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Not trying to intentionally leave someone out, but it is guys like edblysard and daveklepper that make this forum so darn interesting! Their knowledge and experience is very helpful to those who weren't directly connected to the industry. Now, Murphy Siding has asked me to respond with my interests and etc. here on this post. First, some Heydays/Nowadays info. Heydays: I used to live in Council Grove, Kansas where it hosted two railroads; Missouri Pacific and the Missouri Kansas Texas (Katy). The old Katy depot is still there as before. The Missouri Pacific used Council Grove as a crew change point between Osawatame (sp) and Hoisington. My father used to take us to the depot and watch these crew changes and there were several men he knew that worked for the railroad. This was back in the early 50's. The Missouri Pacific depot was demolished long ago. Approx. 20 west of Council Grove was the town of Herington. Herington was a railroad town for the Rock Island and the Cotton Belt. Both towns saw plenty of mainline traffic being in the farm belt. Living a block away from the M.P. main in Council Grove, I used to watch the Fairmont speeders go by with the signal maintainers and other track workers. I currently have my own speeder which I have ridden three times; I belong to NARCOA. Many years later while the Rock Island was still in business, I would go to Herington and photograph train activities. I would drive up to the yard office and ask for permission and the dispatcher would only say, "stay out of the way of the switch engine". Try doing that today. Nowadays: After moving into Santa Fe dominated territory it wasn't long before the discontinued use of the caboose. Like Council Grove, there were a lot of Santa Fe employees here in town, either in train service or track maintenance or signal forces. I came to know a lot of them. With the advent of down-sizing of employees in most lines of work, the same took place within the railroads. We saw it happen here with train service as Emporia was no longer a crew change point and passenger service was abolished. The magnificent depot that once was a center piece caught fire, was demolished to rubble, and hauled away. With the marriage of Burlington Northern/Santa Fe, the rail line traffic flourishes and we see all types of freight passing through; intermodals, roadrailers, unit coal, and mixed freight. Some occassions we have even things like wind generating blade carrying cars and even Ringling Brothers train. My interest in trains began at an early age like most; at 5 years old I received the proverbial Lionel train set. From Lionel 027 to HO, I was addicted. While in the military I rode several different trains. From 1975 to present, the interest became more addictive as I began collecting train related items, listening in on scanners, and restoring items such as a Fairmont speeder, a former Missouri Pacific 3 aspect signal, and assorted lanterns. Locomotive names and or paint schemes make it all the more interesting and hearing or reading about the experiences of others makes the hobby more fascinating. I think I have exceeded the 25 word limit.
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