HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: william@bnr.ca (William Moss)
Subject: Re: RailPhones (was Re: The Elvis Stamp)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 18:09:32 GMT

In article <dz+39gh@rpi.edu>, kasprj@isaac.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak) writes:
|> In article <C0oCFx.KvE@world.std.com>, kibo@world.std.com (James "Kibo" Parry) writes:
|> |> 
|> |> P.S.  I'm posting this via acoustic coupler modem from my laptop on
|> |> board one of those Amtrak trains with the new TrainFones.  This is K00L.
|>  
|> And how about Canada? Do they have phones on the 
|> Toronto-Montreal trains?
|>

Montreal/Ottawa-Toronto Corridor trains have Cantel public cellular phones
at the back of the VIA 1 (first class) car. Coach passengers are allowed
to pass into the first class car to use it. (At least, I've done it)
Check a VIA schedule for which corridor trains have phones (sorry, mine is 
at home.)
Cantel and Bell Mobility have 100% coverage in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor. 

Disclaimer: I work for a BCE company not directly related to Bell Mobility.
-- 
===========================================================================
William G. Moss                      disclaimer: not the views of BNR or NT
Bell-Northern Research Ltd., Ottawa  +1 613 763 8108 WILLIAM@BNR.CA  
===========================================================================
From: btiffany@pbs.org
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: CSX GP30 sighted
Date: 5 Jan 93 08:49:40 EST
Distribution: usa
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA

James  Black writes:

>      The last 2 trips down to Southern West Virginia I've made in the last
> couple of months, I've come away with a strange sighting.  It seems there
> is a GP-30 doing pusher service on the Allegheny section of CSX between
> Hinton - Ronceverte - Clifton Forge.  The first time I saw the unit, it was
> painted entirely light grey with no markings.  When I saw it last week, they
> had painted a blue CSX on the side.  Anyone like to comment?

If it has no roof fans it may be a slug.  Other than that, there are still
some GP30's roaming around on CSX.

-- Bruce Tiffany
From: spangler@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Bill Spangler)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:24:51 GMT
Subject: 0-6-0 equalization?
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server
Newsgroups: rec.railroad

Did 0-6-0 engines generally have 3-point equalization?   If so, which drivers
were generally paired, and how were the linkages run side-to-side?
 
Thanks, 
Bill Spangler
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: wes@uf.msc.edu (Wes Barris)
Subject: Re: M&StL steam locomotive
Reply-To: wes@msc.edu
Organization: AHPCRC, Minnesota Supercomputer Center
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 15:45:23 GMT

In article <1993Jan2.175901@IASTATE.EDU>, dboone@IASTATE.EDU (David L. Boone) writes:
|> Wes Barris <wes@uf.msc.edu> lists Minneapolis & St. Louis steam locomotive 
|> number 471 as residing in Annandale, MN.  Anyone know who owns this 2-8-0 
|> and exactly where it is in Annandale?  Thanks for the information.
|> --

Others have already provided the location of this engine.  The name of the
owner is Mr. Lind.

A bit of history:

Mr. Lind bought this engine from the city of Chaska, MN (back in the 60s I
think).  It just so happens that I grew up in Chaska.  I still have the
newspaper clippings showing how it was disassembled into several pieces and
halled on flatbed semi trailers to its present location.  The engine had been
sitting for many years at the former site of the Chaska Brick Yards where it
had spent the last days of its life pulling and pushing loads of bricks.
Before that, it was owned by the M&StL.  It has a sister engine (457) in
Mason City, IA.  I believe the Mason City engine was used in the yards at
the American Crystal Sugar plant in Mason City.
-- 
                                       o O O O O o o o o o o o o . . . . . . .
 __________    ___           ___      __                _
/_______|--`--|_ _|--=-==---|_ _|--,_|__|_             |-+-------`____________,
| ||_| /        -  |        / - \  |      || ________  |                      |
|_|___/------------|----__---------|------|||__|__|__| |Southern Pacific Lines|
|_|____________/-------{__}---------------{__}_______|=|_________     ________|
/_(o)=(o) ( )( )( )( ) [__]  ( )( )( )( ) [__]--(o)     (o)(o)(o)-----(o)(o)(o)
===============================================================================
Wes Barris                                                   PH: (612) 626-8090
Minnesota Supercomputer Center, Inc.                         Email: wes@msc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: jstrickl@cs.sfu.ca (James Strickland)
Subject: Re: X2000 in Corridor service - February
Organization: CSS, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 05:08:56 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.125344.20050@pbs.org> btiffany@pbs.org writes:
>There's no way Amtrak would purchase the X2000 as is.  European locomotives
>and rolling stock simply are not rugged enough for service here.
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> ...
>For one thing, as I recall the RC4a only had a buffer beam strength of
>something like 400,000 pounds, plenty for Europe, but likely to be squashed
                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>here.  I think the FRA minimum is something like a million pounds, and 1.5
 ^^^^
>million is more likely.


Huh?  What are you talking about?  I am no expert on these matters,
but I can't see why European trains are not "rugged enough" to be
run in the United States.  Please explain.

Why is it that any train which is to operate in the United States
must be "American" by design?  (this is what you and others seem
to me to be saying)  Is it too embarrassing to admit that other
countries have superior rail technology?
From: craig@sleeper.apana.org.au (Craig Dewick)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,aus.rail
Subject: Re: CityRail (Sydney)
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 10:09:57 GMT
Organization: Desolation Road Railfan BBS

matthew@cs.su.oz (Matthew Geier) writes:

> Adding toilets to the Tangara will probably alter the weight distribution
>and these models will break( ie fall apart ..) ) faster than the current
>version...

You may be interested to know that the new timetable to come into effect
on January 24 will write off all the eight car M sets from service.
There are currently only two running around, the rest have been shoved
into Redfern to be cut up. I saw one of the remaining sets today.

I'd like to see a Tangara car last 66 years in service.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: dfl@panix.com (Danny O'Bedlam)
Subject: Re: Electric Train Sparking
Keywords: subway: if you're in a hurry take the express, it will go right by your local address
Organization: Panix, (New Yawk City)
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 00:31:08 GMT

In <1993Jan12.235858.28778@panix.com> eravin@panix.com (Ed Ravin) writes:
>Out here in the Bronx, if I look west out my window at night, I'll see the
>sparks from the IRT #1 line.  If they're big enough, and if they reflect in
>the right places, then sometimes I'm fooled into wondering where the
>lightning flashes are coming from.  Sometimes a big spark will trail with
>several little sparking things falling away from the train, obviously
>towards the street below, but I've never heard of any of them hitting
>anyone...

	The TA calls it ARCing Ed.  I suggest reading one of the Test books
for one of the more popular jobs in the Transit system, Train Operator, a/k/a
Motor-person.  My friends bookstore specializes in these kinds of books, so
I read one a couple years ago.  There are questions and answers to all kinds
of things you need to know if you're gonna be a subway driver !!

-- 
***********************************************************************
* Danny O'Bedlam  = dfl@panix.com = cmcl2!panix!dfl = Danny Lieberman *
* PO Box 3131 Church St Station, New Yawk, New Yawk, 10008-3131 (usa) *
***********************************************************************
From: CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Steam Heat on VIA Rail
Date: 8 Jan 93 19:18:02 GMT
Organization: McGill University

In article <1993Jan7.151520.5014@ee.ryerson.ca> iain@ee.ryerson.ca (Iain Campbell) writes:
>In article <sjones.726345266@cunews> sjones@alfred.carleton.ca (Stan Jones) writes:
>>
>>And for that matter, how do you think diesels generated steam for the
>>heating system?
>
>As it so happens, I have a friend who works for a local boiler shop,
>one of whose major contracts has been overhauls for these very boilers.
>I am in southern Ontario, Canada, so their customer is VIA Rail, who have a
>plentiful supply of old steam heated rolling stock :-).
>
This is quite true, but steam-heated trains are now a distinct minority
at VIA Rail.

In the Quebec-Windsor corridor, almost all the trains are LRCs, which
are heated by HEP.  I think the only exception is on the Toronto-
Windsor route, where both LRCs and older, steam-heated trains are
used.  (It's been several years since I've visited SW Ontario.  If
anybody has recent, 1st-hand info on the consists of Toronto-Windsor
trains, I'd be interested in hearing it.)

The transcontinental trains are being converted to HEP.  This was
completed for Toronto-Vancouver last spring.  I think it may have
also been completed for Jasper-Prince Rupert (can anybody confirm?).
Conversion of the Montreal-Gaspe trains began last fall, and is
probably now complete.  The Montreal-Halifax trains are slated for
conversion this year.  This process may have already begun.  (Living
in Montreal, I should know for sure, but cold weather, early sunsets,
and a move to the suburbs have cut into my train-watching.)

Sudbury-White River and Victoria-Courtenay are served by RDCs.
How are they heated?

