Vintage autos and trains

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BlueSunoco

Well-known member
If you are ever in Northern Illinois stop in and see the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Il outside of Rockford. Worth the visit! There are a few brief antique car shots in this so it qualifies for FordBarn!

http://youtu.be/hcW4aZ8LFqQ

It's a shame that our beloved old cars, killed the trains.
 
BlueSunoco said:
If you are ever in Northern Illinois stop in and see the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Il outside of Rockford. Worth the visit! There are a few brief antique car shots in this so it qualifies for FordBarn!

http://youtu.be/hcW4aZ8LFqQ

It's a shame that our beloved old cars, killed the trains.
Click to expand...
Ive been here a few times - definitely worth checking out!

I would go with air travel killed the rail passenger service. People took trains before there were cars because it was fastest way to travel with very minimal effort on their part. Car came along and opened up much freedom for people but many many roads were just dirt and wandered between every town known to man at that time.The train was still faster.

Airplane got invented everyone thought it was a toy and couldn't carry much very far. Train was still faster.

As technology got better (thanks to 2 world wars needing the ever expanding research for the faster lighter more payload planes, trucks, cars, boats etc) commercial airplane travel got much faster than trains. People still used and relied on rail travel but as planes got more appealing to the average joe and prices became reasonable that they could afford it planes became the way to travel. (not to mention the air travel infrastructure (aka airports etc)) Instead of taking days it took hours to get somewhere.

Semi trucks killed the rail freight industry as our tractor trailers got more HP and payload capabilities and our roads improved especially the interstate infrastructure (thanks Eisenhower) to quickly move product to major destinations. No longer did a company have to load its products into box cars and slowly disperse a little bit in every city it came across IF it was near a rail line.

Dont get me wrong i love trains. You cant beat how eerily quiet a 5 dash9 locomotive transit is coming at you going 80mph and having it thunder past. Amazing how much tonnage of steel is resting on 2 tiny I beams...
 
SeaSlugs, I've often thought about just how strong a railroad rail webbing has to be to hold that weight. Bessemer steel I guess they call it?

On a different note, I absolutely hate, hate flying. Used to be fun years ago no more.

And, I see in the Atlantic Coast Amtrak routes they offer auto-trains, could you imagine loading your Model A up on one, riding the train to Florida, and taking a tour? That would be kinda neat!
 
SeaSlugs said:
I would go with air travel killed the rail passenger service....
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Air travel killed Class I (mainline) railroad passenger service in the 1960s.

What many people may not realize is that up until WWII and even into the early 1950s, electric streetcars and interurban trains (Class III railroads and railways) were the primary means of moving people within cities and between outlying metropolitan areas. Air travel had nothing to do with that. Cars, buses, economics and politics killed those.

Ironically, a whole new push for light-rail systems started not long after most of the electric streetcars and interurban trains were abandoned in favor of cars and buses, and that trend continues today, often along the same corridors and rights of way that the old streetcars and interurban trains originally used 70 to 100 years ago.
 
BlueSunoco said:
SeaSlugs, I've often thought about just how strong a railroad rail webbing has to be to hold that weight. Bessemer steel I guess they call it?

On a different note, I absolutely hate, hate flying. Used to be fun years ago no more.

And, I see in the Atlantic Coast Amtrak routes they offer auto-trains, could you imagine loading your Model A up on one, riding the train to Florida, and taking a tour? That would be kinda neat!
Click to expand...

BlueSunoco ................
You can, certainly do that ! There are several "snowbirds", who bring their cars, down for the winter.
Try it, sometime !
MIKE :) (mikeburch)

 
My avatar is a photo of our BN train caboose decorated for Chrismas. We no longer decorate it as much since our critters try to eat anything that doesn't move. Our caboose has been our weekend cottage for about 15 years. Recently the Dallas Model A Club stopped by for a visit when they were heading to Texarkana. The kitchen has granite countertops and maple cabinets. One end is covered in cedar with maple trim. It even has Waterford wall sconces and lamps. Maybe one of these days, you might drop by in your A.
 
caboose said:
My avatar is a photo of our BN train caboose decorated for Chrismas. We no longer decorate it as much since our critters try to eat anything that doesn't move. Our caboose has been our weekend cottage for about 15 years. Recently the Dallas Model A Club stopped by for a visit when they were heading to Texarkana. The kitchen has granite countertops and maple cabinets. One end is covered in cedar with maple trim. It even has Waterford wall sconces and lamps. Maybe one of these days, you might drop by in your A.
Click to expand...

That's neat!!
 
I love how O. Winston Link combined it all in one photo....trains, planes & automobiles.
k2kzsg.jpg


Bob
:cool:
 
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