The Railfan Thread

[catamount39]

Because of the forcasted snowfall and what has already fallen in the Sierra Nevada's, how about a pair of Donner Pass shots? First, an SP 2-8-0 is on snow clearing duty back in steam era, blasting through the thick snowbanks with a flanger being towed behind (most likely...too much snow to tell ). Then another from back in October, as a UP AC4400 with an unidentified loco trailing head downgrade at Yuba Pass with the dynamics fully engaged.

With the snowfall forcasted, good stuff is to come from Donner.

 

[Swagger897]

Anyone heard of open rails?

 

[catamount39]

Anyone heard of open rails?

*raises hand*
Love it, it's the perfect successor to the original MSTS. 👍 I've got a lot of content for it.

 

[Swagger897]

*raises hand*
Love it, it's the perfect successor to the original MSTS. 👍 I've got a lot of content for it.

Where do you get the content for it?

edit:

Think I found a few sites. Normally used Trainsim.com when I had MSTS, but now I see where to search...


Do you know if stuff for MSTS will work with Open Rails?

 

[catamount39]

Where do you get the content for it?

All MSTS content is compatible with it. Elvastower.com and Trainsim.com are two fantastic places to get stuff (Elvastower's forum is a fantastic place too). There are also payware venders who are still making content. OR's really gotten the community together. There is such a massive amount of content for a massive amount of tastes. You'll find mentions of the payware producers at ET and TS (BLW/ZT is pricey but offers a lot of classic stuff).

Edit: Forgot to mention. To run OR you currently still need the original MSTS installed for all the base files. You can pick it up for like less than $10 at various places.

 

[Swagger897]

All MSTS content is compatible with it. Elvastower.com and Trainsim.com are two fantastic places to get stuff (Elvastower's forum is a fantastic place too). There are also payware venders who are still making content. OR's really gotten the community together. There is such a massive amount of content for a massive amount of tastes. You'll find mentions of the payware producers at ET and TS (BLW/ZT is pricey but offers a lot of classic stuff).

Edit: Forgot to mention. To run OR you currently still need the original MSTS installed for all the base files. You can pick it up for like less than $10 at various places.

Yeah I still got it, so I'll tinker with that later I guess.


Good to know I can still use it. I had a problem a long time ago with it on my old computer, where I had a crap load of stuff for it and I had to click through messages before starting up for about five minutes. Never did find out what it was all about though.

 

[catamount39]

Yeah I still got it, so I'll tinker with that later I guess.


Good to know I can still use it. I had a problem a long time ago with it on my old computer, where I had a crap load of stuff for it and I had to click through messages before starting up for about five minutes. Never did find out what it was all about though.

Yup, it's fantastic that it's allows the use of all the quality stuff that came out and continues to be made for the old game.

OR's gotten a lot of fantastic features lately, heck, they've even added a feature where by pressing buttons on the keyboard together, the cars and locos begin to rock up and down and side to side...among other things.

MSTS lives on. ;_;7

 

[Carlos]

4 years ago this intercity (NS VIRM) tried to go over a powerless bridge but approach speed was too low. It came to a stop exactly on the bridge and people had to push the train over the bridge.

And since you guys are posting steam trains, a few times a year steam trains drive through the Netherlands. The foundation has 5 big and 2 small steam trains, hold in a pretty nice but small hangar (or what they are called for trains ).

And some pics of their trains. The NS 8800. They were built in Britain, used in WW2 and then bought by NS after the war.

DRB Baureihe 01.10 at Rotterdam Centraal.

DB Class 23

DRB Class 41

 

[Shaun]

4 years ago this intercity (NS VIRM) tried to go over a powerless bridge but approach speed was too low. It came to a stop exactly on the bridge and people had to push the train over the bridge.

Whoops.

Going by this diagram (technical drawing tab) I see the pantographs are both on the same car, a good argument to have one on each leading and trailing car.

 

[catamount39]

4 years ago this intercity (NS VIRM) tried to go over a powerless bridge but approach speed was too low. It came to a stop exactly on the bridge and people had to push the train over the bridge.

