Train Question

Skizo Hi ! Was that 1977? check the video, Question when the steam trains there were in their hayday there. Did They start a lot of Lineside fires, Who put them out or was that not an issue there? Do you know what people here have great nostalgia for them. But for me growing up as a boy in the early 60's i saw them being phased out. They were never clean. they were in a awful state. When you go to these preservation lines. there beautifully clean. I personally do not remember them that way. Any one any thoughts on that.

The maintenance crews put down weed killer and the cinders from the ash pan also helped to keep weeds away. Out west they used oil to fire the locos so it was less of a risk. Different railroads treated their steam differently. PRR pretty much gave up after WWIIso all their steam locos looked like a mess. SRR kept their passenger locos clean until retirement. N&W kind of quit cleaning the sides about half way to scrapping time. Just the running mechanics got the high pressure steam cleaning.
 
There are some tourist lines with cool steam stuff. I took a ride on the Cass Railway in Cass, WV a couple years ago. Its an old logging railway, with a run up to the top of the mountain pushed / pulled with a Shay locomotive. It has a couple of switchbacks, so at some points you're being pushed, some you are being pulled. The engine is just screaming along, sounding like you're doing a mile a minute but the cars are moving at about jogging speed. The gear reduction on those is pretty significant.
 
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