train going through floodwaters

http://archives.luketan.com/sc/wp-conte ... -flood.jpg
Don't know the location of this photo.It was shared with me on Twitter.

It's hard to tell, but it sure looks like that water's up to the axles ... one would hope they re-greased everything after that movement.

Luckily for them they aren't running diesels, as that's well above the minimum you can run a traction motor through ...

- litz

litz wrote: Luckily for them they aren't running diesels, as that's well above the minimum you can run a traction motor through ...

- litz

unless the traction motor's designed for underwater operation lol...
and yes, some are...

Fan Railer wrote:unless the traction motor's designed for underwater operation lol...
and yes, some are...

For railroad use, or are you alluding to "electric boats" (nuclear submarines).

If railroad, please tell us more.

Thanks.

A really good reason for maintaining a steamer in proper working order for such emergencies.

I just received this link today of a diesel powered Argentinian commuter train in Buenos Aries plowing through high water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzGwUhIXLDk

legsbluetrain wrote:http://archives.luketan.com/sc/wp-conte ... -flood.jpg
Don't know the location of this photo.It was shared with me on Twitter.

WOW! But I have a silly question: how do they know that the rails weren't washed out by the flooding?

Russ, that's one of the reasons we have maximum depths of water we can run through. Obviously the primary is that the game commission tends to frown on fishing with 1000amps of electricity... they consider it as us sportsmanlike as the dynamite-toss method. :-p

As to the original picture... I can't determine if that is a steam locomotive or a very small tugboat.

As I recall, the "Road to Paradise" book had a picture of one of their engines that got flooded out... water over the smokestack... it was only the engine's weight that prevented it from floating off the rails. It said it took days for people to get deep enough into the yard where the engine was stored to inspect it because of the cars that had floated off their trucks. Got to wonder if something similar could happen here and turn that engine into a defacto tugboat.

legsbluetrain wrote:http://archives.luketan.com/sc/wp-conte ... -flood.jpg
Don't know the location of this photo.It was shared with me on Twitter.

That is the Southern Pacific in East Portland, Oregon during the 1948 flood. This appears to be the original source. The photo was taken from the east approach of the Burnside Bridge or a nearby building. The building in the background on the left edge of the photo still exists. The buildings on the other side of the tracks were demolished to make way for Interstate 5, and just beyond that is the Willamette River. Downtown Portland is on the other side of the river.

RussNelson wrote:WOW! But I have a silly question: how do they know that the rails weren't washed out by the flooding?

When Portland floods, it is almost always due to high levels of runoff from melting snow in the mountains. The water level probably rose relatively slowly and in this relatively flat, urban area it wouldn't have been flowing very fast. This was a yard on a well maintained main line that saw a lot if traffic (and still does), so they were probably keeping a close eye on it. The locomotive appears to be on the main line. The photo was probably taken early in the flood, and they may have been specifically moving cars out of the flooded area. The locomotive is heading north, perhaps bound for Union Pacific's Albina Yard.

Here is a photo of the same area in 1974 after the freeways were built. The approach to the Burnside Bridge, where the photographer of the 1948 photo was probably standing, is in the background. The yard is gone now; only the double-track main line and one siding remains.