HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: msjohnso@donald.WichitaKS.NCR.COM (Mark Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Amtrak Routes
Date: 18 Dec 92 13:54:23 GMT
Organization: NCR Corporation Wichita, KS

luebeckd@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (Ken Luebeck) writes:

>Also, I read in a local paper a couple days ago that Amtrak is seeking to  
>revive a Chicago-Florida Route, over the former route of the Floridian.

Which Floridian route...the 'original' route, over ex-Pennsy, now Conrail
trackage in Indiana?  Considerable amounts of this route are either gone
or in very poor condition. Which is why they moved the Floridian to its
final route, over the former Monon to Louisville. This route is excellent
from near Chicago to Crawfordsville, IN (used by the Cardinal), fair from
there to Bloomington, and poor to near abandonment from there south to
Louisville. [The only usage south of Bloomington is by the Soo. Max speed
is 25 mph, and there are *lots* of 10 mph slow orders. 25 miles of the 
100 miles south from Bloomington will be filed for abandonment next month.]

From Louisville southward, the former L&N main gets heavy usage and could
no doubt be re-upgraded for passenger service. (Rated for 60 mph intermodal
and 50 mph manifest freight)
-- 
Mark Johnson                          USnail: NCR Peripheral Products Division
E-mail:  Mark.Johnson@WichitaKS.NCR.COM       3718 N. Rock Rd.
Voice: (316) 636-8189 [V+ 654-8189]           Wichita, KS  67226
[Non-business email: 76670.1775@compuserve.com]
From: RPH0470%TNTECH.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Richard Hosker)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Talking Detectors/Axle Counters
Date: 16 Dec 1992 23:58:50 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

A few talking detector tales:

CSX had a RoadRailer train on the Corbin Division through my hometown
of Oak Ridge, TN in 1987/88.  I could hear the "talker" at mile 258.1
announce an odd number of axles when the RoadRailer went through.  (If it
went through--other crews called this the "GroundRailer" or the "DeRailer",
with good reason.)

And one afternoon during CSX's power shortage days, before the Invasion of
the Widecabs, I heard the detector count off almost *800* axles.  "OK," I
thought, "it's been hit by lightning again."  Nope.  CSX had resorted to
combining two entire empty hopper trains--about 200 cars--and dragging them
north with (I think) three SD's instead of the normal six.

I heard this anecdote from a railfan buddy--knowing CSX, it's probably true:
A signal maintainer was working on a lightning-struck detector near
Jacksonville, FL; he had to replace most of the electronics with parts from
stock.  He finished his work and stood back as a train came by and was
inspected.  Over the radio came the synthesized voice: "Seaboard System
Railroad, London, Kentucky...no defects..."  The engineer couldn't resist;
he picked up the radio and called the maintainer.  "Sounds good, Charlie, but
I believe it's *lost!*"  :-)

On a serious note, the question was asked recently--how do detectors count
the passing axles?  Most detectors are looking for hot wheels (sticking
brakes) or hot bearings.  Each bearing, whether or not it is running
properly, generates a certain amount of heat.  I believe some detectors just
look for these pulses of heat as the axles pass by.

By the way, the old "non-talkers" are still out there; their lives are being
extended by moving their indicator lights a mile or so up the line from the
detector site.  This gives the head-end crews a chance to see them.

==============================================================================
Richard Hosker          : ttttttttt  Tennessee Technological University
rph0470@tntech.edu      :   t u t u  Cookeville, TN
PO Box 6083 TTU         :   t u t u  "The 'Eastern' on the
Cookeville, TN 38505    :   t uuuuu      Nashville & Eastern RR"
==============================================================================
Disclaimer: After this many years of college, these opinions are among the
few things Tech *hasn't* taken from me yet.  ;-)


From: alj@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Al Jackson)
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 16:52:06 GMT
Subject: Re: Switch Heaters?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad

Now that you know what switch heaters are, Tom, you 
can find them in our own backyard:

* Moffat Route and Grande mainline: From Arvada to Salt Lake.

* Some interchanges in South Denver on the Joint Line.

* Raton Pass.

* UP throughout Wyoming and at LaSalle, CO.

These are all fired by LP gas. Look for LP tanks at the edge of RoW
at passing sidings and interchanges. Then go back at night in the
lousiest weather to see the "burning rails".

