Robert Pence

MMmmmmm! Good stuff!

< :type: photo=0 >I think the earliest application of streamlining, mostly in the steam era, was in the various railroads' "Limiteds." The name had significance then, unlike its current carry-over use on Amtrak. Limited trains were often premium-class trains, with sleepers, diner, and parlor-lounges, and no coaches. They stopped only at division points, typically every 100 - 150 miles, where operating crews and locomotives were exchanged while passengers detrained or boarded and baggage was handled. Engines and crews were exchanged at division points because steam engines required coal, water, lubrication and dumping/cleaning of ash pans at those distances. It was common for an engineer and fireman to work the same engine day in and day out, and divisions were mostly defined by the distance that could be covered in a day, in an earlier time of much slower trains. Rather than delay the train while servicing the locomotive the railroads would position a freshly-prepared engine on a siding at the passenger station, and an accomplished crew could make the change in a remarkably short time, without so much as a bump to disturb sleeping travelers on night trains. Fort Wayne had engine terminals on three mainlines, the Pennsylvania (Chicago - New York/Washington), Nickel Plate (Chicago - Buffalo) and Wabash (Detroit - Kansas City), and all three ran premium passenger services through here. There was even a jointly-operated train by the Pennsylvania and the Wabash, The Detroit Arrow, that allowed both railroads to compete successfully in the lucrative market between Chicago and Detroit. It traveled between Chicago and Fort Wayne on the Pennsylvania, and between Fort Wayne and Detroit on the Wabash. The two railroads crossed downtown with an interchange track between them, and the depots were on opposite sides of the interchange just a couple of blocks apart. I think the train alternated between depots depending on the direction of travel. It was one of the fastest trains, terminal-to-terminal, with an average speed for the entire distance of 70 mph. A former boss who used to use that train told me that they could do an engine change in under two minutes. That's anecdotal, and although I suppose it's possible if perfectly orchestrated and practiced enough, it's incredible that they could do that consistently and not kill a crew member sooner or later.</ :type: >

I never noticed before, but it looks like the Xplorer provided some of the inspiration for the design of Amtrak's 1970s Amfleet rolling stock. The nose of the locomotive looks like a more aerodynamic, low-slung version of Baldwin's Sharks. I don't know what the Aerotrain inspired, unless maybe the Edsel: photo from Wikipedia

Dang! I just found out about another relative dying in Nigeria. The lawyer wants to split the $15 million with me! YeeeHA! I celebrated by going out and buying a new car: :wink: Actually, I did trade in the pickup, but not because of the Nigerian email. This is the first time I've been without a truck in forty years, and for the last thirty years I've driven trucks exclusively. I don't regret the change; I'm looking forward to traveling in comfort.

I've tried cancer a couple of times, and I really don't recommend it. If all other weight loss strategies have failed, though ...

If someone else had your credit info since April, probably you'd be seeing a lot more than just one item for $142.60. I speculate it's an error on the part of the credit reporting agency, where someone entered someone else's info against your name.

Wow! Great shot!

I'm not sure my memory is correct on this, but I think the building where you enter the station at Wilson was built as a North Shore station.

A couple of places in Fort Wayne hit $1.99 for regular unleaded, but that only lasted for a day or two before it headed back up. I didn't go anywhere today, but yesterday I think I saw $2.19 most places.

This one is quite a distinctive departure from convention. I think it's pretty striking. I can just hear the neighbors gossiping when it was built.

Nice work! Some parts of Toledo I haven't seen!

Last spring I passed up a chance for a Chicago - St. Louis group trip on cars including the Royal Street. A friend who made the trip said it was a wonderful experience. Twenty years ago or so, as an anniversary gift I bought my parents a day trip from Fort Wayne to Peru, Indiana and return on a private car. I can't remember the name of the car, but it was a parlor/lounge car of Pere Marquette provenance, I think. The car was gorgeous inside and out; the paint was clean and shiny, and on the interior everything was immaculate and the car smelled fresh and clean. They loved it. Service was impeccable, snacks were perfect, and everything was done in the full tradition of the glory days of railroading. The car was on the tail end of a steam excursion train pulled by NKP 765, and the layover time for turnaround and service in Peru was filled by a special performance of the Peru Circus.

The North Shore Electroliners (Jeff's last two pics) still exist, so far as I know. One operates occasionally at Illinois Railway Museum at Union, and in 1995 I saw the other one, stored in pretty deplorable condition. If I remember correctly, it was at Shade Gap Electric Railroad, which shares property with East Broad Top Railroad at Orbisonia, PA. I just happened to remember another item that never reached production or scheduled service, but that demonstrates that as late as 1966 the New York Central was interested in high-speed rail. To determine how fast passenger trains could travel on conventional tracks, they outfitted an RDC-3 (self-propelled diesel rail car) with two GE jet engines bought surplus from the USAF and made test runs on the long straightaway between Butler, Indiana, and Strker, Ohio. It took a bit of Googling, but I finally found a photo. They were one way runs; the diesel locomotive at the rear end in the photo was being used to tow the car back to its starting point. Their best run reached a speed in excess of 180 mph. After the tests, the car was stripped of its jet engines and streamlined cowling and returned to commuter service in the Northeast.

Let us not forget the Pennsylvania Railroad's T-1 duplex locomotives. Between 1942 and 1946, fifty-two of them were built by Baldwin and the PRR Altoona Shops. They could haul a 16-car passenger train at 100 mph, and were used on the railroad's prestige trains. A retired Pennsy engineer from Fort Wayne claimed to have run them at speeds up to 120 mph pulling the Broadway Limited over the long, flat straightaways in western Ohio and northern Indiana. The mechanical design was by Baldwin and the styling was by Raymond Loewy. They were painted a rich Brewster Green, although in the few color photos that exist, it seldom shows through the soot and grime. I have a faint memory of seeing one when I was seven or eight years old. Dad had suddenly pulled the car over on old US 30 between Fort Wayne and Columbia City, and we got out and stood a little ways from the track as the Broadway Limited passed. I don't remember much detail, just a huge machine, a tremendous roar, and a lot of black smoke. From a distant headlight to a rushing by to a trail of smoke hanging over empty track, seemed only to take an instant. They were all retired by 1949, and the last one was scrapped in 1953.

Jackson has some pretty neat buidings. The railroad depot there is a real vintage gem. Great skies in some of those photos.

Wow! I didn't know McArthur had a jacknife bridge just like the one in Cleveland! :lol: Good stuff, Summit Street! I'm glad you're back to posting pics of Ohio small towns.

Dang! Now there's drool on my keyboard. It comes from both the food and the color.

Excellent photos! Columbus offers a lot of different styles in a relatively compact area; it's been a long time since I've been there, and I should probably go back. I think I would appreciate it more now than I did then. If I remember correctly, the architectural movement in Columbus started with the post office; in the 1960s the USPS planned to build a new one, and the president of Cummins Engine and some other prominent citizens didn't want the generic one the postal service built everywhere else. They offered to pay the architect's fees if they could choose the architect and approve the design. They raised local awareness, and the whole thing sort of took off from there.

Killing pigeons on Public Square.

:lol:

Beautiful! I love the colorful shots!

There was a thread about this place a couple of years ago. I can't remember who posted it.

Beautiful dusk shots; the one of the Pinnacle catches my eye most.

Did not! See the door still open? I rode that bus from Canton to Pittsburgh.

When I first heard the word, before I saw it spelled, I thought it was "buy-sexual" and that it referred to people who had to buy it. :wink: