As quoted by Superman " More powerful than a locomotive"

[specialdose]

Being a big steam locomotive fan, I ran across this cool video on YouTube. If it has been posted before, oops. Does anyone know the rider?   

UP 844 & Valkyrie Motorcycle - A Sunday Ride

[Tx Bohemian]

That is a cool video! Don't know the rider but the bike looks familiar.

I think it needs to be "stickied" somewhere on this site.


That is one HUGE locomotive.
Not that I know that much about Steam locomotives but is that one?  I didn't see the telltale steam stream like you see in the westerns. Again I don't know that much about them.

[John Schmidt]

Tx, they're kinda like a diesel truck, if they're not pulling hard you see very little smoke. That sound of the steamer rolling across the western plains used to lull me to sleep back in the early 40's. My dad attending summer school at U. of Colorado in Boulder, working on his post-bac and then post-grad degrees. It was easier and cheaper during the war to take the Rock Island Rocket west from Omaha to Denver. I'll never forget that sound, and they really would scoot right along.

[solo1]

Here's a pic of a Berkshire steam engine pulling hard.  This steamer has been rebuilt twice and the pic was taken by my son this last summer.

Although not near as big as the 'Big Boy' in the video,  it's nice to see it as its home is only 10 miles from my home. The whistle takes me back to a better age.

[Big Al of Tennessee]

202.6 km/h (126 mph) 1938-07-03  UK LNER Class A4 No. 4468 Mallard Loc Steam Unkn. [22][23] Downhill grade. Data indicates peak speed 202.6 km/h (126 mph), mean speed (half-mile) 201.2 km/h (125 mph). Mallard suffered an overheated crankpin during the run, but was repaired and returned to traffic within 9 da

Trains of that time, held most of the land speed records.

The trains today, are just unreal fast.

Good Video.

[Hoser]

Being a big steam locomotive fan, I ran across this cool video on YouTube. If it has been posted before, oops. Does anyone know the rider?   

UP 844 & Valkyrie Motorcycle - A Sunday Ride

That picture reminds me of the UP train I was running parallel with on a trip back from South Dakota.  Noticed the Engineer and the conductor were leaning out the window of the engine waving and yelling at me.  It was two of my younger brothers that are railroad trainmen. Their crew change is Marysville Kansas where they both live.  I went to the depot and waited for them to get in, rode to brother Ed's house and spent the night drinking  beer with them.  Went on home the next day.  Hoser      

[old2soon]

THAT sound has to be one of the sweetest I've heard.  RIDE SAFE.

[YoungPUP]

Here's a page from the Union Pacific Steam Locomotive page.  They're Very proud of their history.
http://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/locomotives/index.shtml

[old2soon]

Here's a page from the Union Pacific Steam Locomotive page.  They're Very proud of their history.
http://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/locomotives/index.shtml

Reading the spec sheets on the old steamers I'm surprised to learn that most of the tractive force is on the front drivers. Sort of like front wheel drive cages. I remember Dad taking us to the rail yards in Chicago and not only watching the steam locomotives I was fortunate enough to ride a train pulled by a steam loco.  Been to Denver and was up close and personal with that 4 8 8 4 they have there.  RIDE SAFE.

[lifguardct]

Actually, "Locomotive" is how I describe my Raider's torque to people. My Valk feels more tame and steady. 

[Thulsa Doom]

That was cool.

[Bigwolf]

I remember steamers on the tracks less than 200 yards from my house when I was a kid.  The engineers would blow the horn and wave at you as they went by.  Sometimes they even tossed small bags of candy out as they passed.  It was certainly a different world than we live in today.

The largest locomotive in WV in those days was the "Allegheny", the second most powerful ever built.
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/allegheny/

And the most powerful ever built was:  http://prrsteam.org/q2-spec-44.html

Bigwolf

[hubcapsc]

The tracks (track now) are between my Granddaddy's house and the
Greenbrier River... We all spent a lot of time walking to the river,
the trains could be easily seen and heard from the house and from
the river, and Granddaddy worked for the railroad (the Chessie)...
Because of that I've always loved to see trains and hear trains, but
I guess I missed most or all of the steam engines by about 10 years...

I don't remember this place, near Ronceverte somewhere...





-Mike