[Noisemaker]

I've been keeping this under my belt for so long I got to whip it out for a little air....



This is my one true love that sadly I never climbed on board of. Always 'passing in the night' so to speak. I can't take credit for the train, as it was done special by my 'Sugar Daddy' shall we say. But is a constant work in progress, as I'm doing much of the sound for it as well. Sorry, I forgot to ring the bell as well. But I was getting my feet wet again using Fraps and all, and wanted to basically see if it all worked still in Win7 for me. So I guess it does, and I'll try making some more 'peep shows' for you guys. :derisive:

[Bernie]

Sounds real good, as is to be expected when you are making the noise! Looks great as well! :derisive:

Is that front unit a locomotive, or a babyfaced commuter cab/coach? :pardon: Neato! I have never seen one of those here in the states, but you have all sorts of fun critters in the land of snow!

[Noisemaker]

Thanks Bernie. This is a 'opulent oddball' indeed, and one I used to see regularly around town and was planning to ride to North Bay on at some point. Kept putting it off and stalling, and by the end of 1992 it was gone. But had a good 15 year run in some pretty rough conditions here. Just as a quick history for you and others, this is the 'Dutch' TEE train. Trying to rival Germany and it's unique TEE train, which all started in the mid 50's I believe. The Dutch jobs did well, and ran for almost 20 years and were then retired. Ontario Northland, looking for something fast and sturdy made a deal with the Dutch to import 4 repainted 'sets' shipped to Toronto and put into use here for a length of time. The original lead engine that came with them looked similar to the 'back end' as you see in the video. Here's a good pic to see...

http://www.flickr.co...64271/lightbox/

So in 1977, these unusual and classy trains started hauling people to Ontario's Hinterland. And I think within the first 3 years, the lead engines gave up and were replaced with the F units. Then a F's cab on one set caught on fire. So they kept it on for aux power, but hauled the whole set with a GP38. And other F's started getting lashed on too over the years.

So anyhow, to explain the video, the whole train uses a wye at Mimico to turn around. It then 'reverses' to Union (about 10 miles east) When it picks up the passengers, it then goes 'forward' via the F unit up the Newmarket sub to North Bay. Nowadays the Newmarket has been pretty well abandoned north of Barrie, so the 'new' Northlanders come into Union 'forward' and out east and up the Bala Sub. Not to sound unpatriotic, but the Bala goes on the east side of Lake Simcoe - and is just so boring. Barrie and all on the west side were such pretty towns. But due to developers and environmentalists and progress, the poor trains were pretty well ran out on a rail so to speak. :pardon:

So I hope you studied all that Bernie, as there will be a test later on. :derisive:

[Bernie]

Woah woah woah, hang on, classes just started up for the spring semester and I already have a test? :rolleyes:

Thanks for the info, those are really neat trains. Looking back at it now, I should have smelled something Dutch in the cab/commuter end. :bigboss:

[Noisemaker]

I'll see if I can slate you for a make up test down the road then. :rolleyes:

The next two video's kinda explain everything better....



And the real journey northwards begins with this...



But based on poly counts and FPS squishing, I'm still forever trying to improve the route by making it 'bigger' yet 'smaller in impact'. Hit and miss if I get a crash still getting out of the city. This time sadly, I got a crash. :bigboss:

[CRQ5508]

Interesting. I never realized the original TEE locomotives were six-axle units. Do you know if they were full C-C locomotives, or A-1-A - A-1-A? Also, I thought the F-units originally used for the TEE sets after the original locomotives were put in the weeds were repowered with Caterpillar engines, or were those different locomotives?

[Noisemaker]

I think you're right Thom as to Caterpillar type on the F7's. But must admit I know nothing of C-C or A-1-A that you ask. I have a old well watched video called 'Northlander In Winter: Final Days Of The TEE' that covers a final ride, and has a pretty good history of the train compiled at the end. It does show that the Dutch or Swiss put this train on actual streetcar tracks to show off the radius it could take - so if that helps you any?

[CRQ5508]

The letters and numbers are similar to the Whyte Notation for steam engines, indicating powered and unpowered wheels. In the Whyte system, you only have numbers like a 4-4-0 or a 2-8-8-2, etc. When it comes to diesels and electrics, there are letters and numbers. Letters always refer to powered axles, numbers to unpowered or idler axles.
A: 1 axle
B: 2 axle
C: 3 axle
and so on...
A C-C locomotive is one riding on two individual trucks, each with three powered axles. An A-1-A - A-1-A locomotive is one that rides on two individual trucks but only the two outer most axles of each truck are powered with the middle axle idle. So, for example, a GP9 with four powered traction motors would be a B-B locomotive. One of Milwaukee Road's EF-4 "Little Joes" would be a 2-D-D-2 with a two-axle idler truck with two, four axle trucks with all axles powered, and another two-axle idler truck.

This here is also a good listing of various types of wheel arrangements. http://en.wikipedia....eel_arrangement

[Noisemaker]

Thanks Thom, that's very interesting. I knew about steam config's, but never knew about the diesel assignments. Think I saw mention about Milwaukee gear, but thought it must do with electric generators or something.

So to answer your question better, I think A-1-A's. They didn't last too long in the snow here, and think the F's had better traction and control.