Trains of all kinds for 911...

I like to see it lap the Miles —
And lick the Valleys up —
And stop to feed itself at Tanks —
And then — prodigious step

Around a Pile of Mountains —
And supercilious peer
In Shanties — by the sides of Roads —
And then a Quarry pare

To fit its Ribs
And crawl between
Complaining all the while
In horrid — hooting stanza —
Then chase itself down Hill —

And neigh like Boanerges —
Then — punctual as a Star
Stop — docile and omnipotent
At its own stable door —

This is Miss Dickinson's impression of the old coal burning steam locomotive.
That great powerful, hissing, ugly, brutish, unstoppable coal burning
monster that would set in the station waiting to leap across our nation.
That king of power woke me in the nights with it's mournful cry-miss 'um.

School outing in 54, (should I write 1954?) rode in one of those monsters for about 100 miles at age 13, none of us could resist sticking our heads out the windows, getting an eyeful of cinders, still...

I showed two people (Two Young Adults) Emily's poem, they could not decipher what the poem was about. Poor kids, never will get to see
a fire breathing monster up close.
 
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Bonnie:
What did the print say, magnificence brute, or something similar.
Yes indeed, that's a big hunk of machine coming at ya.

[Way back when: when the diesel locomotives replaced the coal burning locomotives, the fireman's (the guy that shoveled the coal) job was in jeopardy.
Management said we do not need anyone to shovel coal, he's gone.
The union said, will they said a lot of 'made up things' about why the fireman was necessary, in a locomotive that burned oil...
This is when unions were strong, the fireman stayed.-for several year).
I don't know how many crew members are actually in a locomotive today.
 

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My avatar is a Pickens Railroad GE baby U Boat (U18B‘s formerly CSX). V8 Turbo diesels. A shortline that operates weekdays, with NS and CSX connections. My grandfather was an engineer for 50 years, his first locomotive was an ALCO 2-6-0 Mogul, last was a GE 44 Ton switcher (now in the Southeastern Railway Museum). My dad served in the CBI during WW II with the 721st Railway Battalion in India.
 
Some superb train photos on show here!

I'll add a few of mine if I may...

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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911 said:
Has anyone ever seen the movie, "Runaway Train?" It starred Eric Roberts and John Voight. A lot of bad language in this movie, but the action keeps you interested throughout the movie. I thought the movie was underrated, although they could have cut back on the language.
Click to expand...
I saw that movie and it was so exciting I thought I'd have a coronary. Agree about the language 911. Uncalled for.
 

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