This video features a look at New York, Susquehanna & Western's FX Matt Brewery switching job in Utica NY on the chilly morning (47 degrees) of May 26, 2023 as GP40 No. 3040 spots one car amid a cacophony of sounds.
Nice to see an experienced crew of a small railroad at a small brewery, performing a task that is generations old, but that the big railroads can't be bothered with. Good video!
Trains and a brewery, a marriage made in heaven. When you know the train conductor by his first name, that is golden. This is what makes America Great. Thank you Rambler.
A lot of that screeching and squealing on a tight curve is caused by the fact that the wheelset is one solid unit. So, in a curve the outside wheel is traveling further than the inside one and it has to skid on the rail a little bit to stay with the inside wheel.
Well, that's only one reason. But the main issue was the track curve was too acute for such a long wheelbase carriage. Generally in Broadgauge tracks, track curves are way too large so that the wheels don't screem.
I don’t think that’s true. The wheel tread has a taper that allows the outside wheel to ride up a bit, effectively increasing the circumference of the outer wheel and decreasing the circumference of the inner wheel.
The wheels of a railed vehicle are tapered to form a double sided cone (one taper per wheel), this allows the wheel to "technically" run at the speeds needed to make curves with monoblock wheels. The reason for the screeching is rather the flange, on tight curves the flanges are pushed against the side of the rail which causes the screeching and other noises. I don't know about rail cars but locomotives actually have a lubricant that is applied to the flanges for this reason.
I've been driving trains in Europe for ten years now so i'm pretty much used to it by now, but that horn sure is a thing of beauty! Not to mention the street running and the direct service to a local industry :)
North American railroading has so much more visual and audial beauty when compared to other railroad systems in the world... right down to the literal bells and whistles. For all of America's faults, railroading was definitely something they got right, aside from not utilizing MORE of it... the auto industries are to blame for that. And you can thank Canadian inventor Robert Swanson for that beautiful horn.
@@Belleville197 freight yes, but Europe and Asia , passenger rail is much better than here. I wish we weren't car centric and had better walkable cities .
@@torquetrain8963 totally agree... North America used to have excellent and frequent passenger service... and lots of it too... a vast network of lines... all gone in favor of cars.
I love seeing the train running in the middle of the road. Thank you for showing the closeup of him switching the rails. Always wondered how they did that. It amazes me how that the engine and car fit inside the brewery like that
This is classic "close clearance" where there is less than 8.5 feet from the center line of the track to both sides for obstructions. The 8.5 feet dimension would need to be increased because of the curve. This location would have had to get an exemption for the close clearance requirements.
I would also bet that GP40 is darned near the max size locomotive that could get in that building. I'd bet the original design (and usage) was for SW series locos or GP7/9 sized frames.
It is awesome to see active street trackage and an active switch in the street! Short lines and regionals take way better care of customers such as these. On a class one this beautiful stretch of track would’ve been abandoned at best maybe even removed!
I used to work in a warehouse just like that. It too, was part of a brewery, abandoned by the time I worked there. The warehouse was wedge shaped with rails in the floor in an equally tight curve. Ours didn't have a platform, however. It was being used as a shipping hub for a small franchise package delivery warehouse. That job ended one bright, winter day when a heavy, wet snow brought down the roof. The brewery was later sold, restored, and is back in service.
I measured the radius on Google Earth, and it's about 160 feet, which is really tight. If you wanted to see what a 22" HO radius (which is pretty common for mainlines on ordinary layouts) would look like in the real world, this is it.
Greetings from France. Very interesting video, especially the technical aspects like the doors hidden in the street surface to access the switch mechanism. We had such sidings in the past accessing plants and industrial sites, but now most have vanished, with just remnants that are difficult to locate. Good to see that such great rail stuff still exists in your country!
So glad you caught this! Until the late 50's the South Shore had a passing siding on 11th Street in front of the Michigan City Station. Both ends had a single point switch, which I remember looking at as a kid. The siding was removed, but after decades as a single track the line will soon be double tracked. Cheers from Wisconsin!
As of summer of 2022, they are removing the street-grade trackage through town, sadly. I only learned about the operation *after* it was announced it would be removed! Missed a unique opportunity but much thanks to all the people like Rambler here that capture these moments for everyone to witness in the future.
