Even though the bar at "Our" Place isCLOSED on Sundays - We do observe Sunday Photo Posting Day!Now playing at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre!
. . . Sunday, January 7th thru 13th: The Cruel Sea (1953) Starring: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, John Stratton, Denholm Elliott, John Warner - and - Away All Boats (1953) Starring: Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker, Julie Adams, Keith Andes. SHORT: Flat Foot Stooges (1938).
. . . Tuesday, January 9th evening performance ONLY: Von Ryans Express (1965) Starring: Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà, Brad Dexter, Sergio Fantoni - and - The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) Starring: Fess Parker, Jeffrey Hunter, Jeff York, John Lupton, Eddie Firestone. LIVE STAGE SHOW in between features!
The Cruel Sea (1953)
PLOT SUMMARY:
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers. At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officer. Atmospheric sea footage.
from: amazon.com
Away All Boats (1953)
The story of a U.S. naval ship and its crew in the Pacific, 1943-1945. The story of USS 'Belinda', Attack Transport PA22, launched late 1943 with regular-navy captain Hawks and ex-merchant captain MacDougall as boat commander. Despite personal friction, the two have plenty to deal with as the only experienced officers on board during the "shakedown." Almost laughable incompetence gradually improves, but the crew remains far from perfect when the ship sees action, landing troops on enemy beachheads. And few anticipate the challenges in store at Okinawa...
SHORT: Flat Foot Stooges (1938)PLOT SUMMARY: Featuring Moe, Larry & Curly
The boys are firemen who use horse-drawn fire trucks. A salesmen named Fred Reardon tries to convince the fire chief to buy motorized trucks, which he turns down. Reardon tries to fight back by planting dynamite on a fire engine. A duck consumes some of the gun powder and lays an egg that sets the fire station ablaze. The Stooges show up to put out the fire and save the day.
from: threestooges.net
TUESDAY EVENING ONLY! Special One Year Anniversary of our Grand re-opening of the Emporium Theatre!
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII in the most daring escape ever conceived. It begins at Pescara. It spreads into high adventure as they highjack their own prison train. It shoots past Rome... Florence... Bologna... It hightails into the Majola Pass with Messerschmitts in hot pursuit... and makes a final frenzied lunge for Switzerland- and freedom!
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)
This is based on a true story. During the Civil War, a Union spy, Andrews, is asked to lead a band of Union soldiers into the South so that they could destroy the railway system. However, things don't go as planned when the conductor of the train that they stole is on to them and is doing everything he can to stop them.
LIVE Stage Show in between features! TUESDAY EVENING ONLY!
Enjoy! Tom
G'day Cap'n Tom & fellow travelers waiting for the bar to reopen!
Thought I'd provide my "stuff" for our Sunday Pix Posting Day in between plays of the Jets & Patriots NFL playoff game! Surprised to see how close it's been so far in the first half. BUT, the game for me is coming up next - GO JINTS!
Some fine, fine "stuff" from Doug and I really am enjoying going through everything you've posted. Just like reading a book, only better since I'm doing it right here in the best bar this side of heaven!
Tom, those flicks at the Emporium for the week are super fine as far as I'm concerned. I see that the anniversary for the reopening of the Emporium is coming up and you've provided an ENCORE! double feature for the event. Nice touch!
So, you 'n Pete are heading off to Chicago and Union Station. I'm envious! Surely would love to make the trip with youse guys. I checked the Amtrak schedule and see that there's all kinds of round trips. My bet is you'll come back on the Texas Eagle to take advantage of the dining car and the other Superliner amenities. My hope is that you'll have a cooperative and motivated crew. Makes all the diff . . . .
Yesterday was quite the let down in terms of quantity. Da Boss came through, as always, in keeping things moving, and if Pete hadn't dropped in at night, we'd have had no customers! Not good. On the positive side, our resident "barnyardman" Doug got things going with an early morning visit which helped kick start the Saturday Encore event.
Always enjoy a visit from Eric and it sounds as if you are off to quite an adventure. Surely hope we'll get to meet at the Rendezvous. It's a bit too far for me to drive and quite frankly, I'd just as soon take the train. BUT, as they say in parts of the "down east" - "ya can't get there from here!" <grin> So, it will be flying for me.
Don't know about you guys, but these are the BEST of times when it comes to NFL football. Can you believe the Cowboys blowing their chances last night Doesn't bother me at all as I'm no fan of theirs, especially the character that owns 'em and brought the "problem child" over from Philly. Now look who's "in" and who's "out" - Eagles "in" without the troublemaker, Cowboys "out" with him. Poetic justice, I'd say. <snicker> I'll buy a round tomorrow to make up for it - put the tweeter away. <grin>
Ok, here's my contribution for the day, something particularly designed to interest DL 'n Pete!
Until the next time!
Lars
Hi Tom and all.
I'll post this through the mail slot.
ERIC Look forward to some tales of the dispatching days.
That looks a very interesting museum at North Freedom with the two locos in steam, if you have any more info on the museum or a link it would be great to see. Thanks for the great pics.
DOUG Glad your Bride is feeling a little better.
Many thanks for the really great pics of the Chicago area in what must have been a wonderful time to see the many different railroad companies in operation there, many working passenger trains. Looking forward to seeing Chicago by train.
LARS Hope the Giants can do some good this afternoon.
Many thanks for the British book covers. It seems as though the 70s on BR are getting the attention now that they did not get at the time. I must admit I lost a bit of my interest in the railways, for a while at the end of the 60s after steam finished, which was a shame as there were a few early diesel classes that disappered around that time.
Good to see two books on a familiar sight in steam and early diesel days, which have all but gone on the main line the MK1 Coach and the Brake Van.
TOM Sorry I was late with the post yeterday, part of the problem was looking at Our Place 1 looking for an encore and reading the posts there, I am so glad we are still able to visit the old bar.
I think I would have done better to been at the bar than watching the Chiefs.
Two great Navy films on at the Emporium this week, and I can't wait to see the antics of the gun powder eating duck in the Stooges.
Great way to celebrate the first year of re-opening of the Emporium with two wonderful railroad movies and live entertainment as well.
Now for some pics, these are at the Railroad Museum in Green Bay
The aerotrain.
GG1
Sorry about the quality of the photo but this looks a interesting loco if anyone has any info on this or the next couple of locos in the pics it would be good to hear.
PETE.
Hello to all one last time for today. Looks like we have quite the selection of movies this week! Should provide some extra income from boosted popcorn sales. Funny that manager Lars should mention my posts are like reading a book, because it's exactly true. Credit goes to Robert P. Olmsted and his book Chicago's Passenger Trains. Enjoyed your bookcovers as usual sir. There's a plethora of great resources out there, if only we had access to it all. Sorry I can't get into the football discussion this week, as my Bears aren't playing. We all have great fear over here that they'll shame us like they did last week against the hated Packers. Neat pix from Pete today from the Railroad Museum in Greenbay, even though that's Packer territory. Can't be all bad if they have a rail museum. Here's my last batch of pix for today:
Probably the least known Chicago passenger trains during the time period of these pictures were those of the Soo Line. Operating right into 1965 with standard heavyweight equipment of the pre-stainless steel era, the Soo's varnish nonetheless enjoyed a fine reputation within its somewhat sparsely populated territory. Prior to being painted in red and white, Soo's maroon 554 leads #4 on October 12, 1963. The Laker has just pulled into Broadview and will follow IC 4018 and the Land O'Corn downtown.
Last run for the Laker! The Soo closed its Chicago passenger business in the cold of January 15th and 16th in 1965. Number 3, with GP9 2552 as the point unit, pauses at the Soo's Schiller Park depot with the final Chicago departure on the evening of the 15th.