I remember seeing smudge pots burning under switch points in the Clyde
yards (Western Chi.) when I was a kid. Threw snowballs at them to put
'em out. I found a few of those relics
in a scrap pile in 7th St. yards in Denver a few years back. Kept one.
Looks like they burned kero, coal oil or any cheap fuel. Must've
required lots of maintenance.


Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ggg9y@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Garth G. Groff)
Subject: Re: Tunnel Motors
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 13:08:33 GMT

B-UNIT CONTROLS

Many, if not most, EMD B units were equipped with
hostler controls.  These were designed only for 
limited movement in yards.  I don't know if these
were an option, or if they were standard features.
Perhaps someone who is/was an engineer could tell
us how they worked and if they were a regular
feature.  I also wonder if ALCO FB units had them.

~S
--
Garth (Haridas) Groff
"Not yet famous author"
ggg9y@poe.acc.virginia.EDU         Chant "Govinda Bohlo Hare"
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: trk@palm15.cray.com (Tim Kirby)
Subject: Re: Switch Heaters?
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: 16 Dec 92 19:04:32 CST

Following this thread, I saw no comment from t'other side of the pond.
Switch Heaters (I suppose 'point heaters' in the UK) are common in the UK too.
LPG as I recall ...

Tim

--
Tim Kirby --------- Cray Research Inc., Eagan, MN, USA ----------- trk@cray.com
Disclaimer: I disclaim, therefore I am. Cray Research is not responsible for me,
my views or anything I say ............... They do, however, pay my mortgage ;-)
When all else fails, Immortality may always be assured by spectacular error(JKG)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: wh20@iastate.edu (Gregory D Westwater)
Subject: C&NW Signals
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 20:17:16 GMT

	The Chicago Northwestern RR uses cab signals, and thus the only
trackside signals are those used to signal interlocking plants.  These signals
are two and three light signals, and where I live, there is a Y nearby which
has three heads of three lights each.  
	Recently, I have been seeing more and more trackside signals, and when
I talked to a railroad employee, he said it was part of the installation of 
CTC.  On Ocasion, I see a signal that appears to be in no way related to 
interlocking, and I have been wondering if installation of CTC includes going
to trackside signals, but I am not sure.
	Any body know anything about this?
		Gregory Westwater.     WH20@iastate.edu
From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Davis (CA) accident - idiot of the month!
Date: 18 Dec 92 20:43:30 GMT
Organization: LLNL

In article <1992Dec17.195532.14359@ee.ryerson.ca> cal@ee.ryerson.ca (Calvin Henry-Cotnam) writes:
>hill@madrone.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Rich Hill) writes:

>> [description of an idiot trying to drive down the ROW delteted]

>>The car (a Cadillac) was basically nonexistant the front seats back, ....

>More importantly, what type of locomotive was on the train ?!?

>         :-)

	I'm sure it was an F40. I'm sure that its nose got rather
banged up.
-- 
/Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster
/lip@s1.gov
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: jbvb@vax.ftp.com  (James B. VanBokkelen)
Subject: Re: NS bridge/Kids Accident (Now stuff hanging off trains)
Nntp-Software: PC/TCP NNTP
Keywords: sideswiping
Reply-To: jbvb@ftp.com
Organization: FTP Software, Inc., Wakefield, MA
Distribution: ne
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 14:46:52

One time an MBTA commuter train I was on got side-swiped by a piece
of scrap iron hanging over the side of a gon in Lawrence (MA) yard.
We stopped, looked things over, complained to the DS and the freight
crew, and went on.  Lexan is tough, but the car side was scratched
and the rubber moldings were cut up a bit.

James B. VanBokkelen		2 High St., North Andover, MA  01845
FTP Software Inc.		voice: (508) 685-4000  fax: (508) 794-4488
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Railroads named "Pacific"?
Date: 11 Dec 92 19:26:50 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <ANDRE.92Dec10103814@king.slc.mentorg.com> andre@king.slc.mentorg.com (Andre' Hut) writes:
> 
> B.A. & P. was the road which transferred copper ore from Butte to Anaconda.
> There was also another road called "Montana Western Railway", which is now
> apparently Rarus, as you mention.  Rarus runs between Silverbow (a
> transportation hub) just outside of Butte, connecting there with U.P., up north
> to Garrison Junction, where it joins the Burlington Northern and Montana Rail
> Link.
> 
> B.A. & P. experimented briefly with electrification.  They are no longer in service,
> as the Berkley pit in Butte is now a lake.  I have a photograph of an old B.A. & P.
> caboose.

