# Steam trains



## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

One of my other interests is railways with steam trains; there is what we call a "heritage" railway about 20 miles from here which runs preserved steam trains daily between late March and early October and some during school half term breaks and "Santa specials" during December.

They hold a "gala weekend" in October with some visiting locomotives from other lines, the video linked below was shot during the 2018 gala. There is no turning facility for the large locos hence quite a few shots of them running tender first. and being a gala weekend the paying public want to see as many as possible which explains sometimes 2 or 3 locos "top and tailing". Most of the locos date from the late 1930s to early 50s except 31806 1920s and 30120 August 1899






More info on the Swanage Railway

https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

We have the Severn Valley line not far from here and it seems to be popular and well-supported. I'm too young to remember steam but there are certain things about the long rail journeys in my childhood which I recall fondly, not least the compartment carriages, the waiter taking orders for breakfast and being able to put your head out of the door window when standing in the gangway (the H & S Taliban would have kittens over something like that now). And I liked what seemed to be the comparatively leisurely pace, too - a journey from Worcester to Cornwall or North Devon seemed to take for ever and, if memory serves, we only had to change trains once.


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I grew up just outside Manchester when steam was still in use (geez, that long ago??) My grandparent's house was just a short walk from the Cheshire Lines Manchester/Liverpool line. I remember that when I was in grammar school (high school in the US), I had some friends who used the train to commute to the school so I would wait for them to arrive as the station was only a short walk from the school. I remember the regular tank engines but the last time that I was there and went to prowl around my old neighborhood, they were only using some junky railbuses (at least that's what they seemed like.)


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

About 60 miles east of where I live is the Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum which uses part of the (mostly) abandoned San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. It ran from downtown San Diego south and crossed the border into Mexico, then went east and came back into the US in the Cuyamaca Mountains. It is just past that where the museum is. They run regular trips along part of the US tracks and did (maybe still do) run occasional trips across the border to the Tecate Brewery. The SD&AE goes through some forbidding territory and was known as 'The Impossible Railroad'. If you ever visit San Diego, go to the SD Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park where they have an HO scale model of the SD&AE.






P.S. The San Diego Trolley line from downtown to the border runs on part of the old tracks.


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Trains are magic. Both my father and grandfather worked on steam and diesel engines for the Union Pacific Railroad for years, first out of Omaha and then Los Angeles. They used to get free passes to ride. There are many fond memories of traveling to Iowa over the Rocky Mountains being pulled by a powerful steam locomotive before they were replaced by the diesels. Unfortunately, there are no longer any steam locomotives in operation where I live, but trains are still very active that pass through Flagstaff, Arizona. We also used to go down to the train yards to get our Christmas trees right off the boxcars.

Trains are magic. Even now, I always consider it a sign of good fortune to be in earshot of a train whistle... And I think a composer like Dvorak would appreciate that since he was a fanatic about trains and used to love visiting the train stations when he had the time.

Those still able to hear or visit the steam locomotives are very lucky! The big steam locomotives used to remind me of huge living beasts of burden. They seemed very much alive because of their exhale of steam. It was never the same after the diesels arrived having little or no magic personality. As a hobbyist, my favorite steam engine was the 2-8-2 Mikado designed for pulling long lines of freight:


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Lots of steam train excursions in CA. One of the best known is the Skunk Train, up in Redwood country in North state.


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

My favorite steam locomotives are the geared locomotives, usually seen back in the day in mountainous regions working on logging or mining lines where serious traction was the key requirement. The Climax engines are probably the best known.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geared_steam_locomotive


----------



## ToneDeaf&Senile (May 20, 2010)

I too am a steam loco / era fan. I'm just old enough to have witnessed the final days of steam here in the USA. Alas, I never saw live steam in action during my youth. Only recently did I learn that the railroad running through my hometown was the very first to completely mothball its steam roster. My small town sported a passenger station, but by the time I was old enough to have any remembrance of it local passenger service had ceased. That station rotted in place for some years before being demolished.