Burlington/Great Northern's luxurious Empire Builder is being backed into Union Station in April 1963, glistening for its afternoon departure. Q E8A 9973 is in far less glamorous suburban duty on this date, but tomorrow might head one of Burlington's liners. It was Burlington policy to rotate its E-units between intercity schedules and Chicago commuter work.
As train-off petitions snowballed into an avalanche in late 1967 and 1968, a ground swell of sentiment to save the passenger train arose across the land and in the hall of Congress. (Most of the public was driving or flying, but apparently the thought of a future without alternatives worried them.) After months of debate, the idea of a National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Railpax) was born in January 1970 as a semi-public corporation established to run the nation's passenger trains. Further wrangling over routes and cities, and the idea itself, continued beyond the October 30th, 1970 singing of the bill into law by President Nixon. Eventually twenty railroads joined Amtrak (as the new corporation was eventually called) in April 1971. Finally, on May 1, 1971, Amtrak assumed control of passenger service on the joining roads. During the latter half of the summer of 1971, one of Amtrak's Turbo Trains toured the nation's rails on a publicity jaunt. On September 4th the Turbo speeds west beyond Lisle on the Burlington's three-track main in the midst of a heavy shower.
Although popular in the East, the Rail Diesel Car (RDC) could not be considered common in the Midwest. Anywhere from a single car to half a dozen RDC's were on the roster of about a dozen roads from the Dakotas to Michigan to Oklahoma, but that hardly stacked up against over 100 RDC's on the Boston & Maine for example. Amtrak experimented with RDC's on its Chicago-Dubuque (Iowa) Blackhawk run. On April 20, 1975, three of the Budd-built cars work up the leads to Union Station, operating as Amtrak #372. First unit is RDC-1 number 10, formerly Penn Central 36, and originally New Haven 36, built in 1953.
In 1973 and again in 1975, Amtrak received a group of power cars, coaches and food service cars built by ANF Frangeco (a French company). Eventually six train sets (twelve power cars) were delivered. At various times these Turboliners were installed on Chicago-St. Louis, Chicago-Milwaukee and Chicago to Michigan runs. Power car 64 leads a Detroit and Toledo-bound Lake Cities into Porter, Indiana in 1981. The outbound Turboliner is operating as Amtrak's #352.
Bound for Chicago, the Turbo with power cars 64 and 65 at the ends passes through Porter, Indiana in March 1981. The train is Amtrak's #365, The Blue Water Limited, from Port Huron, Michigan, due in Chicago at 11:40.
A truck driver was driving down the highway when he saw a priest at the side of the road. He stopped to pick up the priest and give him a ride.
A ways down the road the truck driver saw a lawyer on the side of the road. He turned the truck on a direct course with the lawyer. Then he thought, "Oh no, I have a priest in the truck. I can't run down this lawyer," and at the last second the truck driver swerved to miss the lawyer.
Regardless, the truck driver heard a thump outside of the truck. He looked in his rear-view mirror but didn't see anything.
He turned to the priest and said, "Sorry Father, I just missed that lawyer at the side of the road."
And the priest replied, "Don't worry son. I got him with my door."
G-day Tom and all present.
Well sorry for my absence. I have been out and about.
Anyway I have some time to post some pictures. I will have to get back to the posting tomorrow.
But I have noticed some really nice pictures out there.
BTW Tom. I have been getting a lot of info on the train accident in B.C. E-mails, news, and even through the railroad. I'm glad they all made it out of the locomotive and the cliff.
So here we go.
Milwaukee road E7A #18B sits waiting for it's next passenger train. They are a nice looking locomotive. I would like one.
You certainly don't see a lot of these bridges left. Located at Sabula, Iowa, GP38-2 #2045 leads a frieght.
A Milwaukee road commuter train, The E-unit and a cab car, are running through Deerfield, Illinois. This is located just outside of Chicago.
And still one of my favorite pictures. Tocama tower located at Tocama jct. This is one of the coolest shots of a tower I have seen.
Enjoy
Happy railroading
James
Good evening folks, It's nice to see so much activity on a sunday lots o great pictures for everyone to enjoy.Sorry i didn't make it in yesterday, we've been prpeing for year end inventory ( happens on tuesday ) so we've been a tad busy at the store. However life is getting back to noraml which means I'll be able to spend some more time here
Tom-first off a couple wunnerfull encores yesterday, always nice to re-read them and the one that Pete brought forth as well. I did get your email and I have responded to it thanks. Good movie choices for sunday as well.four favourites of mine when you add in the one year aniversary movies upcomming for the emporium.I hope that there is no live explosions at this years in between live acts though
Eric-Sounds like the streetcar taillights in Sweden were very simialr. The TTC taillights on the modern cars PCC's and CLRV's are essentially two big red bus style tail ligths with blinking signal lights. Yes the TTC cars actually have a blinking signal when they turn left or right onto a new street ( says something about todays car drivers,see the remarls Tom made about cell phones in cars as well )Interesting pictures of tthat electric switcher. Funny a locomotive like that over here would be a mainline electric frieght loco on most of the electric lines.I liked the steam shots from Wisconsin as well, alway's nice to see restored steam. I'm guessing that the track inspection car is a 52 Plymouth. Looks alot like TH&B #1 which was a 52 P;ymouth inspection car. I could be wrong thow I'm not a car afficianado.
Doug-I loved re-reading the silk train story you really owned todays piture sunday with all thise wonderfull shots. Loved the station shots and that B&O F in the station
Lars-A wonderfull array of book covers again this week. Theya ll look like good reads.
Pete-The CN and the fomer BC rail use both shed type slide protection , but they alos have an electric fence in the form of wires that run along beside the track. Any debris that cuts the "line" sends a warning signal to the dispatcher ( hopefully in time to stop trains before they get into difficulty ) I'm not sure if that part of the line had this protection as it's one of those ongoing upgrades. A couple fine musuem shots from you tiday as well. trying to get on da bosse's good side eh with teh Aetrotrain and the GG1 eg
James-Liked your shots this evening as well. A nice shot of the "E" and that is an intersting bridge, looks like an old pin conected one. truly a classic
Rob
Well since I don't see any of the tool bar gremlins as Tom calls them. I'll drop off a couple of museum pictures for everyone.
Our museum's only non-Canadain content Chicago El car #48 ( now operational with TTC guaged trucks and brake drums )
1893 open car 327. One of the museum's only "airconditioned" cars, a crowd favourite. No pwer brakes on this one strait hand brake only ! 12 tons stopped by the motormans right arm !
The museum's other "airconditioned" car. London Street Railway #23, also our only double trucked open car this one os 1901 vintage.It is an air brake equiped car,but is not in regular service.327 is a daily use car unless it's raining.
Two cars in the west loop at the Meadowvale passenger shelter Small Witt 2786 ( 1923 ) and open car 327. This shot's from 1988 the year the west loop was opened.
Hmm I'm still having luck with the toolbar so here's one more round o shots from the musuem to wind out my posting day.
A night shot of TP-11 our musuem's heavy snowplow. Shot a night during one of our Holly-Trolley night shows dec 1993. TP-11 was built by National Steel Car of Hamilton in 1944 she and her sister TP-10 ( located at the delson museum ) were the only purpose built snowplows purchased by the TTC. TP-11 has been undergoing a frame off restoration for the last 4 yeasr but is now in the reassembly stage in our shop barn.
Large Witt 2424 ( 1921 ) showing the door or right hand side of the car.
2005 shot of the museum's first car TTC 1326 ( 1910 ) it a homebuilt wooden car ( body an frame ) the last of it's class left ( over 400 were built between 1900-14 ) all were built by TTC predessesor Toronto Railway Company. all were retired between 1946-56. This car is operational but is used infrequently as she needs another full frame off resto. The car was completely restored by the museum in 1959-63 after arriving at the musuem in 1954.
