Flickr Photo: Rod Murrow

A fantastic place to do some armchair railroadig is the photo site Flickr. There is an excellent assortment of train pictures from around the world, especially the USA, UK, Europe and Japan.

Here is a fantastic image just posted by Flickr member Rod Murrow:



Please check out Rod Murrow's other photos on Flickr.

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Railroads in JAPAN!

Every wondered what freight railroading looks like in Japan? Watch this interesting YouTube video I found, showing some sort of Japanese intermodal trains passing through a station. Also take a careful look at the tracks themselves, you'll notice they are much narrower in guage than American or European mainlines. I'm not sure, but I believe the freight railroad tracks in Japan are only 3'6" apart, where in America and Europe, they are 4'8".

An American Short Line

This a railroad just crying out for some enterprising model railroader to emmulate in miniature: The Effingham Railroad Company in Effingham, Illinois.

Pictured above is the railroad's sole engine, and old EMD SW-1200 switcher painted in a scheme reminiscent of the long-gone Chicago Great Western Railroad.

Though the little Effingham R.R. is only 1.7 miles long, it has high class connections with two of the "Big Four" American railroads: CSX and Canadian National/Illinois Central.

But my favorite aspect of the Effingham R.R. is one of its customers: a Krispy Kreme donut factory! (YES!) In the above picture, the SW-1200 wears a banner celebrating the opening of the rail served donut factory.

Railroads and donuts, what more could one want?

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Inglenook Sidings Shunting Puzzle

Model railroads are not just for the endless running of trains, the very best train layouts incorporate the realistic operation of the railroads they mimic.

Of course it's very difficult to downsize the operations of an American Class I railroad into a small space, but the fun of operation can incorporate elements other than mainline freigt and passenger operation.

Consider, for instance, the "Inglenook Sidings" shunting layout. Originally measuring only 1 x 4 feet, it has a mere two switches! (points!) But despite it's small size, it provides a tremendous amount of operating fun.

For an explanation on how the Inglenook Sidings puzzle works, I highly recommend the the article on the Model Railways Shunting Puzzles website.

Please check out this page, which feature both "Box Street Yard" and Inglenook type layouts from Europe.

Sometimes a very small layout, with a fun operation scheme, can be far more pleasurable than a large layout with little or no operating puzzles to solve.

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Micro Layouts

For the model railroader who has no space for a massive layout featuring the New York Central mainline from Albany to Chicago, there is hope: micro layouts.

Personally, I LOVE the idea of small, simple layouts that attempt to capture the flavor of a particular time or place, rather than an attempt to recreate mainline railroading.



For those of you who are interested in finding out what can be done in a REALLY small space (four square feet or less!) I highly recommend Carl Arendt's Small Layout Scrapbook web-zine and his Micro Layout Design Gallery. An interesting article by Carl about American micro layouts can be found here.

There is a complete index for all the issues of Small Layout Scrapbook. Well worth taking the time to go through!

I'm seriously considering my own micro layout, to be about 9" wide by about 8' long...a bit bigger than most micro layouts, but offering a little more operation than usual.

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Real or Model?

A beautiful, fully-restored Great Western Railway large Prairie tank locomotive (click on the picture to get a bigger, better image):

Or is it??? Would you believe this is just a very well done model of it? Find out by clicking here.

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Great Western Society, Bristol Group

A site to visit: Great Western Society, Bristol Group. Excellent source of information about Great Western signaling practices.

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South Hants Model Railway Club

Just discovered another beautiful UK club web site: the South Hants Model Railway Club. The specialize in OO scale, EM gauge, but also make room for a nice O scale layout as well.


A photo club member Peter Bailey's Otterbridge layout

They have five layouts:
1. Cricketer's Green (OO scale, EM gauage)
2. Durbridge (O scale)
3. Hope-Under-Dinmore (OO scale, EM gauge)
4. Meon (OO scale, EM gauge)
5. Odgen Fold (OO scale, S4 gauage)

They also feature pages for club members personal layouts.

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The Signal Box

An excellent web site devoted exclusively to UK railroad signaling standards and rules can be found at The Signal Box.

Excerpt from the site's home page:

This web site is all about railway signalling. Its primary purpose is to describe the principles behind railway signalling in Great Britain, but some coverage of signalling around the world will also be found. The emphasis is on the older, mechanical signalling - that worked by mechanical levers and with semaphore signals. More detailed information on modern and foreign signalling will often be found elsewhere on the web.

