HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tms@cary (Thomas Staley)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: "junk" steam engines in Roanoke?
Date: 31 Aug 92 12:01:41 GMT
Organization: FiberCom, Inc., Roanoke, Virginia


>Does anyone have any further information about these steam engines?

Yes, there are some steam engines in the Virginia Scrap Metal yard.
I went down there saturday to get there current status.  I parked at 
Jefferson and Reserve and walked the tracks north.  After walking 
about 100 yards there was two tender, one was numbered 51919, the 
other was unreadable.  Next was two diesels, Chesapeake Western
662 and 663, baldwin DS-4-4-660. Then a flat car and then I could see
the steam engines.  The tracks start to bend away from the NS tracks
at this point.  The bushes and trees make it hard to see these engines.
I could see engines with numbers 1118, 1134, and 115?.  I could tell that
there was something else there but could not tell what.  The "List of 
Steam Locomotives in the US", compiled by Centennial Rail, LTD. list
the following:

Roanoke    Virginia Scrap Metal     N&W      917                2-8-0
Roanoke    Virginia Scrap Metal     N&W      1118, 1134, 1151   4-8-0

Everything at the Virginia Scrap Metal yard is in poor condition and 
missing parts.  All the steam engines were without tenders and the
foliage was growing in and around them.

The other big scrap yard in town has some interesting railroad stuff also.
Cycle Systems use a 150 ton steam crane to hold up there sign.  They also use
two ALCO switchers and a MRS-1 ALCO military locomotive in there yard.
Cycle Systems has been cutting up NS geeps for about a year, there are 
large piles of locomotive parts everywhere.  The Cycle Systems yard can
be seen from 581, south of downtown Roanoke.
-- 
Thomas Staley  
INTERNET: tms@fibercom.com            UUCP: ...!uunet!fibercom!tms
From: Joe.Russ@mixcom.mixcom.com (Joe.Russ)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Tracks Ahead returns to PBS
Date: 2 Sep 92 00:56:23 GMT
Article-I.D.: mixcom.1992Sep02.005623.6938
Distribution: usa
Organization: Milwaukee Internet Xchange BBS, Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.


On November 14 (in the Milwaukee, Wis. area) the first of 13 new
episodes of the Channels 10/36 produced program "Tracks Ahead" will
air on Channel 10 at 6:30 p.m. The Saturday evening program will have
a new look to it as the previous host, Charles Zehner, has become the
show's senior producer and correspondent while Ward Kimball has taken
over the hosting duties. Other changes include covering railroading in
Europe and some minor format changes.
     Some highlights from the series include:
     * LS&I ore operations
     * Tehachapi Loop operations
     * The East Broad Top
     * Railroad operations in Germany
     * Railroad operations in Switzerland
     * The UP's Harriman Dispatch Center in Omaha, Neb.
     * Amtrak's Beech Grove Shops
     * The Midland Railway Center in Ripley, England
     * A trip on the Orient Express
     * Plus model railroads, railroad artists, and more.
 
 Check with your local PBS station to see when the series will be
broadcast in your area. It will be distributed to about 200 PBS
stations across the country.
     Joe R.
-- 
Joe.Russ@mixcom.com
From: hudson@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Hudson Leighton)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Maximum age for cars (was Re: Restroom Closings on Amtrak)
Date: 30 Aug 92 00:05:01 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.

If Amtrak will not not handle cars older than 50 years that excludes any car4
built before 1942.  Which cannot be trun because I have several friends with
cars older than 1942.  Stephenson's "Survivor" 1926, Clover Colony 1920
Lehigh VAlley 1916, Dianne Marie 1914 Just to name a few with build dates


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Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ggg9y@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Garth G. Groff)
Subject: Re: Montana Cities
Organization: University of Virginia
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 12:17:17 GMT

CITY INFORMATION

As has been noted several times here by my myself and
others, the best source for this sort of information 
is the Sanborn Fire Insurance Collection.  These are
available on microfilm from the Center for Research
Libraries in Chicago and probably other sources.  They
can be borrowed by any college or public library for
use in-house.  These maps, which were updated every
few years until the 1950 era (some cities stop earlier),
show detailed track diagrams in a fairly large scale, 
industrial plants (with names and lots of other info)
and streets, etc.  I suggest that if your public 
library can't help you, that you call the reference
department of your nearest large college.  