Single truck railgrinder W28 formerly passenger car 57 ( 1917 ) built originally for TTC predessesor Toronto Civic Railway.
The museum's second car Toronto Civic Railway 55. (1915 ) sisiter to car W28 as restored to passenger format and livery of the Toronto Civic Railway.
Good evening Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Hmm, Sunday, the bar is closed. I'll see if I can push this message underneath the door. I actually heard Boris snoring in the shed. I wonder why he prefers to sleep there?
A beautiful Sunday! Didn't get much done but that is okay. It gave me more time to read all the posts here.
Doug – Blew the whistle I tried to be very discrete and just said that I am 27++. But I must say that I am impressed by your mathematical skills!!The Mid-Continent Museum has 20 locomotives, 14 steam and 6 diesels. At least that is the latest number I have seen or heard. #1385 is an old C&NW Class R-1, 4-6-0, built by Alco 1907.How come the Grand Central was dismantled if it was declared a historical landmark? I saw that one PA-1 (Delaware & Hudson #18) is being restored as Nickel Plate’s #190. It looks exactly as #187 in one of your nice pictures. I especially like the picture with Santa Fe's PA’s in the snowstorm. Probably because it shows something I don’t like, snow! I really can feel how the engineer on that train felt running the train in that weather. I also like the picture of the three RDC’s arriving to Union Station! Reminds me of that RDC’s Amtrak had parked on track 15 at Union Station Washington D.C. during the X2000 test period. The engines were idling all day and the exhaust fumes were sucked straight into the X2000. Terrible! After complaining a number of times they shut the engines off. Thank you for all the info and pictures!Tom – I never found out exactly where the shoting took place. But it sounded almost like it came from the alley behind our house so I went out there with a flash light to see if I could find any dead body. I didn't. I agree, idiots!The auto, inspection car, is a Dodge. I don’t know what year though. Another Sunday (and week) with some good movies! I have seen most of them. The Great Locomotive Chase and Flat Foot Stooges are the ones I missed. Lars – I am sorry about the Jints’ loss! Life is rough! I am looking forward to my two week vacation in May. I love to drive and after the Rendevouez I will hopefully have time enough to visit IRM, the Mid-Continent Railway Museum and maybe even the National Railway Museum in Green Bay. Pete’s pictures from that museum looked very interesting. Some real nice book covers! Don’t know too much about British Rail even though it was very close I was sent there in the late 80’s (1987 or -88) to work for them for a number of months.
Your pictures from the Railroad Museum in Green Bay make me considering a visit there in May. If I can find the time for it. The Craig Mountain Lumber Co. steam locomotive #3 is a Heisler geared steam locomotive built 09/1917. It weighs 63 tons. The bottom picture shows United States Army steam engine #101. That is all I have found so far. The diesel looks like a small diesel elctric with two diesel engines. I recognized it, but can’t recall what it is. James – Very nice pictures! Espeially the E7A! Do you know how old that picture is?
Another locomotive at North Freedom's Mid-Continent Railway Museum. It is Western Coal & Coke #1. Built by Montreal Locomotive Co, Canada December, 1912.
Eric
foto credit: www.viarail.ca
G'day Gents!
A glorious start to the day here in mid-continent USA with blue skies, temps below freezing, and just an all ‘round good "feel" to being outdoors! Juneau loves this!
A rather pleasant surprise with the OUTSTANDING contributions of Pix and narratives from barndad Doug! A 5- to you Sir! Surely kept me interested, in spite of the NFL playoff games.
Trolleyboy Rob didn't let us down either with those GREAT trolley Pix and supporting info!
Appreciate the visits by James with those FINE LOOKING shots and of course our late night/early morning Post from Eric, the desert Swede!
Can't forget the SUPER FINE book covers from Manager Lars and the visit from Wolfman Pete.
Put ‘em all together, and we "done good" Gentlemen, we "done good"!!
Reminder: Ruth has the bar from 9 AM until Leon the Night Man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.
Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!
Tom
Good Afternoon Barkeep and All Present; Coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.
Lots of interesting material posted over the weekend.
Eric - Isn't the power bureau job fun? Leaves are a big problem around here as you might expect. I have pictures of GE engines encrusted in them.
Barndad provided all sorts of information re Chicago stations. I visited all of them over the years and rode into and out of most of them. I, for one, hated to see the demise of Northwestern Station. I especially liked the shot of the ATSF PAs in the snow. SOO stuff was magnificent. The Laker was one train I always wanted to ride never got the chance.
Lars - Geez! IMHO, 4.5 Giants players showed up yesterday. The rest of them were in a trance. That's all I'm going to say.
Pete - The strange steam engine you had in the picture is a Heisler. If you can get me the name on the "tender" I can get you some more information.
Rob - Thanks so much for TTC pictures and open car material as well. Connecticut Company had a bunch of them back in the day.
Our ‘Steamed Proprietor - Wow! Ask for movies and they appear! And we can get all nostalgic by looking at UP and CP materials.
Will try and post more later. Mea culps if I left anybody out.
Work safe
Hello Tom
I'll have a pint of Holts Mild whilst I catch up with the posts. Glad to hear about the TV location policy here at Our Place - ie you can watch if you want, ignore if you want. Just how it should be!
That Canadian derailment was no laughing matter. Interesting to read your comments on West Highland line protection Pete. That line is now signalled for Radio Signalling I think (ie no semaphores or colour lights) - so I wonder if they keep the wires for rock fall protection or now use something else?
Lars - glad you (and others of course) enjoyed the Swanage report - it is a well run preserved line, no doubt about it.
I agree with you about the web - you can only really rely on info up there about things you know a bit about to start with - so you can reality check it as they say. I once heard it described as a ‘library without librarians' and that is pretty true.
Like Tom says, your memories of the C-Zephyr trip would be interesting - who needs the details - just some highlights that stick in your mind is all worth reading and appreciated.
Thanks for those pics by the way - I could not view them but clearly Pete could and I got the gist of what they were from his response. It's the thought that counts and that was appreciated!
Eric - yes - interesting that diagrammatic maps date back to late 1920s - in fact the author specifically notes an early map of the Chicago L being diagrammatic (not intentionally, but juts because the grid street pattern made it so) and that this was probably an influence.
Your post on Narvik and Kiruna remind me of a trip I did on that line about 13 years ago now. Most enjoyable -the memorable thing was although it was mid summer when near Kiruna / Abisco(?) national park how sparse the vegetation was so far above the arctic circle, yet when you descend into Narvik the gulf stream makes it very lush for such a distance north. I recall the iron ore hoppers for loading the ships from the rail freight at Narvik were very impressive. I think I photographed them on 35mm slides at night (but in daylight of course).
Rob - I reckon I can explain why the Churchill funeral car ended up in the USA. I think it was connected with the Flying Scotsman tour. After BR finished with the loco LNER Flying Scotsman (now in the UK National Railway Museum) was bought by a chap called Alan Peglar, who negotiated a plan to run it in the UK and overseas. In about 1968 he had the idea to take the engine along with suitable Pullman coaches and probably this van to the USA for a tour of USA / Canada. It was to be funded by British Companies having exhibition space on the train to show off their products.
Now, paying for an expensive engine is no mean feat and although the tour went well, as far as I know, to cut a long story short Mr Peglar went bankrupt out in the USA. There was real risk that the Flying Scotsman engine would get sold by the people dealing with the bankruptcy to settle some of the debts and it would be bought by US owners, and not come back to Britain. To stop this another wealthy chap (Sir William McAlpine) put a rescue package together to buy the engine and bring it back to Britain. This is what happened. But I guess the train carriages and vans were not considered so important then, and they were left in the USA and sold to settle debts. I think this is how that Pullman Observation car ended up in San Francisco (because the whole train was in San Francisco wanting to be shipped home), and probably how the funeral van ended up in Los Angeles.
