Diesel on the way out? Not anytime soon. Fifty years from now, maybe...
Won't see steam ever again.. even diesel may be on the way out.
Nope, sorry I don't recall the hourly rate back then, but I do recall it was decent money for a blue collar job. Holidays paid time plus time and a half, so working holidays wasn't so bad. They would have had to pay about 4- 5 times that for a contractor to come in. But, eventually the asbestos was mostly taken care of and the big pay dried up for those guys.
I used to work with old guys at Vassar who would rip the asbestos off the pipes to fix something, no mask, no nothing. They would say how it's never done them any harm and then they'd tell me how "we used to mix it up in a bucket with the dust all around." Then they'd cough for ten minutes every time they lit a cigarette which was often. I've run into the same attitude here in Canada amongst boiler mechanics but those guys aren't around anymore. I wonder why.
54light15And those buildings were stuffed full of asbestos. They finally trained two guys to remove asbestos or encapsulate it with plaster soaked gauze. They got paid a stupid amount of money, each job was paid at double time or they would have had to get outside contractors. In one year, one of the guys showed up with a brand-new Cadillac Fleetwood.
The trained guys at double time were cheap - a certified contractor would probably have been 4 to 5 times the double time payments.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
What constitutes a stupid amount of money when asbestos removal and abatement is involved??
I used to work at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York from 1980 to 1991. Many of the buildings were built in the 1860s-1880s. Some had gas lighting equipment in the basements which were odd brass cylinders, some sort of movable links, valves and so forth. I had no idea what any of it was supposed to do and no one else did either. One day, I turned on a valve at what I think was a lighting fixture and gas came out. Yep, lucky it didn't go boom. There were gas jets and fixtures in the hallways of the dorms but those were not connected, at least I think they weren't.
And those buildings were stuffed full of asbestos. They finally trained two guys to remove asbestos or encapsulate it with plaster soaked gauze. They got paid a stupid amount of money, each job was paid at double time or they would have had to get outside contractors. In one year, one of the guys showed up with a brand-new Cadillac Fleetwood.
In 1897 my grandfather, who was a missionary in Japan, had a house built in town for his unmarried sisters so they could move off the farm where they had grown up. I am not sure, but I imagine that the house was wired, with knob and tube wiring, when my grandparents were retired in 1932 (my grandfather turned 70 that year). The last time I was up in the ceiling (probably in 1954) the wiring looked good.
There were no outlets in the walls, but all of the rooms did have pushbutton wall switches for the overhead lights (I had to replace one of those switches with a tumbler switch about 1950); two of the switches controlled the upstairs hall light.. I was last in the house in 1984, and all that I tried seemed to be working well.
My older daughter lives in a house built in the twenties--and there is an array of pushbutton switches by the front door.
Johnny
Paul of Covington Something to make you think: In an old house we lived in in New Orleans, when we removed a ceiling light, gas poured out. The house had a network of gas pipes above the ceiling for lighting, and when converted to electricity they used the caps on the pipes to mount the new electrical fixtures. The whole house was on one 15 amp circuit, knob and tube wiring, and no boxes behind any fixtures.
In an old house we lived in in New Orleans, when we removed a ceiling light, gas poured out. The house had a network of gas pipes above the ceiling for lighting, and when converted to electricity they used the caps on the pipes to mount the new electrical fixtures. The whole house was on one 15 amp circuit, knob and tube wiring, and no boxes behind any fixtures.
Lucky it didn't go BOOM - in more ways than one!
Something to make you think:
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
And there will be asbestos in the plaster as well as the paint and cement. Linoleum too if there is any.
54light15There are still knob & tube electrical systems in houses here but they are being eliminated as the houses are remodeled. I imagine that they're everywhere.
My house was built in 1880 and was electrified in 1933 with knob & tube wiring. Although we have updated the wiring in the computer room and the new addition, the old wiring remains.
Most insurance companies want nothing to do with houses without new wiring. I expect when this house is sold that will have to be factored into the sale price.
The idea of running new conduit and electrical service under the horsehair plaster walls gives me real pause, and not just because of the price tag.
It's a dilemma.
Overmod-- Now why in heck is this not a movie!!???
There were several electric car manufacturers such as Detroit Electric, Baker and Rausch & Lang and all had tiller steering and looked like phone booths on wheels. Aimed at female purchasers but the invention of the self-starter on 1912 Cadillacs ended their popularity as well as that of steam powered cars. Rausch & Lang did build cars to order up until the 30s and would often take an old model and upgrade it with better controls, a more modern lowered roof and curved fenders.
There are still knob & tube electrical systems in houses here but they are being eliminated as the houses are remodeled. I imagine that they're everywhere.
Flintlock76Makes me think all the world's problems might be solved if we got the steam freaks from all countries together in one place and put them to work on it.
It's been done!
https://www.amazon.com/Steam-Bird-Hilbert-Schenck/dp/0812554000
I wish I had a book that we had at home when I was growing up. I do not remember what year it was published--during the time when electric cars were popular. It had quite a bit about the operation of that silent means of transportation and also much about wiring buildings using knob and tube insulators. I found it to be really interesting.
