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Monson Railroad
The Monson Railroad was a narrow gauge railway, which operated between Monson Junction on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and Monson, Maine. The primary purpose of this railroad was to serve several slate mines and finishing houses in Monson.Moody (1959) p.34 According to the Scientific American of 17 May 1890, it was the smallest railroad in the United States. Equipment was never modernized, and the railroad used antique stub switches and link-and-pin couplers to the end of operations in 1943.Moody (1959) p.33 The line was the last commercial carrier in the United States to use such couplers or to run above ground on a gauge. (The gauge Chicago Tunnel Company continued underground operation as a common carrier freight subway until 1959.) Construction The slate underlying what became the town of Monson, Maine had very low ionizable mineral content, and was well suited for manufacture of electric switchboards. Quarrying commenced in the 1860s and slate finishing operat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of the last census, and the third most populous in the Boston metropolitan statistical area. The city also is part of a smaller Massachusetts statistical area, called Greater Lowell, and of New England's Merrimack Valley region. Incorporated in 1826 to serve as a mill town, Lowell was named after Francis Cabot Lowell, a local figure in the Industrial Revolution. The city became known as the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution because of its textile mills and factories. Many of Lowell's historic manufacturing sites were later preserved by the National Park Service to create Lowell National Historical Park. During the Cambodian genocide (1975–1979), the city took in an influx of refugees, leading to a Cambodia Town and Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on it, along with a personal message, or prayer, but may contain pieces of funerary art, especially details in stone relief. In many parts of Europe, insetting a photograph of the deceased in a frame is very common. Use The stele (plural stelae), as it is called in an archaeological context, is one of the oldest forms of funerary art. Originally, a tombstone was the stone lid of a stone coffin, or the coffin itself, and a gravestone was the stone slab that was laid over a grave. Now, all three terms are also used for markers placed at the head of the grave. Some graves in the 18th century also contained footstones to demarcate the foot end of the grave. This sometimes developed into full kerb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilot (locomotive)
A cowcatcher, also known as a pilot, is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles on the track that might otherwise damage or Derailment, derail it or the train. In the UK small metal bars called ''life-guards'', ''rail guards'' or ''guard irons'' are provided immediately in front of the wheels. They knock away smaller obstacles lying directly on the running surface of the railhead. Historically, fenced-off railway systems in Europe relied exclusively on those devices and cowcatchers were not required, but in modern systems cowcatchers have generally superseded them. Instead of a cowcatcher, trams use a device called a fender. Objects lying on the tram track come in contact with a sensor bracket, which triggers the lowering of a basket-shaped device to the ground, preventing the overrunning of the obstacles and dragging them along the road surface in front of the wheels. In snowy areas the cowcatcher also has the function of a Snowplow#Railway sno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shovel
A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made of sheet steel or hard plastics and are very strong. Shovel handles are usually made of wood (especially specific varieties such as ash or maple) or glass-reinforced plastic (fiberglass). Hand shovel blades made of sheet steel usually have a folded seam or hem at the back to make a socket for the handle. This fold also commonly provides extra rigidity to the blade. The handles are usually riveted in place. A T-piece is commonly fitted to the end of the handle to aid grip and control where the shovel is designed for moving soil and heavy materials. These designs can all be easily mass-produced. The term ''shovel'' also applies to larger excavating machines called power shovels, which serve the same purpose—digging, lifting, and moving mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brakeman
A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, brakes on every wagon which could be controlled by the driver, made this role redundant, although the name lives on in the United States where brakemen carry out a variety of functions both on the track and within trains. By country Germany In Germany, the brakemen occupied brakeman's cabins on several or even all wagons in a train and would operate the wagon brakes when signaled by the engine driver. It was a dangerous and uncomfortable role, especially in winter when it was not uncommon for brakemen to freeze to death in the unheated cabins. The function was abolished in the 1920s with the introduction of air brakes, which could be controlled by the engine driver. United Kingdom In the UK, "brakeman" was an alternative term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snowplow
A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to refer to vehicles mounting such devices, more accurately they are known as winter service vehicles, especially in areas that regularly receive large amounts of snow every year, or in specific environments such as airfields. In other cases, pickup trucks and front end loaders are outfitted with attachments to fulfill this purpose. Some regions that do not frequently see snow may use graders to remove compacted snow and ice off the streets. Snowplows can also be mounted on rail cars or locomotives to clear railway tracks. Usage A snowplow works by using a blade to push snow to the side to clear it from a surface. Modern plows may include technology to make it easier to perform the work and stay on the road. These include Global Positioning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Turntable
