Also, was that HSR trainset idea something you came up with it?
The Esch Cummins Act: US Railroad Consolidation program
- Thread starter Duke Andrew of Dank
- Start date
Also, was that HSR trainset idea something you came up with it?
A Vignette
It's a cool, crisp April morning in 1972 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The sun is not yet over the horizon, but the railroad never sleeps. In the early morning twilight, a Baltimore & Ohio SW1500 switcher can be seen (and the chant of its EMD engines heard) outside the ornate 1908 downtown passenger station, which looks much the same as it did then, except for details - like the words BALTIMORE & OHIO which stand in place of the former LACKAWANNA RR on the facade. The switcher is awaiting its daily ritual: the split of the eastbound Phoebe Snow.
The Snow makes its way east out of Chicago with an early-evening departure, traveling along the Lake Erie shore (including some former interurban trackage) onto the one-time Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (now the Lackawanna Division of the B&O) at Buffalo. From there it travels over the ex-DL&W to Scranton. At Scranton, where the train arrives in the early morning hours, it is split into two sections. The New York section continues east on the old DL&W and is pegged for arrival in New York at 9:05 am. The Philadelphia section will travel down the former trackage of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (now the Lehigh Division) via Allentown to Philadelphia, arriving at 11 am.
The procedure is swift as the Phoebe Snow rolls in along the tracks overlooking the North Scranton Expressway (US 11). It rolls past West Scranton Junction (WS), where the Lehigh Division splits off to the south, about a mile west of the station, and then the downtown yards. The train rolls up to the platform to make its stop, and passengers both alight and board as baggage handlers swiftly take suitcases both to and from the baggage cars.
Meanwhile, the head end power - two four-year-old FP45's - cut off from the train, pulling forward the head-end cars, with the Scranton express cars at the end of the cut. The switcher uncouples and pulls the Scranton express cars into the downtown yard and leaves them there to be worked later. It then returns to the train, this time crossing over behind the head-end power to couple up to the train itself. The next group of cars are the Philadelphia section - a baggage car, two coaches, and a sleeper, which are placed ahead of the New York section.
Once all passengers have deboarded and boarded, the switcher pulls the Philadelphia cut into the clear, then backs it into the downtown yard. A lounge car (providing snack service) has been readied in the downtown yards; the switcher picks up the lounge car as it shoves the cut through the yard. The train is then shoved west, past WS Junction. Once the Philadelphia section is clear, the FP45's back up onto the New York section, make their tests, pump up the air, and highball off to Stroudsburg, Morristown, Newark and New York City.
Awaiting, meanwhile, on the Lehigh Division track is an older (but still well-maintained) pair of E-units, the power for the Philadelphia run. The switches are thrown and the locomotives back onto the prepared Philadelphia section. Coupling, tests, air brakes, and the Philadelphia section is soon rolling past Taylor Yard and onto the tracks of the Boston & Maine (the former Delaware & Hudson; B&O inherited the former CNJ's trackage rights into Wilkes-Barre).
The railroad handled the switching moves smoothly enough that most of the Philadelphia-bound passengers are still asleep as the train rolls through the industrial and coal-mining landscape south toward Wilkes-Barre. The Anthracite Region has in recent years reinvented itself as, among other things, the toymaking capital of the United States, with Mattel, Parker Brothers, Hasbro, and homegrown heroes Roth-American all having plants in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area (shameless plug: see my Fix-Your-Hometown timeline).
About three miles north of downtown Wilkes-Barre is Hudson Yard, where the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railway (connection to the PRR) splits off to the west and the B&M continues south. The CNJ used to have a track veering off slightly to the east here, but that's been abandoned, because of a project instituted about ten years ago at the insistence of the city of Wilkes-Barre, which was tired of downtown crossing congestion. The Wilkes-Barre Grade Separation Project was a joint effort of the B&O, C&O (which operates the former Lehigh Valley), B&M and PRR to place their collective tracks below street level; it was paid for largely through Pennsylvania state funding.
The train descends into the trench created by the project, passing under a number of downtown avenues before its arrival at the Wilkes-Barre Union Station. It's the old LV building on Pennsylvania Avenue, now carefully restored. Where in the old days one boarded the trains at street level, the Project included the building of a concourse from the venerable station across the tracks (it was intended to match the old station architecturally, although many regional architects nevertheless regard it as ugly. The concourse extends across the tracks, with escalators down to track-level platforms, out to the former CNJ station, which has been converted into the city's bus terminal.
The project eliminated some industries that had trackside sidings but enhanced others. The huge Thomas C. Thomas produce terminal company insisted on a spur track being built under Pennsylvania Avenue a block north of the station, to allow continued access to its warehouse. The old Carr Biscuit company building was demolished, but Stroehmann Bakery bought the site and built a new building with rail access at the new track level. The Stegmaier Brewery, across from the station, built a new track-level loading dock facility.
In the same block as the station, there used to be three meat warehouses; LV crews called the track serving them "the meat hole." These were demolished to add more parking for the station. But just south, across Northampton Street, the three meat companies bought the site of the old PRR freight station (most LCL is handled in the form of TOFC nowadays, so the station was little used). The new "meat hole" is also at track level. Just south, past the South Street Bridge over the tracks, is the former Hazard Wire Rope plant, now undergoing conversion into a Reading Terminal or Pike Place Market-like location for Wilkes-Barre. (Likewise, the old wholesale district across Pennsylvania Avenue from the station is in the process of undergoing conversion into trendy restaurants, shops, and nightspots.)
After making its Wilkes-Barre station stop, the train begins climbing the mountain east of the city. The C&O has in recent years begun using the old CNJ track here as well via trackage rights on the B&O, which has allowed it to abandon the old LV line. The old CNJ Ashley Shops have shut down as well as the B&O has consolidated its local locomotive and car maintenance in Scranton. Reportedly, the old Ashley Shops and LV track up the mountain are being eyed by an outfit in Vermont called "Steamtown"....
By the time the passengers awaken, the train is in the beautiful Lehigh River gorge. It rolls to a station stop at Mauch Chunk, the "Switzerland of America" and an important tourist location; few alight here, but some homebound tourists from Philadelphia board the train.
Ahead are the station stop at the steel city of Allentown, from where the train will roll onto former Reading trackage, and at the manufacturing center of Reading, before the train makes its final arrival at Reading Terminal (still called that even after all these years) on Arch Street in the City of Brotherly Love.
It's a cool, crisp April morning in 1972 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The sun is not yet over the horizon, but the railroad never sleeps. In the early morning twilight, a Baltimore & Ohio SW1500 switcher can be seen (and the chant of its EMD engines heard) outside the ornate 1908 downtown passenger station, which looks much the same as it did then, except for details - like the words BALTIMORE & OHIO which stand in place of the former LACKAWANNA RR on the facade. The switcher is awaiting its daily ritual: the split of the eastbound Phoebe Snow.
The Snow makes its way east out of Chicago with an early-evening departure, traveling along the Lake Erie shore (including some former interurban trackage) onto the one-time Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (now the Lackawanna Division of the B&O) at Buffalo. From there it travels over the ex-DL&W to Scranton. At Scranton, where the train arrives in the early morning hours, it is split into two sections. The New York section continues east on the old DL&W and is pegged for arrival in New York at 9:05 am. The Philadelphia section will travel down the former trackage of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (now the Lehigh Division) via Allentown to Philadelphia, arriving at 11 am.
