Diesel Step Children...

Discussion in 'Diesel General' started by TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020), Feb 3, 2018.

  1. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    This doesn't have a whole lot to do with anything, but I've always had a soft spot for the Frisco diesels that were sort of their "stepchildren.". The FAs, U25s, the FM switchers, the RS2s, and the passenger geeps with steam generator stacks and the QA&P lettered geeps. You get the idea...

    Tom G.
     
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  2. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    This is a great idea Tom. The kinda "un-sung, or least celebrated work horses" of motive power. I don't know about how you ran a locomotive, never had the pleasure of working with you. But I think that like you, I did consider these units that carried me around and moved the tonnage kind of alive in a sense. Not like a steam engine seems alive, but still they are kinda complicated things. They would give you everything they had every time, sad thing is. The locomotives you mentioned above, most, if not all, succumb to the scrappers torch, without ceremony or recognition. We as Americans seem to re veer, people, and not the machines, in this case locomotives, that pushed, pulled and carried us to victory in 2 world wars, as well as countless skirmishes to date. All of the beans, bullets and band-aids had to be produced, and shipped. And all of these went through yards, marshaled, then sent along their way. Americas railroads, as well as railroad workers, whether yards or main tracks, have always stepped up, every time.
     
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  3. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    Tom--I never even have been IN a locomotive let alone run one, I'm just a railfan (I was a Postal Clerk) but I love trains and the Frisco and love the first generation diesels of all kinds. I never get tired of the black and yellow Frisco engines (And the racehorse/redbirds Es of course).

    Tom G.

    PS--I always envied the people who worked on the Frisco or any railroad.
     
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  4. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Sorry I made a recognition mistake Tom G.
    My bad.
    TDH

    P. S. My wife was a USPS letter carrier for 26 years.

    Thank you for your service to the USPS.
     
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  5. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    Curious, where did your wife carry mail? The carriers were the ones who did the rain, sleet, snow thing, thank HER for her service! Actually I think the poem mentions heat and dark of night rather than sleet and snow.. I was a clerk at Springfield MO for 39 years. Sadly I saw the demise of mail being carried by trains, the postal service was at its peak when mail traveled by rail!

    Tom G.
     
  6. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Count me in on the VOs, especially the first blue/white scheme.

    Had a chance to ride in the cab of a PRR E8 for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern years ago as it backed onto the siding for its excursion consist. I was surprised by how small the cab is.

    Best Regards,
     
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  7. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Agree with the VO's being liked because of their smaller numbers. The Frisco had quite a few - 40 to be exact (38 VO-1000's, 2 VO-660's). They liked them, but they could not compete with the EMD's, but they could out-pull them. Eventually, several were repowered by EMD with 567's. Like many of the minority brands, it was the differences that led to their demise - they were different, mainly in engines and controls, which led to maintenance inefficiencies.
    K

    ps- I also had a chance to ride in the cab of E's. Quite a thrill. First was on a Conrail business train between East StL and Terre Haute. Got to ride up there from about half-way out from EStL clear to Terre Haute. Neat. My main remembrance was the terror of stepping out of the baggage car behind the trailing unit into the nose door on the trailing E and through the lead unit while at speed. Then, the incredible noise & racket walking up to the lead cab while the four 567's were roaring along. They were ex-PRR E's, either E9 or E8 models, don't know which.
    The second was an "E-38-2" . It was on the UP on another business trip, only got to stay up there for about twenty minutes as we ran along through the Wyoming wilderness at dusk. We stopped somewhere for a red board, and I went back to the train while another colleague came up for a ride.
    The E-38-2 was a UP E9 that was upgraded by either UP or EMD, repowered by GP-38-2 645 2000 HP engines. They did this to an A-B-A set. This was on one of their very first runs, from Ogden to North Platte. The B-unit was sick. They kept it on line, but it smoked horribly all the way.
    We spent the night stopped at Green River, the night prior to our cab rides. I was assigned the compartment our Chairman of the Board usually slept in. He was a UP board member, still is I think. I felt like posting a sticky note of the wall saying "Hi, Ken slept here" but I was smart enough not to do that. I was making a presentation to him some time later, and I told him this story during a break. He thought it was funny; said I should have posted the note. Yeah, right!
    K
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2018
  8. gna

    gna Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I like FMs of all shapes and sizes, so I'm working on an H10-44. Nothing pulls like a Walthers/Roco H10-44! My father was a Machinist's Mate on an old Tench-class diesel boat, and he loves the FM OP. I really like the Erie-Builts and C-liners, but the Frisco never rostered them. I have few of the Proto 1k in various roads.

    I also like the VOs. A friend of mine managed to shoehorn a Lok-sound into one, and that De La Vergne burble is really neat.
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2018
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  9. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Hi Tom G.
    Vicki worked in Denver, and Grand Junction CO. Basically she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1997, and they let her go (fired her) for not being able to do her job.
    Not gonna get into the why and hows of all that, but she is still doing basically OK. She despises the internet, email and all things of the sort that does not use the USPS.
    She was always proud of her job, and talks about it to this day. LOL and thats OK with me.
    Best of all, she supports all, OK most, well some, well, what I tell her about my modeling efforts and purchases.
    Tom H.
     
  10. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Tom, my wife has MS also. Must admit it's rough, I now do most or all the house work and washing as it tires her out to exhaustion. I also tell her very little about the hobby. Ha Ha
     
  11. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    Tom--Any person that put up the weather and Post Office working conditions that a mail carrier has to is a super person in my book!

    Tom G.
     
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