Sylderon

As nicked from with his permission.

How did your train addiction begin? What made you interest in this kind of transport?

I would have to say it has a lot to do with where I grew up. Downers Grove IL is on the former CB&Q from Chicago to Aurora, a triple-track high-speed line appropriately nicknamed "The Racetrack". It has about 80 trains/day now, many of them Metra commuter runs. Basically, I was lucky enough to grow up within hearing distance of a very busy line, watching green and white E9s blasting through with expresses to the Loop, along with various freights.
It also runs in the family. My father grew up in Rockford, near the Milwaukee Road line to Janesville, and he's mostly responsible, I suppose. Taking me out to see N&W 1218 and 611, Frisco 1522, UP 844 and 3985 when they would come through the area.
Actually, some of my very earliest memories involve trains. I recall being taken on a bike ride, in the little kiddie-seat, at what I later realized was where the Prairie Path (former Chicago Aurora & Elgin interurban) crossed the former Chicago Great Western near Prince Crossing Road. Another one was being carried through what I later realized was a center-cab diesel, I think that Monticello.
As far as why I'm interested? Well, back when I was young, they were the biggest and loudest and therefore the most awesome thing I had ever seen, and I still hold to that statement. I was, and still am, the sort that stands about at construction sites and watches how things go.
Cars are nice, I suppose. I just find them too...common, really. The don't seem all that robust or substantial. Some people spend tens of thousands of dollars upgrading cars, even though they're spending on capabilities that are either impractical or illegal in application, and they either wear out in about ten years, or turn into an expensive pile of junk in a few seconds. And with auto racing, I've never really understood that, myself. Bunch of fiberglass things zipping around in circles yet going nowhere, sounding like a pack of hyperactive weedwhackers, nothing like the soothing chortle of a 16-645E3...

OK. So how does your interest in trains manifest itself?
Modeling, photography, and possible future career and/or volunteer work.

What is your all-time favorite locomotive(s)/train(s) of your country's railways?
This one is hard to say, really...torn between the Milwaukee S-3 Northern, N&W Class A, and SD40-2.

I see. Do you have an all-time favorite foreign engines?
I really like the British Rail Class 9F 2-10-0.

Do you ride a train often or at least regularly?
I often ride Metra into Chicago, and to other points on the multicolored octopus.

When was the last time you went somewhere by train? What kind of train was it?
I've taken the Empire Builder to St. Paul, the Wolverine to Detroit, and the City of New Orleans to Memphis.

This is where the harder part begins. Is your train addiction just at admiration level or you're also deeply interested in technical details and stuff?
I'm pretty familiar with much of the engineering involved, and I've actually fired and driven a steamer (a little one, but it was still standard gauge).

What do you find the most interesting/knowledge-enriching fact you've learned about trains?
Probably the engineering, again, both civil/structural and mechanical, as well as the history.

Do you think you know enough about railways to consider yourself a "train expert" now?
In a few limited areas, yes...

Now that you look back at the times you didn't know as much as now do you feel you made a train-knowledge progress?
I certainly have, yes.

Enough with the philosophy stuff. Do you have a train related dream that you want to come true although you don't find it probable?
I wouldn't mind being in operating service.

Have you ever thought about your hobby becoming your job? (being a train driver or so..) Did you do something for it? Confess..
I have definitely considered it, perhaps becoming a signal maintainer or something like that, but I haven't taken any definite steps toward that.

Oh... How do you feel about it now?
I'll try to graduate first.

Now is there something about your country's railways that annoys the hell out of you?
The police, to a certain extent, and the astounding ignorance of some parts of the general public and government officials.

Something more about what do you like? Are you more into older and classic trains or do you like the modern ones better?
I suppose I have a general bias toward older things, but the modern aspects are pretty nice in their own way.

Steam engines are a particular category. How much attention do you pay for those?
A good amount, yes.

Are there some trains/engines you changed your opinion about?
None in particular that I can think of.

It hurts me to ask this but are there some trains/engines you don't like??
Yes, some of the more-recent ElectroMotive models. The SD90MAC was clearly just a byproduct of the dick-waving contest they had with GE ten years ago, and little more. Also, the SD70ACe looks terrible, with that clumsy protrusion around the nose door.

