Train Maniac

灼熱の定点観測スポット…

A Lot Going on Here

t's a cloudy April 17, 1971, a busy day on Tehachapi. SP 3207 is leading the northbound SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT around the iconic loop at Walong, California. The Santa Fe units are off a southbound train left at Woodford, the next siding north. The AT&SF locomotives helped push a stalled northbound SP freight into the Walong siding to clear up for the DAYLIGHT. (You can spot the top of the SP caboose behind the four units.) As soon as the DAYLIGHT clears, the Santa Fe units will follow and couple to their train at Woodford.

It was a cloudy day, but because of all the action, it was one of my best trips to that popular piece of mountain railroading

(Joe McMillan on Flickr)

Near Trona, California (2020).

Dampflokomotive 99 5902 der Brockenbahn (2017)

Steam locomotive 99 5902 of the Brockenbahn (2017)

Locomotive à vapeur 99 5902 de la Brockenbahn (2017)

SAXONIA – Die erste deutsche Dampflokomotive

Die SAXONIA war mehr als nur eine Lokomotive – sie war ein Meilenstein der deutschen Technikgeschichte. 1838 vom sächsischen Ingenieur Johann Andreas Schubert konstruiert, war sie die erste in Deutschland gebaute funktionsfähige Dampflokomotive. Gebaut wurde sie in der Maschinenbauanstalt Übigau bei Dresden – ohne konkreten Auftrag, aber mit großem Pioniergeist.

Ihr historischer Auftritt fand 1839 auf der neu eröffneten Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn statt. Während britische Maschinen den Eröffnungszug führten, rollte Schuberts SAXONIA hinterher – als mutiger Beweis dafür, dass auch deutsches Ingenieurwesen auf der Schiene bestehen konnte. Technisch war sie ihrer Zeit voraus: Mit zwei gekuppelten Treibachsen und einer Laufachse bot sie mehr Stabilität als viele ihrer englischen Vorbilder. Ihre Höchstgeschwindigkeit lag bei rund 50 km/h – beeindruckend für die Zeit.

Nach knapp zehn Jahren im regulären Dienst wurde die SAXONIA 1849 ausgemustert und verschrottet. Doch ihr Name blieb: Sie gilt als Symbol für den Beginn des deutschen Lokomotivbaus und ebnete den Weg für eine eigenständige Eisenbahnindustrie.

Zum 150-jährigen Jubiläum der Strecke Leipzig–Dresden entstand 1988 in der DDR ein funktionsfähiger Nachbau der SAXONIA, der bis 2011 sogar unter Dampf fuhr. Heute ist diese Replik im Verkehrsmuseum Dresden ausgestellt – ein faszinierendes Zeugnis des industriellen Aufbruchs im 19. Jahrhundert.

Die SAXONIA ist bis heute ein fester Bestandteil der deutschen Eisenbahngeschichte – nicht nur als technische Errungenschaft, sondern auch als kulturelles Erbe. Wer in Dresden steht, sollte sich die Gelegenheit nicht entgehen lassen, diesem Stück lebendiger Geschichte persönlich zu begegnen.

SAXONIA – the first German steam locomotive

The SAXONIA was more than just a locomotive – it was a milestone in the history of German engineering. Designed in 1838 by the Saxon engineer Johann Andreas Schubert, it was the first operational steam locomotive to be built in Germany. It was constructed in the Übigau engineering works near Dresden – without a specific order, but with a great pioneering spirit.

Its historic debut took place in 1839 on the newly opened Leipzig-Dresden railway. While British locomotives led the inaugural train, Schubert's SAXONIA followed behind – a bold demonstration that German engineering could also hold its own on the rails. It was technically ahead of its time: with two coupled driving axles and a trailing axle, it offered more stability than many of its English role models. Its maximum speed was around 50 km/h – impressive for the time.

After just under ten years in regular service, the SAXONIA was taken out of service and scrapped in 1849. But its name remained: it is considered a symbol for the beginning of German locomotive construction and paved the way for an independent railway industry.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the Leipzig–Dresden line, a functional replica of the SAXONIA was built in the GDR in 1988, which even ran under steam until 2011. Today, this replica is on display at the Dresden Transport Museum – a fascinating testimony to the industrial awakening of the 19th century.

The SAXONIA remains an integral part of German railway history to this day – not only as an engineering achievement, but also as a cultural heritage. Anyone visiting Dresden should not miss the opportunity to see this piece of living history in person.

Kennet, California, 1909. Kennet is now a sunken city at the bottom of man-made Lake Shasta. 

test run..

coast sub..

Why it's the Shasta Route

A westbound manifest freight, led by one of Southern Pacific's 25 SD70Ms, highballs through the reverse curves near the former station of Pioneer, California. A late season storm has deposited a fresh coating of snow on Mt. Shasta.

By March 1999, when this Kodachrome was exposed, the former Espee SD70s were in their fifth year of service. Big change would be coming soon, once Union Pacific began its massive orders for new power.

DRGW #115 "San Juan" 2 Miles south of Alamosa, CO. October 4, 1950

The 4448 in freight service near San Jose, CA, circa 1950’s.

http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/sp-4448-in-freight-service

Preston Cook WM-03

WM Hagerstown, MD June, 1974

Southern Pacific Railroad T-28 4-6-0 steam locomotive 2345 on the old Southern Pacific line to San Francisco which featured some street operation. After the more direct Bayshore Cutoff next to San Francisco Bay was opened in 1907, the line was retained for local service. The line through the Bernal Cut was closed in the early 1940s, reducing the status of the remaining trackage to local switching.