HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jerry@ncc.uky.edu (Jerry Nokes Jr.)
Subject: Help revisited.
Followup-To: 0-6-0Help
Summary: Still need help 
Organization: University of Kentucky, Communications Services
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 14:24:59 GMT
Originator: jerry@ncc.uky.edu

     Hi guys, I posted an article last week about needing help with
a Porter 0-6-0 oil fired engine, and so far no responces.  Anyone,
have any Ideas where I can recieve help?  We are working against time.
I appreciate all responces.  73 Jerry.
From: 11jodom@gallua.gallaudet.edu
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Need help with DC transit
Date: 23 Jul 92 16:37:37 GMT
Organization: Gallaudet University

In article <1992Jul21.184610.12805@access.digex.com>, zbang@access.digex.com (Carl P. Zwanzig) writes:
> Please don't say "DC Transit".  They were one of the old bus/trolley
> systems that were bundled into the WMATA (aka Metro).  Some of us can't
> come up with much polite things to say about DC Transit Co.


That's true...

I even made the mistake of asking the metrobus driver "Does dis bus go by
any subway?"  And the driver was like "Huh?"  And I kept repeating "Yuh
know,  the subway?"  And one rider realized I was talking about the metro,
so the rider said "Yes, this bus goes to the Addison Road metro station"
and the driver was "Oh!, yeh, this goes by a metrorail station."

Gee!  

Locals in D.C. never call it the "Transit," nor "Subway,"  but instead
call it "the metro."  ["metrobus" for the buses] 

*Note...  most times, the subway's name "metro" isn't capitalized-- same
with the buses, "metrobus".



---------------------------------------------------------------------------
James "Kangol" Odom   |  Want info on Washington's metro System? Write:
Gallaudet University  |    Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
800 Florida Ave NE    |    600 Fifth Street NW
Washington, DC 20002  |    Washington, DC 20001
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: cwebster@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Chris Webster)
Subject: Department of Defense move
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 21:28:30 EDT

Today I was sitting in the Carousel Center's (a large shopping mall) parking
lot, watching trains as my so shopped....  Anyway, it was a dreary day, as
often is typical of Syracuse, and the view between me and the tracks was
obstructed by traffic, wire lines, a fence, etc, so I didn't have my 
camera out.  The second train to come by was an eastbound that consisted of:

1) a Conrail C40-8W, painted up in the Conrail Quality scheme
2) an empty Trailer Train bulkhead flatcar
3) a DODX flatcar carrying something that was large and cylindrical, covered
   by a tarp
4) a yellowish DODX caboose!

So, not only did I miss the chance to miss a three car train pulled by
a 4000hp loco, I missed the chance to shoot a caboose and the chance to
shoot a special DODX caboose.  And alas, I couldn't chase after it (SO
was in the mall...)

What the hell was this?  Griffiss Air Force is roughly forty miles east of
where I spotted it; could it have been heading there?

And, why do you need 4000 hp to pull it?  The flatcar looked like a normal
capacity, two truck/two axles per truck car.


--
-Chris Webster @ Syracuse University |
Internet:cwebster@mailbox.syr.edu    |      (space for rent)
Bitnet:cwebster@sunrise.acs.syr.edu  | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ehr@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl)
Subject: Re: AMTRAK On-time-liness ?
Summary: more or less
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 14:00:25 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.212531.16047@ccu.umanitoba.ca>, prking@silver.cs.umanitoba.ca (Peter King) writes:
> What sort of experience do folks have with AMTRAK's punctuality performance?
> Especially on their long distance trains. I would be particluarly
> interested in knowing if anybody has any experience with the
> eastbound Empire Builder -- it is usually on-time as it crosses
> Wisconsin?
> 
> This may not be of particluarly wide interest, so please e-mail
> any responses -- I'll post anything which appears to be of general
> interest.


I rode the eastbound Empire Builder last month:  Portland-Essex, Mont.;
and Essex-Minneapolis.

