Weekend Photos - April 2025

[webenda]

AI Overview
Union Pacific, like many railroads, washes its locomotives regularly, and they take pride in keeping them clean, as it's seen as an essential part of their operation and maintenance.

Lots of thoughts, and lots of interesting things either not said or truly suspect, I fear.

Google's "AI Overview":

Not in the slightest a reliable source. The algorithm takes any ol' bollocks someone posts and that what might actually be vetted for some veracity and equates them as data points, so bullshit and fact get equal weight. I wouldn't believe an interpretation based on an AI search conducted solely across that abyss of intellectual arse-gravy called the net, not for a millisecond. Referencing and citing Google's AI overview for anything, I can't think of a weaker cite.

Sarge, I think Google's AI, Gemini, is well-judged with everything you said. Maybe even Google agrees. Google says, "As Gemini (Google's name for their AI) continues to make a name for itself, we wondered, where did that name come from?" I can answer that, it came from Sarge.
Reference: https://blog.google/technology/ai/googl ... e-meaning/

The Google AI Overview that I quoted is true, so I used it. I forgot that, from the beginning, Google's AI has been subject to general mockery or ridicule.

Concerning Union Pacific's policy on clean engines.
https://www.trainboard.com/highball/ind ... ost-323023

When Union Pacific (UP) purchased Southern Pacific (SP) in 1996 they started replacing SP engines with UP engines that were just as dirty as SP engines.


Then, around 2006 or 2007, the Tucson yard started washing the engines when they were filled with fuel. It reminded me of the good old days in the United States when the person who filled your automobile gas tank also washed your windows. I was told that UP used long-handled brushes to wash engines in Tucson.

There are nothing but clean engines to see today in the UP Tucson yard.



Almost nothing but clean engines waiting to be assigned to a train.


Some UP yards have engine wash racks similar to a car wash operation.
UP Engine Wash Rack at Davis Yard.


Another reference:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/ ... p?1,196760

[sarge]

Wayne, I'll let it go about UP, but I will note both of your references are railfan sites and nothing remotely secondary as a resource let alone primary. Second, and perhaps more telling, is one of those threads is 18 years old and the other a whacking 23 years old.

The AI overview bit could one day be more of a reference if it, for example, took the above into account when making an interpretation. I, based on your references, could agree that UP possible had a policy twenty years ago for scrubbing up, believe it even more if the cite was primary (the edict itself issued from UP management) or even a solid secondary source, say a contemporary article in an industry pub like Railway Age, but I have no idea if that case is still true today, nor if it was even believable when those posts were made solely on the comments by what could be politely called "enthusiasts".

AI in this role currently is nothing more than a deep drill with nothing like an academic critique over factualness let alone an examination of evidence before weighing it to make an interpretation. The unvetted nature of the internet as a repository of all knowledge has made me deeply cynical of anything that comes out of that sewer. I'm going to assiduously wash the shit off any lump coming out of it before deciding there indeed is a diamond within.

The old acronym GIGO can be dusted off as it still holds sway believing anything currently interpreted by AI. Trusting it is just another blow to the dead horse of believability killed by the internet. In order to get anything out of the internet, and now the internet mined by non-human means, one has to be even more assiduous about sorting information as primary, secondary, and bollocks, to the point of approaching anything mined from it from the position of, "That's bullshit. Prove me wrong." The net has made historical research a very negative exercise.

[healey36]

A local commuter train headed by a Rev. 1 version of the 259E from 1933:



One of five Lionel 259/259E locomotives in the collection, this is the oldest we have. Made in 1933, the first version to feature an E-unit. It lines up nicely with a set of Lionel 603/604 passenger coaches from 1932. A couple years back, Sarge soldered in some replacement wiring for me on this 259E, a time when I was having issues with my old iron (turned out to be a short that prevented it from heating properly). It runs terrific, although the E-unit can be a bit sticky.

A nice little toy train from the nadir of the Great Depression.

[healey36]

Tracked down a decent Flyer 977 caboose for my childhood set:



The set I have is the New Mountaineer from 1956, and the swinging brakeman on the 977 was a small rubber figure. The early version (1955) featured a handpainted two-dimensional figure, which is what we have here. I always liked this version better than the boring little rubber man. Besides the brakeman action, the 977 is illuminated and features automatic knuckle couplers. It has a few chips and dings in the paint and plastic body, but seeing it reminds me why I loved Flyer S-gauge so much. I'm glad to have this example added to the set.

[webenda]

Nice pictures, Healey. I like the long straight track, "local commuter train," with the track disappearing in the distance. And the commuter running to catch Santa Claus. What, did Santa forget to leave him a present?

Union Pacific RR has its cleanliness rules online but there is no index for locating them that I can find.

Google's AI helped me to find Union Pacific rules on freight car cleaning...

AI Overview

Union Pacific requires customers to completely unload, clean, and properly secure rail car doors and hatches before releasing empty cars, removing all product, debris, and customer-owned dunnage, or face a "dirty car" fee.

Rail Car Cleanliness & Condition

Customers are responsible for completely unloading, cleaning, and properly closing and securing rail car doors and hatches prior to releasing Union Pacific cars as empty under UP 1000, section D (user ID or email address required). All product, debris, spillage, residue, garbage and customer-owned dunnage must be removed from all compartments of Union Pacific cars. If Union Pacific cars are not fully emptied and cleaned, Union Pacific will charge a “dirty car” fee as published in UP 4, Item 278 and UP 16, Item 53.

https://www.up.com/customers/all/equipm ... /index.htm

Sarge has a good point, is the clean engine policy still in effect? Did it ever exist outside of railfan discussion?

