Dream

Over the Edgemoor Yard-entrance north of Wilmington, DE. (This thing is probably doin’ 90!) (Photo by BobbaLew)

Yesterday morning’s wake-up dream was horrible (Monday, December 27, 2010).
Not a nightmare, just depressing.
I drove my beloved E250 van up to a favored spot along the Northeast Corridor to watch trains, and the railroad was gone.
I’ve been a railfan all my life.
The tracks were gone, even the catenary (“KATT-in-air-eee”) and high-voltage transmission lines were gone.
Everything had been ripped out. All that remained was the ballasted right-of-way — that had previously seen trains doing 100+ mph.
The Northeast Corridor is the Pennsylvania Railroad’s fabled New York City to Washington DC line.


Acela south through Claymont, DE. (Photo by BobbaLew)


AEM-7 (“Toaster”) #916 north into Newark, DE. (Two too many cars; probably doin’ 80-90 mph. With only six they can do over 120.)(Photo by BobbaLew)

Most of Amtrak is passenger-train service on the long-established freight railroads. —In fact, Amtrak was established in 1970 as a government enterprise to relieve the railroads of passenger-service, which were hemorrhaging money.
The Corridor is a complete Amtrak railroad.
Amtrak trumpets it as “Fast-Rail,” which it is, sorta.
Portions of the line can sustain 140 mph speeds. The line has since been extended to Boston, and can probably go even faster along it.
But there are segments good for only 40-50 mph, e.g. a junction in Philadelphia.
And there are restrictive tunnels that go clear back to the 1800s, like in Baltimore.
The so-called “Tubes” under the Hudson River are about 100 years old and very tiny.
They limit the size of equipment, e.g. passenger-cars; as do the tunnels in Baltimore.
Just the same, I’ve always been impressed by the Corridor.
I was a teenager in northern Delaware (‘60s), and every time I saw a passenger-train on the Corridor it was doin’ 80-100 mph.
The Corridor was the stomping-ground of the GG1 (“Jee-Jee-ONE;” I only say that because a friend was mispronouncing it “Jee-Jee-Eye”), which I consider to be the greatest railroad-locomotive of all time.
I really liked that E250 (pictured), which I consider my favorite vehicle.


I think this was in South Dakota during our 1987 vacation-trip. (Photo by BobbaLew)

It was entirely out-of-character. I was used to buying smallish sporty-cars.
An E250 was gigantic; it took two moves just to park it at the grocery-store. —We used the call it “the Queen Mary.”
I bought it at the suggestion of fellow bus-drivers at Regional Transit Service (RTS).
For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for RTS in Rochester, NY, a public employer, the transit-bus operator in Rochester and its environs. My stroke October 26, 1993 ended that.
Many bus-drivers had vans, and suggested I try one.
So I started looking, to replace our rusting Volkswagen Dasher stationwagon, perhaps the worst car we ever owned.
(My 1968 Triumph TR250 would challenge it.)
Our van had a giant 460 cubic-inch V8 engine with a four-barrel carburetor.
It was probably the ambulance motor.
It got 10 mpg; that is, every 300 miles, 30 gallons!
Just the same, I loved it; mostly because a lot of me was in it.
It overheated shortly after I got it, so I pulled out the entire cooling-system, replaced every hose I could see, the thermostat, and recored the giant radiator, three cooling rows to four — it could accommodate four cooling-rows.
That thing was never overheating again if I could help it.
It had dual air-conditioning, and I could use it front-and-back.
It was air-conditioning a giant volume.
We did a cross-country vacation in it in 1987; camped out in it every night.
110 degrees up to Mt. Rushmore, full air-conditioning. It didn’t overheat.
That thing was good for the Pacific Ocean, although we only went as far west as Montana.
But we had to keep it in gas; 8.5 mpg up-and-down Pikes Peak.
The owners of a desolate gas-station in Wyoming cheered as we pulled in.
“Slap another steak on the grille, Martha. 40 gallons!”
It started rusting. It was already seven years old when I bought it.
It also got so that giant motor wouldn’t crank when hot.
Too much compression versus a weak battery.
I also had to fully rebuild the carburetor, which I did on our kitchen countertop.
Rebuilding it cured it running rich; the power-valve was stuck open. —The tiny rubber diaphragm that operated it was holed.
The carb worked fine for a while, but it got so I had to set up the automatic-choke so my wife could start it commuting.
I had to stop in a parking-lot coming home from work. It was where she left it to catch the bus.
When my wife transferred to a 30-mile auto commute, 10 mpg was out-of-the-question. And slush would splash inside; the wheel-wells had rusted through.
The E250 was retired, but I got a Chevrolet Astrovan to replace it. —We drove that Astrovan 12 years, 140,000 miles.
I used to think the E250 was something Old Henry would be proud to find his name on — the front swing-axles were gorgeous forgings.
But 10 mpg was insane. That 1987 trip was $637 in gas, and that’s 1987. Imagine what it would be now..... Probably over $2,000.
I’m sure if I drove down to northern Delaware, I’d still find the Corridor extant.
It’s hard to imagine anyone walking away from such massive investment.
Although sections of Pennsy’s electrified lines were dieselized.
I thought that catenary was forever, but it was removed.
Maintaining catenary is costly.
Passenger railroading has become moribund.
Rail-alternatives to the automobile and airline travel were abandoned.
Our nation has become dependent on petroleum-based transport.
So much we cry uncle when gasoline goes over $4 per gallon.
Imagine $5 or $20.......
And no one wants to do real fast-rail, which is an all-new railroad from Boston to Washington DC.
Devoid of restrictive tunnels and ancient junctions.
The guvamint wants to do “Fast-Rail” across New York State, except it won’t be fast, stopping at every little burg it travels through. Politicians would have it no other way. It won’t be an attractive alternative to driving the NY State Thruway — it won’t draw anyone.

• “Edgemoor Yard” (“Edge-more”) was the freight-yard for Wilmington, DE. (It was entered through the flyover pictured.)
• “Catenary” is the system of cables, etc., that supports the overhead trolley-wire. —The overhead power-supply for Pennsy’s electrification was called “catenary.”
• “Acelas” are Amtrak’s high-speed electrified train-set, for use on the Corridor. It’s a full train-set, including the passenger-cars.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993.
• “Old Henry” is Henry Ford. (The E250 was a Ford.)
• RE: “Front swing-axles......” —The front suspension of a Ford van wasn’t the more commonly-used short A-arms with coil springs. Instead it was long axle-forgings (“swing-axles”); one for each wheel. They looked like the front-end of a Model-T, except there were two.
• “Pennsy” is the Pennsylvania Railroad, no longer in existence. It merged with New York Central Railroad in 1968 as Penn-Central, and that tanked in about eight years. “Pennsy” was once the largest railroad in the world.