Large Scale Central

Interesting book

General Discussion
#1

I’ve been reading a book called Set Up Running by John Orr. It’s based on interviews he did with his Father, O. P. Orr. O. P. was an engineer on the PRR for 45 years, till 1949, and ran pretty much everything the PRR had in steam. He ended up doing evaluations of new loco designs in the 40s. I’m only about 1/4 through it, and right now he’s running an H6 consolidation through north-central PA. It’s interesting in that it describes, without a rivet-counter level of detail, how he learns to get the most out of the engine. It also gives interesting accounts of what life was like for an engineer–how they got assignments, how they got promoted, what relations with the other guys on the train were like. I’m enjoying it.

Set Up Running:The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949

#2

Mike,

Thanks for the tip.

#3

Dear All,

Quite the book. Highly recommended.

The son, John - the author, has an incredible memory of the details of his father’s stories.

The romance of the job vs. the reality of the job of railroad engineer…

(Hmm, …I’m agreeing with mike on something… )

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

#4

Looks like a good read!

Met a retired chap at a party last year who’d been a fireman on the railways in India. He soon disabused me of whatever romantic notions I’d entertained about such work.

#5

November15, 1968, I hired on with Missouri Pacific Railroad as a Hostler’s Helper. Grave yard shifts, weekends, extra board, and total umbilical attachment to the phone in pre beeper and cell phone days took the charm out of the job real quick. Preparing for taking my girl out on Friday night at 4pm and being on a train to Jeff City at 6pm really cramped the love life. It was an interesting month that is a chapter of my life.

#6

I would not say the book romanticizes the life of an engineman but it’s not free of thrills either. In last night’s chapter O.P. finally got a Mikado, an upgrade from his consolidation, and promptly wore out his fireman trying to keep up steam

It looks to me like it was a hard job that took you away from home a lot

#7

mike,

Perhaps a better way to express my thoughts would have been:

“My (Joe Satnik’s) romantic notions of the job vs. the real hardships of the job of railroad engineer.”

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

#8

This bloke lived about a mile from where I grew up in the '50s.

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrphotos/LIRR%20Engineer%20Patrick%20Molese%20-%20Vignette.htm

#9

Kind of sounds like a sailor’s life.

Me: (answers phone) Hello?
Petty Officer of the Watch: Doc, report to the ship no later than 2300. We are getting underweigh at 0300.
Me: (aside) Shot! (To POOW) What happened?
POOW: USS Tied-to-the-pier can’t find the ignition key. We have to take her obligations.
Me: We did that last week. Isn’t there someone else? How about the Always Broke?
POOW: They failed their INSURV and can’t get underweigh until they clear 45 majors. It’s us, Doc.

#10

Thanks also for the tip Mike, I love these sort of books.

My favourite one, though a little techo, was the Red Devil and Other Tales from the Age of Steam by David Wardale. One of the best books on the steam locomotive EVER (and I mean that most sincerely). Pretty hard to find as every time there’s a reprint it sells out nigh on instantly. It covers David Wardale’s work on attempting to improve the performance of steam locos in South Africa towards the end of steam there in the 1980’s and 90’s. David Wardale is one of the world’s most respected engineers of steam locomotive design and efficiency and was heavily involved in Ross Rowland’s ACE3000 project including the coal tests run with C&O 614T. If you can find a copy of the book, grab it, you won’t regret it.

And Steve, love the sig, brought a smile to my face instantly!

Cheers
Tony

#11

A few months ago I read “Empire Express” by David Haward Bain. It is the definitive book on building the Transcontinental Railroad and is absolutely fascinating. He goes into great depth, beginning with early proponents of the railroad and the events that gradually pushed it forward. The book gives you a real insight into the times, the cultures, the people involved, and the many ways that this epic work changed the world. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.

#12

“The Boomer - A Story of the Rails” (fiction) by Harry Bedwell

c 1942, most recent printing 2006.

Good story.

#13

Dave, that was very interesting! Paul

#14
E. Paul Austin said:
Dave, that was very interesting! Paul
Glad you enjoyed it, Paul.

As kids, we used to go to the front car of the F train so we could look out the front window - you could do that with the old NYC subway cars. Never occurred to us that, like the RDC, there wasn’t much between us and anything the train happened to hit!