"Our" Place <est 12 Apr 2005> Adults talking Classic Trains!

[Fergmiester]

G'day Gents!

Emails were sent to your home account . . . two I believe. Had to do with a planned visit Rob ‘n I have made to ExpoRail in early May. No matter - I'm locked in on air reservations to Toronto . . . maybe another time.

Tom

 

Ouch! I suspect they may have been buried in the rubish of, dare I say it, spam... My most humble regrets. I'll go a rooting for them now. As for the May run. I would have dearly oloved to met up with both of you but as it stands Greenland and the Labrador coast beckons my name. Nothing like a trip up Ice Berg Alley, in the fog in May and from what I have been told as Captain...  Have to dig out the fog glasses.

Anyway 

Until later

Fergie 

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Got a "heads up" from our Resident Downunder Kiwi . . . he'll be away for 2 weeks! Said there's no internet available where he'll be staying BUT he'll try from time to time at the local library . . . He'll surely be missed! <groan> Nice of him to send the "heads up" though . . . it's that touch of consideration that surely separates the men from the boyz, or something like that!

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Customer Acknowledgments in brief (since my last narrative):

Monday - April 21^st <all times Central daylite>:

Page 15 - CM3 Shane <coalminer3> at 8:55 AM: Figured you'd like that N&W #611 . . . .

Yeah, baseball players had "names' that wouldn't quit "back in the day." Heck, they even heckled one another from opposing dug outs. Now the players seem to have "love ins" rather than carry themselves as competitors. <barf> Where have you gone, Preacher Roe?

A good link regarding the phrase, "A dead whale or a stove boat."

http://www.armyofthepacific.com/dead_whale.htm

I enjoyed both of the 3:10 to Yuma flicks, but concur that the original was better. The newer version is chock full o' modern film techniques ‘n so forth, not a bad movie at all. But as with so many of the remakes <Flight of the Phoenix comes to mind>, I'll stick with the first one!

Visit, insights, quarters ‘n ROUND much appreciated!

Page 15 - Fergie <Fergmiester> at 9:54 AM <11:54 ADT>: Not only a visit, but some reading matter at that! Unfortunately, it will have to go on my stack-o-stuff, for I'm so far behind, that just pretty much sums up my past few months ‘round here. House ‘n health issues have really helped to put me behind the curve. <arrrrggggghhhhh> But, thanx for the "light" reading! <uh oh>

Emails were sent to your home account . . . two I believe. Had to do with a planned visit Rob ‘n I have made to ExpoRail in early May. No matter - I'm locked in on air reservations to Toronto . . . maybe another time.

Any visit from our MOST irregular-irregular customer is welcome! Just keep feeding the cash registers <Tilla ‘n Cashinator dontchano!> ‘n all will be fine for you at the Tavern by the Tracks!

Page 15 - Dan <DL-UK> at 11:38 AM <5:38 PM GMT>: Just HAD to "rub it in" a bit, eh Taking a ride on the rails while the rest of us "toil" at the things needing to be done. Ahhhhh, the good life! Enjoy your day ‘n we look forward to your "report"!

Page 15 - Pete <pwolfe> at 3:50 PM: The Bar Chandler returneth! A two-finger offering <can always tell!>

Given that we agreed to keep our personal fotos away from the Ether - here's a few that surely won't hurt a thing:

Lewis & Clark's Restaurant & Public House

"Our" table was either right above the door or the one to the right <glassed in porch>

Pub is on ground floor to the right of the doorway . . . <grin>

"Clyde" the Clydesdale waiting for business!

A fun place to eat ‘n drink <or is that drink ‘n eat > Hmmmmm.

Yeah, the tavern owner's of old had their routines ‘n sometimes, depending on their moods, one could wind up with a "cold one" on the house!

Glad the fotos arrived safe ‘n sound . . . never know with the Cyber Gremlins . . . Email response sent your way!

Appreciate the inclusive offering, chat ‘n ROUND!

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Tom

 

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom and all.

A pint of Bathams please RUTH.

TOM What a great Friday evening and Saturday we had. Always great to see the Can-Am and of course meeting up with your bride Juneau and yourself. The Barriger Library seems to get better with each visit, it was a shock and a bit sad to see some of the model cars off the selves in the cabinets that we thought were caused by the earthquake the night before.

The Lewis and Clarke was a great place and we must have made a dent in the amount in the Blonde Ale barrel. The ride behind Clyde was a great way to finish the afternoon.

Glad you enjoyed Friday's photos. The two railwaymen were on duty guarding the foot crossing in the photo, I guess they had some members of Joe Public wondering why they had to wait instead of walking in front of the train.

Great Classic films on at the Emporium this week. The 1957 version of the recently re done 3.10 to Yuma starring Glenn Ford and Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner seems at his best in Baseball themed films. And of course the Stooges.

ALAN Thanks for the kind words and I am glad you enjoyed the photos

It is a small world we used to spend our holidays on the North Wales coast mainly at Rhyl but a few further along the coast at Penmeanmawr. The name Kinmel rings a bell I have a feeling I saw it on a bus destination board at Rhyl. Was it to the west of Rhyl I seem to remember when I was young there was a railway line that ran along the sea wall at the west end of Rhyl although I never saw any equipment on it and never knew what it was used for, unless it was repairing the sea wall there. I wonder if you remember it.

Unfortunately I won't be on the Coronation anniversary train with the 3 A4s this July It sold out very quickly. Alan's trip with the A4s was last week and I have not been able to talk to him about it yet. I will have to get a report and hopefully some photos later.

The was a copy of LTC Rolt's ‘Railway Adventure book in the library we visited this Saturday with some photos of the early days of the Talylyn

ROB glad you enjoyed the photos.

The thought of H&H connected to truck batteries is too horrendous to think about. I wonder what the conductivity of Lederhosen is.

I got a less than cold glass at the Lewis & Clark but Tom stayed with the cold glass, the beer was very goodand it slipped down very well.

I think I still have a long way to go with the two finger typing although I am trying.

It will be good to see the Can-Am Subway in operation.

ERIC It sounds a real good recording of steam on the LP you have got.

I have a photo (somewhere) of the single line token being exchanged on the SVR I will have to find it. The SVR if fully signaled as well as using the token system. I am afraid I am not too much up on the details of the single line signaling system, but I believe the one used on the SVR is like a big key shape, the machine that releases the key is interlocked with the machine in the next signal box so once the key token is taken out of the machine the tokens are locked at the other end of the single line preventing a train from the opposite direction from entering the single track.

Glad you enjoyed the photos.

I too, am looking forward to our visit to the library again. Tom found the first issues of the magazine that became the Railroad Magazine from 1915 I believe and the last issue from 1979 which was sad. There was an advert telling what was going to be in the next issue and an advert for the British Railway Magazine. Some of the covers had gone over to color photos but there was still some with those great paintings we see in Tom's posts.

Many thanks for those great photos from the cab it is not a view that is available to be seen by the railfan.

NICK Glad you were able to get the I pod sorted outafter that unhelpful shop assistant.

Great set of songs for Juneau's. Did The Who do a song called ‘Dogs', it must have been a B-side but perhaps I am as usual.    

You and Tom have captured the atmosphere in an empty bar in the old days very well. With the creaking floorboards and sunlight coming in, showing the dust in the air. In the days before there is a flashing and, even worse, an inane electronic voice saying FEED ME FEED ME from some gambling machine. Being the first costumer the landlord would draw off the beer in the pipes and even have a small taste before drawing your pint.

The other place on the ‘Old Worse & Worse' was Wolverhampton.

Yes I have read that it was the length of the train not the weight was the reason the Gresley P1 2-8-2s built for freight that only 2 were built, as they caused the same problems on the LNER main line to London as the Garretts did on the Midland. 

CM3 Thanks for the kind words on the photos.

I used to really enjoy the fan trips in the UK where the train would visit some freight only lines often over lines that at one time had a passenger service that finished many years ago although a lot of those lines have closed in the last 20 years.

FERGIE Thanks for the Nova Scotia Railway history.

DL Have a great day in London. It will be good to read your report on your trip on the new East Coast franchise and St Pancras station now it is completed.

Well RUTH a round please, I see my post as got a bit long, so I will post this and have another look through my photos to see if I can find the pics I was looking for.

Pete.

[DL - UK]

Hello Tom and all in

I'll have a quick pint - this is a quick message so I'll hopefully be back in due course with observations - anyway - I'm off to London tommorrow and plan to take the ex LNER 'east coast route' so I can check out the dining car provisions of their new operator (not been able to use it since it changed hands back in November) - also will hopefully have a chance for a quick look at the 'new' restored St Pancars station - with luck I'll be able to do a trip report in due course and share my findings with one and all.

All the best

DL

[Fergmiester]

Good Morning Captain Tom and Crew

I'll have the Mariner's Special This fine spring day! And top everyones mug with their favourite brew.

I actually did have a post ready last week but it got tossed into the depp blue ethernet abyss and since then I've been full out. 

Tom: Sorry I never recieved any e-mails my end but then again if they were sent to the ship then I wouldn't of gotten them as I never had a chance to open my private account. Corporate accounts are such a bother as they are the priority.

Anyway it's a wonderful day here in NS and worthy of more digging in the dirt.

Here's a little lesson on more Nova Scotia Railways:

 

By John R. Cameron

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PLEASE NOTE: The following are notes for a work in progress on Nova Scotia railway history. The main source is the statutes of Nova Scotia. References to the statutes are to the Statutes of Nova Scotia, referencing the year and the chapter number. - John R. Cameron 

---

The main trunk of the Nova Scotia railway system, the line from Halifax to Truro, and its two main branches, to Windsor and to Pictou, were constructed as government public works. Howe, then a leader of the colonial government and soon to be the first railway commissioner, considered that government sponsorship was both necessary and desirable. Any profits from so important and valuable an undertaking, what is now referred to as a natural monopoly, should belong to all of the people. This was a rather alarming view to many in its day, although we are long accustomed to government railways now. As it turned out, railways were almost as good as highways for patronage purposes. The short contracts involving virtually every farmer along the line should have been sure vote-getters. The furor over Sanford Fleming's contract to build the Pictou branch took nearly fifty years to die down.