I think brief in this case amounted to around 50 years...

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     work:   to be avoided at all costs...
but no way officially representing:   uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
Commodore, Engineering Department     domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: rogerm@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_GATEWAY_FILE (Roger Mitchell)
Subject: D&RG Double Fairlie
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 15:17:38 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.4 PL6]

The D&RG double Fairlie, Mountaineer was used in pusher service on La Veta
Pass between Walsenberg and Alamosa, Colorado. The crews that ran the thing
hated firing it because of the awkward location of the fire doors on each
side of the firebox. The railroad scrapped it with out regret.

				Roger Mitchell
				Master Mechanic: Ft. Collins Municipal Railway

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: matheys@dxds08.cern.ch (Jean-Pol Matheys)
Subject: A TGV has derailed in Macon
Reply-To: matheys@online.cern.ch
Organization: CERN - European Laboratory for Particle Physics
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 13:15:53 GMT


France Inter announced in its noon (13:00) news that a TGV had derailed in Macon
(on the Paris-Lyon line) this morning. No deaths were reported. Only five people
who were on the platform  at the time of the incident were  taken to a hospital.
They were injured by ballast elements ejected by the derailed train.  No details
as to the reasons of this incident were given.

--
Jean-Pol Matheys

CERN - European Laboratory for Particle Physics    |   Jean-Pol.Matheys@cern.ch
ECP Division  /  Data-acquisition Systems Group    |   matheys@online.cern.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 23                   Switzerland    |   online::matheys

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ARES56@email.mot.com (Bill Hoffman)
Subject: Employee Time Tables
Organization: Motorola CMRC
Distribution: US
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 08:37:23 GMT

OK I can't wait any longer.  I was hoping to pick up a time table at a 
railroad show being held locally in march, but from the talk on the net 
refering to time tables I would like to get one now.  Never having seen 
one of these mythical things I am probably not going to ask the right
questions so I will describe the info I want and see if the time table
will help. 

I want to learn about the Chicago and North Western trains in and leaving
Chicago.  There are probably several divisions involved in this.  Since I 
want to model some section of the railroad I want info about yards, procedures,
routes, etc.  I also want some idea of when trains will be running so I can
try to minimize my dead time while watching for trains. 

Will a recent (less than 5 years old) Employee Time Table give me some of this
info and how would I go about getting one, or several?  For my purposes a 
copy is just fine. 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Bill Hoffman
From: judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: New York <-> Washington DC: air shuttle was better
Keywords: AMTRAK, North-East Corridor, air travel
Date: 17 Dec 92 17:52:50 GMT
Reply-To: judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com ()
Distribution: usa
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


>f you get to Metropark much after 6:00 AM there IS NO parking available
>for Amtrak users. ONLY for people lucky enough to have won a parking lottery
>and pay the county of middlesex a monthly parking fee.

Not so! If you go to the shed in the parking lot and show them your
Amtrak ticket, they will let you park in the reserved parking area
for $1/day. 

I traveled to the DC area weekly and never had a problem parking
this way.


--

Louis J. Judice		| Email:      judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corp.	| Office   :  908-562-4103
20 Corp. Pl South		| FAX:        908-562-4570
Piscataway, NJ 08876	| "Right now, pigs are becoming lunch."
From: CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Unusual tunnels?
Date: 14 Dec 92 16:26:11 GMT
Organization: McGill University

In article <1992Dec14.075524.23940@netcom.com> tssmith@netcom.com (Tim Smith) writes:
>
>There is a very nice example on the CP main just east of Field, B.C.
>This is probably the Kicking Horse pass tunnel that another reader
>mentioned.  The tunnel does at least 270 degrees, maybe more.  There
>is/was a lookout just off the Trans-Canada Highway from which you
>could observe both portals of the tunnel.
>
>Last I saw this was in 1985, and had the pleasure of seeing an 80+
>car westbound (down) train loop under itself.  I think I remember
>hearing that either that line or just the tunnel has been abandoned.
>Or perhaps it was just that VIA doesn't run passenger trains through
>it any more.  Steve Hooper probably knows the facts.
>
I'm pretty sure CP's Spiral Tunnels have *not* been abandoned.
You are correct that VIA no longer runs passenger trains on this
route (since Jan. 1990).  Passengers can ride this route, at
least in the summer, on Great Canadian Railtours' "Rocky Mountaineer"
train from Calgary to Vancouver.