I stayed at Essex three days and spent much of that time train-watching
so I also kept an eye on the Amtrak trains.

On the segments that I rode, the train was about an hour late arriving
in Essex (largely due to problems in Spokane which I'll get to in a
minute) and was basically on time getting into Minneapolis.

The problems which led to the delay in Spokane were not Amtrak's 
fault.  (I had a scanner with me, and listened to what was going on.)
A four-wheel drive pickup truck fleeing a hit-and-run accident had
tried to cross the tracks near the Spokane station area and had 
gotten hung up on the tracks, fouling both main line tracks.  The
delay included the police (railroad and town) investigation, getting
a wrecker to pull the truck off, and getting a track inspector to the
scene to verify that the track was in a safe condition.

Of the three days I was in Essex, about half the trains (eastbound and
westbound Empire Builders) were on time and the remainder about an
hour late.  I don't know what caused these delays.

-- 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
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: roma@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Roma)
Subject: Re: New Signals on NEC Mainline ?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 21:55:26 GMT

jis@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (jishnu.mukerji) writes:

>Isn't it true that all locomotives on the NEC must be equipped with
>Cab Signals and ATC? So who needs those signals hanging off of various
>posts outside (except railfans maybe:-))? 

In the event of a cab signal failure, trains must proceed at restricted
speed (i. e., prepared to stop within half the range of vision) unless
wayside signals are present and are displaying a more favorable aspect.

The most restrictive indication given by the cab signal is ``proceed at
restricted speed''.  Wayside signals are thus necessary at interlockings
(absolute signals) to tell the engineer whether he can continue at
restricted speed or whether he is required to stop.
-- 
Jon Roma
Computing and Communications Services Office,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Internet:  roma@uiuc.edu      	UUCP:      uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!roma
From: clive@x.co.uk (Clive Feather)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: accidents at level crossings
Keywords: accidents,stupid drivers
Date: 30 Jul 92 15:11:56 GMT
Organization: IXI Limited, Cambridge, UK

In article <1992Jul16.224433.2224@mel.dit.csiro.au> ajw@squid.mel.dit.CSIRO.AU (Andrew Waugh) writes:

> Wrong side crossing failures are very, very, rare. I cannot remember an
> accident report which didn't end with the words 'Police say the flashing
> lights were working normally at the time of the accident.'

I know of *one* such case in the UK in the last 15 years. The situation
was an automatic half barrier level crossing (AHB) beside a station:

    --@@@@-----C-------------------------------------------A-----
              ##S###############

  -     track (trains go from right to left)
  #     platform
  @     level crossing
  S     signal
  A B   train detector

If the signal S is clear (yellow or green) when a train reaches detector
A, then the barriers drop across the road automatically. If, however, a
train is due to stop at the station, then S is kept at red. Once a train
has passed A, the system changes to "stopping" mode. In this mode,
when the signalman presses the button to clear S, it stays at red, but
the barriers drop - when the level crossing is fully closed, the signal
changes to yellow or green. If a train is detected at C, the crossing
starts to close irrespective of the state of signal S.

The train in question was due to stop at the station, and S was left
red. The train failed to brake properly, and passed S at danger, hitting
a car on the crossing about 2 seconds later (killing the driver and a
passenger, if I remember correctly).

I don't have the report to hand, and I can't remember what the
Inspector's recommendations on this setup, if any, were. Under BR rules,
however, an open level crossing is not an obstruction provided that it
is guarded by a red signal, even if that signal is only a metre away
from the crossing.

