for the steam train fanatics

[Martin 2,131]

this time of year in my town, we have a weekend called 'plains trains and automobiles'.. you can read about it here....

planes trains automobiles

and here....

pdf

heres some video of the iowa interstate railway messing around with one of their steam engines yesterday and the last one is at 8.00 am this morning! coming into town.

[Martin 2,131]

another one from this morning......

[Martin 2,131]

most of the time they are helped along by a current iowa interstate diesel. not sure what steam engine this is this year but in the past we had some chinese steam engine and one year the milwaukee 261.

this next one is from in july when there was a railways show in the quad cities. a diesel that was returning from the show that day......

[JimD 3,345]

Very cool videos Martin, thanks for sharing them. :thumbs2:

[jbumgarner 12]

I love to see the old steam engines in action. The town I work for is home to the North Carolina Transportation Museum and it was once the largest repair facility on the east coast. They always have the steamers out. I can be working and hear the wissle blow and it almost seems like your back in time. If anyone is ever in the area (Spencer, NC) and enjoy trains, you should check it out.

[Martin 2,131]

I love to see the old steam engines in action.

[Martin 2,131]

just ran out and got another. not quite as impressive as the milwaukee 261 was a few years ago with it puffing and actually looking like its pulling the train. its not really the same when they arent puffing real hard. still some neat history and a change from the every day diesels that go past.

[Martin 2,131]

well I caved and kent, his friend and myself are about to go a train ridin......

posting from the train.

[AMC RULES 37,127]

Beautiful sights and sounds. How could you not go? Thanks so much for sharing. :thumbs2:

[Martin 2,131]

Beautiful sights and sounds. How could you not go? Thanks so much for sharing.

it was great!...

never been on this line before. its a iais freight line that goes to bureau junction east of us and west of us into iowa, so it was neat to see the two towns just east of us from the rail. boys loved it, they got to go up near the front and could actually look out the front of the passenger car, down through the cars to the track. took a whole bunch of vids and some pics. will sort through them and post some more. even dad had a great time. i have a bit of a soft spot for the trains even the newer ones. such awesome amounts of power.

heres the worker.....

and another of the steam engine. if anybody knows what model it is chime in.

[Gene_S 93]

Very cool Martin thanks for sharing... :thumbs2:

[TT-(Moderator) 1,131]

and another of the steam engine. if anybody knows what model it is chime in.

Who'da thunk this?:

Steam Locomotive No. 6988 will be on display and operating excursions during Train Festival 2011. This huge 2-10-2 steam locomotive was brought to the United States from China to run on the Iowa Interstate Railroad with sister locomotive No. 7081. This locomotive was one of the last main line steam locomotives to operate in the world and is now preserved and operating in Iowa and Illinois.

Looks like it's a Chinese QJ class 2-10-2 built in 1985. :thumbs2:

[Martin 2,131]

some of the vids are a bit screwy, especially the second one, just let it play until the video catches up with the audio, bloody phone........

anyway, if you are interested here goes.......

[Martin 2,131]

and another of the steam engine. if anybody knows what model it is chime in.

Who'da thunk this?:

Steam Locomotive No. 6988 will be on display and operating excursions during Train Festival 2011. This huge 2-10-2 steam locomotive was brought to the United States from China to run on the Iowa Interstate Railroad with sister locomotive No. 7081. This locomotive was one of the last main line steam locomotives to operate in the world and is now preserved and operating in Iowa and Illinois.

Looks like it's a Chinese QJ class 2-10-2 built in 1985.

thanks for the info tt.

i like admiring them, but dont really know much about them.

looks like its the same chinese one they had here in the past. didnt recognize it as in past years it was red with the black and really looked like it was something that you would see on the chinese rr. i guess you searched longer than i did on the subject. :thumbs2:

[mavfreak 11]

Chinese or not it is still an awesome sight. I love trains especially the steam engines. thanks for sharing!

[Martin 2,131]

just bumping this thread......

its that time of year again. sitting on the front porch with a coffee this morning watching this less than 200 ft away...