Tonight I'll dream about a few Schultz and Dooley UC commercials from Channel 3 WSYR, the only channel we got in Moravia on my dad's 75' high double conical VHF antenna. The German street band will go by the tavern's window, but Dooley's crush on the girly mug still has him fascinated. No beer company would DARE giving us kids so much pleasure, today. Thank you Utica Club for being part of this 77-year-old's childhood memories!
Excellent video, thank you so much! I love street running, and I was not familiar with Utica, New York until your video. Excellent references for scenicking on my own layout. Thanks!
Truly enjoyed this video. Never heard of an in-ground switch before, nor have I heard of that brewery before, so my ongoing education is all the richer. Thanks for making it.
I saw a photo of a locomotive hugging that curve a while back and wondered what it was. There was no info on the photo. Thanks for filming. So cool to see its actually from modern times.
Thanks for sharing this video with me. I remember the trains coming to the warehouse across from us on Fay St. in Utica when we were kids. I also lived on Schuyler St as a young adult and the train used to ride down the middle of the street. I forgot about how that used to sound until this video brought everything back.
what a marvel of engineering, for me this place is magical, I would live happily living and working in this place, thanks for showing these details congratulations for the video
Fantastic video of local brewery switching combined with street running. 70 years ago my grandparents lived two houses from Steam street running which included switching for Coal storage, meat packing, industrial industries in Chicago.
To quote an old 1970 commercial, " You just can't argue over Utica Club, cause they put so much love in to it" I lived in Utica for a very brief time in 1970. I thought the brewery's name was West End Brewing Co, I could be wrong. PS Is the Obelston still there on Genesee St?
Great video. My mother had family in the Utica and Whitesboro area. On one visit back in the 60's we went on the Utica Club Brewery tour. I was amazed. Thanks so much. Also, I love the old switch tower you can see down at the end of the street.
We had 2 breweries in St Paul as a kid in 1950, Schmidt's and Hamm's this switching I saw 4 20.yrs...all important " sidings" every other block,10 mph tracks...great post ❗
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing 👍✌️😊💜 A lot of workings, and inset rail in the road, have long since gone in the UK☹️ Weymouth UK was always interesting with passenger trains along the road/docks etc, fairly tight radii too. Nothing like your local railway though! If that was modelled (it's given me some ideas) with bogie locos and stock, some know-it-all would come along and in a nasally voice say "that's unprototypical!" There's a prototype for everything 😉😉 That flange squeal is almost deafening too😲😲😲😯😄
As a kid I got to go to the old Utica Club Brewery with my parents. I think back then (60s),they had a street car that you could ride. I remember taking the tour, and then having root beer at the end. And my parents drank UC.
This is an awesome video! Street running has to be so incredibly rare in the states now. Need to find some of that brew in my local liquor store to indirectly support this rail line!
I used to live on Schulyer St til a yr ago. I loved watching the train pass by everyday and my cats LOVED to watch them. As for the brewery, personally, i dont much care for their beers, but their soda's are GREAT!!! They also do tours and have a shop. Plus they sponser the Utica Boilermaker 15k race which is 4/8/23 this yr.
Definitely gotta visit Utica again. Passed by once on 95. Stopped briefly to grab a bite to eat. Thought those tracks were abandoned. Absolutely gonna visit again! Cheers from MA!
It's always nice to see some railroads still working just like it did half a century ago. In my country so much is automated. The procedure with keys for the switch and the derailer is so old school it feels nostalgic.
That street switch is AWESOME! I love your videos of it in the winter! That has to be a nightmare to maintain! One day I'll make it up there for a beer at that place! Love this video! Thanks for making it!
6:26 Yikes ! In HO scale this looks like even smaller than 16" radius; maybe even 12" !!! Also the single point switch I believe is, or used to be called, "tongue switch".. They're all gone now but we used to have many in the middle of Alameda st. and off 26th st. here in Los Angeles and most other industrial towns.. 9:35 Check out the very old green grade crossing tower !! Nice Utica Gov. let it remain ! Very nice video, RRR !! Street running is so rare now !!
one thing to also note, that is the tightest curve in the US, and has significant restrictions in terms of locomotive and size. Aka it can only be switched by a GP38 or smaller locomotive due to such a tight curve. In terms of Model Railroading curves, that curve is equivalent to a 19" radius curve (15dg) in N scale (Atlas track). To give you the idea that in Model Railroading, all curves used are tighter then IRL counterparts but that is entirely because of the compression done in model railroading.
