Good day Tom and all at the bar. A round on me. I've been working furiously on my engine and now have it about 70% complete. I tried to take some pictures yesterday, but wouldn't you know, the digital camera was dead. I've since taken the engine apart again to work out some of the bugs affecting the quartering of the drivers.
Mike: I fully enjoyed the pictures of New York. Having been born and raised in New York, those pictures were nostalgic. Although they were a bit before my time, I enjoy old pictures of N.Y. I still remember the Mack REA trucks and railroad cars and the cobblestone streets of lower Manhattan.
Allan: I was only five in 1939, so the image of the world's fair is a faint blur. Yes, my parents took me to the fair and the only thing I remember of it was the model train display. I believe it was of the N.Y.C. subway system.
Pete: No I don't have the Reynolds Rocket pen any longer. It was just one of the valuable keepsakes I didn't keep. I could kick myself for all the things I parted with that are valuable today. Some of them include: a 1952 MG TD, a 1962, VW 23 window/sunroof micro bus, an RCA 6 tube portable radio, vintage early 1920's that was powered by A, B and C batteries, two old microphones (the type with the carbon element suspended from a hoop by coil springs), a personal Babe Ruth autograph, the first all transistor portable FM radio (Sony), one of the first tube/battery radios small enough to be held in your hand by Westinghouse, etc, etc.
Eric: My son was working on the Global Hawk UAV while at Northrop Grumman. He took me on a tour of the facilities and showed me how it was put together.
Rob: I think there may be an Aero train in some museum, but not sure. I'll try to find out. Enjoyed the National Steel Car web site.
Nick: Next time you're in New York, stop by the Stage Deli or Carnegie deli for a corn beef or pastrami on rye. It's good enough to die for.
Tom: Good coverage of bridges. Those spindlely trestles are fasinating to look at, especially when a 2000 ton train is crossing it.
P.S. Check out this link to the Aero train http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/01/jet-powered-other-futuristic-trains.html
June 30 - Last day archbar freight trucks can legally operate in U.S. Interchange service (and then only on empty cars returning to their home roads).
Courtesy of Wikipedia.
June 16 : The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held for the first time in Sturgis, SD
There weren't many events happening in 1940 due to the 2nd world war. It is something we would like to forget and not dwell upon.
Hi Tom and all.
A round please RUTH
Well finally the wireless modem thingy packed up all together so no computer . We got a replacement part, loaded it up but had a problem with the computer recognizing it to connect to the Internet anyway finally figured it out and (touch wood) it seems to be working.
ROB I must admit that I did no pay much attention to the movies playing in the service cars on the Ocean. A though suddenly occurred did you notice if the English and French language films have sub titles in the other language.
I guess one good thing with the puter being down I missed HELGA winning the wet T-shirt contest.
Great find that roll of film from 1995 and in great condition, many thanks for showing them at the bar. The CN track that is now run by Trillium Rail looks as though it had just been re ballasted. It is sad that the line in the last photo is no longer there.
That is a good website from National Steel Car, I particularly liked the Heritage section, I though the ‘In Memoriam' was very tastefully done.
I remember The Chicago and New York Airline brought about a lot of conversation at the bar when it was first posted. If the line could have been built with the original gentle curves, it is interesting to think what speeds the trains would be running at today and what time the New York to Chicago run would take today.
ERIC I guess it took a lot of money to replace the road signs etc in the switch to right hand running on Sweden's roads, but were the left hand drive cars cheaper to buy than the right hand drive ones do you remember.
It would be interesting to know why the British railways kept on with the 0-6-0 locomotives so long while most others preferred the 2-6-0s or the 4-6-0s.
Many tanks for the great photo from the cab north of the Arctic Circle and the photos on Sunday morning. I like the style of those older Swedish electric locomotives and the narrow gauge electric car in Stockholm Transit Museum is a classic.
I'm afraid all I can say about the station is that is in the U.S.A.
NICK I see the re wiring has begun on the S&D and the first train has run over the new section.
Glad you were able to get your photobucket file back up and I shall look forward to the photos.
CM3 Sorry about the computer problems, looking forward to seeing you tomorrow
TOM Yes My contest entry should have read March 21 (I pressed the wrong key), but seeing as Eric has chosen March 21 can I have March 22, still Rob to make it though.
Thanks for the meaning of Coulee
Many thanks for the info on the Via Rail cars $5 million Canadian dollars seems a great deal of money for a Passenger Car, no wonder the ‘Chuggers' looked a great deal at the time. Thinking about it there must be quite a few Budd cars left on Via Rail as when they cannot use the Renaissance cars for whatever reason, they have some they can use on the Halifax run, as well as the Budd cars used on the Gaspe run. I agree with what you say about the showers in the Renaissance cars.
Very much enjoyed the Northern Pacific railway re-run. A railroad that had many money troubles and even involved General Custer during its construction. I wonder what the railway map would have looked like if those mergers had been allowed in the early 1900s. I see it was to be in 1970 that the Northern Pacific would join with its rival the Great Northern to be come what is now BNSF.
Great NP Drumheads and book covers as well.
Gods and Generals seems an interesting film and with Robert Duvall in it and Heist looks another good Gene Hackman film. I see the Stooges are causing their usual mayhem.
Good Afternoon Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.
Just a quick stop today as I have been busy since early this a.m. Then we have been having computer issues. Anyway, I'll be by at the usual time tomorrow (if the truck don't burn up).
Work safe
G'day Gents!
Many thanx to Rob for dropping by this AM with a two-fer along with a visit to "my other Thread"! Appears as if only you 'n I are "into" multiple Posts these days <daze> . . . one per day is fine, except when that "one" is spaced so far between the most recent activity. <yuck> But, such is life 'round here, eh
"Dropped a dime" on ya, but just got the MoSheen - no problem-O - just thought we could chat . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CONTEST underway . . . <this is NOT the same one as in the AM summary!!>
When will we reach Page 200
Bonus: Who will make that Post
Participants:
(1) Rob sez Mar 15th (Lars)
(2) Pete sez Mar 19th (Rob)
(3) Allan sez Mar 15th (Pete)
(4) Eric sez Mar 1st (Lars)
(5) Mike sez Mar 12th (Tom)
(6) Lars sez Mar 21st (Tom)
(7) CM3 sez Mar 8th (Rob)
(8) Fergie sez Mar 21st (Tom)
(9) Jan sez Mar 23rd (Tom)
Contest CLOSED!
CN 371732 Cylindrical Covered Hopper <from: trainweb.org>
CN 79824 Steel Caboose <from: trainweb.org>
Later <maybe>!
Tom
Here's another Classic Juice piece reserected from the old thread.
CLASSIC JUICE #34 THE CHICAGO & NEW YORK AIRLINE
The ambition and vitality of the interurban reached a kind of pinacle when the Chicago-New York Air Line RR was first contemplated and construction started. It was a magnificent dream that was an on and off affair between 1906-1913.This was to have been a breathtaking piece of engineering and construction. It's charter and designers called for a high speed double track mainline that was to travel a direct 750 mile route between Chicago and New York City.A distance designed to be hundreds of miles shorter than the steam railroads required for the same trip.It was designed to plunge through the Pennsylvania Mountains in a series of dramatic tunnels and fills.There was to be no curve that couldn't be taken at the high speed of 90mph, nor any grade larger than one half of one percent !Streamlined electric locomotives were called for to pull luxurious cars between the cities in 10 hours, averaging 75mph over the length of the run. All this was theoretically possible,even for the time and with the current 1500v DC overhead technologies.
When in 1906 ground was first broken for the construction of the first leg of the road,thousands of Airline stockholders felt that the world's most ambitious interurban would soon become the worlds most profitable one.There were aspects of a crusade , or even an almost cult like following with the shareholders of the "airline".Each month they recieved the periodical "The Air Line News ".it reported on how wonderfully the construction was progressing. It printed the steel girders that had already been rcieved to span creeks and build bridges, and showed shots of the huge Vulcan Steam crane already on the job grading the ROW.They ran letters from enthusiastic sharholders, and coupons in each issue by which the readers or their friends could apply for more stock, purchasable in installments !
In four or five sections of the country, airline stockholders formed into local clubs so they could get to know each other and hear speeches about "their"wonderfull railroad. The land aquisition program in Indiana, where the initial construction took place was also marked with almost evangelical fervor.Colonel Hord, the main option selling man, would approach farmers along the route who's labds needed to be appropriated and he would talk them into selling their piece for a handfull of shares,sometimes even getting them to get on board and buy more. ( original used car salesman ).
The Air Line, was not just a mere hot air and mirrors promotion. Alexander C Miller, the guiding spirit of the line, and J D Price, the president of the line and construction company were substantial citizens with a back ground in railroading.Miller was a dedicated believer in the whole plan.The company used high pressure promotion methods, because conventional financing for such a huge plan was unavailable as the banks were heavily involved in the existing steam roads and competeing interurbans.
Nevertheless, a dismal sequence of troubles began to tarnish "the dream".Enough stock was sold in installments, to pay for the first 100 mile division east from Chicago.It was anticipated that as soon as this division began to make money, new investors would flock in to provide capitol to build the other divisions.A sharpe busieness depression in 1907 and 1908 cut off the sale of stock, and brought widespread defaulting on installment payments for stock already sold.
By the time money began to run out, some miles of mainline had been built westward from La Porte, Indiana. The Air Line found itself in possession of some magnificent track that led in terms of revenue traffic, from Nowhere to West Nowhere.Belatedly the company bent it's efforts in connecting links to nearby towns.It built an amusement park just outside La Porte that generated some travel, and it fought fierce battles to obtain feeder franchises in Gary and elsewhere.
The worst headache for the Air Line by far was the impractically high construction specifications.To keep within the maximum grade limitation each overpass that bridged a steam railroad had to be flanked by enormous ramps that started almost a mile on either side of the crossing. They actually built several of these titanic embankments.Elsewhere across the gently rolling northern Indiana, even minor terrain undulations created enormous difficulties.The worst trouble was at a place called Coffee Creek, about a dozen miles from Gary. Here the adherance to specifications involved both a deep cut and a huge fill, 180 feet wide at the bottom, that marched accross 2 miles of valley! The power shovles and dump cars worked month after month at this grand crossing steadlily pouring stockholders money into a mound of earth of enormous proportions.
Even with the Coffee Creek bypass completed, it was the ultimate undoing of the Air Line.By 1913 a kind of misshappen and unpromissing interurban system was patched together between La Porte, Valparisso,Gary,and Chicago.Less than 30 miles of it was the dead straight track built to Air Line standards.The rest was ordinary winding track.Amoung the cars operated by the company were two handsome Niles Cars with "NEW YORK "lettered in gold on the eastern end and "CHICAGO" at the other. These two and 30 miles of arrow strait trackreaching towards the horrizon were all that remained of the dream.By 1926 this line folded some of it being taken up by the rival interurbans of the midwest.
Rob
Morning Ruth , good to see you i think I need a bit of an eye openner, a large thermos of the BK splash ( high octane ) and you know just french toast today witha generous helping of the maple syrup I had brought in. ( yes it's almost tree tapping time ) Yes Boris you may have some for your PPF obviously he is without tastebudds just make sure the critters get their treats first and please please feed Artie outside , Helga eyes the leftovers as a good filler for the saussage mosheen
Tom-Morning sir, I talked with my sister in Colorado spruings yesterday and while we were on the phone the snow started up and she couldn't see the neighbours accross the street,after two days of high 60's !Now I've always noted however that the worst snowstorms and blizzards here in Ontario have always come in March, dump a ton and melt fast 1977 comes to mind,my hometown got close to three feet, it ws gone inside of a week though.We are schedualed for about 47-50 degrees here and rain all day ( oh joy ) the foot of snow we have will soon be running down the street.