Your state library, or the library of your nearest
university, probably can help you with older USGS
topographic maps.  They are to a much smaller scale,
but can give you a lot of information about facilities
just outside of the towns you are interested in, as
well as tying the Sanborn maps together.

And how about older city directories?  Try the university
or state historical society.  They were very much like
the yellow pages of their time and are filled with good
stuff like old display ads.

~S
--
Garth (Haridas) Groff
"Not yet famous author"
ggg9y@poe.acc.virginia.EDU         Chant "Govinda Bohlo Hare"
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: nolan@twg.com (Nolan Hinshaw)
Subject: Trailer Train car lengths
Reply-To: nolan@twg.com
Organization: Railfanz-R-Us
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 20:44:50 GMT



I happened to notice for the first time today that some Trailer Train flats
are labelled "Twin 45" on the side. They appear to be able to carry a pair of
45 foot vans. If this is so then they must be over 100 feet long over the end
sills. Please, someone who knows the details (the appropriate reporting marks
were not visible, else I woulda read them) please post the dimensions so I can
sleep at night.

--
Nolan "Gotta see about a new prescription for me specs" Hinshaw
Internet: nolan@twg.com			Dingalingnet: (415)962-7197	
"If you don't know how to do something, you don't know how to do it
 with a computer." David Wittenberg, in Risks Digest 13.70
"Boy, was I in for a dose of reality." Randall K. Abler
"... necrophilia doesn't really hurt anybody."  Rick Gordon
"Well, first of all, your stance is too wide"

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: bonnet@prl.dec.com (Christophe Bonnet)
Subject: Re: Most spectacular passenger routes
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation - Paris Research Laboratory
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 17:31:07 GMT

In article <7413@skye.ed.ac.uk>, ken@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Ken Johnson) writes:
> Don't forget to travel from Llandudno to Porthmagog.  BR from Llandudno
> to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and The Ffestiniog Railway from Blaenau
> Ffestiniog to Porthmagog.  You can make the return trip in a day in
> either direction.  The countryside is spectacular (although the Snowdon
> Railway has a special claim in that regard!) and you get to travel
> behind a steam locomotive on the narrow gauge section. 
> 
> -- Ken Johnson
> 
> 
> -- 
> //// Advice to dieters:         ////  Ken Johnson, A I Applications Institute
> ////   Never eat more than      ////       80 South Bridge, EDINBURGH EH1 1HN
> ////   you can carry.           ////                 E-mail ken@aiai.ed.ac.uk
> ////              -- Miss Piggy ////     phone 031-650 2756  fax 031-650 6513

I assume from the city names that these routes are in Wales (sp ?). May I
advocate for the other side of the St George Channel, i.e the CIE from Dublin
to Rosslare (CO. Wexford) ? First, it's a regular passenger route (it connects
with the Rosslare-Le Havre (France) ferries). Second, there are some realy
great countrysides : the ten miles (or more) following Dun Laoghaire (CO.
Dublin, I guess) follow the coast, with the the sea a few yards on the left
hand side, and the Wicklow hills on the right hand side. From Wiclow to
Enniscornthy (sp???), the landscape isn't that impressive, but the last few
miles before Wexford are realy great : I haven't seen a riverside that wild
and peaceful before. And the way through Wexford is quite funny : the train is
just ON the quay, which is made of very old woody beams. I don't know if I
would dare to walk on such rotten wood, with glimpses of dark water through the
multiple gaps...
 Well, I beg the pardon of my readers for my dire English, but I wanted to
share my feeling about this wonderful route.

Christophe.
From: vaughnw@asia.fai.com (Vaughn Wolffe)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: HR 4414
Date: 4 Sep 92 20:56:07 GMT




     Call your congressman to support the Amtrak fund.

