Popular Post hindesky Posted April 11, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted April 11, 2021 (edited) I talked with 2 gentlemen who were in the process of determining what it's going to take to get the train engine in working shape. According to them a lot of parts were pilfered from the train and possibly taken to other like engines to get them running. They said that even though this train is about 100 yrs old there are about 300 railroad museums in the United States and the parts can be manufactured. The train was moved to the rail tracks near 2 warehouses and the eastern warehouse already has about a dozen antique rail cars. They also said the tender car was given away and they said that was a very stupid thing for whoever gave it away to do. It's like taking the gas tank off a car and expecting the car to still run. One of the guys said his ultimate goal would be to get it running and taking to Commerce St tracks into downtown, I'm pretty sure he was joking. He said he grew up in the Heights but now lives in Goliad. They also mentioned the Railroad Museum, said it would be on the other side of the warehouse, I don't know if he meant at Marmon Park or exactly where. The train was only lowered on the tracks that came with it and not on the rails below it. I also took pics of every train car on the rails except for the compressed helium gas car and an open top freight car. Edited April 11, 2021 by hindesky 13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedistrict84 Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 12 hours ago, hindesky said: One of the guys said his ultimate goal would be to get it running and taking to Commerce St tracks into downtown, I'm pretty sure he was joking. He said he grew up in the Heights but now lives in Goliad. He was totally joking. They’ve paved over portions of the Commerce St. tracks in multiple places, so it wouldn’t even be possible at this point. On the new East End Bike Plan, the Commerce stretch seems to be a target for development. I’m holding out hope that they pull out the railroad tracks and repave the entire street, adding high-comfort bike lanes. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MexAmerican_Moose Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 (edited) East End should look at bringing back some streetcars using some of the old tracks...im sure the asphalt/ and or concrete can be chipped out Edited April 11, 2021 by MexAmerican_Moose 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77011transplant Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 8 hours ago, thedistrict84 said: He was totally joking. They’ve paved over portions of the Commerce St. tracks in multiple places, so it wouldn’t even be possible at this point. On the new East End Bike Plan, the Commerce stretch seems to be a target for development. I’m holding out hope that they pull out the railroad tracks and repave the entire street, adding high-comfort bike lanes. I hope they keep the tracks and incorporate them in the new bike-friendly design. I love keeping that old history and character. Like the brick streets that you can still see in the Fourth Ward. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 12 hours ago, 77011transplant said: I hope they keep the tracks and incorporate them in the new bike-friendly design. I love keeping that old history and character. Like the brick streets that you can still see in the Fourth Ward. In-street rails aren't particularly bike-friendly. You can have both, but I wouldn't mix them in the same space. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77011transplant Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Right. I just meant keeping the tracks instead of ripping them out entirely, and then adding bike lanes and other bike/ pedestrian friendly design. I didn't mean having bike riders ride near/ on the track of anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 I talked to a couple that were walking their dog and live on Commerce St. They want the tracks removed because every time a truck rides over the tracks it rattles the truck and creates a very aggravating noise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 15 hours ago, hindesky said: I talked to a couple that were walking their dog and live on Commerce St. They want the tracks removed because every time a truck rides over the tracks it rattles the truck and creates a very aggravating noise. The Potholes probably do the same. Commerce & Canal are warzones. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedistrict84 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 20 hours ago, hindesky said: I talked to a couple that were walking their dog and live on Commerce St. They want the tracks removed because every time a truck rides over the tracks it rattles the truck and creates a very aggravating noise. Commerce is just a bad street all around. The tracks running down the middle have created a lot of potholes through washout, and the City has only patched some of it. Oddly enough, the street is so wide that you also have a lot of people speeding at 45+ MPH down it, especially between Palmer and St. Charles. It's a bad combination. I drive down it every day and definitely get some Mad Max vibes. They cannot redo Commerce fast enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 they'll need to figure something out. Scott to Commerce was a great bypass when they were doing the construction on the 45 to 59 interchange recently, and will be again if the i45 realignment project is allowed to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 Haven't seen it without the wrap for years, looks in pretty good shape. I noticed the guys I talked must have covered up some of the open holes to keep bugs, animals and rain out. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EaDolivin Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 I totally agree with the Commerce St issues. It's unacceptably bad at this point. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljchou Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Will this be in the building that was once planned to be the Straylight Run VR bar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBTX Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 9 hours ago, ljchou said: Will this be in the building that was once planned to be the Straylight Run VR bar? No, I think this is the building next door. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 5, 2021 Author Share Posted May 5, 2021 They had 2 cranes about to remove the engine off the tracks that it came with and were going to lower it onto the existing tracks. Was told it weighed 309,000lbs and would be winched back to the other trains down the track. I was also told the the train with the tarp was built in 1915. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Back with the rest of the trains. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted June 12, 2021 Author Share Posted June 12, 2021 3 guys hard at work fixing it. Main guy said their goal is to get it running and have it travel around the country. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted July 7, 2023 Author Share Posted July 7, 2023 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 I hope that Santa Fe car gets treated well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted August 12, 2023 Author Share Posted August 12, 2023 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted August 25, 2023 Author Share Posted August 25, 2023 "Simply put it means that the car shouldn't be humped. There are two ways that freight RR's build their trains. The first is called "Flat Switching", where you have a switch engine that moves the cars around from track to track as necessary to put the cars in the proper order. The second way is through a hump yard. Cars are pushed over a small hill and are allowed to roll down the hill one at a time. Meanwhile a worker sitting in a tower throws the necessary switches to allow the cars to roll onto the proper tracks for classification. So if a car says do not hump, then it should always be flat switched and not humped." https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/do-not-hump.725/ Dear Cecil: Whilst driving around recently a friend and I got stuck at a railroad crossing waiting for a freight train to go by. To pass the time, we began speculating on the meaning of a sign we saw on some of the cars saying DO NOT HUMP. We conjectured that this might be some sort of safe-sex campaign organized by the railroads in the wake of the AIDS crisis, but eventually rejected the idea. So we put it to you, Cecil — what is the meaning of this odd instruction? Gene W., Dallas Illustration by Slug Signorino Cecil replies: Dear Gene: I am saddened to report that DO NOT HUMP does not have any of the off-color significance that seems to give many of the Teeming Millions their principal reason to go on living. It refers to a common method used to sort freight cars known as “humping,” which involves the use of a man-made hill, or hump. A track heads up the hill and branches into numerous parallel tracks on its way down the other side. To make up new trains, a switch engine pushes a string of cars to the top of the hump, where the cars are uncoupled one at a time. Having determined the car’s destination, a worker in a nearby tower pushes buttons or throws levers or whatever to get the track switches (you know, those things where one track divides into two) lined up properly. The car is then given a nudge, causing it to roll down the hump and onto the right track. The advantage of humping is that it’s a lot faster than having switch engines shuttle back and forth all day making up trains. The disadvantage is that it’s sometimes a little rough on the freight cars and their contents. Occasionally a car derails going down the hill, meaning the crew has to stop working and try to get the wheels back on the rails, which is not much fun, particularly in the middle of winter. What’s worse is the possibility that the car may roll down the hill too fast and crash into the car in front of it, jostling or damaging both the cars and what’s inside them. Special gimmicks on the rails called “retarders” are supposed to slow things down and prevent this, but they have been known to fail. Accordingly, cars with especially delicate contents are marked DO NOT HUMP, which tells the yard crew to set the car aside for special handling. This applies particularly to the tank cars used to haul hazardous chemicals, many of which have DO NOT HUMP stenciled permanently on their sides. The railroad business, I might note, is one of the few fields where a guy without advanced training can still hope to wreak major environmental havoc. An old high school teacher of mine once told me about the time he worked in the steel mills helping switch coal cars. During his first week on the job, he was asked to participate in a risky maneuver known as a “flying switch.” The idea was that the locomotive would head toward a switch pulling a single coal car behind it. At the right moment, somebody would uncouple the car and the locomotive would scoot ahead through the switch onto the main line. Once the locomotive was clear, my high school teacher was supposed to throw the switch so the coal car would roll onto the side track. Everything worked great until they got to the part where the teacher was supposed to throw the switch. For reasons that time has mercifully expunged from his memory, he waited to throw the switch until after the coal car’s front set of wheels had headed out toward the main line. The back set, however, was now headed onto the