10-30-2009
( Reply#: 3876 ) |
seejay2 |
NO!!
My dad was an engineer for IHB and I can tell you they didn't have a good day until they could hold up 80 blocks of traffic..Cj |
10-30-2009
( Reply#: 3877 ) |
Bill Bucko |
I don't have time to go out and watch trains, but I have two modules of an HO layout at home. I model the Colorado division of Taggart Transcontinental, based on the railroad in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged. My miniature version is also set in 1957, with GP7s for motive power, along with an RS-3 and SW1500. One module is Rearden Steel, centered around a Walthers blast furnace; the other is part of a railroad yard.
Bill
Warren G. Harding Class of '63 |
10-30-2009
( Reply#: 3878 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by seejay2
NO!!
My dad was an engineer for IHB and I can tell you they didn't have a good day until they could hold up 80 blocks of traffic..Cj
Aw, come on, Chris, can't ya take a joke? [:D] |
10-30-2009
( Reply#: 3879 ) |
tom w |
Bill
I would like to see a picture of that because I used to run a locomotive at USS. That was one of the fun jobs. It is possible that someone else might enjoy it as well. Thanks much if it is or is not possible. Tom W |
10-31-2009
( Reply#: 3880 ) |
seejay2 |
Yeah, I can take a joke. I just can't handle my old man's railroad.....Cjquote:
Originally posted by Tom J
quote:
Originally posted by seejay2
NO!!
My dad was an engineer for IHB and I can tell you they didn't have a good day until they could hold up 80 blocks of traffic..Cj
Aw, come on, Chris, can't ya take a joke? [:D]
|
11-05-2009
( Reply#: 3895 ) |
Pro2am |
Tom,
Yes, I'm a railfan. I got back into it in May of 2002. This included rail photography, something I got deeply involved in. I have thousands of photos posted to several different railroad websites.
I was born in 1949; I've always been fascinated by trains. I've lived in Hammond most of my life, and, of course, there are railroads all over the place in this area. I pretty much took them for granted for years. In 2002 I realized how amazing they really are, and have been "hooked" ever since.
Railfanning is a delightful pursuit. It's actually a sport, and can be very exciting. If you like "big boys' toys", this is the way to go. Huge 4000-6000 horsepower locomotives, mile-long trains weighing as much as 10,000 tons, etc. And all running on a transportation system that is basically the same as it was over 100 years ago - and, BTW, the most efficient system there is. I love it! [:D]
Mike Rapchak Jr.
====================================
quote:
Originally posted by Tom J
Hey, Region Rats, the Old Tomster is becoming a railfan. You would think that a guy who grew up in Hammond would have gotten his fill of trains, but I actually like trains now. Maybe that's because I am not being caught by them every time I go somewhere.
I have joined my local chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
Do any of you guys go out of your way to watch trains? Do any of you have model railroads at home? Any other railfans around here?
Tom
|
11-06-2009
( Reply#: 3898 ) |
Tom J |
Sounds like you need to get over to the Illinois Railway Museum, Mike. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip up there.
Tom |
12-07-2009
( Reply#: 4114 ) |
Jay |
I'm sort of a railroad fan. I did have (and still do) a small Lionel layout that was mounted on a board with wheels and stored under my bed when not in use. I would slide it out to the center of my bedroom, load my trains and play with them. I even used to participate in races in downtown Gary that was organized by the railroads.
I still have the trains and layout, although I am investigating on selling them collectively, individually, or having them auctioned off.
In spite of growing up in the region where I have spent many wasted hours waiting for passing trains, I still love trains. I have been known to even switch business travel plans from planes to trains if the route and time allowed it. I often think about what it would be like to be a train engineer, even though I think I would not be hired because of my age. |
12-20-2009
( Reply#: 4234 ) |
Andrew Murchek |
quote:
Originally posted by Tom J
Hey, Region Rats, the Old Tomster is becoming a railfan. You would think that a guy who grew up in Hammond would have gotten his fill of trains, but I actually like trains now. Maybe that's because I am not being caught by them every time I go somewhere.
I have joined my local chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
Do any of you guys go out of your way to watch trains? Do any of you have model railroads at home? Any other railfans around here?