The procedure is swift as the Phoebe Snow rolls in along the tracks overlooking the North Scranton Expressway (US 11). It rolls past West Scranton Junction (WS), where the Lehigh Division splits off to the south, about a mile west of the station, and then the downtown yards. The train rolls up to the platform to make its stop, and passengers both alight and board as baggage handlers swiftly take suitcases both to and from the baggage cars.
Meanwhile, the head end power - two four-year-old FP45's - cut off from the train, pulling forward the head-end cars, with the Scranton express cars at the end of the cut. The switcher uncouples and pulls the Scranton express cars into the downtown yard and leaves them there to be worked later. It then returns to the train, this time crossing over behind the head-end power to couple up to the train itself. The next group of cars are the Philadelphia section - a baggage car, two coaches, and a sleeper, which are placed ahead of the New York section.
Once all passengers have deboarded and boarded, the switcher pulls the Philadelphia cut into the clear, then backs it into the downtown yard. A lounge car (providing snack service) has been readied in the downtown yards; the switcher picks up the lounge car as it shoves the cut through the yard. The train is then shoved west, past WS Junction. Once the Philadelphia section is clear, the FP45's back up onto the New York section, make their tests, pump up the air, and highball off to Stroudsburg, Morristown, Newark and New York City.
Awaiting, meanwhile, on the Lehigh Division track is an older (but still well-maintained) pair of E-units, the power for the Philadelphia run. The switches are thrown and the locomotives back onto the prepared Philadelphia section. Coupling, tests, air brakes, and the Philadelphia section is soon rolling past Taylor Yard and onto the tracks of the Boston & Maine (the former Delaware & Hudson; B&O inherited the former CNJ's trackage rights into Wilkes-Barre).
The railroad handled the switching moves smoothly enough that most of the Philadelphia-bound passengers are still asleep as the train rolls through the industrial and coal-mining landscape south toward Wilkes-Barre. The Anthracite Region has in recent years reinvented itself as, among other things, the toymaking capital of the United States, with Mattel, Parker Brothers, Hasbro, and homegrown heroes Roth-American all having plants in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area (shameless plug: see my Fix-Your-Hometown timeline).
About three miles north of downtown Wilkes-Barre is Hudson Yard, where the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railway (connection to the PRR) splits off to the west and the B&M continues south. The CNJ used to have a track veering off slightly to the east here, but that's been abandoned, because of a project instituted about ten years ago at the insistence of the city of Wilkes-Barre, which was tired of downtown crossing congestion. The Wilkes-Barre Grade Separation Project was a joint effort of the B&O, C&O (which operates the former Lehigh Valley), B&M and PRR to place their collective tracks below street level; it was paid for largely through Pennsylvania state funding.
The train descends into the trench created by the project, passing under a number of downtown avenues before its arrival at the Wilkes-Barre Union Station. It's the old LV building on Pennsylvania Avenue, now carefully restored. Where in the old days one boarded the trains at street level, the Project included the building of a concourse from the venerable station across the tracks (it was intended to match the old station architecturally, although many regional architects nevertheless regard it as ugly. The concourse extends across the tracks, with escalators down to track-level platforms, out to the former CNJ station, which has been converted into the city's bus terminal.
The project eliminated some industries that had trackside sidings but enhanced others. The huge Thomas C. Thomas produce terminal company insisted on a spur track being built under Pennsylvania Avenue a block north of the station, to allow continued access to its warehouse. The old Carr Biscuit company building was demolished, but Stroehmann Bakery bought the site and built a new building with rail access at the new track level. The Stegmaier Brewery, across from the station, built a new track-level loading dock facility.
In the same block as the station, there used to be three meat warehouses; LV crews called the track serving them "the meat hole." These were demolished to add more parking for the station. But just south, across Northampton Street, the three meat companies bought the site of the old PRR freight station (most LCL is handled in the form of TOFC nowadays, so the station was little used). The new "meat hole" is also at track level. Just south, past the South Street Bridge over the tracks, is the former Hazard Wire Rope plant, now undergoing conversion into a Reading Terminal or Pike Place Market-like location for Wilkes-Barre. (Likewise, the old wholesale district across Pennsylvania Avenue from the station is in the process of undergoing conversion into trendy restaurants, shops, and nightspots.)
After making its Wilkes-Barre station stop, the train begins climbing the mountain east of the city. The C&O has in recent years begun using the old CNJ track here as well via trackage rights on the B&O, which has allowed it to abandon the old LV line. The old CNJ Ashley Shops have shut down as well as the B&O has consolidated its local locomotive and car maintenance in Scranton. Reportedly, the old Ashley Shops and LV track up the mountain are being eyed by an outfit in Vermont called "Steamtown"....
By the time the passengers awaken, the train is in the beautiful Lehigh River gorge. It rolls to a station stop at Mauch Chunk, the "Switzerland of America" and an important tourist location; few alight here, but some homebound tourists from Philadelphia board the train.
Ahead are the station stop at the steel city of Allentown, from where the train will roll onto former Reading trackage, and at the manufacturing center of Reading, before the train makes its final arrival at Reading Terminal (still called that even after all these years) on Arch Street in the City of Brotherly Love.
@Joe Bonkers
Good description, but I think a better way of doing it is having my idea for a train over new track in northern Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh to Williamsport, which I discussed with you in that conversation we had about replacing the interurban lines with a new line from Pittsburgh to Williamsport.
So what I may do instead is have the Phoebe Snow as its own original Buffalo- Jersey City route. While the Chicago- New York train is now The Big Apple Limited. So here's my revised version...
It's a cool, crisp April morning in 1972 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The sun is not yet over the horizon, but the railroad never sleeps. In the early morning twilight, a Baltimore & Ohio SW1500 switcher can be seen (and the chant of its EMD engines heard) outside the ornate 1908 downtown passenger station, which looks much the same as it did then, except for details - like the words BALTIMORE & OHIO which stand in place of the former LACKAWANNA RR on the facade. The switcher is awaiting its daily ritual: the split of the eastbound Big Apple. Which will then be followed by the Phoebe Snow from Buffalo in a while.
The Big Apple makes its way east out of Chicago with an early-evening departure, traveling along the historic Chicago- Pittsburgh Route, but then heading northeast to Dubious, where the train rolls onto relatively new trackage, which the B&O and NYC built jointly in the 30s to compete with the PRR. The train then rolls over the former Reading line from Williamsport to Sunbury, then it rolls on to the one-time Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (now the Lackawanna Division of the B&O). From there it travels over the ex-DL&W to Scranton. At Scranton, where the train arrives in the early morning hours, it is split into two sections. The New York section continues east on the old DL&W and is pegged for arrival in New York at 9:05 am. The Philadelphia section will travel down the former trackage of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (now the Lehigh Division) via Allentown to Philadelphia, arriving at 11 am.
The procedure is swift as the Big Apple rolls in along the tracks overlooking the North Scranton Expressway (US 11). It rolls past West Scranton Junction (WS), where the Lehigh Division splits off to the south, about a mile west of the station, and then the downtown yards. The train rolls up to the platform to make its stop, and passengers both alight and board as baggage handlers swiftly take suitcases both to and from the baggage cars.
