HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sgard@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (sanford.gardner)
Subject: Re: garbage trains, money trains, and other novelties for out of towners.
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 03:56:31 GMT
Summary: money collection train

In article <BvGGHJ.7o3@acsu.buffalo.edu>, v106qhlw@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (NEW YORKER IN EXILE) writes:
> Some of these trains travel through and pick up the garbage.  Some are specially
> made to collect the fare revenue.  These are aromored and staffed with armed
> guards.  I'm told that there is a garage door-like opening just past Jay St
> in Brooklyn (the TA headquarters) where the fare trains can unload directly
> INTO the TA building.  Is this still used?
>
The IND had a special car built for revenue collection. It was a short version
of the original "R-1" contract model numbered 66. (The R-1 contract passenger
cars were numbered 100-399.)  From the picture of the car, it looks about
40' long, has only 4 windows and 2 single sliding doors per side. 
The sliding doors appear to have handles on them and possibly locks.

Sanford Gardner
AT&T Bell Labs
Murray Hill, N.J.         sgard@mhnmc.att.com

> 
> mark foggin
From: sfsmith@pennsas.upenn.edu (Sandy F. Smith, Jr.)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: rail sights in Kansas City??
Date: 6 Oct 92 16:32:30 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


Pardon me for butting in here, but...
In article <n0b7at@ofa123.fidonet.org>, Martin.Hrabe@p3.f117.n207.z1.fidonet.org writes:
> 
> 
>  GH> I`ll be travelling to Kansas City in a week.
>  GH> Anyone know any good railroad spots? Particularly 
>  GH> active yards?  Norfolk Southern facilities?
> 
> 
> GO down to the 18th street bridge. It crosses the S.P. and U.P.  yards.

Here, I presume you mean 18th Street, Kansas City, Kansas -- in which case
our poor visitor risks getting run over by someone doing 50 on the Kansas
Turnpike spur (18th St Expwy), assuming the KTA has fixed all the potholes.

Perhaps you meant to refer to *10th* Street, which also spans the UP
Armourdale and Santa Fe Argentine yards....btw, 18th Street, Kansas City,
Missouri, crosses no points of interest to a rail photographer.
**************************************************************************
Sandy F. Smith, Jr. ____________________________ sfsmith@pennsas.upenn.edu
Graduate Division, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
16 College Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6378.  (Opinions mine, not Penn's)
 
Who needs _Bob Roberts_ when we have Ross Perot?
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: So Where is Steamtown Anyway?
Date: 6 Oct 92 04:53:07 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <1992Oct5.235831.27771@s1.gov> lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich) writes:
> In article <1992Oct5.114837.27809@walter.cray.com> rl@ferris.cray.com (Randy Lambertus) writes:
> >In article <1992Oct5.120542.16096@husc3.harvard.edu> finney@husc3.harvard.edu writes:
> @ Hi,
> @     Drove near Scranton on (I think) Rte 81 on Friday -
> @ saw a huge sign that indicated we were heading for 
> @ Steamtown. We all watched carefully for further indicators,
> @ but didn't see any. Can anyone enlighten me? (I remember
> @ Vt.)
> 
> > It's located at the old Delaware Lackawanna & Western shops in 
> >downtown Scranton. The shops must take up most of downtown and you
> >can't miss it...
> 
> 	I've seen some horrible stories about that place, about it
> being very decrepit and a poor excuse of a museum, and even about many
> of the locos being Canadian.

Well, call it a preservation project.  It's not clear that all that much
equipment would find homes better than park display sites.  Sure there
are a fair number of Canadian locomotives, the collection was originally
in New England and there were still some beautiful mainline and branch
locomotives available intact and in operating condition long after most
everything in the US had been scrapped.   Unlike European, Japanese,
African or Indian equipment, the Canadian locomitives clearly reflect
North American design practices and style.

> 	I've even seen it called a blatant example of pork barrel,
> done just some some Congresscritter could trumpet how he brought home
> some bacon for some local voters.

Could be, I've seen far worse.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ehr@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl)
Subject: Re: Rail links under Alps
Summary: windows that open
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 17:28:49 GMT

In article <TML.92Sep29173307@tiuhti.tik.vtt.fi>, tml@tik.vtt.fi (Tor Lillqvist) writes:
> 
> But doesn't all real railfans use the slower trains already, if not
> other than for the joy of being able to pull down the window and stick
> your head out? Not possible on newer rolling stock. At least I enjoy
> the scenery and railway engineering much more if I don't have to look
> through a window pane.


