Tag Archives: trains

We Are Worried About Standardizing Time On The Moon When Aid Workers Are Being Killed In Gaza?

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by Anura Guruge
on April 3, 2024

Click to ENLARGE. Base news stories from ‘Google News‘.

Yes, I understand the need. I am big fan of TIME.

Life is time. Time is life.

Yes, yes, yes. I know quite a bit about how and why time got standardized on earth. Yes, it had to do with the railways. Get all of that. {I also note that we currently don’t have a train service on the moon.}

My only point. Come on. Yes, I appreciate that science must go on. But, right now. The White House has other MORE URGENT problems.

That is my only point.

When we have PEACE in Ukraine & Gaza let’s get back to this.

Fair.

Smile.

‘The Railway Men’ (2023) Indian Miniseries On ‘Netflix’: Interesting Story Makes Up For POOR Production.

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by Anura Guruge
on November 23, 2023

Click to ENLARGE. For ‘IMDb.com’ listing.

I, of course, remember the ‘Union Carbide’ ‘Bhopal’ disaster. How could you not. I, however, was NOT that familiar with all the details and machinations. Had NO IDEA, whatsoever, about this RAILWAY angle. As such I kind of ‘enjoyed’ watching this 4-part miniseries. Definitely worth watching to get SOME of the facts.

Alas it was poorly made. NOT up to Indian Bollywood standards. I am surprised.

Let me just HIGHLIGHT these points:
>> the computer animation/graphics of the TRAINS is APPALLING. Childish. Really, really, really bad. It is so bad that it is like a caricature. LOW BUDGET. That really spoilt my enjoyment. I love trains. I want them to be shown ACCURATELY.

>> Also not sure whether the depiction of trains is HISTORICALLY accurate. At the end they splice in some real movie footage from 1984. Those show STEAM trains. In the Series all they show are badly rendered diesels.

>> Makes out like everything revolved around the railways. That was NOT realistic.

>> Left a TON of unanswered questions.

So, I felt that it only scratched the surface, BUT I learnt a LOT about one angle that I had no idea about.

Just remember that the production is POOR. Shame.

‘Central Maine Railroad (CSX)’ In Action At ‘Scarborough’, At Their Huge Yard — November 9, 2023.

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by Anura Guruge
on November 9, 2023

Click images to ENLARGE.

Click to ENLARGE. The CSX yard relative to where I took these pictures.

I had stumbled up this (sometimes very busy) ‘Central Maine Railroad‘ (CSZ) railway yard, serendipitously, in April of this year when I was getting my ‘Volvo XC60‘ serviced. The Volvo dealership, as it happens, is rather close to the yard.

I enjoyed watching the trains, albeit a bit at a distance, in April.

I was back at the dealership today for my 2-year/20k mile service.

This time I was prepared. Though we had had some snow earlier, the weather cooperated. I walked way down (like 2-miles) to the top of the yard itself.

Well you can see the pictures. Not much actions. LOTS of engines — over a dozen. But, they were not doing anything productive! I see that a LOT up here. SMILE.

IF You Like Trains, You MUST Watch These ‘YouTube’ Videos Of ‘UP 4014 Big Boy’ Helping Out A Stalled Freight Train — Pretty Special.

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by Anura Guruge
on July 13, 2023

Frame grab from YouTube video BELOW.
Plenty more YouTube videos. Check them out. I have watched about 4!

I have a thing about the ‘Big Boy‘ — special place in my heart. Lucky enough to have seen the one on display, i.e., ‘UP 4012‘ at ‘Steamtown USA‘. Maybe, with luck, I still might get a chance to see one working.

YouTube knows my penchant for the ‘Big Boy’. So, ‘Big Boy’ video recommendations are frequently displayed on my ‘Recommended’ list. I happened to see the heading about it HELPING a stalled freight train. Had to investigate. Had a look. It was cool. Yes, I FastForwarded over the boring bits & just watched the action. It was good. I then searched for more & watched a few others.

Wanted to SHARE this with YOU — in case YOU, like I, like trains. I feel bad for those that don’t. Must be something wrong with them.

IF you like trains, especially STEAM, check these videos out. You will NOT be dissapointed. Most of them are fairly well ‘produced’.

‘Hunter Valley Steamfest 2023’ In Australia: 4 Steam Trains Racing — Blinking, Bloody Brilliant.

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by Anura Guruge
on May 19, 2023

Frame grab from YouTube video BELOW.

