The Railfans of Simtropolis

[SteveMSim 275]

I live near Fort Worth, Texas, which has been a railroad center. Railroad lines used to stream out of Fort Worth in such a way that a map of them was compared to a tarantula. A number of historic lines served Fort Worth, such as Texas and Pacific, Missouri Kansas and Texas (Katy), Rock Island, St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt), Santa Fe, and Burlington. Today those lines' successors, Union Pacific and BNSF, serve Fort Worth, along with smaller lines such as Fort Worth & Western.

Below is when Union Pacific Railroad's #844, the only steam locomotive never to be retired by a North American railroad, visited Fort Worth:

Crowd around Union Pacific Locomotive 844 by StevenM_61, on Flickr

View from below Cab, Union Pacific Locomotive 844 by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Rod and Valve Gear Assembly by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Headlights and Bell, Union Pacific Locomotive 844 by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Below are photos I took at the trains on display at the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center on National Railroad Day:

BNSF Locomotive 7547, Ft Worth Intermodal Center by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Amtrak & TRE Locomotives, Ft Worth Intermodal Transportation Center by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Union Pacific Locomotive 1988, Ft. Worth Intermodal Transportation Center by StevenM_61, on Flickr

"The Katy" logo, Union Pacific Locomotive 1988 by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Union Pacific Locomotive 2300, Ft. Worth Intermodal Transportation Center by StevenM_61, on Flickr

Below is the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center, which serves Amtrak and the Trinity Railway Express as well as the local bus system and Greyhound bus lines:

Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center by StevenM_61, on Flickr

The old Santa Fe Station:

Old Santa Fe Passenger Station, Fort Worth by StevenM_61, on Flickr

And the old Texas and Pacific Station, which still serves Trinity Railway Express:

Texas & Pacific Station, Fort Worth by StevenM_61, on Flickr

[TekindusT 3,809]

Let me bump this thread a bit...

 

 

2 DBAG Class 290 locomotives waiting at Königs Wusterhausen station railyard.

 

 

 

RE14 line train (propelled by DB Class 143) entering Königs Wusterhausen station on its way to Senftenberg

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Wow never looked over here before in all these years...I love trains too. Not sure why but have this fascination with rail systems. I remember my first time riding a subway in Brooklyn NYC. It was back in 1974 or 75 when when my mom told me we are getting on the train. I was around 5 years old. I was exited and had visions of steam engines (better known to me as choo choo trains at my age) but found it a little strange we were going under ground. At that time not all stations had neon lighting installed yet. The station we entered had all light bulbs so it wasn't as bright as you would find them now. So we get on the platform and I see these boxy graffiti ridden trains and my whole perspective of what a train is was broadened on that day. So we got on the train and I remember being terrified to the point of tears as the train rattled very loudly through the tunnel. That was my first memorable train ride. But for some reason I guess I grew a respect and fascination for trains. I always try to get to the front car so I can look out the window. But sadly today because of terrorist paranoia it is not possible anymore in NYC unless you ride one of the R38s on the C-Line or there is a model on the J-Z line I surprisingly discovered was still running.

 

Some Picks I found over at http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Main_Page This is a great site with a lot of info and resources on the NYC subway including history.

 

 

 

There were times I would take a trip out to Long Island City just to stare ate the big train yard. And I still have my Amtrak model engine and a train set waiting for the day I have room to make a proper model railroad setup.

 

I also like 3D rail simulators. I'm an active user of Open BVE http://www.bvestation.com/ and got into MS Train simulator very late. I only bought it while I was waiting for MS Train Simulator X but they cancelled that Title before launch. I hope someone finishes it one day.

 

I miss the old diversity we had in NYC where there were numerous train designs throughout the system. Today the new fleets all look the same. There are some older ones left though on the A, R, C. J-Z, D and B lines. But gone are the IRT SMEE fleet which I grew up riding. So in honor of the IRT SMEE fleet that now sits on the bottom of the Atlantic, I am working on my first 3D model of an R33 Subway car. When I finish this model I plan to explore what I can do with it in Blender's game engine.

 

[TekindusT 3,809]

Very cool pics, Mr_Maison; the last one looks almost real!

 

More Deutsche Bahn extravaganzza! I'm lucky of living in a town with such an active rail station; if only I could do this in Barcelona...

 

 

S46 S-Bahn line train (Class 485 if I recall well) departing from Wildau station on its way to Berlin-Westend. Wildau station is currently under a heavy reconstruction, this is why everything looks temporary.

 

 

 

DBAG Class 155 locomotive (nicknamed Stasi-Container) on shunting duty at Königs Wusterhausen station railyard.

 

 

 

DBAG Class 203 passing by Königs Wusterhausen station. Maintenance duties?

[atsummerlin53 47]

 

You know, there are far better reasons to come to New York than to see Japan's most seriously overrated band. Ah well, to each his own. Hopefully you'll get to do other stuff while here. Plenty of railfanning to be had, certainly. We only have the world's largest subway system.

And hey, if you fly into JFK, you can take the AirTrain, which is nifty.

Awww, I keep hearing about a certain giant statue or something, hehe. Actually, I'm trying to juggle everyone's time and budgets such that we will get several days with a hotel in Midtown within walking distance of Penn Station so that we can at least pretend to do some of the typical tourist spree.

Oh, in researching another subject, I came across a new cool train set I like, the JR Kyushu 787 Series. It served the limited express runs from Kitakyushu to Kagoshima by way of Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Kumamoto, often as the "Ariake Limited" and the "Relay Tsubame." My understanding is that the 787 Relay Tsubame service has been discontinued now that the Kyushu Shinkansen has finally been completed. Though the new Kyushu Shinkansen runs the hyper-aerodynamic 800 Series, the 787 simply wins in the visual design department for its Gundam assault vehicle appearance.