[webenda]

Aha, Google AI explains why I am having trouble finding information on UP's engine-washing policy.

AI Overview

To find Union Pacific's 2020 policy and procedures for engine washing facilities, you'll likely need to access their internal documents or contact their customer service or safety department directly, as this information is not publicly available.
Here's why and what you can do:

Internal Policy:
Union Pacific, like most companies, has internal policies and procedures that are not meant for public distribution, including those related to engine washing facilities.

Contact Union Pacific:
Customer Service: You can contact Union Pacific's customer service department and inquire about their policies and procedures.
Safety Department: If you are interested in safety aspects of engine washing, you can contact their safety department.

[webenda]

That AF Caboose brakeman is charming.

[RBH29]

I'm not familiar with the Flyer brakeman. A neat feature. Does he move or is he static?

[healey36]

I'm not familiar with the Flyer brakeman. A neat feature. Does he move or is he static?

When the train stops, he moves to the edge of the platform where he leans out. When the train starts off, he retreats out of sight to the middle of the platform.

[RBH29]

Pretty cool. Thanks!

[healey36]

And the commuter running to catch Santa Claus. What, did Santa forget to leave him a present?

That damn Santa keeps turning up in weird places; he was on the under-tree loop this year, but when I took that down, I must have set him on the basement layout pending a return to storage. Lately I've been moving him around out of photo shots, but he keeps turning up. Problem is, if I really put him away, I'll never find him again.

Just noticed in one of the 977 pics that the roof-walk is bent over on one end. I'm gonna have to gingerly fix that before it completely breaks off.

And speaking of AI, I've noticed that Yahoo has started including an AI-generated synopsis of incoming emails; these recaps seem to bear little relation to the actual topic/content. They've got work to do.

[healey36]

I've been doing a bit of documenting of the sets that I have as the numbers have gotten to a point where I'm having trouble recalling where the stuff came from and who it once belonged to, if important. Since collecting these toys is basically a historical exercise, it's occasionally worthwhile to know/recall the source of the stuff. Some might say I'm overly sentimental, but so be it.

Here's a Lionel 299W set that came to me a few years ago, a childhood set that belonged to a good friend of a good friend of mine:



From 1936-1939, it's Lionel's scaled down version of the UP's M-10005/M-10006 City of Denver. The Old Man, a life-long fanboy of the Streamliners of the 1930s, would have loved this thing. It needs a few replacement bulbs in the vestibules, but otherwise runs and looks terrific.

[webenda]

Here's a Lionel 299W set that came to me a few years ago, a childhood set that belonged to a good friend of a good friend of mine:

It does look good. It also looks like it has been played with a lot... LIONEL LINES appears to be rubbed off by handling.
Does it have a working horn? I am curious about the sound of the 636W horn. It looks like a whistle from a Lionel steam engine.

"Steam Engine" reminds me... Google AI has been doing a pretty good job locating information for me recently.
Then I asked AI about the 299W and got:

AI Overview

The Lionel 299W passenger set includes the 636W engine, which is a steam engine. This set, part of the Union Pacific City of Denver set, was introduced by Lionel during the prewar era, starting in 1936. The set also includes 2 No. 637 coaches and the No. 638 observation car.

[healey36]

It has the standard prewar whistle unit inside, not any sort of electronic horn. It’s a bit anemic producing sound, but it works; it probably could stand a good lubrication.

Most of the original power units I’ve seen over the years have little of the original stamped lettering left. I guess a stamping onto gloss paint doesn't hold up very well, especially in an area where there’d be a lot of handling. One could probably find and apply some transfers easy enough, or Joe Mania might make a stamp for the original lettering. On this one, the lettering is still there, albeit pretty faint...I’m going to just leave it as is.

AI frequently throws out some peculiar info; it’s a trait that is not going to do much to bolster the sense of accuracy in web-based queries. AI-generated images can be even more bizarre.

[healey36]

Spring York is in the books, and I came away without any significant purchases. I'm okay with that, as I've got too much stuff as it is (I can hear molars cracking even as I write that ).

The project pile remains at epic levels, so this was primarily a parts run. The carefully compiled needed parts list was overlooked and left at home, so I was left to wander aimlessly through the parts dealers desperately trying to remember what was on the list. Never again...the list will get stored on the phone going forward.

Without the pressure of searching for any particular big items, it was actually a very good time. I found a few prewar Barclay figures of interest, along with a set of Marx passenger cars to throw behind the Marx Commodore Vanderbilt a friend sent me a couple years ago. I have a set of Delta Lines car wraps that I've been wanting to scan and use on a Lionel 1679 boxcar...found a decent candidate in a guy's under-table bin for five bucks. I also found a nice selection of Flying Yankee car bodies on the table of one of the mega part-out vendors; I picked up a couple of those for the upcoming Flying Yankee project. A few other bits came home with me, along with a couple hundred bucks that went unspent. The only regret was I passed on a nice early Fandor station that was pretty unusual...shoulda gone back and snagged that, but I didn't and now I wish I had.

The weather was terrific, the maple donuts fresh, and I ran into a few old friends that I only see once or twice a year. A fun day, for sure.