Nova Scotia Government Railway

In 1854, the then colony of Nova Scotia passed the first Railway Act, to authorize the construction of lines from Halifax to New Brunswick with branches to Pictou and Victoria Beach (a harbour in Annapolis County across Digby Gut from the Town of Digby) (c.1). The preamble recited the advantages to be gained, facilitating internal trade, developing resources, enlarging revenues and opening easier and more frequent communications with her neighbours. It bears the imprint of Howe's oratory. The first section established the principle that the railways to be constructed would be provincial public works, with routes and standards established by cabinet (governor in council) "as best adapted to promote the general interests".

The first line (s.2) would begin at Halifax harbour and run northerly, as a common trunk. Later routes would have to be approved by the legislature. A board of commissioners would build and operate the line on behalf of the government, with a chief engineer for technical advice and direction. Members of the legislature were barred from any contract. From this beginning, the lands needed for the railway and the cost of fencing were to be charged back to the counties and raised by local (property) taxation, even before the beginning of elected municipal governments. The commissioners were authorized to spend up to œ200,000 per year. Another statute (1854, c.2) authorized a loan for this amount, to be a charge on the tolls of the railway system. The City of Halifax was deemed to hold 10% of the stock and receive 10% of the net revenues, and was required to pay 10% of the cost. The currency had to be expanded to allow for the construction: c.3.

The Appropriations Act (c.43), apart from various smaller items such as twenty-five pounds to aid the packet between Horton and Parrsborough and Windsor and Parrsborough, contained an item for five hundred pounds to Sykes and Co. "for survey of railway line from Windsor to Victoria beach".

In the early 1860s, railways continued to be a preoccupation. Acts establishing customs duties (the main source of government revenue at the time) included in the list of exemptions "iron rails for railroads". See 1860, c.1 and 1863, c.1. Railway land damages (the free right of way) were a concern. The assessment in Colchester had to be validated (1860, c.16). The Appropriations Act (1860, c.41) included "Eight hundred dollars to John Canty, to reimburse him for a sawmill destroyed by fire, pursuant to the report of the Committee on Railways". Provisions were included in the Railway Act to set the number of railway commissioners at three, and deal with trespass on, and theft of, railway property (1861, c.13). Halifax had to be forced to pay its 10% share of railway interest, as "on the thirty-first day of December 1860, there had been expended on the construction of Railways within this province a sum exceeding four millions of dollars" (1861, c.40). The Appropriations Act of 1862 (c.34) allocated $100,000 "to provide for certain Railway expenses".

An ill-fated early attempt to establish the Intercolonial Railway was the subject of 1863, c.23, which includes as an appendix printed copies of relevant correspondence and agreements. The Nova Scotia government clearly expected the project to succeed.

The Pictou branch, or at least eleven miles of it, was authorized in 1863 (c.22), for at most $400,000.00. The Appropriations Act (c.38) provided $100,000 for railway expenses and $400,000 for railway construction. The Pictou Branch (all of it) received new legislative sanction in 1864 (c.6). A new government had been elected. The only stricture was that the line run as far as practicable on a common route for the line to New Brunswick. Borrowing of $1.6 million was authorized. The railway commissioners were empowered to take the land needed to connect Pictou and Fisher's Grant (1865, c.12).

The new government was an active railway promoter. In 1865 (c.13), railways from Truro to New Brunswick (slow to proceed because of the barrier posed by the Cobequid Mountains) and from Windsor to Annapolis (with the province bearing the high cost of the necessary bridge across the Avon River at Windsor) were authorized. The Act provided for significant subsidies, and envisaged private construction and ownership rather than government public works as the first railways had been. The Act did, though, allow the province to take over the railway upon payment of its value, a provision frequently referred to in the early 1880s when an attempt was made to consolidate the railway system. The Truro to New Brunswick section was dependent upon action by the New Brunswick government to ensure the existence of a continuation to the Saint John and Shediac line.

A problem had arisen with taxpayer resistance in Hants County (an opposition stronghold later represented by Howe) to the levy for railway lands. The Windsor branch ran through Hants and its right of way gave rise to the problem. The statutory correction (1865, c.14) provided for the collection, by seizure, and removal to adjacent counties for sale if necessary. This, presumably, would avoid interference in the judicial sale by irate locals, as seems to have occurred. The preamble to the statute notes only that a large part of the assessment "remains uncollected and unpaid, and difficulties have been found in the collection thereof".

There is addition good reading by Jay Underwood who has writtren some very interesting accounts of the Intercolonial Railway, a railway built not so much for revenue but as a defence line to protect us from possible hostilities from thre "South". 

Rob: For the record I am not a hard man to please... Actually I have been known to be quite the task master, however it was the office that needed to change out the Chief Officers (XO) for scheduling reasons. It just made life difficult for all concerned.

Anyway Gents must run as I am behind schedule.

Later All

Fergie 

PS  Tom, for what it's  my absence has also been noted in the MR CS. I'm tryingto play catch u

 

 

[coalminer3]

Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.  Raining here today (forecast is, of course, for partly cloudy - it was supposed to rain all day yesterday so the sun was out until about 6:00 p.m. when we got a torrential downpour - with the sun still out - which moved away as quick as it arrived - won't be much longer and we'll have to break out the mower (snargh!)

NOTE:  Third time try to post this today - site was "down for maintenance," so here goes!

Thought for the day:  "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day."

DL was in with comments.

Pete stopped by with comments and  nice batch of pictures.  We have about one fan trip a year through here (New River Train) - it's well worth the ride if you ever get the chance. 

Allan - Good to hear from you.  We were all young and...well, we'll leave it at that.

Eric - It does cost a ton of $ to daylight tunnels but it allows for bigger trains.  IIRC, there are some tunnels being daylighted on Tehachapi even as we speak.  Appeciated your pictures.  You are correct re signals; operations dictate everything. 

Nick - Tech Support worked!  Holy cow!

Nantucket sleigh ride is an old whaling term.  Refers to a small boat being towed by a whale after the whale was harpooned - scary stuff, especially if the beast sounded: that could pull the boat down as well.   There is an excellent new book out titled American Leviathan - a good history of whaling.  I'll bet OSP has doubtless heard the saying, "A dead whale or a stove boat."  

OSP was by with Grafix and ads and signs, oh my!   The earthquake was supposedly felt in WV as well, but not in our section.  There are lost of faults in that area including the big New Madrid fault.  Interesting for geologists, but not fun for the citizens.  The original 3:10 to Yuma - by FAR the better of the two - good choice.  Field of Dreams is excellent as well.  I especially liked James Earl Jones's speech toward the end of the movie.  Your post seems to have hit while I was waiting outside "on the other side of the rope."  Lovely shot of 611 - have some stories about her for the Rendezvous.

Yes, Boris, there was a real Moonlight Graham (what a great nickname): he did play one game for the Giants in 1905.    Speaking of players named for times of day, how about Noonie Marquis - another one game player (Baltimore 1955).     

Other Graham nicknames that come to mind include: Peaches Graham, Skinny Graham, and Tiny Graham.

In memory of old ballplayers, raise a glass to Battleship Gremminger, the pride of Canton, Ohio and to Oldfield Oldfield, of the original Baltimore Orioles and the Brooklyn team of 1885 and 1886.  Man, they just don't have names like they used to years ago.

Work safe

 

[siberianmo]

<Public Domain foto>

 

A smile to begin the week!

Congratulations! I knew the record would stand until it was broken.

<A Yogi-ism!>

G'day Gents!

Yeah, THAT day has rolled ‘round once again! So c'mon ‘n kick-start the beginning of a new work week <for many> with a mugga Joe - a few pastries ‘n a Menu Board breakfast order!

Comments from the Proprietor

ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day discontinued due to lack of interest. "Rule of Six" applies for fotos presented at the bar . . .

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Customer Acknowledgments in brief (since my last narrative):

Sunday - April 20^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 15 - Nick <nickinwestwales> at 7:28 PM ‘n 8:47 PM <1:28 AM ‘n 2:47 AM Sunday GMT>: Two fine inclusive efforts from our Resident Londoner in Wales!

Many questions regarding the Can-Am Railway! Watch "this space" on Wednesday - OP-SHUN-UL Toy ‘n Model Trains Day!  I'll provide some additional fotos ‘n answers to your inquires then. Thanx for the keen interest, Mate!

YOU were certainly mentioned more than a few times as Wolfman ‘n I imbibed a wee bit on Friday ‘n Saturday! <grin> At a point, I almost caved in for a roundtrip to the UK - to meet up with you ‘n Dan <DL-UK> ‘n the pubs, with rail travel coming first. At another point, took a step back to reality . . . far too much in airline fares for such a short time away <for Moi>. But it IS fun to think about it . . . probably would be my "last hurrah" fer sure, fer sure.

Yeah, the quiet of an empty bar - smells of stale beer, cigarette smoke ‘n flatulence hanging ‘round - yeah, just what I like! <girn> Actually, there IS a certain "charm" to it all - minus my observations, of course!

Many thanx for the twenty - yours will be first up when the boyz come trickling in!

Page 15 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 11:58 PM: Surely appears that "Count Robulla" has returned to the scene - especially on weekends. Not getting much daylite activity from our Manager. But, no problem - as long as we don't slip too far down into the abyss, someone will come along to resurrect the joint.

IF I can get Wolfman to use those index fingers, I'll consider the effort a success! Next may come at least one thumb - but . . . Molly apparently hasn't been able to get him to do it - so the "threat" of never seeing the TrainWreck Saloon again just may have "done it"! <uh oh>

Good to see ya!

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Reminder: Ruth has the bar from 9 AM until Leon the Night Man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.

Thursday is Fish ‘ Chips Nite!

Friday is Pizza ‘n Beer Nite! - and - Steak ‘n Fries Nite!

Saturday is Steak ‘n All The Trimmings Nite!

Dinner begins at 5 PM so come early ‘n often!

Cindy is our Saturday bartender!

Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!

Tom

 

[trolleyboy]

Good evening gents, a slow weekend but that's okay it's appreciated the stop by's by the gang Figured that I would hang out with Leon and catch up on the weeks paperwork.If the weekend everywhere else was like it was here ( low 70's with sun both days ) that would splain it.