In fact I see some more detail about this is covered here under the heading The Engine.(interesting mention of Green Bay Wisconsin Museum here too)
http://www.nrm.org.uk/flyingscotsman/index.asp
This brings me on to Pete's posting about the Green Arrow - Pete, I never knew this loco was named after a fast freight - just like the Flying Scotsman was named after am express train too of course.
Glad you liked the 2-6-4 tank info. I liked the Co-Bo link, I saw that loco at Crewe works open day a couple of years back. Strange looking machine but rather rare and I hope they get it fixed. I had a fondness for this diesel as I know Hornby Dublo made a model of it. Quite why they chose this modernisation plan design to model I don't know, because they were never very widespread or successful in real life. I guess they just ‘backed the wrong horse' when deciding their range. Such decisions probably contributed to the bankruptcy of Hornby model trains in 1964.
When I was in the model shop, the chap thought the Irish coaches for that set were sold separately, but only in Erie - it might be worth checking the Bachmann website for a dealer in the Republic who might hold old stock, and trying them.
They also had one of these Master Cutler sets - looked superb in the early BR blue livery! A bit pricey:
http://www.chuffers.com/Hornby_Train_Sets/R1074_Hornby_Master_Cutler_Tra/r1074_hornby_master_cutler_tra.html
Good info on the Jubilee and Royal Scot. I have a good friend here who followed Jubilees in the East Mids in the late 1950s when he was a lad. We're trying to sort it to go on a mainline tour behind one of the preserved Jubes when It is operating from a convenient location to here some time. He well recalls the Jubilees on the LMR Midland Mainline and pronounced them his favourite design.
Cheerio
DL
G'day Cap'n Tom & fellow travelers at the bar!
Ruth, I'm ready for a tankard of Keiths Ale, a Larsman special (ham ‘n Swiss, buttAH ‘n mustAHd ‘n two large pickles from the barrel) along with treats for the critters and of course a small jar of pickled pig's feet for Boris!
New York City is now without an entry in the next round of the NFL playoffs as the Jets ‘n Jints bit the dust. I really expected the Patriots to win their game, but honestly believed we could overcome the Eagles. Not to be. What a huge disappointment this season has been for those of us who have followed the Giants from the Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium to the Meadowlands. Bothers me to no end to think about the extraordinary measures it must take to MOTIVATE bizillionaire atheletes with the world by the short hairs. Can you imagine Sickening, just sickening. Well, they're gone and my "prophecy" came true - Eagles in without the "trouble maker," Cowboys out "with the troublemaker." About the only thing that brings a smile to my face! Now, let's go Chicago. I see it as the Bears vs Chargers and I really think the Chicago guys can win it all in February.
A rather nice Sunday as Tom said with all sorts of info from the stalwarts of "Our" Place. I too echo the sentiments of Rob ‘n Tom directed to Doug, ,you most certainly outdid yourself yesterday! A gold-star 5- Salute to you, Sir!
Truly just like reading a book! <grin>
DL, here are the titles of the book covers I provided:
The Last Years of British Rail - 1980-84 by John Stretton
British Rail - Northern Scene - A 1970s Railway Album by Andy Sparks
British Rail - 1974 - 97 - From Integration to Privatisation by Terry Gourvish
British Railways Mark 1 Coaches by Keith Parkin
British Railways Brakevans and Ballast Ploughs by Eric Gent
Brunel's Cornish Viaducts by John Binding
Highland Railway Liveries by Howard Geddes & Eddie Bellass
Sorry that they wouldn't "load" for you. What do you suppose the hang-up is? I'll have to remember to spell these things out in the future so you aren't left in the dark.
Eric, sounds like quite the itinerary you've got carved out for yourself this spring. BettAH take cover from whatever in the world is going on in your area. Gun shots in residential areas sounds more like the middle east than Phoenix! I should "taWk" - this is New York City - blam, blam, blam! <gotcha>
Nice work from our somewhat wayward Bar Chandler, Rob! You really have come back in fine fashion and I hope it's for keeps. Hate to be such a stickler about things like PAY, but if you can't be here for our Thursday, Friday ‘n Saturday events, well . . . . that equates to little or no pay. <grin>
Good to see Pete around on Sunday for it isn't quite the same without our resident Brit on board! Hope you ‘n the Cap'n have a great trip to Chicago and back. Sounds like all kinds of fun and from what Tom passed to me via Email, the Texas Eagle for the return should be TERRIFIC! Be sure to sit in the sightseer lounge and not down below in the bar! <grin>
Really liked those trolley shots AND the appearance over on Tom's other thread! Looks as if it is staying alive thanks to some of the guys from here. Also, have you noticed that the "old" Thread has disappeared from page one Yup, finally got pushed off, largely by all of those posts for toy and model trains. I don't understand what is so confusing about the Classic Trains forum to some people. Guess they don't understand the correlation between the Kalmbach magazines and the respective forums. Then again, my bet is a huge number of those frequenting these forums probably don't buy the magazines. But that's another story and not my problem.
Nice to see CM3 I'm NOT Shane! on board today. Always miss our WVA friend and enjoy the banter from the hills.
TOMORROW's theme is the Baltimore & Ohio. Let's make this a winnAH by finding something to contribute!
One more, Ruth, then I'm gone . . .
2007 BIRTHDAY WATCH LIST
(rev. Jan 8th)
January 14th (Eric - 64)
March 5th (Nick - 47)
March 13th (Doug - 51)
March 31st (Lars - 67)
May 18th (Tom - 69)
August 11th (Pete - 56)
September 8th (Rob - 36)
October 18th (BK - 67)
December 29th (CM3 - 61)
Not on the list Send me an Email with your birth date (month-day-year) Corrections too! I'll ensure that Doug gets the "word" . . . .
Tom (Siberianmo)
Proprietor of "Our" Place, an adult eating & drinking establishment!
I'll join DL in a pint if Holt's Mild please RUTH and a round for a great photo day.
DOUG Enjoyed the last part of the Chicago area pics.It is sad to see the photos of the 'last run' of trains, like the one showing The Laker. I was sitting in the observation car of the Empire builder last week at the KC Union Station rail experience while a volunteer described the history of the car. Tom has a photo of the inside of the car. Good pics of the early Amtrak days and their RDCs.
The Packers ground is not too far from the NRM in Green Bay and I must admit we had our lunch in a restaurant in the stadium. DONT LOOK AT THE NEXT PIC..
JAMES Thanks for the pics. I agree that is a great bridge and the tower. They are called Signal Boxes in Britain. I see some are called Towers some Interlocking over here. I wonder what the difference is between the two.
ROB Real good to see the Trolley pictures from the Museum. I have missed them.
The open cars like #327 are known as 'Toast Racks' on the Isle of Man where they still run in the summer months on the Manx Electric Railway.I bet it is a great atmosphere during the "Holly Trolley" event with the cars running at night.
I am hoping that showing GG1s and PRR photos will make the boss forget how many beers I owe him.
ERIC. Hope you like the pic above
Thanks for the info on the locos at the Mid-Continent and Green Bay Museums in Wisconsin. It would be really good to hear of your times working with BR
Here are two more locos at Green Bay in their great exhibition hall
CM3 If you have some more info on the Heisler loco from the Craig MTN Lumber CO, it would be great. I guess the Heisler system was a rival to the SHAY..
DL. The semaphores on the Oban line attached to the wires to detect a rock fall were there after the line was converted to radio signalling but I am not sure if they are still there.
Very interesting info and a great link on the coaches left in the U.S. after the Scotsman tour. The coaches in Green Bay are two of Gresley's teak coaches and were used as a mobile control post during the war for General Eisenhower in Britain.These control coaches were stored away in quiet locations for many years after the war. I think in some cases until the 70s, when it was decided they was no need to hold them in reserve any more. I dare say it is these teak coaches that have be restored to their original condition and used on preserved lines.