Meanwhile, the head end power - two four-year-old FP45's - cut off from the train, pulling forward the head-end cars, with the Scranton express cars at the end of the cut. The switcher uncouples and pulls the Scranton express cars into the downtown yard and leaves them there to be worked later. It then returns to the train, this time crossing over behind the head-end power to couple up to the train itself. The next group of cars are the Philadelphia section - a baggage car, two coaches, and a sleeper, which are placed ahead of the New York section.
Once all passengers have deboarded and boarded, the switcher pulls the Philadelphia cut into the clear, then backs it into the downtown yard. A lounge car (providing snack service) has been readied in the downtown yards; the switcher picks up the lounge car as it shoves the cut through the yard. The train is then shoved west, past WS Junction. Once the Philadelphia section is clear, the FP45's back up onto the New York section, make their tests, pump up the air, and highball off to Stroudsburg, Morristown, Newark and New York City.
Awaiting, meanwhile, on the Lehigh Division track is an older (but still well-maintained) pair of E-units, the power for the Philadelphia run. The switches are thrown and the locomotives back onto the prepared Philadelphia section. Coupling, tests, air brakes, and the Philadelphia section is soon rolling past Taylor Yard and onto the tracks of the Boston & Maine (the former Delaware & Hudson; B&O inherited the former CNJ's trackage rights into Wilkes-Barre).
The railroad handled the switching moves smoothly enough that most of the Philadelphia-bound passengers are still asleep as the train rolls through the industrial and coal-mining landscape south toward Wilkes-Barre. The Anthracite Region has in recent years reinvented itself as, among other things, the toymaking capital of the United States, with Mattel, Parker Brothers, Hasbro, and homegrown heroes Roth-American all having plants in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area (shameless plug: see my Fix-Your-Hometown timeline).
About three miles north of downtown Wilkes-Barre is Hudson Yard, where the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railway (connection to the PRR) splits off to the west and the B&M continues south. The CNJ used to have a track veering off slightly to the east here, but that's been abandoned, because of a project instituted about ten years ago at the insistence of the city of Wilkes-Barre, which was tired of downtown crossing congestion. The Wilkes-Barre Grade Separation Project was a joint effort of the B&O, C&O (which operates the former Lehigh Valley), B&M and PRR to place their collective tracks below street level; it was paid for largely through Pennsylvania state funding.
The train descends into the trench created by the project, passing under a number of downtown avenues before its arrival at the Wilkes-Barre Union Station. It's the old LV building on Pennsylvania Avenue, now carefully restored. Where in the old days one boarded the trains at street level, the Project included the building of a concourse from the venerable station across the tracks (it was intended to match the old station architecturally, although many regional architects nevertheless regard it as ugly. The concourse extends across the tracks, with escalators down to track-level platforms, out to the former CNJ station, which has been converted into the city's bus terminal.
The project eliminated some industries that had trackside sidings but enhanced others. The huge Thomas C. Thomas produce terminal company insisted on a spur track being built under Pennsylvania Avenue a block north of the station, to allow continued access to its warehouse. The old Carr Biscuit company building was demolished, but Stroehmann Bakery bought the site and built a new building with rail access at the new track level. The Stegmaier Brewery, across from the station, built a new track-level loading dock facility.
In the same block as the station, there used to be three meat warehouses; LV crews called the track serving them "the meat hole." These were demolished to add more parking for the station. But just south, across Northampton Street, the three meat companies bought the site of the old PRR freight station (most LCL is handled in the form of TOFC nowadays, so the station was little used). The new "meat hole" is also at track level. Just south, past the South Street Bridge over the tracks, is the former Hazard Wire Rope plant, now undergoing conversion into a Reading Terminal or Pike Place Market-like location for Wilkes-Barre. (Likewise, the old wholesale district across Pennsylvania Avenue from the station is in the process of undergoing conversion into trendy restaurants, shops, and nightspots.)
After making its Wilkes-Barre station stop, the train begins climbing the mountain east of the city. The C&O has in recent years begun using the old CNJ track here as well via trackage rights on the B&O, which has allowed it to abandon the old LV line. The old CNJ Ashley Shops have shut down as well as the B&O has consolidated its local locomotive and car maintenance in Scranton. Reportedly, the old Ashley Shops and LV track up the mountain are being eyed by an outfit in Vermont called "Steamtown"....
By the time the passengers awaken, the train is in the beautiful Lehigh River gorge. It rolls to a station stop at Mauch Chunk, the "Switzerland of America" and an important tourist location; few alight here, but some homebound tourists from Philadelphia board the train. Ahead are the station stop at the steel city of Allentown, from where the train will roll onto former Reading trackage, and at the manufacturing center of Reading, before the train makes its final arrival at Reading Terminal (still called that even after all these years) on Arch Street in the City of Brotherly Love.
Good description, but I think a better way of doing it is having my idea for a train over new track in northern Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh to Williamsport, which I discussed with you in that conversation we had about replacing the interurban lines with a new line from Pittsburgh to Williamsport.
So what I may do instead is have the Phoebe Snow as its own original Buffalo- Jersey City route. While the Chicago- New York train is now The Big Apple Limited. So here's my revised version...
It's a cool, crisp April morning in 1972 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The sun is not yet over the horizon, but the railroad never sleeps. In the early morning twilight, a Baltimore & Ohio SW1500 switcher can be seen (and the chant of its EMD engines heard) outside the ornate 1908 downtown passenger station, which looks much the same as it did then, except for details - like the words BALTIMORE & OHIO which stand in place of the former LACKAWANNA RR on the facade. The switcher is awaiting its daily ritual: the split of the eastbound Big Apple. Which will then be followed by the Phoebe Snow from Buffalo in a while.
The Big Apple makes its way east out of Chicago with an early-evening departure, traveling along the historic Chicago- Pittsburgh Route, but then heading northeast to Dubious, where the train rolls onto relatively new trackage, which the B&O and NYC built jointly in the 30s to compete with the PRR. The train then rolls over the former Reading line from Williamsport to Sunbury, then it rolls on to the one-time Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (now the Lackawanna Division of the B&O). From there it travels over the ex-DL&W to Scranton. At Scranton, where the train arrives in the early morning hours, it is split into two sections. The New York section continues east on the old DL&W and is pegged for arrival in New York at 9:05 am. The Philadelphia section will travel down the former trackage of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (now the Lehigh Division) via Allentown to Philadelphia, arriving at 11 am.
The procedure is swift as the Big Apple rolls in along the tracks overlooking the North Scranton Expressway (US 11). It rolls past West Scranton Junction (WS), where the Lehigh Division splits off to the south, about a mile west of the station, and then the downtown yards. The train rolls up to the platform to make its stop, and passengers both alight and board as baggage handlers swiftly take suitcases both to and from the baggage cars.
Meanwhile, the head end power - two four-year-old FP45's - cut off from the train, pulling forward the head-end cars, with the Scranton express cars at the end of the cut. The switcher uncouples and pulls the Scranton express cars into the downtown yard and leaves them there to be worked later. It then returns to the train, this time crossing over behind the head-end power to couple up to the train itself. The next group of cars are the Philadelphia section - a baggage car, two coaches, and a sleeper, which are placed ahead of the New York section.
