"Bartnder? I'll have what he's drinking..thanks" locomotive [ loh-kuh-moh-tiv ] See synonyms for locomotive on Thesaurus.com noun a self-propelled, vehicular engine, powered by steam, a diesel, or electricity, for pulling or, sometimes, pushing a train or individual railroad cars. .
Bull... Yep, I know the ignorance of the definitions out there. Again, this goes back to the Rails. What they called things.
The 50's? Naw! More like the 30's when he was a younger man! And steam showed the world what a LOCOMOTIVE could do!!
Yawn, Say What??? Hey, I'm not that old. Give me a break!! I was born on the eve of the 50's in 1949. My memories of the railroad at that time are zip. By the time I was three maybe four my memories of family, trains and in particular Barstow, Ca. finally kick in. Up until about 1955 the last stoves started disappearing. By 1957 they had all but disappeared. Up till then you could see steam pulling freights and passenger trains. Replaced quickly by those F type units. The F stands for what you might think it means but I can't say that here. The Rails of the time hated those ugly flat faced monsters and would no more call them locomotive's. That was to good a name for them. They were Motors!!! Motors with more problems then they had with the stoves. For awhile, anyway. My layout covers/or starts in 1959 and carries on through the 60's, and into the 70's. Right up until Amtrak took over in 1971. You won't find Amtrak or BNSF on the layout. On purpose. Unless I change my mind. I can celebrate Southern Pacific Days, Santa Fe Days and others by pulling out said equipment and operating them on my layout. I can even celebrate steam days by pulling together modern day PV's, Private Varnish pulled by restored stoves/valves/boilers and or Steam Engines. The real Locomotives. Downside, it is getting harder and harder to find equipment for my preferred era. Now about me. I'm not stuck anywhere but in an era where the Rails, primarily those in my family, operated stoves. I want to hang onto those memories of them. To correctly use the lingo of the day. Encouraging others to do the same. If they so please. There's no question that there is a movement on to re-write history, remove history, re-define everything, and in essence leave our heritage behind us. Don't count me in on that. At least not on my layout. Truth is I didn't create the world I'm replicating. I'm attempting to preserve it as much as is possible. If you don't like it...well...you don't have to. That way there isn't as much competition for me to deal with. I can have and eat the whole pie. From the 30's. Really badlannp??? That hurts. I hate it when my sides hurt from laughing so hard. Damn you!! George, stuck in the 50's? Are you fracking kidding me??? No question about it, if Steam was King and Locomotives Ruled The Rails, that's what you are going to see on my model railroad. It was the best and worst years for steam. Okay, think what you want. Do take from here what you want and leave the rest behind. It just hit me if you go by the Thesaurus and the implied definition. Everything that has an engine and is, propelled with an electric motor it is a Locomotive. Don't think I'm going to buy into that. Not a chance. Entirely to much fun, we are having entirely to much fun. Later! Throw George and Badlandnp a bone and see what I get.
They are Switches, they've always been switches and will always be SWITCHES!!! On my model railroad!!
BTW my friend... I just recently talked to my son and if this Covid thing calms down by this summer THE WIFE and I are planning a weeks stay in Winnemucca !! I already told her I am talking a day to go 'up the road apiece' to your place and sit around and watch you STILL rewiring that layout of yours !! I will be happy to hand you tools while you are underneath it....cusssssin!
How cool that will be!! Your right on about the cusssin. Maybe we can go somewhere other then Mc Donalds to grab something to eat. You'd be welcomed anytime.
! used to love McDonald's. The fries were A1, in Julia Child's words, and the Big Macs and quarter pounders - YUMM! And now, for the last 15 - 20 years- YUCK. The food police ruined McDonald's, along with most of the other chains. Doug
Stoves, Tea Kettles and Boilers! Oh my! Motors, Growlers and F____'s! No way! And if Nampa wasn't such a drive, well I would sit and watch as George passes you toys and tell you Ole and Sven stories!
