The Train Appreciation Thread!! !

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I've not seen a caboose converted into a house, however, here in Columbia, SC there's a bunch of old Seaboard Coastline cabooses that have been converted into party spaces next to the USC football stadium for rich USC fans to party down in before the football team loses to somebody else.

In Charlotte NC, somebody parked and converted an old Southern RR Bay Window Caboose behind the Starbucks Coffee on 7th St. and Pecan Ave, where it was converted into an office of some sort.

Also, there used to be an old Maine Central RR caboose parked in sombodies' yard in Grey or New Gloster, Maine.

Yeah, it would be fun to live in a caboose wouldn't it?
More random pictures!

bow down before the might of the.........

InterCity 125

One train I remember growing up was this steam locomotive, located at, among all things, a McDonalds restaurant. The train was part of the restaurant when it first opened, and included a passenger carriage that people could dine in. I first went in the mid/late 80s when it first opened, and it looks like it was eventually moved earlier this year. We could sit in the train and eat our Happy Meals and then go an play in the play place

I've been obsessed with trains for as long as I can remember, because of Thomas the Tank Engine. I like British engines more because they're more streamlined and I like the liveries of various railways. Someday I want to visit the Bluebell Railway and the Talyllyn Railway.

the British sure know how to do trains, or they did

I've already shown one example of BREL (British Rail Engineering Ltd) built masterpieces


May I present British Rail Class 91, the locomotive of InterCity 225

I used to have a model of this train as a child, in original InterCity "Swallow" livery, consisting of the loco, 2 Mk4 carriages, and a DVT, could never figure out how to get the model to go with the DVT leading, only the loco leading, nor did I figure out if the model's pantograph went up like on the real loco

British, Europeans and the Japanese and Koreans certainly know how to high speed, high power passenger trainsets, however, your freight service is a joke compared to North American standards.



Also, British Rail Class 59 locomotives aside from the carbodies, frames and trucks:



share most of the internal workings of the EMD SD40-2 that they were derived from.

I've never seen a sextuple-header before.

You usually don't see them too much on the east coast lines anymore since the advent of a lot of the 4000+ HP units, though they're a lot more common out west, especially on really heavy loads like the Unit Coal Trains, or rock trains like the one that I pictured. --I've seen up to 10 units in MU lashup pulling trains but that was back in the 80's.

When I was 12, I hopped a train that had 7 units, however it was a heavy local 'junk' train that consisted of old GP9's, GP20's and two F7's. --I rode in the rear unit, which was an F7-A, the other was an F7-B.

Well this topic gets my vote as I used to be obsessed with them

interesting but true, we have trains in nothing but all over yellow

aka the Network Rail New Measurement Train


all it is is a modified InterCity 125 (HST), however the coaches are Mark 2 not Mark 3, one of the coaches is fitted with a pantograph but that is for measurement purposes as the locos are diesel

This was taken from the 50-foot-high trestle for the IRT #1 elevated subway line that comes out of the ground at West 122nd Street, flies across Manhattanville, and goes back underground at West 137th Street.

And yes, those are actually seagulls that you hear

Welcome to my morning commute

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=raAj0HS1Eqk[/youtube]

Narrow Gauge Diesels?!?!

I've heard of diesels on Narrow Gauge railways (Midlander and Alf at Talyllyn).

Any idea what gauge those are on? They look almost standard gauges-sized.

Most likely 1 metre gauge. The Brazilians also regauge standard gauge C-30-7's SD40-2's purchased from the US and Canada to run on their metre guage and 1.6 metre gauge lines. They also have the only EMD DDM45's (Short chassis SD45) that are fitted with a pair of 4 axle trucks. The -7's and the SD40-2's are retrofitted with 4 small 2 axle trucks in because the larger traction motors in the standard 3 axle trucks won't fit narrowed trucks. --This also increases the # of traction motors 8 instead of the standard six, which will still allow them to utilise the full power of the fitted alternator.

FWIW, There is also a narrow guage tourist line built in and along the old GT/CN yard and line in Portland ME that is 2' gauge. The motive power and rolling stock comes from a small quarry line that eventually becaue a tourist trap near Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The motive power consists of three 0-4-0 steam engines as well as an old 5 ton diesel switcher.

Another train, this time a Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit, used on British railways

this is a recent (2002) built train, the Voyager class built by Bombardier Transportation, initially these trains were used with Virgin Trains, however a new company has since taken over cross country routes, aptly named CrossCountry

this is a class 220 "Voyager" in CrossCountry livery at the station I use for my train journeys



I don't like these trains as much as the trains they replaced (InterCity 125) though