Tom-I'm glad that Pete has improved his typing. Molly will be thrilled to know that for the most part I type with two fingers and a thumbSo she must have learned us both sumptin

Nice to hear that Junneau enjoyed the birthday greetings and the chew bone. No Boris I did not give them one of your collection of leg bones Have you slopped out the critter pens yet

can I help line up those speculaters with you ,we have the support and help of Vito's taxi service and cement factory 

Today's movies are guddins One wonders if the new 310 to Yuma was as good as that original one.

Pete-Glad that your enjoying the good hospitality. Hopefully you haven't got him drinklng warm beer. Although I've heard that it's good for nagging coughs

Nice to hear that the Canam subway is well on it's way to completion Maybe you will get the first crack at operations next month.

Eric-The less generous approach is more common place with the big corporations now at least they did give you a free meal.Wonderfull cab on shots as always.I'm a sucker for a good CPR shot

Nick-I like to give credit where credit is do. As I've said to many a modeller out there. It's your railway run it and design it as you see fit. Anyone who gives you flack can use the doorway they came in. Seriously your modelling to entirly different continents RR's on essentially the same trackage,and it looks good to me mate

Hopefully Simon dosn't decide to see if blunderbusses make a good "percussion" instrument

Later gents

Rob

[nickinwestwales]

Right back again,I do love to be in an empty bar-all the echoes of last nights conversations-my word I feel a song coming on........steady lad.. Right-to business:- General-Glad the Irish Narrow gauge pix found favour-plenty more where they came from ROB-glad you enjoyed the layout (and other ) pix-given that you can prolly see more holes in the underlying premise than most ,praise is especially welcome -BTW Simons recovery set back considerably by a show last night with the ragged end of the Hoochie Coochie band-scratch drummer,half rehearsed bass man and a set of 15 songs to fill out 2 hours of show time-was raving when I spoke to him earlier-not a good state of mind for a man who collects guns as well as guitars............ ERIC-Not sure of the scale of the Clonakilty line-is difficult to guess as the actual line was 5`3" gauge and the model uses L.G.B narrow gauge equipment-an arbitary guess would be about 10mm/ft for the buildings and infrastructure (gauge 1, as used to be )...No one is entirely sure about Big Otto`s reactions-he is a native Lithuanian,but it sure sounded impressive ..that triplex electric looks like a fine beast-would love to take her out for a wee spin round the block-that Amtrak/C.P combo was a rare shot-good one TOM-Good work with the drumheads with context-most informative-nice one mate ROB-Again ,a good call-the idea of 1st class passengers having their own trains & everybody else travelling steerage at the back of the next convenient freight--gotta smile PETE-You called my bluff there mate-I was largely speculating R.E the Maunsell `N` variants-and lo & behold you came up with solid data-fair play to you -cant fault it !!-Nicknames-the Somerset & Dorset was either the slow & dirty or the serene & delightful,the Oxford ,Worcester & whatever was the old worse & worse-memory fails at this point....train lengths-As I understand,the reason Beyer -Garretts never took off over here was that the trains they could pull (specifically coal down to London from the midlands ) were longer than the refuge sidings could cope with and thus interfered with the passenger timetables.......that `happy` engine looks like Thomas after taking hallucinogens-rather sinister......... Right I think thats everything covered up to the end of thursday--is now half past late again and have just had the hard word from Missisnick (Yes dear,will be right up........) so will see you all soon Leon-theres an extra 20 on the counter for the first round of the new week-be it beers for the night shift or coffee and snacks for the sunshine boys-have a good one chaps,and as our resident mountain man would have it-work safe take care

[nickinwestwales]

Well good evening all-thought I would stop by and do a bit of catching up,scoop up any loose change,maybe polish a beer engine or two and possibly even try a quiet jar or three (money on the counter........g`wan-you can trust me..... Right-gonna do this in bits & pieces-First up is TOM- Glad the visit & day out was a success-always a gamble taking a Brit out drinking... Have just been studying the Can-Am pix in the detail they deserve ( I.E sober ) and am delighted to report that most queries have been answered-for example -I had not realised that the high line was a point-to-point-had not seen Mountain depot before & had always assumed that the branch ran down to Union Stn-was thus somewhat baffled that you noted that there are no gradients on the line-a good trick thought I...........on that matter-is mountain depot a single track or does it split-?  I couldn`t see from the pix.... The junction for Union Stn was another grey area-I see now that it kicks in by the passing sidings in front of the panel--Now-do the VIA & AMTRAK sides of the station have seperate junctions ?-again difficult to tell,if so,do they both feed in in the same direction ?--also the loco yard-is it fed from the back road in the C.N freight yard ?-(the track nearest the panel,which continues beyond the yard proper )-whilst in that area-the C.N freight `in the hole`-are those `Canadian` grain hoppers from Model Power ? If so,how do you find them ? I have a half dozen which are very attractive cars but woefully light out of the box-have yet to find a way of splitting them open to fill the barrels with lead without causing severe damage ( I try to ballast all my cars to NMRA standards ) and these babies generally have to be marshalled way back by the van-also they have an excessive amount of `slack` in the truck mounting pins and tend to wobble around like the WOLFMAN on payday-would value your thoughts........ Now-track-would be interested to know what you use here-you have certainly invested a lot of time ( and no doubt cash,vulgar though it is to mention it ) on good looking permanent way,which ,given the amount of backup moves needed to set back long varnish consists,obviously works well..........What is your minimum radius ?-turnouts look ( to my jaundiced eye ) to be in the 30/36 inch rad. bracket-possibly some 24" on yard tracks (not sure what frog #`s that would be-us Brits dont tend to use that standard-far to busy brewing warm weak beer in old oil drums and the like -also our turnouts use a different geometry-the diverging route takes a constant curve at the appropriate radius,rather than throwing the whole curve into the blades and having a straight lead out-hope that makes sense....) And so onto ballast and underlay-I`m sure we have had a previous discussion (possibly involving a junior member) R.E the merits or otherwise of cork sheet,and that you have found it to be less than satisfactory-somewhat less inert than one might wish for..........again,would welcome your thoughts-and ballast-are you with the fine grit & dilute P.V.A lobby ?--This is one of those issues that I need to address at some stage-no amount of grey/brown/black paint will disguise the lack and it is a sufficiently time consuming task that I dont want to go there twice........ Anyway,just a few thoughts..... Hope the chien du maison enjoyed his natal day bone ( can I say that ?..) and the canine themed songs found favour-glad you spotted the odd one out ( hey -it was a tricky call-how many could YOU find ? ) A last thought-I appreciate that the Can-Am is exactly how you want it,but if you had the option of extending,which way would you go ?-a branch line out to the Zeppelin field to incorporate a GO transit Bi-Level set or similar,a staging track or two to stable Dome -heavy excursion services........Don`t worry-just me stirring the pot..... Right-gonna post this before I lose it and go take care of some post-just thought that as you had posted those pix for my benefit,they deserved a full response Back in a bit

[siberianmo]

 

"Our" Place is CLOSED on SUNDAY!

 

Starting TODAY at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre!

 

 

. . . April 20^th thru 26^th: 3:10 to Yuma <1957> Starring: Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana & Henry Jones - and - ENCORE Presentation of Field of Dreams <1989> Starring: Kevin Costner, Burt Lancaster & James Earl Jones. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Rhythm and Weep <1946>.

<Note: Field of Dreams first shown on Sunday, April 2^nd thru 8^th, 2006>

 

 

 

3:10 to Yuma <1957>

PLOT SUMMARY:

This fine western opens with Van Heflin as a rancher whose family is suffering from the devastating effects of a long drought. Heflin needs $200 to build a well then learns he can obtain the money as a reward for delivering Glenn Ford a notorious outlaw now in the hands of the law to the state prison in Yuma Arizona. Though this will put Heflin in great personal danger the peaceful man accepts the assignment knowing what the money will mean to his family. Heflin and Ford hole up in a small hotel in another town while waiting for the train to Yuma. The outlaw begins toying with Heflin's mind talking in a friendly manner about Heflin's job and financial situation. Playing psychological games Ford tries to convince Heflin to take $100000 to look the other way while he escapes. Heflin finds himself in a quandary desperately needing the money yet being bound by his word to carry out the job. Ford's gang led by Jaeckel discovers where their leader is hidden and sets out to rescue him. The town officials abandon Heflin rather than put themselves in danger leaving the troubled rancher alone to face off with the outlaws. Ford ends up assisting Heflin helping his captor on the3:10 to Yuma explaining 'I owed you that.' Heflin has come through the ordeal body and integrity intact and as if in answer to this baptism by fire the skies burst forth with rain putting an end to the drought.

<from: amazon.com>

 

 

 

Field of Dreams <1989>

PLOT SUMMARY:

A phenomenal hit when it was released in 1989, Field of Dreams has become a modern classic and a uniquely American slice of cinema. It functions effectively as a moving drama about the power of dreams, a fantasy ode to our national pastime, and a brilliant adaptation of W.P. Kinsella's exquisite baseball novel Shoeless Joe. Kinsella himself found the film a delightful surprise, differing greatly from his novel but benefiting from its own creative variations. It is the film that cemented Kevin Costner's status as an all-American screen star, but the story resonates far beyond Costner's handsome appeal. As just about everyone knows by now, Costner stars as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who hears the mysterious words "If you build it, he will come," and is compelled to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. His wife (Amy Madigan) supports the wild idea, but a reclusive novelist (modeled after J.D. Salinger and played by James Earl Jones) is not so easily persuaded. The idealistic farmer is either a visionary or a deluded fool, but his persistence is rewarded when spirits from baseball's past begin appearing on the ball field. Past and present intermingle in the person of "Moonlight Graham" (superbly played by Burt Lancaster), an unknown player who sacrificed his dreams of baseball glory for a dignified life as a small-town physician ... but what all of this means is unclear until the film's memorably heartfelt conclusion. A meditation on family, memory, and faith, the film balances humor and magic to strike just the right chord of thoughtful emotion, affecting audiences so deeply that the baseball field created for the production has now become a Mecca of sorts for dreamers around the world. --Jeff Shannon

<from: amazon.com>

 

 

SHORT: The Three Stooges - Rhythm and Weep (1946)

PLOT SUMMARY:

After failing for the umpteenth time, the Stooges take the advice of an irate theater manager to kill themselves. Literally on the brink of things, they meet three lady hoofers, Hilda, Tilda, and Wilda on the same rooftop, and fast become smitten with them. Forgetting all about pulling a Brody, the pals and gals soon meet up with a man "afflicted with millions" who offers all six a thousand bucks a week to star in his new show. After they sing and dance and act their hearts out, however, the Stooges and the girls learn that their ticket to easy street is just an escapee from the local nut barn.