Oh man..... a meet-in of da minds...… not sure Nampa can handle all that!!!!! Actually, that would probably be a blast. Just 2100 miles too far to join
I hate it when that happens. To many miles in between is always a deterrent. Your right about Nampa. Nampa, won't know what hit it. I'm finally getting going on the wire project. A shot to the shoulder to numb it down is working. Just don't want to aggravate it. Hopefully there won't be very more delays. BNSF Fan, Thanks for the comeback. To everyone else stay tuned you never know what scrap, we are going to get into.
Soo, Sven and Ole vere a vatchin de Norvegian Navy a verkin avay in de Oslo fjord, y'know. And Sven pipes up, "Ole, I vas a vonderin vhyfor is dere all dem bar code thingies on dem ships?" Ole laughs at Sven, " Sven, you can be so stoopid! Dat's how dey 'Scan-da-Navy-in!"
To funny, just to funny. Now do you want something different? Depends on what it is...right? How about a look back at a Professional Car, I drove. A 1966 Cadillac Hearse made by Superior. A model. Which strikes me as odd but I'd put it on my mantle. Right next to a mug a boss of mine gave me. The model seems to be complete with the tools of the trade. Not a bad job if I say so myself. Check it out. I'm unsure. Something about the year it was made strikes me as wrong. I will do some more research on it. The packaging got it wrong but that's okay. We don't expect amateurs to get things right. It was a great car to drive and of course the only humor, if there is any. Is with The Looks On People's Faces as I passed them on the Southern California Freeways. It's correct and if you want to check out the real deal see: 1966 Cadillac Superior Crown Sovereign Hearse. I also worked out of and drove a: 1967 Superior Pontiac Ambulance. With the same emergency light package. Those were the days. Thought you might appreciate a change in subject matter.
In case you might want me to fill in the blanks. Dad was a Funeral Director, Mortician and Ambulance Driver. I got to work with him for a number of years. Besides the highway accidents we rolled out on, calls of a relative in stress (heart attack, usually) or patient transfers to another hospital. We did stand by at the Highschool and College football games. The rodeo's at Bolado Park and in San Juan Bautista. It was interesting work. A good friend once asked me how it felt to have the traffic cleared in front of me by the lights and siren. Scary, was my answer. You never know what the other drivers were/are going to do. Stop in front of you, try to outrun you, try to pass you, or turn right in front of you. One word, Scary!
How does all of that fit in with my interest in toy trains? Since, I spent most of my time on call. Waiting for the phone to ring. Stuck beside the phone. The one hobby we both enjoyed and could do together was our model railroad. At first, we didn't know much about the hobby. Muenzers a Gun, Fishing, Sports, Bikes and Hobby Shop got to know us and eventually we met other hobbyist. I could work on the layout, run trains, do switching moves to make up various locals and those run through freight trains. If memory serves me right we were working on building a Standard (heavy weight) and Streamline (light weight) passenger trains. Athearn Shorties and their F...type diseasls came in handy. At the time we worked in HO scale. Not the we liked it all that much, that was about the best we could get. Curves to tight, switches caused my switchers to stall out. Oh the learning curve was fun / not!!! About the time he was ready to retire. I built him a N Scale layout. It grew into what I'm working on today. So, now you know the rest of the story. Later.
Of all the Cadillacs my dad bought over the years, my favorite was our '66. White with a black vinyl top and red leather interior. It was gorgeous! I took my driver's license test in it in 1969. I passed the proficiency part of the parallel parking test but failed the accuracy part. I was too far from the curb. I was afraid of scuffing the tires! Oh, and one more thing about '66's, my buddy and I used to go and hang around the local dealer when the new cars came in each year. The dealer had a little kind of link between two buildings where they always parked the new Cadillac. They had the '66 in there and we sat in it for awhile, marveling at that beautiful car. Sticker price? About 6800 bucks. Doug
OHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Rick !!!!! Buy a 1966 Hearse and put an N scale layout in the back !!!! I put one in an RV...why not in a Hearse ? Just Sayin !
Now that would be cool! Roll up to the nearest craft fair, train show, flea market or whatever. Back up near the entrance, roll out the 'table' ( I guess that would be appropriate?,) and set train to running! Maybe an awning over the top. What a great pitch for the hobby!
