Steam & Excursion > One if by Land, Two if by Air- The Foamers Are Coming!

Walstib, and others, posted treads yesterday concerning steam chasing (some gone bad).  In such times sometimes the only safe place to be is aboard the train itself!  Here are 3 photos I took from aboard the AFT in '76.
1.  In Texas-  the scrum chasing the train was Left-in-the-Dust, literally, when we crossed this river.  I wonder if anyone got a decent photo what for all that dust?!

2.  In Southern California-  Suddenly it was 1942 again: The OV-1 was a P-47, and we were the German supply train.  He made multiple runs at us (and I guess I can't blame him- we probably made an interesting target).  Years later, working for Amtrak, I used to see this kind of thing every now and then- mostly on Trains 1&2.

3.  In Texas, again-  This one was actually kind of frightening.  I shot this from the Crew Car just behind the locomotive (T&P 610).  These guys were WAY too close!  See the wire in the top of the frame?  Their rotor blades were inches off the pole line leaving absolutely no room for error!  I took this shot and then quick got away from the door to protect myself from possible shrapnel.  They got away with it, but damn!
SR

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I’m better at locos...but a fan of prop planes... esp. WW2..
That’s NO P-47..... they were notable for their monstrous single engine & prop...

Wes...

(a split-tail [twin-rudder?, maybe 3?] ) plane ...I’ll keep digging)..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/19 12:26 by wcamp1472.

I think he properly identified it as an OV-1.....the P-47 part applied only if his train had been a German supply train.  Given the twin engines maybe he should have said P-38.

His pix helped me appreciate what was a great opportunity for a very few of us had last Monday chasing the 4014 from Rock Springs to Evanston.  Not many chasers.  It was almost like the old days.  No crazy drivers, no crowds, no dust, nobody in the way.  I didn't really think about it until Jim Wrinn mentioned it in his blog.  I did manage to get a flat tire at Leroy, but no big deal.  One of the nice opportunities of the 4014's big circle trip is there should be a few legs out in the middle of nowhere that will not attract large crowds of either foamers or poppy pickers.

JBWX

wcamp1472 Wrote:
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> I’m better at locos...but a fan of prop
> planes... esp. WW2..
> That’s NO P-47..... they were notable for their
> monstrous single engine & prop...
>
> Wes...
>
> (a split-tail ) plane ...I’ll keep digging)..

No, the plane in the photo is an OV-1. The P-47 would have played the roll of chasing down trains in WWII.
SR

No where NEAR a P38, either....

With two ‘booms’.... and a central cockpit 

​W.

That helicopter also ruined the shot from the photog in the background.

jtbrandt Wrote:
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> That helicopter also ruined the shot from the
> photog in the background.

I really don't think he cared about anybody else. He got "his" shots.

jtbrandt Wrote:
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> That helicopter also ruined the shot from the
> photog in the background.

Well, only because they didn't turn into a huge fireball trailing the 610.  That might have been a keeper.
SR

P-47.

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For. Clarity,
It might have been phrased: “In his mind, the pilot of the OV-1 was in a P-47 and....”

Its just that quick reading flowed to the wrong reading...

Wes C.

Rick Runyon at his finest ! - R.I.P.

jbwest Wrote:
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.> Given the twin
> engines maybe he should have said P-38.

> JBWX

Lightnings attacking German supply trains? I have a 2 X 3 print of this aviation painting hanging in my home office ...

Jim Lee
Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/19 19:45 by Bucyrus-Erie.

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We were heading up Dixon Hill in MO with 1522 and I was running that leg.  We were on a fill and all of a sudden, this chopper from a Springfield, MO TV station came up from down below right in my face.   Surprised the crap out of me.

Yeah, this chopper startled us much the same way. We were sitting in chairs back away from the open baggage door when this guy suddenly filled the door BELOW the poll line. Our first response was duck & cover!
SR

wcamp1472 Wrote:

> No where NEAR a P38, either....
>
> With two ‘booms’.... and a central cockpit 

Would you accept a B-25 configured for strafing duties, or is the whole fighter-bomber-attacking-German-supply-train analogy a non-starter?

That first shot with the dust reminds me of a nut chasing the AFT on the MOW road out by the Salton Sea.  We watched this guy for quite a while before he nosed down into a small wash.