Here is a picture of the water tower in Westley, CA. This was originally a Southern Pacific track but is now just a local track owned by the California Northern. There were two business on the property that still used this tank for water until about 10 years ago.
A friend of my parent's was in the service in Japan shortly after the end of WWII and was put on guard duty at a train station. One day some GI's came pulling up in a Japanese steam engine and were lost and had stopped to get directions from Frank. He started asking them about the train and...
I'll take my camera the next time I go to Westley. There is one there that is still standing. One ton of coal to the mile.:D I think the nearest coal deposits to here are in Utah.
I was reading about the QJ locomotives in China and it said that there is a mechanical device to deliver the coal to the fire box but it usually breaks down pretty quick and is never fixed. It takes two guys to shovel the coal in there and that they work in 10 to 15 minute shifts.
Are those the ones that have a pinion and a bevel gear and the bevel is on the wheel? If so that's what the Santa Cruz engine had. If I remember right it also had some cogs on the front wheel and in the really steep places they had a "rack" along the track for the cogs to fit into. Most of...
Stig, do they use steam because that way they can use coal as their power source (which I think they have) and don't have to use diesel which they would have to buy? Because I think there are a lot of old 1950's and 60's diesel electrics available to buy pretty cheap. We have a small railroad...
I've always been kind of fascinated by steam power. I didn't realize that China has been using steam locomotives until very recently. I've been kind of addicted to watching them on youtube. My kids have already informed me about how just confirms what a huge dork I am.
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