The last strongholds of steam heating would appear to be Montreal-
Jonquiere, Montreal-Senneterre-Cochrane, and Winnipeg-Churchill.
I don't know if these are slated for conversion to HEP.  These trains
are powered by FP9s rather than F40s, so the FP9s would have to be
converted to provide HEP (seems improbable), or a HEP generator
car provided.

A final category is the mixed trains (The Pas-Lynn Lake and
Wabowden-Churchill).  Anybody know how these are heated?

Tom Box
CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:10442 rec.models.railroad:2875
From: jr@ksr.com (John Robinson)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: Railroad Tycoon computer game - what is it?
Date: 8 Jan 93 09:08:45 EST
Distribution: usa
Organization: Kendall Square Research, Waltham, MA
In-reply-to: downs@helios.nevada.edu's message of 7 Jan 93 23:06:43 EST

In article <downs.54.726466003@helios.nevada.edu> downs@helios.nevada.edu (Lamont Downs) writes:

[A pretty good description of RR Tycoon]


							Graphics are EGA or VGA-
   that-looks-like-EGA (16 colors only), and things like factories, stations, 
   etc. are more like icons than photorealistic aerial views.

The Mac version will play in monochrome, 16-color or 256-color (though
the 256-color capability only adds a few more colors I think, though
at little cost in speed, at least on an LC).  Haven't tried grayscale.
The monochrome isn't great - certain details of the game conveyed
through color are lost - but it does run on a MacPlus (hence also
Classic).

   PS: If you buy this one, expect to miss a lot of sleep.

Amen!
--
/jr, aka John Robinson                       Place stamps here
internet: jr@ksr.com                    Post Office will not deliver
uucp: {world,harvard,uunet}!ksr!jr      mail without correct postage
From: pop@cs.umass.edu ( Robin Popplestone )
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Rail vs. air
Date: 5 Jan 93 17:50:13 GMT
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Originator: pop@roo.cs.umass.edu

Rail does have significant advantages over air for medium haul.

(a) There are significant fixed costs to getting an aircraft up to cruising
height and getting it down again. The power required to keep an aircraft
aloft as a function of airspeed has a minimum (where form drag balances
induced drag). As  speeds fall below this minimum, power requirements rise
rapidly.


(b) Trains can be loaded/unloaded more rapidly, because there are fewer
structural constraints on the provision of doors. I have seen a Shinkansen
loaded with what I estimated to be 1000 people in 5 minutes flat. Try doing
that with an airbus.  Moreover trains can be packed into a smaller terminal
area, because they don't have appendages that stick out sideways.  Again
this adds up to a shorter time between the arrival of a passenger at the
terminal and actual departure, and to faster transfers (the DBB at least
offer across-the-platform bi-directional transfers.) Short turn-round-times
for rail help narrow the gap between rail and air in equipment and staff
utilisation which arises from the higher speed of aircraft on the long
haul.


(c) Trains can serve a "penumbra" of destinations around major termini in a
way that aircraft cannot, since the minimum cost of a railway station that
can be served by a 500 seat train is far less than that of the
corresponding airport. Thus for example, British Rail's London-Newcastle
service, which provides the 3-hour timings necessary to compete with air
for business travel, also serves a number of quite small towns and cities.

Robin Popplestone.
From: plaws@uafhp.uark.edu (Peter Laws)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Pena
Date: 5 Jan 1993 16:13:59 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

NOTE: cross-posted to rec.railroad, Transit Issues Discussion List, The
Railroad List for maximum discussion/flames...

So?  What do people know about this Pena guy?  

I know 3 factoids about him:
1) Denver has a huge, new, and controversial airport and,
2) Denver is building a Light Rail system and,
3) He was Mayor for both.

So is this guy a concrete contractor's dream, or is he going to be an
advocate of a rational and balanced approach to the US's transportation needs?



Peter Laws|GEnie:P.LAWS1|"The '90s are gonna make the '60s|plaws@uafhp.uark.edu
n5uwy@ka5bml.ar.usa.noam| look like the '50s"  --D. Hopper|plaws@uafsysb.bitnet



Newsgroups: rec.railroad,alt.religion.kibology
From: kasprj@isaac.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
Subject: RailPhones (was Re: The Elvis Stamp)
Reply-To: kasprj@rpi.edu
Organization: The Big Wedge 
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 15:00:40 GMT
X-Bozocity: This is the first known crossposting between alt.religion.kibology and rec.railroad.

In article <C0oCFx.KvE@world.std.com>, kibo@world.std.com (James "Kibo" Parry) writes:
|> 
|> P.S.  I'm posting this via acoustic coupler modem from my laptop on
|> board one of those Amtrak trains with the new TrainFones.  This is K00L.
 