I will check up on the Bachmann site to see about their Irish shops, thanks.
I well remember the Hornby CO-BO model I must admit I found it a strange choice to model at the time although I dare say they are worth a fair bit on the collectors market today .That is a great Hornby Master Cutler set. The loco in the set No 60052 Prince Palatine is the right loco for the Master Cutler at the time, as the train ran on the former Great Central line from Sheffield to London Marylebone. The loco was shedded at Leicester Central 38C and would have worked through Rugby on the GC line,it was before my time unfortunatly.
Glad you enjoyed the info on the Jubilee locos they were indeed great locos, they were common through Rugby with some being shedded there in there later years, although the Midland Main line Jubilees were very rare. Jubilee no. 5690 Leander is running on the main line,I had a trip behind her last June from Birmingham to York via Nuneaton, Leicester, Toton and the Old Road avoiding Sheffield station. I don't know what tours she is running this year but here is a link.
http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/tlw_5690.htm
LARS Good to see you in., thanks for the kind words .
I,m afraid I agree with you about some of the 'sportsmen' and the unbelieveable money they get nowadays.
Looking forward to Tom and my railtrip to Chicago.We will have to try and stay out of the bar during the daylight hours .
TOM Yes it was a great photo day yesterday.
It looks like the weather may be more to Juneau's taste starting next weekend with a cold spell although they are not sure how much snow we are going to get around here yet.
I'm getting ready for the Emporium anniversary tomorrow with the live entertainment as well as the two films, it should be a
1st Anniversary of the GRAND Re-opening of
The Mentor Village Emporium Theatre The Lobby Views from the balcony Tomorrow night! : DOUBLE FEATURE: Von Ryan's Express (1965) starring Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard - and - The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) starring Jeffrey Hunter, Fess Parker & Slim Pickens. And a "live" stage show in between features! Plan to be with us tomorrow night, as Mentor Village's Gentry mingles with the "balcony crowd" and Track Gangs at the newly refurbished Emporium! Tom
Good evening Leon. Just a Keith's for me this evening. I'll leave some spare change for a round once the good stuff starts flowing tomorrow.Bit slower today but it is Monday and some of us were back at the ole grind .
Tom-The old Emporium looks as wonderfull as ever I love old theaters like that, we have a beauty here in Brantford called the Sanderson Centre, Great vnue for music and live acts opera you name it they do it.
Lars-I'm looking forward to a return to normacy around here for me ( whatever that means )I'm looking forward to the first new theme day of tthe year.The B&O should bring out some good info. I myself will try to dredge something up as well. it will be latter on in the evening though as I'm working the early swing tomorrow.
Eric-This year we did not run a Holly-Trolley night. The last few years have had so-so turn outs so we felt it might be better to give them a rest for a couple of years.December tends to be very busy for the public and the vollenteers.The last three yeasr we have given more emphasis to our Halloween night shows which keep getting busier !Thanks for solving the car dilema. Tom was right on it twaS A cHRYSLER PRODUCT
Pete-Interesting extra couple of pictures. That musuem is really something. Am I wrong in guessing that the one locomotive is The MallardThe xmas shows were fun , but as I said the crwds weren't worth the risks. people slipping on frosty track or the track even breaking ( our mainline is all "used" track , most is 100lbs but some is still 90Lbs.)Toast racks is a very apt name for an open car. There were several built in canada over the yeasr that featured raised stadium style seating, these were built from the get go as tour cars in downtown cores. Montreal calgary and Edmonton all operated those types. The four Montreal ones all still exist in museum's. Two at Delson, one a Warehouse Point Museum and the other at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine
CM3-Yes the LSR car is very similar to those beauties from the Connecticut RR. They had 12 of them all ran from downtown to Springbank park. #23 was actually rescued from Springbank park where it had resided for 40 yeasr as the Boys change room for the pool. Two other sisters made up a refreshment stand and the girls changeroom. We had hopped to save all three. In the end only 23 could be lifted intact, the other's had succombed to dry rot ( 23 wasn't great either )That was 1984. She first ran at the museum in 1998, not bad timmming concidering how major a project it was.
DL-Thanks for the link and the clarification on the Churchill car. Hopefully it may make it's way home at some point as well.
Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Leon, I would like Steak and Bisquits tonight, please! Yes, the usual to drink. Thank you!
I agree with Rob, kind of slow today. But there is always something to read and learn!
Tom – We had a real nice day here in Phoenix today with sunshine and 75°. 77 tomorrow (Tuesday). The Mentor Village Emporium Theatre looks great! I wouldn’t mind seeing Von Ryan’s Express again!CM3 – The Power bureau job was, hmm, kind of fun. To be honest, I liked it but my stomach didn’t. I got my ulcer back after a year and went back to my job as a road foreman for another year before I got a technical job at the head office.
Yes, leaves can really create a lot of problems. In the fall when you are running a train and have to apply the brakes alittle bit and all the sounds from the track goes quiet you better release the brakes again right away. No fun at all. DL – I would say that railroad diagrammatic maps are very common today. Very clear and easy to read.
The summer is great in northern Sweden. Midnight sun and mosquitoes! In the winter the mosquitoes are gone but instead you have almost 24 hour darkness and a lot of snow!I have been running some test runs with the X2000 on that railroad in the winter but I have never been to Narvik. Lars – It has been quiet for a long time since we heard shooting from that apartment complex last time. But there are always idiots around. Yes, I am very much looking forward to my spring vacation this year! Pete – Yeah, I like that top picture, but don’t tell Doug! I never worked for BR. It was planned that I was going to UK and assist people from BR when they were going to install an ATC-system made in Sweden and used by the Swedish State Railways. But BR never got the money to buy that system so I never went. Nice pictures! I really will try to make it to Green Bay this year. Rob – Does your museum have any website? I would like to learn more about what kind of equipment and activities you have. I fully understand if you hesitate to run those old streetcars in wintertime.
Finally, a Classic sleeper in which I spent several nights:
Tuesday and a heavy schedule of "things to do, places to go and people to meet" for Moi. So, I'll make this brief!
Coffee's fresh ‘n hot; bakery goods are ready and our <light> ‘n <traditional> breakfasts are ready for servin'! <grin>
Good to see CM3 at 10:36 AM - DL at 12:17 PM - Lars at 3:24 PM - Pete at 5:40 PM - and Rob at 10:38 PM yesterday! Then Eric popped in for his nite-cap at 1:12 AM today! Good to have ya all on board and appreciate the ongoing dialogue ‘n Pix!
Those Pix of the Emporium are really from the St. Louis Fox Theatre. An elegant place to view live theatre these days after having undergone a massive restoration through private endeavors a few decades ago. Always enjoy going there!
Tonite's Gala at the Emporium should be a sure fire winner! All seats are "reserved" and I expect that the balcony will have more than a fair representation of the Mentor Village misfits (aka: customers of "Our" Place!). <grin> It's a black tie affair, so be sure to wash up, dress up ‘n show up! Festivities begin at 7 PM sharp.
Today is Tuesday Theme for the Day - Baltimore & Ohio! Stand by for some good stuff coming down the tracks . . .
THEME for the DAY! - THEME for the DAY!
