Saturday, April 27, 2024
Chemins de fer de l'Est (France) to the Lötschberg (Switzerland) route poster, circa 1913
One assumes that is a railway tunnel on the Lotschbergbahn, although the track isn't obvious. See earlier posts on the Lotschberg.
Jugoslavia electric locomotive stamp, 1995
Westinghouse electric locomotive demonstration train, 1905
Hafeet Rail lets contracts to build Oman – UAE railway
Three agreements have been signed paving the way for construction of a 303 km mixed-traffic railway linking the port of Sohar in Oman with Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
The contracts for the project, which is expected to have a total budget of around US$3 billion, were announced on April 23 during the joint UAE-Omani Business Forum in Abu Dhabi.
At the same event, the Oman – Etihad Rail joint venture of national railway project promoters Oman Rail and Etihad Rail, which was formed in September 2022, announced that it is to rebrand as Hafeet Rail. Hafeet Rail will also maintain the railway line between Sohar and the existing UAE national rail network.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Pickfords Scammell truck, 1950s
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Monday, April 22, 2024
Saturday, April 20, 2024
old Wellington tram in the countryside
There were never any Wellington lines that did run though countryside, but this shows an ex-Wellington tram on the Paekakariki Tram Museum line on the Kapiti Coast; a nice drone shot by Waikanae based artist and photographer, Tokerau Jim on his Facebook page. See earlier posts on the Tramway Museum.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
2-6-6-2 'Mallet Mogul'
Built by Baldwin in 1929, and used by the Southwest Forest Lumber Mills, it is now displayed near the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. (Geoff Churchman pic)
The first Mallet was an 0-6-6-0. Around 1905 the Great Northern Railroad was interested in one but wanted a locomotive that was better suited to main line operation. Baldwin built five "0-6-6-0"s with leading and trailing two-wheel trucks. This configuration suited the GN's curving main line of the Cascades.
It wasn't until 1910 that 2-6-6-2s were built with their firebox behind the drivers and supported by the trailing truck which is normally why one would have a trailing truck. Subsequent 2-6-6-2s were built following this design.
The 2-6-6-2 was primarily a low-speed locomotive. This wheel arrangement was also commonly used on the logging railroads in the Western USA. However, the C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio) continued developing the 2-6-6-2. Their versions evolved into very large road locomotives. With their smokebox-mounted air pumps, they looked quite impressive. Fortunately, two of these class H-6 C&O locomotives survive today.
This wheel arrangement was also used by the Southern Pacific in their development of the Cab Forward locomotive. On the SP this wheel arrangement was called a "Mallet Mogul".
Monday, April 15, 2024
Sunday, April 14, 2024
1959 Cadillac and a trailer
What in British Commonwealth countries is called a caravan. Probably the car was new when the pic was taken.
Friday, April 12, 2024
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
soft exteriors of cars aren't sturdy in a crash
Cars used to be able to take a hit. They weren’t as “safe,” it’s true. But the price you’re paying for that – literally – comes in the mail every six months or once a year, whenever the insurance mafia sends you the bill for it.
The bill – which has gone up by 26 percent on average over just the past 12 months – is based on the potential repair costs of fixing your late-model vehicle. Or the other guy’s. It doesn’t matter.
What does is that most of the cars on the road are soft on the outside. Their exterior panels are almost wafer thin, especially hoods. Raise yours and see. It is probably supported by a pair of small struts – because that’s all that’s needed to support a wafer-thin piece of metal you could probably bend by hand. You can imagine how much it will bend if you run into something.
“Bend” isn’t the right word, either. Bends can usually be fixed.
What will happen is the wafer-thin hood will fold up like a piece of cardboard – which might actually be preferable as hood material since cardboard is a lot cheaper to replace than a piece of wafer-thin stamped steel or aluminum.
Continue reading
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
tunneling is complete on the L.A. Metro’s D Line extension
Two LA Metro trains (an AnsaldoBreda P2250 model and a more recent Kinki Sharyo P3010 model from the late 2010's) on the A line cross near LA Union Station. (Geoff Churchman pic))
from the L.A. Times
The expansion project will add seven Metro stations and a high-speed connection from downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, according to L.A. Metro’s website. Construction of the $9.5-billion project began in 2019.
“As one of L.A.’s busiest areas, the Westside is the region’s second-largest job center,” Metro says on its website. “We are closer than ever to connecting busy areas and improving travel for everyone who lives, works and plays in L.A. County.”
Monday, April 1, 2024
new NSW D set interurban trains
One of the new sets at the Newcastle Interchange station. (Geoff Churchman pic)
from Wikipedia:-The NSW TrainLink D sets, also referred to as the Mariyung trains, are a class of electric multiple units (EMU) being built to replace NSW TrainLink's Intercity EMU fleet. The trains will operate on services from Sydney to Newcastle, Lithgow and Kiama, allowing the retirement of NSW TrainLink's V set fleet, and freeing the H set fleet for reallocation to Sydney suburban services.
The first trains were delivered in December 2019. After a protracted dispute between the government and the drivers' trade union over their safety, the first are scheduled to enter service in 2024.