The Last Mile of Linear Railroading!
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- Опубликовано: 27 фев 2022
- The news and magazines talk about stack trains and unit trains of grain and oil but in this video we look at the job done by Railroad Heroes in delivering the goods over the "Last Mile".
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In my head I was calling the car lengths down to the coupling. 2 cars, 1 car, half a car, 20 feet 10 feet that'll do! Bam!
Great video Brian! Those two locomotives on the local were originally Western Pacific U23B's back in the day, 4093 was originally Western Pacific U23B #2251 and 4096 was Western Pacific U23B #2264, then they were rebuilt into B23-7's and then rebuilt again into what's known as "Super 7's" with a new nomenclature of B23-S7 with Conrail.
Congrats on a great video from "my neck of the woods".
When I was a kid in the 60s, this "Pennsy Panhandle" main here was shared PRR & B&O track, and at least double track from Columbus to Newark. Now, much of it is single track.
= = = =
As a kid, my dad and I were at the EXACT SAME crossing where the cement plant is in your video. We came upon a slow freight that was crawling westbound towards Columbus, we were headed southbound, the crossing had flashing red lights (but no gates), dual tracks across the 2-lane roadway... probably 1966 or 1967.
There was one car ahead of us and the freight train was on the track nearest to us (probably a siding)... so we waited as the 2nd auto.
About 4 minutes later... just as the freight caboose slowly cleared roadway, the impatient driver in front of us quickly started across the tracks. The red crossing lights were still flashing.
Within a few seconds, an eastbound passenger train (probably doing nearly 70 mph) went flashing by on the furthest away track, horn blaring, and the errant driver slammed on his brakes - the front of his car was now stopped about 12 inches or less away from the speeding passenger train!
Due to the westbound freight on the nearest track, the eastbound speeding passenger train on the far track could not have been seen by the foolish driver. He probably had to go home and put on clean underwear and pants, but thanking God that he was still among the living.
ALWAYS WAIT FOR THE RED CROSSING LIGHTS TO STOP FLASHING BEFORE PROCEEDING ACROSS THE TRACKS!
Brian, thank you for the trip down memory lane. I sure do miss my old Ohio Central. It was a great place to work and they were awesome people.
Glad you enjoyed it Brent! Brian
The SOUNDS are unforgettable. Even as a boy, the first time I heard the sound of steel train wheels on tracks I KNEW there was something very serious going on! Those PINGS are the steel stretching and rebounding. Holy crap
This is one of the most satisfying train videos I've watched in a long time, for several reasons: you did a great job of setting levels of anticipation on "the next move", your voice and cadence were relaxing yet engaging, and, I know those places and could follow along on Google Earth. It was like listening to narration to the railroading I've watched vicariously. And, those trash-trains really "pile up" in the Newark yard! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you so much, there are all different types of rail operations but when "push comes to shove" it takes pre-planning and thought! I am really glad you liked this video! Brian
Thank you for a realistic look at locals , my father and I really enjoyed watching!
Thank you! To think I added some father son time makes me VERY happy! Brian
The Class 2 rail in my immediate area (UP main is 6 miles off) is fortunate to have a lot of large bulk shippers (refineries, chemical plants, sand plants, grain mills, lumber yards, cotton seed mill, wineries, etc.) who can often take an entire train (or half a train) and their switching can go pretty quickly. Most of them switch once a day (storage issues) at about the same time each day. 2 of these yards bought ground and built #9 1/4 mile sidings for storage of tanker cars (add that one up).
The wicket gets sticky when you have a manifest made up of a bunch of single cars for small customers intermingled with 15 oil tanker cars, 10 gondolas, 5 sand hoppers, 10 grain cars, and 9 acid tankers; you have to make a lot of moves to get everything set and retrieved. If you're around this activity constantly, it becomes 'invisible and almost noiseless' to your conscious mind.
It's not invisible or noiseless to people who aren't around it all the time. I have had clients literally jump out of their seats in my office (it sets 25 feet from a siding for acid cars) and holler, "What was that?" Grabbing cars is loud and feels like an explosion at close quarters. So despite the block wall that hides the rail from my windows, it's an experience. It's also a great way to get a salesman to move along once he's already on his feet. ;-)
Another great video and primer for anyone who hasn't gotten to see this before.
