Sorry....forgot one. Just to put the W&W train sizes in perspective. This is the same train just prior to getting to Gainesboro. I believe it is taking a load of empty sand hoppers back to Gore, Virginia. Beautiful countryside.
It's called a "SLUG"... a unit that has traction motors on it's axles but no diesel engine driven generator to create power with. Slug's get their electrical power from a "MOTHER" unit or locomotive.
Typically you find Slug sets in heavy tonnage, low speed applications like in the coal fields of WV or in yard switching service. Slug units have no way of moving on their own and depend on their Mother unit for power of propulsion.
CSX has a large fleet of Slug / Mother sets. Slugs are typically converted from older locomotives that have had their diesel engine and main generators removed with ballast blocks in their place. Operating cabs sometimes are retained as in the case of the CSX units. I also believe the W&W also still has a Slug unit with a cab.
Some Slugs can be setup to transfer fuel to their paired Mother unit, extending their operational range.
Sorry....forgot one. Just to put the W&W train sizes in perspective. This is the same train just prior to getting to Gainesboro. I believe it is taking a load of empty sand hoppers back to Gore, Virginia. Beautiful countryside.
This is a view from the other side of the same crossing of an eastbound train. This is where the grade is about 2% for about 2 miles, topping out just beyond the fire station.
In 1998 when these photos were taken, trains ran up to 5 days/week with about 20-30 cars daily, requiring more engines.
This is a view from the other side of the same crossing of an eastbound train. This is where the grade is about 2% for about 2 miles, topping out just beyond the fire station.
In 1998 when these photos were taken, trains ran up to 5 days/week with about 20-30 cars daily, requiring more engines.
Hollywood Fire Rescue Station 5 sits right infront of some train tracks. I'll get a picture next time i'm over there.
Orlando's new station 1 sits right next to a train track, so close that they used to think vandals were throwing rocks and breaking their windows in the apparatus bay, until they saw the train pass by and toss rocks at the window.
Ah, fire trucks and trains. They go together like PB & J. <img src='http://www.firepics.net/groupboards/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
Seems like 90% of the people I've met around railroad tracks have been involved in public safety in some way. And most all of the railfans I know are also firefighters.
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I wholeheartedly agree. Maybe it's the noise, maybe it's the inherent danger, maybe it's the necessary but unappreciated role they play in the public's mind, but chalk me up: I'm both a Fire Buff & a Railfan (and, since I live in the Great Lakes Region, I'm also a huge Boatnerd...I know the stats for almost every Great Lakes Cargo Ship)!
And, subconsciously, maybe there's a sensory connection: a firehouse has a lot of smells that a rail facility has... oil, bituminous products, rubber, canvas, burnt wood, diesel exhaust...
Stockbridge, MA -Berkshire SPAAMFAA and the Berkshire Scenic Railroad are teaming up for a special deal on a train tour of the Berkshires with an extended stop at the Stockbridge Train Station for the SPAAMFAA Show being held the Sunday of Columbus Day Weekend.
Additional information and photographs from the Clifon Forge Volunteer Rescue Squad in Virginia.
Back in 2009, while on work, I found an ambulance sitting in a dealership lot. It was a 2008 Ford E450/Wheeled Coach for the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad. See posts 28-31 on this thread for those photos. What was unusual was the C&O Railroad steam engine 610 mural painted on the driver side.
This past February I was heading to West Virginia for work and it was getting late in the afternoon. My Dad loves trains and at one point lived in Clifton Forge. His grandfather was a conductor on the C&O RR in Clifton Forge, so a special area for him. Since I saw that ambo in 2009, I figured I would drop by the Rescue Squad and see what they had.
“15” – a 2009 Chevrolet 4500/Wheeled Coach. Note the mural – same as the older 2008 Ford. That is because the department swapped out the Ford for a 2009 Chevrolet because they had numerous issues with the Ford. It was told the Ford was in service less than a year before the decision was made to put the box on the 2009 Chevrolet.
I found this sitting at the railroad museum in town.
I thought it would be best not to ask that the engine be moved around for some posed photographs - so I took it where it sat. Now....if it had a Roto-Ray, maybe......
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