And since you guys are posting steam trains, a few times a year steam trains drive through the Netherlands. The foundation has 5 big and 2 small steam trains, hold in a pretty nice but small hangar (or what they are called for trains ).

And some pics of their trains. The NS 8800. They were built in Britain, used in WW2 and then bought by NS after the war.

DRB Baureihe 01.10 at Rotterdam Centraal.

DB Class 23

DRB Class 41

How did they manage to push it?!

Wow...German and British steam locomotives all under the same engine shed! German practice heavily influenced the Netherlands I can see.

Whoops.

Going by this diagram (technical drawing tab) I see the pantographs are both on the same car, a good argument to have one on each leading and trailing car.

Mega whoops. Yeah in most parts of the world the practice is to have a power car at either end, or in an MU trainset, many power cars. Because that can happen.

 

[BobK]

Came across this little gem about an ex-D&RGW narrow gauge Mikado.

 

[catamount39]

A causal photo from Facebook: one of the new ugly ET44's on CSX at Aberdeen, Maryland.

Looks better at night.

Came across this little gem about an ex-D&RGW narrow gauge Mikado.

Story time!

The K-28's were loved by crews. They have/had a smooth ride, are extremely easy to fire and maintenance was easier on them. They replaced the aging T-16 4-6-0's in passenger service, and were designed specifically to be able to fit on the line from Durango to Silverton (back in in the early 80's the D&S, now in it's tourist state, the line was rebuilt to modern a roadbed and heavier rail, along with widening the tighter sections so the K-36's and K-37's could fit). They did get used around the D&RGW's narrow gauge system a little, but they spent most of their lives on the Silverton line. In WWII 7 of the K-28's were acquired by the U.S. Army, and used on the White Pass and Yukon in Alaska throughout the war. At the end of the war, the Army engines all ended up in Washington state and were all sadly scrapped. The remaining engines spent the rest of their careers on the Silverton. Recently the 478 was just traded to the C&T for K-36 483. 472 will be lonely now since 476 is stuffed and mounted at the museum.

Interesting to note, all engines that hadn't been scrapped or wrecked by the 60's on the D&RGW are all still with us. Minus the K-36 and K-37 both lost in separate turntable incidents, both those classes (each of 10 originally) are still around. 3 K-28's, 2 K-27's, 3 2-8-0's and a 4-6-0 were all spared.



I'll shut up now.

 

[Swagger897]

Downloaded MSTS back onto my new laptop, doesn't work.

Downloaded Open Rails, can't figure out how to make it work..

 

[photonrider]

The Ella train ride is known by many to be one of the best train-rides in the world - within paradise and right to its core.

Wanna take a cab-ride in an S Class power set? The locals around here don't call them push-pulls. This guy actually manged to get into the cab - but I'm not surprised - the Sinhalese are extremely friendly people.
Actually saying 'Sinhalese' is just using another word for 'partay' - though that doesn't mean they cannot get very serious when needed.

This link should get you chugging:

 

[photonrider]

I rather liked the dog (I doubt it was a fox) who played chicken - and the reaction of the driver.

Downloaded MSTS back onto my new laptop, doesn't work.

Downloaded Open Rails, can't figure out how to make it work..

What about TRAINZ 2014? Ever tried that out?

Here's some turn-table action:




And once you've finished being utterly bemused by that, check out these trains racing each other into the station:




And then some casually devious shunting action because of too long a consist:

 

[Shaun]

Those videos remind me of this one @photonrider .



As someone who has worked on or around trains for 25 years in a city where rail safety is taken seriously it always makes me chuckle.

 

[Carlos]

Those videos remind me of this one @photonrider .



As someone who has worked on or around trains for 25 years in a city where rail safety is taken seriously it always makes me chuckle.

 

[catamount39]

North America is...calmer I see.

*Uploader sped footage up x5*

 

[Carlos]

Choo choo here in Rotterdam

 

[Swagger897]

I rather liked the dog (I doubt it was a fox) who played chicken - and the reaction of the driver.



What about TRAINZ 2014? Ever tried that out?

Here's some turn-table action:




And once you've finished being utterly bemused by that, check out these trains racing each other into the station:




And then some casually devious shunting action because of too long a consist:

Nope, never tried it before...

