Category: A to Z CHALLENGE

A to Z challenge 

Zig zag A method of climbing and descending steep gradients, where shallow-gradient track reverses direction for a while, and then reverses again to continue in the original direction.

Trains more commonly zigzag their way through difficult terrain rather than looping around, but loops aren’t unheard of. There is actually a loop near where I grew up. The loop, built by the Southern Pacific Railroad opened in 1876 to connect Bakersfield and Mojave, about 50 miles away.

In gaining elevation around the central hill of the Loop, a 4,000-foot train will cross 77 feet above its rear cars in the tunnel below. The Tehachapi Loop has been designated as a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

photo credit

I wish I had a Zebra, but the closet I came was the zebra stripped tiger from a couple days ago.

A to Z challenge 

Yard is an arrangement of tracks where rolling stock is switched to and from trains, freight is loaded or unloaded, and consists made up.

Yellow A color associated with a warning or a need to slow down when used by flags or signals, but the exact meaning varies from railway to railway.

X is for, who are we kidding? There is nothing much for X ever so I am embellishing here 😀

CROSSING X = A structure used where one track crosses another.

A to Z challenge 

Train whistles are used as a safety warning and also by the engineer to communicate to other railroad workers. It is also a nickname for an air horn on a diesel locomotive. Steam engine whistles were historically known as chimes in the US during the 19th century.

Whistle post is an advance warning to the engineer of an upcoming grade crossing. It is the point at which the engineer should begin sounding the whistle or horn.

I don’t have any actual W #RailArt pictures that I’ve found, but I did have some fun colorful ones from today’s #LumberTrain

A to Z challenge 

A Vacuum brake is a continuous train brake that is a fail-safe in operation. It is powered by a vacuum from the locomotive, but the application is actually by atmospheric pressure when the vacuum is released. The vacuum brake is now largely superseded by the air brake.

I have NO #RailArt for the letter V unless you count the last one that kind of looks like a V, but I’m not sure what it actually says, so we’ll just go with that. 😀

Unit train – a train in which all cars carry the same commodity and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route.

While I can’t be sure, I believe many of the trains we see going through our town are these type as much of the #RailArt is actually repeat.

Many of the following pictures are just unreadable, but still colorful and interesting. The first one though is my favorite. Raise your hand if you remember the unknown comic from the Gong Show 😀

The tigers are some of my favorite #RailArt pieces.

A to Z challenge 

Tamping machine is generally a locomotive used in track maintenance and equipped with track lifting facilities, and paddles that push ballast beneath a rail track to assure its level.

Track bed The foundation of rail tracks

Train coupler is the mechanical interface that links vehicles so a driver can operate them together. The coupler can be a purely mechanical device such as a screw coupler or bar coupler. The coupler can also incorporate electrical or pneumatic connections.

Train horn Is the warning horn in a locomotive or in a control car

Trainman Is an employee assigned to train service, such as a conductor, brakeman, or switchman

A to Z challenge 

Today’s definitions are for the letter “R” because I quite honestly CANNOT find anything for Q 😀 so we’ll just pretend it doesn’t even exist.

• Railway station A train station, a stopping point for trains, usually with passenger access
• Railway terminal A building for passengers at the end of a railway line
• Reefer A refrigerated rail car used to transport perishable goods
• Roundhouse A circular or semi-circular structure used for storage and running maintenance of locomotives

WOW A to Z challenge is moving right along. I can’t believe we’re already on the letter P!

Have you ever seen a long train with engines on both ends? Did you notice that often the engines are going in opposite directions? There is actually a term for this 😀

Push–pull train – A term for a configuration of locomotive-hauled trains, allowing them to be driven from either end of the train. Also known as “Top and tail” train with locomotives at both the front and back.

Another term that is bit obsolete is that of the Porter – who is an employee who performs various physical duties, chiefly but not exclusively involving lifting. Various types of porters include:

• A baggage porter assisting with luggage
• An operating porter assisting with safe working duties
• A station porter assisting with general station duties
• A lad porter also known as a junior station porter

Now those are great definitions, but I don’t have a #RailArt picture for either one 😀 But I do have this awesome one I captured a short while ago for one of my favorite vintage cartoons, Peanuts (Snoopy has always been a favorite) 😀  as well as some fun penguins, an abandoned passenger car and an unreadable PINK #RailArt.

A to Z challenge 

OPEN WAGON A form of freight hauling car for bulk goods. These are typically seen around here as lumber cars, but when we lived back east you would see them as coal cars and where I grew up they were agricultural in nature.