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Post by Col7777 on Feb 8, 2009 7:57:17 GMT -5
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Post by jesse on Feb 8, 2009 8:12:45 GMT -5
That looks like the control tower in Los Angeles. It controls the North and Southbound traffic and the junction of the Eastbound if my memory is still working. ;D
Jesse
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Feb 8, 2009 9:59:07 GMT -5
Hi,
The link gives me a forum error message, but Elvas Tower is just north of Sacramento (California) and controlled traffic at the Elvas Wye, where Southern Pacific lines from Los Angeles, Ogden, and San Francisco joined. I've been there many times. It was an amazing place to sit and watch a huge parade of traffic go by. These days UP police will usually kick you out...
Thanks,
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Post by qxtoolman on Feb 9, 2009 2:27:51 GMT -5
Hi, The link gives me a forum error message, but Elvas Tower is just north of Sacramento (California) and controlled traffic at the Elvas Wye, where Southern Pacific lines from Los Angeles, Ogden, and San Francisco joined. I've been there many times. It was an amazing place to sit and watch a huge parade of traffic go by. These days UP police will usually kick you out... Thanks, Unfortunately it's the sign of the times. Railspotting is just like plane spotting @ airports today, RR police, Homeland Security & TSA, all make it difficult to spot the things we love. I recently got hasseled while trying to watch SP&S 700 steam out of the Brooklyn Yards from a bridge here in PDX. It's kinda like sitting on the end of 28L here, there is always big brother watching. The cliffs above the Columbia Gorge, is my favorite train spotting place, wonderful scenery, great trains (UP & BNSF), and the sound is good too.  |
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Post by Col7777 on Feb 9, 2009 4:27:41 GMT -5
It's shame you can't see the pictures, some really good shots.
On the subject of trains, do you still get the hobos riding on or in the boxcars like I've seen in the movies?
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Feb 9, 2009 11:42:15 GMT -5
Hi,
I see a few hobos once in a while, but nothing like it was 30 or even 50 years ago.
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Post by jesse on Feb 9, 2009 11:47:42 GMT -5
Yep, a bit of Americana has disappeared from the scene. No More Hobo Jungles alongside the tracks. In the 20s and 30s when I was kid, they were always at my grandmother's back door looking for a handout. Some of the houses that fed them were marked by the Hoboes so that others would know it was a good source of chow or used items.
Jesse
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Post by Col7777 on Feb 9, 2009 12:03:45 GMT -5
Thank you guys, that's interesting. I remember when I was young lad watching the trains, I often thought, 'What if I jumped on one of the wagons as it was stopped by the signal, it would be fun?' I never did it as I was too scared, who knows where I would have ended up, in trouble more like.  I did hear a story of a man who used to travel on the old British Rail trains as a passenger dressed in a British Rail uniform, he did this for a long time but one day a guard started asking him a few questions, he must have got the answers wrong and when the train got to next station he was arrested. He apparently got the uniform from a lodger that stayed in his house and when he left he left the uniform and never came back for it, so this guy claimed it and used it. |
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Post by qxtoolman on Feb 10, 2009 1:50:19 GMT -5
Today it's tough to "hop" a train because of sealed cars, the speed freight moves, and of course much of it moves in ConEx boxes from ship to train to end user. I remember a few hobos as a kid, but because of the remote location, harsh weather & landscape, probably the deep woods of the UP was not a prime hobo location. I thought too about hopping a train, but along DSS&A (Duluth South Shore & Atlantic) you weren't going any place that exciting...  |
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