Interesting link,imagine that a major city with a transit hub connecting the downtown to the airport.Now why would that "fly" even more amazing is that it's on scheduale and apparently on budget Amazing what an Olympic Game's does price is no object.
National Steel cars an intersting place,did you feel like ordering some freight cars after you sat through some of those video clips heck of a sales pitch,at least she wasn't wearing a used car salesman's green checked suitAll kidding aside they did do a nice job on that website
More later.
<personal foto>
A smile to begin the week!
I wish I had an answer to that, because I'm tired of answering that question.
<A Yogi-ism!>
I've come to the realization that the tempo at the bar AND the weather here in mid-continent USA is inextricably linked. Meaning: we've had so many periods of doldrums ‘round here, followed by upswings - then doldrums again that it reminds me of the weather patterns. Yesterday we reached 78 (F) - this morning for Juneau's first walk it was 37, blustery with a winter storm watch "up" beginning today at noon. Expecting 4 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow <I'll believe it when we tromp thru it!> as winter is hanging on the bitter end . . .
What better time to kick start the day, than with a hot mugga Joe Enjoy our freshly baked pastries in The Mentor Village Bakery case ‘n of course order a <light> or <traditional> breakfast while you're at it . . .
March 5th (Nick - 48) - NEXT UP!!
MOON PIE (March 21 - April 20) You're the type that spends a lot of time on the front porch. A cinch to recognize the physical appearance of Moon Pies. Big and round are the key words here. You should marry anybody who you can get remotely interested in the idea. A Chitlin would be a good mate but it's not going to be easy. You always have a big smile and are happy. This might be the year to think about aerobics. Maybe not.
Comments from the Proprietor:
CONTEST UNDERWAY!
WHO will make the 4,000th reply at the bar AND when
It's a two-parter - so be sure to include the name of the person you think will make the Post along with the date!
Duplicate prizes WILL be awarded! Prizes also awarded for correctly naming only one of the parts . . . <whattaguy>
Some help in determining your guesstimates:
3,800th reply <Tom> on Feb 29th, Page 191
3,700th reply <Dan> on Feb 18th, Page 186
3,600th reply <Rob> on Feb 7th, Page 181
3,500th reply <Jan> on Jan 29th, Page 176
3,400th reply <Tom> on Jan 19th, Page 171
3,300th reply <Rob> on Jan 9th, Page 166
Participants thus far:
(1) Pete sez Rob on Mar 11th <you may wish to rethink that date . . . . check the help section . . .>
(2) Rob sez Pete on Mar 16th
(3) Eric sez Allan on Mar 21st
CONTEST CLOSES on Friday, March 7th. So let's get those cabooses in gear!
Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative):
Sunday - Mar 2nd: <all times Central standard>
Page 191 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 11 PM ‘n 11:57 PM: A two-fer from our Resident Ontario Connection ‘n Manager!
Really enjoyed the link on National Steel Car - different fer sure, fer sure - good looking logo.
I do think that Ruth or Cindy could've done a far better job at the narration! <grin> Anyway, appreciate your providing it for the crew . . .
Yeah - I've already <dinged the noggi
Hey guys take a peek at this website,found this link over on the trains forum.It's an interesting look at a factory a drive by quite often when I'm in Hamilton. The Herritage section is a quite intersting look and listen.
National Steel Car has updated their website.
http://www.steelcar.com/
This a great looking and great sounding website.
There are blueprint like drawings of all the equipment they manufacture at National Steel Car.
Good evening gents , just finished up the paperwork figured I'd sit down in the quiet baroom and relax for a bit.
Eric-The track was taken off CP's international bridge because the city of Niagara falls wanted it gone. The city is very yuppie like in it's tastes. the trackage ran from Welland accross to teh Montrose yard then out through teh city to teh bridge. Unfrotunatly teh bridge is located in the "tourist area" with teh trackage comming up behind Mount carmel and accross Clifton hill ( main touirst trap area where all the wax museum's & haunted huses and casino's are <barf> ) It's a traffic nightmare just with street traffic through in 100+ car feight trains several times aday and well the city wantd it gone so they bought all the land from CP and pulled up the tracks. The absolute ludicracy of it was that CP had just done 10 million in upgrades to the bridge ( which is still there unused )Now CP routes all there barder stuff accross at Buffalo on the CN's bridge that runs beside the Peace bridge ( which needs massive upgrading as it's not the most solid bridge ) so two class ones are shoving their tonnage accross the Niagara river at the worst bridge all so the Provincially owned casino's and all those crappy tourist traps don't have to deal with trains that were there a 100 years basically before they even existed.
Interesting shots, I liked the museum shot what a neat looking car
Tom-Yup obviously I was smoking my socks againFor some reason I thought I read SP don't know why
Sounds like you are making some headway on the subway,just watch the old noggin as your wiring it all up,don't want any beauty marks to remember the work by.Thanks for the info on the sleepers I figured that for the price, private rest room facilities were there. I don't think I'd want to use a shower at the best of times on a train but those units sound about as usefull as a three dollar bill.
Two more shots from the roll,I'm amazed that concidering the age of the film that there was no degradation from the time it waited to be developed.
A GT GP7 at Battlecreek.
A GT GP9 switching at Battlecreek. Note that it is one of teh passenegr ones and still has the roof mounted torpedo tube air tanks.
We are CLOSED on SUNDAYs
Starting TODAY at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre!
. . . March 2nd thru 8th: Gods and Generals (2003) Starring: Jeff Daniels, Stephen Lang, Mark Aldrich, Robert Duvall & George Allen (III) - and - Heist (2001) Starring: Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Uncivil War Brides (1946).
Gods and Generals (2003)
PLOT SUMMARY: The more you know about the Civil War, the more you'll appreciate Gods and Generals and the painstaking attention to detail that Gettysburg writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell has invested in this academically respectable 220-minute historical pageant. In adapting Jeffrey Shaara's 1996 novel (encompassing events of 1861-63, specifically the Virginian battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville), Maxwell sacrifices depth for scope while focusing on the devoutly religious "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), whose Confederate campaigns endear him to Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall, giving the film's most subtle performance). Battles are impeccably recreated using 7,500 Civil War re-enactors and sanitized PG-13 violence, their authenticity compromised by tasteful discretion and endless scenes of grandiloquent dialogue. Still, as the first part of a trilogy that ends with The Last Full Measure, this is a superbly crafted, instantly essential film for Civil War study. For all its misguided priorities, Gods and Generals is a noble effort, honoring faith and patriotism with the kind of reverence that has all but vanished from American film - but provides abundant proof that historical accuracy is no guarantee of great storytelling. --Jeff Shannon
The more you know about the Civil War, the more you'll appreciate Gods and Generals and the painstaking attention to detail that Gettysburg writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell has invested in this academically respectable 220-minute historical pageant. In adapting Jeffrey Shaara's 1996 novel (encompassing events of 1861-63, specifically the Virginian battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville), Maxwell sacrifices depth for scope while focusing on the devoutly religious "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), whose Confederate campaigns endear him to Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall, giving the film's most subtle performance). Battles are impeccably recreated using 7,500 Civil War re-enactors and sanitized PG-13 violence, their authenticity compromised by tasteful discretion and endless scenes of grandiloquent dialogue. Still, as the first part of a trilogy that ends with The Last Full Measure, this is a superbly crafted, instantly essential film for Civil War study. For all its misguided priorities, Gods and Generals is a noble effort, honoring faith and patriotism with the kind of reverence that has all but vanished from American film - but provides abundant proof that historical accuracy is no guarantee of great storytelling. --Jeff Shannon
<from: amazon.com>
Heist (2001)
PLOT SUMMARY: Gene Hackman plays the veteran ringleader of a gang of thieves (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay and Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife) that pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewelry robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his son (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. Mistrust runs rampant as double-crosses threaten the split-second operation.
Gene Hackman plays the veteran ringleader of a gang of thieves (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay and Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife) that pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewelry robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his son (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. Mistrust runs rampant as double-crosses threaten the split-second operation.
SHORT: The Three Stooges - Uncivil War Brides (1946)
PLOT SUMMARY: The Stooges' wedding plans are interrupted by the Civil War, and the boys rush off to join the Army. The only problem is that Moe and Larry join the Union Army, while Curly joins the Confederates. When the opposing armies pass through, the Stooges take turns as each other's prisoners.
The Stooges' wedding plans are interrupted by the Civil War, and the boys rush off to join the Army. The only problem is that Moe and Larry join the Union Army, while Curly joins the Confederates. When the opposing armies pass through, the Stooges take turns as each other's prisoners.
<from: threestooges.net>
Enjoy the weekend! Tom
"Our" Place is CLOSED on Sundays
<but go ahead 'n slip your message thru the mail slots on the doors>
Yes, the bar is CLOSED on Sundays, but thought it a good time to catch up on the admin work ‘round here <alas, no more Lars ‘n <ahem> his efforts!> Anyway, noted a few nite time visitors on Saturday . . .
Saturday - Mar 1st: <all times Central standard>
Page 191 - Nick <nickinwestwales> at 9:10 PM: FIRST ONE "in" since opening up on Saturday - can you believe it My, my - how things have changed over these 3 years.
Sold a guitar Sounds like a serious transaction to me, for unless I've totally mischaracterized you, parting with a "friend" couldn't have been easy.
Your comments regarding dodging blobs of molten lead brought a smile ‘n some remembrance. Beneath the Can-Am Railway lies a ‘world' of wiring, solder joints ‘n assorted electrical gadgets. At a point of sheer frustration from getting burned and being unable to use my two hands to full advantage, a thought occurred. Why not use those solderless connectors I read about "somewhere." So off to our local Radio Shack <electronics> store I went and returned with a few score of ‘em . . . they worked! Took the pain away from trying to solder while on one's back in an area more comforting to a Lilleputian than not. <yikes>
I'm in the throws of constructing a subway system beneath Can-Am City . . . nothing super elaborate, just two ovals of track to accommodate those subway cars I displayed over on the Original Thread ‘n here as well. Anyway, the plan has been modified just a bit - instead of using ‘shadow boxes' to view the passing trains <4 cars to a consist> I've decided to construct one portion of it in the open <beneath the street of course> so that the station will be visible to those viewing the layout. Also have a device that will stop the trains for a set period of time <delay circuitry> then send ‘em on their merry way. Should be a fine addition to the set-up. I'm a looooooooong way from completion - but want to get it done before Rendezvous III <arrivals on May 14th>.
Anyway, the point of this diatribe is simply to say that working beneath the board <again> but with even less space, is a nightmare. The subway foundation is suspended from beneath the train board which makes the "crawl space" tighter. <Arrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh.> Of course I'm trying to make it so that the majority of what I need to do can be accomplished in my work area - then slide the finished product into place. Easier said than done, Mate - easier said than done! <arrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh>
There will be fotos . . . but all in good time - want to get ‘er completed before displaying ‘em.
Many thanx for stopping by ‘n sharing a thought or three with us. ROUND(s) appreciated as well!
Page 191 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 10:07 AM ‘n 10:21 AM: There's HOPE - I've got several rolls of film from my "former" life that I've never developed. So, all I need to do is drag my sorry butt over to the local establishment that still does this kind of thing ‘n get ‘er done!
