Locomotives

That video was beautifully filmed.  Budding cinematographists could do much worse than to watch it to the end. 

Trains are very popular in our home. My first train ride was when I was a boy of 8 or 9. It was somehow connected with my school.  Since then I have ridden on trains on the East Coast and East Texas. But my main experience with trains has been overseas. I tried to recall in which countries I have taken trains and the following is a partial list. (It could be a complete list) England, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, China, Japan and Taiwan. The differences between trains in these countries could be vast. From the bullet trains in Japan to the dumps in China there was a huge expanse. But I understand things have improved in China. 

Whenever we visited the State Fair of Texas, we would visit a display of old trains and locomotives which stood on unused tracks next to the fair grounds. There was one huge locomotive which might have been another Big Boy. I seem to recall the guide saying it was the biggest steam engine which ever hugged the rails. 

This same museum has moved to Frisco, Texas just a few miles from us. They were being pushed out from their location at the State Fair and someone donated land off the toll road. They had great plans for the new location. Clearly, it has taken them much longer than they thought it would, to get things going, but it appears they are now pretty close. 

One of the most scenic and interesting train trips is from Durango CO through the mountains to Silverton CO. I highly recommend the trip either way. It is a four hour trip each way but there are buses that go to and from Silverton Turing an all day experience into a more enjoyable half day train ride. 

www.durangotrain.com

I have not taken that train, but did see it while visiting Durango many years ago. Very impressive. 

Just as impressive is the train which runs through the Royal Gorge. I also didn't take the train, but drove over the bridge, which was quite an experience. The bridge road is made of wooden planks, and there were people walking over the bridge as I, slowly, drove over it. 

Royal Gorge

As I recall, you don't need to start sawing through the cables to make it move. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I believe there was some movement of the bridge. I first walked about half-way across and then went back and drove all the way across. Both times, I did not like the feeling of being suspended about 1,000 feet above the river and rocks below. 

As a young man, heights did not bother me at all. I have stood on top of 50 story building and looked over the side without getting queezy. I remember walking some way over the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge, which is about 600 hundred feet above the river, and not being at all bothered. 

But after my son was born, things changed drastically. I now do not like heights and avoid them if possible. I wonder if I my psychology somehow changed with my subconscious now warning me away from needless risks in order to take care of my child. Perhaps "responsibility for others makes one less daring, but more caring."  I coined that phrase and am now copyrighting it. 

The Duchess of Hamilton has nice curves:



When they go inside the engine nearer the end, I think that's the best part.

The interesting bit is that it is just an exterior cowling. When WWII (or one?) came, they removed that exterior aerodynamic skin because it was impractical in regards to servicing the engine. But who says one always has to be practical? The Art Deco look is magnificent. Some hate it (and I can see why). But it certainly made a visual statement.

Given that the record for the time was 114 mph, I can't imagine that the cowling adding much for than 10% efficiency. That's just a guess.

In the video they show the steam-powered coal-shoveler that shifted coal nearer the engine so that the shoveler didn't have to reach back so far into the coal car. The coal would be pushed forward. Apparently this was made necessary not to save backbreaking work but because enough coal could not be shoveled into the boilers fast enough otherwise, although I'm sure the coal shovelers appreciated the saved steps.

A nice presentation on the evolution of trains in Britain:

You can tell that the British take their railroads very seriously. I was surprised that so many faithful reproductions of early works had been made. And first class meant having a roof over your head. Second class meant no roof. Sort of funny those early passenger cars.