Please ignore this if you are not interested in steam locomotives!
**broken link removed**
Last fall this train made a stop here in Oklahoma to service the engine and switch the state flag from Colorado to Texas.
Today I got around to upload the raw footage to youtube. Clips run from a few seconds to over 3 minutes. There are arrival, servicing and departure segments. on my youtube site 3v03v0. If you start with the low numbers starting with "Steam Train in BC 003" and work you way up you can see them in chronological order.
The following is one segment taken during servicing. I think someone said the chucka chucka noise is their steam power grease gun.
Sometime I plan to edit it into a single video but the audio is going to be a challenge due to the wind noise.
I have a friend that is really into steam locomotives and the things just fascinate me. He went to Indiana to get one and bring it here to Cleveland for a show. When you really think about it, they are a marvel. Several years ago there was a steam power show at a local fairground. Unfortunately a steam powered tractor blew up killing a few and maiming several more people. Pretty much ruined steam power shows for the future.
Anyway, glad you uploaded the clips as I enjoyed them.
One of the few relics I have from my dad is a model steam engine. Right after WWII he did work for Southern Pacific and so we got cheap tickets. In the early 1950's, my brother and I traveled from LA to Memphis on the train to visit grandparents (I was about 8 or 9). I remember switching to a steam engine as we crossed the mountains. That was a little bit of technology I never forgot. It might even have been the same engine, but I didn't record the number. When I lived in PA, I made a point to visit the steam museum in Scranton.
It was really a bit of a fluke that they stopped here. There were scheduled stops in major cites like Denver and Colorado Springs. But we have about 2K people in the entire county and they just happened to need a spot to give the engine some TLC.
They seemed to be having some trouble. The train stopped once prior to entering town and once or twice as it was leaving.
If you watch all the clips you will see the train arrived flying a Colorado state flag and left flying a Texas state flag. This makes sense as there were no PR stops in the few miles of Oklahoma that they traveled.
I love to see videos of old trains; it's my hope that someday I can see one in person. While they were big and dirty beasts, and not likely very environmentally friendly - there's just something hauntingly beautiful about these machines, that's lost with modern transportation (rail or otherwise)...
While we're talking steam trains, an enthusiast group in the UK have just finished building one from scratch - the first steam train built in the UK for many decades. It was on the news last night, taking it's first few 'steps' down the yard.
I don't know about everyone else, but steam engines impress me greatly
An old retired friend of mine (Walter) used to volunteer at the Midland Railway Centre.
**broken link removed**
We used to take our daughter down there quite a lot when she was little, Walter used to run the bar on the trains - and he always used to have a word with the engine driver and get me a ride on the footplate
External combustion engines are great. You can use almost any fuel. I would love to get a steam powered generator at my farm, but safety regulations make it prohibitive. They do occasionally blow up if not maintained.
An old retired friend of mine (Walter) used to volunteer at the Midland Railway Centre.
**broken link removed**
We used to take our daughter down there quite a lot when she was little, Walter used to run the bar on the trains - and he always used to have a word with the engine driver and get me a ride on the footplate
Not running; strangely enough, there is a steam train that runs to the Grand Canyon, yet despite living here for 20 years, I've never rode it...maybe I need to someday.
External combustion engines are great. You can use almost any fuel. I would love to get a steam powered generator at my farm, but safety regulations make it prohibitive. They do occasionally blow up if not maintained.
Doesn't look like it was making a lot of power when it went to leave, UP1996 was probably doing all the work. I bet they shut the steam loco off once they get out of populated areas.
I like the modern locos more, mainly because I get to work on them every day. There's a ton of electronics and other neat things on there. At least 20 CPUs/microprocessors for all the different subsystems, and 5 miles of wiring hooking it all together.
Going out on a field test in a little bit from Buffalo to Chicago. I'll be sure to wave when i go through Cleveland. CSX 998 and 999
Doesn't look like it was making a lot of power when it went to leave, UP1996 was probably doing all the work. I bet they shut the steam loco off once they get out of populated areas.
I like the modern locos more, mainly because I get to work on them every day. There's a ton of electronics and other neat things on there. At least 20 CPUs/microprocessors for all the different subsystems, and 5 miles of wiring hooking it all together.
Going out on a field test in a little bit from Buffalo to Chicago. I'll be sure to wave when i go through Cleveland. CSX 998 and 999