Cab Ride!

[Mark W]

Quarantine allowed me to dig through the archives and finally put this one together.  A few year ago I was invited to climb into the locomotive drivers seat!  The catch? I had to go to Sri Lanka!
Well, luckily we were already going for 3 weeks to visit my wife's family and childhood home.

Our ride is an Indian built Class M10, powered by a good old ALCO 251.  I remember feeling the power in my chest as it roared to full throttle!
Some pretty cool views along the way, and finally we took a spin on a human powered turn-table. 

Things sure are a lot different compared to US Rail.  Hope you enjoy the video!

[C855B]

Very, very enjoyable. What an experience, and thank you for sharing it! Love the 251!

... Things sure are a lot different compared to US Rail. ...

Not so much! I was impressed by the quality of the network. Maybe not to US standards, but welded rail, CTC, full signaling on the main, automated grade crossings with gates, and (apparently) electric semaphores on the lesser line indicate a big investment in a decent system.

Do you speak Sinhala? I heard a little bit of English in your exchanges, but most of the chatter was in a south Asian language, probably Sinhala, or Tamil. Our son speaks Tamil (and Hindi, and Urdu); don't know if he has studied Sinhala, but if his next gig is the Sri Lankan embassy I'm sure he will learn it, too, if he hasn't already.

[Mark W]

Fair points, I too was impressed by some of the infrastructure (equipment is a different story).  Though, many of those crossings were manual gates operated by flagmen, was quite cool to see. 

I was meaning more toward the culture side of things.   A few months ago, there was that virtual railfan video of the Amish family playing on the tracks, barely escaping the train.  Made quite a round on the news.  Yet in Sri Lanka, folks are walking, working, playing inches from the right of way almost everywhere. 


Yes, that was Sinhala, but no, I am not able to speak it. 

[wazzou]

I’m always amazed at how closely the infrastructure encroaches the ROW.
It must have been crazy building all that stuff.  You’d need a guard posted to warn you of trains approaching the job site.

[central.vermont]

Mark,
Very cool video to watch, I really liked it. One question though, the short hi hood has to me what
looks like dynamic brake grids. Am I correct in this? Curios that they would have this.

Thanks for sharing!!
Jon

[High Hood]

Wow! That 251 sounded fantastic, I can only imagine how good it must have been in person!

[Albert in N]

   Great photography and sound!  Enjoyed this.  It was nice seeing scenery, buildings, and trains without graffiti and litter.  Even the railroad crossing markers (striped poles) seemed freshly painted. 

[Mark W]

Mark,
Very cool video to watch, I really liked it. One question though, the short hi hood has to me what
looks like dynamic brake grids. Am I correct in this? Curios that they would have this.

Thanks for sharing!!
Jon

If I recall correctly, yes, that is a dynamic brake.  Supposedly these units were built more for freight, but as demand required, made their way to commuter use.

I definitely remember talking about the AC/DC transmission.  It was neat hearing and feeling the locomotive shift and then really start to pick up speed quick! 
One of these days, I wish to scratch-build this engine in N scale.