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

[xoxoxoBruce]

Two out of three so train thread...

[Gravdigr]

Historic Union Pacific 'Big Boy' Rolls Through Oklahoma for 150th Transcontinental Railroad Anniversary

Below is a screen grab from video at the link, it is not a video player:



Da's a bigga boy!

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'd like to have a penny for every picture/video that's been taken of 4014 since it was restored.

[Diaphone Jim]

Kind of "gas stove" not detailed, must be all flammable materials inside, fanned by high speed for 20 minutes before it stopped, most fatalities from jumping off.
Holy crap!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWc84XG9V2E

[xoxoxoBruce]

It said gas cylinder so probably LPG or propane.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Nope...

[fargon]

Kitteh Choo Choo.

[Gravdigr]

It'satigertrainIt'satigertrain!!!

[Carruthers]

It's unfortunate to say the least, but these things happen and nobody was hurt...




Some better views in happier circumstances...

[Diaphone Jim]

That is one hardworking engine.

[Carruthers]

Snowdrift at Bleath Gill...



Everyone in the film looks old beyond their years.

Given that it was only ten years after the end of WW2, many of those featured will have been in the armed forces or served on the railways during those years.

Coupled with the fact that food rationing didn't finally end until July 1954 and the country was still pretty much worn out, it's not surprising that time took its toll on people.

The line closed in 1962 but left its mark on the landscape.

This is the section of the track in the video.




This Street View link shows the track as it is today viewed from the bridge at the RHS of the above screen shot.

There's an interesting, if somewhat long, blog post about the area here:

Bleath Gill: Whatever Happened to the Heroes?

Incidentally, the rescued locomotive is preserved in operational order at the Great Central Railway.

[Griff]

That was really cool, worth a watch.

[Carruthers]

When British Railways phased out steam traction in the 1960s, most of the locomotives ended in up in Woodham's scrapyard in Barry, South Wales.

Over the years, many engines were bought by preservation groups and, after lengthy, extensive and costly work, returned to service on various lines around the country.

A great many are still providing sterling service but they won't last for ever and there are no more in the scrap yard to resurrect so what do you do?

Well, build a new one from scratch, obviously!

The new build steam locomotive Tornado may look like something from a bygone age but it was, in fact, completed in 2008, built from scratch by a dedicated team of volunteers.
In the last decade the engine has found fame on large and small screen, appearing in the PADDINGTON 2 movie and starring in Top Gear’s ‘Race to the North’.
Tornado is also famed for reaching 100mph in secret night time tests in 2017, making it the first steam locomotive to reach such high speeds since the 1960s.

A first for preservation – The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, a registered charity, built Peppercorn class A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado at its Darlington Locomotive Works.
Fitted with additional water capacity and the latest railway safety electronics, Tornado is fully equipped for today’s main line railway.
The A1 class was designed by Arthur H Peppercorn for the London & North Eastern Railway and 49 were built in 1948/49 by British Railways.
However, following modernisation, all were scrapped by 1966.
After 18 years of construction and fundraising the £3 million locomotive was completed in August 2008, the first main line steam locomotive to be built for the UK since 1961.

When you've built one you might as well build another....



...and James May lent a hand.



https://www.a1steam.com/

The 'locomotives graveyard' where hundreds of old engines were saved from the scrapheap

Wonderful stuff and not a metric measurement in sight.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The new build steam locomotive Tornado may look like something from a bygone age but it was, in fact, completed in 2008,...

If they built it to look like a modern streamlined locomotive the public would ignore it, worse not even notice it. Hard to build a fan club that way.

[fargon]

That's to bad. I would love to climb on that engine.