Those bulkhead flats used exclusively for lumber/plywood/drywall, out here are called Center Beams. Thanks for the video. Jon, on the U.P., Pacific Coast Line, Santa Barbara Sub., M.P. 404.5
Decades ago research was done on rail car incidents. At higher speeds,(older, shorter?) empty flats, center beam/ center spine bulkheads, were found to have some tracking issues. Problems were related to weight, and sometimes had to do with air pressure on the rear bulkhead actually reducing downward pressure on the leading truck -- These issues required speed restrictions due to truck/bogie hunting.
There were some very interesting early safety videos made with under car mounted cameras recording truck and wheel set behavior at speed with various car loading on both freight and passenger wheel sets.
It's amazing that the fallen flags of yesteryear could traverse the country at the speeds that they routinely ran, and on sectional track, compared to the tonnage handled, and 'precision scheduled railroading' of today. Progress? As with beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder -- and unfortunately in railroading/ business, the bean counters and board.
Give me steam power any day, graffiti free cars, with a friendly wave from the crew on the hack on the back. They can keep their ole all look alike locos and robotic eot's. Just my .02.
Very thoughtful, thanks for sharing Bob! Brian
My favorite type of rail watching is shortline switching. Nicely done. Especially inside the customer. A rare treat, thx for the lesson of the day !!
Thanks for taking us along for the ride!
Great fun on a great day! I'm very glad for your model to show the physical placements and movements of the cars to get them where they are needed. Much clearer to me, now... Always enjoy a new video from ETR! Thanks for taking us on another adventure!
Glad you enjoyed it Randy, thank you. Brian
Great job
Definitely a horn
I like your presentations. They are calm, low key, yet convey the information. You are like the Fred Rodgers of railroading.
Thank You, the world is tense, I like calm. Brian
Another great video...really enjoyed this one. You spoke of the railroad hauling trash from NY and NJ. A couple of years ago I was out on the panhandle bike trail, which parallels this same rail line out east of Newark, and stopped to talk with a maintenance man who was working on one of the crossing signals. We were talking about how the length of the trains had been increasing in recent years as one had just passed that was pulling 170 cars. He asked me if I knew what industry produced the most revenue for the Ohio Central/Genesee Wyoming RR and I guessed oil because I see mostly trains made up of oil tankers out that way, but he said no, it was trash. That was a little surprising but I have encountered a few trash trains on that line and it can make for a pretty smelly bike ride on a hot summer day.
All of the rail fan videos that I watch are just usually drive-bys or explanations but this is the first time that we actually get to see actual switching operations. Nicely done!
Loved the illustrations to explain the moves.
Thanks John....low tech! B.
@@eastterminalrailway5975 Nothing wrong with low tech, adheres brilliantly to the K.I.S.S. principal
Horn always! It was the signal to run down the street to see the passing trains when I was I kid visiting my grandparents in South Carolina.
Nice to see someone else who appreciates the Conrail blue! That color looks particularly great on high-nosed geeps!
@14:00 can you imagine running 2 miles in Sunday dress shoes behind an ice shanty while your step-dad pulls it with his snow mobile on a frozen lake with snow on top of 6 inches of slush? I was about 22 and THAT was probably one of the hardest things I ever forced my body to do, similar to running 2 miles in a river @10 F., neither was fun but I had to do it, and I would have gladly done what this man does because that's what the job calls for, snow drifts? Not a walk in the park by any means but a good walk, I would've loved to work for the railroad because I still get a thrill watching this massive machinery moving America.
This part of railroading is by far the most interesting in my opinion. Thanks for posting this!
That's essentially how our marshalling goes in our yard, although we're dealing with passenger trains, not freight. But we will change up the consist at least 4-5 times a season, and it always takes some coordination to come up with a plan of where to push or pull what cars where, while we move other cars and join them all back together for the next event. We have main track, a passing track, then the back track, ramp track and co-op track. We can also push cars across the street and lock them off, if we have to shuffle things around in the yard proper.
Been watching for awhile now and find your short line unique. I noticed one of the lumber cars had the markings for the IANR. I retired from that railroad. It's a 149 mile short line in Waterloo, IA. running from Cedar Rapids, Ia. to Manly, Ia.
My great uncle in South Central PA worked for Conrail as a locomotive mechanic for many many years.
May have worked on this one!
The 4096 is an EX Conrail B23-7. I can see the outline of the "Conrail Quality" emblem on its long hood and faded Conrail lettering on its nose. The other locomotive is also a B23-7
This is a great video about MODERN switching. Big thumbs up. Think how hard this switching would have been with a consolidation in the 1900's through 40's or early 50's. No way to see around the corner and NO RADIO! There would have been a 5 man crew. 2 in the engine and the conductor with 2 brakemen. They would have been waving hand signals to each other with the engineer on the outside of the curve to the lumberyard. They would have had to have pushed the train from the last/nearest run around track. I did not realize in your setup that there was 6 1/2 miles between the cement plant and the lumberyard. Back then, they might have done the dangerous switching and either dropped and coasted cars or kicked cars or poled cars to the sidings and final placement.
Other interesting note - The second loaded center beam is marked COER. Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad. COER did a lot of leasing of cars at one time. Piggyback, TOFC, Gons, Center Beams, etc. Now the COER is back to being a last mile/first mile railroad in Marion and Herrin, Illinois just like ETR. They started railroading in 1971 in Marion, IL and were the last railroad of any size to use exclusively steam for operations. That ended in 1986. Now all diesel. Wiki "Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad"
I still would like to know your plans for a run around for the ETR.
Reminds me of watching the Cincinatti Eastern switching out Cohen Recycling and Winchester Ag. I know the trash from my home goes by truck. Pickup truck to be exact. I load my trash up into my truck about every ten days or so and take it to the County landfill. Trash pickup here costs a minimum of $25.00 a month. The landfill is about 6 miles from here. I can take it myself cheaper than I can have it hauled, lol, so I do.
Something else to notice about locomotive 4096 is that it's still in Conrail blue paint scheme and you can see the Conrail imprint of Conrail quality on the side. Awesome video
Thanks for the Video. I find this series to be one of the best on youtube.
Brian, Thank you, a great video. I live up here in the Northeast where most of our freight trains do their deliveries in the middle of the night or early morning when the commuter rail is not running. So as not to pose a delay in service. Good to see the freight in action. They help keep American jobs going and supply us with the goods we need. Thank you again and please stay safe when train chasing.
Thanks Lex! Brian
It really is 3D chess working the last mile. Remember back in 76 going into the school library in my freshman year of high school during study halland reading about this little short line in New York state serving a salt mine with Alco switchers. I sm constantly amazed to see that little short line now a rail giant with that same orange livery flying the company colors across the nation and around the world.
Gary Yes a huge story of success and growth. B.
Great video. There's a CSX short line in Ghent KY. Its a one way in one way out kind of thing. They got a slit mill 2 steel mills 3 gas plants a wallboard plant and 2 chemical plants. They got 2 engines that do this all day long. That blue GE
I like. But the Ohio Central and the G&O has the prettiest paint of all the railroads
One of the best videos you've done to date.
Switching at it's finest, beautifully done video !
Thank you very much!
Fascinating!
Great narration of everyday railroading. Thank you!
Thanks for this video. You broke it down and made it easy to understand. The logistics sure aren’t as easy as one might think.
One of the most interesting and informative railfan videos I’ve ever seen…and all the more impressive since the producers are not media professionals. Many thanks! 👍😃
Did you notice the red flag in the coupler on the 4096 indicating end of train.
Imagine the additional complexity had the local had a caboose or cabin car (Pennsy term for a caboose) on the rear of the train.