<from: threestooges.net>

 

 

 

Enjoy the weekend!

Tom

 

[siberianmo]

Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on Sundays.

 

G'day Gents!

Sunday morning 'n I'm just a tad slow in functioning. A day with Pete will do that! <grin> We had a fine time - spent some quality time at the Barriger RR Library 'n can say "Mission Accomplished!"

Went over to "old town" in St. Charles <across the Missouri River> 'n "spliced the mainbrace" <perhaps too often!> 'til the gals met up with us for an early dinner - late lunch at the Lewis & Clark Restaurant 'n Public Place. Then took a ride in a carriage pulled by a Clydesdale named Clyde! An all around wunnerful day . . . just wish my aging body could rebound a bit faster from these "fun times." <uh oh> Would hate to think that I couldn't keep up with the likes of an Englishman drinking beer! Hmmmmmm. 'nuf said . . . .

Okay - so we've reverted back to 'typical times' at the bar on Saturday.   So, with Pete 'n I gone - one can easily understand the slow-flow. At least we took the time 'n made the effort to provide something before heading out!

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

Customer Acknowledgments in brief (since my last narrative):

Saturday - April 19^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 15 - Pete <pwolfe> at 11:04 AM: Touching base with a visit before heading out! At least we're starting the day with a clear head - doubt it will end that way! <grin>

Watched Pete's one-finger typing ‘n I think I've gotten him to the 2 finger stage - one on each hand! Progress - Molly will be thrilled! <grin>

Oh yeah - check your incoming Email!

Page 15 - Nick <nickinwestwales> at 5:55 PM <11:55 PM GMT>: Got the impression that your ‘puter store geeks are pretty much the same the world over - even a decent punch in the snoot wouldn't make much of a change in their modus operandi! <grin>

Still waiting for some reaction to those Can-Am trainroom fotos I put up in response to your comments . . . I'm sure you'll get A-ROUNDTUIT! <grin>

Song titles fit well within the preferences for the gang at "Our" Place - well, maybe one could be dropped!

Juneau ‘n the Inuit dogs - yeah, now there's a thought! <uh oh> Too bad you cannot make it to our Rendezvous as there's a story I could tell about my experiences in Alaska AND a "basket" of sled dog pups I received as a gift from a native Alaskan . . . nice memories from many decades ago!

Thanx for the continuing support - as you can see, we are a mere shadow of what we used to be ‘round here on Saturdays.

ROUND much appreciated! <CHEERS!> <clink>

Page 15 - Eric <EricX2000> at 11:57 PM: Made it "in" BEFORE midnite! Now that's something for our Resident NOCTURNAL Desert RETIRED Swede!

The bar just reverted to our "normal" Saturday routine. We just haven't got the clientele any longer and I'm strongly considering letting the place operate on "Iron Mike" for the weekends . . . kinda pointless to put these efforts out, over ‘n over, with very little in return. DO appreciate the steady support from our handful . . . but it's a downward spiral. Pretty much what I had said in my Email to the "core" a few weeks back . . . just a matter of time.

Cab shots are all 4.0 - but the one approaching Philadelphia kinda caught my eye!

Jack London - here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London

I believe the Barstow quake you referred to is the same one I experienced in 1987 - called the Whittier quake. Used to travel through Barstow perhaps once a quarter over a two-year period. Definitely "different" if one likes desert dwelling.

http://www.earthquakesolutions.com/id63.html

Here's some info on the quake of 1994:

http://www.earthquakesolutions.com/id63.html

Doubt that Juneau would find that cabin to his liking UNLESS his pack stayed in it with him. <grin>

Thanx for the visit ‘n chat!

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

Tom

 

[EricX2000]

Good evening Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Leon, you are barely awake! Kind of quiet here today I understand. Yeah, I'll have my Filet Mignon with mushrooms, please!

Very quiet indeed! The cash register is dusty! Hmmm, I wonder what happened? Too much spring in the air? Everyone is out chasing girls.

Tom –  I never thought we would go to Caseyville. But when you mentioned that Cracker Barrel supposedly is coming to St. Louis in a near future I was surprised. I thought you already had them all over the place so I checked for the nearest one. Which was in Caseyville.

I have only felt two earthquakes, one in Barstow, CA, 1987 and one in Las Vegas 1994. That was the big quake in Los Angeles early 94 that was felt even in Las Vegas. Woke up and saw the ceiling light swinging back and forth.

I have to write down some stuff I am going to look up at the Barriger RR Library.

Pete –  Famous coffee? Why haven’t you told me earlier?

Nick –  Do you know if the commission for selling you a new computer was big enough to pay for the busted nose?

Very kind of you to send a group howl to Juneau in the finest Jack London style. Here is Jack London's cabin:

Jack London’s cabin. Would be a perfect dog house for Juneau! Jack London Square Oakland, CA (not far from the tracks).



Outside Ottawa, ON.

Approaching 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, PA.



Straight ahead, aim for the church tower! The signal is clear! Approaching Linköping, Sweden 1976.

 

A round for the house!

Eric 

[nickinwestwales]

Well good evening to one and all-please excuse yesterdays absense,the machine had to go to `puter hospital for the day-C.D drive had stopped working-not normally a problem but Missisnick got one of these Ipod thingies for her B/Day and natch. wanted to put some tunes on it.....what a waste of time & $-best they could offer was " Dunno-we can sell you a new one if you like ........"..."Will the commission pay for your busted nose ?".."What busted nose"---THIS ONE Got it home & called the help-line,more in hope than anticipation-et voila-some splendid chap talked us through a journey deep into the machine code and we `re-assigned` it-glory be-back in the game Right-Leon set up a round for the boys and a bowl of beer for our mascot and I will see if we have anything suitable on Herr Wurlitzer:- How about:-`Hound dog` by Big Mama Thornton (with of course `Bear Cat` by Rufus Thomas to complement it ) `Walking the dog` (Rufus again) `Hellhound on my tail` from Robert Johnson,`Dogs` by Pink Floyd,`Hungry like a wolf` by Duran duran ( bit of a stretch there)`D.I.V.O.R.C.E` by Billy Connolly (you need to hear it.....trust me)-`Puppy love ` by Donny & Marie Osmond ( this you DONT need to hear...) plus any country album worth it`s salt will have a track including a dog named Blue.......AAAH-and to finish off with ,Nantucket sleigh ride by Mountain-not sure if it`s a dog sleigh but a great guitar piece anyway  -A large and especially juicy bone,just oozing marrow and with all sorts of fine chewy sinews and the like for the haus hound-long may he prosper--The village `pack` of Northern Inuits (fine and gentle beasts ) have sent out a group howl in the finest Jack London/Dodie Smith tradition.... O.K-Leon-another round for the boys ( & girls ) please whilst I go and make some notes for replies-and a round for the back bar if they can keep the `agricultural` language down since we have the ladies in tonight................... back in a bit

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom and All.

A cup of your famous coffee please CINDY.

AtTom's having a great time. We are heading out to the library at the University to check to see the best time to go during the Rendezvous and to see some of the great railroad material they have there .

Had a good look at the Can-Am last evening and have seen the progress on the Subway Line, it is coming along very well especially considering the problems Tom as had with the basement and that cough.The  subway line should be carrying passengers bythe Rendezvous 

Many thanks for the kind words on the  photos. I will answer the questions and chat some more when  do my next post.

A round for the house when everybody is ready please CINDY 

Pete.

[siberianmo]

<personal foto>

This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!

Remember: "Our" Place is CLOSED on Sundays.

G'day Gents!

Sssssssssaturday ‘n everything's awwwwwwright! Rains have stopped, comfortable temps, ‘n good times ahead with Wolfman Pete!

Coffee has been freshly ground ‘n brewed along with The Mentor Village Bakery case being fully stocked! While you're at it, check out our Menu Board for some great <light> or <traditional> breakfasts!

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

Customer Acknowledgments in brief (since my last narrative):

Friday- April 18^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 14 - Dan <DL-UK> at 10:28 AM <4:28 PM GMT>: I think the Can-AM Railway looks more impressive than it really is.  There's not a whole lot of "anything" to put it in the category of "extra special," and so forth as model RRs "go." Of course, it DOES satisfy Moi - ‘n that's the beauty of the hobby! Everyone else falls in behind the "creator" in that respect.

I think the best feature of it all is that the major scenes are separated by scenery to the degree that one must walk around the layout to take in all of the sights. One cannot see it all from a single vantage point. If there's a hi-lite, that's the one I like best. Pleased that you took the time to check out the shots . . .

A fine Post to eavesdrop. Thanx for the visit ‘n chat!

Page 14 - Pete <pwolfe> at 2:54 PM: I don't know this for a fact, but it would seem that earthquake shocks would follow the path of least resistance - kinda like the flow of water. Anyway, the damage reports began to pick up as the daylite descended upon us ‘n thankfully I haven't heard of any injuries or major problems.

Enjoyed our afternoon chat ‘n always wonder just how it is that we find so many things to gab about <grin>

Dinner We feed you as well Hmmmmmm, wonder if that's included in your salary for the position I'll have to check!

Can't believe you really think that 2,500 visits to ANY restaurant is worth a "congrats!" <geesh> I'll have to do some research on that place, just to ensure it isn't a "knock off," one never knows these days <daze>! Stay tuned . . . <uh oh>

That 90775 loco almost looks like a narrow gauge . . . must be the angle of the foto. Nice looking though!

Always wonder what RR people are thinking as a train approaches the station. Those two chaps look rather under enthused at the moment . . .

Straight on shot of 48773 ‘n side view of 45110 with an approaching train to the right are nifty fotos, fer sure, fer sure!