Once all passengers have deboarded and boarded, the switcher pulls the Philadelphia cut into the clear, then backs it into the downtown yard. A lounge car (providing snack service) has been readied in the downtown yards; the switcher picks up the lounge car as it shoves the cut through the yard. The train is then shoved west, past WS Junction. Once the Philadelphia section is clear, the FP45's back up onto the New York section, make their tests, pump up the air, and highball off to Stroudsburg, Morristown, Newark and New York City.
Awaiting, meanwhile, on the Lehigh Division track is an older (but still well-maintained) pair of E-units, the power for the Philadelphia run. The switches are thrown and the locomotives back onto the prepared Philadelphia section. Coupling, tests, air brakes, and the Philadelphia section is soon rolling past Taylor Yard and onto the tracks of the Boston & Maine (the former Delaware & Hudson; B&O inherited the former CNJ's trackage rights into Wilkes-Barre).
The railroad handled the switching moves smoothly enough that most of the Philadelphia-bound passengers are still asleep as the train rolls through the industrial and coal-mining landscape south toward Wilkes-Barre. The Anthracite Region has in recent years reinvented itself as, among other things, the toymaking capital of the United States, with Mattel, Parker Brothers, Hasbro, and homegrown heroes Roth-American all having plants in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area (shameless plug: see my Fix-Your-Hometown timeline).
About three miles north of downtown Wilkes-Barre is Hudson Yard, where the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railway (connection to the PRR) splits off to the west and the B&M continues south. The CNJ used to have a track veering off slightly to the east here, but that's been abandoned, because of a project instituted about ten years ago at the insistence of the city of Wilkes-Barre, which was tired of downtown crossing congestion. The Wilkes-Barre Grade Separation Project was a joint effort of the B&O, C&O (which operates the former Lehigh Valley), B&M and PRR to place their collective tracks below street level; it was paid for largely through Pennsylvania state funding.
The train descends into the trench created by the project, passing under a number of downtown avenues before its arrival at the Wilkes-Barre Union Station. It's the old LV building on Pennsylvania Avenue, now carefully restored. Where in the old days one boarded the trains at street level, the Project included the building of a concourse from the venerable station across the tracks (it was intended to match the old station architecturally, although many regional architects nevertheless regard it as ugly. The concourse extends across the tracks, with escalators down to track-level platforms, out to the former CNJ station, which has been converted into the city's bus terminal.
The project eliminated some industries that had trackside sidings but enhanced others. The huge Thomas C. Thomas produce terminal company insisted on a spur track being built under Pennsylvania Avenue a block north of the station, to allow continued access to its warehouse. The old Carr Biscuit company building was demolished, but Stroehmann Bakery bought the site and built a new building with rail access at the new track level. The Stegmaier Brewery, across from the station, built a new track-level loading dock facility.
In the same block as the station, there used to be three meat warehouses; LV crews called the track serving them "the meat hole." These were demolished to add more parking for the station. But just south, across Northampton Street, the three meat companies bought the site of the old PRR freight station (most LCL is handled in the form of TOFC nowadays, so the station was little used). The new "meat hole" is also at track level. Just south, past the South Street Bridge over the tracks, is the former Hazard Wire Rope plant, now undergoing conversion into a Reading Terminal or Pike Place Market-like location for Wilkes-Barre. (Likewise, the old wholesale district across Pennsylvania Avenue from the station is in the process of undergoing conversion into trendy restaurants, shops, and nightspots.)
After making its Wilkes-Barre station stop, the train begins climbing the mountain east of the city. The C&O has in recent years begun using the old CNJ track here as well via trackage rights on the B&O, which has allowed it to abandon the old LV line. The old CNJ Ashley Shops have shut down as well as the B&O has consolidated its local locomotive and car maintenance in Scranton. Reportedly, the old Ashley Shops and LV track up the mountain are being eyed by an outfit in Vermont called "Steamtown"....
By the time the passengers awaken, the train is in the beautiful Lehigh River gorge. It rolls to a station stop at Mauch Chunk, the "Switzerland of America" and an important tourist location; few alight here, but some homebound tourists from Philadelphia board the train. Ahead are the station stop at the steel city of Allentown, from where the train will roll onto former Reading trackage, and at the manufacturing center of Reading, before the train makes its final arrival at Reading Terminal (still called that even after all these years) on Arch Street in the City of Brotherly Love.
Rail Disaster in Illinois Kills Dozen, Injures Many More
The date was June 14, 1984. It was rather foggy and cloudy in Galesburg, IL as a long coal train made its way on the former Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, now the Chicago Division of the Missouri Pacific. It had begun out of the coal fields of the former Rio Grande in Colorado and made its way to Chicago.
However, as the coal train crossed the overpass over the local road and the Aitchison, Topeka and Santa Fe track, the seeds of horror were sown. What later turned out to be a broken axle on one of the hoppers dragged most of the entire train of the bridge and onto the tracks and roads below.
Almost immediately after, the Santa Fe's westbound Texas Chief rolled along on its way to the Lone Star State. However, the train creamed into the derailed hoppers, killing the enginner of the lead diesel unit while other casualties were attacked by debris or the passenger cars wrecking.
In the end, 12 were dead and about 2 times that amount injured.
Some good did come out of it though. Afterwards, the MoPac chose to upgrade the overpass with bigger and stronger guardrails, making sure it never happened again.
The date was June 14, 1984. It was rather foggy and cloudy in Galesburg, IL as a long coal train made its way on the former Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, now the Chicago Division of the Missouri Pacific. It had begun out of the coal fields of the former Rio Grande in Colorado and made its way to Chicago.
However, as the coal train crossed the overpass over the local road and the Aitchison, Topeka and Santa Fe track, the seeds of horror were sown. What later turned out to be a broken axle on one of the hoppers dragged most of the entire train of the bridge and onto the tracks and roads below.
Almost immediately after, the Santa Fe's westbound Texas Chief rolled along on its way to the Lone Star State. However, the train creamed into the derailed hoppers, killing the enginner of the lead diesel unit while other casualties were attacked by debris or the passenger cars wrecking.
In the end, 12 were dead and about 2 times that amount injured.
Some good did come out of it though. Afterwards, the MoPac chose to upgrade the overpass with bigger and stronger guardrails, making sure it never happened again.
@Joe Bonkers
Could you maybe do a vignette of the ATSF Missouri Chief, please? I did revise you B&O idea. But still...
Could you maybe do a vignette of the ATSF Missouri Chief, please? I did revise you B&O idea. But still...
Sorry, but since I didn't grow up in that area, I don't have a feel for it the way I do for my native region in Pennsylvania.
Liveries of the Railroads of my TL
Santa Fe
Note: All have the company's name written in the style of the Rio Grande name, think SP liveries with Rio Grande style lettering, but "Missouri" instead of "Southern." Though the MoPac logo is on fronts of all engines.
An important note. Many future ideas will reference this.