Do you think there is some train stuff other trainiacs should definitely see/hear?
I'm not entirely sure, myself...

How do you get along with train drivers. Do you use to talk to them if an opportunity shows up?
I haven't had all that opportunity, actually, but they are almost always nice to chat with.

Oh yeah .. now that I mentioned it ... have you ever rode in a train cab?
I fired and drove a small steamer, under supervision, so yes.

Are there some special railway events in your country? Do you go on those?
There are a number of them, model shows, special events at museums, things like that. I try to attend when I can.

What's your most treasured train experience?
Probably sticking my head out a vestibule window, watching and listening to the 261 charging through southern Wisconsin at 60mph, cinders plinking off my safety glasses...then going back inside and chatting a bit with a former vice-president of Norfolk Southern my father just happened to sit next to.

What train station have you seen the most interesting trains at?
Chicago Union Station.

And thanks to all of the following for putting up with me.


Member of

Damn, it's been a while...but something happened get me off my arse and bring me back here. So all you that have missed me...yeah, right.

First thing I have to say is yes, I watched that show. And so did you. And you enjoyed it just as much as I did, even if you were a bit thrown when Ringo disappeared, and was replaced by some guy without the British accent or British conductor's whistle. But we both got over that fairly quickly, I think.

Then I found out about the other aspects of his career...looking through the 'Humor' section of the recordings at my delightful public library, and amongst the PDQ Bach and Monty Python was something titled "Class Clown". I was curious, and while curiosity has yet to kill this cat...well, that's a story for another time.

There have been few times in my life that I laughed so much.

And so yes, I was saddened by the fact that Mr. Conductor will no longer be around to narrate our model-train videos nor Mr. Carlin to say naughty yet intelligent things. And to be honest, I fear that his kind will rarely come again, if ever. It seems that comedy that makes people think is seen almost as a burden...not to me, certainly. But I don't make the decisions of that kind.

At least he good run of it, 71 years. And so to Mr. Conductor, may the blocks ahead be green, and your waybills short and uncomplicated. And to Mr. Carlin, I can only say what I once heard you say on that recording, and with the greatest solemnity:

Shit Piss Cunt Fuck Cock-sucker Mother-fucker Tits.

You will be missed.

I've recently come across a very nice book at my local library, and there is a passage I would like to share with you; the reasons for doing so will become clear shortly, so please bear with me:


You have to wonder at the ego that could disable and then lead to destruction of the world's best fighting machine. [He] created and then lost a war that he did not have to fight. He chose to fight this war on terrain that gave the enemy every advantage. [He] seems to have gathered no intelligence about the enemy and their tactics, or the terrain his army would cross. Perhaps most foolishly, a commander who had just one battle's worth of experience chose to constantly ignore the advice of more experienced officers and trust instead the wrong local advisor every time, all because they told him what he wanted to hear.


Think of which recent military conflict this might describe, and you might come up with the same answer I did.

This does describe a conflict in the Middle East, but not the current one. You will notice how two of the sentences of the excerpt start with "[He]". The excerpt is from page 33 of the book How to Lose a Battle; Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders, edited by Bill Fawcett (Harper, New York; 2006). The leader in question is Marcus Crassus of Rome, and the conflict was the Battle of Carrhae, 53 BC, in Parthia, what is today Turkey. Parthia was in no position to attack Rome; in fact, a treaty of neutrality existed between both nations.

That did nothing to stop Crassus. As the wealthiest man in Rome, he had become a member of the Triumvirate, the group of three men who jointly ruled the Roman Empire. He was also the least-distinguished of the three Triumvirs, the other two being famous generals, Magnus Gnaeus Pompeius (or Pompey), and Gaius Julius Caeser, who needs no introduction. The single battle of Crassus' experience was a slave rebellion which, despite the bravery of its leader Sparticus, was in no way a proper military campaign between proper armies.