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The Modern Diesels of Australia

Here's a beautiful video I found on YouTube showcasing the modern diesel locomotives of Australia. Notice how many of them look and sound very American!



Sadly, I know next to nothing about Australian railroads, but I'm certain that will change in short order...

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The "pope" of investing buys BNSF stock

Big news the Monday after Easter: Warren Buffet, the richest man in the United States, has begun buying large amounts of railroad stocks!!! Well, with a company name like "Berkshire", they should be buying railroad stocks...

Berkshire Investment
Boosts Rail Stocks
By DESIREE J. HANFORD
April 9, 2007 2:05 p.m.

News that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has taken a stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., as well as potentially two other U.S. railroads, sent shares of railroads sharply higher Monday.

The stake by Warren Buffett's company comes at a time when the sector's first-quarter results are expected to be hurt by weak volumes, particularly in the auto and housing sectors, and winter-like storms that cut into coal carloads for some railroads. In recent months, some analysts have trimmed their earnings estimates for major railroads.

"[The investment] probably points to his belief that the fundamental business proposition underlying the railroads remains intact despite near-term projections for volume weakness in 2007," Fitch Ratings analyst Steve Brown said. "He's probably looking at this, still, as a value play."

The stake by Mr. Buffett, considered one of the world's savvier investors, sent shares in the three biggest U.S. railroads by revenue to fresh 52-week highs.

Recently, shares of Burlington Northern were up 8.6% at $89.91, Union Pacific Corp. gained 5.3% to $108.63, and CSX Corp. rose 2.6% to $42.02. Shares of Norfolk Southern Corp., the fourth-largest railroad in the U.S., advanced 4.1% to $53.07.

........

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed Friday in two filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had purchased 39 million shares of Burlington Northern at share prices up to $81.80. That gives Berkshire a 10.9% stake in the railroad, becoming its largest shareholder.

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal: 9 APRIL 2007: Berkshire Investment Boosts Rail Stocks
(Note: only Wall Street Journal subscribers can view articles online.)

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Uckfield Model Railway Club

A GWR "Collet Goods" 0-6-0 on the Kennet turntable.

There are some very nice British model railway clubs on the Internet, and one that I find particularly interesting and well done is the Uckfield Model Railway Club.

The club has three complete layouts, 2 in 'O' scale and one in 'OO' scale, P4 gauge. They also own and maintain a beautiful outdoor, live steam miniature railway.


Notice the very American looking 2-8-0 pulling the train, patterned after a Canadian National locomotive.

I highly encourage you to visit a sample of their modeling efforts online:
1. Uckfield Model Railway Club home page
2. 'O' scale "Buckham Hill" layout (Southern)
3. 'O' scale "Kennet" layout (Great Western)
4. 'OO' scale, P4 gauge "Leysdown" (Southern)
5. Bentley Miniature Railway (7" & 5" gauge)

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High Speed Rail.....in California????

A fascinating piece of propaganda proposing a high-speed rail line in California:



I'd like to see this project become reality, but it probably won't happen, as the capital investment is GIGANTIC, even by California standards, though it can be easily argued that the capital investment is far less than building more highways, which are much more expensive per mile.

While it's nice to see a state take the initiative on this, it would be nicer to see a national program pushing for high-speed rail across the USA.

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Armchair Railfan

Being stuck here in the Midwestern United States, I don't' get a chance to see the magnificent steam locomotives of the UK live and in person; so I have to settle for the next best thing: watching videos of British trains on YouTube!

Here is a wonderful example of what I'm talking about: a 5 minute video of a LMS "Black Five" 4-6-0 #45407 climbing up Hemerdon Bank, and really making a show of it. You can plainly hear the exhaust grow louder and slower as 45407 struggles with it's short train up the bank--fabulous! One can easily count the four "beats" per exhaust revolution of the drivers, a hallmark of two-cylinder steam locomotives.

Watch the video for yourself:



This video, along with a host of train videos from around the world, can be found at YouTube.

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Trains of Turkey

A wonderful site I've discovered is Trains of Turkey which features an outstanding collection of photographs of Turkish steam trains taken by Robin Lush during the late 1970's. Turkey was well known for featuring a wide variety of steam engines purchased from all over the world, especially from Germany, the UK and the USA.