      HR4414


Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: ehr@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl)
Subject: Re: Most spectacular passenger routes
Summary: Semmering line in Austria
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 03:01:34 GMT



Okay, how about the Semmering line in Austria?  It's southwest of
Vienna and features 2.5 per cent grades as well as manyy tunnels.
It's also well known for its stone viaducts, some of which are 
double-deck (one viaduct on top of another) and on curves.  The 
line twists back and forth over 41.5 km to cover an actual 
distance of 22 km.

Plans are to bypass this spectacular line with a long tunnel.  First
exploratory boring is slated to begin this fall, with work on the
main shaft to begin by the end of next year.  The tunnel would
presumabl;y take several years to complete.

The fate of the original line after compoletion of the new tunnel is
not clear.

If anyone is interested in visiting this area, I'd be glad to pass
along some additional information, including train-watching and
photo locations.

(If you are in the Vienna area, it's well worth a day-trip, even if
you will not otherwise be traveling on this route.)

-- 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: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Subject: Re: MBTA Expands Commuter Rail Service
Organization: LLNL
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 19:37:47 GMT

In article <16855830A.M00209@MBVM.Mitre.Org> M00209@MBVM.Mitre.Org writes:

	[Article on that subject deleted...]

	[MBTA == Boston area]

	That very same thing seems to be going on nationwide. Consider
the startup of Virginia Railway Express and the improvement of
CalTrain service here in the Bay Area.

	CalTrain improvements: on off-peak times, one train would run
every two hours. Now, on weekdays, it is one train every hour. Also,
service has been extended from its San Francisco -- San Jose line
south to Gilroy (a couple of commute-time trains).

	I once saw a tiny blurb some time back about MARC now doing
off-peak service; what's the full story?

	And I once saw this curious thing: in _Broca's Brain_, Carl
Sagan recalled discussing the Bermuda Triangle with talk-show host
Dick Cavett, where he pointed out that there are lots of mysterious
disappearances of ships and planes, but not of trains. To which Dick
Cavett responded:

	I guess you haven't waited for the Long Island Rail Road...

	Is that a fair assessment of the LIRR?

/Loren
From: mdb@csc.liv.ac.uk (Martin Beer)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Channel Tunnel status?
Date: 28 Aug 92 09:48:51 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Liverpool University
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Chris Lee (czl30@duts.ccc.amdahl.com) wrote:
> In article <BtJEAo.65y@csc.liv.ac.uk> mdb@csc.liv.ac.uk (Martin Beer) writes:
> >
> >The problem seems to be that the contractors (who originally set up Eurotunnel)
> >are running slightly behind schedule, and considerably over budget.
> >There are also additional safety measures required in the
> >light of the Kings X fire, all of which have to be paid for.
> >The original cosy relationship has broken down, with everyone
> >blaming everyone else.  It has not however stopped the contractors
> >from getting on with the building to an extremely tight
> >schedule, which they are overshooting mainly because of
> >external provarication. 
> 
> Eh? The Kings Cross fire was yonks ago. How come it's taken the tunnel
> people so long to come up with this? Or are they just making a transparent
> excuse?
> 

Yes, but there have been enquiries and recommendations intended to 
improve safety.  The Chunnel was designed before the safety regulations
were tightened, and everything has had to be reviewed to ensure that
they meet the new standards.

Public confidence in the Chunnel has always been at risk if there
was any uncertainty about fire precautions.  This has been one
of the protestors most potent arguements.  The engineers just
have to get it right, hence the delays and increased costs.

The more serious problem is the signalling as the safety record
here has not been at all good in recent years, mainly because BR has
been failing to check new work, and has been cutting track work to
the bone.  Every track layout has had to be reevaluated to make sure
that there are no serious safety problems (like single lead junctions etc.)
which have been the sites of some serios accidents in the UK.
Also the need for more qualified signals engineers in the UK to
check BR's resignalling plans have caused personnel shortages.
All in all, its amazing that they are as close to time as they currently
are.