Did manage to get open rails working. I didn't go far enough into the correct registry when I selected MSTS's path.

 

[catamount39]

Fast freight on the Canadian National.

 

[Johnny1996]

Cool videos there ^ and speaking of Canadian railways....

Spoiler: NS8105 and 2 CPs

My video from October last year.

 

[Carlos]

Fast freight on the Canadian National.

Those beasts are pretty impressive. Compared to our cargo trains they're pretty huge..

5 minute drive from my house

 

[Fastcarguy]

Not a huge railfan, but I can appreciate the awesomeness of Big Boy



Trains in snow are pretty awesome too




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lXjQH3sFSM

 

[catamount39]

North American consists for mainline manifests average about 60-120 (150-200 for gigantic unit trains) cars probably I'd say. Yeah...we have some big time hauling.

UP should be proud of that film they did on their Bigboy's...I've watched it many times and it's always awesome to watch again. ;_;7



Somebody say snow? First, some C&T action from a short while back.


And some Donner pass action from 2014.

 

[photonrider]

Those videos remind me of this one @photonrider .



As someone who has worked on or around trains for 25 years in a city where rail safety is taken seriously it always makes me chuckle.

That is actually a tourist trap, isn't it? Well engineered and choreographed - I hear they closed down and restructed the whiole thing so as to make it even more attractive (and safer, too, I guess for the tourists who come from all over the world to see that. Definitely on the trainophile's bucket list.

Trains and people - there is something about 'taking the train' that appeals to everyone - though not necessarily the subway or even the smaller DMUs that shuttle between urban stops. I'm talking about the bigger passenger locos - a couple of 1500 HP engines - a consist that runs the entire platform - First Class Sleepers and 2nd and 3rd Class, too, with a Buffet and Observation car. Every trip is an adventure.
Because trains link major cities and have to run through rural areas as well as really dangerous-looking passes and bridges that even sometimes cross the sea, it can be quite an experience.
Trains are also a source of income for poorer folk who live through the business that come by way of passengers - and quite often in coastal areas where trains run regular short stops people squat on land close to the station and villages and communities populate and survive this way - adding to the flow of exchange.

Impossibru! Did the Yardmaster know? This was obviously a lark - that engineer could have kissed those buffers if he wanted. I lived by a siding once and used to watch the field crews for hours thinking 'MG! These guys are grown up and they still get to play with trains - real trains, too. Shucks.'
All I had was my Canon AE-1 and a telephoto lens.

North America is...calmer I see.

*Uploader sped footage up x5*

Quite calm. And now I know for sure that penguins live at a completely different speed.

Choo choo here in Rotterdam

What's the story on all the horn-blowing? Never experienced that IRL.

Fast freight on the Canadian National.
]

No lack of locos on that consist - the idea being I guess that even if half of them go down the other half will get them out of trouble. I have been parked while a CN freight train passes and actually have stopped my engine and got out of the car. These consists are unbelievably long.
Great fun watching one of these when it threads through a spiral tunnel.
And, Oh! man - to be the engineer. . ..
*sigh

Cool videos there ^ and speaking of Canadian railways....

My video from October last year.

Nice shoot, Johnny.

@Swagger897 - how goes it with the MSTS? You're perking my interest, too.

 

[catamount39]

No lack of locos on that consist - the idea being I guess that even if half of them go down the other half will get them out of trouble. I have been parked while a CN freight train passes and actually have stopped my engine and got out of the car. These consists are unbelievably long.
Great fun watching one of these when it threads through a spiral tunnel.
And, Oh! man - to be the engineer. . ..
*sigh

Actually about half of that consist was probably being hustled over to a yard with power shortage, a common eastern practice on a light manifest like that.

Mountain railroading in the states is quite the treat, all the locos on this coal drag in Notch 8. I can count about 28,000 hp on this coal drag back in '08.


Another example, the D&H after being purchased by Canadian Pacific in 1992 (film from 1992-1999)



Modern AC power has ruined the fun though, 1-4 ACe's and/or GEVO's can handle a lot these days.

 

[Carlos]

Somebody say snow? First, some C&T action from a short while back.