Not to mention being able to make vastly better photos that way, 
too!

Yes, I always tell people that in Europe there are trains that get
you efficiently from one city to another -- and trains from which
you can see great scenery.  And, though the two sometimes overlap,
I consider that overlap minimal.

I like the technology of the fast trains -- but I also always seek
out the slower regional trains where I can still photograph through
an open window and breathe in the cool mountain air.

-- 

"My other computer is a Nikon N8008." -- Ernest H. Robl
Ernest H. Robl (ehr@ecsvax)  Durham, NC, USA   +1  919   286-3845
                                         FAX:  +1  919   286-1696
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: jbvb@vax.ftp.com  (James B. VanBokkelen)
Subject: Re: Three-phase electrification (was something about tunnels
Nntp-Software: PC/TCP NNTP
Keywords: power busses
Reply-To: jbvb@ftp.com
Organization: FTP Software, Inc., Wakefield, MA
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1992 12:01:56

In article <35517@cbmvax.commodore.com> grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes:

    ....  Maybe the real limitation is the maximum current
    that you can reasonably pick off of a single pantograph?

I've read an article on the GN electrification that said the major reason
for the inter-unit power busses was icing on the overhead.  The GN mu-ed
its electrics on heavy freight, and had steep grades to cope with, so I
expect that they did this to avoid stalls and break-in-twos when the lead
motor hit an icy spot.  I think that either the VGN or the N&W may have
also used inter-motor power busses, but I've not heard a reason.

James B. VanBokkelen		2 High St., North Andover, MA  01845
FTP Software Inc.		voice: (508) 685-4000  fax: (508) 794-4488

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: andradee@woods.ulowell.edu
Subject: Re: Several Questions
Organization: University of Lowell
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 20:11:20 GMT

In article <1992Sep30.145701.1@woods.ulowell.edu>, andradee@woods.ulowell.edu writes:
> 
> 	Ok, I have a few questions that I would like to ask. First, are the
> .gif's (espicially from Waurcive), encoded in some way. I think I remember 
			  ^^^^^^^^ Opps, WaurcHive.
	Sorry about that!

 	Ed Andrade
From: wbrill@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Warren Brill)
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 19:55:24 GMT
Subject: Re: Colorado Train News
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad

You bet there are! There was a thread about this very piece of trackage not too
long ago; I know because I personnally got it confused with the chunk of ex-UP
(with CRI&P *trackage rights*) that parallels I-70 to Limon. BTW, does anyone
know if THAT piece is ex-KP?

 
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
o                                          i---i_________________      o
o    Warren T. Brill, a.k.a.          *----|[|]|  #### #### #### |*    o
o    wbrill@hpxxx.fc.hp.com         i_|___/|___|\________________|_i   o
o    wbrill@hpfcso.fc.hp.com       =++()=()=() `========' ()=()=()++=  o
o                                  =================================== o
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: roma@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Roma)
Subject: Re: Cab-Riding on the NEC
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 17:50:30 GMT

wbrill@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Warren Brill) writes:

>I participated in a thread about the old IC wye in Springfield about a year
>ago
>and one helpful netter told me there was one by a location called "Tower"
>which
>not too surprisingly still had an interlocking [tower!]. Does this mean that
>Amtrak does NOT use the IC tracks? Is there a more direct route from
>Springfield
>to Chicago? I thought it was the IC that parallels I-55, but then I haven't
>lived in Springfield Ill. since 1970. :-) BTW, does anyone know which of the
>former Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio (that's what it was in 1970 before the ICG merger)
>tracks in the Springfield/Decatur etc areas are still in action? I used to
>see a lot of coal trains going through Springfield on GM&O.

A couple of corrections.

While there are indeed several active interlocking towers in Springfield,
Illinois, none are named ``Tower''.  You're probably thinking of the tower
named ``Avenue''.  This tower protected the rather complicated junction of
the IC's main, two B&O lines, a GM&O connection, and the Chicago & Illinois
Midland.  Only the IC and C&IM remain and the tower is in the process of
being replaced by remote control this fall.