siding. You see the obvious problem this presents. My teacher had the privilege of watching a magnificent slow-motion disaster in the making as the coal car sort of rolled sidesaddle down the line until the tracks got too far apart, whereupon it toppled over and spilled 50 tons of coal all over creation. A great moment in railroading — nearly as funny as the time I almost knocked out the side of a building with an overhead crane. But we’ll get to that story some other day. Cecil Adams https://www.straightdope.com/21341767/what-does-do-not-hump-mean-on-the-side-of-railroad-cars 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 51 minutes ago, hindesky said: "Simply put it means that the car shouldn't be humped. There are two ways that freight RR's build their trains. The first is called "Flat Switching", where you have a switch engine that moves the cars around from track to track as necessary to put the cars in the proper order. The second way is through a hump yard. Cars are pushed over a small hill and are allowed to roll down the hill one at a time. Meanwhile a worker sitting in a tower throws the necessary switches to allow the cars to roll onto the proper tracks for classification. So if a car says do not hump, then it should always be flat switched and not humped." https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/do-not-hump.725/ Dear Cecil: Whilst driving around recently a friend and I got stuck at a railroad crossing waiting for a freight train to go by. To pass the time, we began speculating on the meaning of a sign we saw on some of the cars saying DO NOT HUMP. We conjectured that this might be some sort of safe-sex campaign organized by the railroads in the wake of the AIDS crisis, but eventually rejected the idea. So we put it to you, Cecil — what is the meaning of this odd instruction? Gene W., Dallas Illustration by Slug Signorino Cecil replies: Dear Gene: I am saddened to report that DO NOT HUMP does not have any of the off-color significance that seems to give many of the Teeming Millions their principal reason to go on living. It refers to a common method used to sort freight cars known as “humping,” which involves the use of a man-made hill, or hump. A track heads up the hill and branches into numerous parallel tracks on its way down the other side. To make up new trains, a switch engine pushes a string of cars to the top of the hump, where the cars are uncoupled one at a time. Having determined the car’s destination, a worker in a nearby tower pushes buttons or throws levers or whatever to get the track switches (you know, those things where one track divides into two) lined up properly. The car is then given a nudge, causing it to roll down the hump and onto the right track. The advantage of humping is that it’s a lot faster than having switch engines shuttle back and forth all day making up trains. The disadvantage is that it’s sometimes a little rough on the freight cars and their contents. Occasionally a car derails going down the hill, meaning the crew has to stop working and try to get the wheels back on the rails, which is not much fun, particularly in the middle of winter. What’s worse is the possibility that the car may roll down the hill too fast and crash into the car in front of it, jostling or damaging both the cars and what’s inside them. Special gimmicks on the rails called “retarders” are supposed to slow things down and prevent this, but they have been known to fail. Accordingly, cars with especially delicate contents are marked DO NOT HUMP, which tells the yard crew to set the car aside for special handling. This applies particularly to the tank cars used to haul hazardous chemicals, many of which have DO NOT HUMP stenciled permanently on their sides. The railroad business, I might note, is one of the few fields where a guy without advanced training can still hope to wreak major environmental havoc. An old high school teacher of mine once told me about the time he worked in the steel mills helping switch coal cars. During his first week on the job, he was asked to participate in a risky maneuver known as a “flying switch.” The idea was that the locomotive would head toward a switch pulling a single coal car behind it. At the right moment, somebody would uncouple the car and the locomotive would scoot ahead through the switch onto the main line. Once the locomotive was clear, my high school teacher was supposed to throw the switch so the coal car would roll onto the side track. Everything worked great until they got to the part where the teacher was supposed to throw the switch. For reasons that time has mercifully expunged from his memory, he waited to throw the switch until after the coal car’s front set of wheels had headed out toward the main line. The back set, however, was now headed onto the siding. You see the obvious problem this presents. My teacher had the privilege of watching a magnificent slow-motion disaster in the making as the coal car sort of rolled sidesaddle down the line until the tracks got too far apart, whereupon it toppled over and spilled 50 tons of coal all over creation. A great moment in railroading — nearly as funny as the time I almost knocked out the side of a building with an overhead crane. But we’ll get to that story some other day. Cecil Adams https://www.straightdope.com/21341767/what-does-do-not-hump-mean-on-the-side-of-railroad-cars Where is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted August 25, 2023 Author Share Posted August 25, 2023 9 minutes ago, august948 said: Where is this? It's not actually a museum yet but the guys renovating the rail cars hope to make one happen. 14 rail cars. They are on the left/western side of the Ark Trading warehouse with the white roof. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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