Roadwolf's Blog

I have decided to call the ‘Newfoundland’ Route, the SB&D, named after St Johns, Barrie and Dundas – 3 major towns on the route.

Work is progressing and so far about 120 miles of track are laid down.  About 60 miles of that is low speed mountain terrain.  The rest is all fairly high speed trackage, with wide curves and shallow grades.

There is a 20 mile spur line which services some mining facilities as well.

There are about 50 more miles to go on the mainline, and the chance for about another 30 miles of trackage on spurs.

When complete, I will be releasing challenges which tell the story of this railroad, on this website, for limited times.

Tags: Train Spotting, Trainz, Virtual Railroad by Nightbird
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It is undeniable that the creation of the GP (General Purpose) 7 changed railroading drastically. The GP7 units were designed by Dick Dilworth of EMD. His goal was to make a road switcher which would work well “out where the real work was being done.” The design was based on observations from Alco and Baldwin Locomotives, as well as considerations of the needs of a freight train crew.

Originally the GP7 was made with limited visibility. This was partly because the union atmosphere at the time, wanted to keep the fireman on the locomotive, to simply watch the left side. In reality, Firemen were kept on the crew until the mid 80’s or early 90’s in some cases – strictly due to union pressure.

Another consideration in building the GP7 with long high hoods, and a centrally located drivers cab was the consideration of the old Steam Era Engineers and Firemen. They often liked the idea of a buffer between them and the front of the train – in case of collision. Although these hoods were not structural, and would not stop a collision as well as a heavy boiler would, the impression of the high hood did play a key role in how popular the GP7 became.

The other critical aspect which made the GP’s popular was the control stand. Dilworth brought in locomotive engineers from various railroads, and sat them down as a mock up engine cab. The Engineers told Dilworth what they wanted. And Dilworth followed through, to create a control stand, which stands in the middle of the cab, close to the right hand window. From which the Engineer could easily operate the controls while looking either forward or backwards. This design became the AAR Standard Control Stand.

EMD Could not produce GP7’s fast enough to keep up with demand, and opened up an Engine Plant in Cleveland, Ohio to try to meet demands. In total, 2,729 GP7’s were produced.

The GP9 replaced the GP7 in 1954 and ended up becoming even more popular with 3,444 units being sold. The GP18 made its debut in 1959 and augmented the GP9 until 1963 when both the GP9 and GP18 ceased production. The GP18 was less popular, with only 350 units being built.

All in all, these GPs or Geeps were the turning point of freight operations in North America.

ITC #1605 GP7 – Photo by Sean Lamb

The Geeps were all very similar looking. The unique differences are subtle, but easily identifiable. GP7’s generally have 3 vents below the drivers cab, such as the photo above. GP7’s also have a pair of grills in the access doors towards the rear of the long hood on each side. The GP7 also had a skirt covering part of the gas tank, however in late model GP7’s and early model GP9’s the skirt was retained, however with access holes added. Eventually the skirt was often removed completely later for access.

GTW #4621 GP9 with a short hood

DGVR #40 GP9 with dynamic breaking (as evident by the rounded vent at the top)

The GP9 is identifiable by often just one vent, or small half sized vents below the drivers cab. The GP9 also only has one set of grills on the access hatch doors at the rear of the long hood. And 3 sets of double grills on the central access hatch doors of the long hood as well.

An EMD GP18. Photo by Doug Kroll

The GP18 looks very similar to the GP9. The only exception is the Fuel Fill cap, which is positioned a little higher on the GP18. Instead of coming out of the Skirt on the GP9, it comes out of the side of the frame / lower walkway portion on the GP18. The GP18 also had a Roots Pump Supercharger.

The authors favorite Diesel-Electric Locomotive, has to be the GP9 short-hood. It was the most common locomotive I saw growing up near the CN Lines in and around Toronto, and the fact that the GP9’s are still kicking and in revenue service on several railroads, just proves their worth in my eyes. These locomotives are beasts which deserve some respect.

Tags: Train Spotting, Trainz by Roadwolf
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My birthday is fast approaching, and I just wanted to take the time to go over some of the things I have been up to lately.  For one,  my best friend here in Buffalo lost his house last month, so it has been tough for him to try to cope.  Damn foreclosures…   So I have tried to be there for him and keep him company.  On that note, he got me into a pharmacy delivery job, where we work as a driver under a contract to deliver medications to nursing homes and such.  I rode along with my friend on several runs, even heading down to the Southern Tier and the Pennsylvania border.  It was alright work, however there is a catch.  For one, it only pays .39 cents a mile, and about 1.50 or so per stop.  Usually you get about 10 stops, so that really doesn’t amount to much.

It ended up costing as much as you make at the place, per day.  The surcharges on your ‘rental’ of your scanning device, plus your uniform fee, plus a number of other things you must pay for weekly…  Not to mention the gas money, which comes out of your own pocket, and is not reinversed.  So all in all you do not make much doing this job, and in the end it will cost you more on maintnance of your vehicle then you are making.  A pizza delivery job would be much much better then this.

So I never went through with that.  Which is likely a good thing.  I must say that my wife is pleased, as she thought it was a scam right off the bat.

I have a major interview coming up with a major local company, so I hope that goes well.  Otherwise I am still looking.