Since the inception of Amtrak, all passenger trains through Springfield have
run on the ex-GM&O line through Springfield -- this is the line that parallels
I-55 most of the way to Chicago.  The ex-IC line has been freight-only ever
since Amtrak.  The GM&O route is the most direct rail route between St. Louis
and Chicago.  IC's line in Springfield is still intact but has been
downgraded to local service only.  Most of the former IC main line south of
Springfield has been abandoned.  IC's line north from Springfield runs
through Clinton and connects with IC's north-south main at Gilman; this line
is used only for local service.

The ex-GM&O route through Springfield is now operated by the Southern Pacific.
The ICG has reverted to the pre-merger name of Illinois Central.
-- 
Jon Roma
Computing and Communications Services Office,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Internet:  roma@uiuc.edu      	UUCP:      uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!roma
From: santafe@watnxt06.ucr.edu (michael a parisi)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: What about the Metrolink phone number?
Date: 5 Oct 92 23:38:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: galaxy.22710

In article <22650@galaxy.ucr.edu> tgrupe@watnxt11.ucr.edu (Todd E. Grupe)  
writes:
> 
> On Pirate Radio 100.3 FM, a recent traffic report was sponsered by Metro-
> link and a toll-free phone number was given.  The number was 1-800-371-
> LINK.  I have dialed this number at all hours of the day throughout the
> week and it is always busy, as if it's off the hook.  Is this the
> correct number?    

 
> from santafe@watserv.ucr.edu

I tried the number this morning and to my surprise it rang and I got an
answer.  The Metrolink timetables are now in the mail to me.  The trains
are set to start running exactly three weeks from today.  They are 
apparently going to do a large advertisement campaign which will involve
television commercials.  The new (Oct) issue of Pacific Rail News will
feature Metrolink.  
Organization: Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad

Max Wyss writes:

> What I found out about pickup currents with the newer high speed
> palettes on pantographs, a contact current of 500 to 1000 Amps can
> be handled.  However, another point about that transmission of line
> voltage via couplings is that a full length ICE would have 15 such
> couplings (from head end power car through 14 cars to rear end power
> car). This looks quite a lot to me <g>.

As was pointed out, the TGV is a unit articulated train and as such
has fixed connection for the power conductor that runs along the roof
of the length of the train.  When run in tandem, two trains have the
front pantograph on the first train and the rear pantograph on the
second train in service.  This gives a relatively large separation
that allows for decay of the largest transient disturbances in the
contact wire.  Because high speed trains require a greater intimacy
between cars, these are not separable en route but only in suitably
equipped shops.  This is true for the TGV as well as the ICE even
though it has apparently separate cars.

As I have mentioned in earlier discussions of these trains, the ICE
appears to have been designed by a team that had never looked at the
TGV nor talked to their designers to understand what the problems
are.  THese came out after completion and continue to be discovered
from first principles rather than French or Japanese experience.  The
problems of ABS braking seems to be their latest discovery.  On
trains, there is no grace period to detect a sliding wheel.  The
smallest partial skid at high speed causes a burr on the tread that
causes unacceptable throbbing in the passenger compartment.

jobst_brandt@hplabs.hp.com
From: larsenp@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Paul Larsen)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Re: Penna. Turnpike
Date: 3 Oct 92 16:33:54 GMT
Organization: Purdue University

In article <122200155@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> wbrill@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Warren Brill) writes:
>> >
>> 
>> My model railroad is modeled after the South Penn between Carlise and Bedford.

Wasn't this model railroad featured in one of the modelling mags a few years
ago.  If memory serves me right, it was still in the initial stages but the
mag was high on its potential.  Is this the same layout or is there another
South Penn layout out there?

Paul Larsen
larsenp@mace.cc.purdue.edu

insert catchy signature here
From: PLAWS@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU (Peter Laws)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Rail-Trail<--> Am. Trucking Assoc.
Date: 6 Oct 1992 20:59:00 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

Didn't I see a piece in one of the rail mags not too long ago about the
American Trucking Association being a *big* donor to the Rails to Trails
"movement"???   Anyone able to cite a reference?  Makes ya wonder....