-- 
Clive D.W. Feather     | IXI Limited         | If you lie to the compiler,
clive@x.co.uk          | 62-74 Burleigh St.  | it will get its revenge.
Phone: +44 223 462 131 | Cambridge   CB1 1OJ |   - Henry Spencer
Fax:   +44 223 462 132 | United Kingdom      |
From: dp2r+@andrew.cmu.edu (Denise Pullen)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Uploads to wuarchive.wustl.edu
Date: 31 Jul 92 03:30:27 GMT
Organization: Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Thanks for explaining the technical aspects of this issue so clearly. I
don't use the .jpg format to slight anyone out of any bytes of
information. It's just a time thing. Thanks again!
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: dawdy@tellabs.com (Dan Dawdy)
Subject: Re: O. Winston Link audio/video available???
Keywords: Winston Link audio video CD
Organization: Tellabs, Inc., Lisle, IL
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 05:44:15 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.152207.224012@cs.cmu.edu> mjs+@cs.cmu.edu (Mark Stehlik) writes:
>
>Does anyone know if there is a compilation of O. Winston Link's still photos
>still in print?
>

Yes.  The book I have is Steam, Steel & Stars.  It's
published by Abrams, ISBN 0-8109-1645-2.  Most larger
book sellers have it.  All pictures are of Norfolk and
Western Railroad in the late 1950's.  I also have a small
soft cover book called Ghost Trains which was published
by the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA.  It has many of the
same pictures as Steam, Steel & Stars, BUT also comes with
a stereo record with sounds made at the same time as two
pictures in the book.  If anyone knows of others, let us know.
I have scanned two pictures from the book which I can post
if enough people would like to see them.  The scans don't
really do the pictures justice as they loose much of the
richness of the orginal, but they may bring his work to
some who have never seen it. (And maybe will go out
and buy the book;-)

Dan
From: xxrich@alliant1.lerc.nasa.gov (Rich Rinehart)
Subject: has CONRAIL STOCK SPLIT?
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 20:54:11 GMT

Conrail stock is riding real high in the 90's.  Can anyone
tell me if a split has been announced yet?

thanks,
-rich
-- 
Rich Rinehart (xxrich@alliant1.lerc.nasa.gov) |     
NASA Lewis Research Center     |    "Life if one big editing session" -rr
Cleveland, OH                  | 
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Subject: Manhattan Bridge fails again
Reply-To: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 18:33:06 GMT

The north pair of tracks on the Manhattan Bridge, between Brooklyn and
Manhattan, have had to be closed for emergency repairs.  The problem
is that 16 feet of a 20-foot stringer were discovered eaten away by
corrosion, most likely caused by pigeon droppings not being cleaned
off.  A stringer is a beam running lengthwise on a bridge, normally as
in this case, directly under and supporting one of the rails.

The south pair of tracks has already been closed for about 2 years for
bridge reconstruction.  The north pair has been carrying about 250,000
riders per day who now have to find alternate routes.  The 6 tracks
providing access from the "BMT Southern Division" (B,D,M,N,Q,R trains)
are now reduced to 2, the pair in the Montague St tunnel that has been
working at capacity to handle the M,N,R routes already.  The easiest
transfer from this group of lines is to the IRT (2,3,4,5) at Atlantic
Ave, a badly overloaded line at that point.

Jim Dwyer, in _New York Newsday_, is making much of the two engineering
studies underway having failed to detect this bad beam until a hole was
visible in it.  This is reminiscent of closings to both north and south
lines through the 1980's as this and that structural weakness was
discovered, but this is the first time both pairs have been closed at
one time.

The Manhattan Bridge (open about 1908) is considered poorly designed
and has been the subject of earlier studies.  Bad maintenance in the
last few decades have made it even worse.  The subway tracks run along
the outer edge of the deck, a pair on each side with the roadway in
the center, and the north pair have always been more heavily used,
causing very uneven stresses in addition to the usual problems of
heavy trains on suspension bridges.

The stringer is being replaced immediately and the tracks should be
back in service on Friday morning.  We are to believe that the rest of
the beams are being inspected today.  It'll just be another of those
risks we take in New York.