Google it. They have a Facebook page (left) & their own website.

There is also a TON of YouTube videos — some better than others. I am still searching.

This is BLOODY brilliant. 4 parallel tracks with 4 steam locomotives. Pretty heady stuff for train lovers (like I). Wow, wow, wow.

I am AMAZED that I have never heard of it given that I have been an avid, committed train buff all my life.

One of the videos from the 2023 Steamfest came up on YouTube as a ‘recommendation’. Given that I watch at least ONE train video per night, YouTube knows what will get my attention. I was BLOWN AWAY.

I have watched about 6 of the videos — though I will confess that I am still looking for a ‘better one’. I want a mini-documentary of sorts — with a commentary explaining what is taking place. Yet to find that. If YOU do, please let me know.

I was struck by these 4 points in particular:

1/ I am a TOTAL SUCKER for Beyer-Garratts. So, that one of them, the 6209, is a Garratt, alone would have been enough to get me hooked.

2/ At least two of the trains had HUGE water tenders coupled to the engine. I have not seen that before. Must be an Australian thing. I am going to check that out. Interesting.

3/ Two trains, from what I can see, had ‘modern’ diesel locomotives at the back — & there are clips of the train being pulled back by the diesels. Not sure what that is all about.

4/ Quite the set-up with 4 parallel tracks. I need to learn more.

IF you like trains, especially STEAM, check this out. You will NOT be dissapointed (bar from the non-documentary nature of the videos).

‘Bucket List’ I Can Relate To — ‘White River Junction’, Vermont.

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by Anura Guruge
on May 9, 2023

Click to ENLARGE.

A covered container of crayons has been (thoughtfully) provided & some have used the crayons to produce some nice ‘art’.

Definitely MY kind of bucket list. Not pretensions. Not extravagant. Realistic & true to life. But, I will also acknowledge that the demographics of this are fairly obvious & that makes it both cute & profound. The contributors most likely had to have been young adults. Nothing wrong with that. I can’t imagine too many 70 year olds taking time to write on ‘this wall‘. They should. But, just reading it was not only entertaining but thought provocing.

There were two that truly resonated with I: ‘LIVE‘ & ‘go everywhere’.

Not that dissimilar to MY bucket list. Not sure about ‘everywhere’ BUT I sure do plan to go as many places as I can.

My bucket list is very modest, hugely realistic & above all very DOABLE. I like that. That is in keeping with my lifestyle. I would rather have modest goals & nail them than shoot for the stars & fall on my face.

Not sure about ‘kissing a lot of cows‘. I they talking about the four-legged kind? Not sure. I am sure I have never kissed a bovine cow. I might have been licked by one, but even then I can’t be sure. Though it is something to think about, I know that this will not make it to my personal bucket list.

This joyful list CONFIRMED that I LIKE ‘White River Junction‘, Vermont — & not just for the trains (though that sure did play a role). Dynamic, high-energy, VERY ARTISTIC town. I was very impressed. Planning to go back SOON — maybe within the week!

Stay tuned. I have more photos & posts about this delightful town, White River Junction, Vt.

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Trains At ‘White River Junction’, Vermont — May 4, 2023.

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by Anura Guruge
on May 6, 2023

Click images to ENLARGE.

This was my first time back in ‘White River Junction‘ (WRJ) in over 25 years! And the last time I was basically passing through. However, I kind of always knew that WRJ had a connection with trains & that the ‘junction’ part might very well allude to that. When I visited WRJ on Thursday, May 4, 2023 (after spending there following the ‘Rachmaninoff‘ vigil at ‘Dartmouth‘) I was sure blown away. It is very much a TRAIN TOWN — very proud of that heritage & eager to promote it. That it appears to be a very busy ‘Amtrak‘ station helps.

WRJ & its links with trains.

I had only planned to spend at most an hour in town scoping it out. Once I saw & heard the trains, I ended up spending over 3 hours! Yes, I like trains. That is no secret. Great place. Very nice folks. I will do most posts about this DELIGHTFUL town just across the border from New Hampshire.

Trains At ‘Ticonderoga Station’, New York, ‘Canadian Pacific’ & ‘Amtrak’ — April 19, 2023.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 25, 2023

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Visiting the famous, historic fort at Ticonderoga was one of the reasons for my trip to ‘Lake George‘, New York, last week. I knew the fort was closed for the winter but was willing to just walk some of the grounds. I visited the fort twice, on my first day & last. It was raining hard on the first day so I didn’t spend much time venturing around. But, to my delight I was that there was a station, obviously operational, right next to the entrance to the fort.