Here is a sample of the visual feast awaiting you:


The mountians in the background make for an incredibly dramatic photo.

Go visit Trains of Turkey and check out the amazing collection of photo's. You won't be sorry.

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"Climbing to Princetown"

Here is a beautiful oil painting by John Austin of the Princetown branch line passenger train climbing up the steep grade from Yelverton to Princetown. It is entitled "Climbing to Princetown."



This painting is for sale, a bargain at the 4,900 GBP asking price, or you can obtain a print for 69.95 GBP. Check it out here, and also check out the entire John Austin web site, and all his beautiful paintings of British railways. You won't be disappointed.

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Princetown Branch Goods Shed

 

A beautiful 4mm scale model of the Princetown goods shed found on the GWR Modelling web site. This is the first time I've seen the goods shed in color! All the pictures of the actual shed which exist are in black & white. Ian Payne has done a fantastic job modeling this important Princetown building, and hopefully he has some more Princetown structures on the way.

Note: 4mm scale is 1/76, or "OO" scale. The "4mm" means that one scale foot is equal to 4 millimeters. Why the British mix standard and metric measurements like that is beyond my understanding...

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The Fairford Branch Line (UK)

 

In my searches through the Internet, I've stubled upon an excellent little web site devoted to The Fairford Branch Line created and maintained by Martin Loader. Like the Princetown Branch, Fairford was owned and operated by the Great Western Railway. The line ran west from Yarnton Junction (just three mile from Oxford) to it's terminus at Fairford. It closed in 1962, and the rails were quickly removed. Some of the stations and buildings remain, but most have been torn down over the years.

Martin has done a fantastic job providing a free, online historical pictorial of the well known and well liked branch line, and I encourage everyone to visit his site and admire his hard work.

British branchlines are a rarity now-a-days, and sites like Martin's provide us with a way of enjoying these now defunct railroads. These old lines have a charm and a simplicity that warm the heart.

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Polish steam alive and well...

In my previous post, I mentioned a wonderful article on RAILROAD.NET about steam engines in Poland. Well, while browsing through YouTube, I found some excellent videos of those very steam engines. Here a couple of clips:



A beautiful 2-8-2 Mikado type steam engine being turned on a turntable! (You don't see images like this every day!)



A similar locomotive, pulling a small passenger train.

God bless Poland!

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RAILROAD.NET - The Railroad Network

Want to find out more about trains, or talk to other people who are interested in railroading? Then RAILROAD.NET is the place to be. It is an online forum for talking about trains and railroads with people from all over the world.

While the focus of RAILROAD.NET is American and Canadian railroads and operation, there are forums dedicated to a number of differnt topics, even model railroading.

Make sure to check out an article by Joe Grossman about a modern day steam powered mainline railroad in Poland, where you can drive and fire the locomotives! The article is entitled The Wolsztyn Experience - Steam Lives in Poland. Basically a couple of Americans go to Poland to drive steam engines, and it's all arranged by an Englishman.

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Yelverton to Princetown - Rails Across The Moor

And here is a DVD to get in the near future Yelverton to Princetown-Rails Across the Moor from aarchive.co.uk.

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Color pictures of the Princetown Branch

This June 2006 issue of BackTrack is suppose to have COLOR (or COLOUR) pictures of the Princetown Branch! Note to self: get a few back copies of this magazine.

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Welcome!

This is the first ever posting to the Princetown Branch blog. Why the funny name? Well, the blog is named after a railroad branch line that ran from Yelverton to Princetown in Devon, UK. The branch line was pulled up and sold for scrap in the late 1950's, but it lives on here at the Princetown Branch blog.

This blog will be dedicated to trains and railroad of all types, from all over the WORLD! Both real trains and model trains will be featured. The blog will mainly content itself with the railroads of the USA and UK, but any railroad anywhere in the world will be fair game. Expect to see lots of pictures and video as well.

And yes, I'll even have the occasional blog posting about the namesake of this blog: the Princetown Branch.

Here's to an interesting adventure!

__ooOOO__ [Note the cute little sign-off symbol to the left--my tribute to the wonderful Great Western 4-6-0 steam engines! And those 4-6-0's that served well on other lines as well, like the Southern's Lord Nelsons, the LMS Black Fives, and BR's Class 5MT.]