I have always been interested in unusual prototype train consists. Sometimes they are great to recreate on our layouts as generally no one believes they are recreations of actual trains.

The following photo was taken last week in Poland. They are still running regularly scheduled steam on one branch. Normally it is one steam loco with two coaches. Due to Covid and the lack of ridership most of the trains lately only have one coach.

On this day apparently the steam loco assigned to the train had a failed compressor so a second loco had to be dispatched to haul the train back to town,

Made for an interesting train.

Stan

Will bet they got the rescue done 14 hours faster than Amtrak would have.

Years ago UP 844 shoved a stalled freight train thru Wyoming

Years ago UP 844 shoved a stalled freight train thru Wyoming

I remember reading all about that in some magazine or other. #844 was on its way home to Cheyenne and a freight with several DP diesels stalled on the grade. After waiting at the prior signal, someone of 844 remarked: “Well, we may not have Tractive Effort, but we sure got Horsepower” so they offered to assist. It makes fascinating reading - they shoved the train halfway up the grade and then had to stop while the crews were changed - epxired work day!

Full description here, including another occasion when 844 helped out.

http://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/p/152305/1684968.aspx

Of course, #844 has never left the UP roster, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t help occasionally.

Folks;

This was several years before I got an android phone, so I regret there is no photo. Our gang would frequently watch trains before a Roanoke Chapter, NRHS meeting. After all, our meetings were in the O. Winston Link Museum, aka the former Roanoke passenger station. One warm July evening a trash train bound for Shaffer’s Crossing rolled by our train watching gang, and the stuff was RIPE! It is probably the only time I have ever seen a group of railfans hastily step away from the train in unison.

Have fun, David Meashey

I have seen those trash trains, Dave, on the web cam. It seems fortuitous that I was watching and not there. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

We were staying in Alexandria, Virginia across from the George Washington Masonic Memorial, and lo and behold, there is a passenger stop across the street. I’m standing on the waiting platform waiting for a nice train to photograph, and the longest Waste Management train goes by. I was almost knocked over from the smell!

One warm July evening a trash train bound for Shaffer’s Crossing rolled by our train watching gang, and the stuff was RIPE!

Hmm . . More thread drift. This is about “Unusual Consists” and we can’t model trash smells, can we? A trash train is going to look like any other - nothing unusual until you smell it.

But once you do smell it, wooowee!

Pete Thornton said:

One warm July evening a trash train bound for Shaffer’s Crossing rolled by our train watching gang, and the stuff was RIPE!

Hmm . . More thread drift. This is about “Unusual Consists” and we can’t model trash smells, can we? A trash train is going to look like any other - nothing unusual until you smell it.

Did not intend my post as threat drift. To me, at least, trash trains are somewhat unusual. Do not see them here very often, now that the local run has been cancelled, and have seen only two or three of them over many years of watching trains.

Sincerely, David Meashey

Did not intend my post as threat drift.

Perhaps it is my ignorance of trash trains - is there anything unusual about them apart from the smell? What do they use? Hoppers? Covered hoppers?

The one’s I’ve seen look something like an over sized ore car with trash heaped inside them.

Unfortunately, a lot of Model Railroaders, in all scales do not do much variety in the consists of their passenger trains.Too often they just run the same consist round and round.

If modelling the passenger operations of some railroads (When they ran passenger trains) varied their trains rather regularly.

An example, here in Eastern Canada. Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National ran “Pool Trains” where they pooled their equipment between certain cities. So, you could see a CP locomotive, pulling a combination of CP, and CN cars running on CN track.They evan ran trains from Montreal, and Toronto straight through to New York, or Chicago, with NYC equipment mixed in with CP rolling stock. Pullman owned equipment could be seen on many railroads too.

Dropping and picking up “Head End” equipment was a switching move carried out with passenger trains too, and is seldom modelled on model rails.

We often call ourselves "Model Railroaders, but only a few actually “Model” the “Operations” of a railroad, and least of all Passenger operations.

Good subject…Mr.Ames…thank you.

Fred Mills

Pete Thornton said:

Did not intend my post as threat drift.

Perhaps it is my ignorance of trash trains - is there anything unusual about them apart from the smell? What do they use? Hoppers? Covered hoppers?

YES!

The local (Roanoke, VA) trash train used special, oversized (like the same height as a box car) covered gondola type cars. Another trash train that I saw had flat cars with those sealed containers (the cube type) that an extra heavy duty fork lift could pick up. Unfortunately, the containers could not seal out the smell. Even saw one with the cube type containers labeled for sewage. (And I thought my OO manure wagon was bad!)

Regards, David Meashey

Fr. Fred:

It has not been easy to model “Head End” cars. Aristo Baggage cars are scarce. USA Trains has not provided a car for their heavyweight line. I don’t know of anyone making express boxcars. So we are left with the normal predicament, if I want one, I gotta make my own! I would lovew to have an old fashioned heavyweight consist Mail Train.

If you follow my build for the PRR MP-54, you will see me bashing a RPO-Baggage car.

Lou, you are quite correct; they are hard to find, out of the box.

The solution is to make them yourself. What you bash may not follow what real railroads used exactly, but great enjoyment can be had just trying.

One car that was used quite a bit during the steam to head end power transition, was the "Steam Generator car.

Considering that a lot of the model Diesel locomotives available were not modeled with any sign of a steam generator on board (Such as the Aristo, Alco f, and FB units), a steam generator car is needed, for heat.

I made up several “Steam Gennies” using two Lionel plug door box cars. I used Bachmann passenger trucks to represent higher speed passenger trucks. Too bad I don’t do photography as a hobby. I will try to get a photo taken, if one of the guys comes by.

Another car that can be bashed is an “Express Reefer”. Again, all it takes is a common "Bachmann, LGB, or USTrains, wood reefer, mounted on Bachmann, or LGB passenger trucks, and painted with your road’s paint scheme, and lettering in the letterboard.

Quite often, you can put an Aristo heavyweight baggage car in the consist of your stainless equipped passenger train, or even a combine. The real railroads mixed up their equipment more often than not…try it, you might like it.

Fred Mills

Head end powered cars are all the rage these days

Yes indeedy do Fred, only Bachmann makes a sort of Heavyweight Baggage Car. I suppose one of those could be kitbashed, but the scale has to be changed also. Always a challenge.

Fred Mills. said:

Lou, you are quite correct; they are hard to find, out of the box.

The solution is to make them yourself. What you bash may not follow what real railroads used exactly, but great enjoyment can be had just trying.

One car that was used quite a bit during the steam to head end power transition, was the "Steam Generator car.

Considering that a lot of the model Diesel locomotives available were not modeled with any sign of a steam generator on board (Such as the Aristo, Alco f, and FB units), a steam generator car is needed, for heat.

I made up several “Steam Gennies” using two Lionel plug door box cars. I used Bachmann passenger trucks to represent higher speed passenger trucks. Too bad I don’t do photography as a hobby. I will try to get a photo taken, if one of the guys comes by.

Another car that can be bashed is an “Express Reefer”. Again, all it takes is a common "Bachmann, LGB, or USTrains, wood reefer, mounted on Bachmann, or LGB passenger trucks, and painted with your road’s paint scheme, and lettering in the letterboard.

Quite often, you can put an Aristo heavyweight baggage car in the consist of your stainless equipped passenger train, or even a combine. The real railroads mixed up their equipment more often than not…try it, you might like it.

Fred Mills

Lou has a stainless equipped passenger train?