When I next visited, on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, around 1:30pm, to my DELIGHT there was a Canadian Pacific freight train sitting at the station — the locomotive growling. What joy. I love trains. SMILE. Always have, always will.

I parked pretty close to the station (& the railway crossing) on the entrance road to the fort. Since the entrance was closed this was not really an issue. There was no one else trying to get to the fort. You can actually see my loaner Volvo in the picture directly above (^^).

I went walkabouts. There was an old couple seated in their car at the station having lunch. I did not disturb them. The train sat there, and sat there, and sat there, for quite a while. So, I ambled down to the lake, i.e., ‘Lake Champlain’ & the ferry which is basically just there. After about 30 minutes the engine note changed & it started the horn started blaring. I knew it was finally moving. I headed back. As you can see I got back in time. SMILE.

I went back to the station. The gentleman from the parked car was outside & he greeted me. Very nice gent. Told me that he & his wife come to the station regularly to see the trains; the wife very fond of seeing them. He told me to hang around that an Amtrak was due soon. He was right. It came ever sooner than he expected. It came fast. Braked hard. Stopped fleetingly. No one got out or got on. It left in a hurry. So, that was that. It was fun.

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‘Central Maine Railroad (CSX)’ In Action At ‘Scarborough’, At Their Huge Yard — April 14, 2023.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 15, 2023

Click images to ENLARGE.

Click to ENLARGE. The CSX yard relative to where I took these pictures.

It would appear that railroad cargo activity in Southern Maine has increased quite a bit of late. I did a quick Google & found that this is indeed the case & that ‘CSX’, who are now the operators of ‘Central Maine Railroad‘, has kicked operations up quite a bit.

I often bemoan that living in New Hampshire I don’t get to see too many trains. That is a fact. But yesterday, in Southern Maine, south of Portland, I, to my surprise & DELIGHT, got to see some REAL, long & heavy, freight trains. Wow. Unexpected.

The ‘Volvo’ dealership that I take my (accursed) XC60 is pretty close to the yard.

I take an amble while they do whatever needs to be done to the (bloody) Volvo. I used to amble down Rte 1 but on my last visit & discovered this golf driving range on a pond. It is a RIOT. They drive the golf balls into water. I like that. Gives me a kick. So, yesterday I made a point of ambling to the pond. On the way I heard the UNMISTAKABLE sound of diesel train engines in action. I clamoured down the embankment. It was worth it.

Busy. I was surprised. I have to go back next week. Bloody Volvo. But, they gave me a real fancy LOANER. Even fancier than my XC60 & mine is pretty fancy. So, when I am there next week I am going to go to the yard itself. Wow.

Here are some pictures of the driving range. Check the pictures out. You can see the balls bobbing in the water in one of them. Enjoy.

India’s 12,000HP “WAG-12B” Electric Locomotive.

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by Anura Guruge
on February 2, 2023

Click to ENLARGE. For this post on ‘Facebook’.
Click to ENLARGE & read here. Wikipedia link.

The post shown at top appeared on my ‘Facebook‘ timeline last week (no doubt because I belong to a number of train-related groups). It immediately caught my interest — especially the claim that it was the MOST powerful & that it was ‘homegrown’. I made a note to check on these when I had the time.

Yes, I did do some quick checking. Both claims are what I think of as “Indian truths” — they have to be taken with a large grain of salt since they are not exactly true.

Wikipedia, to its credit, has a list of the “World’s Largest Locomotives” — some of them, by their sheer nature, also happening to be the “Most Powerful“. The WAG-12 is listed as the LARGEST but in terms of horsepower (HP) there appears to be at least two Russian locos that supposedly produce 17,000(+) hp.

But, I enjoyed the few minutes I go to look up this stuff. I love trains — or to be really truthful I love train engines. Train carriages, whether passenger, freight or caboose, doesn’t move me. But, I love all engines.

THREE (3) main things I learnt, & if & when I have time I sure plan to look into these more.

1/ That Russia & India made such big, powerful engines — way, way bigger than anything being built in the U.S. That is pretty amazing.

2/ That steam engines could deliver more power than diesel, diesel/electric or electric locs. Wow. Had no idea.

3/ That there is some difference as to the power — to the wheels — delivered by steam compared to the other methods. I really need to understand this better.

Just wanted to share this with you. Hope you find it interesting & maybe even useful.