Your foto spread is top drawer - nicely done!
Had a visitor in the Haus the other nite - neighbor lady ‘n her young daughter. Anyway, the bride took ‘em down stairs <for whatever the purpose> where of course the dominant feature is the Can-Am Trainroom ‘n layout(s). She was like a kid in a candy store - just briskly walking hither ‘n yon, exclaiming this ‘n that - leaving with "Thanx for sharing!"
That comment sent my hackles UP - why, I wonder do I dislike that saying so much I didn't ‘share' - that's a "newism" in the lexicon that I dislike - immensely. Must be teaching that nonsense in our schools these days, along with "conflict resolution" ‘n the like. <arrrrrrgggggghhhhhh> What was wrong with belting someone between the chops to get a point across Yeah, I know - it's me ‘n "my kind" who've made this old world such a terrible place . . . <barf>
Don't know if you've inhaled some of that "inflatable repair glue" from that kit Boris has - OR have been "into" the "funny stuff" <behind the bar> - BUT - that ENCORE! of mine was Northern Pacific - not Southern Pacific <Espee> . . . . <geesh>
Renaissance bedroom cars all have private toilet facilities. Only difference between ‘em is the "deluxe" has a shower whereas the other does not. The shower is a joke - an absolute joke. It's nothing but a hand held "thing" that turns the toilet area into a water fall <depending on where you point the spray head>. Then when done, if you were foolish enough to have any personal items in there with you - well, they got wet! Don't "spring" for the shower for a one night journey to Halifax . . . ain't worth the extra bucks.
Budd bedroom <Chateau ‘n Manor> cars all have private toilets and common area showers - which are spacious and very functional.
Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Leon, I'll have a number 3 Super Special with all the extras! Keith's, please.
Not many here today, but a lot to read. I must say I found the article on Northern Pacific fascinating!
Tom – I guess what VIA is showing in that picture is a train from the all Budd days. I must say that changing from driving on one side of road to the other side was not that big deal. The first number of days they had very restrictive speed limits. But it certainly was different to drive the roads on the opposite side to what one was used to. I thought you were going to like that photo from north of the Arctic Circle. Plenty of snow. Interesting info on Northern Pacific! Bankrupt a few times and a lot of other mistakes. But they survived until they merged with Burlington. A lot of interesting reading! Interesting books! Nick – It seems like you have a tough job getting everything in order on your railroad. Good luck and don’t let Boris try to help you. Rob – No there was no training before we changed to right hand side driving. Just took it easy and drove carefully. Thanks for the photos! A real mix of locomotives! What was the reason for removing the trackage to the International Bridge and the Montrose Yard? Just going out of business?
Some randomly picked photos.
Point of Rocks, MD.
Some older Swedish electrics. Photo: Gustav Wadsten.
Quiz: Where?
Older narrow gauge (891 mm) car. Sweden 1968.
Old electric, narrow gauge (891 mm) from the 1890's. Stockholm Transit Museum.
Eric
Okay Leon set em up again.Thank-you. here are a few new found old pictures of mine.This is the first installment of six.These are all shots from the summer of 1995. I found a roll of slide film I took that year and I just had it developed yesterday pays to clean out desk drawers once in awhile
A CN GP40-2W leading a train past Robbins East ( rural Welland Ontario )
A couple rebuilt CN GP9's leading a train up the old canal subdivision towards Port Colbourne.This was th last summer CN operated this route now run by Trillium Rail.
A SOO Line SD60 leading a CP train out of the Welland Tunnel summer of 95 teh first time Soo units started seeing regular use on CP trains in Canada.
An ex Milwaukee road SD40 on the same train comming out of the Welland Tunnel
An ex MILW GP40 heading through Fenwick Ontario on a CP train a leased Boston and Main Geep is also in the consist.
A CP C424 in the consist of a train that has just left CP's Montrose yard in Niagara falls Ontario.The train is passing the Mount Carmel Cathedral on it's way to the International bridge,all this trackage was removed early in 2000 including the entire Montrose yard.
More next week
Good evening gents. Leon I see you survived the imprompto Boris family follies out back,does not look like any major damage was done and only one platoon of the fusiliers was required to break the party up.right with that said I think a large tankard of guiness and here's some for a round for the Brave fusiliers,whats that Boris Oh I see, your favourite dolly got hit by a stray musket ball,I'm sure that it's nothing a rubber inner-tube patch can't fix.
Tom-Ah yes a sloooooow one oh well we shall over come ( we have before at any rate )Nice re-run on the Espee ! Last year it would have been hit by many a response from the left coast.Nice to see three aready putting up their bets on the next contest
Thanks for the extra info on the various differences in the VIA consists over the years. here's a question for you,do the Chunnel Chuggers have individual bathrooms in each sleeping compartment on those sleeping cars or are they all shared washrooms
My big thing is that alot of what T2000 lobbies for never gets a hearing anywhere but outside their meetings,they have not been overly successfull over the years,mind you lobbying is a much different animal up here than in your country, ie it's not a paid position,it's all volenteer.I imagine that most groups like it and the one you chaired end up with alot of internal baggage <barf> which is why I don't put much faith in them,too much infighting makes the orginization less effective in my humble thoughts .
Eric-Yes the Halifax Birney paint job was much nicer than the bus one.Wow any kind of training given you guys before the sides of the road were changed,I can't imagine it ws an easy transition. Neat shot of that snow bound train
Nick-Hope you survived running the gauntlet back out past Boris's entrenched cousins,or did you get out after the Fusiliers broke up the party with a couple well placed volley's
Good news on the sale and the first baby steps of your re-wiring thanks for the round as well. I saw that Helga won the wet T-shirt contest I also noted that the local pshyc hospital is offering free consulting to all who saw that particular spectacle
Right Leon another round if you please,I need to wash away the thought of Helga's win,yes I know Boris was to happy during the contest I aggree <uh oh >
Well good evening Leon-you might want to pop out the back and have a little word with Boris-looks like his family party out in the yard has broken down along both sides of the cultural/religious divide and are well dug in at at least four different locations,three of which were shooting at each other when I crept in................
Another fine saturday night at the Bar in the ballast -looks like a lively night in the pool-room..good to see the track gang getting their ladies involved-just keep that wet T-shirt thing away from the amps please guys....thank you....!
O.K-Yes you are right Leon-best by far to leave them all to it and relax in good company....Right-whose for a drink -I`m in the chair,I sold a guitar today so I`m in funds for once .....Please excuse the late arrival,I`ve been wandering through my photobucket file,having been able to access it tonight after 2 months of `file not found` type nonsense -now all I have to do is remember how to transfer them here-and enlarge....
Well-have started on the re-wire-soldered up a couple of joints,drilled a few holes for dropper wires,hooked up a wee section so I can run a works train around to maintain momentum...
first job-and its a bit of a nasty-is to solder all the droppers from the common rail-the outside one --this will prolly mean using a mirror cos you just cant get into those corners without standing on the benchwork-which would take it although the infrastructure wouldn`t--am gonna try and completely avoid underboard soldering by using those multi-block screw fix connectors-they have that handy hole in the web for fixing to the board -anything is worth a try if it doesn`t involve lying on my back dodging blobs of molten lead .........
unfortunately work was curtailed by family duties but the symbolic gesture has been made-a train has run a short way with power supplied by newly made connections.......-Now lets do a proper job-cos to be honest,the wiring as it was , was a nightmare-can do better,as my school reports used to say
Hmmm-perhaps the early night for me-I feel my mind wandering-Leon-drinks for the gentlemen please-and a tray of snacks please-its about that time---right-a quick foray to Herr Wurlitzer..about $5 worth should do-then I shall pop outside for a quick ciggie and see if the double vision clears-if so ,back to it-if not,go home now..........See you soon chaps
Saturday is ENCORE! - and - Photo Posting Day!
Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on Sundays.
<Save the new material for Monday thru Friday- this is ENCORE! day . . .>
2008 BIRTHDAY WATCH LIST
<rev. Mar 1st>
ACTIVE Customers at "Our" Place
January 14th (Eric - 65)
January 23rd (Jan - 39) - Legion of the Lost!
March 31st (Lars - 68) - Gone but not forgotten!
May 18th (Tom - 70)
August 11th (Pete - 57)
August 14th (Allan - 73)
Now arriving on track #1 ..... Railroads from Yesteryear! Number Eight
Northern Pacific Railway Locale: Ashland, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, Tacoma, Washington and Portland, Oregon Reporting marks: NP Dates of operation: 1864 - 1970 Track gauge: 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) Headquarters: Minnesota (copied from public domain) A Northern Pacific train travels over Bozeman Pass, June 1939. The Northern Pacific Railway (AAR reporting mark NP) was a railway that operated in the north-central region of the United States. The railroad served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. The company was headquartered first in Brainerd, Minnesota, then in St. Paul, Minnesota. History The Northern Pacific was chartered on July 2, 1864 as the first northern transcontinental railroad. It was granted some 47,000,000 acres (190,000 km²) of land in exchange for building rail transportation to an undeveloped territory. Josiah Perham (for whom Perham, Minnesota is named) was elected its first president on December 7, 1864. For the next six years, backers of the road struggled to find financing. Though John Gregory Smith succeeded Perham as president on January 5, 1866, groundbreaking did not take place until February 15, 1870, at Thompson Junction, Minnesota, 25 miles (40 km) west of Duluth, Minnesota. The backing and promotions of famed Civil War financier Jay Cooke in the summer of 1870 brought the first real momentum to the company. Over the course of 1870, the Northern Pacific pushed westward from Minnesota into present-day North Dakota. It also began reaching from Kalama, Washington Territory, on the Columbia River outside of Portland, Oregon, towards Puget Sound. Four small construction engines were purchased, the Minnetonka, Itaska, Ottertail and St. Cloud, the first of which was shipped to Kalama by ship around Cape Horn. In Minnesota, the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad completed construction of its 155 mile (250 km) line stretching from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Lake Superior at Duluth in 1870. It was leased to the Northern Pacific the following year, and was eventually absorbed by the Northern Pacific. In 1871, Northern Pacific completed some 230 miles (370 km) of railroad on the east end of its system, reaching out to Moorhead, Minnesota, on the North Dakota border. In the west, the track extended 25 miles north from Kalama. Surveys were carried out in North Dakota protected by 600 troops from General Winfield Scott Hancock. Headquarters and shops were established in Brainerd, Minnesota, a town named for the President John Gregory Smith's wife Anna Elizabeth Brainerd. In 1872, the company put down 164 miles (264 km) of main line across North Dakota, with an additional 45 miles (72 km) in Washington. On November 1, General George Washington Cass became the third president of the company. Cass had been a vice-president and director of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and would lead the Northern Pacific through some of its most difficult times. Attacks on survey parties and construction crews building into Native American homelands in North Dakota became so prevalent the company appealed for Army protection from President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1872 the Northern Pacific also opened colonization offices in Europe, seeking to attract settlers to the sparsely populated and undeveloped region it served. Survey parties accompanied by Federal troops, railroad construction, permanent settlement and development, along with the discovery of gold in nearby South Dakota, all served as a backdrop leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the defeat of General George Armstrong Custer in 1876. In 1873, Northern Pacific made impressive strides before a terrible stumble. Rails from the east reached the Missouri River on June 4. After several years of study, Tacoma, Washington, was selected as the road's western terminus on July 14. However, for the past three years the financial house of Jay Cooke and Company had been throwing money into the construction of the Northern Pacific. Like many western transcontinentals, the staggering costs of building a railroad into a vast wilderness were drastically underestimated. For a variety of reasons, led by the costs of constructing the railroad itself, Cooke and Company closed its doors on September 18. Soon, the Panic of 1873 engulfed the United States, ushering in a severe recession which would drag on for several years. The Northern Pacific, however, survived bankruptcy that year, due to austerity measures put in place by President Cass. In fact, working with last-minute loans from Director John Commiger Ainsworth of Portland, the Northern Pacific completed the line from Kalama to Tacoma, 110 miles (177 km), before the end of the year. On December 16, the first steam train arrived in Tacoma. The year of 1874, however, found the company moribund. Northern Pacific slipped into its first bankruptcy on June 30, 1875. Cass resigned to become receiver of the company, and Charles Barstow Wright became fourth president of the company. Frederick Billings, namesake of Billings, Montana, formulated a reorganization plan which was put into effect. This same year George Custer was assigned to Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, and charged with protecting railroad survey and
<Save the new material for Monday thru Friday - this is ENCORE! day . . . >
The beginning of a new month 'n it's also Saturday morning at the Bar by the Ballast - always a good time to enjoy a relaxing start to the weekend! Coffee's ready - pastries freshly baked ‘n of course our Menu Board brimming with good things to order!
