Common questions

What is the driver of a steam train called?

What is the driver of a steam train called?

engineer
A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a person who drives a train or a locomotive.

How fast was the General locomotive?

The train’s conductor, William Allen Fuller, and two other men, chased the stolen train, first on foot, then by a handcar belonging to a work crew shortly north of Big Shanty. Locomotives of the time normally averaged 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), with short bursts of speed of about 20 miles per hour (32 km/h).

Was there a train named the Robert E Lee?

During the Civil War, the “General” was designed to haul freight and passenger trains between Atlanta, GA, and Chattanooga, TN. It often transported Confederate soldiers as well as numerous officers, including the famous Robert E. Lee….The General.

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How much is a steam locomotive worth?

Each one cost approximately $265,000 to build, or about $4.4 million in today’s money. In the railroad world, the Big Boys were known as 4-8-8-4 articulated type locomotives.

How many Motors does a train have?

The Trucks: Braking In conjunction with the mechanical brakes, the locomotive has dynamic braking. In this mode, each of the four traction motors acts like a generator, using the wheels of the train to apply torque to the motors and generate electrical current.

What is the captain of a train called?

The conductor title is most common in North American railway operations, but the role is common worldwide under various job titles. In Commonwealth English, a conductor is also known as guard or train manager.

What grade is the Great Locomotive Chase?

Grade 2
The Great Locomotive Chase by Eric Rath – Grade 2 Marching Show.

How fast were trains in the 1860s?

On straight and level track, they could go up to sixty miles per hour. Going up grade, or around curves would limit their speeds. Track conditions were the real limiting factor for wood fired steam locomotives.

Is The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down a racist song?

The song itself is not racist. It IS, however, a Confederate apologist theme. Although Robbie Robertson (a Canadian) of the group The Band wrote the song, the late Levon Helm, an Arkansan, did the research for him to get it historically accurate.

Was Virgil Caine a real person?

The main character in the song, Virgil Caine, is fictional, but there really was a “Danville train” and “Stoneman’s cavalry.” The train would have been part of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, a vital conduit for the Confederate Army. George Stoneman was a Union cavalry officer who led raids on the railroad.

Why are steam trains no longer used?

The steam locomotives required way more maintenance than the diesel locomotives, and way more manpower to keep them operating and repaired which is why they were replaced by diesel locomotives.

How many horsepower were steam locomotives?

List

Name Railway Power
Union Pacific 9000 class Union Pacific 4,750 horsepower (3,542 kW)
Challenger Union Pacific 5,000 horsepower (3,728 kW)
Big Boy Union Pacific 6,290 horsepower (4,690 kW)
Yellowstone Northern Pacific DM&IR B&O Railroad 6,250 horsepower (4,661 kW)

Who is the largest locomotive manufacturer?

General Electric Co. is the world’s largest builder of diesel-electric locomotives. Its products are used by numerous railroads to haul freight and passengers. Thousands of GE machines are in operation every day throughout the world.

Who makes GE locomotive engines?

Most (except the electrics, the switchers, the AC6000CW, and the Evolution series) are powered by various versions of GE’s own FDL diesel prime mover, based on a Cooper Bessemer design and manufactured at Grove City, Pennsylvania. GE is one of the largest locomotive manufacturing companies.

What was the Great Locomotive Chase?

The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews’ Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, commandeered a train, The General, and took it northward toward Chattanooga , Tennessee,…

What is a diesel train?

In Germany,the Flying Hamburger was built in 1932.

  • French SNCF classes XF 1000 and XF 1100 comprised 11 high-speed DMUs,also called TAR,built 1934-1939.
  • In Hungary,Ganz Works built the Arpád railmotor[hu; de],a kind of a luxurious railbus in a series of 7 items since 1934,and started to build the
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    Ruth Doyle