Santa Fe
- Passenger Warbonnet: Red and silver
- Blue Goose (Chicago- Denver train): Warbonnet, but with colors of Hudson 3460
- Freight: OTL Blue and yellow Bluebonnet
- Florida Special (joint service with Southern): SLSF passenger livery of OTL
- Passenger: Lightning Stripe
- Freight: Cigar stripe livery
- Standard Passenger: OTL's livery
- Standard Freight: OTL's freight Livery
- Crescent: Two-tone green of original train
- Brightline: OTL's Florida East Coast livery
- Passenger: Purple and silver
- Freight: Black with yellow lining
- Nashville: Blue and cream of L&N
- Standard Passenger: Daylight Livery
- Golden State livery: Same as OTL of red and silver
- Mixed: Black Widow livery
- Freight: Bloody Nose livery
- Rocket passenger trains: Red and silver of the Rock Island
- Passenger: Chocolate and orange
- Freight: Green and Yellow
- Orange Blossom Special: Passenger livery of Seaboard Air Line
- Green Diamond: Two-tone Green of original trainset.
- Standard: Yellow, gray, and green
- 400 trains in midwest: C&NW livery of OTL
- Southern Belle: KCS livery of OTL
- ITTL, the ATSF built their own line to New Orleans From Oakdale, LA. Allowing the UP to get the whole Louisiana and Arkansas.
- Passenger: Maroon
- Freight: Brunswick Green
- Passenger: Wabash Livery
- Freight: Erie Livery
- Standard Passenger: Same as OTL
- Mixed traffic: DL&W gray and yellow livery of OTL
- Freight: Reading scheme of OTL
- Standard Livery: Same as OTL
- Freight: Lehigh Valley Red Livery
- Nickel Plate Limited: NKP passenger livery of OTL
Note: All have the company's name written in the style of the Rio Grande name, think SP liveries with Rio Grande style lettering, but "Missouri" instead of "Southern." Though the MoPac logo is on fronts of all engines.
- Eagle trains Livery: Blue and silver of OTL
- California Zephyr Livery: CB&Q passenger livery of OTL
- Mixed traffic: Western Pacific livery
- Narrow Gauge Diesels: Rio Grande bumblebee livery
- Standard Freight: Plain blue and white of OTL
- Passenger: Orange, Black, and white of OTL
- Freight: yellow and black
- Passenger: Red and yellow livery
- Freight: Later blue and black livery
- Passenger: paint scheme of Orange, Maroon, and silver of OTL Hiawatha
- Freight: Just orange, maroon, and black
- Passenger: GN livery of OTL
- North Coast Limited: NP livery of OTL
- Freight livery: NP Freight Livery of OTL
An important note. Many future ideas will reference this.
Here is a rather different post from most. This details changes to pop culture, and takes heavy influence from @CountDVB and also Player Two start by @Nivek. Albeit for their sake, most of the ideas based on theirs will not be featured.
This one will focus on pop culture events from TTL...
Animated Films
This one will focus on pop culture events from TTL...
Animated Films
- Walt Disney gives up smoking around 1948, and instead begins eating liquorice. Allowing him to live for many more years.
- This is even the inspiration for Reagan to eat jelly beans instead of smoking.
- Don Bluth is still at Disney as a direct result of the above. Which leads to TTL's version of Beauty and the Beast being directed by him.
- Due to several factors. Namely 3D being considered a symbol of cheapness on the part of the studios, 2D Animation is still the norm in films. The most notable exceptions are Pixar and Blue Sky-Illumination, and in the latter's case it's mostly just so they can put more focus on talent recruitment.
- Brad Bird becomes the leader of Warner Bros. Animation. Permitting him to place more elements into the films to help the studio break away from mimicking Disney.
- Illumination and Blue Sky Studios merge.
- Sony Pictures Animation never exists, and the following are instead made as Warner Bros. films.
- Surf's Up
- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
- Hotel Transylvania
- Smurfs: The Lost Village
- Dreamworks makes Kung Fu Panda the permanent standard for future films.
- Dermot Morgan never has his fatal heart attack, and two more seasons of Father Ted are made.
- The vast majoroty of the Disney Channel's Live-action teen-oriented shows are cancelled. The most notable survivors being That's So Raven.
- Disney buys the entirety of Marvel in the 70s, which means Spiderman, the X-Men, and Fantastic four are part of the MCU.
- Batmany Beyond is better recognized, leading to a series of films in the same continuity as the Tim Burton Batman, complete with Micheal Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne.
- The League of Extraordinary gentlemen is far better made. Leading to a sequel or two, one of which features Sadako Yamamura.
- Nintendo and sony heavily revise the contract to create the SNES CD ROM. This continues with the N64 being stronger and using disks. Then the latter's gaming division merges with Nintendo in 2000.
- Video games in general are much cheaper than OTL. Usually costing 30 bucks at most.
- Video Games are also better appreciated by society.
- Nintendo expands their stake in Rareware to 55% in 1997. Again to 75% in 2008, and then buys the rest in 2016.
- Sony never neglects their family-friendly IPs like Spyro the Dragon or Ratchet and Clank.
- Nintendo is alot better at listening to their fans, and for them casual gaming is usually a mere second thought.
- Mario games still use Super Mario 64 as the blueprint for 3D games. Super Mario 3D Land and its sequels, and too a lesser extent Super Mario Galaxy, are the exceptions.
- Banjo-Kazooie is actually s spin-off of The Dreamers (Project Dream of OTL), the two having been characters in that series' first game.
- Conker is still family friendly, but still with more naughty humor than Banjo-Kazooie.
- Argonaut makes its 3D Yoshi game.
- Dinosaur Planet is released on the N64 in 2000. With sequels later on.
- Since CN Real never exists, Craig McCracken is still at Cartoon Network, where he produces Wonder Over Yonder as he originally envisioned it.
- Ducktales is closer to the Carl Barks comics. With Donald duck being the main character, Scrooge McDuck wearing red, Flintheart Glomgold being Afrikaner, you name it.
- Instead of the Ducktales reboot, The Legend of the Three Caballeros is made as the start of a shared universe among Disney Afternoon shows.
- Likewise, Disney makes a Mario film then a sequel show called Super Mario Bros: The Animated Series. Which again becomes the proponent of a shared universe among animated Nintendo/Rareware adaptations.
- Looney Tunes is better used by Warner Bros. With one example being shorts that star them with the cast with Tiny Toon Adventures, called the Looney and Tiny.
- Theatrical Shorts are still fairly common before movies. Typically with them running up to 8 minutes long.
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If this timeline wasn't good enough Making my inner train buff happy now this happens. Great tl
More pop culture stuff...
- The following are still alive.
- Robin Williams
- David Ogden Stiers
- John hurt
- Wayne Allwine
- Lorenzo Music
- John Mahoney
- Phil Hartman
- Chris Farley
- Jerry Orbach
- George Carlin
- Carrie Fisher
- Virtually every deceased Muppet actor
- Since it's appropriate for TTL, the following are details on Thomas the Tank Engine ITTL.
- Britt Alcroft eventually joins forces with Jim Henson (still alive ITTL), and makes a bigger budget and quality Thomas series from 2000 onward. This continues until the CGI transition in the 2010s.
- Andrew Brenner, Paul Larson, Laura Beaumont, Davey Moore, Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler are the main writers season 6 onward.
- Season 1 still has the same aesthetic as OTL. But S2 and S3 are the same as OTL's S2
- Stepney The bluebell Engine, Duke the Lost Engine, and Thomas and the Great Railway Show are adapted as specials.
