcos?  What is the general opinion on
>the cause of this excessive smoke?  A railfan friend of mine mentioned that
>the turbocharger was poorly designed.

I remember reading once that the smoke was caused by turbocharger lab. Basic-
ally, the fuel was dumped into the engine but the air was slower in coming, so
the fuel burned very poorly, emitting lots of neat black smoke. Sort of an
afterburner effect.
I have no proof of this, but it makes sense to me.

>	How do the roads that still operate Alcos manage to avoid fines for
>air pollution?

Very powerful lobbying group? Actually, there are several exceptions to the
emissions laws. For example, NYS's new automobile emissions law states that
you must make repairs to your car if the emissions are too high, unless the
cost to do so is excessive (ie, greater than $400). Then you aren't required
to do anything. Also, antique cars and steam engines are exempt as well. So
the railroads have probably found a way around the laws.

>       Apologies if this topic has been beaten to death in the past, I'm 
>new to your group.  Thanks for the information!

No problem. There are always going to be new people, and it doesn't matter what
you ask, as long as when someone asks it in the future you'll be able to answer
it for them. After all, someone has to keep the group going after the present
contributors leave.

>   Ken

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony Prattico          pratta@rpi.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All opinions are mine and mine alone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Wherever you go, there you are" - from that hit movie, "The Adventures of
                                                         Buckaroo Bonzai"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: elw4@po.CWRU.Edu (Evan L. Werkema)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Air whistles (was Scaring away meese)
Date: 15 Nov 1992 22:52:12 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: elw4@po.CWRU.Edu (Evan L. Werkema)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, zephyr@cory.Berkeley.EDU (COIFMAN) says:
>In article <6km8TB2w165w@1776.COM> bob@1776.COM (Robert Coe) writes:
>>CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94) writes:
>>> I've heard that when Canadian National switched from steam to diesel, there 
>>> was a sharp increase in the number of moose killed by trains.  It seems 
>>> that a diesel's air horn, unlike a steam whistle, sounds much like the love 
>>> call of a moose.
>>
>>So did CN change the sound of their horns?  What is the physics of a steam
>>whistle?  Would it sound about the same if run on compressed air?
>>
>>   ___            _                                           -  Bob
>>   /__) _   /    / ) _   _
>>(_/__) (_)_(_)  (___(_)_(/_______________________________________ bob@1776.COM
>>Robert K. Coe ** 14 Churchill St, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776 ** 508-443-3265
>
> At least one disel railway had whistles instead of horns. When absorbed
>into the Soo Line, all of the locomotives on the Minneapolis Northfield
>and Southern had air whistles. As the engines were absorbed and
>repainted, the whistles came off. A couple of these whistles are now in
>use by the Minnesota Transportation Museum on an NW2 and an SW1200. Oh,
>btw, the whistles fit the same mounting brackets as the normal air horns.

  New Haven's FL9's were built with air whistles too.  I can't remember the
name of the company who made them (somebody Railway Supply Co.), but they look
like the same type of whistle as on the MNS engines.  I think Amtrak replaced 
the air whistles with standard "honkers" on their FL9's, but I don't know 
about Metro North.  The record _First Generation Diesels, Volume II_ has
two recordings of NH's FL9's, and the air whistle is certainly a lot nicer 
sounding than the one or two chime "moose calls" on other F's.  Somehow, I doubt
that NH had problems with meese anyway, but...

 
-- 
   -----_._._,_,,_,__._._     _._.__,_,,_,_._._----      
  _Ioo I ===        ====I     I====        === IooI____   I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
|_II___I____Santa Fe____I_| |_I__Evan Werkema__I__I___I_| I elw4@po.cwru.edu I
`-~O==O~===========~O==O~-`~`-~O==O~=============~O==O~-`~~o==o~\/~\/~\/~o==o~
Organization: Systems Group 98, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 10:23:39 -0500 
From: David Allen Markley <dm3e+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: scanners and the Railfan

Does anyone out there have an exaustive list of frequencies used by the
railroads? I can go to Rat Shack, but they only have a regional list on
one page of a book that costs $10.00. I hate having to pay that much for
one page of information. If you can point me in the right direction, and
tell me what to listen for, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

++David
markley+@cmu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: Joe.Russ <Joe.Russ@mixcom.mixcom.com>
Subject: Any word on Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261?
Organization: Milwaukee Internet Xchange BBS, Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 06:09:08 GMT


Say, has anybody seen or heard anything on Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 #261
which "supposedly" left Green Bay, Wis. in late September? Is it in
Minneapolis? If so, where, and is any work being done on it? Thanks in
advance for any information.
-- 
Joe.Russ@mixcom.com
WISE Div., NMRA
From: LMASSONN@ESOC.BITNET (Dr. Lutz Massonne)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: ICE motor problems, RR accident in Germany
Date: 17 Nov 92 08:40:12 GMT
Organization: mbp Software&Systems GmbH at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany

Regarding the ICE motors: As far as I know there were signs of
metal fatigue spotted in the rotor cages of some ICE motors.
It was decided to replace the whole lot of motors, and as the ICE
sets are fairly new the schange is covered by the manufacturers
liability. Siemens is not pleased ... :-)
(reason seems to be a wrong choice of material and/or part dimensions)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

On the night from the 14th to the 15th a major accident happened
in the station of Northeim, near Goettingen.
(If I recall the network correctly this is on the main line
from Frankfurt/Main to Hamburg)

Shortly after midnight some (approx. 5) carriages of a fast goods train
derailed in the vicinity of the station. Reason of the derailment was
(as far as TV reports go) a buffer broken off by a shunting accident
shortly before which had fallen on the through tracks.

Directly after the derailment of the goods train the Night Express
Innsbruck (Austria) to Copenhagen (Denmark) rushed into the derailed
train at 100 km/h.
Five passenger cars werde derailed and wrecked, a sleeper car overturned
and fell off a bridge onto the city's main road.
11 people are found dead (including the train driver), over 50
brouhgt into hospital with major injuries.
The police and rescue teams fear that even more victims will be
found as they had not managed to get into all compartments.
Heavy equipment had to used to cut through the smashed passenger
cars.

Regards, Lutz
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: brom@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (David Bromage)
Subject: SIAM archive
Organization: Monash University General Access Unix
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 07:14:13 GMT


For those who had problems with the SIAM demos, they are available for
anonymous ftp on yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au [130.194.3.132] in the directory
/pub/export

They will be available for the next 3 weeks.

David Bromage
From: rap@nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com (Richard Porter)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Recording trains
Keywords: audio, sound, recording
Date: 18 Nov 92 10:34:11 GMT
Organization: BNR Europe Limited
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsgs50.lon40.nt.com

In article <17NOV199213352686@alpha.sunquest.com> rfj@alpha.sunquest.com
(RICHARD F. JONES) writes:

>Well, since I have combined by love of trains and photography into
>several dramatic photos, I now have turned to recording (audio) moving
>trains.

>I have tried placing the microphone(s) adjacent to the tracks, about
>10 to 15 feet from the tracks, suspended over the tracks (got some
>great engine sounds from this one!!) and between the tracks.  My
>problem is the frequent wind that often tags along with mile long
>freights travelling 60+ miles per hour.

>I have used the usual foam wind screens, tried shielding the mikes in
>boxes (caused a sound distortion), etc.   Does anyone have any
>suggestions as to how I can get good recordings and not have the
>hurricane wind sounds along with the sounds of the train???

>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If there is a howling wind, then capture it on your tape! What you have
to avoid is the microphone diaphragm being flapped around by the wind.
Foam on its own is not realy good enough. I used to use a foam windshield
surrounded by a very thin cotton handerkerchief, but you can also use
nylon stockings or tights. That worked reasonably well even when hung
out of train windows.

If you can afford it get a professional windshield with what I call a
"shaggy dog" cover. Various sizes are available. These have a much thinner
layer of foam and you don't loose so much 'top'.

Another point to bear in mind is that omnidirectional (pressure) microphones
are much less susceptible to wind than cardioids, and figure-of-8 (velocity)
mics are the worst. Even if you are recording in stereo it is worthwhile
considering using omnis in high winds.

I would also suggest that you place your mics a lot further back from the
tracks, particularly if you are recording in stereo. This will resuce the
air disturbance from the train itself, and will also reduce the dynamic
range of the recording so you can turn the recording level up and get a
better recording of the train approaching. In stereo there will be less
of a tendency to get a hole in the middle of the stereo image.

Good luck!

Richard Porter
Federation of British Tape Recordists
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,ba.transportation
From: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Subject: Re: SFO rail transit setback?
Keywords: Kopp SFO BART CalTrain
Reply-To: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Organization: Columbia University
Distribution: ca
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 18:28:56 GMT

I've been following this SFO thread for a while (yes that "ca"
distribution has reached the East Coast!).  One thing puzzles me.

Why do voters in San Francisco alone get to decide anything about (a)
an airport in San Mateo County and (b) use of regional transit funds?
What's the deal?  I'm guessing maybe the City owns the airport itself,
but I still don't get it. 

--Joe Brennan
From: yeung@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Frankie C. Yeung)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Travel around US by Amtrak.......
Date: 20 Nov 92 21:53:54 GMT
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Department of Computer Science
Originator: yeung@armstrong.cs.buffalo.edu


        In this Christmas holiday, I am going to have a trip from Buffalo, NY 
to California by train. As the route will pass through many states, I 
really want to have a good planning on this so that I can go to most of the 
places in US where are worthwhile to go.