Crassus left for Parthia with seven legions (about 20,000 heavy infantry), 4,000 light cavalry from Gaul and the Eastern Provinces, and 6,000 light cavalry from Armenia, a Roman ally. He collected troops from garrisons along the way until the Romans had a two-to-one numerical advantage over the enemy. However, the Parthian army consisted mainly of mounted archers with composite bows. They could ride in and attack from long range, arrows from their powerful bows easily penetrating the sheet-iron, leather and quilted armor of the legionnaires. Even if the Romans could close the range, the archers were protected by cataphracts (heavy cavalry similar to medieval knights).

Crassus, relying on information from local scouts who were actually Parthian spies, decided to rush his army across the central desert and take the Parthian capital by surprise. His own lieutenants advised that they follow the river valleys, where the heavy infantry could hide from or outmaneuver the cataphracts in the rough terrain. As this would have taken more time, Crassus ignored them.

In response to the unprovoked invasion, the Parthians split their army, part of it invading Armenia, forcing the Armenian light cavalry to withdraw to defend their homeland. They then let the Romans wander about the desert for several days and tire themselves out before attacking near the town of Carrhae, the cataphracts leading a charge. The Romans responded by forming a giant square, each side as strong as the others to discourage flanking maneuvers. However, the legionnaires in the middle of the square, armed only with short swords and javelins, couldn't attack. Seeing the cataphracts halt their charge and hold position, the Romans relaxed and huddled together, only to be cut down by a hail of arrows.

The Romans were able to withdraw on the orders of the Legion commanders, Crassus having panicked and began rushing about, raving madly. All through the night the retreating infantry was harrassed by hit-and-run attacks (the Roman cavalry having been destroyed by their more-heavily armed and armored opponents). Another local scout/Parthian spy led them to the edge of a swamp, where they were surrounded by the Parthians and brought to parley, where a skirmish broke out among the commanders of both sides, in which Crassus was killed. The Parthians attacked the remaining Romans again, finally forcing a surrender.

The remainder of the chapter (past the previous excerpt) reads thus:


Over fourty thousand legionnaires died or were sold into slavery in Crassus's vain quest to equal in glory two of the most brilliant military minds of all times, Caeser and Pompey. He managed instead to establish his own place in history as one of the one of the worst commanders ever.


The parallels to the current conflict are obvious. We have entered into a war not out of necessity, but out of political expediency, against an enemy that was, for all purposes, impotent. The dire predictions of an interminable quagmire were ignored, even while inane statements regarding "mushroom clouds" were ceaselessly parroted. Those "on the inside" who promised that Baghdad, 2003 would look like Paris, 1944 were isolated individuals of dubious credibility, advancing their own agendas.

Only after we conveniently gave them plenty of targets in a lawless and chaotic situation did the terrorists move in with weapons grim and ghastly. The most recent National Intelligence Estimate states that the situation in Iraq has become a rallying cry for those who wish to do us harm, and our ham-fisted response to the insurgency has only swelled their ranks. They do not hate our freedoms; they hate our policies and our actions. The problem is increasingly one of our own making. We try to stomp out insurgents as they show themselves in far-flung regions of the country, only to have them crawl back out as soon as our troops leave. It is like playing Whack-a-Mole while blindfolded, guided only by the sound of car-bombs.

At last count (as of 9/24) we have lost 2, 690 American troops, all of them (to use the old British phrase on graves of the unknown) "a mother's son" (or daughter). Several times that number have been wounded, maimed, or crippled, and many more have sustained injuries to the mind and soul that are much harder to diagnose, let alone cure. As for the Iraqis, to quote that pompous poltroon Donald Rumsfeld, "We don't currently have the metrics to determine" the number of dead. However, that is simply military speak to say "We don't know, and we don't care enough to find out."

And thanks to all of the following for putting up with me.


For more information, please refer to the Supplemental Data Sheet
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Reading: Martin the Warrior by Brian Jaques.
Listening to: March Slav by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, performed by the Russian National Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev.

Has it really been that long? Just thinking about it makes me feel old, far older than my twenty-one years should.

It has been raining all day here. Seems fitting in some way.

