Author: Trainumentarian

Trainumentary Trivia: Is the Caboose Still in Use?

| Trainumentarian

Is there a railroad entity around that still uses cabooses as functional train cars? Find the answer below the photo of Texas and Pacific caboose 13553, which was snapped from the window of the Texas Eagle as it passed through Mineola, TX in January 2016.

2016-01-25 001 005

 

Answer – Yes!

According to Wikipedia as of this writing:

“CSX Transportation is one of the only Class 1 railroads that still maintains a fleet of modified cabooses for regular use. Employed as “shoving platforms” at the rear of local freight trains which must perform long reverse moves or heavy switching, these are generally rebuilt bay-window cabooses with their cabin doors welded shut (leaving their crews to work from the rear platform). BNSF also maintains a fleet of former wide-vision cabooses for a similar purpose, and in 2013 began repainting some of them in heritage paint schemes of BNSF’s predecessor railroads.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caboose

The featured photo is an old red wooden caboose which is part of the railway stock at the Lakeshore Historical Railway Society in North East, PA.

both caboose photos c. 2016 trainumentary.com

 

 

 

 

 

Trainumentary Trivia: Can you name the first locomotive to operate in North America?

| Trainumentarian

According to “Erie Railroad – Its Beginnings  1851,” the first locomotive “ever to operate on this continent” was:

a. Gladys McMannis

b. The Best Friend of Pennsylvania

c. The Stourbridge Lion

d. Ravine Flyer

Find the correct answer below this photo of art depicting the old-time Greenville, PA train station, which presently hangs at Greenville Railroad Park. The featured B&W image of the first American train also can be viewed at the Greeville museum.

082015 greenville old trainstation art edited

c. The Stourbridge Lion

Click H E R E to read more of “Erie Railroad – Its Beginnings  1851”

both photos are c. 2015 by trainumentary.com

Proud Veteran Owned Business Member!

Trainumentary 6: Waldameer’s L. Ruth Express I

| Trainumentarian

Get a mini-thrill with a passenger’s eye view as the shiny L. Ruth Express I chugs through Waldameer’s train tunnel in July 2015.

Waldameer Park and Water World is an amusement park located at the entrance to Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA, and its train ride has carried countless passengers since the mid-1900s.
Video c. 2015 Vacationing Parakeet Productions (VPP), music “A Midsummer’s Night Train Ride” c. 2015 Christine Lorraine Collection. Click on the orange “subscribe” button to see new VPP videos as they are released.
Please patronize and share our sponsor sites:
trainumentary.com
pugrealitytv.com
xtinethewriter.com

L.Ruth Express photos c. 2015 Trainumentary.com

Proud Veteran Owned Business Member!

Trainumentary 2: Lake Wenatchee Dining Car, wooden caboose, Pend O’Reille River Sleeper

| Trainumentarian

Click here to enjoy Trainumentary 2, a video featuring the Lakeshore Railway Museum in North East, PA.

17377667595_d9768a2e08_o

Train enthusiasts will enjoy this trip of days of railroad past. Watch a walk through the Lake Wenatchee dining car, then get a real feel for what it was like to catch some traineriffic shut-eye aboard the Pend O’Reille River sleeper car, followed by a walk-through of the old wooden “164” red caboose.

This authentic railway display is made possible by the untiring efforts of the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society and Museum in North East, PA on the Lake Erie shoreline.

Video c. 2014 by Vacationing Parakeet Productions (VPP). Original musical composition “Urban Train Song” c. 2014 Christine Lorraine Music Collection, and was written specifically for this video. Photos c. 2014 trainumentary.com

Trainumentary Trivia: Longest Passenger Train

| Trainumentarian

In what year did the world’s longest passenger train, consisting of 70 coaches pulled by one locomotive, make its renowned journey of nearly 40 miles?

a. 1892

b. 1954

c. 1991

d. 2009

Find the answer beneath the photo of the Lake Wenatchee dining car, which is open to the public at the Lakeshore Historical Railway Society Museum in North East, PA.

Image c. 2014 by Trainumentary.com

17191438609_bdfd380520_o

c – 1991, according to the Guiness Book of World Records website

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-passenger-train/:

“A passenger train created by the National Belgian Railway Company (NMBS) measured 1732.9m (5685.3ft) andconsisted of 70 coaches pulled by one electric locomotive. It traveled 62.5km (38.9miles) from Ghent to Ostend on April 27, 1991.

The train was a once-off creation in aid of a Belgian cancer research charity called ‘Kom op tegen kanker’ (Fight Against Cancer) and its journey was broadcast live on Belgian television. It weighed 2,786tonnes and made the journey in 1hr 11min at an average speed of 52.8km/h (32.8mph). There were 216 people aboard the train, which consisted of four international coaches, one bar/dancing coach, 60 national coaches and five

 

 
Veteran Owned Business Directory, Get your free listing, now!

Trainumentary Trivia: Chicago Union Station

| Trainumentarian

In what year was the Great Hall inside Chicago Union Station originally completed? The answer can be found beneath the two photos below, which offer a glimpse of what the freshly renovated Great Hall looks like as of January 2016.

Photos c. 2016 by Trainumentary.com

2016-01-27 001 001

 

2016-01-25 001 060

a. 1925

The Great Hall at Chicago’s train station was “…Originally designed by famed architect Daniel Burnham (“make no small plans, they have no magic to stir men’s blood”) and completed in 1925 by the Graham, Anderson, Probst and White Firm, the Great Hall is considered to be one of the greatest indoor spaces in the United States.” ~~ quote from http://www.chicagounionstation.com/services.html

Trainumentary Trivia: GCR No. 29-The little engine that can

| Trainumentarian

Grand Canyon Railway No. 29 “can pull ____ fully loaded cars up our steepest grades unassisted,” according to informational literature displayed in front of the locomotive as of January 2016.

Find the answer to this question beneath the two photos of GCR No. 29, which are C. 2016 by trainumentary.com.

2016-01-20 001 160

This 111-year-old locomotive is located just off to the side of the Grand Canyon Railroad’s train station.

2016-01-20 001 159

Answer: Eight (8) fully loaded cars

Source: See photo below

2016-01-20 001 161

photos c. 2016 by trainumentary.com

Veteran Owned Business Directory, Get your free listing, now!

Trainumentary Trivia: Candid Caboose

| Trainumentarian

At some point in the 1830s, as railways became longer, cabooses began appearing on the train track horizon. This was because railroads had started to provide functional housing for employees in shanties, which were often constructed directly onto flatcars or boxcars.

Aside from serving as the office for the train’s conductor, there were typically two other trainmen stationed in the caboose. They were:

a. Electrician and Doctor

b. Brakeman and Flagman

c. Candlestick Maker and Cook

d. Topographer and herbalist

The correct answer can be found beneath this photograph of the yellow Union Pacific caboose, which is stationed at Greenville Railroad Park, PA.

2015-08-20 001 012.JPG

 

The correct answer is “b,” Brakeman and flagman, according to information posted at the Union Pacific website https://www.up.com/aboutup/history/caboose/index.htm

Photo c. 2015 by trainumentary.com

Feature photo shows The Texas & Pacific Railway caboose that is presently on display in Mineola, TX. This image is c. 2016 by trainumentary.com