Friday - Feb 29th: <all times Central standard>
Page 190 - CM3 Shane <coalminer3> at 12:09 PM: Lunchtime visit appreciated . . .
We used to have great fun with our late-best-furry-faced-friend-Fred <Siberian Husky> who would remain tethered outdoors in snowstorms until covered - and I mean covered. We'd look for a "lump" in the snow, ‘n there he'd be - blue eyes looking up at you - happy as a "clam" or I should say - Husky!! <grin> Dogs are great friends . . . they are faithful beyond description ‘n require no more than love in return . . .
We're heading into a spring weekend - even got the first of the pre-emergent down this afternoon. Awwwww, but come Monday, "they" say we're due for more <slop>.
Enjoyed eavesdropping your comments - thanx for the quarters ‘n ROUND!
Page 191 - Pete <pwolfe> at 4:17 PM: Another ridiculously slow day lite experience at the Tavern by the Tracks . . . however, with you ‘n CM3 Shane brightening up the afternoon, all's not lost <yet>
Don't know if you ever were answered - but here's some help with "coulee" . . .
-noun 1.Chiefly Western U.S. and Western Canada. a deep ravine or gulch, usually dry, that has been formed by running water. 2.a small valley. 3.a low-lying area. Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Saturday, March 1, 2008 12:06 AM Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!Leon, Friday night (hmm, Saturday morning), it's time for that juicy Filet Mignon with all the extra mushrooms! Medium. A cold Tui, please!Very quiet day here this Friday. Are people out shoveling snow? We had 84° today, very nice!Only 75 days to the 3rd Annual Rendezvous!!! Tom – The reason I linked to VIA’s site was that the photos that was supposed to show the train showed Budd equipment only, with two dome cars. I didn’t know if that was old photos or photos of a westbound train or that they actually planned to run that equipment to the east coast again. I guess it is a westbound train. Thanks for the article on the Lethbridge Viaduct, 1 mile long! I like the photo of the freight train running on top of it! The 4,000th reply? March 21st by Allan! CM3 – That is what I thought it could be, a visibility thing. I guess it was an electric motor that moved the signal. Pete – I remember the day Sweden changed from left hand to right hand traffic! I worked as a bus driver then and drove on the “new” side the first day. I checked and the Swedish State Railways actually had one class of 0-6-0 locomotives with tender. It was class Kd from 1901. But the rest of the 0-6-0’s were all tank locomotives. Rob – I think the streetcars in Halifax had a better looking paint scheme than the trolley buses! North of the Arctic Circle. Eric trolleyboy Member sinceMay 2014 3,727 posts Posted by trolleyboy on Friday, February 29, 2008 9:41 PM Good evening Leon,hmmm a nice medium steak with all the fixin's,and a Keith's as the best brew to wash it down with.Tom-Aha #3800 to you bit o a slooooow one today but whatchagonnado Nice to see the Lethbridge viaduct bit again To be fair I missed that mini bash due to a computer crash but good to read it anyway.T2000 isn't in itself a bad orginization but I have issues with groupos that are ,lobbing for things no matter I approve of the things or not.T2000 also tends to be in bed with the NDP which sits kinda sour with me as well,personal preferences I suppose.Glad that you liked the Halifax piece,fogured you would get a kick from it.As to the new contest I think Pete will do the deed on the 16th of MarchEric-No the Halifax trolley buses were a sedate creame and green colour,not the nice bright canary yellow.Very similar to the colour of the Birney in the picture you posted with dark green trim.CM3-Was by with more wabash passenger info The yellow's just about the same as the colour pictures I've seen of the Conn. cars. I wonder if they chose the bright yellow so they could find the cars after a good blizzard.Pete-Interesting thought. I would think that in todays day and age one could install some sort of storage battery system that could feed power back into the grid. Similar things are done with people that have solar power in their houses,you can feed power back to the city grid and get rebates on your hydro bill. I aggree with you,Heather and I found those service cars to be a tad to noisy for our likeing as well, that and the alternating of french and english movies <barf> I didn't come accross to many french speakers on our trip,ain't being PC great.Rob pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Friday, February 29, 2008 4:17 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams please RUTHROB I guess when the locomotive did not make up the grade on the Huntsville & Lake of Bays line, the passengers at the top of line had to decide ether to wait for the train to arrive with the next batch of passengers or walk down. It is a shame that the original were scrapped after their industrial service.Many thanks for the Halifax Streetcar system and a history of the city. I very much enjoyed my visit to Halifax with Tom. It was a large system with 48 miles of track,and it must have quite a task to convert the steel cars to right hand drive in 1923, a similar task Sweden had to do many years later.As you say the hills must have been hard work on the cars, but I wonder with today's technology, if there was still the streetcars or the trolley coaches, would it be possible to have the cars generate electricity on the downhill sections of the routes and put it back in the supply, saving the amount of the electricity used. Birney No 164 looks great in the bright Halifax liveryALLAN Glad the Red for Danger book arrived and I hope you enjoy the read.Thanks for the kind words on the photos. Looking at the one of 46203 at Garsdale, on the Settle & Carlisle line, reminded me how cold it used to get on the moors there with an Easterly wind blowing on those winter steam tours. I was on one trip with the V2 ‘Green Arrow, when my camera froze up.I imagine there will be a lot of changes to the ‘Toon' team in the closed season.NICK Excellent menu from our again. I will have to have the crown roast of lamb, I really miss the lamb Sunday dinners with all the trimmings I used to have in England.ERIC Yes there was a Starbucks coffee area on the departure side of Birmingham International (UK) airport which had the a very rare smoking area, which must of added to their customers. I believe all public buildings in the UK, by law are smoke free now.As I said to Allan it could get very cold at Garsdale where the locomotives took water while working the steam specials.I had a look in a book and in 1955 and on British Railways there were 17 different classes of just ex LNER 0-6-0 tender locomotives on the books.The photo is of one of the last three 0-6-0s to work on BR withdrawn in 1967. BR number then was 65894 a class J27 Many thanks for the Orange Empire Railway Museum streetcar photo.CM3 Many thanks for the Blue Moon schedule and the information on the Delmar station in St Louis, which I know very little about. I see in Tom's schedule from 6 years later Train 21 had been accelerated by 34 minutes. The Blue Moon would have been a great day trip for some one interested in railroads.I too wonder about the post especially my stuff from England, a small parcel usually gets here in about 5 to 8 days but the magazines on subscription usual take about 14 or more days. I wonder where they stay just lying about as the transportation across the ‘pond has to about the same time. TOM Congratulations on the 3,800th post. I will say March 11th and done by Rob.Unfortunately it seems the Chuggers are here to stay for a while, I have to admit I had a wry smile on the description of' ‘Deluxe', in Eric's link. As you say to Rob, they must lose sales in the service cars, by not having one for just those wanting a quiet drink or talk without the TV. I think the use of different colors on the British locomotives goes way back to the early days. Before the grouping of 1923 Carlisle station in the north of England was host to 6 different companies. I must have been a colorful sight with the ‘Blackberry Black of the L&NWR, the Blue of the Caledonian, Crimson of the Midland and the different Greens of the North Eastern, North British and Glasgow & South Western engines. I'm afraid I don't know what the colors of the Maryport & Carlisle engines were.It looks like the Blue Bird was nearest to the timings of the Blue Moon. I would be a great ride on a late spring evening with a 9.30PM arrival in St Louis.Many thanks for the Lethbridge Viaduct from the Great Railroad Bridges series siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, February 29, 2008 12:51 PM G'day Lads! I wasn't going to do this . . . but since I seem to have made the 3,800th reply at the bar, figured why not A CONTEST!WHO will make the 4,000th reply at the bar AND when It's a two-parter - so be sure to include the name of the person you think will make the Post along with the date!Duplicate prizes WILL be awarded! Prizes also awarded for correctly naming only one of the parts . . . <whattaguy> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Some help in determining your guesstimates:3,800th Post <Tom> on Feb 29th, Page 1913,700th Post <Dan> on Feb 18th, Page 1863,600th Post <Rob> on Feb 7th, Page 1813,500th Post <Jan> on Jan 29th, Page 1763,400th Post <Tom> on Jan 19th, Page 1713,300th Post <Rob> on Jan 9th, Page 166* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *CONTEST CLOSES on Friday, March 7th. So let's get those cabooses in gear! Later <maybe>! Tom P.S. In case anyone has been wondering - we haven't seen Chris <MoPacBarrettTunnel> since Jan 29th or Jan <JanOlov> since Feb 15th . . . but the good thing is they haven't been Posting elsewhere <as several of our UTBs are doing>, which always leaves us with the thought that they may return . . . Happy Railroading! Siberianmo siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, February 29, 2008 12:16 PM G'day Gents!Ending our second week of daylite doldrums - and who was it that said <several times> "One guy doesn't really make a difference." Yeah, right . . . Very good to see CM3 Shane drop by for a "nooner" <of sorts>! Wasn't going to Post this until we had at least one customer . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Here's something from the archives that is good for a day like this . . . . it was initailly Posted as a B'day Special on a day that was supposed to be a "mini-bash" - but the "bashee" didn't show up! <groan> Guess whose B'day it was <uh oh> No, Boris - it wasn't Leon! <geesh> <A form of this was initally Posted on Sep 8th, 2006, Page 390 of the Original Thread . . . > Great Railroad Bridges - #3 <Used with permission from Wikipedia.com>Lethbridge Viaduct Lethbridge Viaduct - A. Rafton / National Archives of Canada / PA-029691The Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, was constructed between 1907-1909 at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada at a cost of $1,334,525.OverviewThis massive steel trestle over the Oldman River was designed by the Canadian Pacific Railway's bridge department in Montreal. The field work was directed by CPR's Assistant Chief Engineer J. E. Schwitzer. The steel work was manufactured by the Canadian Bridge Company of Walkerville, Ontario. A 100 man gang worked on the erection of the steel. Although there were some initial problems with settlement, the bridge has proved to be an enduring engineering work and is still in use today.This bridge is one of the largest railway structures in Canada. It was built as part of a major diversion of the Crowsnest Pass route between Lethbridge and Fort Macleod. The river crossing was previously over a wooden trestle measuring 894 m (2,933 feet) long and 20 m (65 feet) high; an impressive structure in its own right.HistoryThe old approach was over steep grades that hampered operations. In addition, extensive cuts and many other bridges were needed to cross various creeks and coulees. Past the St Mary's River crossing, several large cuts had been required. Large bridges were also required, including a 275-m (900-foot) trestle with a 61-m (200-foot) span west of the St. Mary River, a 183-m (600-foot) trestle at Eight-Mile Coulee and another of 274-m (900 feet) in length near Eight-Mile Coulee. At Sixteen-Mile Coulee there was a 244-m (800-foot) trestle, 40.5 m (133 feet) high with a 61-m (200-foot) truss span over the creek. The trestles on the original line out of Lethbridge totalled 4.5 km (2.8 miles). Although the original route accomplished its purpose in allowing the CPR to rapidly complete the railway, it turned out to be expensive to operate. The original bridges were designed to last only about 10 years. The CPR decided, in 1905 to construct a completely new route on a better gradient to bypass the original line. The new line was built to the north of the Oldman River. It required two bridges, one just west of Lethbridge-the High Level Bridge-over the Oldman River and another large bridge over the Oldman River again west of Monarch. This route eliminated many curves and reduced the grade from 1.2 percent to only 0.4 percent. It also saved 8.5 km (5.26 miles) of track.Construction began in the summer of 1907. Clearing and grading the site, construction of piers, and placement of the footings progressed while the steelwork was being prefabricated. Raising the steelwork began in mid-August 1908. Once the steelwork reached track level at the Lethbridge end, it was possible to begin using a huge trav Happy Railroading! Siberianmo coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, February 29, 2008 12:09 PM Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Something different this morning - snow, which is according to Old People's MTV, "Not hitting the ground on our area." K9 looked like a buffalo this a.m. - he hates to come in out of it, but then there is breakfast to be cadged from everyone. NOTE: I know it's afternoon, but it took me approx. 