Tom
I,m a rail fan and a model railroader. I,m a member on many railroad forums also. Here is one of them.
http://www.scalerailsonline.com
|
01-20-2010
( Reply#: 4776 ) |
wefles |
Im a railfan of mainly the old EL/C&O which ran from the state line through hammond, to griffith, and on eastward. I wish I could go back in time back then when those RR's were king and take the pictures I wish I had now. I notice home many streams in the region are named Erie, Chesapeake and others reflecting the roads which went by the wayside.
A lot of people have good pictures and the Hammond City Engineering department still has some good maps which include these old railroads. It was a reason why bank robbers wouldn't rob downtown banks because they'd probably get caught by a train.
Happy rails! |
01-20-2010
( Reply#: 4777 ) |
Tom J |
Walt:
I lived on Woodward Avenue, and we had some RR tracks just north of our little neighborhood. I have seen a couple different old Hammond maps, and one shows C&O as the owner of those tracks, but the other shows Erie Western as the owner. Do you know the history of those tracks?
The tracks I am talking about cross Calumet Avenue at Conkey Street and they run southeast, crossing 165th Street just east of Crescent Place where the new Maywood School is located. The tracks were taken up some time ago.
Who would have owned those tracks in the 1950s and 1960s?
Thanks.
Tom
|
01-20-2010
( Reply#: 4784 ) |
duane |
Do any of you get the RFD channel on cable or satellite?
I just saw a special on the "Grange railroads" and it was all about the trains running from Chicago to the south and the west.
Lots of great footage (some color) from the 20's up through the 1960's of steam engines, streamliners, diesels (especially the Santa Fe War Bonnet engines...always my favorite diesel) Even had footage of the Zephyr in action (the one that is now at the Museum of Science and Industry). |
01-20-2010
( Reply#: 4786 ) |
Tom J |
Duane:
My wife tells me that we get the RFD channel on our DirecTv. I hardly ever watch TV, so I didn't know if we got it or not.
I'll check for a replay of that special. Thanks for passing that along.
Tom |
01-22-2010
( Reply#: 4809 ) |
wefles |
That was the shared trackage of the Erie (later Erie Lackawanna, and then Erie Western, and then abandoned). The C&O ran beside it (on only the Erie's east bound from the state line to Griffith). When the 5th bankruptcy which led them into Conrail happened, the Conrail trustees abandoned the trackage west of the Ohio state line. The Erie Western (ERES) took over to try and revitalize it but only lasted about a year. With the shared trackage gone, then the C&O was abandoned and the Chessie system then rerouted trains on onto their ex B&O right of way.
Larry Gradek, of G&G Hobbies in Griffith, gave me the moniker "eriewalt" because of my frequency of shopping for Erie railroad cars. It's stuck ever since!
I hope this clears things up a bit, or at least perks your interest even more.
quote:
Originally posted by Tom J
Walt:
I lived on Woodward Avenue, and we had some RR tracks just north of our little neighborhood. I have seen a couple different old Hammond maps, and one shows C&O as the owner of those tracks, but the other shows Erie Western as the owner. Do you know the history of those tracks?
The tracks I am talking about cross Calumet Avenue at Conkey Street and they run southeast, crossing 165th Street just east of Crescent Place where the new Maywood School is located. The tracks were taken up some time ago.
Who would have owned those tracks in the 1950s and 1960s?
Thanks.
Tom
|
01-22-2010
( Reply#: 4811 ) |
Tom J |
Thanks, Walt.
It "sort of" clears things up. I have to absorb the info.
All the bankruptcies and mergers sure make following the history of RRs confusing, especially for a rookie railfan like me!
I was interested in the history of that section of track because of its proximity to my childhood home. I remember seeing trains running on those tracks, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to whose badging was on the locomotives.
It seem like I DO remember seeing the Erie-Lackawana paint jobs on some of them, but it also seemed like I remembered seeing some C&O locos, and now that you have explained things, it makes sense that I do remember both.
Thanks a bunch, Walt.
Tom |
01-22-2010
( Reply#: 4814 ) |
wefles |
And you were south of the Erie Yard, which is now in douglas point. It's interesting that the circle drive is where the roundhouse/turntable was. |
01-22-2010
( Reply#: 4818 ) |
Alan Vandever |
My dad was a switchman on the B&O for 30 years. Every time I hear a train whistle, I think of him. |
