[mechanickeith]

Yes. Used to be a single line & they have been working for a couple of years putting in a second track.

[Cobrabill]

All the dirt work is done from Tucson to Estrella,which is just east of Shawmut,which is about 14 miles east of the east switch at Gila.They have double track in from Maricopa to Estrella.And they are presently re-habing 1 rail between those same points.

Double track is complete from Tucson to El Paso.The UP is crying poor(believe that one?)and is putting the rest of the "Double track project" on hold.Same with the yards at Picacho & Strauss,N.M.

[bird72]

Used to live in Kingman for years and every so often an Indian would get killed walking the tracks back to the res in Peach Springs, which is one helluva walk and never understood why they didn't walk / hitchhike Rt 66. I think one must be fairly drunk to not hear a train coming.

[fiedlerh]

Our town has an intersection for a major rail line and a commuter line. We have clowns trying to beat trains all the time around here. Even saw a school bus do it once (no kids inside).

Another reason to stay away from the tracks: material sometimes leaks out of rail cars; you don't know what that crap is.

Saw a cool thing last month; two freight trains passing passing each other in opposite directions at maybe 30 mph. No big deal except it's a single track that goes to double tracks for maybe a mile through town. One train was 115 cars, the other maybe 90 or so. Must have taken some coordination.

[65WJ]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

Amtrash can run 80 mph

And in the NE Corridor,Acela runs 150 mph

"Amtrash" lol Along us 33 in goshen you could keep up with the train doing 80
Amtracks repair hub is right here in good old Beech Grove. I used to service a copier located in the office of the main repair building. I always enjoyed that service call. Usually took and extra hour.

My Grandfather worked for Nickle Plate Road. When the Mikado class 587 was restored my mom was a kid all over again. She and my aunt would get rides around the yard.

Lots of love and respect for the Railroad here.

patrick

[rod cole]

When I was a kid we used to find RR stuff because it went right behind the folkes business. One time we found these 2-3 inch square things that strapped to the tracks and were told they were stop whistles for the engineer to hear in a emergancy. Anyway we decided to see how loud they were but were not sure so we cut about a 1/4 inch piece of then pushed a 4 foot piece of railroad track over on it blew that iron about 6 feet straight up we were lucky we didnt try the whole thing. What was in them Bill this was in the mid 70's.

[Cobrabill]

Those were called "Torpedos".When a train would stop in dark territory,the rear brakeman would go back 2 miles and strap them to the track to warn approaching trains of a "train ahead".They contain gunpowder and would explode under the compression from the wheel of the locomotive.They have been done away with, as today's cabs are so insulated they wouldn't be heard.

Your lucky someone didn't get hurt.A four foot piece of rail is at least 110 pounds.

[drailed]

A few years ago on the CP line I work on (D&H) we were hauling brand new Amtrak Ascella train sets on the tail end of our freight trains out of the Bombardier plant in plattsburgh NY. We have moved a lot of new metro north sets, MTA and many others out of there as well. They just finished up a contract with some new Hiawatha sets. The Ascella stuff was pretty impressive. The top speed right now on parts of the NE corridor is 150 mph.

[TedrowTed]

"...Anyone here remember the old DT&I? Detroit, Toledo and Ironton, that moved parts for Ford...."

I remember it! As the DT&I tracks passed west of Toledo, there was a grade separation with a long section of elevated track that allowed traffic on Routes 20/120 (West Central Avenue in Toledo) and Alternate US 20/State Rt. 2 to pass under the train tracks. The husband of my high school English teacher was an alcoholic. The local authorities made him stop flying his small plane (a Waco/Cessna type) after he flew it under the DT&I bridges a few times while "buzzed". He always thought that the Pan Am pilots who flew under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco were a bunch of wusses.
I guess he settled for being an "Old, formerly Bold, pilot"!

A friend from the town of Delta, OH told me that the local farmers, working for the railroad, had labored for a couple of years with horse-drawn equipment to push enough dirt together to create that grade separation....said to be one of the longest ones in the world, at least back in the 1920s.

Ted

[Cobrabill]

This happened last week here:

[David Jones]

Must be a LOT of idiots in this world..........

[Cobrabill]

THose are Dannon Yogurt cups.I put a couple of coupons for Dannon Yogurt in an envelope and left it for the engineer in the yard office.

Here' the narrative that came with the pics:

Reportedly, cab of semi fouled the crossing when the gates were activated at which time it tried to muscle its way thru the traffic when it was struck. Truck was loaded with empty plastic yogurt cups.

[mike nixon]

Could imagine the mess if those cups had been full????????????????

MIke

[Cobrabill]

Mess?How about the change in dynamics as a result of the trailer box being a reefer?

[mike nixon]

It'd still have been cut in half and that pretty yellow engine would've lost some weight as it'd have been covered in keylime pie yogurt. At least that's what the commercial says!

MIke

[mike nixon]

BTW, It never ceases to amaze me how STUPID people are.

A rolling freight train is one thing that WILL fix stupid. When it blows their brains out upon impact it's fixed.

MIke

[PonchoV8]

I knew a good looking girl from school that was killed by a train at an unmarked crossing at night. I grew up across from 3 track crossings. A train derailed and blocked all three for a good while. They got one opened in a day or so. It destroyed the little depot building.

I've witnessed an old lady stopping her car on the tracks to look both ways, then it stalled when she tried to go forward. She got out, but a train was soon to find her car. It hit the brakes, but didn't really slow down much. Wham. Car was no longer on the tracks.

[Stuart]

I once saw a semi tanker truck full of oil that tried to beat a freight train at a crossing...the tanker was split in two, like the pictures above. No one was hurt, but there was oil EVERYwhere.

[Alvin]

Thanks for the post Bill! I have emailed to many, some who will find the humor, and others who also see the seriousness in it I hop and share it with the "I-Pod Generation" to get a clue.

I have always loved trains. My earliest train memories are from when I was a young boy - 4, 5 & 6 yrs old. Running to the back of my Great Grandmothers' property in Albuquerque watching & waving to the Santa Fe conductors of the Diesel Locomotive freighter trains as they were in ultra low gear straining pulling those loads. I loved to literally feel the earth move from the power! Hooked on torque right from the start! That translated to Pontiac torque later in life!L

I was able to enjoy a round-trip ride on the Durango Silverton narrow guage a few years ago and have included my photos taken while on that ride. I recomend anyone who wants to enjoy this trip to call ahead and book your ride on the "Parlor Car" Caboose. It is well worth the extra few $ and where you are encouraged to take as many photos as the train runs as you wish.

And is from the Parlor Car landing is where I took this 1st image (below):


Photo at stop in Silverton with Engineer and Coalman - below:


Interior shot if Parlor Car with volunteer who non-stop shares history and information about the Durango Silverton train system for the 4(?) hour round trip - below:


Didn't intend to hijack your thread. Just wanted to share some more train info.

Thxs!
Franko

[Cobrabill]

http://www.flixxy.com/worlds-luckies...-inspector.htm