Now arriving on Track #2
RR THEME for the DAY - Number Ten
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
first Posted on page 233 ("original" Thread)
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)
Used with permission from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Formatting differences made necessary due to Forums requirements. Some heralds from other sources. Locale: New York City, New York via Baltimore, Maryland to Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri Reporting marks: B&O Dates of operation: 1830 - 1963 Track gauge: 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) is one of the oldest railroads in the United States, with an original line from the port of Baltimore, Maryland west to the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia and Parkersburg, West Virginia. It is now part of the CSX network, and includes the oldest operational railroad bridge in the world. The B&O also coincidentally included the Leiper Railroad, the first permanent railroad in the U.S. The railroad's former shops in Baltimore, including the Mt. Clare roundhouse, now house the B&O Railroad Museum. History Chapter 123 of the 1826 Session Laws of Maryland, passed February 28, 1827, and the state of Virginia on March 8, 1827, chartered the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, with the task of building a railroad from the port of Baltimore, Maryland west to a suitable point on the Ohio River. The railroad, formally incorporated April 24, was intended to provide an alternative, faster, route for Midwestern goods to reach the East Coast than the seven-year-old, hugely successful, but slow Erie Canal across upstate New York. Construction began on July 4, 1828, and the first section, from Baltimore west to Ellicott's Mills (now known as Ellicott City), opened on May 24, 1830. Further extensions opened to Frederick (including the short Frederick Branch) December 1, 1831, Point of Rocks April 2, 1832, Sandy Hook December 1, 1834 (the connection to the Winchester and Potomac Railroad at Harpers Ferry opening in 1837), Martinsburg May 1842, Hancock June 1842, Cumberland November 5, 1842, Piedmont July 21, 1851, Fairmont June 22, 1852 and its terminus at Wheeling, West Virginia (then part of Virginia) on January 1, 1853. On July 20, 1877 there were bloody riots in Baltimore, Maryland from Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers. Nine rail workers were killed at the hands of the Maryland militia. The next day workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania staged a sympathy strike that was also met with an assault by the state militia; Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad in the early 1880s, cutting off the B&O's access to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The B&O chartered the Philadelphia Branch in Maryland and the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad in Delaware and Pennsylvania and built a parallel route, finished in 1886. The Baltimore Belt Railroad, opened in 1895, connected the main line to the Philadelphia Branch without the need for a car ferry across the Patapsco River, but the cost of its Howard Street Tunnel drove the B&O to bankruptcy in 1896. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad took control of the B&O in 1963, and incorporated it, along with the Western Maryland Railway, into the Chessie System in 1973. In 1980, the Chessie System merged with the Seaboard System Railroad to create CSX. In 1986, the B&O finally went out of existence when it formally merged with the C&O (which itself formally merged with CSX later that same year). At the height or railroading's golden age, the B&O was one of several trunk lines uniting the northeast quadrant of the United States into an industrial zone. It marked the southern border and corresponded to the New York Central's marking of the northern border. The Pennsy and the Erie railroads worked the center. The corners of this map are Baltimore in the southeast, Albany in the northeast, Chicago in the northwest, and St. Louis in the southwest. Early engineering When construction began on the B&O in the 1820s, railroad engineering was in its infancy. Unsure of exactly which materials would suffice, the B&O erred on the side of sturdiness and built many of its early structures of granite. Even the track bed to which iron strap rail was affixed consisted of the stone. Though the granite soon proved too unforgiving and expensive for track, most of the B&O's bridges have survived until the present, and many are still in active railroad use by CSX. Baltimore's Carrollton Viaduct, named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, is North America's oldest railroad bridge still in use. The Thomas Viaduct in Relay, Maryland was the longest bridge in the United States upon its completion in 1835, and remains in use as well. Branches Washington In 1831 a law was passed in Maryland, enabling the B&O to build its Washington Branch, connecting Baltimore to the national capital of Washington, D.C. This opened in 1835, and later served as a terminus for the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad to Annapolis. Mount Airy Frederick The Frederick Branch was built as part of the original line, opening on December 1, 1831. The continuation of the main line from Frederick Junction opened April 2, 1832. Metropolitan The Metropolitan Branch was opened in the early 1870s. It leaves the District of Columbia and proceeds northwest through Montgomery County, joining the B&O main line at Point of Rocks. It serves as a bypass around Baltimore and is still in active use. Georgetown The line was operated in some manner from 1889 until 1985 when it was proposed for abandonment; it served basically as a minor freight spur carrying coal and building materials to local outlets in Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Georgetown. It was originally built with the intention of connecting to southern railroads to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad's Long Bridge, but no bridge across the Potomac River was ever built. The abandoned right-of-way is now used as the Capital Crescent Trail. Trivia
THEME for the DAY! - THEME for the DAY! first Posted on page 127 of the "original" ThreadHere's another Fallen Flag for the gang from Classic American Railroads:
Baltimore & Ohio (B&O)
Headquarters: Baltimore, MD Mileage in 1950: 10,000 Locomotives in 1963: Diesel: 491 Rolling stock in 1963: Freight cars - 59,152 Passenger cars - 654 Principal routes in 1950: Jersey City, NJ (New York)-Baltimore, MD-Pittsburgh, PA-Chicago Washington, DC-Point of Rocks, MD Cumberland, MD-Cincinnati, OH-St. Louis, MO Detroit, MI-Toledo, OH-Cincinnati Hamilton, OH-Beardstown, IL Pittsburgh-Buffalo & Rochester, NY Akron-Cleveland, OH Midland City, OH-Columbus, OH-Pittsburgh Passenger trains of note: Ambassador (Baltimore-Detroit) Capitol Limited (Jersey City-Washington-Chicago) Cincinnatian (Detroit-Cincinnati; later, Baltimore-Washington-Cincinnati) Columbian (Washington-Chicago) Diplomat (Jersey City-Washington-St. Louis) Metropolitan Special (Washington-St. Louis) National Limited (Jersey City-Washington-St. Louis) Royal Blue (Jersey City-Washington) Shenandoah (Jersey City-Washington-Chicago) Enjoy! Tom THEME for the DAY! - THEME for the DAY!
Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.
It's snowing here today and a lot colder than it has been for the past month or so.
My, my, I am sure some folks lost a chunk of $ on OSU last night; that was one ugly performance; I shut it off at halftime.
I have heard rumors that the Mentor Gazette Society page (aka police blotter) will have gavel to gavel coverage of the Mentor Theatuh's annual anniversary extravaganza. In fact, there may be a report from high atop Mighty Mt. Mentor.
Pete - Craig Mt. Lumber - I'll start looking around and see what I can find.
Rob - Thanks for the open car info.
Eric - Road foreman - at least you got away from the office every now and then. Power bureau jobs were always crazy, if only because of road failures, inspection problems, etc. Also "late trains always get later" which creates different problems as well. I remember that crews often preferred certain equipment to be on point, etc., etc.
B&O diner ad from back when.
B&O Is Famous for Its Good Meals
You'll enjoy a meal to remember as a highlight of your trip, for fine meals are a tradition on the B&O. They are prepared by skilled chefs and served in pleasant surroundings by courteous waiters at moderate prices.
Visit the Diner On Your Trip (4/61)
Enjoy These Modern Travel Pleasures
Go By Train - at Low Rail Fares
Comfort - Relax in reclining coach seats, Slumbercoaches or modern Pullmans
Convenience - Depart and arrive in the center of town - near hotels, business offices and stores
Dependability - Fine, fast dependable service...in all kinds of weather
Good Meals - Dining is a pleasure - selection of reasonably priced meals, a salad or a sandwich
Relaxation - Highway strain and hazards are avoided p and lunges offer a club-like spot for sociability
Our employees invite you to ride with us - and enjoy B&O's Courteous Service
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (4/61)
This last is a piece relating to long haul RDC trains on the B&O. NOTE: Have to keep our ‘steamed proprietor happy.
