Steam!

Locomotive drive wheel.  For perspective this wheel was 73" (185 cm) in diameter.
(Click any image to enlarge)

Continuing with posting some of my images other than my usual landscape, nature, wildlife and travel photos, I have been a fan of railroads since childhood.  I especially enjoy watching and chasing steam locomotives but also I have admiration for the people who still know how to operate and work on them.  It’s almost a lost art in today's world of technology and automation.

Growing up in a small city in western Pennsylvania, we had three railroads in town.  The Erie-Lackawanna (E-L) railroad ran north-south next to the river and had a moderately sized yard which included a locomotive repair shop.  The Pennsylvania (PRR) and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie  Railroads (PLE) ran north-south just a quarter mile east of the E-L.  All three had regular  daily traffic with the E-L having the most.

As kids often times we played in and around the switch yard.  Over time a few of the engineers operating the yard switch engines would actually allow us to climb up into the engine with them and they would explain what they was doing and which freight cars were going where as they moved the cars around the yard.  That was a thrill for a kid in the early 1960s.  Could you imagine that happening today?  No way!  Too much liability.

Additionally, the E-L Railroad ran two daily passenger trains which stopped at our local station.  The trains would often would stop at the north end of town for several minutes and wait for a northbound freight to pass before then moving to the station.  While stopped, I can remember several occasions when the engineer allowed us kids to climb that really high ladder and into the locomotive's cab.  These were diesel locomotives.  I remember them being General Motors Electromotive Division (EMD) either E or F units.  E units were mainly passenger engines (6 wheels per truck or wheel set) and F Units (4 wheels per truck) were mainly used for freight train duties.  I have no idea which they were but may have been both.  Below to the right is an image of what they looked like back then.

E-L locomotives

The railroad yard, having a locomotive repair shop, had piles of old 'stuff' around its edges.  The piles of 'stuff' were old valves, pistons and other locomotive parts that were replaced and discarded.  Of course, we would find things, not really knowing what they were, but they looked really cool, and took them home.  Our parents were never thrilled about that.  

One other very dangerous railroad related thing we did as young teenagers was to 'hop' freight trains on the PRR while walking home from junior high school (now called middle school).  Yes, we actually did that regularly.  The tracks were on an uphill grade on which the trains would struggle and normally traveled about five to ten miles per hour.  We would hop on, ride for about a half mile, then hop off when we needed to depart the railroad to continue home.  Additionally, on the weekends and summers when we were hanging out in the area, some of the trains would come to a stop and we would see the caboose close by.  More than once a conductor invited us up into the caboose.  That was a treat!  The caboose was always the neatest railroad car and to get a chance to see the inside and even once ride for a couple of miles in a caboose, was something we wouldn't forget.  I remember one conductor saying, and of course I'll paraphrase, "I can't stop you kids from climbing onto trains, but I can teach you the safest way to get on and get off."  Imagine that happening today.

In any case, all of these kinds of boyhood experiences and later as an adult reading about and learning the pivotable role railroads played in the history, development and westward expansion of the United States, my fondness for all things railroad related remained and grew.  Even today, I get the opportunity, I'll take Amtrak instead of flying or driving.  Traveling by rail is about the journey and not the destination.

Here are a few of my images of steam locomotives and some of the people who still work on them.

The end of a day's exhausting work.

The fireman was as busy if not busier than the engineer.  All of those unmarked valves had
to be adjusted so the boiler got just enough water to keep from losing steam, enough fuel to
so boiler pressure stayed at an optimum level as well as other things to watch.

If you are ever in SW Colorado and want to enjoy a wonderfully scenic ride along the Animas River,
the Durango and Silverton Railroad provides authentic trips from Durango to Silverton and return. 

Another authentic steam operation is the Cumbres and Toltec Narrow Gauge
Railroad that runs passenger trains from northern New Mexico to Colorado and back.

Hand rotating the turntable.  The locomotive weighs 162,200 lbs. (73,600 kg).

I have quite a library of steam powered and other railroading images.  I'll post some additional ones soon.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2022 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.