I am a "Livesteamer", a railroad hobbyist who builds and operates model railroad equipment that runs on 7 1/2" gauge track. Model equipment is built in 1/8th inch to the foot scale, so you ride on the equipment. The term "Livesteamer" comes from the early days of the hobby in the mid 1900's when the locomotives in the hobby were mostly steam locomotives, carefully and painstakingly constructed by skilled home machinists in their basements or garages. Today the locomotives are mostly gasoline or electric powered "diesel" profiles with many of them purchased from hobby manufacturers. I scratch built a coal fired steam powered 2-4-0 Porter and about a dozen pieces of rolling stock. There are 7 1/2" gauge tracks all over the country (in the Northeast they are 7 1/4" gauge, but that's a another story). Tracks range from small private tracks with a simple track plan in the backyard to very large club tracks with mammoth, complex tracks stretching several actual miles over hundreds of acres. The larger tracks hold "meets" several times a year where Livesteamers gather with their equipment and "operate" over a multi day period. These "operations" are basically linear railroading where trains are assembled in a yard and run over the trackage spotting and picking up cars at various "industries" along the way as directed by way bills or a switch list while, clearing the mainline for passenger trains operating via a time table. A very challenging and rewarding hobby with a lot of comerodery with fellow Livesteamers. Google and RUclips searches for Live Steam will provide additional information on the hobby if you are interested.
Thanks for sharing Bill, hope to hear more about your project…. ms~~~
The company that I work for has 2 similar sidings in the complex of buildings, using those same type of bulkhead flats to haul mdf board. They normally switch at night to keep from messing up traffic.
Horn on a diesel. Whistle on a steamer
I always enjoy industrial switching videos. I particularly appreciate your diagramming of the moves. I wish more "content creators" of these types of videos did the same. My little switching layout uses a Plymouth ML-8 or a GE 44 tonner. I look forward to seeing your GE 50 tonner at work on the real thing. Cheers from Wisconsin!
Awesome, thank you!
The lumber cars are actually center beams. Bulkhead flats are normally used to haul loads like steel and look like this: Bulkhead Flatcar | BNSF Also, CEFX is CIT Financial and not the Andersons Group (AEX). On a side note, that Iowa Northern (IANR) center beam originated on CN in New Brunswick, Canada and was interchanged with NBM Railways at Saint John. From there the car was sent to Brownville Jct, ME and interchanged with CP. From there the car either went to Montreal or points further west before it was interchanged with NS or CSX prior to being interchanged with OHCR. Or, the car was interchanged with Pan Am Railways at Northern Maine Junction in Hermon, ME (Pan Am has haulage rights between NMJ and BVJ since their main line from Old Town, ME to Mattawamkeag is closed to road freights preventing them from directly interchanging with NBM Railways) where the car will be taken west and interchanged with either CSX or NS.
This is getting into what i love about railroading, Great vid today (as they always are!) Thanks for creating this and putting the diagram together too!
Glad you enjoy it!
This shows why short lines are just as important as the major rail lines. The big companies don't want to mess with this switching so they have a short line do it for them. Both make money and the job gets done. By the way, you could have been "tagging" those grain cars while you were watching!
WELL DONE YOU. I do model trains and this is a great primer for track movement. I also didn’t know about the coal mine trashing!!!
Love that Ex Conrail loco , thanks for the switching lesson .
An education on switching maneuvers. Learned a lot. Thanks for making it.
Hopefully Shoestring and Jaw Tooth see this! This will make their day! Especially Shoe! He hasn't bee feeling too good lately....Great video Brian and thanks!! Jack
Good little vid ... Thx for posting ... Will await more of em ...
Thanks for documenting local switching operations. I understand these concepts so much better now since building my own HO layout. Keep these vids coming!
The radius of the lumber yard is pretty tight. Almost like on a model railroad. Thanks for sharing this switching operation! I had a look at Google Maps... It's near the ETR :). Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Nice to see Trenton Car works cars still hauling frieght. Was always facsinated by the site when visiting the grandparents as a kid. Unfortunately they no longer build railcars there in Nova Scotia.
Thanks for showing this process!
Great stuff as always 👍
Horn. Very interesting Content. You guys learned me something today. Have a great day.
Enjoyed this bro it bought back many memories of when I moved cars around on a private railway once they were dropped off from the main line. Safe travels.
I am a steam man, so these infernal combustion things have horns! :) And back in the real days of railroading, We would just run around the cars on the passing siding. Not go through the hassle of un-tying tow units like this. We would have brought along empties as cappers or spacers to reach in the siding to spot those cement cars.
Great informative video. Love the low tech instructional assist. Definitely my speed.
What great fun! Thanks for sharing Brian!!