4 hrs. to log in.Pete was by with some more "LMS" pictures. I have a reply to your "Blue Bird" question at the end of this post.Rob stopped in with Halifax material - all Birneys all the time and BRIGHT yellow ones as well. That yellow reminds me of the Connecticut Company cars.Allan - I'll be interested to hear what you thins of Red for Danger. It takes 6 days for a letter to get from Buffalo to here and that's not that far - Boris! Put me down - that's all I'm going to say.Nick - Excellent menu as always.Eric - The figure-8 on the tail light had to do with visibility - no particular signal to the best of my knowledge.OSP was in with comments and remarks.Here's some schedule information regarding the "Blue Bird." This is the schedule from when the train entered service in 1950.Train 24Lv. St. Louis - 8:55 a.m.Lv. Decatur - 11:10 a.m.Arr. Chicago - 2:05 p.m. (Dearborn Station)Train 21Lv. Chicago - 4:45 p.m. (Dearborn Station)Lv. Decatur - 7:47 p.m.Arr. St. Louis - 10:10 p.m.Quick turnaround and the train had better be on schedule as it used one set of equipment.The Wabash used two stations in St. Louis: Union Station and Delmar. Ad copy for Delmar read:Use the Convenient Delmar Station in St. LouisServing the Great West-End Residential, Hotel, and Business DistrictExclusively Wabash.For those not familiar with Delmar, the building resembled the old Plasticville Union Station for those who remember back that far. It would be most easy to model. Sign on the front read "Delmar Station Wabash Railroad Company."Work safe siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, February 29, 2008 8:40 AM <personal foto> G'day Gents! Friday at the Saloon by the Siding ‘n time for a mugga Joe, pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery ‘n a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board. Noted that petrol had dropped to $2.90 <rounded> up at "Collusion Corner." However, the talk on the AM dial this day is four dollar gasoline by the summer . . . Maybe the price of mouthwash will come down - paid way more than that for a a1.5 litre bottle! <grin>Comments from the Proprietor: What's to say when a UTB who was once "one of us" appears over on "my other Thread" along with a Post on the Forum, but not at the bar It's really beyond trying to figure out . . . Don't want to analyze it - just fuhgedaboudhim! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative):Wednesday - Feb 27th: <all times Central standard>Page 190 - Pete <pwolfe> at 3:52 PM ‘n 4:05 PM: Don't know if VIA Rail "feels" anything . . . regimes change ‘n they've had some since the purchase of those Chunnel Chuggers. Anyway, they own ‘em ‘n they have to use ‘em . . . pity they decided to make ‘em into long distance cars rather than for the short haul. But what do I know, eh Just a paying customer over the decades . . . I'll yield to any aficionados regarding the red light at the rear of the Blue Moon . . . of course there had to be a marker, so your presumption is the same as my own. Always enjoy viewing your personal fotos - I can definitely appreciate the use of color in steam loco ‘n tender livery. Brits knew how to do it! My 1956 <Aug> copy of The Official Guide of the Railways doesn't list anything for Wabash Blue Moon. Does show Banner Blue. Domeliner Blue Bird and The Midnight. Train #17 <The Midnight> departed Chicago at 11:29 PM arriving in St. Louis at 6:30 AM. Train #21 <Blue Bird> departed Chicago at 4:39 PM and arrived in St. Louis at 9:30 PM. Train #11 Banner Blue left at 11:30 AM and arrived in StL at 4:38 PM.Round most appreciated along with your inclusive chat! Page 190 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 4:41 PM: Hmmmmm - there is a stretch on the "Ocean" run in New Brunswick that has been notoriously <PP> for smooth riding. Been that way ever since CN sold off the right-of-way to NBEC <New Brunswick East Coast> . . . anyway, we'd always avoid having dinner at a time when passing through that particular area, was nearly impossible to eat - kinda like being out at sea in rough weather. Anyway, found that Renaissance did in fact ride much better over that stretch.I think the charm of the Budd equipment isn't so much the ride as the ambiance ‘n space. No doubt about <doot aboot> it, Chunnel Chugger equipment is rather tight and oh so plastic with interior design. Makes you want to move along from the ‘community spaces' - but of course Pete ‘n I didn't! <grin> Until that is we got run out by those movies with kids overtaking the limited seating . . . with TWO service cars in the consist, we had wondered aloud why one couldn't have been used for the movie and the other for the drinking crowd! <grin>So, what's your with T2000 I've been a member for several years ‘n joined to demonstrate my support for the things they lobby for up your way <Canada>. Wonder how many Canadians do the same for us down here But I digress - I'm in no position to know if or when they've "stepped on it." Just curious . . .Enjoyed your inclusive banter ‘n ROUND! Page 190 - Allan <Gunneral> at 6:53 PM: Yeah, the "thing" about people like Victor Borge is that they were <are> indeed entertainers. Not vile pretenders to the title as so many seem Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Friday, February 29, 2008 12:33 AM Good morning Captain Tom and all present!!Leon, is there any Welsh black beef left? Okay, I'll try it. Medium, please! A baked potatoe and a cold Keith's. Finally time to sit down and relax a little bit.Tom – I checked VIA’s web site and if I understand their info correctly there will be a dome car at the end of the train (the Ocean) from mid-June until mid-October. They call it the Easterly class. See this link:http://www.viarail.ca/classes/en_serv_clas_tour_aloc.html#observation_deckYeah, I missed that link! Thanks for posting it again! You are right about model railroads and good layouts! One will always find more details every time you see it. That also shows that one can’t expect too much correct info from a witness. Nick – Welsh black beef?! I’ll remember that just in case I get back to the UK some time in the future! I am glad to see that you included “some meat” in your menu! Lamb? Hmmm, it tastes more like a mitten, doesn’t it? I’ll take the steak (Welsh black).CM3 – You are right about 8 on and 8 off and sleep deprivation! Thanks for the info on the Blue Bird! 2,000 hp and only six cars. Must have been a pretty quick train! Did that figure-8 pattern of the tail light mean anything in particular? I mean, did the pattern itself mean Stop or something else? Pete – So there were a number of 0-6-0 tender locos in the UK. I still can’t recall I have seen any. I have to check my books. My memory is very good but very short, 0.2 seconds. The only times I have had Starbucks coffee have been at Chicago’s O’Hare airport waiting for connecting flights out of there. Never heard of the ‘Sparks effect’! But why not?Nice, but cold, photos of the Princess Margerate Rose taking water!Rob – Personally I think 10 hours off is a minimum in order to get enough sleep. That was the rule when I worked for the railroad in the old country. Very interesting article on the Halifax streetcars! All Birney! Did the trolley buses have the same paint scheme as the streetcars, yellow? A Birney.Allan – Glad to hear that the book made it to you! 6 days in transit, I guess that is okay. Do you ever get any snow where you live? Eric trolleyboy Member sinceMay 2014 3,727 posts Posted by trolleyboy on Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:36 PM Good evening again Leon. [diner] Is on to be sure.Nick , you have managed to out do last week I have to have the late skate edition oh what the heck a piece of the red snapper as well. Boris is espeacialy enjoying the caviar,good thing we pumped out the septics last weekAllan-Ah yes we do seem to be arriving at the same time ( but not really ) lately. Glad you liked the LOB right up, The whole Muskoka region of Ontario is something to see lakes rocks small charming towns, the Canadian Shield in it's splendor topped off by Algonquin Park over 100,000 hectres of prime wooded forest's and lakes which are the Provinces largest park,a and it has tracts of white and black spruce trees that are essentially primevil and protected in perpetuity from logging most off them over 100 feet high! Yes I aggree with all the bleeding hearts I too never got away with anything when I was younger,different times then only one parent had to work,I think that more than anything is a major contributor to today's problems. So another streetcar story for everyone.This one Fergie will even find interesting CLASSIC JUICE #37 THE HALIFAX STREETCAR SYSTEMHalifax isn't likely a city most would have thought that an extensive street railway system would have existed, but it did, In keeping with the rest of the country it kept up with the Jone's by haveing a modern and efficent tramway system.First a little background. Halifax is one of the older cities in North America being founded in 1749 by Britsh general Edward Cornwallis. ( For many years Canada's armed forces personel took their basic training at CFB Cornwallis located along the waterfront )It was also in 1749 that Halifax became the capitol of the Colony of Nova Scotia and not supprisingly a major British naval base due to it's deep natural harbour, the second largest natural harbour on the continent next to Norfolk VA .Urban transportation was an early concept in Halifax, as there was a great need to keep people and products moving to and from the harbour area.The first animal powered tramway started up in 1866,serving the city of 22,000.This new form of transit was well recieved by the population and this original Halifax City Railway Company continued to expand and by 1890 they ran 6 routes serving most of the city.As with most cities the day's of the horse drawn transit were ending and by march of 1895 the Halifax Electric Tramway Company was incorporated.Fourteen single truck cars were ordered from Rhodes,Curry& Company, which was located in nearby Amherst NS ( a horescar and stagecoach builder primarily )this was also the oldest predessesor of Canadian Car and Foundry .Electric service began in jan of 1896 and operations were expanded as the city grew.One tragic event almost ended the company early on. The Great Halifax explosion of 1917 reduced alot of the streetcar overhead and poles to rubble,10 of the cars were either destroyed or severly damaged and many tramway employees were among the killed and wounded.However maritimers are a hearty lot, and soon the damage was repaired and the streetcar operations continued.By the end of the First World War , a number of significant changes occured, the first was a company name change to The Nova Scotia Tramway's and Power Co.The first task the new company faced was the replacement of the worn out cars which logged many extra miles during the war. The second significant change occured when the companies management were reviewing their options,they decided upon single truck Birney's, and promptly ordered 24 of the single truckers from the St Louis Car Company.These numbered cars 100-123, all were delivered in 1920.In 1926 a further four were ordered from the Ottawa car Company, numbers 134-137.These 28 cars were the only new cars to be purchased by the company.At this time the route miliage was at it's height, 8 routes and 48 miles of trackage. Now Nova Scotia,along with BC New Brunswick and NFLD all operated motor vehicles on the left side of the