Daily Travel Bargain
On Trains 21-22
NOW You pay only one way fare for the round trip
Daylight Speedliner
Between Pittsburgh-Connellsville-Cumberland-Martinsburg-
Harpers Ferry-Washington-Baltimore
Soft reclining coach seats, adjustable arm and foot rests
Wide picture windows, controlled air conditioning
Refreshment-diner service, smooth diesel power
Train 21 departed Camden Station (Baltimore) at 9:40 a.m. and left Washington at 10:30 a.m. with a 1:28 p.m. departure from Cumberland. It left Connellsville at 3:32 p.m. with a 4:50 p.m. arrival at the B&O Station in Pittsburgh.
Train 22 left the B&O Station in Pittsburgh at 11:40 a.m. and departed Connellsville at 12:56 p.m. Departure from Cumberland was at 3:00 p.m. with a 6:10 p.m. departure from Washington and a 6:50 p.m. arrival at Camden Station (Baltimore).
The fine print in the B&O timetable mentioned that Pittsburgh had "...connecting service via P&LE/Erie-Lackawanna." The P&LE station was less than ½ mile from the B&O Station.
Pint of bitter please. I look forward to reading about the B&O in today's theme day.
Lars - thanks for the book cover links - I could look them up on the web then and there are some good ones. The BR Mk 1 coach book looks like a definitive work. Some info on the trusty BR MK1 - a design that was started in the 1950s and the last examples were only withdrawn from regular service a year or so ago - is here
http://www.semg.org.uk/coach/brmk1_1.html
Rob - yes, it would be good if they could bring that stock back to the UK, but those UK saloons from Eisenhower's train were obviously donated to the USA to mark his work in our country in the run up to D-Day - and I guess they are also a good way of drawing attention to the fact that so many US troops and support staff (not to mention aircrew and navy people) were based here during those years, and good to see they are over in the US as far as I can see. So long as they can look after them it strikes me that this is a great place for them to be.
Eric - yes the diagrammatic maps were and are good, for obvious reasons.
Something that will be of interest to Pete is that the chap the map book is about (the author's father) went on to be head of publicity for the BR LMR - as such he commissioned diagrammatic maps if the whole LMR from the early 1950s onwards - there is a great map of the Rugby area for example, showing many lines that went on to be closed under Beeching. Shows at least 5 or 6 routes radiating from Rugby for example. It intrigues me to see such a modern method of presentation juxtaposed against lines I know are now long closed.
Pete - yes the Leander is, I think, the only Jubilee passed for main line use at the mo - but I don't see any tours scheduled for it to haul in 2007 yet. I use this link which gives the run down on all planned tours in the UK - worth book marking in case you need to compare it with any planned UK visit schedules you may have in your diary!
http://www.uksteam.info/tours/trs07.htm
This is a list of all scheduled charter trains that involve steam haulage on the main line in the UK - week by week, for those who may find the link unclear at first.
Chicago trip (Pete and Tom) will be a good one. Chicago is one of my favourite cities. I think there is a great diner just down the side of Union Station (Doug will know it I expect), and then of course a quick tour of the Loop on the L is a must if turn round time is available!
Now to learn all about the B&O (looks like a few of the posts have beaten mine up there so I'll scroll back over them)
All the best to all
Ruth, a frosty stein of Rheingold if you please and treats for the critters along with a small jar of pickled pig's feet for Boris. Slide the snacks down my way wudja!
Hey bossman, if you need someone to help out today, I didn't get an e-mail! Hope all's well. Did note that you got two fine "Theme Day" B&O posts out B4 departing.
For what it's worth: I've noticed lately that unless I use the REFRESH/RELOAD feature, I'm NOT getting the most current information when I log in. Seems some of you are experiencing that problem as well, At least it looks that way when reading the stuff being posted, appears that there's an absence of mention for the posts immediately before the ones being provided.
With some of the guys not being able to get the "tool bar," some others unable to view all of the pix; and yet others not seeing the most current stuff, there's definitely something screwy going on here on the forums.
G'day to CM3 I'm NOT Shane! and DL from the other side of the pond!
Let me provide a bit of support to the call for B&O material for our "Theme for the Day" . . .
B&O #5551 Sky Dome (from: www.trainweb.com)
B&O - 4-6-4 #2 First Run, B&O "The Royal Blue" 1935 (from: www.yesterdepot.com - photog: unknown)
B&O P7 4-6-2 President series "Cincinnatian" Pacific loco (courtesy: Cincinnati Railroad Club collection)
B&O book cover
B&O video
Gotta cut this a bit short, as I've got to get home in order to make ready for the evening's festivities over at the Emporium. The Mrs. and I have ringside front row seats! Should be a grand time at the most elegant theatre this side of Mentor Mountain! Nice touch with the searchlights! Made some of the track gang duck for cover. <grin> Hmmmmmmmmm
A pint of Holdens Mild please RUTH as I had better take it easy before this evening's bash.
ROB The loco in Green Bay No 60008 is a class mate of Mallard, and a shed mate as both were allocated to London's King's X shed, both being Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 pacifics of the London & North Eastern Railway. 60008 was originally numbered 4496 and was named Golden Shuttle in LNER Garter Blue when new. Her name of Golden Shuttle was a tribute to the big wool industry of West Yorkshire at the time( late 1930s) and the loco would be used on the expresses from London to the the "Wool" cities of Leeds and Bradford. The loco was renamed Dwight D. Einsenhower in 1945. As far as I know 60008 is unique in that she is pared with a Non- Corridor 8 wheel Gresley tender, which as far as I am aware is the only example preserved.
I have a great link to the A4s
http://www.lner.info/locos/A/a4.shtml
I am glad the Halloween nights at the Museum are getting more popular.
I hope I shall be able to see the stadium styled open trolleys at Delson when Tom and I visit as well as the A4 Dominion of Canada.
ERIC Yes at that time BR was in a bad way as regards to new investment I believe.That looks a great C&NW sleeper to spend some nights in.
DL The MK1s were certainly a great and long lived design.I have very fond memories of the MK1 corridor compartment coaches which were in the overnight trains in the 70s when I was on the All Line railrovers.
The Coaches at Green Bay are I believe in the condition as they were when they were in the wartime control train and they are kept inside in a great exhibition hall.
Very interesting on the diagrammatical maps of Rugby. Before the Leamington line closed in the late 50s there were 7 lines diverging at Rugby on the LMS, 4 north of the station and 3 to the south, with the ex Great Central line crossing the LMS at the south of the station. There is only 4 lines left now, with a siding on part of the Leamington line..
Thanks for the link to the 2007 main line steam tours, I have added to my favourites.
Really enjoying the B&O day. Many thanks TOM, CM3 and LARS for the Great posts, pics and covers, on one of the first North American Railroads. For my contribution I have "borrowed" a piece from PASSENGERFAN AL from page 233. on B&O Domes.
Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) The B&O purchased a pair of Pullman Standard 8-car coach streamliners following WWII for Baltimore-Chicago service. The two trains were delivered to the B&O in May 1949 and entered service as the COLUMBIANS May 5, 1949. The fourth car in each consist of the COLUMBIAN was a Strata-dome coach.
All cars in the COLUMBIAN trains were numbered and named the two Strata-dome coaches were 5550 HIGH DOME and 5551 SKY DOME. These cars seated 42 on the main level of the cars 18 forward of the dome and 24 aft of the dome. Beneath the dome was a pair of comfortable lounges for passengers to relax in; one of these lounges seated 6 the other 11. The domes were only 15' 3" above the rails giving these two Strata-domes the distinction of being the lowest height short domes operated in North America. Upstairs in the dome of the two Pullman Standard built Strata-domes were 24 seats arranged in six pairs on either side of the center aisle. The backs of the seats were lower than those found in any other dome cars. One feature found on the B&O Strata-Domes not found on others was on the forward bulkhead of the car above the aisle was located a speedometer, clock, altimeter and barometer.
