Any fellow Wackbaggers a railfan?

[SwimConnerSwim]

I was wondering if there were any railfans like me here? If you are, then you know the term.

[frankjg]

Hell yes... When I have the time I love to sightsee near old NYCRR tracks/Conrail line which is now a NS line down next to the Hudson River.

My great aunt used to live in an old converted train station (nice f'ing house) which sat right beside the tracks.. I used to love going there.

[Nortonsmeatytit]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/105/251708527_a4a6220b5c_b.jpg

One of the 8 surviving Big Boy steam locomotives at Steamtown National Park, Scranton, PA. taken in September, 2006. One of 25 Big Boy steam locomotives built. Used to haul heavy freight across the Continental Divide. 1,200,000 lbs. total weight, 68 drive wheels, a 4-8-8-4 confirguration. 135, 375 tractive effort, artticulated front drive wheels, built to achieve speeds of 80 mph. Instrumental in assisting the war efforts during WWII.

Me & my kid love steam engines. If you ever visit Steamtown in Pennsylvania you can actually pay $75 per person to stand w/the driver & fireman on a working steam engine on their route, it was well worth it to check it out, my kid thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

[SwimConnerSwim]

been to steamtown a few times. That engine is awsome.

When Steamtown was privatly owned in Vermont, my Grandfather was friends with the owner and an old Lackawanna engineer who ran up there. My dad used to fire steam during the summer.

[Nortonsmeatytit]

I used to work w/a guy who was a fireman on a steam locomotive on a tourist line somewhere as a summer job while he was in college. The guy said it was one of the hardest jobs you can friggin imagine coming into w/a hangover, shoveling coal into the box all day w/a splitting headache

[bill333]

I haven't gone on it yet but if you haven't seen this yet, it's definitely worth checking out. Good prices and even has a dinner car. I like the old steam engines - I guess, from growing up watching the old movies. If anyone has gone on it or knows somebody that has, please let me/us know how it was.

Growing up near the Hudson River, I always loved the, almost haunting, sound of the whistle reverbing off the mountains. Everybody that grew up in the area and comes back to live or visit, say they miss the sound. When my brother comes down to visit, he goes down to the tracks, just to watch the train go by.

http://www.essexsteamtrain.com/steam.html

[DonTheTrucker]

I've always had a passing interest in trains, but it's always been secondary with my obsession with old ocean liners.

[THE FEZ MAN]

yes, im not as big a fan as my father was but i love steam, in lancaster county there's a huge steam festival every year

[Nortonsmeatytit]

I've always had a passing interest in trains, but it's always been secondary with my obsession with old ocean liners.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1226/1465613375_c1d13f51c9_b.jpg

USS United States just rotting away in dock on Delaware Ave in Philly, this thing is friggin huge!

[DonTheTrucker]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1226/1465613375_c1d13f51c9_b.jpg

USS United States just rotting away in dock on Delaware Ave in Philly, this thing is friggin huge!

I've always wanted to sneak onto that fucker and get some shots. The SS United States was the fastest liner ever built. Could outrun a modern cruise ship in REVERSE and the only wood on board was the ship's wheel. (This was in the 50's when formica and aluminum were popular building materials.)

The greatest ship ever built though was the Normandie.

http://www.timegun.org/SS_Normandie.jpg

http://www.worldshipny.com/normtws6.jpg

[THE FEZ MAN]

i have a post card some ware from the carpathia (sp) it has there post mark/ cunard line, but its written in hungarian so i cant read it, ive seen the united states from del ave but never up close it is huge, branson has been the only guy to take the blue ribbon from it, and ti cost him two boats

[DonTheTrucker]

i have a post card some ware from the carpathia (sp) it has there post mark/ cunard line, but its written in hungarian so i cant read it, ive seen the united states from del ave but never up close it is huge, branson has been the only guy to take the blue ribbon from it, and ti cost him two boats

The craft used to take the Blue Ribband is a sham. It's not a liner. As far as anyone who gives a fuck is concerned, the United States will hold the Ribband until a real liner (not a hoverfoil or a cruise ship) breaks the speed record. And if I'm not mistaken the United States still holds the Westbound Ribband.

[Arc Lite]

OT I guess... I like the trains but I love the Stations for some reason. Especially 1920s and such.

Not much compared to New York I'm sure, but I was at a conference across the street from here this weekend.

http://www.journeyquest.us/images/KCUnionStation.jpg

http://www.journeyquest.us/images/UnionStation1921.jpg
circa 1921

[oandapartycock]

I used to be a HUGE rail fan back in the 80's.

GET FLATHEAD ON THE PHONE! TELL HIM I NEED TICKETS NEAR THE GLASS!!!

[frankjg]

I haven't gone on it yet but if you haven't seen this yet, it's definitely worth checking out. Good prices and even has a dinner car. I like the old steam engines - I guess, from growing up watching the old movies. If anyone has gone on it or knows somebody that has, please let me/us know how it was.

Growing up near the Hudson River, I always loved the, almost haunting, sound of the whistle reverbing off the mountains. Everybody that grew up in the area and comes back to live or visit, say they miss the sound. When my brother comes down to visit, he goes down to the tracks, just to watch the train go by.

http://www.essexsteamtrain.com/steam.html

Ahhh, thats the sound that puts me to sleep at night.. I open up the windows in the bedroom and listen to the engines pass through the Hudson Valley.

[Nortonsmeatytit]

Back in 1992 I was in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and saw the SS France/Norway stop outside Charlotte Amaliea in St. Thomas and this thing was friggin gigantic, so large it could not fit in the docks it had to anchor offshore. Now it evidently is sitting off some shit hole in India awaiting stripping for metal value, at least I got to see it underway, it was impressive.

http://www.maritimematters.com/images/norway20080120b.jpg

[Hoagie]

My dad worked on the railroad for decades. He's retired now. He started off with the Pennsylvania Railroad and stayed with them when they merged to form Conrail and eventually was bought up by Norfolk Southern.

I was born in Gallitzen. Home of the Gallitzen tunnels and minutes from the Horseshoe Curve and the Allegheny Portage Railroad historic site. I got to see and do alot of stuff that most people will never get to on the rails.

[Jambi]

At first I thought this was a thread about cocaine, but now I'm not sure if it's about ships or trains.

[bill333]

At first I thought this was a thread about cocaine, but now I'm not sure if it's about ships or trains.


It got derailed. meh, mrrr ;)

[Slow Bollards]

At first I thought this was a thread about cocaine, but now I'm not sure if it's about ships or trains.

Bein a railfan don't make you a bad person.

[Radioguy]

Hell yes... When I have the time I love to sightsee near old NYCRR tracks/Conrail line which is now a NS line down next to the Hudson River.

The highline? Making it a park is a tragedy. It should have been bought by the MTA and made into a 7 or L line extension. Once they cut into it around Jane Street it was all over, though. Shame.

I hope they don't pull the same crap with the NYCRR line in Brooklyn. That could become the first real Brooklyn crosstown if they don't fuck it up. Maybe go into Staten Island if that Bloomberg tunnel ever happens too.

[WOWmagnet]

Love the rails! Hate the nosebleeds the next morning, though...