For those of you keeping score at home, this is how long many big-time passenger trains were in the old days. The carried the whole load: coaches, club cars, dining cars, bar or lounge cars, compartment cars with rooms, baggage cars and even rail post office cars. These trains could be very long. The Santa Fe Super Chief, for example, always carried at least 2 cars for dining or bar/lounge use and even included the popular dome cars where you could read, chill, smoke anything you wanted to smoke or drink whatever you wanted to drink. You could write letters at a several desks that were fancy. The one I used to write post cards to drop off at Winslow, Arizona for the gang back in Chicago was super solid teak with dark walnut inlays. It also had fountain pens with wells if you wanted to use that, or official Santa Fe Chief pens or pencils (which people would 'borrow') with bankers lamps sitting on top. I went in the car at night after it cooled down in there and used the desk then with the light on since the car was dimmed pretty low. For a young high school kid that was fun stuff. The porter would come by to check our drinks. I was knocking down straight cans of Coke which cost 25 cents, of which I tipped him 10 cents each refill. For that, he slipped me a free can now and then. Great time. If that train was still running, or one like it, I'd buy a ticket yesterday and be on it today. It's amazing that such a fine way to travel, almost a destination in its own right, got the axe was killed off just when it was needed. We got Amtrak and buses, someone got a bunch of scrap metal and the fat boys got most of the money.
Here in Australia we got the ghan and the indain Pacific and they are long trains and they had a smokers room etc but they cut back the over night sitting so it was made it for those who could afford it
the Ghan is one I want to visit....I rode the ALL Line of Brasil on a tourist passenger and several freights since my cousin is a driver there....I fell for the line so much im now modeling them.
ironmatic 1 I think those Dash-8's Amtrak has are dogs performance-wise on passenger trains but Amtrak seems to like keeping them around for backup and for switching duties. The P40/P42 Genesis locomotives are essentially Dash-8s but they have about 1000hp more.
I love the car with the American flag on it! I've never seen it before! It's beautiful. All of those cars are beautiful. Great catch! I don't know it I'll ever see that here in Charleston but I wish I could.
Thanks for this video so much. I love the sharp quality along with the up close shot. This inspires me more to become a locomotive engineer for Union Pacific. Man, those two engines were very shinny and new!
It is interesting work, but very demanding. Watch some of the training videos here on YT to get an idea of everything a train crew must know & do. They pay well, but for a reason: You basically just eat, sleep and work, esp. the first 10 years or so. You'd better like walking outdoors, too. As a conductor, you'll do a lot of that. As my engineer/trainer told me early in my stint with CSX: "It's not a bad job, but the hours suck."
Not a easy job. Gotta start young in your early 20s. Get hired on the track dept first for a year, learn Some RR stuff, then transfer over to transportation dept. Be prepared to never sleep for the rest of your life. I was a career railroader first in signal dept then conductor. Good luck
UP runs an annual passenger train for the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, the last week of July, from Denver to Cheyenne, often pulled by steam! This years videos are here on YT.
I live in Windsor,Ontario,Canada across from Detroit & I use to watch CP Rail Freight Trains come storming outta the Windsor/Detroit tunnel that goes under the river but it’s no longer for some reason? I just took a couple of recent pictures of the tunnel all boarded up with vine grass grown all over it & there’s still 3 sets of tracks leading up to it with the center one that use to go through the tunnel. That river is pretty wide & I suppose it took some horse power to go up the upgrade to the Detroit side just like the tunnel for cars/trucks that has a pretty good upgrade coming out. I was talking to a retired CN Train Engineer who knows a retired CP Train Engineer & he was telling me along time ago that the CP Engines that ran through that tunnel had bullet proof glass because of being shot at State side & idiots dropping cinder blocks on the Engines as they came out of the tunnel, the Engineer & brakemen would literally duck going into & outta the tunnel even with bullet proof glass because who wants to chance it? Not me lol & the engineer would crack the throttle a few notches to keep up a good amount of speed because they’d try shooting,throwing shit & hi-jacking the Train! Windsor side was a bit more tame in terms of guns back then but not throwing shit, bunch of thugs I tell ya. On a different note I was born & raised in St.Marys,Ontario which is in between London & Stratford,Ontario,Canada & St.Marys is just a small town, old lime stone quarry town & home of the big St.Marys Cement Plant with the Pyramid Logo & you still see the transport trucks rolling down the 401,402,403 in Ontario,Canada & all over Canada 🇨🇦 as well & State side & I use to also see big St.Marys Cement Ships come rolling down the Windsor/Detroit River. CP Rail use to haul outta St.Marys Cement many years ago & did away with CP & CN Rail. CN use to haul outta of the big “Dana” Plant in St.Marys as well with flat beds of Transport Truck Frames & CP Rail use to haul outta my Fathers old Factory called “Domtar” then changed the name to “Norampac” with box cars full of those huge brown paper rolls & boxes for Heinz & Players Light Cigarettes Etc you name it Domtar made it, Toronto still has the big plant as well & St.Marys still does as well & has added on actually! My Father worked for 40 Years which is unheard of now! He retired at age 57 & is now 75 Years Old :-) He’s been retired for a happy 18 Years