Juneau awaits the arrival of Uncle Pete for his B'day!

Many thanx for the afternoon < I³ > Post, chat ‘n fotos - ROUND too!

Page 14 - Allan <Gunneral> at 10:15 PM <5:15 PM Saturday NZ time>: The ONLY calming effect for the <cough> is <hack> a belt of <cough> JD straight up! <hack> No kidding! Isn't that awful The Docs haven't prescribed anything specific in terms of cough medicine - ‘n quite frankly, I don't need anymore meds! <grrrrrrrr> Tomorrow will be 7 weeks of this . . . . <aaaaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhh> BUT, it has tapered off considerably from when it was at its apex . . . just lingers on.

Pete ‘n I "inspected" the progress of the Can-Am subway system last nite - I'll leave it to him to provide any elaboration. I'm not planning to Post any Pix until sometime in June . . . so, you guyz will just have to WAIT! <grin>

B'day greetings to Juneau brought on "where's the gift???" [swg

Another wondering offering from you in the form of an < I³ > Post ‘n of course the ROUND of Tui was greeted with CHEERS from the gang at the bar!

Saturday - April 19^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 14 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 12:22 AM: Beginning an after mid-nite visit with a ROUND surely snaps the dreariness outta the few left at the bar! Just the sound of the bell will do it! Thanx, of course!

Yeah, in the land of fruits, nuts ‘n flakes those quakes were so commonplace that I began to sleep right through most of ‘em. Wasn't that way when I first arrived - but after experiencing them so often, well just gets routine . . . .

Fuel prices are going to break the backs of many, many people ‘n national economies. There's got to be a way to curb this nonsense - perhaps beginning with lining up the speculators ‘n . . . . . guess we can't do that, eh Oh well, nice thought!

Juneau loved the chewbone ‘n B'day greeting!

Thanx for the inclusiveness of your comments ‘n appreciate the support!

Page 14 - Eric <EricX2000> at 1:24 AM: NO, we are NOT going over to Caseyville for a visit to the Cracker Barrel during Rendezvous III. Read the words ‘n <weep> my Desert Dwelling Friend! <grin>

You are correct about not taking earthquakes lightly - actually none of nature's wrath deserves to be blown off. We were fortunate, this time . . . I heard that our area experiences the most earthquakes in the continguous states <orig 48> than anywhere else EAST of the Rockies. Didn't know that . . .

Cab shots are cool shots! <sweet>

Juneau appreciated the B'day wishes from Uncle Eric!

Pete ‘n I are about to embark for our trip to the Barriger RR Library in order to ensure that the dates for the Rendezvous visit won't be in conflict with anything they have scheduled. Once I get that info, I'll send out the Agenda . . .

Many thanx for the continuing support ‘n fine < I³ > Post!

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

Reminder: Cindy has the bar from 9 AM until Leon the Night Man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.

TODAY is Steak ‘n All The Trimmings Nite!

Dinner begins at 5 PM so come early ‘n often!

Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!

Tom

 

[EricX2000]

Good evening Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Leon, Friday night? I know, Steak and Bisquits, please! Add a lot of extra marinade! I'll have a Keith's with that!

A beautiful day here today, 89˚F. Heard about the earthquake this morning. It sounds like there were no injuries or serious damage. Our Place is still standing! 

CM3 –  Read your description of C&O/VGN?N&W in West Virginia. Interesting! Daylighting tunnels must be an expensive operation, but I guess it pays off in the long run to be able to run doublestacks that way.

So the tonnage ratings refer to ideal circumstances. That explains quite a bit of the difference. In the old country the ratings refer to the worst (beside the slippery period in the fall) conditions. It must have been something else to go through those switchbacks with a heavy coal train. I fully understand your feelings!

Tom –  (Be)Late(d) Happy Birthday to Juneau!!! 35, in his best years!

Earthquakes should not be taken lightly. It was on the news here all morning.

No Cracker Barrel in your area? I am surprised and checked. The nearest one is in Caseyville, IL, almost ten miles east of St. Louis. 2,500 visits is kind of... I don’t know what. Yeah, I know, it’s a lot of money and good food!

Glad you liked the cab shot. 

Nice ads from the Classic Era! I wonder about the first one though. Streamliners from a bunch of different railroads. Whose ad was it? I like Texas & Pacific’s ad the best! The picture of that locomotive is also found in the Streamliners ad.

DL –  I know exactly where my old record with steam recordings is. Maybe I’ll play it this weekend. I remember one recording where you can hear the train pretty far away a cold winter night and when it sounds the whistle... wow, I can’t describe it. Sounds like one is out in the middle of nowhere.

Pete –  Thank you, too bad you couldn’t come along to Cracker Barrel!

The distance between signals is decided by a number of circumstances. Track speed, number of trains and stopping distance to name some of them. A train must be able to stop from full speed from one signal to the next unless it can show a restricted aspect that will force the engineer to slow down before it passes the first signal. Maybe something for the Rendezvous to discuss?

You are probably right about the location of the Aerotrain in your picture from the MOT. But I can’t say I recognize it.

Thanks for the photos of the steam locomotives! Are they using a token only between Arley and Bridgnorth or do they also have signals? What shape and size does the token have?

Allan –  Glad you liked the pictures! I am in the process scanning more photos but need some time to edit them.

I understand that you are heading for the winter now in your part of the world. Do you get any snow in your area?

Rob –  Would be nice to have a gold plated set of dishes. IBut  guess I should be satisfied with the free meal, including the dessert. Cracker Barrel was more generous 5-6 years ago than they are today.

Arriving to Dwight, IL. with the X2000.

 

Eric

[trolleyboy]

Good evening Leon , just a  quick Keith's for me tonight and a round for the boyz as well.

Tom- Heard about the shaker on the news today,it must have indeed given you a flash back to your time spent in the land of fruit and nuts. Glad to hear that you guys didn't sustain any major damage Sounds like you've got things well covered as far as the repairs go.

Give Juneau a chew bone for us on his birthday will you I hope you allowed him five walks today in rememberance for his birthday.

You'll love the weather we've been having this week, topped up at 26C today bright sun just beautifull, the downer was the sudden gas price spike to $1.17.9 a litre They are saying it could top out at close to  a buck forty which is absolutly insane.

Great adverts posted by you today,loved the Soo Line one with it's Winnepeger AD

Eric-Neat shot of Hells gate and to the 2,500th feed at Cracker Barrell. I still say that teh owner should give you at least a gold plated set of dishes for all teh cash you've dropped there over the years.

Thank's for teh additional freight speed info 100mph is nothing to sneeze at freight trains absolutly plod here by comparasin.

CM3 -I knew that you would come through with the required info thank-you

I see dan popped in which is always good as well.

Pete-A couple great photo's as per usual sir.As I've said before it's best to leave H&H to their own devices ( less people get hurt that way ) I think I'll let Copperkettle try to hook them up next time. No Boris not to a truck battery ( they just might enjoy that way too much )

Allan-Nice to see you about the decks today. Glad that you liked the write ups

Rob

[Gunneral]

Hi Tom and all,

The usual round of Tui`s for all the guys` please Leon.

Tom. to JUNEAU.

Saw the news about your quake on BBC TV World News this morning, Saturday here, glad to see their was`nt too much damage or any injuries from it, we get quite off hand about the shakes over here as they are such a regular happening. Those were some hilarious song titles` you listed. Really enjoyed all the great pics of your Can Am RR and those shots of your whole trainroom, no wonder Pete loves coming over to visit having that layout to operate with you. A very nice selection of info and pics in your various Heralds, Drumheads, Ads, Covers and Stuff, definate keepers thats for sure. Are you taking any cough linctus for that cough of yours at all? Hope you can get over the irritation soon. Hope that the rains hold off so you can fix that water problem in your basement soon.

Pete. You took me way back to 1951 when I 1st joined the Artillery, Boys Battery RA were based at Kinmel Park Camp just a few miles` outside of Rhyl, I joined the cycle club there and had a great time exploring North Wales down as far as the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay areas`, lovely scenic countryside, and it was great to be stationed near Towyn and the Tallylyn Rly a couple of years later. Nice link to the LT 2-6-4T loco, and all your pics from the Colorado RR Museum and all your latest great selection of those steam locos` taken on the Birmingham Railway Museum trip, the Severn Valley Rly and Leicester North. When do you take off for that A4 70th anniversary trip? Would have loved to have been there for it!

Rob. Nice info in your write up`s on the Classic Steam about the Peanut Line and the 1st Pullman trains on the UP RR.

Eric. A really nice selection of pics from you of the Dm3, X2000. Ottawa pic, RTL 158, and the MARC cab car, the Roadrailer car and the Hells Gate Bridge.

CM3. Some more interesting info on the tonnage ratings and the effects of grades` on locos`.

Dan. From memory I read somewhere that their was a mention of all the help that was given to the Tallylyn Rly by troops from the Artillery Training Camp at Tonfanau in the early 50`s, the Commanding Officer there was very involved with the restoration project and he would ask for volunteers for over the weekends and public holidays, some great memories from those days` I can tell you. Those LNER steam sound recordings you wrote the synopsis on must sound great to the ears. 

Nick. In 1953 at the age of 18yrs, and with a couple of beers`under the belt, we thought we were "Bullet Proof" walking across the Barmouth Rly Bridge at the time, such is the folly of youth! Had a good laugh at your digging between the rails joke. Really enjoyed all those pics of your favourite tank loco and your layout, and the nice selection of narrow gauge locos`, they used a lot of Double Fairlie locos` over here in NZ in the early days as it saved installing turntables` on all the branch lines`. Yet another very tempting menu from you again.

See ya, Allan

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom and all.

A pint of Bathams please RUTH.

TOM to JUNEAU.

Heard about that earthquake on the news this morning they were saying it was felt in Columbia MO, which I guess is 120 miles west of you, but I did not feel it here.

The photo was taken around 2002/3 on my first visit to the MOT at Kirkwood, quite a lot as changed since then with the position of locomotives and the motor transport hall.

Glad the basement is dry at the present, it is a pity the Docs can't give you something to ease your cough

Thanks for the kind words, looking forward to seeing later today.