Peter Laws              |"The '90s are gonna make the '60s|   pcl@engr.uark.edu
n5uwy@ka5bml.ar.usa.noam| look like the '50s"--D. Hopper  |plaws@uafsysb.bitnet
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: CZ94 <CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA>
Subject: RE: Notes from recent transcontinental vacation
Organization: McGill University
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 14:32:51 GMT

In article <920928162328@cream.ftp.com> jbvb@vax.ftp.com  (James B. VanBokkelen) writes:
>
>The existence of the non-VIA service from Vancouver over the Rockies on
>CP Rail means that it is *very* hard to get sleeper space from Vancouver to
>Jasper on VIA.  I wish VIA would smarten up and make that segment daily.

Vancouver-Jasper service was offered 6 days/week in summer 1991,
3 days/week by the Canadian, and 3 days/week by a train terminating
in Jasper.  It appears from the timetable that this latter service
may have been covered by the same rolling stock as the Jasper-Prince
Rupert train (i.e. trains ran Prince Rupert to Jasper to Vancouver,
and vice versa). This messed up connections with the Canadian
for passengers wishing to go between Prince Rupert and points east
of Jasper.

I don't know why this extra Vancouver-Jasper service was not offered
in 1992.
>
>CN power in Western Canada is fairly dull - 6-axle EMDs, but gets more
>varied as you come east.  I saw (but couldn't photograph) GMD-1s (A1A-A1A
>and B-B) around Winnipeg, and several odd switchers at Oakville (near
>Toronto).  No MLWs.
>
Almost all of CN's MLWs are based in Moncton, New Brunswick.  I
think the only exceptions are 7 slugs built from S-3 switchers,
found in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Tom Box
CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
From: gurd@next04wor.wam.umd.edu (Daffy Duck)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Interesting quote
Date: 1 Oct 92 05:29:12 GMT
Reply-To: gurd@wam.umd.edu

talk.politics.misc
alt.save.the.earth
alt.planning.urban
alt.polotics.british

The following quote appeared in the September-October issue of Transport
Retort, the newsletter of Transport 2000 (London, England).

"All too often it is assumed that the mess our transport system is in is  
one that can be solved by technical means.  If the problem is pollution,  
fit catalytic converters.  If the problem is global warming, design a  
super fuel-efficient car.  Or so say the technocrats.  Of course bothe  
these 'solutions' may be a step in the right direction.  But neither of  
them evens begins to address the fundamental concern that our transport  
system benefits some at the expense of others.  One person's high-speed  
expressway out of the city is another's noisy, smelly, lethal barrier  
seperating home, shops and school."
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: Rich.Rubel@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Rich Rubel)
Subject: Re: Notes from recent transcontinental vacation
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 17:31:43 GMT


Here are a few observations from my recent (last weekend...) Amtrak trip.
1.  The dome on the Capitol Limited was CLEAN.  They are no longer using
Lexan, which scratches.  This was real, honest-to-god tinted tempered
glass, which was so clean and clear that we could star-gaze all night.
2.  Leg rests have been rebuilt- a combination of the Amtrak sized leg
rests, but with a fold-out stand underneath so they wouldn't 'sag' during
the night.  Very effective.
3.  The 'International'- ran w/ an Amtrak F-40, LRC cars, and a PARK CAR
DOME on the back.  Is this normal or something special?
4.  METRA (Chicago's transit company) is using new engines.  F-59's? 
Kinda like slanted F-40's.
5.  Saw BN's prototype Hydrogen-powered engine, sitting on a siding. 
Looks cool...
6.  Lots of european youth using Amtrak for cheap transport.  All seemed
to enjoy it, and some (a Swiss girl, no less) preferred it to their native
systems (esp. food prices.  First time I've heard Amtrak meals called a
bargain :-).
[RICHR]
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: dfl@panix.com (Danny O'Bedlam)
Subject: Re: NYC color-coding, again (was Re: Chicago Rapid Transit reference.)
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 22:26:51 GMT
Organization: Panix, (New Yawk City)

Letters and numbers!  As I said to Joe in email Ive seen the "X" desig-
nator on a number of non-revenue service NYCTA trains.  Maint-of-Way,
money collection, and garbage.