I did eventually see steam in action, during a brief stay in southeast Asia early in my military career. A town we visited for a day or two had a train yard with plenty of steam locos going about their business.

As to favorite steam locomotives, I've no specifics. I do tend to prefer older models over ultra sleek designs from the very end of the era.


----------



## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

I was born and lived in Broadgreen, Liverpool, a five-minute walk from the Liverpool - Manchester line where Stephenson's Rocket won the Rainhill Trials. Just 3 or 4 miles from the tragedy.

*Opening Day Accident*

'The opening ceremony of the L&MR, on 15 September 1830, was a considerable event, drawing luminaries from the government and industry, including the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington. The day started with a procession of eight trains setting out from Liverpool for Manchester. The parade was led by Northumbrian driven by George Stephenson, and included Phoenix driven by his son Robert, North Star driven by his brother Robert Sr. and Rocket driven by assistant engineer Joseph Locke. The day was marred by the death of William Huskisson, the Member of Parliament for Liverpool, who was struck and killed by Rocket at Parkside'

Steam locomotives continued to be built until the late '50s when they were replaced by diesel. There are lots of Heritage railways in Britain. There's one a couple of miles from me at Bo'ness which has very popular Santa Specials for the kids. Most people loved the trains but in fact they were incredibly polluting. If you lived near the station, the clothes on your washing-line got covered in coal dust as would your window-sills if you had the windows open. Bad news for asthmatics like me too!


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

A Shay design geared locomotive..... No huge drive wheels, no huge pushrods driving them....


----------



## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

That is SO beautiful! :lol:


----------



## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

I was a keen steam fan back in the 80s - 90s and travelled many kilometers on the steam specials, when I was in the UK my local line was the LMS and I still remember the sight of those magnificent Steam Locos in the station.

*On the turn table 1989 in my home town no vacuum power just muscle*. 








*
Train from Auckland pulling into our station *


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Who remembers Pasha Strelnikov's train from Dr. Zhivago? Once a shy and peaceable boy, he ended up hauling around a big gun and slaughtering whole villages suspected of supporting the White Russians… Any idea what train this really was?


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Great film, _Zhivago_! Two other good train movies were _The Great Locomotive Chase_, a Civil War tale starring Fess Parker; also _The Train_, the WWII adventure with Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Have all this about 8 miles from my house at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village





https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/9628/


----------



## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

*Our local Signal Box just left to rot when rail started to give way to those B!**%y big Trucks that are now ruining and clogging our roads.*


----------



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

We've got friends in the Czech Republic; she worked for Czech Railways, his hobby is train / airplane / whatever technical vehicle spotting. The Czech Republic belonged to the richest countries of the Western world before WWII, making their own cars, locomotives, airplanes etc. They are proud of this heritage.


----------



## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

On the Harrogate to York line there’s still a short stretch of single track where the train-driver has to hand over a baton at the station so the driver coming the other way is warned to stay where he is.


----------



## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

The local heritage railway the Swanage Railway is about 15 miles from here, trains run daily from late March through October and over the Christmas period and school holidays - including half term breaks. Most services are steam, but also some diesel services weekdays using some 1950s Diesel 3 car units. From 22 to 26 March they have the Flying Scotsman visiting,

https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/

images linked from Google









I'm looking forward to this 1890s loco to return from a full restoration to steam; it has been gifted to the Swanage Railway from the National rail museum in York


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Here's some good closeup footage of some geared locomotives in motion, including the Shay......


----------



## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Haven't seen a steam train since I was a kid (about a million years ago) in North Wales standing on an iron footbridge over the railway tracks and waiting for a train to pass beneath my feet and envelope me in steam. What a thrill. Sometimes the wait was pretty long, I was too young to know about timetables. I often think about it in one of my Rosebud moments.

Sadly the only trains I get to see where I live now (Southern U.S.) are graffiti covered freight trains. Some of the graffiti is quite impressive however.

Best wishes
Metairie Road


----------

