Not a pot head

LMAOOOO!!!

 

Yea, and with those slanted front wheels, even big ones, didn't keep them from rolling over on you unless you were pulling something then all they did was stay off the ground. Back then it was the C., B., & Q. (Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy)

 

yup. I stopped calling it that because people - even those who have been around the area for a zillion years - look at you like you are daft or something.

I'm a bit of a railfan - it seems to be a disease or something in the blood. Uncle was with CBQ, Sister was NTSB (now FRA), Mom did her Master's on the interurbans in western IL. I'd be driving a train if I had perfect color vision... As it is, I always take a week or so off in late July/early August when the UP runs their Challenger (articulated steam) to chase it around. (http://www.upsteam.com)

I used to help a friend on his farm. Shortly after I started there his dad swapped the wheeled tractor for a tread system tractor. Meant he had to trailer it to a couple fields (it wasn't all contiguous, and the state wouldn't let him drive it on the highway ) but it was actually faster and safer than the original build out on the Massey.

No rollover gonna happen with THAT on. At least, not in Western Illinois - place is so flat you have to make special arrangements to get a ball to roll

But I digress and such. And we've really really hijacked this thread. Which, I admit, was a bit silly to start with.

 

I've never seen a Challenger, and I'd just about give my left arm to see a "Big Boy". The only one of them I've seen is when you're Westbound on I-80 & come in to Omaha (that static display on the the North side of the road or is it a Challenger.....I can't remember). I did get to fire a Northern from Chicago to Peoria. It was that Freedom train that went around the country during the bicentennial. Memory serve, it was an S.P. unit. The hog head (at least on the Rock Island) was Elmer (believe it or not "Boomer") Joss. He was just about ready to retire & was a good friend of my Dads' (Dad was the area R.R. doctor) & nobody was qualified for steam except him by then. They asked him who he wanted to fire it & he told them he wanted me. Man, that was WORK with a capitol "W". You have to lay the fire just so or you will burn the belly out, or boil out all the water. Your wrists go numb after a while & it took about 3-weeks for them to get better. As you know, Bureau is about half way & we had to call the Bureau Fire Department to come and fill the water tank by the time we got there. Needless to say I did a lousy job. But then Boomer took the shovel supposedly from Bureau to Peoria & I got to pull the throttle......WHAT A THRILL!!!!! He did a lot better than I. After all, he did it for many years before diesel but he'd probably forgotten more than I'd ever know about steam. I think that shovel almost gave him a heart attack so he begged off after about 25 or 30 miles.

And yes, they will talk to you. If you do it wrong it will make different noises.

The tracks in Peoria had been rebuilt & diesel could go around sharper curves so they were rebuilt tighter. We ended up going on the ground twice getting to the station in Peoria.

 

Ouch. Getting dirt on the wheels is .. not to be desired.

UP takes the Challenger around to various venues, usually. They have two in operation, and both have been converted to oil. (Personally, I think that's cheating, but what the heck)

As far as anybody is aware, there are no bigboys still in working condition... there are about 10 left as museum pieces. I know of one in Denver and one in Cheyenne - static display. In Denver, you can get right up close - the one in Cheyenne is behind a fence. Still, the Challenger class is a serious hunk o' steel.

What with 9/11 these days you have to be part of the crew - the trained and skilled crew - to ride in the cab (which annoys me no end, of course. Stupid knee-jerk reaction.)

One of the long-enduring dreams I have is (after I win the lottery - ain't gonna happen any other way) is to set up a working scale model of Bailey Yard. Only need a building that's 500 feet long (HO scale)...

I almost worked for the BN many years ago - was one of a thousand or so applying for a position... didn't hear anything for several months. Finally, I got a letter from them asking me to come in again. Problem was, I was in boot camp. Aaaah, the paths never taken.

Of course, I'd not have met my wife if I'd gone down that other track...

 

I'm working on an HO scale between Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. I bought most of the rolling stock while working. Now I have the time but I must watch how much I spend every month with my retirement check. My youngest daughter was a translator for General Motors (French & German). She lost her job almost 4-years ago now, & we moved her out of her apartment & back with us so money is really tight with a capitol "T". All she can get right now is work through a temp agency & that is very spotty. In addition, I have a 15 (almost 16) year old whose Mother & Father abandoned that we paid $2,000.00 about 7-years ago to take from the State of Illinois (the state had custody of him). He is my Great Nephew. I'm thinking of going back to work for someone, but when they see on my curriculum vitae that I was one of those bums that wrote some of those big time federal penalties; well it's like sticking a red flag in their nose.

 

lol

yeah.. I have two teenagers at home. Both boys. Both active as ferrets on caffeine, so food storage is not a problem.

Wife is a paramedic. There's a high paying job

And I have a 100% disabled friend living with us as well. Government, as is to be expected, is REALLY screwing him around with regard to actually *declaring* him disabled. In spite of what their own doctors said.

Yup, Money is tighter than spandex. If I have to, I'll up the dosages on my 'thou shalt not commit murder' meds and apply at swift and the like. For a while.

Eventually, though, I'll have time and cash to model the Rock Island Quincy Interurban for my Mom.

(If you ever get a chance, stop in at Illinois Institute of Technology - 35th and State in Chicago. When I was there, they had a model of .. dranit.. um.. interurban that went south out of Chicago and around the end of Lake Michigan. I got to ride on the very last train they ran, but for the life of me can't remember the name right now. It was in the attic of the building in which I took my drafting classes (which was **right** next to the CTA tracks - always fun trying to be precise when the whole building is shaking)

aha! my friend's server is back online. I have a few images from some years ago...http://www.sibko.org/index.php?page=ErikGallery

 

Your buddy has some neat photos there, Lurchgs. I love that kinda stuff -- big trucks, freight trains, cargo ships, heavy equipment. There's just something about all that power...

 

Ever been to the Museum of Science & Industry on the Outer Drive? They used to have a huge O-gauge display & then about 10 or so years ago they changed it to HO (it's like 3,800 feet) (from ORD [the FAA designation for Chicago] including all commuter lines to SEA). They have a CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr too that you can tour. Also they have a simulator that you can be the hog head on that train. I played with the sim the last time there. The museum staff asked why I did a good job on it. I told them; "well I ran diesel for many years on the old Rock before I went into management". Also the U-505 German submarine, an exhibit on a bird farm with an A-7 (we transitioned into A-7's in 70 & 71 when our scooters (A-4's) were retired.

Do a web search for the Museum of Science and Industry.

Nice photos

 

When I was little (yes, I was little, once upon a time) we lived about 4 blocks away. That place is the world's greatest babysitter, according to my Dad. There was a time I knew the public places better than the staff did

Haven't been back in about 20 years, though.

Ducks - just so you know, one of the galleries is mine - the one at the bottom of the page. Most of the images are crap, but there are about 6 or 7 pretty good ones, and one that's really top-notch