NICK What a great meal last night, our Chief done us proud.A friend in England collects vintage Port and tonight's Port is well up to that standard. A rare honour for me to have a meal in such good company, usually I have to have my dinner in the kitchen if not in BORIS's shed.

Glad the band practice went well. 

ROB Glad you enjoyed the link, I did not think I would be able to find anything on the web about those Metropolitan tank engines.

Yes getting H&H fixed up is getting harder, but they don't seem to mind their dates running off as long as they leave the money for their meal and the beer behind.

It seems the use of nicknames for locomotives if not companies is still going strong in the UK. It is not long before a new class of locomotive appears before it gets a nickname.

ERIC Well done on your 2,500^th visit to your local Cracker Barrel.

It was from a personal observation that I thought the length of trains was limited by the signal sections. Some of the intermodel trains at Rugby look as though they could not be a lot longer without cutting into the safety margin of a following signal, but as the signals are near a station the distance between them may be shorter than normal.

Many thanks for the link to the RTLs. I wonder if those RTL IIIs are still in storage or have been scrapped.What was the date of your photo of # 158 do you know.

I think the track which the Aerotrain is on is the one in which the Big Boy is on, the trolley runs to the right and the shed holding the passenger cars to the right of that. The entrance to the museum is on the left background on a lower level. I think the stock has been moved round since the photo.

Great photo of the approach to Hell Gate Bridge form the cab of the X2000.

CM3 Many thanks for the great info on Tom's post yesterday on the N&W and the Southern. It was interesting to read about # 1401's part in hauling FDR's funeral train.    

I will look forward to hearing more of the operation of those heavy coal trains on those steep grades of WV.

DL  I seem to recall reading a little a while ago now about those hiker's specials that visited the Peak District and  lot of those lines too are no longer there.It is a pity nowadays there is not the special trains that were run by BR, In steam days there seem no end of excursions and even in 1970s their Merrymaker specials were very good value for money. They even had some Mystery Tours where the passengers did not know the destination.

For a while there was very good value ‘Round Robin' tickets using service trains to interesting destinations. One I recall was from Birmingham through Shrewsbury and the Cambrian Coast line to Portmadoc (with a short break) then a trip along the Ffestiniog Railway (that was included in the price). Up the Conwy Valley line to Llandudno Junction, then through Crewe home. A great day out

That is good to read about your grandfather and his workshop, I bet a lot of good things were produced there.

It is good to know the Mr. Handford's recordings are in the NRM it is the right place for them. I have heard that the new archives section at the NRM is really something.

I thought I would post my photos today as I will be with Tom tomorrow.

A couple of posts ago Nick remarked on a photo of a War Department 2-8-0 from Sweden. Here is photo of the 2-10-0 version of the WD locomotives. This loco, although in BR colours, was never in BR stock, although 25 locomotives of the same type were. Photo is at Leicester North on the GCR.

 

Between Christmas and New Year the Birmingham Railway Museum ran a tour using a Pannier Tank around parts of the Midlands. This tour was from Birmingham Snow Hill station to Stratford on Avon (reverse)then Leamington Spa(REV) through Coventry to Nuneaton and back to Tyseley through Water Orton. A great day out with a lot of breaks.

 

At Snow Hill.

At Nuneaton after taking on water.

To celebrate the re-opening of their line the full length after the terrible floods last Summer a couple of photos on the Severn Valley Railway.

Ex LMS 8F 2-8-0 arrives at Hampton Loade, the first open station and crossing point from Bridgnorth.

  

48773 at Hampton Loade waiting to depart to Bridgnorth.

At Arley station, about mid-way, on the SVR ex LMS class 5 4-6-0 waits for Great Western Railway 0-6-0 PT heading for Kidderminster Town to arrive in the passing loop. After getting the single-line token 45110 we head for Bridgnorth.

See you have posted some fine posters TOM I will post this and have a good look.

Well RUTH a round please and the the Steak and Fries.

Pete. 

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Nice to see Dan swing by from across the pond . . . Cheers, mate!

"They" now say the quake was 5.2 with an afterschock at 4.5 - smaller motions still taking place. Haven't seen anything 'round the ranch to be concerned about. Although, one doesn't know what  <if any> foundation damage may have resulted. <groan>

Here's my finale for this day . . .  am not sure about Saturday, but of course I'll try to make it "in."

 

Now Arriving on Track #1

Six Pack Special Number Three

RR advertisements from the Classic Era

 

 

 

Streamliners

 

 

Sacramento Northern

 

 

Soo Line

 

 

Texas & Pacific

 

 

Sumpter Valley Railroad

 

 

Colorado & Southern

 

 

 

 

 

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

 

Enjoy!

Tom

 

Missed any

#1 . . . Page 3

#2 . . . Page 9

 

[DL - UK]

Hello Tom  and all in

I'll have a pint and a peruse of the Friday menu.  Great pics of the layout by the way Tom - I like the ground level views although the later set of pics give an idea of the sheer scale of your works!

Nick - nice set of pics from Ireland - as Pete says it would have been an interesting place in the 1950s - I think at least one line is featured in Tom Rolt's 1950s book Lines of Character - but this book is rather rare and I have never seen a copy, so I do not know for certain.

CM3 - interesting comments onthe N&W - a road I have always been interested in due to enjoying O Winston Link's photgraphy and being alerted to that via a TV prog broadcast in the UK back inthe late 1980s.

Rob, glad you enjoyed the museum link. It looks like an interesting place. Appreciated your comments on the recorded sound of steam and streetcars.

Eric - sounds like steam recordings from Sweden are of interest. Hopefully you can find your old vinyl!

Pete - You mention that Wales round trip you did. Other week my father in law was talking about trips they did at the Railway Research Centre for staff outings when he started there in the early 1960s. This included a round trip of Wales just for staff - complete with beer on draught in the buffet car. That can only have been done before vital sections of line were closed so certainly pre Beeching. He said they also did Peek district excursions from Derby on Sundays with the train dropping off at one location and picking up later in the day from another to facilitate hiking in the National Park. These were open to the general public and of course used spare passengers stock not usually required at the week end.

You also mention belt driven machinery - my grandfather's lathe in his workshop at home was belt driven from a ceiling suspended electrical motor using the standard shaft assembly one would have seen in an old factory - just in his case it drove 1 lathe and 1 pillar drill. As a child I used to appreciate the rhythmic sound of the belt spinning round and the hum of the electric motor - with the repeated ‘clack' of the metal link that joined the ends of the leather. When I heard that I knew where to find him to see what he was up to and learn soemthign or other!

Regarding the Transacord records I suspect Peter Handford did write the notes. I was reading my NRM review magazine last night and co-incidentally saw mention of the fact that in their newly opened data archives (printed material, sound recordings, interviews etc) it is possible to listen to some Handford recordings, so this implies he donated his sound archive to the Nat Railway Museum which is good to know. Yes, I hope Allan spots those sleve notes I posted before. As an LNER man he will enjoy them I'm sure.

As you say, however good it is, you can't travel back in time though!

Have a good weekend all

DL

 

 

  

 

[siberianmo]

<personal foto>

Friday's Grin

Brain Cramps

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Former Washington, DC. Mayor

G'day Gents!

Awoke around 4:30 AM to some trembling - thought Juneau wanted to go out. But it was an earthquake over in Illinois <about 135 miles from here> . . . "they" said 5.4 on "the scale." No visible damages at our Haus - just reminded me of all of those wunnerful times in SoCal a couple of decades ago. <grin>

Friday ‘n the coffee, pastries ‘n breakfasts are all READY! Are you

Comments from the Proprietor

Today is the B'day for the first mascot of "Our" Place! Juneau - 5 in human years <35 in his!>

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

Customer Acknowledgments in brief (since my last narrative):

Thursday - April 17^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 14 - Nick <nickinwestwales> at 7:35 PM <1:35 AM Friday GMT>: Our Chief Chef   didn't disappoint as another feast was placed before us!

Page 14 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 10:40 PM: Don't even mention BLACK MOLD! <arrrrggggghhhhhh> Had that issue taken care of about 10 years ago with a whole-house air purifier-dehumidifier. Dried out the basement to where things are near-perfect, environmentally, down there. And that's saying a lot for any basement. Anyway, the leakage problem gets taken care of pronto-quick so that there's no residual problems. How I'm "on it," Mate - I'm "on it!" <groan>

Basement guy He's a contractor and carpenter by trade ‘n a darned good one at that. "They" say the basement foundation companies are backed up TWO MONTHS with work ‘round here. Now this quake is going to make them even more scarce . . . Counting our blessings here in mid-continent!

Allergies Never had so much as a sneezing fit ‘til I turned 50 . . . well, maybe one or two. Then everything went ‘south.' See what YOU have to look forward to <grin>

Parenting Well it works like this for me - I was hardly perfect at it. No course of instruction available at the time ‘n I probably wouldn't have enrolled anyway! Made my mistakes. Just hope that my kids were inculcated with the values of our way of life which of course leads to making decisions in life based on something substantive rather than zip, zero, zilch! Don't care about making mistakes - we all make ‘em. Just don't do ‘em twice!

Thanx for the visit ‘n chat!

Friday, April 18^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 14 - Eric <EricX2000> at 1:55 AM: Cracker Barrel food is something I've not sampled. I haven't seen any of those places nearby - however, just heard or read that they are coming to the St. Louis area. <whoooooopie!> Of course I've seen ‘em along the highways in Missouri ‘n Illinois - just not close by to our area.

I've not congratulated anyone for eating at a particular place for 2,500 visits - so I won't start now! <grin>

No, Pete doesn't buy the meals, was referring to the ROUNDS! <ooooooooh!>

Love that cab shot at Hell Gate! You have a treasure-trove of absolutely wunnerful cab shots.

Thanx for the visit ‘n inclusive Post!

Page 14 - CM3 Shane <coalminer3> at 8:52 AM: Great to see our WVA Connection arrive for a morning session!

Sorry that I'm unable to give your efforts the attention deserved <right now> but have lots of things on the burner ‘n must attend to ‘em. Least of which is to make this place presentable to the Wolfe's who arrive this evening . . . <grin>

Perhaps you'll be able to take advantage of the materials available at the Barriger RR Library at Rendezvous III to check out the N&W "facts" . . .