--Joe Brennan
From: jps@dworkin.wustl.edu (James Sterbenz)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: New Signals on NEC Mainline ?
Date: 21 Jul 92 14:52:31 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Washington University,  St Louis MO

In article <Brpnnx.5E2@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> roma@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Roma) writes:
>sfsmith@pennsas.upenn.edu (Sandy F. Smith, Jr.) writes:

>>Coming back from the Delaware Coast last night, I noticed something different
>>about the signals on the Amtrak (PRR) main line, which parallels I-495 for a
>>few miles northeast of Wilmington.

>This has been going on for about two years.  This change was mentioned
>in an article on the Northeast Corridor in _Trains_ magazine about a year
>ago (I believe the issue was June, 1991).  My observation is that many of
>the signals south of Philadelphia have been converted, but those north of
>Philadelphia still use the traditional PRR anti-fog yellow for all positions.

Phila. is pretty much the boundary, but there are a few north as well...

>Amtrak is converting signals gradually, so eventually more and more signals
>on the NEC will use the color position aspects.  I don't know the rationale
>behind the change, but it may be a prelude to the eventual replacement
>of the position signals with color light signals.

So gradually that it is common to see the colorlight and position light
signals mixed on the same catenary support (but all of the positions 
in a head or pair of heads for a given track are converted together,
of course).

It seems that a change to colorlight is unlikely; this is probably a 
way to get the signals more in line with standard colorlight, without
the expense of completly replacing heads.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
--
James Sterbenz  IBM HPCC       (High Performance Computing and Communications)
                472 Wheelers Farms Rd. MS93           jpgs@watson.vnet.ibm.com
                Milford CT 06460-1844 USA                      +1 203 783 4380
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: billg@bony1.bony.com (Bill Gripp)
Subject: Hobos Glamorized on TV (Was: Re: The State of Train Hitching)
Organization: LA&W RR
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 16:45:33 GMT


In article <8093@orbit.cts.com> hudson@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Hudson Leighton) writes:
>Well here we go again.
>
>"Hitching" on trains is a good way to get killed!!


Last week on STREET STORIES there was a segment on the new yuppie fad in
             <not 48Hours>
Southern California, "Hobo-ing".  They went to a bar in Beverly Hills
where "Yuppy Boes" hang out and trade tricks of the trade.  Then they
went along with 3 yuppies who drove somewhere around Bakersfield and
hopped an EsPee freight.

The yuppies were saying how dangerous this was, and that it was
ILLEGAL, but that didn't stop them (along with a CBS camera crew) from
hopping into an empty box car and riding along.

Was SP aware that CBS was filming this?  If not, could SP bring legal
action against CBS?  After all, the "evidence" was on video, and
broadcast on network television.

One of the more humerous parts was when the 3 guys were waiting for a
train to come along and one remarked "how do we know where it's going?"
They acted worse than a 3 year old who has seen his first set of
electric trains.

As if railfans don't have enough trouble worrying about getting hastled
by police, now we are likely to be confused with this growing segment of
jerks.  =B^[



P.S.  I called SP Public Relations and they said that it was not cleared 
thru their office and someone (not them) was investigating.
From: "steve waller" <steve.waller@canrem.com>
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: level xing accidents
Date: 21 Jul 92 21:39:00 EST
Reply-To: "steve waller" <steve.waller@canrem.com>
Distribution: rec
Organization: Canada Remote Systems

RA>5) The trains did NOT blow their horns to signal their
RA>approach to the crossing.
>I find this hard to believe. I've never heard of a railroad which
>did not have the Rule 14(l) which mandates sounding the horn or
>whistle while approaching and crossing any grade (level) crossing.
>I also doubt that there is any state in the US which does not
>have a state law requiring the same thing.