 Have they installed Railfones on the Lake Shore Limited now? Or did you
take some weird route back to Boston, like Albany->NYC->Providence->Boston?
 
 For that matter, I've been wondering for a while: just which routes are
serviced by Railfone, aside from the NYC-Washington corridor? Anyplace
outside of the Northeast? I'd imagine the Chicago area and California would
be appropriate markets. And how about Canada? Do they have phones on the 
Toronto-Montreal trains?
------------------------------------------------------------------
     __  Live from Capitaland, heart of the Empire State...
 ___/  | Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
/____ *|          he who refuses to do nonsense  
     \_|          is doomed to talk arithmetic.
      ====  e-mail: kasprj@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu 

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: sws37449@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steven W. Salzman)
Subject: Re: Kodachrome U30(?)C spotted in Willow Springs?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 21:17:43 GMT

jcj@tellabs.com (jcj) writes:


>Driving over the ATSF yard at Willow Springs, IL on Dec. 27th, I
>was surprised to see a pair of U30Cs or U33Cs sitting in the yard.
>One was in Yellowbonnet and one was in Kodachrome paint.  I thought
>the Santa Fe scrapped or sold off all their U30/33Cs.  Have they put
>a couple back in service or were these rentals that were still in
>ATSF paint?  Thanks.

My guess is that they were the 8700-series U36C's.  ATSF has been moving
them to nearby Pielet Bros. for scrapping.  They were probably held at
the Willow Springs Yard for interchange to the Indiana Harbor Belt at 
McCook.  The IHB then forwards the units to Pielet.

Steven W. Salzman
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
sws37449@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
From: x90ochs2@gw.wmich.edu
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: RE: U25B
Date: 8 Jan 93 18:25:12 EST
Followup-To: rec.railroad
Distribution: world
Organization: Western Michigan University

In article <P.H.MIRICK-080193144733@b648mac13.larc.nasa.gov>, P.H.MIRICK@larc.nasa.gov (p.h.mirick) writes:
> A good model of the U25B (HO scale) is made by Stewart.  They have both
> Phase II and Phase IV carbodies.  The last run was Phase IV and include
> three road numbers for Maine Central.  You may still be able to get them
> from some of the mail order places that addvertise in Model Railroader or
> Railroad Model Craftsman.  Another suggestion is to try some of the train
> shows like the one in Springfield Mass in February.  For a Maine Central
> van the most difficult model to get is the U18B.  

There was a U18B made in HO, by the way. It was made by Lionel, and
didn't look too bad. It actually had a GE motor in it, hmmmm a GE model
powered by a GE motor in it ;^)
It had the right trucks too, Blomburg G, like CSX's. MEC got the last 10
(I think it's 10) from a canceled order from Seaboard Coast Line, which
went to Maine Central.
CSX has about ~120 U18B's running around. They went from SCL to Family
Lines to Seaboard System, then finally to CSX (in that order)
aren't mega mergers fun? :^)

I don't know if any of these U18's are still around, although I did see
some at a flea market a year ago. Our club has one or two kicking around
in Soo Line paint (that's what Lionel painted them in)
NOTE: these are HO scale, back when Lionel still made HO.

Fred
From: donl@coastal.UUCP (Don Lockhart)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: U25B
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 01:21:23 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Northern Lights BBS * Portland, Maine * 207-762-2756 (v.32bis)

Don Lockhart - donl@nlbbs - Portland, Maine

Would anyone out there have any information on a model U25B deisel
engine? Maine Central bought about 14 of them in the early 80's from
the Rock Island Line and I'm doing some MEC history now to replicate
the line as close as I can in HO scale. But looking for authentic info
on the real thing. Any help would be appreciated.

dkl
From: AR.CHM@forsythe.stanford.edu (Chris Martin)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Railroad Tycoon and A-Train New Points
Date: 8 Jan 1993 18:29:45 -0800
Organization: Stanford University
NNTP-Posting-Host: morrow.stanford.edu

OK, we've heard 7 opinions, but I thought I should mention a few
overlooked points about RRT:

     1) The four areas mentioned by Lamont Downs are Western U.S.
(starting 1866), Eastern U.S. (starting 1830), England (starting
1828) and Europe (including Southern England and starting 1900).
Each has a different economy with different raw materials, products
and markets.  Locomotives differ by area and period, and new types
arrive on the scene as you play (ex:  Grasshopper to Norris to
American...to Consolidation to Mikado...to EMD F & GP).  Bridges
change, too, but only in material (read:  safety and # of tracks),
not construction.  Highlights for Eurofans: Patentee, Stirling, A4,
a 6/6 GE Crocodile and the TGV.

