I created a "pen" name, Boomer Hoghead. My favorite author inspired me, Samuel Clemens. Most boys of his era who grew up along the great Mississippi dreamed of working on a steamboat and maybe becoming a river captain. So I guess that while learning the trade and terms of being a riverboat man, he picked his pen name. Mark Twain" (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat. So what that in mind, I searched for a suitable railroad name. I decided to combine two terms from the railroad. Boomer is a person who has worked for many railroads due to the lack of work on the roads. Hoghead is a old term for engineer. So I just combined the two to form Boomer Hoghead.


Over at Trainorders.com, there is a post at about the term Boomer. Check it out at http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454469

Here is a post about a F40 being used in work train service. I never liked what Amtrak did to these locomotives to make them ready for freight service.
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454008

I am current in the state of Kentucky on I75. I must admit while riding in the car, I have been pondering the old days. Yes, them days when there was passenger trains to take you to cities far and near, big and small, rich and poor. These days are long gone. Most of us either drive or fly. We love traveling this way that Greyhound is feeling the hurt. I just heard a few stories from my mother about riding the bus down south to visit family. She makes it seem like 100 years ago but it was just the 60's. With gas prices hovering over 3 dollars and some folks saying that this might be the year of 4, something must be done. Another fuel source or a band new type of engine that will allow you to travel 200 miles on a single gallon. I don't want to tell my grand kids about the good days of driving my Chevy across country in a car powered by gas, telling them about the smell of it and the different types.

Over at Trainorders.com, there is a post about an Amtrak water rumor; http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1415509

I have been on many Amtrak trains that have been filled at many different points while in route and never seen or heard anything like this before. By no means do I think this rumor is true.

This weekend, I am in the city of brotherly love, Philly. I have not been out taking any pictures of trains this weekend. But I did get a chance to see an Amtrak train of Amfleet cars but push by a eletric locomotive. I was really impress2d by the speed. It had to be going about a 100 miles an hour. I guessed if I blinked, I would have missed it completely. I have been to Germany and a chance to ride an ICE train. I wonder what it is like to travel at high speeds on Amtrak. Maybe it is time for an adventure.

Natef40Amtrak out

Back in 2000, there was a discussion over at Trainorders about the different models of locomotives used by Amtrak. Somehow, this discussion turned why Amtrak should rebuild it's F40 fleet. I was strongly against rebuilding these machines from a business standpoint. A lot of railfans forget that railroads are in business to move freight in a way that will make them money. One of those ways involves saving fuel. Running locomotives that sucks down thousands of extra gallons a years does not help the cause. To prove this point, the MRL was able to buy 16 new EMD SD70MACe locomotives that saved 20% in fuel over their current SD45. I bet the savings in fuel alone pays for the lease on MRL new locomotives easy.

Back to the F40. Recently, Via rebuilt F40 6400 (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=174604). I am not sure of all the upgrades involved in the rebuilding process. It will be interesting to see if Via rebuilds more.

I am still learning how to take better pictures with my camera. My new format to take pictures is RAW. I will let you know how that turns out.