- The first three seasons adapt all the Rev Awdry stories except The Fat Controller's engines, Mountain Engines, and Domeless Engines
- A fourth episode in the Duck and the Diesel Engine story arc is called Diesel Off the Quay, which is TTL's analogue to S6's The World's Strongest Engine.
- Seasons 3-5 adapt the Christopher Awdry stories aside form Old-Stuck Up.
- Season 6 finally adapts Mountain engines, Domeless Engine, and the Fat Controller's Engines. As well as the Events of Barry the Rescue Engine and Thomas and victoria. It also introduces Arthur the LMS tank Engine, Molly the Yellow Engine, Belle the big tank engine, a green GER S69 called Sarah, and Susan; an orange GCR 9J. In the US, Michael Keaton replaces George Carlin as the narrator. It's released in 1998 and 1999.
- Season 7 introduces Rosie, Murdoch, Spencer, and Emily as characters.
- Season 8 debuts Stanley, Charlie, Rebecca, and Ryan.
- Most of the themes composed by Mike O'Donnel and Junior Campbell are still present, as are the men themselves.
- Many aspects of later seasons are taken from the ideas of this fellow, and Railway Series Evolution, and even TUGs.
- We also see how some on the mainland perceive Sodor. Typically the same way some Americans view Southerners and some Japanese view people from Osaka. In other words as backwards fools. Though of course, many who think that are just portrayed as insufferably smug elitists.
- An additional Railway is present in the TVS. A railroad called the North Coast Railway, which is generally portrayed in a similar matter to the Z Stacks from TUGs.
- Emily and Lady are portrayed as being older than OTL. With the former having been an engine on the S&M and now the star of a railroad museum in Vicarstown. While Lady is an industrial switcher as a colliery the engines of both the NWR and NCR serve.
- Several proposed but never built British designs (like Stanier's LMS 4-8-4 or Gresley's LNER 4-8-2) are used as the basis for some characters.
- Several fan characters. Including a dark green GER S69 named Sarah, a Garratt (three characters called Will, Cory, and Grady in one), a Green LNER V3 named Eric, and an orange GCR 9J named Susan are real characters.
Top Pentrex Titles: 2018 (Part 1)
- Keystones and Duplexes: An action-packed compilation of the Pennsylvania Railroad's greatest steam locomotives. The R3 4-8-4 Keystone, and both of the PRR's famous duplexes, the T1 4-4-4-4 and the Q2 4-4-6-4. You will see these iron giants on the top trains of the PRR passenger fleet like the Broadway Limited, and in the case of Q2s thundering along the route on fast freights. In addition, you will also see older PRR steamers like the K4 Pacifics, M1 Mountains, and I1 Decapods.
- The UPS Express: Join Pentrex as we take you on the most unique railroad operation in the entire country. The UPS' Rail Mail operations. One of the last major mail train services in the country, we follow the first this unique service on its coast-coast service. See the process of preparing the brown, yellow, and green trainsets as the prepare to depart New York. Then follow it over the Pennsylvania Railroad to Chicago, then the Milwaukee Road to Seattle. You will see how at each major place it rolls through, the mail is dropped off and picked up on the fly in the Golden Age, then unloaded in Seattle. You will also see the lesser but still important Land Ferries. Which shuttle truckers from New York to their destinations at good speed.
- Northern Indiana Rails: From 1995 though 1998 Midwest Video Productions captured New York Central, Chesapeake & Ohio's Nickel Plate division, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore and Ohio trains across the upper slice of Indiana. This is where the mainlines from the East start to come together as they head into Chicago. Locations include Porter Junction, Whiting, Ogden Dunes, Otis, La Porte, Hobart, South Bend, Elkhart, Spriggsboro and Fort Wayne. We'll spend some time around the NYC yard in Elkhart and the C&O and PRR in Fort Wayne yard areas and see mainline trains heading into and out of Chicago as well as locals and yard jobs. In addition, we also follow the Lake Shore, the last interurban in America, as they shuttle people out of Chicago to South Bend.
- Doublestacks Over Donner: Pentrex traveled to Donner Pass in the winter of 2009-2010, spending several weeks to capture the revitalized action that can now be found on the Roseville Subdivision. The Union Pacific had just finished a 12-month project to increase the clearances in 15 tunnels and snow sheds on Donner Pass so that doublestack trains could again be routed over this crossing of the Sierra Nevada range. You'll see types of trains showcased here: grain trains, fruit trains, auto trains, general freight, steam excursions, and the fast passenger trains like The City of San Fransisco. We'll show them battling the stiff grades and serpentine curves that railroaders face on Donner. The spotlight, however, is on the enormous doublestack trains, some of them up to 9,000-feet long! Once again, the sounds of laboring diesels hauling containers by the hundreds echo off the granite walls of this historic pass. At last you can see those massive doublestacks slugging their way over the crest of the jaw-dropping 7,000-foot summit. There is nothing quite like Doublestacks Over Donner!
- Ultimate Tehachapi: From searing desert heat to snow-capped mountains, with its curves, tunnels, nonstop parade of trains, and famed Loop, Tehachapi offers mainline railroading excitement like no other place in the world. Now Pentrex brings you the most expansive tour of Tehachapi ever produced, with a full 8 hours of incredible action recorded on two discs. All new footage shot through the changing seasons over a three-year period brings you the beauty and challenges of railroading over this mountain pass, including snowstorms on Tehachapi. Over 300 Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and other trains are shown as they climb steep grades, brake downgrade, spiral around horseshoe curves and the famous Loop, and snake through the tunnels. These trains are powered by a huge assortment of owned and leased motive power ranging from older GP30s and SD40-2s to the latest of the legendary ALCO Milleniums, and the variety of traffic, including special movements such as the Red and Blue Unit circus trains, is astonishing. Part 1 of this monumental epic takes you south from Kern Junction in Bakersfield to Mojave Junction. Part 2 makes the return trip from Mojave to Kern Junction, giving you ample opportunity to stop at all the sidings, witness the trains from great photo angles, and get in-depth coverage of all the famous locations on this world renowned railroading landmark. As if that was not enough, we have plenty of scenes of passenger trains like the San Joaquin Daylight and Santa Fe trains like The Super Chief and Missouri Chief. To say nothing of This is the Ultimate Tehachapi!
- The Best of the Big Boys: The Measuring 132 feet long and weighing one and a quarter million pounds, the Union Pacific Big Boys were the largest, heaviest, most powerful steam locomotives of their type. These giants could pull a five and a half mile long train on level track. Although only 25 Big Boys were ever built, over 18 years those few engines ran up nearly 26 million miles hauling billions of tons of freight. Follow Pentrex as we show you through their stomping grounds of the Wyoming foothills. See the shops at Cheyenne where they were serviced and rebuilt, then also see them with other UP power. Such as the Lima-built Ultra 800s, former C&NW Berkshires, Challengers, and TTT Santa Fes.
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Last pop culture post for now...
The following shows are never made at all...
The following shows are never made at all...
- PPG 2016
- Teen Titans Go!