Really enjoyed this video.
This is great, especially for model train people looking to increase their ops potential in a simple layout. Keep up these kinds of videos they are really interesting.
Great video! At our Midway TN plant NS used gravity to roll the empties past the locomotive so they could pull back to Greeneville TN.
Thanks for adding that Robert, interesting! Brian
Great video. You layed it out perfectly. Just like it is. Very well done. 👍👍👍❤️
Great Job!
This is a cool video!!! Thanks!!!
Wonderful video....great presentation and very informative! Thanks!
Very interesting and thank you for the video! 🙂
I've seen this done two ways before. One being the one shown in video where the two engines are kept together most of the trip. A class 3 by me uses a loco at each end, originating in Winslow Junction, NJ and hopping onto NJ Transit lines to head east towards Atlantic City, NJ. They stop short of the passenger terminal in AC and head west off a switch into the neighboring town of Pleasantville. The stone plant is switched from the west side locomotive as it backs into the industry to dump gravel. They occasionally also switch an 84 Lumber down that way too. Given the lack of a proper runaround, and timetables to meet on active NJT lines, they run a loco on both ends.
Really enjoyable Video. Thanks for sharing
I was mainly a through freight conductor and it was just pick ups and set outs. This job in this video requires a lot of pre- planning . Then locomotive restriction adds another piece of the puzzle to figure out.
Well done, thank you!
Thanks for the diagram! It really helps to explain what's going on. I'd take a video like this over a video game any day! Thanks!
Short line switching looks like the ultimate strategy game.
Great lunch time video. Thanks. gotta love short line switching 👍👍🚂 Keep up the great work
Thanks 👍
When I worked on the railroad the old Boston and Albany one day in February we had to walk through 2 feet of fresh snow and and I was wearing size 11 boots I was elected to brak a path through the snow. After that day whenever we had to break a path through snow and I was the engineer I was always chosen to break the path through the snow.
Did you happen to notice those steel bands hanging off that loaded Flat?? Imagine you were standing close to the track as the train went by at speed. Those bands would cut you up really bad. Think safety and keep back. Not you Brian, you were clear of it. I heard lots of horror stories from the old heads about things hanging off of cars. One time a 39 ft. of rail was buried so deep that only a few feet were found sticking out of the ground. The rail fell off of a flatcar probably going between 40 and 50 MPH, and it buried itself in the ground. Everyone, keep your eyes open, AND ears pealed for strange noises, and get away from the tracks. It just might save your life.
Nice Video Brian!!!! Thanks!!!!
That was great Brian. Love the model! I wish more railfan videos did that. As a model railroader I confront myself with problems like this all the time. I model an earlier time period so I only use one engine. My only option would have been to use the runaround. Fascinating to see alternate solutions using two engines, however I can't help but feel it would have been just as easy for them to use the runaround too. There could have been other factors involved, e.g., the siding was blocked further down. Also, great job by the crew letting you get close to film and being nice and cooperative. Crews need to realize they are the stars in their own little world and they have fans that would rather watch them than most Hollywood movies. Too bad they don't get paid accordingly!
Thanks Grant! I try really hard to put out a quality video but there is a lot to it. I scrambled around and thought....I'll draw the track out on paper! Thanks for following. Brian
What a great video on how a railway works Thank you 👍
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for following! Brian
@@eastterminalrailway5975 he in the UK we don't see much fright moving around the network 👍thanks again
A now demolished lumber mill near me had supports that went over the cars and anchored them upright so they could load the cars one side at a time.
Very very interesting! This is awesome content!!!
Glad you think so! Brian
The lead unit has a horn. Whistles are rather uncommon. There were whistles (also referred to as air chimes) on some diesels, RDC’s and electric locomotives or EMU’s. The whistles were quite pleasant. The exceptions were the WABCO air chimes, which had a deep sound. You could hear ‘em for miles. Dogs hated them. To be fair, dogs hate all horns and whistles.
The Super 7’s (Dash 7- 30B’s) we’re watching were sold or leased to the Monongahela, which was taken over by Conrail which was in turn scooped up by Norfolk Southern. The pair we see here were sold to Ohio Central, which is owned by Genesee Wyoming. (Not Genesee & Wyoming, that’s the original entity) Genesee Wyoming is the present day holding company with operations world wide.