Petrol at fill-up yesterday was $3.50 <rounded> for the bride's hybrid. Cudda gagged a healthy maggot on that one - forty bucks for about 2/3rds of a tank! <geesh>

Post looks intriguing ‘n I'll get back to it . . . promise!

Thanx for the visit, chat, quarters ‘n ROUND!

* * * * *     * * * * *     * * * * *

Reminder: Ruth has the bar from 9 AM until Leon the Night Man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.

TODAY is Pizza ‘n Beer Nite! - and - Steak ‘n Fries Nite!

Saturday is Steak ‘n All The Trimmings Nite!

Dinner begins at 5 PM so come early ‘n often!

Cindy is our Saturday bartender!

Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!

Tom

 

[coalminer3]

Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.  Nice weather here today which makes up for gas jumping overnight to $3.65/gal.  Diesel is $4.20 at the truck stop where I get my morning paper.

Lots of items to look at and I have a few comments, emendations, etc. to offer.  As usual, these are in no particular order.  They skip from subject to subject as several folks raised questions.

Rob was in with historical material, comments and questions.  Since this part of the territory is in the heart of C&O/VGN/N&W country, I feel somewhat qualified.  The saying has been for years that the C&O got the best route, the GN (fascinating operation I might add - yes, Boris they did have Triplex locomotives) got the best line that $ could buy, and the N&W got what was left. 

The "best known" grades on the N&W are really over in Virginia (Blue Ridge, Christiansburg, etc.) but there are some tough stretches of road in WV as well which is why they had electrification and tunnels.  The Pokey has lots of curves as it follows the river.  However they can really roll on the west end which was the stomping grounds of the Class A types of which 1218 is probably the best known example.  A lot of the "old" N&W around here is getting extensive work done including daylighting tunnels and so on to allow it to accommodate double stacks. 

Now the Southern is a whole ‘nother thing.  Most folks know about the Saluda Grade, Slaughter Pen cut, and all of the blood and thunder that happened there.  Yes Frostbite, that line is OOS but there are all sorts of rumors that it is to be reopened.   The Rathole was on the CNO&TP out of Cincinnati - we discussed a lot of this not too long ago on this thread.   Much of that has been daylighted and straightened over the years as well.  You are correct in talking about curves and grades along the main line - the area that always interested me from an operational standpoint was the stretch between Atlanta and Birmingham which crosses the southern end of the Appalachians - tough grades, tight curves, and something that has received not all that much notice in the railroad press. 

DL was in with comments and reminiscences.  "Bouts of violent slipping" describes me at various times (I know Boris, what goes on on the road stays on the road.)

Pete was in with comments - you are correct in your comments re UPS, they have crossed swords over the years with UP, Conrail, and also with NS and CSX after CR's breakup.  Incidentally SOu 1401 was one of several locomotives involved with hauling FDRs funeral train in 1945.

Nick - Nice layout pictures.  Somewhere in MR awhile back (like a long time ago) there was a piece talking about tonnage ratings and power on model railroads.  I started using some of the ideas in the article and it made things a whole lot more interesting operationally.  The picture of the 2-6-0T was outstanding!  However, I think I'll get my rocking chair and ride up front rather than in the passenger accommodation.  Looks like there's enough room to do that.

Eric - Good points regarding power usage and dynamic braking.  The thing here is that the numbers refer to an ideal situation.  I recall riding mine shifters into winding Gulf, a part of the country honeycombed by coal mines, some served by the C&O and some by the VGN.  Power was typically 6-8 GP7s or 9s; four on the front and four on the back.  Now the fun part of this was that the C&O had switchbacks to enable it to get down the hillside to where it needed to be.  So you would be on the front pulling for awhile and then you would find yourself being pushed down the hill.  A look out the cab window was sobering as there would be 100+ coal cars pushing against you.  It was bad enough when they were mty but loads made it even more sobering.  The braking systems had better be in good shape.  Incidentally, loads going out of Raleigh to the mainline at Quinnimont had to have retainers set b4 leaving the yard.  This was done by walking the train.  Groundman carried a stick with a notch at one end which was used to move the retaining lever at the end of each coal car.  Geez, how did we get off on this?  I know, more stories for the Rendezvous. 

I enjoyed the picture of the DM3s with the passenger train - no trouble timekeeping with that much power.  Also liked the shot at the upper level in DC and the picture made on the NY Connecting Railroad.

OSP is keeping us going with model shots and 1:1 material as well.  Yankee Clipper is one of my favorite drumheads.

I'm not too sure re 200 mergers forming the N&W, but I don't a lineage chart handy - it's in the east wing.  Anyway, the N&W-VGN-NKP-WAB merger was the first (as Ed Sullivan used to say) "really big" one.  Dereco was interesting as I used to spend time around the D&H and other lines that were part of it; only real change I saw was more N&W power appearing in formerly exotic locations. Good stuff on the Southern.  W.G. Claytor was one of the more interesting folks I ever encountered - ran into him more than a few times on the Crescent - a man with a strong sense of heritage and history.

Last, a note on the "Wild Mary" engine; it's a 2-8-8-2; ‘daggon photo angles will throw stuff off every time.  It was blt. by Lima in 1918 and scrapped in 1951.

Well, I have run on too much as always, but figured I had better post something to cover for missing yesterday.

Work safe  

[EricX2000]

Good evening Captain Tome and Gentlemen!!

Leon, it's time for a Rumpsteak Café de Paris! Keith's, please!

Today I had a free meal with dessert at Cracker Barrel #334. It was my 2,500th visit to that particular restaurant (store) since they opened in January 1998. In other words, I've spent a lot of money there.

Tom –  I’ll start with a wow! Norfolk &Western was formed by more than 200 mergers! Must be some kind of record! Interesting facts about N&W! Southern Railway was not far behind, nearly 150 lines combined to form Southern Railway. N&W the last major railroad to convert to diesel and Southern the first.

Western Maryland is less known. I’ve heard the name before but didn’t know much about it. Now I know some!

I think that is a great idea, to have Pete pay for your meals at the TrainWreck Saloon! Maybe I will try the same thing next month!
The trucking industry is having a very hard time now with the fuel prices skyrocketing! It costs $1000+ to fill up a big rig!

Thanks for the drink!

Rob –  I think we better keep an eye on H&H until we know exactly what is going on.

It is always a problem to mix freight with fast passenger trains. The fastest freight trains in Sweden are running at 100 mph, but most of them less than that.

$150 across the country by train? That was a lot of money in the mid 1800’s. Interesting reading, UP’s first Pullman trains! A hotel train was certainly a good idea.

Pete –  Do they really have that short signal sections in Britain so the length of the freight trains is a concern? Never heard that before.

Dm3 working a passenger train was a railfan special. They are normally never used for passenger service.

RTL stands for Rohr Turbo Liner. More info on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboliner

Nice photos from Colorado! I would like to go there and have a look at the Rio Grande Southern Goose #2!

I have a hard time to place the location of the Aerotrain locomotive and the Happy engine at the Museum of Transportation. I don’t remember where they had those tracks.

Nick –  Time to let out another belt notch? Not for me, I have to make new holes so I can tighten my belt. I've lost 59 lbs the last 2 1/2 years. Beef Wellington sounds good! I’ll try that next time.

Hell Gate Bridge, NY.

 

 

Eric 

[trolleyboy]

Good evening Leon , I see that you didn't get the short straw,which is good that's a  mountain of dishes. oh I see Boris and Spike got the honours of cleanup,well at least one will know that the dishes will get well scraped before they are into the sinks.Just a Kieth's while I catch up on the rest of the days affairs.

Pete-I see that you did make it back in , and with an interesting url to those wonderfull locomotives good stuff.Some interesting pictures,I'm not to sure about that smiley face on the loco though,it's a tad creepy,and I've seen some wierd stuff

I think Hilda is over Leon after she had to carry him from that last bar brawl over at the second class,mind you I don't think vito's boyz are in any hurry to double date with them again either. We are most likley stuck with them.

Enjoyed the rr name, short forms a good giggle Some railroads did that up here as well,the TH&B for on thing is refered to as To Hell and Back,and on occation I've seen CN refered to as Canadian Negligent,the NS and CSX have had some rather unflatering short forms given to them as well,I won't reprint them as they will not make it past the censor.

TOM-Yes we have had a really good day all things concidered today three cheers for the corps guys as they've come through again

To bad that you are still hacking away,perhaps the fresh air up here will help out ( the beer certainly should )Not good that the basement is still doing it's coffee filter act hope your repair guy is good at what he does with your alergies you don't want a black mold problem.

I figure that this group here could likely fill an entire thread with CPR material new old and in between.I think you'll like the Pullman piece you'll probably recognize it from that last Pullman theme day.Don't get me started on today's parents,not enough time in the day for me to vent on that subject

As to young Ruth's trip fund, we all know that she only flies first class on excursionsout to the east coast so we all must help out What's wrong with a bit of pub grub to go along with our other fine selections,I'm sure that Nick could whip up some good bangers and mash

Nick-Howdy ho there my friend. An excellant spread <burp> someone needs to roll me out from under the table and find me away home.Cheese my friend is my downfall,forget everything else just let me at that tray

I was thinking of you as I looked in on evilbay tonight. There is a guy with two auctions up for ONR GP38-2's from proto, one in the new ON Rail scheme the other in the traditional ligthning bolt scheme,both auctions have hit $80 with about five days to go Brand new in hobby shops they go for about $100 CDN and they are at $80 US so $81 CDN.

