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Hitching a Ride on the Rails
April 17, 2009 By 4 Comments
Yesterday we had our first sunny day in 5 days! I took the kids on an impromptu outing. Around lunch time we were at the park and saw my husband/their daddy driving the newly painted train. He was driving back and forth on a little bit of track moving freight cars around.
This video will show you what happened.
It was definitely a finer thing! Visit The Finer Things in Life to see more.
Who’s Driving a Locomotive?
March 10, 2009 By 2 Comments
My husband is driving – not me. Technically it’s called operating a locomotive – not driving. He now has his engineer license!
Watch the following video of him explaining the steps of starting a locomotive.
The train in the following video is an ALCO T-6. Series number 1016. It was built in 1969 and was ALCO’s last completed model. Here’s the tricky part. There is a 1017, but it was actually finished before this 1016. Got it? No? That’s ok. 
And for the 2 guys that read this… It’s a 1000 horsepower engine.
- Video deleted – Sorry, but it was necessary.
Painting a Locomotive
March 3, 2009 By 1 Comment
My husband is the chief mechanic at a local railroad that hauls local freight and tourists. One of the projects this winter was painting an ALCO S-6 locomotive. It was originally bought by Western Maryland in the 1950′s. They restored the engine to it’s original colors.
Next week I would like to show you how to drive a locomotive.
Train Yard Fun
November 7, 2008 By 3 Comments
Last month my husband worked some Saturdays to learn more and help out with the steam engine. He had worked on it many times, but this was the first time he helped run it.
I didn’t want to stay home with the kids on Saturday too so I decided that the kids and I would go for a train ride.
The steam engine was not ready for the trip that we were there for, but by that time I would have been murdilated if I just took the kids back home. So we rode the train pulled by the diesel engine. The kids didn’t care.
Afterward I went down the line a little to get some video of the steam engine that was pulling the next train.
Unfortunately I only got a little bit because my 2yo was scared. She ran, tripped, and cried even though she was back far enough. It is a big, loud, awesome piece of machine.
The steam engine in the video was built in 1910 by Montreal Locomotive Works for Grand Trunk Railroad. When Canadian National Railroad bought out Grand Trunk they acquired this steam engine.
It’s a coal fired steam engine class E 10 A with a 260 configuration. If you ask me what all that means I’ll have to get back to you. 
In house wife terms it has 2 small front wheels, six drivers, and no rear wheels.
Number 91 can out pull anything in their train yard including their 1000 horsepower diesel engine. All without one electrical or electronic part on it.
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