- PAW Patrol
- Chuggington
- Fanboy and Chum Chum
- Yo, Yogi
- Father of the Pride
- Dora the Explorer
- The Garfield Show
- Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain
Major railroad reroutes in after math of Ripley plan
Note: This will incorporate ideas from this thread detailing my alternate railways. This post will be updated at some points.
Santa Fe: During the 1930s, the ATSF performed a series of massive reroutes of their mainline with support from the FDR administration.
Note: This will incorporate ideas from this thread detailing my alternate railways. This post will be updated at some points.
Santa Fe: During the 1930s, the ATSF performed a series of massive reroutes of their mainline with support from the FDR administration.
- Illinois: The mainline was rerouted over the Pekin branch to Eureka. Then went over the former TP&W through Peoria to the original mainline at Lomax. Tough the original main though Chillicothe and Galesburg is still used by manifest freight.
- Kansas: The Santa fe pre-emptively bought the SLSF line from Wichita to Ellsworth, which allowed them to go down to Kansas' largest city and back to the original mainline at Burrton. They got the rest of the Frisco in 1948.
- New Mexico: The most ambitious project of the three mainline reroutings. This project reroute the entire line from Las Vegas to Albuquerque via Santa Fe. Then the line to Belen replaced the line from Albuquerque bypassing it.
- Illinois: The former TP&W from Eureka to Washington was given to the Santa Fe. So the PRR built a few miles of new track to a new junction in Washington on their original Peoria route from Terre Hautte.
- Indiana: The Butler branch was rerouted from Columbia City to Butler via Ft. Wayne. It was then later built to further link to the former Toledo and Indiana interurban line at Bryan, OH.
- Ohio: The PRR built a link from Columbus on the Panhandle line to Lima on the Ft. Wayne division. Running through Upper Arlington and Bellefontaine.
- Ohio: The NYC built a line from Cincinnati across the state to Middleport. This new link would enable them to better utilize the Virginian Railroad and its resources.
- After losing the western half of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis to the Southern, the L&N built their own line from Nashville to Paris, TN. Allowing them to continue serving Nashville and Memphis.
- Added a line to the eastern half of the Tennessee Central from Ozone to serve Chattanooga.
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Union Pacific Steam Engines of TTL
Class: FET/TEF-1 “Double Mountains”
Wheel arrangement: 4–8-2+2-8-4
Service: Mixed Traffic
Number built: 30
Years of production: 1941-1943
During steam days, the former Central Pacific railroad always showed its potential as a lethal place. The 39 long tunnels and nearly 40 miles (64 km) of snow shed through the Sierra Nevada could funnel dangerous exhaust fumes back into the crew compartment of a conventional locomotive. The Southern Pacific’s solution to this issue was the creation of their legendary cab forwards. Which they even continued using once they forked up the CP to the Union Pacific.
However, the UP had other ideas for how to make sure their crews didn’t suffocate in tunnels. ALCO presented them with the idea of making a series of Garratts around the same time the UP first created the Challengers. They went back to said idea and created these engines. In terms of appearance, they could best be described as an engine resembling the East African Railways 59 Class garrets. But these engines are standard gauge.
The first engine, number 4100, arrived in Omaha in November 7, 1941. Exactly a month after, Pearl Harbor was attacked and the US’ full involvement in the Second World War began. The garratts worked their hardest flogging trains over the mountains, often running backwards to allow safety for the crew in tunnels. In the postwar era, the garratts continued to climb the Sierra Nevada until diesels finally took over in the 60s and 70s.
Today, one garratt, 4105, is still in operation as part of the UP Heritage Fleet. Whereas a few others are displayed in various parts of the country.
Class: FEF-4 “Super 800”
Wheel arrangement: 4-8-4
Service: Express Passenger
Number built: 25
Numbering: 845-870
Years of production: 1949-1950
This design had been drawn up during the war, but placed on hold until it ended in 1945. This new engine differed from past 800s in that it had full roller bearings, and four exhaust stacks. This engine was actually the same driver size, piston size, frame size as the FEF-2s, and 3s to help cut maintenance costs.
Also in a matter in interest, the boiler was about the same size as the FEF-2s, and 3s, however the Super 800s had a larger fire box. It was meant to be more efficient at hauling both freight and passenger trains. It was also designed to have a all weather cab to comfort the crews in the severe Wyoming winter storms. The first 13 were released from ALCO in March 1946
Because these engines were coal burners, they were assigned to the Wyoming and Nebraska divisions of the UP. But after the UP took over the C&NW, they ventured further east through Iowa into Chicago. Despite the smoke hazard that made garrets the norm, they could even be seen on the former Central Pacific on the way to Oakland.
Another 13 engines of the class were built in 1950. These different from the first half in that they used poppet valve gear as opposed to the Walscherts on the first engines.
The 800s were among the last conventional steam engines on the Union Pacific to be operated. The Super 800s were no exception, and to the bitter end could be seen hauling fast trains on the Overland route, or over the former C&NW in Wisconsin.
Today, many examples of the type still exist. But the notable example is 857, which was rebuilt by Andre Chapelon and Livio Dante Porta in 1953. When she emerged, 857 included such new-fangled technology as Rotary Cam Poppet Valve Gear, Gas Producer Combustion System, Porta Water Treatment, and the Lempor Exhaust System.
The 857’s makeover convinced the UP to continue operating steam engines for several more years, and even have a few more of their steamers rebuilt with the GPCS. Among those being refitted with it being all the previous 800s, the ex-C&NW Hudsons, all classes of Challengers, Garratts, and the Big Boys.
857 ran trains until 1975, when The Chicago Railroad Institute chose her to represent the Union Pacific in their collection. Several more survive on other parts of the UP system. Including the first one, 845, at the Forney Museum in Denver with Big Boy 4005. Whereas 867, one of the engines fitted with Poppet Valves, is a member of the UP Heritage fleet.
Class: FEF-5 “Ultra 800”
Wheel arrangement: 4-8-4
Service: Express Passenger
Number built: 30
Numbering: 871-899
Years of production: 1955-1957
After FEF-4 857 proved itself a major improvement from the makeover, the UP decided to appoint the same Chapelon-Porta-Lima coalition to build a new class of steam engines in the 800 series.
The end result essentially the rebuilt form of 857, but with improvements to the max. Most notable of them being the use of Lima’s Double Belpaire firebox. If the Super 800s weren’t the pinnacle of UP steam, this engine definitely was.
Powerful, reliable, and fast, the Ultra 800s were able to haul anything, anywhere, anytime. One such example of this was when in 1962, engine 876 powered The Challenger from Chicago to Cheyenne in the place of the initially assigned diesel which had been running late for its assignment. During the journey, the 876 clocked 100 mph on the mainline through Iowa and Nebraska.
After this impressive feat, the Union Pacific made the Ultra 800s exclusively passenger engines. This remained the case until diesels eventually took over almost all passenger operations in the early 70s.
Today, engine 884 is part of the official UP Heritage Roster, and the main star as opposed to 844 like OTL (though it is still operated). Many more, however, are dispersed on display across the system.
Class: FET/TEF-1 “Double Mountains”
Wheel arrangement: 4–8-2+2-8-4
Service: Mixed Traffic
Number built: 30
Years of production: 1941-1943
During steam days, the former Central Pacific railroad always showed its potential as a lethal place. The 39 long tunnels and nearly 40 miles (64 km) of snow shed through the Sierra Nevada could funnel dangerous exhaust fumes back into the crew compartment of a conventional locomotive. The Southern Pacific’s solution to this issue was the creation of their legendary cab forwards. Which they even continued using once they forked up the CP to the Union Pacific.