road as in Britain.In 1923 the Province changed to right hand running to comply with the rules of the rest of North America.Converting the remaing older wooden cars was simple but the brand new Birney's being all metal were a more challenging and more expensive job.However the task was completed and all cars were operating on the right hand side of the road by the end of the year.The years 1926-27 saw the tramway add 18 more Birney's to the fleet finally retiring the rest of the old wooden cars.Ten of these were second hand and came from the United Railway's aand Electrical company of Baltimore, and eigth ex Toronto Civic Birney's purchased from the TTC .The Birney fleet continued to grow through purchases of used cars, until it reached a total of 82 the last of which were picked up during World War two.Again the heavy wartime usage of the cars and the hilly terrain of the city itself war down the little cars and their trackage and overhead,wartime shortages ment that new cars and overheaad could not be purchased till after the war.Once again management was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding again, although trackage amd overhead would be included in this bill as well.Instead of new streetcars PCC's were too big for the clearances on the tramway with out major modifications.They opted for Brill trolley coaches and purhased 87 of them from Canadian Car and Foundry.These electric busses were delivered bewteen 1948 and 1954,including six Pullman Standard ones bought from Providence Rhode Island. March 26th 1949 the last Birney operated downtown car 177 with the trolley coaches taking over most of the downtown routes. The Final final last run was carried out by car 157 on april 30th. The trolley coaches ran until 1969 when the electrics were finally abandoned,10 were sold to Toronto for conversion to the more modern Flyer style for that city and served until TTC ended electric trolleybus service in the mid 1980's.Two tidbits of interest. Halifax was one of the few cities to operate an all Birney ( single truck ) street railway and became the largest all trolley-coach sity in North America. For you trivia fans,Halifax was also the only city in which both trolley coaches and streetcars had to pass through a toll plaza.The Mcdonald bridge that spans the harbour and conects Halifax to Dartmouth NS was one of the routes !One of the EX TTC EX Toronto Civic Birney's in the bright Halifax livery nickinwestwales Member sinceApril 2005 901 posts Posted by nickinwestwales on Thursday, February 28, 2008 7:27 PM Well-Bonsoir mes amis..........O.K-I give up-I cant do the whole menu in french-not without a lot of research anyway...Right then-in English:Starters:- Soup of yesterday (!)-Mulligatawny with fresh baked soda-bread roll Linguini with Cleddau prawns & oysters with a cream,white wine and garlic sauce Lamb Samosa`s with hot lime pickle & green salad with mint raita Local sausage platter-with fried onions & mushrooms and oven fresh baguettes Mains-well its thursday so I guess I should lead with fish dishes--lets take a moment here--hmmmmm---------O.K-Grilled red snapper on a bed of rice & peas with chilli & mango salsaTrout roman style-stuff with mushrooms & caviar,cover with butter and honey and bake thick chunks of atlantic cod in a light beer batter with mushy peas and home friesand some meat-how about a crown roast of lamb with red wine & redcurrant sauce...or-a plate of grilled mixed chops with a tray of dipsor-pick a steak from the 5 on offer,cooked to orderall with vegetable platter and pomme de jour........ Chicken Bhuna with herb & garlic naans & king prawn biriani......lovely well well-looks like we have just had a late delivery-anybody fancy middle cut of skate in a light black butter sauce or..what else have we got here-ah yes ,a side or two of nice plump bass-yes,we will have them on nextok-enjoy-!!nick Gunneral Member sinceSeptember 2002 From: NZ 242 posts Posted by Gunneral on Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:53 PM Hi Tom and all,Leon, the usual round of Tui`s for all the crew please!Rob. See we were in around the same time again, enjoyed your interesting write up Classic Steam #21 on the Huntsville and Lake of Bays` Ry. It`s amazing to think that back in the old days` we never seemed to get away with any wrongs` we did, I always seemed to get caught red handed most times, it appears that we have too many "bleeding hearts" around nowadays`Eric. Received your parcel containing Pete`s book yesterday afternoon, Thursday Feb 28th NZ time, thanks very much for that, it only took 6 days in transit. Nice snowey shot of the Swedish 4-6-2 steam loco, and of that narrow gauge passenger car.Fergie. Some nice shots` of your new caboose`s and the Gorham Rail Exhibit, was that yourself in the loco shot?Pete. Some nice shots` of the BR Class 58, 47`s and 31 diesel loco`s, LMS #46203 and a rather unique pic of that Starbucks coffee shop in Canterbury, where will they pop up next! As you have found out i`ve received your Red for Danger book now and started in on it last night. I think that the "Toon" will have to go into plan B mode from now on and start out fresh next season!Nick. Your mentioning Brecon takes me back to the early 50`s when I was stationed at Sennybridge artillery ranges prior to going to Hong Kong, we had to climb the Brecon Beacons carrying full gear as part of our training, HK is fairly mountainous, it was quite an experience as the SAS use the same climbs for their current training nowadays!CM3. Was in with an interesting write up on the Wabash`s Blue Bird passenger train and other info.Tom. I agree with you totally about Victor Borge, he was a great artist with the piano as well as his humour, it was amazing how he would start playing a tune and end up combining several other tunes` with it. Enjoyed all the great pics of the building of your S-Capades RR and the 6 pack of RR adverts of the Classic era. Many thanks for your latest e-mail, I was surprised to get the book from Eric so soon, it`s taken about the same time as our parcels take from the UK.See Ya, Allan trolleyboy Member sinceMay 2014 3,727 posts Posted by trolleyboy on Thursday, February 28, 2008 4:41 PM Good afternoon Mr Leon , I see that you have the bar and glasses all well shined, good thing cause if Nick duplicates last weeks menu the place will be packed Just a keith's at the moment sir gotta save room for the old fish 'n' chips Eric-Interesting shot of that old narrow gauge passenger car 8 hours on 8 hours off that might just be legal barely.Up here now the crews are supposed to have a minimum of ten hours off after twelve on,on the CN the spare board's everyone's friend.Nick-Good catch up well written Glad you liked the ONR stuff figured that you would.Too abd that you have to re-wire the whole lot but hey you didn't lacerate anything re-stringing the guitars so you should be in good shape ( fingerwise ) for this project.Pete-I'm with you and Tom the ole Budd cars are the far superior ride.I ahve to say though I'm no fan of starbuck's anything, the coffee's strong enough to remove rust from metal and paint from the walls Here's extra visuals for you. Imagine if you will those passengers having to walk back, the men would ahve been in three piece suits (likely) and the women in those long long hoop skirts that were envogue at the time, not to mention the giant hats and parasols.From what I understand those original locmotives were bought by an industry of some sort,I imagine that they have long disapeared into locomotive heaven.Tom-Good to hear that you survived the days trials.It maybe slow but it's still nice to see that all that care are still plugging along,and we are filling in during the daylight hours,time gaps or no the registers are still ringingHopefully T2000 will give you an answer, though sometimes they can be a day short and a dollar late as well. I imagine that you will find that the consist was switched as a maintenance cycle,also as large of trains liely are not needed on those runs in January and Feb. Always glad to help who were tweeted,health and saftey and all that if for no other reason.CM3-Interesting info the Wabsah as always a good read Well Leon set em up another round on me for da boyz yes Boris ring the bell, please make sure that the critters are well taken care of and watered as well.A small PPF is there for yourself too.Till laterRob « First«45678910»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
1.
Chiefly Western U.S. and Western Canada. a deep ravine or gulch, usually dry, that has been formed by running water.
2.
a small valley.
3.
a low-lying area. Happy Railroading! Siberianmo
Leon, Friday night (hmm, Saturday morning), it's time for that juicy Filet Mignon with all the extra mushrooms! Medium. A cold Tui, please!
Very quiet day here this Friday. Are people out shoveling snow? We had 84° today, very nice!
Only 75 days to the 3rd Annual Rendezvous!!!
Tom – The reason I linked to VIA’s site was that the photos that was supposed to show the train showed Budd equipment only, with two dome cars. I didn’t know if that was old photos or photos of a westbound train or that they actually planned to run that equipment to the east coast again. I guess it is a westbound train. Thanks for the article on the Lethbridge Viaduct, 1 mile long! I like the photo of the freight train running on top of it! The 4,000th reply? March 21st by Allan! CM3 – That is what I thought it could be, a visibility thing. I guess it was an electric motor that moved the signal. Pete – I remember the day Sweden changed from left hand to right hand traffic! I worked as a bus driver then and drove on the “new” side the first day. I checked and the Swedish State Railways actually had one class of 0-6-0 locomotives with tender. It was class Kd from 1901. But the rest of the 0-6-0’s were all tank locomotives. Rob – I think the streetcars in Halifax had a better looking paint scheme than the trolley buses! North of the Arctic Circle.
Good evening Leon,hmmm a nice medium steak with all the fixin's,and a Keith's as the best brew to wash it down with.
Tom-Aha #3800 to you bit o a slooooow one today but whatchagonnado Nice to see the Lethbridge viaduct bit again To be fair I missed that mini bash due to a computer crash but good to read it anyway.
T2000 isn't in itself a bad orginization but I have issues with groupos that are ,lobbing for things no matter I approve of the things or not.T2000 also tends to be in bed with the NDP which sits kinda sour with me as well,personal preferences I suppose.
Glad that you liked the Halifax piece,fogured you would get a kick from it.
As to the new contest I think Pete will do the deed on the 16th of March
Eric-No the Halifax trolley buses were a sedate creame and green colour,not the nice bright canary yellow.Very similar to the colour of the Birney in the picture you posted with dark green trim.
CM3-Was by with more wabash passenger info The yellow's just about the same as the colour pictures I've seen of the Conn. cars. I wonder if they chose the bright yellow so they could find the cars after a good blizzard.
Pete-Interesting thought. I would think that in todays day and age one could install some sort of storage battery system that could feed power back into the grid. Similar things are done with people that have solar power in their houses,you can feed power back to the city grid and get rebates on your hydro bill.
I aggree with you,Heather and I found those service cars to be a tad to noisy for our likeing as well, that and the alternating of french and english movies <barf> I didn't come accross to many french speakers on our trip,ain't being PC great.
A pint of Bathams please RUTH
ROB I guess when the locomotive did not make up the grade on the Huntsville & Lake of Bays line, the passengers at the top of line had to decide ether to wait for the train to arrive with the next batch of passengers or walk down. It is a shame that the original were scrapped after their industrial service.
Many thanks for the Halifax Streetcar system and a history of the city. I very much enjoyed my visit to Halifax with Tom. It was a large system with 48 miles of track,and it must have quite a task to convert the steel cars to right hand drive in 1923, a similar task Sweden had to do many years later.
As you say the hills must have been hard work on the cars, but I wonder with today's technology, if there was still the streetcars or the trolley coaches, would it be possible to have the cars generate electricity on the downhill sections of the routes and put it back in the supply, saving the amount of the electricity used.
Birney No 164 looks great in the bright Halifax livery
ALLAN Glad the Red for Danger book arrived and I hope you enjoy the read.