--
Dr. Martin Beer,
Department of Computer Science,		Telephone 051-794-3672
University of Liverpool,		Fax: 051-794-3715
Chadwick Tower, P.O. Box 147,           EMail mdb@uk.ac.liverpool.compsci
LIVERPOOL.  L69 3BX. United Kingdom.
From: jws7@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (JEFF W SCHRAMM)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Could use some help with....
Date: 2 Sep 92 22:37:06 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <1SEP199211383963@alpha.sunquest.com>, rfj@alpha.sunquest.com (RICHAR
D F. JONES) writes:
>Greetings!!
>
>Okay, I admit it.   I don't know a Dash-8 from a rambler but I would
>like to learn.
>
>Does anyone know of a book or books that show/describe all the major
>types of engines, past & present, their designators, etc.???
>
>I am a railfan and have some great photos of rails, took my first rail
>trip in July, but could use some education.
>
>Please let me know some books that I can get to help me become better
>educated on what I love so dearly.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Richard Jones    RFJ@ALPHA.SUNQUEST.COM  -  INTERNET


    Ah Yes, Kalmbach is going to love you.  Try to find the "Diesel Spotters
    Guide" Versions 2 and the Update are the best, they list just about
    everything.  Any good hobby shop should have them and there is usually an
    ad for them in "Trains" or "Model Railroader".  For more specific
    knowledge there are books available on particular manufacturers, EMD and
    Baldwin come to mind.  These may be a bit harder to find but again, look
    in the ads of a national Rail publication.   While I am on the Subject, a
    subscription to "Trains" would probably be a good Idea.  Look at some of
    the other Mags too...Railfan, Railpace(eastern RR's) Pacific Rail News,
    Etc.

    Jeff Schramm  Lehigh Univ. Bethlehem PA


>
From: czl30@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Chris Lee)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Channel Tunnel status?
Date: 27 Aug 92 15:35:39 GMT
Reply-To: czl30@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Chris Lee)

In article <BtJEAo.65y@csc.liv.ac.uk> mdb@csc.liv.ac.uk (Martin Beer) writes:
>
>The problem seems to be that the contractors (who originally set up Eurotunnel)
>are running slightly behind schedule, and considerably over budget.
>There are also additional safety measures required in the
>light of the Kings X fire, all of which have to be paid for.
>The original cosy relationship has broken down, with everyone
>blaming everyone else.  It has not however stopped the contractors
>from getting on with the building to an extremely tight
>schedule, which they are overshooting mainly because of
>external provarication. 

Eh? The Kings Cross fire was yonks ago. How come it's taken the tunnel
people so long to come up with this? Or are they just making a transparent
excuse?


>
>Martin Beer

Chris Lee
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: pierson@empror.enet.dec.com (dave pierson)
Subject: Re: RRs in highway ROWs
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: na
Date: 26 AUG 92 12:13:42    

	As stated, the problem is many of the highways aren't set up to allow
anything in the median.  As it happens i just got back from a road trip to
Idaho Falls & back.  I wasn't taking notes, but the percentage of
median_suitable_for_RR/M*G-L*V_ROW, based on simple width requirements, is
miniscule, at least along I80/I90.  Those in New England may recall the
Mass Governor's suggestion of "something" in the Mass Pike Median from
Boston-Springfield.  Apparently, He's never BEEN that way.  At least not with
his eyes open...

thanks
dave pierson			|the facts, as accurately as i can manage,
Digital Equipment Corporation	|the opinions, my own.
146 Main St			|I am the NRA.
Maynard, Mass	
01754				pierson@majsty.enet.dec.com
"He has read everything, and, to his credit, written nothing."  A J Raffles
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:6951 ba.transportation:2184 talk.politics.misc:42502 talk.environment:3431
From: Zio zZz <zio@Garg.Campbell.CA.US>
Newsgroups: rec.railroad,ba.transportation,talk.politics.misc,talk.environment
Subject: Re: Cost of transit systems vs highways
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 00:26:59 PDT
Distribution: ba
Organization: The Land of Garg

> 
> 	And it works -- only half of the San Francisco -- East Bay
> commute traffic goes by the Bay Bridge. The other half goes by BART,
> which travels in a tunnel beneath the Bay. Guess who has the more
> comfortable and less stressful ride?
> 
Well, only one minor quibble...when the train goes into the transbay tube 
I get a bit stressed...from my ears responding to the air pressure.  I 
sure wish there was a way to avoid that.  It's an extremely minor 
quibble, sure, but one that I'd love to fix!
 