However, the UP had other ideas for how to make sure their crews didn’t suffocate in tunnels. ALCO presented them with the idea of making a series of Garratts around the same time the UP first created the Challengers. They went back to said idea and created these engines. In terms of appearance, they could best be described as an engine resembling the East African Railways 59 Class garrets. But these engines are standard gauge.
The first engine, number 4100, arrived in Omaha in November 7, 1941. Exactly a month after, Pearl Harbor was attacked and the US’ full involvement in the Second World War began. The garratts worked their hardest flogging trains over the mountains, often running backwards to allow safety for the crew in tunnels. In the postwar era, the garratts continued to climb the Sierra Nevada until diesels finally took over in the 60s and 70s.
Today, one garratt, 4105, is still in operation as part of the UP Heritage Fleet. Whereas a few others are displayed in various parts of the country.
Class: FEF-4 “Super 800”
Wheel arrangement: 4-8-4
Service: Express Passenger
Number built: 25
Numbering: 845-870
Years of production: 1949-1950
This design had been drawn up during the war, but placed on hold until it ended in 1945. This new engine differed from past 800s in that it had full roller bearings, and four exhaust stacks. This engine was actually the same driver size, piston size, frame size as the FEF-2s, and 3s to help cut maintenance costs.
Also in a matter in interest, the boiler was about the same size as the FEF-2s, and 3s, however the Super 800s had a larger fire box. It was meant to be more efficient at hauling both freight and passenger trains. It was also designed to have a all weather cab to comfort the crews in the severe Wyoming winter storms. The first 13 were released from ALCO in March 1946
Because these engines were coal burners, they were assigned to the Wyoming and Nebraska divisions of the UP. But after the UP took over the C&NW, they ventured further east through Iowa into Chicago. Despite the smoke hazard that made garrets the norm, they could even be seen on the former Central Pacific on the way to Oakland.
Another 13 engines of the class were built in 1950. These different from the first half in that they used poppet valve gear as opposed to the Walscherts on the first engines.
The 800s were among the last conventional steam engines on the Union Pacific to be operated. The Super 800s were no exception, and to the bitter end could be seen hauling fast trains on the Overland route, or over the former C&NW in Wisconsin.
Today, many examples of the type still exist. But the notable example is 857, which was rebuilt by Andre Chapelon and Livio Dante Porta in 1953. When she emerged, 857 included such new-fangled technology as Rotary Cam Poppet Valve Gear, Gas Producer Combustion System, Porta Water Treatment, and the Lempor Exhaust System.
The 857’s makeover convinced the UP to continue operating steam engines for several more years, and even have a few more of their steamers rebuilt with the GPCS. Among those being refitted with it being all the previous 800s, the ex-C&NW Hudsons, all classes of Challengers, Garratts, and the Big Boys.
857 ran trains until 1975, when The Chicago Railroad Institute chose her to represent the Union Pacific in their collection. Several more survive on other parts of the UP system. Including the first one, 845, at the Forney Museum in Denver with Big Boy 4005. Whereas 867, one of the engines fitted with Poppet Valves, is a member of the UP Heritage fleet.
Class: FEF-5 “Ultra 800”
Wheel arrangement: 4-8-4
Service: Express Passenger
Number built: 30
Numbering: 871-899
Years of production: 1955-1957
After FEF-4 857 proved itself a major improvement from the makeover, the UP decided to appoint the same Chapelon-Porta-Lima coalition to build a new class of steam engines in the 800 series.
The end result essentially the rebuilt form of 857, but with improvements to the max. Most notable of them being the use of Lima’s Double Belpaire firebox. If the Super 800s weren’t the pinnacle of UP steam, this engine definitely was.
Powerful, reliable, and fast, the Ultra 800s were able to haul anything, anywhere, anytime. One such example of this was when in 1962, engine 876 powered The Challenger from Chicago to Cheyenne in the place of the initially assigned diesel which had been running late for its assignment. During the journey, the 876 clocked 100 mph on the mainline through Iowa and Nebraska.
After this impressive feat, the Union Pacific made the Ultra 800s exclusively passenger engines. This remained the case until diesels eventually took over almost all passenger operations in the early 70s.
Today, engine 884 is part of the official UP Heritage Roster, and the main star as opposed to 844 like OTL (though it is still operated). Many more, however, are dispersed on display across the system.
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Am I to assume that the UP Garratts saw service on the former Central Pacific (Oakland to Salt Lake City) while the Big Boys operated on their normal territory (Salt Lake City to Cheyenne and Denver)? One could also see the Big Boys in this world operating on its Salt Lake City to Los Angeles lines, too.
That's what I was thinking. Though the Big Boys would also be seen on the former C&NW line to Chicago, but rarely due to weight.
Since you opened this up to pop-culture stuff:
ARCHIE: (Miramax, released June 1991). All-American boy Archie Andrews is approaching his graduation from Riverdale High School. He is faced with a big dilemma: He has a chance to go to college on a scholarship, something he didn't think his old "pop" could afford; but at the same time, his band, the Archies, have been spotted by a talent agent, who promises them a record contract.
Meanwhile, Archie's old nemesis Reggie Mantle has set up Archie's best friend, Jughead Jones, to get in trouble for allegedly cheating on exams - Jughead may not be able to graduate if Reggie's scheme succeeds.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the kids, Mr. Lodge is approached with a tempting development scheme for downtown Riverdale - but one that will force the closure of the venerable kids' hangout, Pop's Chok-lit Shoppe.
And finally, worst of all, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge confront Archie and demand that - once and for all - he pick between them.
What will Archie do about his future?
Will Jughead join him at graduation?
Will the Chok-lit Shoppe be saved?
And who is Archie's true love?
In theaters soon!
[OOC: I didn't have any casting ideas, other than this one: Shannen Doherty circa 1991 seems almost perfect for the role of Veronica.]
ARCHIE: (Miramax, released June 1991). All-American boy Archie Andrews is approaching his graduation from Riverdale High School. He is faced with a big dilemma: He has a chance to go to college on a scholarship, something he didn't think his old "pop" could afford; but at the same time, his band, the Archies, have been spotted by a talent agent, who promises them a record contract.
Meanwhile, Archie's old nemesis Reggie Mantle has set up Archie's best friend, Jughead Jones, to get in trouble for allegedly cheating on exams - Jughead may not be able to graduate if Reggie's scheme succeeds.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the kids, Mr. Lodge is approached with a tempting development scheme for downtown Riverdale - but one that will force the closure of the venerable kids' hangout, Pop's Chok-lit Shoppe.
And finally, worst of all, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge confront Archie and demand that - once and for all - he pick between them.
What will Archie do about his future?
Will Jughead join him at graduation?
Will the Chok-lit Shoppe be saved?
And who is Archie's true love?
In theaters soon!
[OOC: I didn't have any casting ideas, other than this one: Shannen Doherty circa 1991 seems almost perfect for the role of Veronica.]
Go ahead and give ideas. Just leave video games and animation for me to do.