Tom Box
CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
From: tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom Vervaeke)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: SP radio frequencies
Date: 18 Dec 1992 16:51:11 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: itchub21.cs.itc.hp.com


SOUTHERN PACIFIC:
----------------
In my timetable that covers Colorado, Utah, and Nevada SP has the
following frequencies. Not sure if these are system wide:

Transmit Receive     What

System:
------
         161.550     Channel-1 Road
         160.320     Channel 2-Road
161.040  160.890     Channel-2 PBX
161.160  160.950     Channel-3 PBX
	 161.400     Channel 4-Utility
	 161.205     Channel 5 Police Mutual Aid

Dispatcher Links:    (The freq below are repeaters, listen to Road 1
----------------      channel also).

	 160.215     Promontory, Point, UT
	 161.265     Little Mountain, UT
	 160.575     Winnemucca, NV 

AMTRAK:
------

         160.455     On board services LA - Las Vegas
	 161.100     On board services Denver-Salt Lake-Las Vegas
	 160.515     On board services La Junta, CO - Kingman, AZ

Hope some of these might help!!!



( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ )
 | / | Tom Vervaeke           Email:tom_vervaeke@hp0800.desk.hp.com | \ |
 | / | Technology Specialist  Snail: 1900 Garden of the Gods Rd.    | \ |
 | / | Hewlett Packard Co.           Colorado Springs, CO 80901     | \ |
 | / | Colorado Springs, CO   Voice    : 719-590-2133               | \ |
 | / | USA                    Fax      : 719-590-2117               | \ |
 | / |--------------------------------------------------------------| \ |
 | / | Quote of the week...                                         | \ |
 |___|           Quote deleted do to lack of creativity !!!         |___|
(_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____)
   ^                                                                  ^

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: sws37449@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steven W. Salzman)
Subject: Re: Amtrak Routes
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 20:39:09 GMT

luebeckd@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (Ken Luebeck) writes:

>Another train I would like to see is an overnight train betwen St. Paul/  
>Minneapolis and Chicago, to court some of the numerous business (and  
>other) travelers that currently fly between the cities.

An interesting idea, but one that I imagine is well down on Amtrak's
list of priorities.  Business travelers are probably still more likely
to fly between Chicago and the Twin Cities, even if competing Amtrak
service were instituted.  Time is at more of a premium for the business 
traveler, and I would suspect that the individual would rather spend 
one hour on the plane, instead of several on the train (remember--cost
isn't that big of an object--most business travelers use corporate
expense accounts). This could be rail-competitive if it were a 
high-speed corridor, however.

>Also, I read in a local paper a couple days ago that Amtrak is seeking to  
>revive a Chicago-Florida Route, over the former route of the Floridian.

This is a perennial favorite.  While a Chicago-Florida route is 
probably the most obvious hole in Amtrak's system, startup costs,
including the procurement of new equipment would be substantial.
Given current budget constraints, I would guess that this is 
unlikely, but maybe the idea will find some friends on Capitol
Hill or in the White House.

A couple of years ago, Amtrak ran a test train for this service, using
CSX (ex-C&EI) between Chicago and Evansville.  This is not the route of 
the old Floridian, but it is one of several routing options that has 
been considered.

Steven W. Salzman
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
sws37449@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
"Finals week is here"        All opinions are my own.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: vdakker@cs.few.eur.nl (Johan van den Akker)
Subject: Re: Splitting and Joining Trains: A (Not So) New Idea
Organization: Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 13:27:47 GMT

In the Netherlands splitting and joining trains is very common. It is
one of the reasons why EMUs are use on almost all services except for a
number of Intercity services. The following are examples on Intercity
services to the North and East of the country. All these are hourly
services.

Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam - Groningen/Leeuwarden (splits at Zwolle)
Rotterdam/Den Haag - Utrecht - Zwolle - Groningen/Leeuwarden 
	(Like the service above, portions from Rotterdam and The Hague join at
	Utrecht )
Rotterdam/Den Haag - Utrecht - Deventer - Enschede
	( Splits in Deventer with the Rotterdam portion continuing as an
	Intercity service and the The Hague portion continuing as
	stopping train to Enschede)

As the Subject header says: A Not So New Idea

Johan
-- 
Johan van den Akker                   vdakker@cs.few.eur.nl
Teaching Asst.                        vdakker@sus.eur.nl
Dept of Computer Science
Erasmus University
From: hsieh@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Pei-Lin Hsieh)
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 00:22:03 GMT
Subject: Amtrak from Phoenix to Grand Canyon
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server
Newsgroups: rec.railroad


Did any one have experience to ride the Amtrak thruway bus to Grand Canyon?
According to the timetable, westbound Sunset Ltd arrives Pheonix at 11:30PM
( close to midnight ), and the bus depart from Pheonix airport ( why not at
amtrak station? ) at 4:30 AM. I was told there is 8 miles between these two
points. I want to know if it is safety at night time and which kind of trans-
portion I can use.