already WOW!!!!! Geez time Flys!! My Mom just turned 70 Years Old In June!!! Anyways got carried away there lol 😂. Oh another thing I have an old VHS 📼 Tape of CN Train Engines with Snow Plows plowing snow in south western Ontario, Palmerston,Wingham,St.Marys, Stratford,St.Pauls,Etc. They get flying down the Rails & the snow just flying! You can’t even see the Train Engines at the intersections because of so much snow flying & all you see is the side wingman in the Plow pull in the wing at intersections & some cars/trucks don’t have enough sense to back away & get clobbered in snow on their windshields & in the one scene I’m not sure if it was just heavy snow or rock(s) but one cracked a windshield! Most of the video is a CN Streamliner Train Engine with I believe a CN GP Engine I believe there called? With an orange CN Plow. Plus there’s old Steam Locomotives 🚂 with Snow Plows as well & in one scene they derail because the snow was so packed & thick that they tried making a few runs at it by backing up & going at it with a full head of hence the word “Steam” but the Plow goes up & over what looked to be roughly as tall as the Locomotives themselves but they not just derailed but crashed & did heavy damage! I want to transfer it from VHS 📼 Tape to DVD 📀 Format & try & upload it to “RU-vid” but I don’t know how to upload videos to “RU-vid”. I’m sure a lot of rail fans would love to see my roughly 2-3hrs of CN Snow Plow & Steam Locomotive Snow Plow Footage but if someone could help guide me along as to how to upload it that would be great. My cell # is 519-562-5372 & you can text me but please state why your texting so I can reply, don’t call at first because I won’t answer to unknown phone #’s. Ok 👌 Stay Safe Everyone & Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦 👍
Oy. This is the Main Street crossing; I have no idea why the train can't stop a little farther up the tracks and away from what is always a very busy crossing (actually two with Albion Street right next to it.) Regardless, nice capture.
I never left a terminal without going back an d checking the 203 cards and making sure the right engine paperwork matched. In Houston manages would go back and swap cards or take inspection records off engines then ask you if you checked. If you said yes and you didn't they would pull the stuff out of their pocket and show you you didn't. Managers live for failures.
Technically these are office cars used for executives to inspect operations and right of way. Last thing you want is a break down with your bosses bosses boss on board
is this my eyes playing tricks or are these UP Locos bigger than our CN, or CP locos? also nice to see a UP Locos all nice and shiny. too bad more locos were not this clean.
They all are about the same size nowadays. I've never checked weights lately but, i think they are all so close to each other in weight. One exception is some BNSF units i was on two days ago that has three axle trucks but the center traction motor is deleted. BNSF did that for some reason which i forgot what for when they ordered them so they are lighter than other carriers units of the same class.
Wouldn’t the one engine be enough? It’s basically two engines in one my Lord lol. I’ve never seen a passenger that long before here in Ontario,Canada with VIA Rail.
Steve Holsten Well it depends on the locomotive durability. If you had a dash 8, bad smelling, torn seats, bad toilets. If you had an ET44C4, the opposite.
Here is the real dope. It depends on how much effort the carrier's want to put into cleanliness.True story: The UP 1995 went out on a trip to Iowa on it's maiden trip smelled like a new locomotive all clean and such and, three days later when it came back it smelled like urine. And between the four other times over the years since i've been in it, it smelled ok just once. They could have a 50 year old locomotive smelling like roses if they cared. Us crews on the other hand get to ride in expensive outhouses more often than not. Sometimes the floor has a little of the liquid from the toilet on the floor usualy after it has been "cleaned". Rarely do we get toilets that have overflowed it's nasty liquid to the floor from being used and not emptied. CSX toilets smell bad quite often and NS units are often the worst. Maybe NS smells worst because they were the last class one railroad to have chemical toilets installed in it's units. It might have been because too many bags of human waste (Yes, NS had the crew's poop in a bag)kept showing up along the mainline and in folk's back yards. CP and CN unit are the best as far as comforts and i think a lot of it has to do with union contracts that were negotiated. The Canadien railroads (with GTW and IC units etc retrofitted partly or otherwise)more often than not, have a hot plate for hot coffee and a microwave and the best seats to sit in. I think a lot of this has to do with Canadian railroads running through long stretches of mountainous underpopulated areas.
Beautiful catch. No reason to change crews in the middle of an intersection. Typical thoughtless crew. There are no other LA river street crossings for a mile in each direction.
Those maintenance guys hanging on the back I want to say have it easy but that's probably not true. Time away from family, working weird hours in all types of weather and it is an executive train with all the chiefs on it you're always walking on egg shells.
Apparently not a busy place. I saw no cars waiting. Might even be RR property. If they'd stopped short of it, maybe some tracks would've been fouled. If they'd gone further to clear it behind them, the front may've fouled some switches or a signal. That was pretty long for an excursion or business train. Other considerations come into play.
its a small chemical toilet, many crewmen 'hold it' till they offload and then head to the nearest convenience store. But if they must use it, with two locomotives each one with a toilet its common curtesy to use the rear locomotives toilet as to not stink up the front/driving locomotive.
