Big Loads Two

Continuing the epic journey of big French-built steam generators for Excelon Nuclear's Three Mile Island Unit One. Here you see the 206 wheel transporter climbing over double three inch steel plates protecting utility manholes at an intersection. The Italian crew slows down from the 3 MPH road speed to just a crawl and very daintily climbs over the steel plates with no visible upset to their 510 ton load.
Why French? Why Italian? Easy, they build nuclear power plants in Europe, we don't. At the end of the trip those big self-propelled transporters from Italy's Fagioli Group will be broken down into units small enough to be trucked out normally.

Hi Boy!

Reading EMD FP7 #902 and PRR GG-1 #4800

"Old Rivets" the prototype of the very successful GG-1 electric locomotive was built in 1934 before any of the cab style diesel-electrics. Here in the yard at Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA the older electric bumps couplers with the younger (1950) Reading Company engine. Paired with RDG #903 this engine pulled "The Wall Street" mainly between Philadelphia and New York in the 1950's and 60's. Right now the pair is visiting in Strasburg while the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society is creating their own museum in Hamburg, PA. Both locomotives are fully operational and will see excursion train service this year. Rumors abound that 902 and 903 will meet up in Strasburg this year with Norfolk Southern's business train E9's and Juniata Terminal's E8's. What a great sight that would be!

Want to drive a 206-wheeler?

Saturday, Sep. 26, 2009, Columbia, Pennsylvania. Two 510 ton steam generators are taking a day off before their delivery trip from France to Three Mile Island, PA continues. After crossing the Atlantic on a heavy lift vessel, these Areva steam generators were transferred to barges for the trip up Chesapeake Bay to Port Deposit, MD at the mouth of the Susquehanna River. At Port Deposit they were transferred to two Italian-built Fagioli heavy transporters. Each of the 26 axles on these giant "trucks" is steerable by the drivers located at each end of the load. Their 75 mile trip across Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is scheduled to take 18 days.
Why not by rail? After all there is a double-tracked Norfolk Southern line right along the river that would be able to deliver these loads in less than 24 hours. The answer: tunnels. These loads are 20 feet high. Back when Three Mile Island was built in the late 60's the steam generators came by rail from the Midwest USA in a partially fabricated condition and completed on site. The next question I'll address is why get them from France?

Disney World RR Day 5

Trains running in single rails have been a Walt Disney feature since Disneyland opened in 1955 in Anaheim. I visited D-Land in December '55 during my college Christmas break. One of the real kicks was riding the Disney-Alweg monorail from Tommorowland to the Disneyland Hotel station and back. At Walt Disney World in Florida there are 2 monorail routes. One double-tracked route circles Seven Seas Lagoon with stops at the Transportation and Ticket Center, Polynesian Resort, Grand Floridian Resort, Magic Kingdom theme park, and the Contemporary Resort with its spectacular atrium station inside the hotel. Trains running on the inner loop stop at all stations. Trains on the outer loop stop only at Magic Kingdom and Transportation and Ticket Center. The second route runs from Transportation and Ticket Center to Epcot theme park and back. Riders with the time to wait patiently at the T-T Center can request a ride in the front end and receive a souvenir "Engineer" card.
Good details about monorail equipment and operations can be found at Wikipedia. Other information can be found on the Disney web site.

Disney Railroad Day 4

Roger E. Broggie (1908-1991), Walt Disney's first "imagineer" was the brains behind the Walt Disney World Railroad in addition to many pioneering projects for the Disney Corporstion like the audio-animatronic figures that debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair. He is memorialized at Walt Disney World with his name on WDWRR #3, a Baldwin narrow-gauge 4-6-0 Mogul built in Philadelphia in 1928. Broggie's name is also featured on a shop window on Disneyland's Main Street USA in California. See Wikipedia for information about Roger.
My photograph of Number 3 was taken at the WDWRR roundhouse in Florida. More pictures of Number 3 and other Disney memorabilia will be featured this May 23 to 25 at Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Roger Broggie's son Michael will be on hand at this event. His book, "Walt Disney's Railroad Story" is available from the Carolwood Pacific web site.

Disney World Railroad Day 3

Sparkling in the morning sun at the Walt Disney World Railroad roundhouse in Florida is WDWRR #4, the Roy O. Disney, named for Walt's older brother and partner (1893-1971). The "Roy" is a narrow gauge 4-4-0 American type built by The Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia in 1916, it is the oldest of the four WDWRR steamers.. Purchased by the Disney in 1968 from Ferrocariles Unidos de Yucatan in Mexico, it and 3 others were brought to Tampa Shipyards in Tampa, Florida for rebuilding. The rebuild was headed up by Bob Harpur, a Disney "Imagineer" and experienced live steam builder. New diesel-fired boilers were built by The Dixon Boiler Works in Los Angeles.
Several scenes, like an Indian camp, can only be seen by Magic Kingdom visitors riding the train. The rails also pass beneath "Splash Mountain" where one of the ride's scenes can be seen from the train.

