--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EA200002 Date: 06/01/97 From: LARRY E. FILES Time: 08:44am \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Railfans Echo Rules RAILFANS POLICY STATEMENT RAILFANS.RUL June'97 The RAILFANS echo was originally conceived to be a free conference for railfans to discuss PROTOTYPE RAILROADING and train-watching, i.e. railfanning. The Railfans echo is shared over Fidonet and RBBSnet. Reviews of railfan-related products (such as books, videos, and new types of film) are encouraged. Model reviews belong in the TRAINS echo. If you've come here looking for model railroading, please look up the TRAINS echo. (TRAINS includes model railroads, RAILFANS is prototype-only.) ALIASES & PEN NAMES - We appreciate knowing who's on the other end of the wire. We have some participants who have an abbreviated user name (Marti Ann, Mary S) and we have others who use both an alias and their real name, with one of them as the user name and the other at the end of their messages. On the other hand, the right to privacy can be a very important thing; for example, railroad employees might not be able to speak as freely if they used their real name. (We have one like that participating, and I still don't know who he is.) So: I will allow pseudonyms, if you feel a need to protect your privacy. However: pick a username and stick to it. Be consistent. I may need to contact you directly on your local BBS someday... COPYRIGHT ISSUES - Fair Use & Public Domain, one of the thornier subjects in an information medium like this. Basically, everything posted in the RAILFANS echo is understood to be posted on a "use freely" basis, i.e. equivalent to freeware or public domain. This has two implications. First, it's your responsibility to make sure that what you post is free & clear. If you've written it, or rewritten it, there's no problem; if you have a newspaper clipping or other story, especially if it's professionally produced, the safest course of action is to paraphrase it. Pretend you're writing a report in 8th grade by rewriting the encyclopedia, and you'll do just fine. Certain information providers have pre-authorized use "as is" of their material. In particular, Southern Pacific "Update" which is their weekly news release & employee newsletter, has been approved by San Francisco HQ to be freely distributed over the modems; and Railway Age broadcasts canned excerpts from recent issues in the same fashion. The issue of AP and UPI wire stories has not been resolved by company representatives; unless you have something to report from a company rep, this sort of thing is off-topic! If you have a question about somebody else's conduct in this regard, please contact me privately (netmail me, or use my voice number), and allow me to do the actual moderating in the conference. "300 WORDS" RULE: If you post less than 300 words of an article, it's "quoting" and is generally permitted. If you use more than 300 words of an article (without rewriting it) it's "copying" and is generally prohibited. As far using something you find on the RAILFANS echo, you should be able to go right ahead. Three items of courtesy to follow: Credit the originator of the message. (I credit the user and the BBS, and provide the BBS phone number, when I reprint messages.) Railroad news items posted on this echo (unless marked "DO NOT PRINT") may be reprinted on a one-time basis in railfan magazines or newsletters, with credit identifying the writer and originating BBS. If you are an editor reprinting RAILFANS material, please let me know so we can list you here. Larry E. Files - Teleterm Amiga West, 1:218/103, (909) 984-9580 Railfans Moderator --- DB 1.39/003705 * Origin: Teleterm Amiga West (909) 984-9580 DS HST 24hr 7 Days (1:218/103) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EA200003 Date: 06/01/97 From: ART KOPP Time: 02:07pm \/To: PAUL R. COOLEDGE (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: LVRR John wiil be pleased with this imfo, He as a matter of fact worked the area in and around Sayer and grew up there as well.Anything you can tell me is great and will make his day. He speaks alot about some engines called the White Elephants do you know what he is refering to? Also there was a bridge near by that the great flood had ruined and had to be jacked up so the trains could cross it but he cannot recall the details any further than that.The yards where he grew up were large repair shops and a walkway that he had to cross to get to school where many would go to take pictures.I cannot recall the name of the town he grew up in but it must have been one of the LHVR main yards.He mentioned alot of lumber use to pass through there. going to New York and points else where.Thanks again....TTYL...:) * SFEMB 0.53 [TS90002] | Two longs and a short OOOOooooohwhaoooooooo! * BBS TCode: 254AV - The Firehouse (717)633-9202 * Centennial,PA --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: ~THE FIREHOUSE BBS~ - 717.633.9202 (1:2700/115) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EA500000 Date: 06/02/97 From: ED WILSON Time: 10:32pm \/To: KEN FREEMAN (Read 1 times) Subj: Railfanning >- Quoting Ken to Ed on 29 May 97 22:42:09 >- Re: Railfan problems KF> When ya heading for NC? Don't forget to check out the hobby KF> shops. If you want to drive a ways, go down to Hamlet for a KF> day. Watching all that CSX stuff will help get you prepared for KF> the merger. :-) Still looks like the end of July, all depends on