Your video is informative. I like it! Keep them coming if you have the time.
Thank you for that important information about Genesee Wyoming, they own a company in the United Kingdom but I was unaware of the holding company's subtle name change. I do like their colour scheme.
Flake, your spot on, the MR originally “purchased” 7 “super 7’s” and a fellow by the name of Dave Caldwell
Was the comptroller for the MR and signed the check for the purchase, Dave was a close friend of ours, loved his MR….
It's a horn performing the function an actual whistle would have in the steam days. As normal with railways, they haven't changed the wording in rules, regulations or trackside signage.
😊😊Thank for sharing
What a very entertaining video. I enjoyed every minute of it. This is my favourite kind of railroading and I hope to be able to create this type of thing in model form one day! Cheers from Dave Craig in Oz. Have subscribed!
you know when i see switching going on i usually think it's a job for a switcher locomotive and i bet your little switcher would have done a great job switching those cars around. and for the horn vs whistle i say horn for diesels and whistle for steam trains.
Did lots of that but on 24' gauge underground at the now closed down Dome Mine at Timmins ON. Canada....clearing and switching loads of mine materials including explosives for the mining operations. Even did the illegal 'Poling' to make the switching operations quicker, as we had other commitments as doing actually 'Miining', lol.
Good Afternoon to all from SE Louisiana 28 Feb 22.
The small covered hoppers may be empty cement cars, but had frac sand for oil field.
Air horn. Steam locomotives have steam whistles.🚂 😊
Thank you for a really interesting look into the last mile ops of railroading. In the end both locomotives were at the right place. This could count as our weekly safety video on safe and proper techniques. Cheers!
Good idea, don't forget to sign the safety clipboard. Brian
I think I left the safety clipboard at Denny's....oops. I will get it tomorrow.
This video was just terrific thing to watch after work when I got home. Your graphics board is outstanding. I would have used Gummy bears.
Besides the LAST mile there is also the FIRST mile.
I love the horn
That’s right those two locomotives started with Monongahela Railway then they went to Conrail then Norfolk Southern You could tell they came from Norfolk southern by the patch number on the cab
Live action railroading makes an interesting video. Wouldn't it be great if the #2021 was on the head end of a train on the ETR? Shunting cars and moving freight. This showed how important a double ended track is for operations. Or if you are thinking about a 2nd locomotive how about an SW1500 or GP9? If you want to pave over your track like 84 did make certain the ties are new and the rail is good. The W sign along the track before road xings are called "Whistle Posts".
Cool video. More switching scenarios please
HA!! I am CONVICNED that guys over 50 MUST listen to smooth jazz! KRIPES! My dad makes me listen to it whenever we go to 'DA HARBOR' A.K.A Harbor Freight....
Andy You will grow up someday. B.
@@eastterminalrailway5975, I have loved smooth jazz from about the time when Columbus had it's first smooth jazz radio station back in the late 1970's. About that same time was when Wendy's in conjunction with the radio station began sponsoring concerts by the smooth jazz and R&B artists on the lawn at their headquarters in Dublin. I attended many of the concerts and met a lot of the artists...Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons, Peter White, Jeffrey Osborn, Jonathan Butler and many more. I was in my early 20's back then so you don't have to be old to like smooth jazz.
By the way, I am the one who recognized you from your videos when I saw you and introduced myself in the Broad St. Menard's last summer.
On the Railway I work on in Victoria Australia its a Whistle, as the old rivers (Engineers) would say the horn is the thing between your legs.
Back in the 70s our railways was fully government own and operated, as I grew around the railways and then worked in the railways from 15 until I joined the army at 18, the goods yard I was picking up and dropping off the mail as a 15 year old, I would watch the huge shunting going on especially as it was the biggest yard in the district plus the bulk of the biggest industry was here, sadly the ind shunters were among the most important injured or killed, extremely dangerous job back then,
I say it’s a horn…which is sounded at the whistle post. You like the older GE 4-strokes. Give me an A-B-B-A lashup of Santa Fe F7’s anytime. I believe those were the 567 series engines. I rode behind those in 1963.