Hello Hivers the weekend has come to an end. Here I am about to share you some experiences with trains in my area for the first time in the #trainspotting community. I hope you enjoy the awesome powers of steel.
A little about me with trains. I work in the Logistics career field. I have worked with just about all modes of transportation. I have loaded/offloaded many trucks and aircraft.Ive also prepared and packed tons of cargo into sea van containers that went via vessel. I have never done anything with train transport. However I have been into trains most of my life. I remember getting my first train set, I think I was 10 years old. The hours I spent watching and controlling it. Recently as an adult I have got back into trains maybe its the Logistician in me. Afterall it's the one mode of transportation I haven't been involved with in my almost 30 years of moving cargo or freight.
Before we get to the monsters of moving steel let's take a moment and look at the tracks they run on. If there is one thing that has been standard for more than hundred years it's the railroad tracks they run on. I don't think much has changed with the iron rails, rail road ties, and the nails they use. I found this nail on the ground about 10 feet from the track. Rusty and looking gorgeous right? I don't think it will serve any use so a nice little keep sake for me.
The span or in the railroad industry referred to as gauge is the distance between the two parallel railroad rails. This gauge has been standard for hundreds of years. We have a rail road company headquartered here that has been around for 160 years and it has a legendary fleet of older trains that still runs on the tracks of today. I'm not for certain but I think the span or gauge is standard worldwide.
One more stop before we get the main course, haha. Trains need attention sometimes and sending another train probably isn't the most efficient way to get to it. Every once in awhile I will see a truck on the tracks. All roads don't lead to a broken trains so this is how workers sometimes get to them.
One of my favorite trains is this one pictured above called short for, "Big Boy." Today only eight of these "Big Boy"steam powered trains remain and only one is actively running. You can see this beast at Kenefick Park in Omaha ,NE. This train was built in 1944. A few weeks ago they had the College World Series going on in Omaha and the active one showed up near the stadium. I so wanted to see and hear it's shear power. I did drive near there and noticed bumper to bumper traffic at least two miles from it's location. I decided another day, haha. I live about 7 miles from the stadium and I could hear it's whistle.
The above two trains are at the RailsWest Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, IA. First pictured is Union Pacific # 814 a steam engine built in 1937.It was retired sometime in the late 1950s. It was used both for freight and passenger traffic. Second pictured is the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy No. 915 another steam train that was built in 1901. It's served as a freighter it's entire work life. I was shocked to learn it wasn't retired until 1957.
Above are some shots I took the last few days of trains in my area. A top is a diesel locomotive owned by Iowa Interstate. The other pictures our some of the train yards in Council Bluffs. There's quite of few of them in town. There is a lot of train traffic in these yards. I'm sure they set up cars based on delivery locations. Sometimes you see the engine and but can't see the last car. It's not rare for these trains to pull a mile or longer worth of cars. I just don't want to be at rail road crossing when I have to be somewhere by a certain time.
What you see above are trains disrupting traffic, haha. I run into all so often, usually I back up and find an alternative route unless I can see the end or if it's moving at a good rate of speed.
First picture you see is a rusty locomotive all by itself. It's actually about 400 yards from a grain mill. It's been like this for months not really sure what it's story is. Sorry for the bad photo it was snapped while I was driving, just thought the poor locomotive needed to be seen by others. The second photo you see is a nice new looking car. It seems these are a rarity sometimes. I say that because a majority of the cars are covered in graffiti by vandals. Does this happen in your country as well to passenger and freight cars?
Well I have come to the end for now talking about trains. This won't be the last time I will talk about them. There's a few other places I want to visit nearby where I can show you much more than I did today.Plus
I have actually thought about booking a train trip. I just need to look at my schedule and of course work out all the logistics.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Please take care and look both ways before crossing a railroad crossing. Have a great week ahead.