Thanks for the kind words on the photos. Looking at the one of 46203 at Garsdale, on the Settle & Carlisle line, reminded me how cold it used to get on the moors there with an Easterly wind blowing on those winter steam tours. I was on one trip with the V2 ‘Green Arrow, when my camera froze up.
I imagine there will be a lot of changes to the ‘Toon' team in the closed season.
NICK Excellent menu from our again. I will have to have the crown roast of lamb, I really miss the lamb Sunday dinners with all the trimmings I used to have in England.
ERIC Yes there was a Starbucks coffee area on the departure side of Birmingham International (UK) airport which had the a very rare smoking area, which must of added to their customers. I believe all public buildings in the UK, by law are smoke free now.
As I said to Allan it could get very cold at Garsdale where the locomotives took water while working the steam specials.
I had a look in a book and in 1955 and on British Railways there were 17 different classes of just ex LNER 0-6-0 tender locomotives on the books.The photo is of one of the last three 0-6-0s to work on BR withdrawn in 1967. BR number then was 65894 a class J27
Many thanks for the Orange Empire Railway Museum streetcar photo.
CM3 Many thanks for the Blue Moon schedule and the information on the Delmar station in St Louis, which I know very little about. I see in Tom's schedule from 6 years later Train 21 had been accelerated by 34 minutes. The Blue Moon would have been a great day trip for some one interested in railroads.
I too wonder about the post especially my stuff from England, a small parcel usually gets here in about 5 to 8 days but the magazines on subscription usual take about 14 or more days. I wonder where they stay just lying about as the transportation across the ‘pond has to about the same time.
TOM Congratulations on the 3,800th post. I will say March 11th and done by Rob.
Unfortunately it seems the Chuggers are here to stay for a while, I have to admit I had a wry smile on the description of' ‘Deluxe', in Eric's link. As you say to Rob, they must lose sales in the service cars, by not having one for just those wanting a quiet drink or talk without the TV.
I think the use of different colors on the British locomotives goes way back to the early days. Before the grouping of 1923 Carlisle station in the north of England was host to 6 different companies. I must have been a colorful sight with the ‘Blackberry Black of the L&NWR, the Blue of the Caledonian, Crimson of the Midland and the different Greens of the North Eastern, North British and Glasgow & South Western engines. I'm afraid I don't know what the colors of the Maryport & Carlisle engines were.
It looks like the Blue Bird was nearest to the timings of the Blue Moon. I would be a great ride on a late spring evening with a 9.30PM arrival in St Louis.
Many thanks for the Lethbridge Viaduct from the Great Railroad Bridges series
I wasn't going to do this . . . but since I seem to have made the 3,800th reply at the bar, figured why not A CONTEST!
3,800th Post <Tom> on Feb 29th, Page 191
3,700th Post <Dan> on Feb 18th, Page 186
3,600th Post <Rob> on Feb 7th, Page 181
3,500th Post <Jan> on Jan 29th, Page 176
3,400th Post <Tom> on Jan 19th, Page 171
3,300th Post <Rob> on Jan 9th, Page 166
P.S. In case anyone has been wondering - we haven't seen Chris <MoPacBarrettTunnel> since Jan 29th or Jan <JanOlov> since Feb 15th . . . but the good thing is they haven't been Posting elsewhere <as several of our UTBs are doing>, which always leaves us with the thought that they may return . . .
Ending our second week of daylite doldrums - and who was it that said <several times> "One guy doesn't really make a difference." Yeah, right . . .
Very good to see CM3 Shane drop by for a "nooner" <of sorts>! Wasn't going to Post this until we had at least one customer . . .
Here's something from the archives that is good for a day like this . . . . it was initailly Posted as a B'day Special on a day that was supposed to be a "mini-bash" - but the "bashee" didn't show up! <groan> Guess whose B'day it was <uh oh> No, Boris - it wasn't Leon! <geesh>
<A form of this was initally Posted on Sep 8th, 2006, Page 390 of the Original Thread . . . >
Great Railroad Bridges - #3
<Used with permission from Wikipedia.com>
Lethbridge Viaduct
Lethbridge Viaduct - A. Rafton / National Archives of Canada / PA-029691
The Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, was constructed between 1907-1909 at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada at a cost of $1,334,525.
Overview
This massive steel trestle over the Oldman River was designed by the Canadian Pacific Railway's bridge department in Montreal. The field work was directed by CPR's Assistant Chief Engineer J. E. Schwitzer. The steel work was manufactured by the Canadian Bridge Company of Walkerville, Ontario. A 100 man gang worked on the erection of the steel. Although there were some initial problems with settlement, the bridge has proved to be an enduring engineering work and is still in use today.
This bridge is one of the largest railway structures in Canada. It was built as part of a major diversion of the Crowsnest Pass route between Lethbridge and Fort Macleod. The river crossing was previously over a wooden trestle measuring 894 m (2,933 feet) long and 20 m (65 feet) high; an impressive structure in its own right.
History
The old approach was over steep grades that hampered operations. In addition, extensive cuts and many other bridges were needed to cross various creeks and coulees. Past the St Mary's River crossing, several large cuts had been required. Large bridges were also required, including a 275-m (900-foot) trestle with a 61-m (200-foot) span west of the St. Mary River, a 183-m (600-foot) trestle at Eight-Mile Coulee and another of 274-m (900 feet) in length near Eight-Mile Coulee. At Sixteen-Mile Coulee there was a 244-m (800-foot) trestle, 40.5 m (133 feet) high with a 61-m (200-foot) truss span over the creek. The trestles on the original line out of Lethbridge totalled 4.5 km (2.8 miles).
Although the original route accomplished its purpose in allowing the CPR to rapidly complete the railway, it turned out to be expensive to operate. The original bridges were designed to last only about 10 years. The CPR decided, in 1905 to construct a completely new route on a better gradient to bypass the original line. The new line was built to the north of the Oldman River. It required two bridges, one just west of Lethbridge-the High Level Bridge-over the Oldman River and another large bridge over the Oldman River again west of Monarch. This route eliminated many curves and reduced the grade from 1.2 percent to only 0.4 percent. It also saved 8.5 km (5.26 miles) of track.
Construction began in the summer of 1907. Clearing and grading the site, construction of piers, and placement of the footings progressed while the steelwork was being prefabricated. Raising the steelwork began in mid-August 1908. Once the steelwork reached track level at the Lethbridge end, it was possible to begin using a huge trav
Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Something different this morning - snow, which is according to Old People's MTV, "Not hitting the ground on our area." K9 looked like a buffalo this a.m. - he hates to come in out of it, but then there is breakfast to be cadged from everyone. NOTE: I know it's afternoon, but it took me approx. 4 hrs. to log in.
Pete was by with some more "LMS" pictures. I have a reply to your "Blue Bird" question at the end of this post.
Rob stopped in with Halifax material - all Birneys all the time and BRIGHT yellow ones as well. That yellow reminds me of the Connecticut Company cars.
Allan - I'll be interested to hear what you thins of Red for Danger. It takes 6 days for a letter to get from Buffalo to here and that's not that far - Boris! Put me down - that's all I'm going to say.
Nick - Excellent menu as always.
Eric - The figure-8 on the tail light had to do with visibility - no particular signal to the best of my knowledge.
OSP was in with comments and remarks.
Here's some schedule information regarding the "Blue Bird." This is the schedule from when the train entered service in 1950.
Train 24
Lv. St. Louis - 8:55 a.m.
Lv. Decatur - 11:10 a.m.
Arr. Chicago - 2:05 p.m. (Dearborn Station)
Train 21
Lv. Chicago - 4:45 p.m. (Dearborn Station)
Lv. Decatur - 7:47 p.m.
Arr. St. Louis - 10:10 p.m.
Quick turnaround and the train had better be on schedule as it used one set of equipment.
The Wabash used two stations in St. Louis: Union Station and Delmar. Ad copy for Delmar read:
Use the Convenient Delmar Station in St. Louis
Serving the Great West-End Residential, Hotel, and Business District
Exclusively Wabash.
For those not familiar with Delmar, the building resembled the old Plasticville Union Station for those who remember back that far. It would be most easy to model. Sign on the front read "Delmar Station Wabash Railroad Company."
Friday at the Saloon by the Siding ‘n time for a mugga Joe, pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery ‘n a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board.
Noted that petrol had dropped to $2.90 <rounded> up at "Collusion Corner." However, the talk on the AM dial this day is four dollar gasoline by the summer . . . Maybe the price of mouthwash will come down - paid way more than that for a a1.5 litre bottle! <grin>
What's to say when a UTB who was once "one of us" appears over on "my other Thread" along with a Post on the Forum, but not at the bar It's really beyond trying to figure out . . . Don't want to analyze it - just fuhgedaboudhim!
Wednesday - Feb 27th: <all times Central standard>
Page 190 - Pete <pwolfe> at 3:52 PM ‘n 4:05 PM: Don't know if VIA Rail "feels" anything . . . regimes change ‘n they've had some since the purchase of those Chunnel Chuggers. Anyway, they own ‘em ‘n they have to use ‘em . . . pity they decided to make ‘em into long distance cars rather than for the short haul. But what do I know, eh Just a paying customer over the decades . . .
I'll yield to any aficionados regarding the red light at the rear of the Blue Moon . . . of course there had to be a marker, so your presumption is the same as my own.
Always enjoy viewing your personal fotos - I can definitely appreciate the use of color in steam loco ‘n tender livery. Brits knew how to do it!
My 1956 <Aug> copy of The Official Guide of the Railways doesn't list anything for Wabash Blue Moon. Does show Banner Blue.
Domeliner Blue Bird and The Midnight. Train #17 <The Midnight> departed Chicago at 11:29 PM arriving in St. Louis at 6:30 AM.
Train #21 <Blue Bird> departed Chicago at 4:39 PM and arrived in St. Louis at 9:30 PM.
Train #11 Banner Blue left at 11:30 AM and arrived in StL at 4:38 PM.
Round most appreciated along with your inclusive chat!
Page 190 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 4:41 PM: Hmmmmm - there is a stretch on the "Ocean" run in New Brunswick that has been notoriously <PP> for smooth riding. Been that way ever since CN sold off the right-of-way to NBEC <New Brunswick East Coast> . . . anyway, we'd always avoid having dinner at a time when passing through that particular area, was nearly impossible to eat - kinda like being out at sea in rough weather. Anyway, found that Renaissance did in fact ride much better over that stretch.
I think the charm of the Budd equipment isn't so much the ride as the ambiance ‘n space. No doubt about <doot aboot> it, Chunnel Chugger equipment is rather tight and oh so plastic with interior design. Makes you want to move along from the ‘community spaces' - but of course Pete ‘n I didn't! <grin> Until that is we got run out by those movies with kids overtaking the limited seating . . . with TWO service cars in the consist, we had wondered aloud why one couldn't have been used for the movie and the other for the drinking crowd! <grin>
So, what's your with T2000 I've been a member for several years ‘n joined to demonstrate my support for the things they lobby for up your way <Canada>. Wonder how many Canadians do the same for us down here But I digress - I'm in no position to know if or when they've "stepped on it." Just curious . . .
Enjoyed your inclusive banter ‘n ROUND!
Page 190 - Allan <Gunneral> at 6:53 PM: Yeah, the "thing" about people like Victor Borge is that they were <are> indeed entertainers. Not vile pretenders to the title as so many seem
Good morning Captain Tom and all present!!
Leon, is there any Welsh black beef left? Okay, I'll try it. Medium, please! A baked potatoe and a cold Keith's.