But yes, it's a hell of a lot better than putting up with the crap on the 
bridge!!!
 
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Subject: Washington Metro Unfinished Segments
Organization: LLNL
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 21:18:26 GMT


	I know that there are still some segments to go with the
Washington Metrorail system; I wonder what their status is.

	Red: Wheaton -- Glenmont

	Blue: Van Dorn St. -- Franconia - Springfield

	[no intermediate stops for these two]

	Green: (several)

	Anacostia -- Branch Ave.

	U St. - Cardozo -- Columbia Heights

	Columbia Heights -- Georgia Ave. - Petworth -- Fort Totten

	Fort Totten -- Greenbelt

	That excellent book, _The Story of Metro_ (I wonder when the
analogous book will come out about BART?), lists, as of 1989, the Fort
Totten -- Greenbelt segment as to be opened in late 1993 and the
Wheaton -- Glenmont, the Van Dorn St. -- Franconia - Springfield, and
the U St. - Cardozo -- Columbia Heights segments as being under final
design. The rest are listed as still "planned". What has happened
since then?

	It would be nice if someone made the kind of map for the WM
and other rail systems I made for BART: take a computer drawing
program and create an image file of the map. GIF or JPEG formats are
probably the most portable ones.
From: hudson@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Hudson Leighton)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Snowsqualmie Falls, WA Train Yard?
Date: 26 Aug 92 14:05:05 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.

You mean somebody acually wants to live in that "Rain Forest"

I was out there several years ago and the amount of mist from the falls
was amazing not to mention the various green things growing on the sides
of equiptment.


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From: ggg9y@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Garth G. Groff)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Oroville Dam Railroad
Date: 26 Aug 92 15:06:56 GMT
Organization: University of Virginia

I remember the Oroville Dam Railroad from when I was 
a teenager.  We visited the area several times while the
dam was being built, but rarely saw the trains.  They 
ran from a gravel loader in an old gold dredging area
south of Oroville to a rotary loader at the damsite north
of town.  Both locations were fenced and posted.  Part of
the track north of town was the old WP right of way which
was replaced by a new line to the northwest.  It included
at least one tunnel.  The motive power was a small fleet
of 6-axel U boats, U23C types probably, though I'm not
up on these engines.  They had about 5.  The engines were
usually run in pairs with two trains shuttling back and
forth.  Gravel was carried in short high-side solid 
bottom gondolas.  At least a few of these ended up on the
WP, why I don't know.  Maybe they were used on the ill-fated
Oakland landfill train (the poo-poo choo-choo).  The line
had one serious accident, a head-on collision that killed
several crewmen and burned some of the engines beyond 
repair.  WP engines were borrowed until the less mangled
units could be patched up.  When the dam was finished in
the late 60s, the whole line was torn up and the equipment
sold.  Except for the aforementioned gondolas, I don't 
know what happened to the rolling stock.  Hope this helps.
~S
--
Garth (Haridas) Groff
"Not yet famous author"
ggg9y@poe.acc.virginia.EDU         Chant "Govinda Bohlo Hare"
From: wes@uf.msc.edu (Wes Barris)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: TRIP REPORT NEW HAMPSHIRE
Date: 26 Aug 92 13:56:05 GMT
Reply-To: wes@msc.edu
Organization: AHPCRC, Minnesota Supercomputer Center

In article <1992Aug25.155056.1@cortex>, mboucher@cortex.prospect.com (Mike Boucher) writes:
|> The
|> only B&M engines I know of are 1455 at Edaville, and 3713 at Steamtown.

Here is what I show for these two engines.  Is the "CB&Q" a newer or former
owner of this engine?

1455            2-6-0ng B&M     Edaville RR, South Carver, MA
3713            4-6-2   CB&Q    Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, PA


-- 
                                       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                               Email: wes@msc.edu