9/15/17 Friday

[Sharon Evans]

Morning preparations:

9-15-17 The 487 moves away from the house to start its prep.jpg (183.85 KiB) Viewed 3529 times

After putting his grip in the cab he headed back toward the house

9-15-17 The 487 comes over the pit as Tracy stands there.jpg (185.8 KiB) Viewed 3529 times

9-15-17 The 487 is now taking on water at the tank.jpg (201.82 KiB) Viewed 3527 times

9-15-17 The 487 heads toward the coal dock.jpg (180.58 KiB) Viewed 3526 times

9-15-17 The 487 pulls past the wood shop as it nears the coal dock.jpg (180.08 KiB) Viewed 3526 times

9-15-17 The loader starts to dump coal into the tender of 487.jpg (175.97 KiB) Viewed 3526 times

9-15-17 The hostlers are done and have left the 487 for the road crew.jpg (231.56 KiB) Viewed 3477 times

9-15-17 The 487 has pulled the train into loading position.jpg (232.77 KiB) Viewed 3477 times

[Sharon Evans]

Departure of train 216: 487 and 8 cars

9-15-17 Steam and smoke haze clouds the departure of the 8 car train 216.jpg (177.39 KiB) Viewed 3476 times

9-15-17 The haze has cleared as the train passes the wood shop.jpg (198.9 KiB) Viewed 3476 times

The train is passing the tipple and we can see a group of fans down by the speeder sheds

9-15-17 The train has stopped for some reason._.jpg (219.81 KiB) Viewed 3476 times

9-15-17 The train is underway again and the parlor New Mexico is on the markers.jpg (240.85 KiB) Viewed 3476 times

9-15-17 The parlor is passing the tank as the 487 clears the yard.jpg (215.12 KiB) Viewed 3476 times

9-15-17 The last cars clear the yard and round the curve as people who have watched the train depart walk back.jpg (231.05 KiB) Viewed 3476 times

[Frank Smith]

Sharon & Friends & Guests. It would be interesting to find out why the train stopped at the water tower and about a dozen people got off from one of the front cars, and walked back to the depot.Certainly an unusual event to occur in the usually predictable morning fare.
Also I find that projecting the webcams onto my 84" home theater makes it even more like actually being in the Chama yards.I would still rather be in Chama.

[Sharon Evans]

Frank, after reviewing the video, no one got off. All those people you were talking about were standing next to the speeder shed as the train approached. As to why it stopped, no telling. 487 has a tendency for the engineer side rear cylinder cock sticking open and I did notice that as it passed. If its bad enough, the fireman will go out and try to manually close it.

Should note that the 463 is now hot so maybe a double header tomorrow.

[Edward Morris]

I think you're right Sharon..........the starboard side [engineer's side] cylinder cock was still exhausting as they passed the tipple and when they stopped....didn't see anyone leave the cab though to do a manual close?
Ed

[Sharon Evans]

I saw someone exit the first coach and the side of the 487 was in shadow so had a hard time seeing if Tracy go off or not, he always wears black.

[Sharon Evans]

Also caught a dump truck emptying a ballast load.

9-15-17 215 is at Cumbres and 8 cars long by parlor position.jpg (198.92 KiB) Viewed 3464 times

Arrival of train 215: 489 and 8 cars

9-15-17 The headlight of 489 shines out from the trees at the north end of the yard.jpg (160.41 KiB) Viewed 3445 times

9-15-17 The 489 is by the tank as the train is in north yard.jpg (204.51 KiB) Viewed 3445 times

9-15-17 The 489 is up to the tipple as it heads to the depot.jpg (195.73 KiB) Viewed 3445 times

The train is passing the tipple and we see a nice group of passengers in the open gon

9-15-17 The parlor Colorado is on the markers this afternoon.jpg (200.56 KiB) Viewed 3444 times

9-15-17 The 489 is by the depot as it slows.jpg (159.11 KiB) Viewed 3444 times

9-15-17 The train is stopped and time to start getting it ready for tomorrow.jpg (162.31 KiB) Viewed 3444 times

[Frank Smith]

Thank you for clearing up my confusion about the large number of Fans coming back from the speeder shed Sharon. In my 50 rides this year and 91 the last two years I have never seen more than a few that far up in the yard unless there was a Work Session.

[Sharon Evans]

I was surprised at how many people were standing up around those speeder sheds waiting for the train to pass. Almost every time I go up to the end of north yard to shoot a scene I am alone or maybe one other person is around. That is besides Julian.

[Pete Dahlberg]

Frank, after reviewing the video, no one got off. All those people you were talking about were standing next to the speeder shed as the train approached. As to why it stopped, no telling. 487 has a tendency for the engineer side rear cylinder cock sticking open and I did notice that as it passed. If its bad enough, the fireman will go out and try to manually close it.

Should note that the 463 is now hot so maybe a double header tomorrow.

It appeared the cylinder cock was wide open as the engine passed the tipple. There was an initial stop and when the train restarted the steam plume was greatly reduced. After the second restart, there was no steam plume. When the cylinder cock sticks open, you try to free up the linkage that close the valve. The purpose of the cylinder cock is to allow condensed steam (water) out of the cylinder so that you don't blow out the cylinder head. Once the cylinder is heated up, you have minimal condensation so you can close the cylinder cocks without a problem.