        I know that Amtrak does provide a package for this, call something like 
"Travel Planner". Does anybody know the detail of this?? Or have the 
experience in travelling from Eastern coast to Western coast by Amtrak before? 
Any suggestions on the how the route is welcomed! I think I have 15 days for
the whole trip (maybe longer....) I don't mind to travel from NY to Texas then 
Cal., or NY to Washington then Cal.,but I want to consider the money also.


        If you have any information about this, or knowing where I can get 
more information, please reply me my email.

                yeung@acsu.buffalo.edu 
            OR  acscfcy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu

        I appreciate all your help!
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ndallen@r-node.gts.org (Nigel Allen)
Subject: VIA Station Codes (was Re: Amtrak List of Trains by # (LOOONG) (fwd)
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 09:12:11 GMT

In article <BxtvJ6.MzD@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> roma@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Roma) writes:
>tml@tik.vtt.fi (Tor Lillqvist) writes:

>
>>Why does Amtrak use what I assume are *airport* designators for
>>stations? Isn't that both stupid, as trains are supposed to compete
>>with airplanes, and misleading, as many cities have several airports,
>>none of which presumably are as conveniently located as the railway
>>station(s)?
>
>The appearance to airport codes is merely coincidental.  Amtrak has its own
>system of three-letter codes.  While some of these are the same as various
>cities' airport codes, other are not.  Amtrak's scheme tends to be more
>mnemonic than the codes used by the airlines.
>
VIA Rail Canada uses four-letter codes. For example, Toronto Union Station
is (I think) TRTO. Tickets show where the reservation was booked and where
the ticket was issued with the station name followed by RV or SV.

I think Reservia, VIA's reservation system, was written by Air Canada.
 
Air Canada was originally (in its Trans-Canada Airlines days) owned by
Canadian National Railways. The Air Canada credit card (now the En Route
card, recently sold to Diners Club, I think) used to be the Air Canada - CN
credit card.

Most of CN's non-rail activities have either been closed down, sold off
or taken over directly by the federal government or by new government-owned
companies ("crown corporations"). So the former CN Marine (ferry service
in Atlantic Canada) is now a separate company called Marine Atlantic, for
example. 

Air Canada became a separate crown corporation several years before it was 
privatized.





In any event, Canadian airport codes normally begin with the letter Y
(some begin with Z), and codes like YUL for Montreal-Dorval aren't
very mnemonic. (Besides, VIA has a Dorval station in addition to its
Montreal Central station, so which station would be YUL if VIA were to
use airline codes for its stations?)
From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Subject: Re: Failure of Proposition 156
Organization: LLNL
Distribution: ca
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 23:39:48 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.025229.13342@ntmtv> adrian@ntmtv.UUCP (Adrian Brandt) writes:
>In article <1992Nov14.084038.4110@s1.gov>, lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich) writes:
: 	As some of you fellow Californians may know by now,
: Proposition 156, for issuing $1 billion in bonds to finance
: passenger-rail improvements, failed (52% to 48%).

>As some of you might want to know, the CTC (California Transportation
>Commission) will be holding a special meeting/workshop to decide what
>to do about 156's failure (how to shuffle money around to make up for
>it).  It will be this Saturday, November 21st in South San Francisco
>at the Best Western Hotel, 380 S. Airport Blvd., from 9:00 - 17:00.
>Call the CTC at 916 654-4245 for more details.

	I hope someone can tell us all about it, since I will be
having other business that day.

: 	The schedule of the Capitols is unchanged; there are none of
: the new stops promised for the Oakland Coliseum and Hayward / Union
: City / Fremont.

>Hurry up and wait for those new stations.  As usual, CalTrans (Division
>of Rail) seems to be moving very slowly on these...  Fremont-Centerville
>station should open for service around Sept/Oct '93.

	It takes over a _year_ just to build an Amshack?

	And if _that_ is not the barrier, then _what_ is?

: 	And what about Central Valley high-speed railroading?

>Anyone interested in stuff like this (and California passenger rail
>news in general) should be a member of TRAC (Train Riders Assoc. of
>California).  Then you would have known to attend our annual conference
>last weekend in Sacramento.  This year the primary focus was high
>speed rail in California.  We had a couple of excellent guest speakers
>associated with TGV in France. ...

	What went on? Any details?

	TGV's would certainly be nice to have, but they would require
new track to run at their cruising speed. The Central Valley itself is
fairly easy; a high-speed line can be built right next to the SP line
between Bakersfield and Sacramento, or the SP line itself can be taken
over, with SP's trains being shifted to the ATSF line. But new lines
would have to be built to the Bay Area and the LA basin, to get any
worthwhile speed, and that will take a _lot_ of $'s.

Newsgroups: rec.railroad