Finally time to sit down and relax a little bit.
Tom – I checked VIA’s web site and if I understand their info correctly there will be a dome car at the end of the train (the Ocean) from mid-June until mid-October. They call it the Easterly class. See this link:http://www.viarail.ca/classes/en_serv_clas_tour_aloc.html#observation_deckYeah, I missed that link! Thanks for posting it again! You are right about model railroads and good layouts! One will always find more details every time you see it. That also shows that one can’t expect too much correct info from a witness. Nick – Welsh black beef?! I’ll remember that just in case I get back to the UK some time in the future! I am glad to see that you included “some meat” in your menu! Lamb? Hmmm, it tastes more like a mitten, doesn’t it? I’ll take the steak (Welsh black).CM3 – You are right about 8 on and 8 off and sleep deprivation! Thanks for the info on the Blue Bird! 2,000 hp and only six cars. Must have been a pretty quick train! Did that figure-8 pattern of the tail light mean anything in particular? I mean, did the pattern itself mean Stop or something else? Pete – So there were a number of 0-6-0 tender locos in the UK. I still can’t recall I have seen any. I have to check my books. My memory is very good but very short, 0.2 seconds. The only times I have had Starbucks coffee have been at Chicago’s O’Hare airport waiting for connecting flights out of there. Never heard of the ‘Sparks effect’! But why not?Nice, but cold, photos of the Princess Margerate Rose taking water!Rob – Personally I think 10 hours off is a minimum in order to get enough sleep. That was the rule when I worked for the railroad in the old country. Very interesting article on the Halifax streetcars! All Birney! Did the trolley buses have the same paint scheme as the streetcars, yellow? A Birney.Allan – Glad to hear that the book made it to you! 6 days in transit, I guess that is okay. Do you ever get any snow where you live?
Good evening again Leon. [diner] Is on to be sure.Nick , you have managed to out do last week I have to have the late skate edition oh what the heck a piece of the red snapper as well. Boris is espeacialy enjoying the caviar,good thing we pumped out the septics last week
Allan-Ah yes we do seem to be arriving at the same time ( but not really ) lately. Glad you liked the LOB right up, The whole Muskoka region of Ontario is something to see lakes rocks small charming towns, the Canadian Shield in it's splendor topped off by Algonquin Park over 100,000 hectres of prime wooded forest's and lakes which are the Provinces largest park,a and it has tracts of white and black spruce trees that are essentially primevil and protected in perpetuity from logging most off them over 100 feet high!
Yes I aggree with all the bleeding hearts I too never got away with anything when I was younger,different times then only one parent had to work,I think that more than anything is a major contributor to today's problems.
So another streetcar story for everyone.This one Fergie will even find interesting
CLASSIC JUICE #37 THE HALIFAX STREETCAR SYSTEM
Halifax is one of the older cities in North America being founded in 1749 by Britsh general Edward Cornwallis. ( For many years Canada's armed forces personel took their basic training at CFB Cornwallis located along the waterfront )It was also in 1749 that Halifax became the capitol of the Colony of Nova Scotia and not supprisingly a major British naval base due to it's deep natural harbour, the second largest natural harbour on the continent next to Norfolk VA .
Urban transportation was an early concept in Halifax, as there was a great need to keep people and products moving to and from the harbour area.The first animal powered tramway started up in 1866,serving the city of 22,000.This new form of transit was well recieved by the population and this original Halifax City Railway Company continued to expand and by 1890 they ran 6 routes serving most of the city.
As with most cities the day's of the horse drawn transit were ending and by march of 1895 the Halifax Electric Tramway Company was incorporated.Fourteen single truck cars were ordered from Rhodes,Curry& Company, which was located in nearby Amherst NS ( a horescar and stagecoach builder primarily )this was also the oldest predessesor of Canadian Car and Foundry .Electric service began in jan of 1896 and operations were expanded as the city grew.
One tragic event almost ended the company early on. The Great Halifax explosion of 1917 reduced alot of the streetcar overhead and poles to rubble,10 of the cars were either destroyed or severly damaged and many tramway employees were among the killed and wounded.However maritimers are a hearty lot, and soon the damage was repaired and the streetcar operations continued.By the end of the First World War , a number of significant changes occured, the first was a company name change to The Nova Scotia Tramway's and Power Co.The first task the new company faced was the replacement of the worn out cars which logged many extra miles during the war. The second significant change occured when the companies management were reviewing their options,they decided upon single truck Birney's, and promptly ordered 24 of the single truckers from the St Louis Car Company.These numbered cars 100-123, all were delivered in 1920.In 1926 a further four were ordered from the Ottawa car Company, numbers 134-137.These 28 cars were the only new cars to be purchased by the company.At this time the route miliage was at it's height, 8 routes and 48 miles of trackage.
Now Nova Scotia,along with BC New Brunswick and NFLD all operated motor vehicles on the left side of the road as in Britain.In 1923 the Province changed to right hand running to comply with the rules of the rest of North America.Converting the remaing older wooden cars was simple but the brand new Birney's being all metal were a more challenging and more expensive job.However the task was completed and all cars were operating on the right hand side of the road by the end of the year.
The years 1926-27 saw the tramway add 18 more Birney's to the fleet finally retiring the rest of the old wooden cars.Ten of these were second hand and came from the United Railway's aand Electrical company of Baltimore, and eigth ex Toronto Civic Birney's purchased from the TTC .The Birney fleet continued to grow through purchases of used cars, until it reached a total of 82 the last of which were picked up during World War two.
Again the heavy wartime usage of the cars and the hilly terrain of the city itself war down the little cars and their trackage and overhead,wartime shortages ment that new cars and overheaad could not be purchased till after the war.Once again management was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding again, although trackage amd overhead would be included in this bill as well.Instead of new streetcars PCC's were too big for the clearances on the tramway with out major modifications.They opted for Brill trolley coaches and purhased 87 of them from Canadian Car and Foundry.These electric busses were delivered bewteen 1948 and 1954,including six Pullman Standard ones bought from Providence Rhode Island. March 26th 1949 the last Birney operated downtown car 177 with the trolley coaches taking over most of the downtown routes. The Final final last run was carried out by car 157 on april 30th. The trolley coaches ran until 1969 when the electrics were finally abandoned,10 were sold to Toronto for conversion to the more modern Flyer style for that city and served until TTC ended electric trolleybus service in the mid 1980's.
Two tidbits of interest.
One of the EX TTC EX Toronto Civic Birney's in the bright Halifax livery
Well-Bonsoir mes amis..........
O.K-I give up-I cant do the whole menu in french-not without a lot of research anyway...
Right then-in English:
Starters:- Soup of yesterday (!)-Mulligatawny with fresh baked soda-bread roll
Linguini with Cleddau prawns & oysters with a cream,white wine and garlic sauce
Lamb Samosa`s with hot lime pickle & green salad with mint raita
Local sausage platter-with fried onions & mushrooms and oven fresh baguettes
Mains-well its thursday so I guess I should lead with fish dishes--lets take a moment here--
hmmmmm---------
O.K-Grilled red snapper on a bed of rice & peas with chilli & mango salsa
Trout roman style-stuff with mushrooms & caviar,cover with butter and honey and bake
thick chunks of atlantic cod in a light beer batter with mushy peas and home fries
and some meat-how about a crown roast of lamb with red wine & redcurrant sauce...
or-a plate of grilled mixed chops with a tray of dips
or-pick a steak from the 5 on offer,cooked to order
all with vegetable platter and pomme de jour........
Chicken Bhuna with herb & garlic naans & king prawn biriani......lovely
well well-looks like we have just had a late delivery-anybody fancy middle cut of skate in a light black butter sauce or..what else have we got here-ah yes ,a side or two of nice plump bass-yes,we will have them on next
ok-enjoy-!!
nick
Hi Tom and all,
Leon, the usual round of Tui`s for all the crew please!
Rob. See we were in around the same time again, enjoyed your interesting write up Classic Steam #21 on the Huntsville and Lake of Bays` Ry. It`s amazing to think that back in the old days` we never seemed to get away with any wrongs` we did, I always seemed to get caught red handed most times, it appears that we have too many "bleeding hearts" around nowadays`
Eric. Received your parcel containing Pete`s book yesterday afternoon, Thursday Feb 28th NZ time, thanks very much for that, it only took 6 days in transit. Nice snowey shot of the Swedish 4-6-2 steam loco, and of that narrow gauge passenger car.
Fergie. Some nice shots` of your new caboose`s and the Gorham Rail Exhibit, was that yourself in the loco shot?
Pete. Some nice shots` of the BR Class 58, 47`s and 31 diesel loco`s, LMS #46203 and a rather unique pic of that Starbucks coffee shop in Canterbury, where will they pop up next! As you have found out i`ve received your Red for Danger book now and started in on it last night. I think that the "Toon" will have to go into plan B mode from now on and start out fresh next season!
Nick. Your mentioning Brecon takes me back to the early 50`s when I was stationed at Sennybridge artillery ranges prior to going to Hong Kong, we had to climb the Brecon Beacons carrying full gear as part of our training, HK is fairly mountainous, it was quite an experience as the SAS use the same climbs for their current training nowadays!
CM3. Was in with an interesting write up on the Wabash`s Blue Bird passenger train and other info.
Tom. I agree with you totally about Victor Borge, he was a great artist with the piano as well as his humour, it was amazing how he would start playing a tune and end up combining several other tunes` with it. Enjoyed all the great pics of the building of your S-Capades RR and the 6 pack of RR adverts of the Classic era. Many thanks for your latest e-mail, I was surprised to get the book from Eric so soon, it`s taken about the same time as our parcels take from the UK.
See Ya, Allan
Good afternoon Mr Leon , I see that you have the bar and glasses all well shined, good thing cause if Nick duplicates last weeks menu the place will be packed Just a keith's at the moment sir gotta save room for the old fish 'n' chips
Eric-Interesting shot of that old narrow gauge passenger car 8 hours on 8 hours off that might just be legal barely.Up here now the crews are supposed to have a minimum of ten hours off after twelve on,on the CN the spare board's everyone's friend.
Nick-Good catch up well written Glad you liked the ONR stuff figured that you would.Too abd that you have to re-wire the whole lot but hey you didn't lacerate anything re-stringing the guitars so you should be in good shape ( fingerwise ) for this project.
Pete-I'm with you and Tom the ole Budd cars are the far superior ride.I ahve to say though I'm no fan of starbuck's anything, the coffee's strong enough to remove rust from metal and paint from the walls
Here's extra visuals for you. Imagine if you will those passengers having to walk back, the men would ahve been in three piece suits (likely) and the women in those long long hoop skirts that were envogue at the time, not to mention the giant hats and parasols.From what I understand those original locmotives were bought by an industry of some sort,I imagine that they have long disapeared into locomotive heaven.
Tom-Good to hear that you survived the days trials.It maybe slow but it's still nice to see that all that care are still plugging along,and we are filling in during the daylight hours,time gaps or no the registers are still ringing
Hopefully T2000 will give you an answer, though sometimes they can be a day short and a dollar late as well. I imagine that you will find that the consist was switched as a maintenance cycle,also as large of trains liely are not needed on those runs in January and Feb.
Always glad to help who were tweeted,health and saftey and all that if for no other reason.
CM3-Interesting info the Wabsah as always a good read
Well Leon set em up another round on me for da boyz yes Boris ring the bell, please make sure that the critters are well taken care of and watered as well.A small PPF is there for yourself too.
Till later
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