Thanks so much Charlie! Very kind of you! I love that photo, especially because of its clarity; one can just sense the luxury of the fur muff the lady is holding.
Nonetheless, the below photo is a 1908 Baker Electric such as the one I saw and described.
And thanks to you (again), I learned how to put this photo into my posting, something I haven't done before. A tip of my hat!
NKP guyhe climbed inside and I saw that it was not steered by a wheel, but instead it featured a tiller! Watching her silently drive off down Euclid Avenue was wonderful, like seeing history come to life. I believe this was a 1908 Baker and is now in a museum.
BaltACDMy money is on WW3 as opposed to world peace. They all have their pet theories and tend not to comprimise.
Just yell "Belpaire fireboxes are the best!"
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Look on the bright side boys, the supply and troop trains would all be steam powered.
Think of the photo ops!
zugmann Flintlock76 Makes me think all the world's problems might be solved if we got the steam freaks from all countries together in one place and put them to work on it. They'd probably start world war 3.
Flintlock76 Makes me think all the world's problems might be solved if we got the steam freaks from all countries together in one place and put them to work on it.
They'd probably start world war 3.
My money is on WW3 as opposed to world peace. They all have their pet theories and tend not to comprimise.
Flintlock76Erik, you knew a Model T's original owner? Wow.
That is very cool! Henry Ford would have been pleased for a number of reasons.
In 1955 I attended an elementary school across the street from Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Ohio. One of the teachers at Shaw, literally a little old lady English teacher, was Miss Baker. Her father, some 50 years earlier, owned the Baker Electric Company in Cleveland and developed an early battery powered electric car. At least on some days Miss Baker drove that ancient car to school and parked it where I could see it.
One afternoon I crossed to street to get a better look at it and "met" her by exchanging hellos (does that count?) as she passed me standing by the car. She climbed inside and I saw that it was not steered by a wheel, but instead it featured a tiller! Watching her silently drive off down Euclid Avenue was wonderful, like seeing history come to life.
I believe this was a 1908 Baker and is now in a museum. I wish I could post a photo; it was as unique a car as I ever saw anywhere.
I'm with you Johnny, I like to see stories from 'round the world, especially steam stories.
Makes me think all the world's problems might be solved if we got the steam freaks from all countries together in one place and put them to work on it.
Wayne
I also miss Juniatha and Volker. I would be glad to see posts from them again.
As to being professional, I have appreciated the conversations with those who are in the profession of railroading--especially when they correct me for errors I make .
Many years back, when Trains really began reporting on railroading in other countries, a few subscribers expressed discontent with any foreign content. Either they grew up or they quit subscribing. As for me, I also appreciate what our neighbors to the North and from Down Under contribute to our overall knowledge of the art of running railroads and what has been.
Erik_Mag- As a car guy I can safely say that the 53 Buick had a V8- I prefer the 49, but that's just me. But I sure wouldn't kick a 53 Skylark convertible out of my garage!
Wayne, it would more accurate to say that my uncle knew the original owner, and my uncle introduced me to him when he drove up with the model T. The local VFW hall was across the street from where my uncle lived. Being a 1926 model, it did have an electric starter. This was 1971, so he had had the car for 45 years at the time, which is how long that I've owned my HP-45.
I remember having fun driving my uncle's 1950 GMC pickup with manual, choke, manual throttle pull, vacuum wipers, 6V battery, started butter next to the gas pedal and wood floorboards. That truck was at least 4 years older than I was at the time - the car that my son drives is 2.5 years older than he is.
Erik, you knew a Model T's original owner? Wow.
I'd love to meet the original owners of some of my military hardware but that's not going to happen until I "...shuffle off this mortal coil...", which isn't going to be anytime soon, I hope! I'm not that curious!
I may be able to shed some light on Juniatha's departure. I may have had a small part in her pique with many of the members who participated actively in the steam locomotive topics.
I don't recall anymore when it happened, but it was prior to 2015, perhaps some time in 2013. She was criticised by someone about her terminology or her command of the English language. Before she responded, I entered the discussion with my own assessment of her abilities and opined that her use of our language was 'quirky' or similar, and then went on to defend her and to ask for a bit more consideration. Well.....privately, she was very hostile to me and demanded that I retract my assessment of her. I refused, being a man who doesn't enjoy falsifying what I take for truth even if just to assuage a person's ire or hurt feelings. It's not the cloth from which my jib is cut. We cut off our occasional, and increasingly rare, private conversations at that time, and some time shortly thereafter she ceased posting altogether.
I believe, not wishing to speak for her ( I guess I made that mistake once too often) inaccurately, that she got fed up with hints, innuendos, snide criticisms, and several other instances of affront and decided to abandon this forum. I am sorry she felt that way because I valued her input, even if I couldn't understand much of it. I feel that the forum is much lighter without her. I also feel that she ought to have been tougher if she had truly wanted to assert her several capacities here.
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