In December 1950 the B&O purchased three Strata-dome sleeping cars from the C&O and after updating these virtually new cars that had never entered service for their original owner assigned them to the CAPITOL LIMITED and SHENANDOAH. These Budd built cars dated to August 1956. After purchase by the B&O before entering scheduled service the cars made a brief visit to Pullman for upgrading for sleeping car service. At the short end of the car forward of the dome on the main level was 5 roomettes. On the main level to the rear of the dome were 3 drawing rooms. Beneath the dome was a single bedroom, car attendants quarters and conductors office Upstairs the dome seated the usual 24.
The CAPITOL LIMITED received a pair of these Strata-domes one for each train set. The SHENANDOAH with a single car provided every other day Strata-dome service between Chicago and Washington. The B&O numbered and named each of the cars as follows: 7600 MOONLIGHT DOME originally C&O 1850 7601 STARLIGHT DOME originally C&O 1851 7602 SUNLIGHT DOME originally C&O 1852 The B&0 7600 MOONLIGHT DOME to the SHENANDOAH, while 7601 STARLIGHT DOME and 7602 SUNLIGHT DOME were assigned to the CAPITOL LIMITED. In 1952 all five domes were shopped and after having lights mounted on the right side roofs forward of the domes became the first and only dome cars that could light up the countryside at night. These floodlights were nothing more than locomotive headlights with each putting out 250 watts. They were mounted on the roofs at angles of 60, 70, 80 and 85 degrees from the cars centerline. A breaker was mounted ahead of the lights to protect them from hanging icicles in tunnels and at stations having overhead platforms. The lights were used outside of the major towns and turned off when passing through heavily populated areas.
The three Strata-dome sleeping cars were leased to the Atlantic Coast Line between December 1965 and April 1966. After return from the ACL the cars were leased to the Canadian National from May 1966 to March 1968. The CN assigned the three cars to service in the SUPER CONTINENTAL between Edmonton and Vancouver.
After return from the CN in March 1968 the B&O assigned the cars to the CAPITOL LIMITED until July 1968 when the three Strata-dome cars were once again leased out. This time they were leased to the Seaboard Coast Line who purchased the three domes in July 1969. During this period they operated in the FLORIDA SPECIAL during the winter season and SILVER METEOR at other times. In
Good evening Leon, I think a Keith's and a solid round for the house now that the shouting done over at the emporium ( Oh the Movies were wonderfull as well ) <grin>Bit of a slow tuesday but some good info was shared.I had intended to re-run a B&O bit I did on the old forum put the ole cut n paste didn't work ( most likley my skill level ) so I will attempt to do something else.
Pete-Thanks for the A4 link.They do seem to be the most commonly photographed locomotive from England that I've seen over here, sort of like NYC Hudsons on this side of the pond.Thanks for clarifying the identity of that pacific for me as well.Nice to see that you brought over one of Al's bits on the B&O , makes it feel like old times around here again. Both of the MTC's Golden Chariots shuold be on display in their streetcar and street railway building. Both cars are operational and they do run some of the electric equipment on occation. Hopefully you and Tom will get lucky and see them in action when you get there.
Tom-Two wunnerfull B&O Pieces as always your leaing the charge, hopefully we haven't let you down.
Lars-As always some fine photographic contributions to the theme railway
Dl-Thanks for the continued disscucssions of the Eisenhower train. Neat info to be sure, it really is hard to say where that train set belongs, seeing the history shared between both countries. I hope the B&O info shared today was helpfull.
Eric-yes we do baby our streetcars. Seeing as they really are irreplaceble.Too bad your stink in England didn't pan out, mind you the climate there would not be as much to your liking as your current desert digs are to you. The museum does indeed have a website , it attempts to fully explin the collection the museum and it's membership and it's history.
http://www.hcry.org
G-day Tom and all present!
Leon- make it a OJ please, Thanks
Just came in quick to check. Just wanted to let you know that you guys haven't lost me. I have been very busy with the finals coming up in school and work "Crawling" all over me. It's a real pain.
So I will get back here as soon as possible.
THEME FOR THE DAY THEME FOR THE DAY THEME FOR THE DAY
CLASSIC DIESELS # 36DIESELIZATION OF THE B&O
AS with many of the big railways. The B&O grudgingly headed into the era of no steam and all diesel, piece meal in the early days but by the time the 50's arrived they were full bore into dieselizing all their passenger and freight operations. Covered wagons and early RS's became the mainstay , thought the B&O at least in the early years tended to sample the wares of most of the major manufacturers. Here's a brief run down of those formative years.
THE DIESEL ON THE HORIZON
From the early 1920's until the diesel era, the B&O passenegr engine of choice was the 4-6-2 Pacific.While the actual number of locomotives on the B&O declined by 274 units between 1920-29, the tractive power per engine slowly increeased by 10,000 pounds in the same time period, they were trimming down their fleet but revamping it at the same time, quite an undertaking in those early years of the depression.
The mid twentieth century saw the apex of steam power, with the modern engines putting out more tractive force per pound than ever before,the engines themselves were bigger and more complex, and there in lies the difficulty. The cost of maintaining the "super power steam" was beginning to make less and less ecconomic sence. I imagine had the depression not happened steam power may indeed have hung on longer.Thus the mid yeasr of the 20th century also saw the dawning of the age of the diesel locomotive.
The B&O's first diesel was a 60 ton , 300hp switcher bought for east Coast yard work, it arrived in 1925.The years bewteen 1930-40 saw an increase in diesels on the B&O.That decade also saw the B&O buy the fewest new locomotives in their history only 44. The difference was the breakdown 7 steam vs 37 diesel.
The B&O bought their first road diesel in 1935, for use on the newly inagurated air conditioned streamlined passenger trains. This locomotive replaced the Lord Baltimore on the Washington-NY Royal Blue Passenger train, alternating runs with a streamlined Pacific.This diesel was a two unit locomotive ( boxcab ) from EMC, it worked out so well that the B&O bought two more sets to operate their Capitol Limited. The other diesels bought in the 30's were yard engines to replace aging warn out steam switchers.
The war yeasr saw the B&O continue along with dieselization, with 40% of the 150 locomotives bought during the war being diesel engines.Nine more passenger engines ( EA's and E1's ) and the first of the 5400hp FT sets from EMD, making them the first eastern road to operate the new cab units.
Throughout these early yeasr of diesilzation the B&O saw the advantages of the diesel vs steam,lower maintenance cost less infrastructure to support them, the ability to reverse power to aid in braking, and the better adhesion for greater speed on curves. Not to mention te highter starting tractive effort and horsepower from satnding starts, all factors that made up for the higher initial purchase cost of them vs steam engines.
In 1945 , B&O steam units still outnumbered the diesels by a 15 to one margine. In 1958, the then B&O President Simpson proclaimed that all operations were now dieselized, and by years end 1960,there were 1129 diesel locomotives on the roster, and no steam engines.All manufactureres EMC/EMD , ALCO , Baldwin were plying their trade on the B&O.
ROB I'll join you in the round after the nights entertainment at the magnificent Emporium and will look forward to CM3's account of the proceedings.
It would be great if one of those Trolleys we talked about was operating on the day we are there.
If I recall correctly,by the A4 loco in Green Bay there is story of how the loco came to Green Bay. Apparantly they offered to buy the loco in 1959 but it was refused by British Railways, not surprisingly, as it was still in main line service on the East Coast Main Line of BR then.
I have found this link to the loco and cars in the NRRM at Green Bay.
http://www.nationalrrmuseum.org/collections-exhibits/collections/eisenhower/index.php
It mentions in the text of the link that the loco was painted back into Garter Blue after it was named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, after its spell in wartime black livery, I would love to see a colour picture of the loco in the blue livery..
JAMES Good to see you in. Best of luck with the Finals.
Well LEON I,ll try a Bathams XXX , while I read ROB,s Diesels of the B&O
Pete.
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