Hi All, Some of you may have attended the NASG convention in Denver years ago. 1 of the tours was going to the Union Pacific Cheyenne shops where they house and maintain the "classic" locomotives that include the Challenger, FEF and DD40. I still consider it to be 1 of the best tours I have been on. We were free to roam the property without restriction. 1 of the best Howie Waelder photos I have is from that day with Howie and John Bortz in the cab of the Challenger. It is on my Howie page now. None of the steam was live that day, but the FEF was moved around by a shop switcher.
I am trying to remember the shop facilities. I don't quite remember the building that housed the Challenger. It did had a high level platform that allowed to access to the cab level. That is where the Howie photo was taken. The DD40 was in another building. I almost missed it. It was a bit dark in there so photos did not turn out well. If you have been watching the series Extreme Trains on the History Channel, I think you will agree with the following. The host is AMAZINGLY annoying. At times I almost can't watch the show. The script is dumbed down so much that a 5th grader can explain it to a 1st grader. They continually try to make things that happen every day 20 times a day seem EXTREME. When he interacts with the locomotive crews and asked really dumb questions, the response is unsurprisingly underwhelming. The camera angles and fast cuts are like some BAD music video. The music for tonight's show was not unlike something from Star Wars during the battle scenes. ALL bad, cheesy and over produced, not to mentioned some statements that are just plain WRONG. On the plus side you do get to see some things that you might not elsewhere. I saw the loading of a NS coal unit train from a continuous loader. The latest show was about the U P getting people from Denver to Cheyenne for a big rodeo. They used the FEF and the DD40 to run the train. Some time was spent in the beginning of the show in the steam shops firing up the FEF. That building did not look like I remember. It looked very modern as if it were built for the steam fleet care. Does anyone know if this is a newer building for the steam engines? Finally, there are 2 things I have to give 2 thumbs WAY up to the UP for. First, they are the last road standing with their original name. Even my beloved Mighty PRR is gone for 40 years now. Second, the show clearly demonstrated the extent that Union Pacific goes to in maintaining a fleet of classic railroad equipment. A workshop car goes out with the train at all times. They have a special crew just for it. In a time of extreme corporate competition, this collection of trains and the Cheyenne shops are not in the general scheme of ANY other large corporation that I know if. It is an expense and liability that no one else pays for besides the U P. What a unique TRAIN of thought - pun intended... Thank You, Bill Lane Modeling the Mighty Pennsy & PRSL in 1957 in S Scale since 1988 See my finished models at: http://www.lanestrains.com Winner of the 2007 Josh Seltzer NASG Website Award Look at what has been made in PRR in S Scale! Custom Train Parts Design http://www.lanestrains.com/SolidWorks_Modeling.htm PRR Builders Photos Bought, Sold & Traded (Trading is MUCH preferred) http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRphotos.xls ***Join the PRR T&HS*** The other members are not ALL like me! http://www.prrths.com http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRTHS_Application.pdf Join the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society It's FREE to join! http://www.prslhs.com Preserving The Memory Of The PRSL ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