finances. Spent last wednesday on our little piece of the Southern Tier line near Salisbury Mills. If it rains, I'm going back again Wednesday. I'm not real familiar with that area and am looking for good spots to snap the 614 from. It will be a little different when CSX arrives. On the Hudson, the power seems to be about 80% Conrail, 19% Norfolk Southern and 1% other. I wonder how much it will change and how soon. Got some film processed today, always wish I could get more good shots and fewer blurry ones :) Mr Ed Bethel, CT ... average winter temperature 28.2 degrees. ... Practice Save CSX --- Blue Wave/Max v2.30 * Origin: Spaceballs...the BBS Bethel, Ct. (203) 790-0088 (1:141/910) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EA500001 Date: 06/03/97 From: BOB WALLACE Time: 03:49pm \/To: LARRY E. FILES (Read 0 times) Subj: Railfans Echo Rules LEF>The RAILFANS echo was originally conceived to be a free conference LEF>for railfans to discuss PROTOTYPE RAILROADING and train-watching, LEF>i.e. railfanning. The Railfans echo is shared over Fidonet and RBBSnet. Presumably, this also includes discussion of "rail cruise" trips taken by participants in this conference? In this context, "rail cruise" meaning a trip specifically designed for daytime riding through the countryside, rather than a trip necessitated by circumstance requiring one to travel from "A" to "B" for some specific purpose. LEF>Certain information providers have pre-authorized use "as is" of their LEF>material. In particular, Southern Pacific "Update" which is their LEF>weekly news release & employee newsletter, has been approved by San LEF>Francisco HQ to be freely distributed over the modems; This one may need an update, given that Union Pacific has taken over the former Southern Pacific, with Armour yellow engines showing up all over the former S.P. rails here in Northern California. For the record, this transformation is not nearly as quick as was replacement of the former Western Pacific. For the record here, too, Union Pacific is keeping its S.P. system separate from the U.P. for some time to come. This due in large part to problems encountered by U.P. when taking over the Western Pacific and Missouri Pacific some years ago. Emphasis this time around is to make this transition as smooth as the previous MP/WP takeover had been planned to be. --- # SLMR 2.1a # retupmoc siht edisni deppart m'I !pleH # PDQWK 2.5 #51 --- * Origin: NetComm BBS 303-730-7045 (1:104/603.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EA500002 Date: 06/02/97 From: PAUL R. COOLEDGE Time: 11:11pm \/To: ART KOPP (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: LVRR Hi, Art! I'd be willing to bet that your freind John grew up right in Sayre, because that was pretty much the main shop location for the LV. I'll also guess that John and I have walked across the same footbridge a few times. It was located at the south end of the main yard in Sayre, and ran right over the top of the locomotive servicing area, and of course, that made it a VERY popular spot for the railfan photographers over the years. By the time that I was able to visit there, the LV had passed on to Conrail, but the service area and the footbridge remained for several more years. Back before 1976, that footbridge was host to perhaps hundreds of LV fans, and when I was there in 1977, there were still a few LV locomotives around. The shop buildings themselves were HUGE. They were in use for a long time after Conrail by an independant car rebuilding company. The Sayre Station has been turned into a museum, and I was there for a visit only a few years ago. They now have a quite a Lehigh Valley collection inside, with many donations made by families of the men who used to work out of there. There is a model railroad in part of the second floor, and there is an authentically restored LV caboose on tracks outside. The view from the station is rather startling, however, because the shops, the service facility and the footbridge have seemingly vanished :-(. But you can tell John that I can remember the wooden decks on the bridges and the awesome view of the shops and yard very well! The "white elephants" were the LV's Alco C-628s. They were also sometimes referred to as "snowbirds", depending on who was doing the referring:-). They were numbered 625 to 641, and were delivered in two groups, all in a bold white with black trim paint scheme, in the mid-sixties. They were the most powerful locomotives on the LV at that time, and although over the years most of them were painted red, four of them lasted until the end in 1976 in white. After 1971, they were not allowed north of Sayre, but they were used extensively in the Pennsylvania mountains because of their pulling ability. They were quite impressive! I wonder if John is referring to the flooding that came with Hurricane Agnes in 1972? There was a great deal of destruction done in the Southern Tier of New York State because of Agnes. The Erie-Lackawanna had something like 117 miles of roadbed washed out, so I would say that there was some flooding of biblical proportions going on! I was twelve years old at the time, and I remember that the Erie-Lackawanna was detouring it's southern tier trains over the LV, and we were quite suprised to see whole EL trains pass through town! We had a good deal of flooding up here too, but nothing like down there! The Susquehanna river did a great deal of damage to any railroads running near it, and that included the LV in his area. The State Line and Sullivan Branch near Towanda had a bridge that was ruined, and the branch went out of service after that. The LV crossed the Chemung river just south of Sayre, near Athens, and that could be the bridge that John remembers, too! The damage was very widespread and covered several states! Well, I gotta go for now... hope that this information is useful! Best Wishes, Paul -*- * OFFLINE 1.56 --- Opus-CBCS 1.7x via O_QWKer 1.1 * Origin: - NightWorX - *HST D/S* Roch., NY (1:260/240.