THANK YOU, JOE!!!
Mine was a rhetorical question.
I've known what a torpedo was since my older brother told me that he and a
friend of his took a sledge hammer to one after they bxxxe into a freight
station....
I've known what a torpedo was since I got my book titled "Train Wrecks" in the
mid 1970's.
I'm 42 in October.
For those who wonder about my attention needn't worry.
The point I made was to be genuine... and to determine the cause of the inquiry
of the rules of the railroad.
Joe, you have completely answered my questions.
1. A railfan sees an SD40-2, a second generation locomotive that thrives (in
Kamloops) since being "invented" 35 years ago. Perhaps wishes to be part of the
glory of such immense and mouth-foaming EMD General Motor 657(?) 12 cylinder
sewing-machine pulsed sounds...
2. The employed train person sees 2400 hp, converted to kilowatts, traction,
physics of inertia, turbo-charged six axle unit blah blah blah...
3. A railroader may be and could be the combination of these two. Except that
the memory of such grandeur lives on in all optimistic sense of ones life.
I hope I get to run a railroad/train for as long as I live and breathe...
albeit in 1:1 or 1:87.
My condolences to those who really miss the kicking habits of the
SD40-2's downtown.
I am glad I took pictures of the GP-9, 1589, with my 35mm Ricoh... before it
was sent away and replaced by the two other SD40-2's. Then I bought a digital
camera in 2008...
Last month, I video'd one of the SD40-2s attaching the numberless caboose to a
west-bound Pulp mill run. I have it on YouTube. (add a sulfur blocking the last
two minutes.)
I'm not sure if it still this way, but I learned that in the U.S., Amtrak is a
train that has superiority over a freight train.
In Canada, VIA Rail yields to freight trains.
If you're running a scheduled VIA passenger train through Kamloops, you're
going east and/or west during the dark hours... or else something has gone
wrong with your train or route.
Y'all may delete this response if you want.
...and now, back to you.
John
________________________________
From: K V Railway <kvrailway@xxxxxxx>
To: cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, June 2, 2010 6:09:54 PM
Subject: Re: [cpsig] Re: UCOR rules scenario ANSWER
John: From as long as I can remember, those mini-explosives attached to the
rails were known as 'torpedoes' or sometimes 'guns.'
As for the definition of a railfan, well that's easy.
First of all, a true railfan:
- will drive hundreds or travel thousands of kilometres just to ride and/or
photograph some obscure rail operation.
- will have hundreds if not thousands of images of trains or
railway-oriented scenes.
- will tend to collect the damndest junk from railway operations.
- isn't a railroader by trade.
- isn't quite right mentally - chases trains.
- often knows more nit-picky little details than do the pro's.
- actually cares about nit-picky little details concerning trains and their
operations.
- will argue endlessly and fruitlessly about nit-picky little details
concerning railways.
- will (usually) never have actually worked under the conditions that
railway trades do.
- will be a critter that genuine railroaders tend to view with a mixture of
amusement, suspicion and irritation.
AND if any of those readers who happen to know me personally and have
visited my home are wondering how
I justify stating that I am not a rail-fan, then I respond by stating that
my collection of images and artefacts does not
qualify me as a rail-fan. These are simply the trophies and documentation
of war! :>)
Joe Smuin
--------------------------------------------------
From: "John" <zebrails@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 3:23 PM
To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [cpsig] Re: UCOR rules scenario ANSWER
for railfans.... I'm gonna, again.
Torpedoes are used to put holes in ships.
But not holes where voting is concerned.
I asked specifically for the definition of Railfan.
