Trains... Choo Choo, not the dirty kind.

xoxoxoBruce · 12-25-2015, 12:14 AM

Trans Siberian

xoxoxoBruce · 12-25-2015, 05:55 PM

Back when men were men and sheep were nervous, the US was carved up into fiefdoms by the major railroads. They grew by building tracks, stealing land, bribing politicians and swallowing small companies. Once it reached a point where there were only a handful of systems to big to mess with, they had to look inward for opportunities to jack profits.

Union Pacific decided there was money in short haul passengers on existing infrastructure, except the locomotives and cars were too costly. So they designed a smaller unit, with a gasoline engine for small groups of passengers. Streamlined, in 70' and 55' sizes, with the front 12' for the engine/mechanicals. The 70' had a mail compartment, and two passenger compartments, one for 50 Whites divided into smoking/nonsmoking, and one for 10 Colored, which I suppose included Indians, Chinese, and Mexicans.

The 200hp, 6 cyl, reversible, gasoline engine sat on the front truck, chain driving the axels. The cars operated in either direction at 50 to 60 mph, with 75 max. The engines proved unreliable and ultimately killed the project.

Union Pacific built the first 4 then subcontracted McKeen to build them in UP's shops. They were bringing cheap help back then, too.

12-25-2015, 12:14 AM	#1
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Trans Siberian Attached Images __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

12-25-2015, 05:55 PM	#2
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Back when men were men and sheep were nervous, the US was carved up into fiefdoms by the major railroads. They grew by building tracks, stealing land, bribing politicians and swallowing small companies. Once it reached a point where there were only a handful of systems to big to mess with, they had to look inward for opportunities to jack profits. Union Pacific decided there was money in short haul passengers on existing infrastructure, except the locomotives and cars were too costly. So they designed a smaller unit, with a gasoline engine for small groups of passengers. Streamlined, in 70' and 55' sizes, with the front 12' for the engine/mechanicals. The 70' had a mail compartment, and two passenger compartments, one for 50 Whites divided into smoking/nonsmoking, and one for 10 Colored, which I suppose included Indians, Chinese, and Mexicans. The 200hp, 6 cyl, reversible, gasoline engine sat on the front truck, chain driving the axels. The cars operated in either direction at 50 to 60 mph, with 75 max. The engines proved unreliable and ultimately killed the project. Union Pacific built the first 4 then subcontracted McKeen to build them in UP's shops. They were bringing cheap help back then, too. Attached Images __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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