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EAB00000 Date: 06/06/97 From: MIKE CHRISTIAN Time: 06:41pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: ATSF Caboose There was a BNSF train on the Mississippi River Bridge today with two blue/yellow Sante Fe SD's on the point and a caboose on the tail! Does the ATSF/BNSF still use cabeese regularly, or is this just on certain transfers, etc.? **Mike** CN's Acadiana Division, serving Louisiana --- Msged 4.10 * Origin: CN's Acadiana Division - Serving Louisiana (1:396/17.4) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EAB00001 Date: 06/05/97 From: LARRY E. FILES Time: 06:22pm \/To: BOB WALLACE (Read 1 times) Subj: Railfans echo rules Bob..... -> Presumably, this also includes discussion of "rail cruise" trips -> taken by participants in this conference? In this context, "rail -> cruise" meaning a trip specifically designed for daytime riding -> through the countryside, rather than a trip necessitated by -> circumstance requiring one to travel from "A" to "B" for some -> specific purpose. By all means.... yes ok to talk about "rail cruise" trips. -> This one may need an update, given that Union Pacific has taken over -> the former Southern Pacific, with Armour yellow engines showing up -> all over the former S.P. rails here in Northern California. For the -> record, this Thats what I get for not reading and just update the month and year in the right hand corner and posting the message... In the next one, I'll update to reflect the changes! Larry E. Files Railfans Moderator at Large --- DB 1.39/003705 * Origin: Teleterm Amiga West (909) 984-9580 DS HST 24hr 7 Days (1:218/103) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EAB00002 Date: 06/05/97 From: STEVE ASHER Time: 03:22am \/To: ALEC CAMERON (Read 3 times) Subj: RAIL-FANS???? Quoting Alec Cameron to Andrew Hamblyn 17 May 1997 Hi Alec... AH> Well it was those Aussies that made the biggest heaviest longest etc AH> train... AH> powered by Diesels (10 of them I think) hauling some 15000 tonnes of ron AH> ore AH> i forget the exact deatails..... in my eyes that is sheer power. AC> Wasn't it 45 000 tons? If the record still stands, it was 57,309 tonnes of iron ore (72,191 tonnes gross, including locos), on the BHP Iron Ore line from Newman to Port Hedland, on 28 May 1996. (Source: Railway Digest, July 1996) Cheers, Steve.. --- * Origin: < Adelaide, Australia. +61-8-8351-7637 (3:800/432) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EAC00000 Date: 06/07/97 From: ALEC CAMERON Time: 09:05pm \/To: STEVE ASHER (Read 2 times) Subj: RAIL-FANS???? Hi Steve On (05 Jun 97) Steve Asher wrote to Alec Cameron... SA> If the record still stands, it was 57,309 tonnes of iron ore (72,191 SA> tonnes SA> gross, including locos), on the BHP Iron Ore line from Newman to Port SA> Hedland, on 28 May 1996. (Source: Railway Digest, July 1996) Thanks, yes that's the mag I saw at my bro in law's home. He is an O gauge modeller- the train shed is wider than his house!! The O'seas RAILFANS messages seem to have dried up. Yours is the first I have seen in a week. In 1950 I made first visit to your town. Semaphore suburb, had steam train on the main street Yankee style. The railmotors were called Barwell's Bulls, hey had a low mournful whistle. Barwell was a one- time Chief Commissioner I was told. The overnight express to Melbourne was a hell of a rough ride as the wo steam locos up front kept arguing during starting out of stations- mighty drawbar shocks to keep all the passengers alert!! And on the main station, it cost a penny to use the lavatory. You gave the cash to an attendant, he walked ahead to the cubicle, wiped the seat with a light towel, flushed the pan: "There you are, Sir!" Cheers.....ALEC ... Me drive? I'll take the train as the good Lord intended! ^oo oo^oo oo^ --- PPoint 1.92 * Origin: Bundanoon, Southern Highlands, NSW AUS (3:712/517.12) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 147 RAILROAD FANS Ref: EAC00001 Date: 06/06/97 From: DAVID EPLING Time: 11:13pm \/To: MIKE CHRISTIAN (Read 1 times) Subj: ATSF Caboose -> There was a BNSF train on the Mississippi River Bridge today with two -> blue/yellow Sante Fe SD's on the point and a caboose on the tail! -> Does the ATSF/BNSF still use cabeese regularly, or is this just on -> certain transfers, etc.? -> -> **Mike** -> CN's Acadiana Division, serving Louisiana here in Stockton on trains over a certain lengths that are being transferred entirely to another railroad must use a MANNED caboose, there are two stationed here in Stockton just for that reason one is a ATSF wide-vision, and the other is a BN wide-vision, you can check out the BN caboose on my webpage located at http://www.geocities.com/heartland/plains/1624/index.html Check it out... David Epling*The Wrong Number BBS (209) 943-0908*Check out our Railfan chat area and JPG base... --- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10 * Origin: Next time, Dial The Wrong Number! (209) 943-1880 (1:208/205)