Red Ring Tupperware Photography & Tinfoil Talk (15)

I don't normally shoot a lot of people but something grabbed me here.

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Good shots, Dan.

The guys in the second one look like they could be cousins of John Wright.

Woolburr wrote in post #8565098
Shooting through a heat warped Lexan "filter" really taxes your images...but since it isn't something I see often...I'll share.

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This made me think of the old Fire Trains the SP used to run throughout the system. They were steam-powered well into the diesel era, and you could find them sitting at strategic points throughout the system. One of the more important jobs they served was to put out the occasional fires in snow sheds when they were still made of wood Apparently that was an ongoing problem. I don't think there are any wooden show sheds left these days.

I actually drove through a snow shed in CO....very cool experience...kind of a funky tunnel.

Nice shots, Dan

Woolburr wrote in post #8566114
I actually drove through a snow shed in CO....very cool experience...kind of a funky tunnel.

Volvos are right at home in snow shed.

Nice shots you've shared here Dan.

Those are some colorful characters in the doorway there.

Chief: What was the rationale behind using steam power for "Fire Trains?" Water availability from their tenders?

Woolburr wrote in post #8566114
I actually drove through a snow shed in CO....very cool experience...kind of a funky tunnel.

Ok, I gotta ask, whats a snow shed?

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #8566376
Nice shots you've shared here Dan.

Those are some colorful characters in the doorway there.

Chief: What was the rationale behind using steam power for "Fire Trains?" Water availability from their tenders?

I think it was simply economic. They had lots of steam engines that were being phased out, and they could afford to leave them in non-revenue service just standing by.

Belmondo wrote in post #8566447
I think it was simply economic. They had lots of steam engines that were being phased out, and they could afford to leave them in non-revenue service just standing by.

Interesting...

Thanks.

Belmondo wrote in post #8566447
I think it was simply economic. They had lots of steam engines that were being phased out, and they could afford to leave them in non-revenue service just standing by.

I wonder about the time involved in bringing them online....guess that speed was not of the essence. hehehe

Woolburr wrote in post #8566532
I wonder about the time involved in bringing them online....guess that speed was not of the essence. hehehe

I don't really know what they did about that. I'm sure they had a system of alert stages. I'm also sure they got rid of the steam engines as soon as they could.

Incidentally, the steam engines they tended to use were often older units. The ten-wheelers were very commonly seen on fire trains, probably because they stayed in branchline service right up to the end of steam, and were still serviceable. Larger engines required a lot more maintenance, and would have been overkill for a relatively small train.

I need to do a google search and see if anyone has images from that era.

Woolburr wrote in post #8566579
I need to do a google search and see if anyone has images from that era.

Westside Models made a scale model of a complete fire train. The water cars are a little different than the one you photographed, but you get the idea.

http://www.trainmaster​.ch/X-245.htm