The Railfan Thread

Sorry for the tardiness in responding, Shaun; my 'need-to-respond-to' list keeps growing and things get shuffled around due to time and priority restraints.
But, yes - very important points made:

Wow, that's pretty amazing Harry.
I know times changes and we all move on etc etc, but to hear a 18 year old who hasn't been on (or at least remember) a train ride just blows my mind.

It blew mine. This was a guy who has sailed, flown many times, and probably ridden every dang carnival ride there is to ride in Toronto.
You could imagine my bafflement, too, for a moment - till my memory actually kicked in and told me that he was right - he had never 'taken the train' (let alone ridden it the way I have from childhood, hanging out the doorway, wind flying through my hair, or elbows propped on an open window-sill taking in the country side - and the smell of burnt cinder?! No point even trying to explain the dining car or sleeper arrangements. :crazy:
As for all the breathless sounds. . . .
Long train rides, when I was sent off (from the coastal Capital I lived in) up into the hill country to vacation with my Aunt, were par for the course in my childhood - the rides would last hours through ever changing country side.
Obviously not the same as riding a packed subway.
But it does make me wonder how many teens and young adults are out there who have never had a train ride - even though such trains (and journeys) still exist. This is not like someone asking what it felt like listening to the victrola. :lol:
Trains are still around. Everyone should have at least one train ride in their life.
That way when someone asks 'Ever taken the train?' they can say 'Yes' without meaning they rode the subway a few times.

Rail here in Aus is booming and believe me I know it as I enter my 28th year in the rail industry.

This echoes my thoughts in a recent post.
The concept of a linked transport, running on tracks, that can carry a mile of goods and supplies - and people safely - to remote places will always be a viable object as long as we're stuck to Earth, have to embrace its (and our own bodily) limitations, and need to travel great distances with massive loads all at once overland.
Railways will continue to boom - and even while new technology is being applied every day to the industry - those old trains still successfully run; sometimes to locations unaccessible for these functions in any other way but by rail.
A great example one day, maybe, of both modern and classical physics at work.

Congrats on being in the service for so long. You probably got coal tar in your bloodstream. :)

H.
 
In England, we're getting a new railway in London, called Crossrail... Except it's actually called the Elizabeth Line - which is, to put it simply, is misleading. I have recently created a petition to try and make them rename it back to Crossrail because, let's face it, it's a better name and describes what it is.

Sign the petition here if you agree with me: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/220749/sponsors/new?token=biFZLwAbUBiJPpjo0jNp (note - you must be a UK citizen and resident to sign it).

I hope this doesn't class as advertising here if that's against the rules.
 
Old Smokey

bp local 1 9 19_2.jpg
bp local 1 9 19_1.jpg
 
Spoiler because one of these pictures is fairly large. The top is a Norfolk Southern shot from 2016, and the bottom from this month in the form of a Buffalo and Pittsburgh train.

IMG_1028_edited.jpg
ribt 1 14 19.jpg
 
I got to teach the railroading merit badge to the Boy Scout troop I was a part of when I was younger, and managed to set up an opportunity to tour a 1954 built GP9 for the scouts. Luckily a friend of mine was able to pull through at the company he works at and could work this out for us.

bmzX442gkg7hhQEwVNbgsQYCMebhaNgF7veD_vMGVE4qwLu6V0tYaM7Zjffl6KKE3WEhzkgti6eq9Jaw_ENF10_BCHzZsR1jwo9dflnj-T5FSoLElO_29QU3n-8u3o5-02Vt747AlhwJan3MGJjoVEQniJqsipUZEZnPaMf_Ysi6VbsKlMtzQy_uejA15pc9qqMYoHRzwQhXfQB0O-VP0nVQjaqCjaWnltU9oevXfvIQ-TuTB7cKa9qsRJFRu4e8Dy4CcyTTYi3isDEOZdU4mTlJzNQue1aEWX4fq4QmUvHjFPcdXOeN02OmhMOJLKUggA54VvAkBVukxuJnU3UQFrQ2JUOGdAe7-YtDAtS_b35g7x0fgabligrrNh3Qvzp_9dGVadDVXPZZXahCRPEbZ6-rIkHWubtFp-Tgx0eyXrsP_9R5RRZdWytPnmlBGsIfR5W768qNZ4EcgQ_R6D_wH3KvUnyJUlu9aN7QOM0vFnvcnNrWjF7eEvJYUGRv9xFESy7RwLNVxOkYM4C_3QTESdniCZhgqDJXtUSDCtZg68k1xo1nGIYnt41m0dYg7Ov-ln-WWda2yrzlUjgyLVWDr8h4D_8YYEZPS6vLRSYo3Jbsm5J7qNYj5BM2X8g2V0WyKG8qP51k9EuIBRZa73wPGGtz1WT2e2U=w834-h625-no


I didn't think to take any more pictures while we toured it, but it was very interesting nonetheless.
 
IMG_20180512_093904.jpg

I actually took this shot in Japan last year in May 2018. I think it's somewhere near Hiroshima. I just forgot where exactly.
 
Last weekend, UK train operating company London North Eastern Railway (LNER) ran its final passenger services with HST (High Speed Train) sets before their total replacement by Hitachi 'Azuma' units. This marked the end of scheduled HST operations on the East Coast Main Line since their introduction on this route in 1978.

Today, a four-day farewell tour for the class began its first leg from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness, using a set specially repainted into the original BR InterCity 125 livery.


Sadly, I won't be around when the tour passes through my home town, but last Saturday I was fortunate to catch one of the final regular southbound services, the 7:30 Lincoln-London Kings Cross:

Last HST from Lincoln.jpg


Already, I am missing them. Grew up watching HSTs (along with the also currently-under-replacement InterCity 225s) since I was a young boy, ever since the transition from InterCity Swallow to GNER colours. My Grandad also had (and I believe still has) a Hornby model in the original livery, which I remember well from playing with his train set back then.

Fortunately, at least one power car has already made it to the National Collection, with two more set to be donated to the 125 Group once they're retired from the main line. Time will tell whether any more power cars or carriages get preserved, but as far as East Coast Main Line operations are concerned, the sight of a timetabled HST thundering along is no more.
 
I love HSTs and it's a sad day that they've gone.

I love how some train operators are championing their new trains that can now go 125mph which is... no faster than trains went in 1978. :lol:
 
I was fortunate enough to see GWR's Class 43 in original livery, pulling regular GWR green and FGW purple coaches along the seafront at Dawlish Warren back in January.
 
I love HSTs and it's a sad day that they've gone.

I love how some train operators are championing their new trains that can now go 125mph which is... no faster than trains went in 1978. :lol:
Rest assured, HSTs will still be running elsewhere for a while. GWR (Great Western Railway), CrossCountry, EMR (East Midlands Railway) and ScotRail all have passenger sets still operating - some of which are due or have already been converted to meet 2020 accessibility requirements - and there is also the New Measurement Train to consider. In fact, according to an article in today's edition of Rail magazine, nine LNER sets are to be transferred to EMR, where they're due to remain in service until next Christmas.

It must also be said that the 225s and Pendolinos were designed to run at 140mph, but never went beyond 125 regularly due to signalling. Ah well, there's always High Speed 1...
 
Last edited:
Back