Heart of American Material Transportation. Altoona PA Horseshoe Curve

[weimedog]

Altoona Horseshoe Curve & Norfolk & Southern Coal Train - YouTube

[moodnacreek]

Looks like 2 pulling and 3 pushing on the coal drag. Thanks for posting.

[Resonator]

It's common on railroads now for remote controlled engines to be used at the back or in the middle of trains. Not only increases pulling power for long trains, but also helps in handling train length (slack) and braking ability (air brakes).
I never made it to Horseshoe Curve, but was near it a few times years ago driving semi. PA has a lot of neat places worth exploring.

[Ljohnsaw]

My property is at 5,674' elevation in the Sierras.  I have 10 acres on a lot that is pretty steep in places.  The very bottom is up against I80 with a single set of tracks between the East and West bound lanes.  There is a train about once an hour, 24 hours a day - mostly freight but several Amtrack going each direction per day.

Going up the hill, they are really chugging along.  I hear the head 2 or 3 engines, then a long stretch of cars, a couple more engines, another long stretch of car then 1 or 2 engines pushing.  Depending on the wind direction and speed, I may not hear them as they go by.

They "appear" from behind a ridge and within a mile enter a short tunnel, go around a big knoll/cliff and past a grade crossing (whistle blows way off in the distance) and on into some other tunnels.  So there is a pattern to the intensity of the engine noises.  I'm used to it now (camping for several nights each week working on my cabin) and find it somewhat soothing at night.  Going down the hill, usually just the occasional squealing brakes and rumble of wheels - very little engine noise.

[rusticretreater]

Ah yes, America's love affair with trains.

I live near Elkton, VA which is a main line heading north.  Merck and Coors Brewing both have factories along this stretch of tracks.  Also to the north of us in the Virginia Inland Port at Front Royal where semi trailers are taken off flatbeds and put on I-81 which runs north to Harrisburg/Pittsburgh and points west.

The tracks are a staging area for trains to wait to use the routes north and I often see trains a mile or longer stopped south of Elkton, usually one but sometimes two.  As noted, four and six locomotives are used to push this huge mass around.  We hear the not so faraway train horns blowing as they pull out through the small towns and crossings, mostly in the evening as its more convenient to get on through places.  Probably the same trains pulling all the way to NYC and beyond.

[weimedog]

Video's of those two spots ( Va & Ca ) would ne nice

[moodnacreek]

'I heard that lonesome whistle blow'  , Hank Williams.

[Magicman]

Actually Hank William's song lyrics are:

[Verse 1]
Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

[Verse 2]
I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind the clouds
To hide its face and cry

[Verse 3]
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me, he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

[Verse 4]
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

[Dan_Shade]

While we're at it:

"The Old Log Train"... Hank Williams Sr (Hank's Tribute Song to His Father) - YouTube

[mudfarmer]

There are Hank and Johnny versions with @moodnacreek lyric, let it slide and let it ride

("Just a kid actin' smart")

[Ljohnsaw]

Video's of those two spots ( Va & Ca ) would ne nice

Someday I might venture down there and wait for a train to shoot some video.  In the meantime, the Tehachapi Loop in southern California is pretty amazing. Tehachapi Loop

[Resonator]

I prefer: "I hear that train a comin', it's rolling around the bend..." ;D

[moodnacreek]

See that big 8 wheeler comin down the track, my true lovin baby an't comin back [Hank Snow] and how about The Wreck of 97?   Can't get those old train songs out of my head.

[SwampDonkey]

Hank Snow has several train songs. The popular ones of the bunch were 'The Canadian Pacific', 'City of New Orleans', 'I'm Movin' On'.

My grandfather liked his yodelling, also that of Wilf Carter, both Canadian. :D