In Canada (at least), local municipalities can pass laws to stop trains
from blowing their horns at crossings.  Now, on the other hand, the RRs\
are counter-acting this by "allowing" the municipalities to help pay
their insurance bills, which sky-rocket when blowing for crossings is
not permitted.  At least one Ontario municipality suddenly decided that
blowing the horn was a very worthwhile action!!!  <grin>

Steve
---
  DeLuxe 1.1 #1665  Sun is shining, through the open boxcar door
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario/Detroit, MI
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
From: Rich.Rubel@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Rich Rubel)
Subject: Re: <None>
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 11:18:53 GMT


Once while I was riding the Coast Starlight (I think it was), we got a
*very* unruly drunk in the club car.  He eventually started waving a
pistol around and threatening people, so he got put off in Klamath Falls,
Oregon.  They took him away in handcuffs and everything... and the whole
train cheered.  The best part, though, was pure coincidence.  It was July
4th, and we stuck arounD Klamath Falls long enough to see some of the
fireworks.

My father and I have also had trouble with people smoking in the
non-smoking sections.  The worst time was a trio of kids (oldest maybe 15,
youngest maybe 11) whose guardian was drunk in the club car.  These kids
would light up, hide the cigarettes when an attendent would come around,
and mouth off at anyone who complained.  Eventually my father got a bit
physical, and they REALLY got mad.  Finally they were sent to another car.
 What made us most upset, though, was that the chief of onboard services
took the side of the KIDS rather than the rest of the passengers.  And
they were clearly in the wrong, smoking in the first row upstairs.
[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
From: pierson@cimill.enet.dec.com (Dave Pierson)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Amtrak improvements
Date: 29 Jul 92 00:22:59 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

Random thoughts:

Recycling is a bit tricky in the confined quarters of a rr car, where crew space
(non revenue space) is minimal.  (Of course if its beverage cans, then crushed
they take less room, so...

In article <1992Jul28.163130.25046@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>,
ggg9y@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Garth G. Groff) writes, in part:

>Just a few comments about the AMTRAK suggestions:

>2.  Equipping the crew with headsets is an interesting idea,
>but probably impractical.  Even a padded headset hurts your
>ears after an hour (I used to be a radio announcer).
	hmmmm.  "walkman" sets?  But my guess is that the crew will not be able
	to function with headsets/dangly wires.  Besides the perception of being
	"out of touch" with the passengers.

>3.  I agree using the PA for crew messages is inappropriate, 
>though I enjoyed speculating about what was going on.  On
>the CZ two years ago, I had the pleasure of riding with Kurt
>Katz who gave a very interesting running commentary about the
>towns we passed through, including many interesting and obscure
>facts.  
	During the recetn "Tall Ships" vist to Boston, the "T" ran extra rail
	and transit service (full when i rode) into Boston.  The Commuter
	Conductors (AMTRAK, under contract to the T) were doing a running
	commentary: 
		There used to be a railine thru the woods here, to your right...
	Nice touch, tho I hope the commuters don't get that regularly.  (It gets
	_real_ old.  (BTW, I learned that the entire US SUpply of Marshmallow
	Fluff comes from Lynn, MA.  Shocking.  8)>>)

thanks
dave pierson			|the facts, as accurately as i can manage,
Digital Equipment Corporation	|the opinions, my own.
600 Nickerson Rd
Marlboro, Mass
01752				pierson@cimnet.enet.dec.com
"He has read everything, and, to his credit, written nothing."  A J Raffles
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:6080 sci.environment:10359 alt.activism:13780
From: ens@ccu.umanitoba.ca
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,sci.environment,alt.activism
Subject: Re: _Scientific American_ profiles Maglev Trains
Date: 31 Jul 92 07:41:39 GMT
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

In article <JMC.92Jul30204522@SAIL.Stanford.EDU> jmc@cs.Stanford.EDU writes:
> A Japanese told me that he
>went from Osaka to Tokyo by airplane rather than by the bullet
>train.

Can't argue with those statistics: 100 % of the Japanese you 
talked to prefer airplanes to bullet trains.
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:5930 rec.models.railroad:1444