I remember all of it with almost perfect clarity, and I remember no real emotion, just...stupefaction, disbelief. (The problems of having a German head and a British heart, I guess.) Junior year at Downers Grove South. Hearing the announcements at their usual time in second period Chemistry. Not the usual announcements, but we just continued with our usual work. What else could we do? They were evacuating downtown Chicago. The Twin Towers, what next? Sears Tower? The Hancock? CBOT?

Third period, Symphonic Band. They had a television on. We just sat and stared, watching a 1,200-foot column of steel collapse into dust. I don't really remember the rest of the day, except that when I came home, everything was so quiet. Midway [i:3006e098a0]and[/i:3006e098a0] O'Hare, completely shut down? But Union Station, NorthWestern, LaSalle St, and Randolph St. were busier than ever. (Perhaps now, you see the value of railways as an alternative to unsafe, insecure, and thoroughly uncomfortable aircraft.)

Normally, I would now begin my usual political polemic; that will come on the morrow. Instead, deferring to that old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, I give you this: [url]www.deviantart.com/deviation/2…

But that is what I contributed last year. This year, I think in terms of music, as Dr. Johnson called it: "The only sensual pleasure without vice." I am reminded of one of my favorite pieces of music, Symphony #2 in C Minor, by Gustav Mahler, "Resurrection."

The tranquil beauty of the Fourth Movement is followed by a bass figure and a singular sustained chord of shocking volume and brutal dissonance. Following the semi-autobiographical nature of the work, Mahler called this chord der Ruf des Schmerzen, The Cry of Anguish, as Mahler realized the sudden finality of the death of his good friend, the conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow. The music then goes through a representation of the End Times, with graves springing open, and the deceased parading about to maniacal march themes. All becomes still; even the singing of the birds ceases. Then, so quiet they are almost silent, voices are heard:

Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du,
Mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruh!

Rise again, yea rise again shalt thou,
My Dust, after brief Repose!

We should mourn or losses, but let us not forget that life goes on for us, even if it has ceased for others. We shall not remain in misery. We not cease from building towers. We will build bigger towers, and they will be pleasing to the eye (unlike that idiotic Fordham Spire they have planned for the Lakefront, which looks like the world's largest twist nail). We must not be afraid, either of threats from without or those self-serving prophets of doom among us. We shall endure.


And thanks to all of the following for putting up with me.


For more information, please refer to the Supplemental Data Sheet
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In the unlikely event that anybody wanted to know more about myself, I have produced this Supplemental Data Sheet.

Serial #3XX-7X-7XXX "Josh Reynolds" aka Sylderon.

Frame design #036601

Build order #Republic 626

Operations commenced 31 May 1985 23:46CST at Advocate-GSH.

Height: 6' 2.5"
Weight: 215

Color Scheme:
Main optics: Grayish-blue.
Upper cranial cover: Dark brown/near black.
Sub-nasal condensing grid: Dark brown.
Specially-designed Chinsulator (pat. pend.): Dark brown, light brown, black, copper.
Note: Highly variable colorset is original; unit is entirely free of artificial colors, flavorings, and preservatives.

Power output: Kinetic 450W, Thermal 250W

Audio Bandwidth:
Transmitting: 45Hz-300Hz.
Receiving: 15Hz-12kHz.

Duty Classification:
Precision Construction/Manufacturing.
General Light Industrial.

Athletic Classification:
Long-distance cyclist.
Spelunker.

Ancestral Classification:
English.
Scottish.
Irish.
North German.
Polish.

Anthropomorphic Equivalancy Classification:
Silver-blue dragon.
Alternate: Snow leopard.

Special Modifications:
Low-temperature and low-light compensation.
Impact-resistant frame.
High-torque wrist and elbow joints
Precision-tuned vocal modulator and frequency generator.
High-thrust drive mechanism.

Known Design Flaws:
Overheating in humid conditions.
Faulty main chronometer.
Neurocircuit and main-drive duty cycles not fully synchronized.
Slow.
Negative boyancy.
Prone to damage from solar radiation.

And thanks to all collaborators, counterparts, cabalists, co-conspiritors, and other associated persons.


The music featured in this journal series is available by request through the Programme Electronique du Musiques Antique du Sylderonique.
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