     2) The economy changes according to use (growth of major
terminal cities, etc.) and can be altered by investment (building
factories, steel mills, etc.).  The economy, demographics and
topography change *each* game (well, the Alps, the Rockies, the
Mississippi and other important barriers are always there, but hills
change).  Stations can be improved to store/improve the value of
types of stock, such as mail, livestock, manufactured goods and
others.  Good points made by Mr. Downs and Bob Smith earlier.

     3) Your opponents are historical figures, and reflect their
historical character: Jim Hill builds for building, Jay Gould tries
to rob you and his own grandmother.  Brunel, von Moltke and George
Hudson also make appearances.  Many others.

    4) Union Stations.

    5) I use entirely too many parenthetical phrases.

Thanks for the indulgence, and, yes, I *love* this game.

Chris Martin
Systems Coordinator
Facilities - 855 Serra
Stanford University, CA USA

For Chris Ellens: yeah, my reactions entirely.  I find that A-train
is smooth but less interesting.  Saw it at MacWorld Expo yesterday.
Not historical that I can tell, city instead of area based, more
real estate agent-oriented than RRT.
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:10423 rec.models.railroad:2866
From: burke@doright.Tymnet.COM (John Burke)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,rec.models.railroad
Subject: Query: info on Drive Your Own Train computer game
Date: 7 Jan 93 22:48:37 GMT
Followup-To: rec.railroad
Organization: BT North America (Tymnet)

subj: Query: info on Drive Your Own Train computer game
Drive Your Own Train, by Abracadata: is there anyone who has tried
this game and can post us a review?

They claim that it does for train fans what Flight Simulator does
for airplane fans, i.e. you have a cab view and run the train; it
also says you lay out the track yourself and then drive over it, with
curves and switches.

Does it work?  How much detail of operation does it have?  Is the motion
smooth or jerky (please say what type of processor you observed
this on, and its MHz rate if you know)?  Can you estimate what its
display frame rate is?  How much do you see in the
view?  Does it have grades and the acceleration to go with them?  Other
things you liked or didn't?

Available on IBM PC-type machines?  I heard it was out for PC but then
withdrawn "because of poor quality"; anyone know the real story?  Micro
Warehouse a while ago had a MAC version but not PC.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: guy@boi.hp.com ()
Subject: Re: Steam Heat on Electric Locomotives
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 20:26:13 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard / Boise, Idaho
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.2 PL7]

In <sjones.726345266@cunews>, Stan Jones (sjones@alfred.carleton.ca) wrote:
>
>And for that matter, how do you think diesels generated steam for the
>heating system?
>

As far as I know, they used steam generators (Vapor Corp. made the ones
I'm familiar with).  These were diesel oil fired boilers.  Water came
from a tank on the locomotive.  I think some Alcos had tanks in the rear
corners inside (PA units) and EMD E & F type units had tanks underneath as
part of the fuel tank assembly.
--
Guy Burnham, Boise Surface Mount Center, Hewlett Packard Co. Inc.
guy@hpbs5194.boi.hp.com     208(323-3355)
Disclaimer: Don't you be the only one to take me seriously!  

I WORK TO LIVE.....I LIVE FOR TRAINS, and OLD TRUCKS, and OLD TRACTORS and ..
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:10436 rec.models.railroad:2873
From: rambler@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Dan Meyer)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: WSOR vs WICT (Was: New RR GIF's Posted - Week Six)
Date: 5 Jan 93 23:45:03 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.

billg@bony1.bony.com (Bill Gripp) writes:
>In article <1993Jan4.033438.29605@tellab5.tellabs.com> dawdy@tellabs.com (Dan Dawdy) writes:
>
>>Unlike the old WICT,
>>the WSOR is not fond of visitors since an unfortunate railfan
>>incident a few months back.  
>
>Can anyone elaborate on this?

When I visited the WSOR a couple of years ago, they were very hospitable,
They even sold me a timetable, told me where the trains were and what they
were planning on doing that day, and had my wife and myself sign releases.

o well, I hope that things have not changed for the worse.

-- Dan

Remember: " Buffalo never Oink " Seen on a South Dakota travel brocure.
Advertisment: Try the Railway Post Office , a railfan BBS ! (612) 377-2197.
UUCP: {crash tcnet}!orbit!pnet51!rambler
INET: rambler@pnet51.orb.mn.org
Newsgroups: rec.railroad