Category: Photo Section
Photos from the Pennyrail Newsletter
Somehow, Bill Heaton just walked into Atkinson Yard, Madisonville and took these shots. I’d have been arrested on the spot.
For many years Purdue operated the Schenectady No. 1 and No. 2, on a dynamometer in an engineering laboratory on the West Lafayette campus. These were 4-4-0 type steam locomotives manufactured by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia. At the time, Purdue did not have a mascot. After much debate, it was decided to build a locomotive on an automobile chassis. The choice allowed the mascot to build on Purdue’s engineering and railroading heritage, as well as represent the school’s nickname Boilermakers in a meaningful way. The Boilermaker nickname came about during the early years of Purdue football when rumors of the university enrolling burly boilermakers from the Monon Railroad shops in Lafayette as football players. The current mascot, Boilermaker Special V, was introduced in 1993. Submitted by Chris Dees.
The Good news: It was a normal day in Sharon Springs , Kansas , when a Union Pacific crew boarded a loaded coal train for the long trek to Salina.
The Bad news: Just a few miles into the trip a wheel bearing became overheated and melted, letting a metal support drop down and grind on the rail, creating white hot molten metal droppings spewing down to the rail.
The Good news: A very alert crew noticed smoke about halfway back in the train and immediately stopped the train in compliance with the rules.
The Bad news: The train stopped with the hot wheel over a wooden bridge with creosote ties and trusses.
The crew tried to explain to higher-ups but were instructed not to move the train! They were instructed that the Rules prohibit moving the train when a part is defective!
REMEMBER, RULES ARE RULES! (Don’t ever let common sense get in the way of a good disaster!)