Today we had a photo opportunity. There was this notification from my cousin Dale:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/historic-steam-engine-rolls-through-st-louis/article_67e5b89a-f9d7-11e1-be45-0019bb30f31a.html#.UEumVe4fiZQ.email
That let us know about the train coming through town about a mile and a half from home. So my son Ted and I along with our dog Petey drove up to the tracks. The local police wouldn't let us get any closer but this what it looked like as it was passing us. Ted took the photo of the big engine. There were about twenty passenger cars behind the engine.
Herb
Herb,
What fun! Many of us, myself included also appreciate steam engines. Thanks for posting the photo -- and that is a great looking Torpedo Runabout!
Respectfully submitted,
Hap
Yes Hap, it was fun! We were about 600-700 feet down the tracks from a crossing that was crowded with people who came to see the train. We actually saw the smoke first as the train was "coming round the bend"
Herb
Locomotive built in 1944 (so was I) makes me feel really old.
A steam locomotive is as close to a living being as a piece of machinery can get. I am a 38 model with lots of memories of the L & N in Gulfport, MS. Tomorrow our lunch bunch meets at McDonald's in Dallas. I am the baby of this bunch, our oldest, Royce Peterson, senior, turned 95 this year.
There is a Baldwin narrow gauge built in 1904 in a museum local to me. They run it on the 1st weekend of the month with a few passenger cars. Its hands on really for us.
I'll get pics up later after work if there is interest.
interest
Ah, yes! Those were the days!
I am a '38 also, and I am just awed by those magnificent old steam locomotives. A big diesel-electric may have more horsepower and pull, but they don't impress me like steam.
I remember traveling by steam when young, - how I would pull down a window and look out and forward and see the locomotive disappearing and reappearing as the tracks meandered left and right. Sometimes some condensed steam would hit your face, and sometimes a little bit of ashes or coal dust would hit your face too.
When we get settled in our new house, there will be room in our basement for a track lay-out for the HO stuff I have collected over the years, - all steam and no diesels.
Roar