Walt Disney RR #1

Locomotive #1 Walter E. Disney at Walt Disney World Railroad in Florida is a Baldwin 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler built in 1925 for the Ferrocariles Unidos de Yucatan and brought to Florida in 1968. Seen here is the front end poking out of a stall in the roundhouse at Magic Kingdom theme park. Views like this are available to the public during a $40 per person tour of the railroad. You will arrive at the park entrance an hour before opening time and join one of the railroad's engineers for the early morning run over the line to the roundhouse and then back on the line to Mickey's Toontown station for watering and boiler blowdown and then to the Main Street station for a discussion period with the guide about the railroad.

If you wonder about the fried food odor coming from your WDWRR locomotive, an employee told me that they are firing with biodiesel. Good information about WDWRR (and also Disneyland California) on Wikipedia.

Walt's Last Trains

Since I just returned from Walt Disney World in Florida this will be Disney week on Mike's Rails.

Disney executive Roger Broggie bought 5 used narrow-gauge Baldwin locomotives from the United Railways of Yucatan in Mexico. The four best locomotives came to Florida in 1968 with a stop in Tampa for rebuilding. Roger's son, Michael has written a good book "Walt Disney's Railroad Story". The whole subject of Walt Disney and trains is covered well by the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society web site. Their store carries Michael Broggie's book as well as others. WDWRR is also in Wikipedia.

This picture is WDWRR #2, The Lilly Belle, a 2-6-0 Mogul built by Baldwin in Philadelphia in 1928 pictured at Main Street Station in Disney's Magic Kingdom in January 2008. Number 2 is named for Walt Disney's wife, Lillian.

A Rare Appearance by John Bull

reposted from 2007
The "John Bull" replica Camden & Amboy #1 makes a rare appearance in the sun during a May, 2007 rearrangement at Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The museum's Plymouth shop switcher is pushing. The John Bull 4-2-0 replica was built in 1939 at the PRR shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania for the 1940 New York World's Fair. The replica is rigged to appear closer to it's 1830's appearance than the original John Bull at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.

John Bull made a live steam outing in 1986, appearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of Canada's Expo '86 World's Fair. C&A #1 last ran under steam in 1999 when it was taken to Railfair '99 at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento along with a crew of 7. John Bull was very popular with railfans from all over the world who saw it steaming in California. Other live steam appearances in 1999 were at Railroader's Memorial Museum in Altoona, at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, and back home in Strasburg. Today, John Bull occupies a place of honor at the center of the museum's rolling stock hall in front of C&A coach #3, the 2nd oldest passenger car in the US, on loan from the Smithsonian.

Read more about John Bull here.

Lancaster Northern at Rest

reposted- I hear that they are just running 2204 (9/2009)
Reinholds, PA September, 2007 - Two of Penn Eastern's Lancaster Northern ex-Conrail GE U23B's sit behind the old Reading station across from the Reinholds Hotel. Lancaster Northern services customers in Stevens, Denver, and Fritztown with a connection to Norfolk Southern's main line at Woodrow Avenue in Sinking Spring where they can run east to the Reading yard.

Loneliest Road in America

reposted from 2007 - will start new posts after I get back from Florida late Sept.
US highway 50 has signs in Nevada calling it "The Loneliest Road in America". I can see why. In the Great Basin regions of Nevada and Utah you can drive for significant periods of time without encountering a town or even another vehicle. Forget your cellphone. It will only have a signal when you are in a town. One of these towns is Ely, Nevada, home of the Nevada Northern Railroad. Known for its steam power, Nevada Northern also has a notable roster of diesels like Baldwins and Alcos. Today, the NNR still hauls some freight but the real business is being a full functional historic railroad museum. When I photographed in East Ely (the townies of Ely forced the copper miners and their railroad to start their own town) it was early Spring and the excursion train business was at least a month in the future while the winter steam photo sessions were six weeks past. The clean loneliness of the Steptoe Valley is apparent here and the coaling and water towers stand like monuments to the age when copper was king and railroaders helped make it possible.

Flying Toasters

reposted from 2007 -- I love those "Toasters"
Look at these "Toasters" fly. Even at the reduced speed of 90 MPH for crossing the Susquehanna River at Perryville, Maryland, these Amtrak AEM-7AC electrics are among the most powerful locomotives in service in North America. They are heading up the sleepers and coaches of Amtrak's train number 98, the Silver Meteor from Miami in May, 2007.

More details about these electric workhorses can be found at Genno Dailey's Amtrak Photo Archive.

Perryville station is a wonderful place to take children train watching. Arrive after the morning MARC commuter rush and you will probably have the place to yourself. On weekends when MARC is asleep it will be all yours. Same goes for the parking lot.