What a beautiful scene!!! These videos make me want to be a train driver. Why does the driver get out to push the tree to the side? I imagine most people just go through them.. And at 13:00 a steam train passes by, what is that for? Looks like a sight seeing train?

Impossibru! Did the Yardmaster know? This was obviously a lark - that engineer could have kissed those buffers if he wanted. I lived by a siding once and used to watch the field crews for hours thinking 'MG! These guys are grown up and they still get to play with trains - real trains, too. Shucks.'
All I had was my Canon AE-1 and a telephoto lens.

What's the story on all the horn-blowing? Never experienced that IRL.

@Swagger897 - how goes it with the MSTS? You're perking my interest, too.

Germans ey! I hope for that guy his manager didn't see it, you would get a foot up your ass if you are so reckless in the Netherlands. But if you had a camera, I assume there are pictures to show?

The horn blowing was a protest against aggression to our people on trains. This was brought under attention after a conductress was beaten up so badly she had to undergo surgery, even to her face! Almost every train driver in the Netherlands blew their horns at exactly 9 am. Some weeks ago we did this again but then in silence, stopping every train at 11.59 am just where they were at that moment. No train drove for a minute in the whole Netherlands

About MSTS, is it something like Train Simulator? I bought that one in early 2014 but didn't gave it much attention. My interest is slightly sparked mostly because of this thread..

 

[catamount39]

What a beautiful scene!!! These videos make me want to be a train driver. Why does the driver get out to push the tree to the side? I imagine most people just go through them.. And at 13:00 a steam train passes by, what is that for? Looks like a sight seeing train?



Germans ey! I hope for that guy his manager didn't see it, you would get a foot up your ass if you are so reckless in the Netherlands. But if you had a camera, I assume there are pictures to show?

The horn blowing was a protest against aggression to our people on trains. This was brought under attention after a conductress was beaten up so badly she had to undergo surgery, even to her face! Almost every train driver in the Netherlands blew their horns at exactly 9 am. Some weeks ago we did this again but then in silence, stopping every train at 11.59 am just where they were at that moment. No train drove for a minute in the whole Netherlands

About MSTS, is it something like Train Simulator? I bought that one in early 2014 but didn't gave it much attention. My interest is slightly sparked mostly because of this thread..

The fireman (engineers must always stay behind the throttle for safety reasons, and privilege reasons , probably moved it because they might have though it was bigger than it was/it could have gotten caught in the running gear and they were just being cautious.

Cab ride in 1996 on the C&T, judging by the whistle its probably the 487. Note that during the climb up the 5% grades the engineer and fireman share duties so the fireman can catch a break. Mountain slugging at its finest.




MSTS is not related at all to TS2014/15/16. In itself, the original game is garbage out of the box, but its magic comes from the enormous library of free content the community made for it over the years and its easy modding ability. OR (Open Rails) is the epitome of that. OR is free and just needs MSTS still for the framework. All MSTS content is compatible with OR, and some of the new models blow TS/Trainz models out of the water. Heck some TS/Trainz models can/are being imported into OR. Heck, OR can be visually more impressive with its lighting and environments in my mind.

 

[Carlos]

The fireman (engineers must always stay behind the throttle for safety reasons, and privilege reasons , probably moved it because they might have though it was bigger than it was/it could have gotten caught in the running gear and they were just being cautious.

Cab ride in 1996 on the C&T, judging by the whistle its probably the 487. Note that during the climb up the 5% grades the engineer and fireman share duties so the fireman can catch a break. Mountain slugging at its finest.




MSTS is not related at all to TS2014/15/16. In itself, the original game is garbage out of the box, but its magic comes from the enormous library of free content the community made for it over the years and its easy modding ability. OR (Open Rails) is the epitome of that. OR is free and just needs MSTS still for the framework. All MSTS content is compatible with OR, and some of the new models blow TS/Trainz models out of the water. Heck some TS/Trainz models can/are being imported into OR. Heck, OR can be visually more impressive with its lighting and environments in my mind.

Ahh okay so there are always two people on the train?

Couldn't resist so I installed it again Doesn't look too bad?

But now I remember why I stopped playing. To get nice lines/routes you have to pay a lot of money