Team Fortress 2 update:

My Team Fortress 2 server is moving along nicely.  As a clan, we are continuing back to the basics.  Applications and interest had gone through the roof, and we were not really prepared for that.  In order to retain the family feel of the clan, we have decided to revert to a invite only policy again.  At the same time, we plan on making the server more entertaining and including more theme nights.

I am still working on the bylaws for the clan…  That is work in progress for me.

The servers are running great, and I have nothing negative to report.

Social / Family Life:

I ended up going to Fort Erie to watch my sister skate over the weekend.  It was fun, and surprisingly quite interesting.  I basically grew up in an arena when I was younger, as her skating was a serious thing when she was younger.  Her team did alright, and I am proud of her for sticking with her interests, even when it demands so much from her.

I ended up also meeting my mother there, and it was very nice to see her.  My grandmother is not doing very well, and my mothers side of the family have been taking turns being with her to keep her company.

New Project

I am working on a new project, Railsexy.com – Yes I know it is a copy of hamsexy in a way, but my intentions are similar;  To get the younger generation interested in rail fanning.  I am currently looking for any input and assistance in running that website.  I want it to be a community project.  It is indeed a wiki, as well as a photo gallery.  Please check it out and offer some feedback, if your interested in trains at all.  www.railsexy.com

Dawn of Discovery / ANNO 1404: Venice

I have pre-ordered ANNO 1404: Venice (Dawn of Discovery: Venice), and hope to write a detailed article about it to enforce my other articles regarding the game.  Venice edition is an expansion which will offer multiplayer capability and co-op modes.  As well as a new playstyle, and many new objects, and missions.  I am looking forward to it.

I do plan to write a single page which will link all my ANNO 1404 articles together.

Scajaquada Rails

Scajaquada Rails is a new Trainz 2009 route I am working on.  The work is going quickly, and I should have the basic scenery done on the first phase of this route within the week.  You can read more about this route here:  http://www.railsexy.com/tiki-index.php?page=Scajaquada+Railways

All in all, that is about all that is about all that is really going on.  Fun stuff I know

Tags: Buffalo Life, Canadian Life, Computer Game Reviews, Roadwolf, Train Spotting by Roadwolf
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Foamers, Rail Buffs, Train Spotters…. Whatever you want to call them, they were always nuts about trains. I myself am one of these people. I LOVE trains and infrastructure. But I find myself asking some questions lately… Is this just a hobby for old men? They are the only ones who I seem to be able to find who seem to enjoy it. Why am I so .. different? Why are few other young people into train spotting or foaming. I imagine part of it these days has to do with the whole ’security’ aspect. Any cop who happens to come across people taking photos of trains is likely to accuse you of plotting a terrorist act. And that may be why a lot of people do not bother with rail fanning anymore. But if that is the fact, this added security of ours, is causing a whole subculture to disappear.

Trains are special and important to us here in North America. We may not realize it today, but our nation was build with trains. Without the railways, we would be 100 years behind where we are now, technically. It is amazing to think what these otherwise insignificant lines of steel have done for us.

I would really like to find someone else about my age who is also into trains in the WNY area. Sure I don’t mind hanging around the older guys and talkin trains. But I likely wont go out foaming with someone who is 40 or 50 years my elder.

Tags: Buffalo Life, Hobbies, Train Spotting, Trainz by Roadwolf
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So I went out to enjoy the wonderful weather today.  I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to try to watch some trains.  Having never watched trains in the Buffalo area before, it was a bit of a learning experience trying to find the best places to watch.  I am still looking for good places to watch, but I found a few alright crossings to sit at.

While on the way to watch trains, I came across 2 stranded motorists on the highway.  I stopped for both.  One of them was off to the shoulder, so I put a few flares out for him while he changed his tire.  The other was on a ramp, in the live lane.  Again…  They were out of gas.   This particular situation was causing a dangerous backup of traffic which extended onto the highway.  Cars were stopped on the highway itself as they waited to turn right in the right turn lane, which was blocked.  Of course motorists being..  motorists..  They were not really paying attention to a vehicle that wasn’t moving infront of them with hazard lights on.  Once I got on scene however, with my pylons deployed and my directional arrowstick functioning, the ramp cleared up nicely and traffic flowed properly.

After clearing that scene, I took a drive past a house on Goering Drive which I was interested in purchasing.  Sadly it has been sold, and it looks like a young guy about my age, who likes working on trucks lives there now, and is utilizing the many garages and workshop space the house has to offer.

Continuing on, I ended up stopping at Sheldon Ave to watch 2 CSX trains pass.  One was a Intermodal / Trailer / Container train heading Westbound on the South track.  The other was on the North track, and was a mixed consist train, heading Eastbound.  While watching trains, I saw a police officer chase a speeding car across the tracks.  I took a video of it, and you can see it here.

Look at all that ’snap-track’.  Have they heard of a device called a welder?

On the drive home, I monitored WA2JPQ and ended up talking to VE3WRD in Burlington.  I learnt that WA2JPQ is actually a very nice repeater located in Arkwright, NY on the WNYB Tower.  VE3WRD was able to key up the repeater in Burlington, Ontario, with almost full quieting using only a portable radio.  I am quite impressed with its coverage.

Tags: Buffalo Life, Ham Radio, Hobbies, Photography, Train Spotting, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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