User:Msiddalingaiah/Train ride

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In fall of 2004, I took a trip aboard a vintage diesel-electric train in Minneapolis. The train didn't really go anywhere, it just cruised slowly for ten miles and then came back again. Think of it as a dinner cruise on a train.

We were greeted at the station by an elderly conductor who had worked the tracks for decades. He was straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, trains were in his blood. The conductor spent a few minutes describing the history of the particular cars we were about to ride. They were classic cars from the 1940s, restored to vintage condition of that era. When the briefing was over, we were startled by a bold and authentic All aboard!.

Once aboard, we ordered drinks and dinner. We were seated in a car just behind one of the two engines on either end of the train. We were at the back of the train, pulled by the forward engine. The rear engine closest to us was silent. The conductor was making his rounds and greeted us at our table. He told us of his years on the tracks and how the industry had changed.

I had particular interest in the locomotive proper, the physicist-engineer in me is never dormant. I asked conductor about it and he suggested we go down and take a closer look. I was initially surprized the conductor would invite us willingly to tour the business end. Not waited for him to change his mind, I followed rearward behind a three others from our table.

We took a few steps down into a dimly lit corridor between our car and the locomotive. A single bulb overhead lit our path. The conductor turned back towards us and said, hold on, let me start it up. You're going to start it?? I said. Yeah was the reply. He stood in front a stark panel in the center of the passage. The panel a few heavy-duty, but simple switches. He flipped a large switch that looked like a 40 amp circuit breaker. Then he pressed a thumb-sized momentary switch labeled START. The lights dimmed as the 1500 HP, 10 cylinder, 15 foot long diesel engine cranked slowly over and over. Finally, it sprang to life with robust vroooom followed by the characteristic loud rumble of a fast idling diesel. The noise was shocking, like the exhaust end of an F-18 in an air show.

I couldn't believe he just started this monster with just a flip of a switch and push of a button. It was like starting a tractor, just much, much bigger. We followed the conductor down the narrow passage past the right side of the engine. It's hard to really capture the power of such a big machine, particularly when you are right next to it. Apparently these engines were also used to power World War II allied submarines. They were known for their reliability. At the end of the passage, just behind the cab, was the direct drive generator. The label said it produced 600 volts. It was small compared to the engine, a cylinder maybe three feet in diameter, three feet long.

We made our way into the cab. It was all function, no form. Two uncomfortable bar-stool like seats bolted to an all steel cab. Two narrow windows were our view outside.