-- 
***********************************************************************
* Danny O'Bedlam  = dfl@panix.com = cmcl2!panix!dfl = Danny Lieberman *
* PO Box 3131 Church St Station, New Yawk, New Yawk, 10008-3131 (usa) *
***********************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ehr@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl)
Subject: Re: Trains Magazine
Summary: access to railroads
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 13:54:22 GMT

In article <1992Sep29.235810.3736@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, R.Todd.Minsk@dartmouth.edu (R. Todd Minsk) writes (in response to my earlier post):
> 
> This may be a reflection of the times; railroads are not as accessable
> to non-employees as they were only a few years ago.  (After all, on
> what other heavy industry could people wander around often anywhere at
> will, and take it for granted too?)  I realize that visiting
> journalists may still receive special permission, but it sometimes
> surprises novice or juvenile fans when they discover the same
> priviledges are not available to them.  Combined with an attitude of
> secrecy often displayed by corporations these days (and enforced by
> employees who may pay with their jobs for violating it), individual
> authors can be easily discouraged.  Also, the Trains editors may have
> found that running articles describing railroad operations inspired
> other people to approach the property, behaving with various levels of
> responsiblity.  Possibly the magazine editors received expressed or
> implied orders from some railroad managements not to publish such
> material.  So what gets printed is what can be more readily seen by the
> public.

While I agree that railroads have changed over time, and that access
was simpler years ago when there were several division offices within
easy driving distance and it was easy to get to know division 
superintendents and their top staff, I don't think that access for
major rail publications is a big problem.

I also don't think that railroad managements have that big an 
influence over railfan publications.

I don't have any ongoing connection with any of the railfan publications
though I've had photos and/or text pieces in most ofthe major 
prototype and model magazines at one time or another.  But, I do 
market stock photos to a variety of clients (textbook publishers,
encyclopedias, etc.), and one of the subject areas I'm known for is
railroads.  I've dealt with a number of major railroads, both in
the U.S. and Europe in requesting access to areas not open to the
general public.  And, though they don't always agree to everything
I ask, for the most part they have been cooperative.

No, this is not a typical railfan situation.  But it is probably fairly
close to the situation for either a staff member or steady contributor
for one of these magazines.

Yes, getting access often involves considerable correspondence and
planning.  But, I've done this enough now so that I can provide
references and say, "Railroad X let me photograph at their facility.
You can check with them.  I'm sure they had no problems with my
attention to safety there."

Most major railroads have substantial public relations staffs, part
of whose duties includes dealing with such requests for access.

 -- Ernest
-- 

"My other computer is a Nikon N8008." -- Ernest H. Robl
Ernest H. Robl (ehr@ecsvax)  Durham, NC, USA   +1  919   286-3845
                                         FAX:  +1  919   286-1696
From: dave@opus.csd.uwm.edu (Dave Rasmussen)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Chip In Express
Date: 6 Oct 1992 20:28:52 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: dave@opus.csd.uwm.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.40
Originator: dave@opus.csd.uwm.edu

From article <schumach.718329828@convex.convex.com>, by schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher):
> Oshkosh? Why not Milwaukee, or Chicago?

I have no idea. the other thing is, why not on a friday instead of a sunday.
-- 
Dave Rasmussen - SysAdm/Hacker/Consulting Manager, UWM Computing Svcs Div.
Internet:dave@uwm.edu, Uucp:uwm!dave, Bitnet:dave%uwm.edu@INTERBIT
AT&T:414-229-5133 USmail:Box 413 EMS380,Milwaukee,WI 53201
From: mangoe@cs.umd.edu (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Can you tell me what I saw ( UP Freight in California)?
Date: 28 Sep 92 13:32:46 GMT
Distribution: usa

John Haskey writes:

>On the car I saw, the load was integral to the overall structure of the
>car.  It was not a car carrying a separate object.  The thing that sparked
>my curiosity were the reporting marks:  DODX The Department of Defense?!?

DODX, as many have pointed out, is the DOD.  This kind of car I've seen
called various names, such as a transformer car.  It's basically the
ultimate in wide/high load cars; it comes in two pieces, and the load is
bolted between them.  To take the empty back, the two halves are bolted
together.  I don't know what the provisions are for braking, but it's not
untypical to see these travelling alone.

-- 
C. Wingate        + "The peace of God, it is no peace,
                  +    but strife closed in the sod.
mangoe@cs.umd.edu +  Yet, brothers, pray for but one thing:
tove!mangoe       +    the marv'lous peace of God."
Newsgroups: rec.railroad