Train Porn

[George K]

No need to wade through the restoration, etc. Just skip forward to the test ride at about 30:15, and turn up the sound.

Link to video

[George K]

You can buy a used one on eBay for about $1150. A new one will set you back $1500.

[mark]

I'm watching the entire video. Love learning new things. Had no idea how these trains were designed or how they work. Learned a new term "Chuff Cam" lol

My brother still has his original Lionel Train set from the 1950s.

[mark]

BTW, that setup and scenery he has, is very impressive.

[George K]

@mark said in Train Porn:

BTW, that setup and scenery he has, is very impressive.

You think that's something?

Look at Eric's Trains.

https://www.ericstrains.com

This guy does a review pretty much every week. A few weeks ago, he did an inventory of his locomotives and counted more than 350.

He has a threesome....

Link to video

Here's the Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy 4014

Link to video

Here's the actual 4014:

Link to video

[mark]

I will be watching the videos later.

Train Audio Porn:

My favorite rock song about trains. I particularly like the transition to acoustic guitar, banjo and hand claps about 2/3 of the way in. Then back to a rock style and finishing with the hand claps fading out. Gavin Harrison is one of the best drummers walking the planet right now.

Link to video

Rather poetic.

Trains
Train set and match spied under the blind
Shiny and contoured the railway winds.

And I've heard the sound from my cousin's bed
The hiss of the train at the railway head.

Always the summers are slipping away

60 ton angel falls to the earth
A pile of old metal, radiant blur
Scars in the country, summer and her

Always the summers are slipping away
Find me a way for making it stay

When I hear the engine pass, I'm kissing you wide
The hissing subsides, I'm in luck
When the evening reaches here you're tying me up
I'm dying of love, it's okay

When I hear the engine pass, I'm kissing you wide
Hissing subsides, I'm in luck
When the evening reaches here you're tying me up
I'm dying of love, it's okay

Always the summers are slipping away
Find me a way for making it stay
Always the summers are slipping away
Always the summers are slipping away

[kluurs]

My brothers bought a lot of Lionel trains in the mid-50s and haven't used any of it in the past 60 years. The guy's layout is incredible - such a leap from the plastic stuff I remember as a child.

[taiwan_girl]

Cool stuff @George-K For the opening sequence, I thought it was a real train. Very impressive

[George K]

@taiwan_girl said in Train Porn:

Cool stuff @George-K For the opening sequence, I thought it was a real train. Very impressive

Indeed.

However, looking at the video of 4014, you can begin to understand what a real pain in the ass steam locomotives were.

First of all steam required water. Lots and lots of water. These locomotives had to stop, frequently, to replenish the water the generate steam. I may be wrong in terms of specifics, but you get the idea. Back in the day, a steam locomotive couldn't go more than 75-100 miles before adding water.

To generate steam, you need heat. Lots and lots of heat. Frequent stops to replenish coal or oil to burn in the boiler to provide heat to create steam was a big deal.

Maintenance. These were incredibly complicated machines, with tons of moving parts that needed constant care - oiling, etc - to keep them functioning.

See all the stuff BEHIND the locomoitive? Yeah, that's water, oil, etc. And, that diesel locomotive? That's providing HEP ("Head End Power") to the cars in back. You need a way to provide electricity, heat, etc to the passenger cars behind the locomotive, and that's what these diesel locos are doing.

Despite the romance of steam power, they were absolutely horrible in terms of efficiency and cost. The Diesel revolution that occurred in the late 1940s was transformative and changed rail transportation forever.

As much as I love seeing all the moving parts of a steam locomotive, it's really tech from the 1800s, and for the sake of efficiency, it was time for it to go and let Herr Diesel's tech take over.

[taiwan_girl]

@George-K said in Train Porn:

As much as I love seeing all the moving parts of a steam locomotive, it's really tech from the 1800s

Today I was able to see a real steam train in action. Thailand runs special steam trains during certain holidays, and today is the Queen birthday. So, I went down to the main train station to see it depart. Quite cool.