Any advice and suggestion will be appereciated!
From: rad@railnet.nshore.ORG (Rick DeMattia)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: McKees Rocks Yard
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 19:31:22 EST
Organization: Railnet BBS +1 216 786 0476

wadams@faraday.ece.cmu.edu (William Adams) writes:

> I was up at the McKees Rocks yard about two months ago.  It is being
> used some by CSX.  I saw 8 old P&LE cabooses, and 2 P&LE switchers, all
> parked.  One beat up old CSX was shoving gondolas around.  The buildings
> looked like they were all abandoned.

If the buildings are CSX and they look dilapidated, they are probably
being used every day.  If they're freshly painted, with new roofs
and walkways, they'll likely be abandoned before year's end. 
Business accounting practice can be very destructive!

--
UUCP: {uunet|backbone}!railnet!rad   rad@railnet.nshore.org
CompuServe: 72517.666@compuserve.COM
From: btiffany@pbs.org
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Alcos, GG1's, etc.
Date: 17 Dec 92 08:25:48 EST
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA

In article <1ge3o2INNgo3@kralizec.zeta.org.au>, craig@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Craig Dewick) writes:

> To get back to the smoke issue, one thing that everyone has forgotten to
> mention is that EMD build their engines with oil seperators in the 
> exhaust line. This device is designed to seperate unburnt oil particles
> from the exhaust gas stream, and to redirect some of this exhaust gas
> stream back into the air box to be re-burnt. Alco's don't have this, so
> any oil that gets past the exhaust ports ends up blanketting the
> neighbouring countryside!
> 
> Thus, on a GM you usually only get blue or grey smoke, whereas with an
> Alco you can get genuinely BLACK smoke, and whoa be tied anyone who
> stands next to an oil-spluttering Alco when it's notched out and the
> wind is blowing the exhaust your way (ie. don't where a white shirt!).

Now let's be fair.  Alcos tended to smoke heavily *only* when being notched
up several notches at once, and then only until the turbo caught up.  Of
course, if they'd been sitting idling for a while the smoke was exacerbated,
but this is also true of EMD's, regardless of whether they are turbocharged.
And EMD's could throw just as much oil as anyone else's engines.  The worst
dousing I ever got was when I made the mistake of riding in an open dutch door
behind an F40PH which was spewing oil over everything, including my nice white
dress shirt.  I thought it was ruined, but my wife managed to perform some
sort of miracle on it and saved it.

When I worked for the SP in West Oakland Yard I often parked my car right by
the track where they backed one of the SAN JOAQUINs in, and often left an
F40 idling on it.  The turkeys usually left it in high idle, so I'd clamber up
into the cab and turn it down to low idle to save fuel.  Even in low idle I
found that after my car spent several hours next to a slow-idling F40 it was
covered with oil spots.  This happened many times, with many different engines,
not always F40's (sometimes a Santa Fe GP35 or suchlike, when an F40 would
break down, which was not all that infrequent).

Does anyone remember how UP's E-units smoked?  They were a sight to behold!
I recall rolling across Wyoming behind an A-B-B-B-B-A lashup of E's, with 30
cars, including 5 domes (the famous "City of Everywhere"), back in July 1970,
and you'd swear they had the 8444 up there.  Riding the lead dome I got an
excellent view of the action, and those E's easily blocked out the sun and left
a long trail of thick, black smoke drifting across the prairie.

My observation has been that at speed Alcos smoke no more than EMD's, and in
fact probably less overall.  A smoking EMD smokes at any speed.  I grew up
with Alcos, and have observed Alcos of all kinds, and I have to say they
probably smoke less than EMD's on balance, with the obvious exception being
when they are being notched out quickly, because of the turbocharger lag.

-- Bruce Tiffany
Newsgroups: rec.railroad