In rail terminology, a railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device for turning railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, so that they can be moved back in the direction from which they came. Naturally, it is especially used in areas where economic considerations or a lack of sufficient space have served to weigh against the construction of a turnaround wye. In the case of steam locomotives, railways needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many locomotives the top speed was lower in reverse motion. In the case of diesel locomotives, though most can be operated in either direction, they are treated as having "front ends" and "rear ends" (often determined by reference to the location of the crew cab). When operated as a single unit, the railway company often prefers, or requires, that a diesel locomotive is run "front end" first. When operated as part of a multiple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passing Siding
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or trams travelling in opposite directions can pass each other. Trains/trams going in the same direction can also overtake, provided that the signalling arrangement allows it. A passing loop is double-ended and connected to the main track at both ends, though a dead end siding known as a refuge siding, which is much less convenient, can be used. A similar arrangement is used on the gauntlet track of cable railways and funiculars, and in passing places on single-track roads. Ideally, the loop should be longer than all trains needing to cross at that point. Unless the loop is of sufficient length to be dynamic, the first train to arrive must stop or move very slowly, while the second to arrive may pass at speed. If one train is too long f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grade (slope)
The grade (also called slope, incline, gradient, mainfall, pitch or rise) of a physical feature, landform or constructed line refers to the tangent of the angle of that surface to the horizontal. It is a special case of the slope, where zero indicates horizontality. A larger number indicates higher or steeper degree of "tilt". Often slope is calculated as a ratio of "rise" to "run", or as a fraction ("rise over run") in which ''run'' is the horizontal distance (not the distance along the slope) and ''rise'' is the vertical distance. Slopes of existing physical features such as canyons and hillsides, stream and river banks and beds are often described as grades, but typically grades are used for human-made surfaces such as roads, landscape grading, roof pitches, railroads, aqueducts, and pedestrian or bicycle routes. The grade may refer to the longitudinal slope or the perpendicular cross slope. Nomenclature There are several ways to express slope: # as an ''angle'' of inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laconia Car Company
Laconia Car Company manufactured railway cars in Laconia, New Hampshire from 1848 to 1928. The Ranlet Manufacturing Company began building horse-drawn wagons, carriages and stagecoaches in 1844. The company was identified as Ranlet Car Company to emphasize focus on manufacturing railway cars after railways reached Laconia in 1848. By 1869, the company employed one hundred men and was producing three hundred freight cars per year. In 1870 the company began producing railway passenger cars at the rate of about one per month. History The company was reorganized as the Laconia Car Company in 1882, occupying seven acres of downtown Laconia including a four-story brick foundry for casting and forging metal parts. Some parts were used for wooden cars assembled in nearby shops, while other parts were sold to railways and other car manufacturers building or repairing wooden cars. Laconia was producing 125 railway passenger cars per year by 1893 primarily for New England railways, hors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combine Car
A combine car in North American parlance, most often referred to simply as a combine, is a type of railroad car which combines sections for both passengers and freight. Most often, it was used on short lines to carry passengers and their luggage, as a full car would not have been cost effective. One half (or less) of the car is built like a baggage car while the other half of the car is a regular passenger car. This type of combine is referred to as a ''coach-baggage''. Another common type of combine in railroad use was the ''coach- RPO''. A portion of this type of car was configured as a railway post office while the rest of the car was configured as a coach. The New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad operated a combine separated into an RPO and a smoking section. In 1893, Pullman produced a combine with a baggage area, buffet, barber shop, bathroom with tub and a smoking section featuring a fireplace. When Amtrak took over in 1971, lightweight combines were used on most ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flat Car
A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted on a pair (or rarely, more) of bogies under each end. The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads. Flatcars designed for carrying machinery have sliding chain assemblies recessed in the deck. Flatcars are used for loads that are too large or cumbersome to load in enclosed cars such as boxcars. They are also often used to transport intermodal containers (shipping containers) or trailers as part of intermodal freight transport shipping. Specialized types Aircraft parts flatcars Aircraft parts were hauled via conventional freight cars beginning in World War II. However, given the ever-increasing size of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