It's not a train...its an attack helicopter! This thing could be hauling a rain gun, and it would not look out of place.

Granted, it is a little stern and kinda cold...

...but it will serve for delivering the battalion of shock troops or the travelling special headquarters of the Führersonderzug. We are just missing some stylish Art Deco imperial eagles emblazoned in silver against the black metal.

Let's see Darth Vader's train, the JR 787, in full gun-metal action!

As Relay Tsubame, this was the only non-Shinkansen set allowed to share platform levels with actual Shinkansen, as it was covering connection gaps for then-under-construction Kyushu Shinkansen routes:

From that last video, it also apparently has a host of fans! Perhaps someone out there will be able to make a train skin so we can have this sexy black train in our SimCities.

They should have used the same black-metal color scheme for the funkily retro JR Kyushu 783...

Eep...grasshopper green with yellow window trim and bubble glass!

 

That thing looks like a European tourbus. From the eighties.

[AkemiAzula 280]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_rolling_stock_in_New_South_Wales

 

 

That is the Wikipedia page of the rolling stock of New South Wales. I grew up in Australia and the first train I rode on was in Adelaide (diesel ones still in operation)  when I was very young. I lived in Sydney for a long time and Wollongong and thus this page shows the trains I rode when at an impressionable age where my idea of what a train was was formed. The old double deck 1960s carriages would operate mixed with newer cars till 03, I remember I always tried to ride in those as a kid.

 

I have been on other trains as well, most recently English ones including the restored 313 Class on Southern lines. My favourite design for a train is one I haven't been on although I've seen them in retirement, the red rattler Sydney trains. Great to see a thread like this. This is the reason I found grid based road systems the main gripe in SC4. 

 

The local Southern trains are third rail operated. Sydney still uses overhead electric wires and also the intercity services. I also went on the Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Sydney back in 95

 

The old cars I used to like riding in Sydney pictured above from Wikipedia

313 Class restored EMU used by Southern Railway, here at Brighton Station

[TekindusT 3,809]

Third take of my German railroad album!

 

 

RE2 line train, DBAG class 445/446 electric multiple units on ODEG livery, departing Königs Wusterhausen station on its way to Wittenberge.

 

 

 

Privately-owned DBAG class 232 (nicknamed "Ludmilla") on freight service in Cottbus railyard.

 

 

Me with the preserved "Kriegslokomotive" DR 52 8135-7 in Technische Hochschule Wildau campus. It was on March, but haven't uploaded the picture until today...

[AkemiAzula 280]

Two shots I took yesterday on a cycle ride in Bristol

[SteveMSim 275]

Another round of railroad photos for me.

 

TRE Locomotive 121 at T&P Station by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

Trinity Railway Express locomotive 121 waits at the T&P Station in Fort Worth.

 

BNSF Train by Meacham Airport, Fort Worth by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

A BNSF train waits by Meacham Airport on Fort Worth's North Side.

 

Norfolk Southern Locomotive 7606, Ft Worth by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

A Norfolk Southern locomotive waits opposite the T&P Station. 

 

UP 844 Passes By T&P Station, Ft. Worth by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

Union Pacific 844, one of the railroad's two active steam locomotives, chugs by the T&P Station before making a stopover for the night.

 

150th Anniversary Poster, UP 844 Train by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

A poster commemorating Union Pacific's 150th anniversary on the rear car of the train pulled by locomotive 844.

 

Union Pacific Caboose, Handley District, Fort Worth by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

Union Pacific caboose preserved in Fort Worth's Handley neighborhood.

 

Railroad Tracks on Osceola Avenue, Ocala by StevenM_61, on Flickr

 

Osceola Avenue in Ocala, Florida, one of a few places in the U.S. that still features street running by a standard freight railroad.

[TekindusT 3,809]

Ah, I'm absolutely in love with EMD locomotives!

[TekindusT 3,809]

Bumpin' this thread with a fourth take of German stuff! Travelling throughout the country lets me know locomotives and trains unexistant on the area I live... My collection begins to be serious!

 

 

 

RB61 regional train (DBAG class 642 diesel multiple units) waiting on Dresden central station for its departure to Zittau. Personal note: I find these ones very cool.

 

 

 

RE3 regional train (DBAG class 612 diesel multiple units) waiting in Dresden central station for its departure to Hof/Nürnberg. It is the natural evolution of the previously shown train, the class 642. I have personally ridden this same train this last weekend, it can be defined as "not confortable". Not as an S-Bahn train, but nothing you can compare to the class 445/446.

 

 

 

2x light regional railcars "Regio-Shuttle RS1" (DBAG class 650) in Elster Saale Bahn livery waiting on Nürnberg central station.

 

 

 

A closer look to the class shown before. Again, a diesel "Regio-Shuttle RS1" (class 650) in ODEG livery departing Niederlehme station (if you can call it a "station") on its way to Beeskow.

 

 

Two light shunting locomotives, nicknamed Kleinlok (DBAG class 363) waiting in Cottbus railyard, my first class 3XX locos! I'd really like to know what's the duty of the Vossloh-livered loco. 

 

 

Old catenaries work unit DBAG class 704 waiting coupled to other locomotives in Cottbus railyard. According to Wikipedia. there are only 5 units of this class and they are all waiting to be sold.

 

I have more stuff, but it will come on next posts!