Rob

[nickinwestwales]

Well then gentlemen --Looks like we are a select company this evening so the normal thursday menu has been abandoned-shall we make just the one table and lets see if I can suprise you all. Leon-I shall order for the table,I think a couple of bottles of the white Cote du Rhone to get us going,better open a bottle or two of that special red for the meat courses-they need to breathe -and perhaps a bowl of the Bombay mix to tickle the palates Naturally the ladies are invited to join us and add the missing `light touch` to our evening-so:-loosen the belts and sit back-there is no room for lightweights at this table......... For a starter we have-Chicken & sweetcorn soup-a light bouillon based dish to wake the palate next up we have-Game Pie-layers of rabbit.pheasant,venison & duck under a raised pastry crust served with a port wine & redcurrant jelly,& sweet onion,apple & ginger chutney And for the fish dish we have:-a fillet of Lemon Sole,lightly coated in seasoned flour and pan fried, served with steamed new green beans And for the main course:- Beef Wellington-a whole fillet of Wesh black beef ,with a pork & mixed mushroom pate coat wrapped in puff pastry served with honey glazed carrots,paneed zuchinni (courgettes) and pommes paille (straw potatoes) on a bed of fresh watercress and mustard & pepper leaves For a dessert,how about pears poached in a cote de Bordeaux dessert wine with a champagne sorbet........ Time to let out another belt notch-here comes the cheese board:- as well as 9 different cheeses we also have 7 different salami`s,more olives than you could shake a stick at ,some rather nice little garlic bread roundels and if I am any judge of a situation-time for the extra-extra special bottle of Cognac to do the rounds Gentlemen-you may now smoke-if the ladies wish to retire,the lounge bar is yours for the evening,never let it be said that we don`t know how to behave when in company........... That said,I am a touch wobbly after tonights practice-we had a different drummer sit in -was a thoroughly enjoyable experience-and the tape proves it--apologies for lack of responses,will wait until tomorrow--Now then-you Sir-Cmdr Weber-just `cos you have the top seat doesn`t mean you can hog the port --Ahh ,good man-PETE -this is a fine vintage with a good creamy Stilton-would value your opinion-ROB-have a taste of this mate-and try a wafer of this Spanish salami to follow it down-the flavours just build and multiply...........       Right-better go and check out the galley-someone has to do the dishes (ahhh-poor soul) Take care guys-speak soon

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

The harder I try to catch up, the behindER I get! <groan>

Customer Acknowledgments in brief (since my last narrative):

Wednesday - April 16^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 14 - Nick <nickinwestwales> at 9:22 PM <3:22 AM Thursday GMT>: Back with a 2^nd installment of great offerings. Lots of chat with lots of fotos . . . hard to beat. Man oh man, when you're "on, " you're REALLY "on."

Afraid my singing days <daze> are way behind me. Juneau cowers when I begin my solos while down in the confines of the trainroom  . . . <grin> Funny how they all "sound" just fine to Moi! <uh oh> Is that the "second thing" to go Hmmmmm.

Hope you catch those Can-Am Railway shots - guess you didn't see ‘em. Forums Gremlins at it again, eh

Page 14 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 11:46 PM: Holding up the night shift again ,eh Well, I suppose it's encouragement for our Nocturnal One to have some company!

Neither of those characters are from the Second Class Saloon "inner circle." That's Pete ‘n Moi!

The more I pick up about you, the more I fully believe you were born a few decades too late! Comment about having to take a test before bringing new life into this world is absolutely <bang on>!! Anyone can be a mother or father, but it takes a hulluva lot more to be a parent! ‘nuf said . . .

Glad you jumped in on the CP story - figgered you would! Anyway, it IS definitely an interesting chapter in RR history.

Welllllllll, I'm seeing a turn away from our bill o' fare for the "Our" Place menu. One thing we will NOT do is turn this joint into anything resembling fast food. Ain't gonna happen. We've been serving up great sandwiches on Mon, Tues ‘n Wed nites - with our "standard" menu items for Thurs - Fri - Sat. Of course, Chief Chef  Nick has the liberty to "insert" where ‘n whenever he wishes. Now, I'm open to suggestions . . .

Thanx for dropping by . . .

Thursday - April 17^th <all times Central daylite>:

Page 14 - Eric <EricX2000> at 1:24 AM: Not to worry my desert dwelling friend - the tax filing comments are "general" and not specific. Pay as you go is my preference for pretty much everything encountered in life. Exceptions: when Pete is at the TrainWreck Saloon with me - then HE pays!

I don't know this for sure, but with the enormous amount of trucks on the highways, it just doesn't seem that the railroads carry enough of ‘em on the rails for long distance hauls. Now that diesel fuel has topped 4 bucks, perhaps that will change. Then again, wonder if the RRs even have the equipment ‘n infrastructure to handle quantum increases in that kind of traffic Just a rhetorical ramble - don't worry about answering.

And a ROUND along with a fine, inclusive Post!

Page 14 - Eric <EricX2000> at 10:54 AM: Back with an extra-effort ‘n some fine fotos! Many thanx for the attention to our morning doldrums! Have one me next time you're "in."

Page 14 - Rob <trolleyboy> at 1:49 PM ‘n 2 PM: A two-fer from our Manager along with a "donation" to Ruth's "private travel fund." Hmmmmmm - don't wanna know!

Since Pullman is one of my FAY-VOR-ITE subjects - I'll definitely get A-ROUNDTUIT - but not now, Mate. <ugh>

Many thanx for the daylite visit - this joint is far busier than I thought for a day with so many ‘announced' absences . . . not complaing!

Page 14 - Pete <pwolfe> at 3:16 PM: The Bar Chandler kept to his "slot" in spite of the anticipated absence. So the bar is hummin' along.

Far too much for me to keep pace with - but I know the guys will appreciate your attentiveness to their comments along with some fine ones of your own!

A "funky" looking loco with a smile When was that taken <yikes>

The basement has stopped leaking - but with rains forecast, who knows. Work supposedly will begin before month's end - yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. <groan> This <nagging> <coughing> <horseness> ‘n general malaise has really Pd me off . I'm no fun to be around ‘n I KNOW it. <arrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh>

Doc still sez, "This just has to work itself out." Hmmmmmm. I could've been a Doc . . . how hard is THAT <groan> And I have TWO Docs looking into this . . . best I can say is at least I can get to ‘em without having to get in line. ‘nother story for ‘nother time . . .

Many thanx for the outstanding inclusive Post - no one does ‘em better, Mate! ROUND appreciated too - oh yeah, g'wan ‘n fill up that oversized mug with a Bathams on Moi!

Looking forward to seeing the two of you tomorrow! Drive SAFELY!

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TODAY is Fish ‘ Chips Nite!

Tom

 

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom and all

Out this morning, but back in this afternoon so a Bathams please RUTH.

NICK Many thanks for the photos of your layout and the Clonakilty Model Village, the line is busy with the newsprint and the F hauled VIA passenger trains. Is Big Otto any relation to Vito the Hit.

Your more you look into it the murkier it gets some times. It seems both the 2-6-0 tender locomotives, the N class, and the ‘River' 2-6-4 tank locos were Maunsell designs introduced in 1917.A major difference I have found is the Ns had 5' 6" driving wheels and the Rivers had 6' drivers. The LT tanks had 5' 6" drivers.  I wonder if Woolwich Arsenal produced the Ns and a tank version similar to the Rivers. I wonder if the MET done the conversion in house but it seems a very major job to convert the N parts to a tank locomotive. I think the 2-6-4s were used for freights on the Met so they would not need a high speed. Very interesting.

A link to the LT 2-6-4Ts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Railway_K_Class

Glad you enjoyed the Colorado photos.

The M7 does look a great model in the Southern Green and love those great old photos from Ireland and the Welsh narrow gauge. I wonder if the real ‘Railbus' had normal bus gears, in which the driver had to use a clutch pedal to change gears. What a great holiday it would have been in the mid 1950s touring Ireland and visiting those wonderful Irish narrow gauge lines.

ROB I bet the streetcar LP is a great listen.  I have not heard of any streetcar recordings available in the UK, although in the museum at Birmingham there was recording of the sounds aboard a Birmingham tram next to the preserved tram there.

Some of the railways in the UK had nicknames based on their initials like

Manchester South Junction & Altrincham became the Many Short Jerks & Away      

The Great Western was the Great Way Round of God's Wonderful Railway depending whether one was a GWR fan or not.

LMS was ‘Ell of a Mess.

LNER Late and Never Early Railway etc.

Thanks for the info on the book. Enjoyed reading about the First Pullman Trains on the UP in Classic Steam #36. I bet there wasn't that many emigrants who could afford the $110 let alone the $150 it was before, it must be quite a bit of money in today's prices.Those new Pullman cars must have been a great improvement on the cars that preceded them.

ERIC In Britain I think its not the tonnage that the locomotives can haul nowadays so much as the length of the frieght train, keeping it within the signal sections, especially the intermodel trains. Of course in steam and early diesel days it was a lot different.

I would have though with HILDA so keen on LEON that she would not want to leave Our Place although they have not been the same since they went on that double-date with two of Vito's ‘boys'

The photo in your first post is not showing at the moment but the others have. Many thanks for the photos. Was the DM3 working an ordinary passenger train or was it a railfan special do you know. The RTL looks an interesting train.

TOM Yes you have had a rough time the last few weeks with the basement when you have been feeling rough with that cough that doesn't seem to want to go away, hopefully things we back to normal real soon.  

Great photos of the Can-Am for Nick and it would be good if Nick could come over and see it in person one day.

Great to see #3 of the Heralds Drumheads Ads Covers & Stuff.Three great companies. Seeing as the Norfolk and Western was formed of over 200 companies, it must be a great number of original companies that are now part of Norfolk Southern. The photo on the N&W Power book looks like one by O. Winston Link

I see the Southern Railway was the first class 1 to go completely diesel in 1953 I guess it was not that many yeas before the other class1s followed suit. #1401 sure is a good-looking locomotive.

It seems the Western Maryland had an interesting history, but sadly when it was merged with the larger companies a lot of its tracks were closed, although some parts are still used today. There could not have been many locomotives with the 2-8-6-2 wheel arrangement like #924; it looks just the right engine to haul heavy coal trains over the Allegheny Mountains.

A couple more photos from Colorado

 

A locomotive running in Denver Zoo.

Rio Grande Southern 'Goose' #2.

 

At Georgetown Loop I believe.Unfortunatly we arrived too late for a ride but another reason to go back to the Denver area, a great place I thought.

A happy engine at the Museum Of Transportation at Kirkwood.

Well Ruth a round please and of course the Fish 'N' Chip .

Pete.

[trolleyboy]

Good afternoon again folks,here is a redo from a theme day that I've kept in my back pocket for one of these slow days.Hope everyone enjoys it.

The First Pullman Trains on The Union Pacific

CLASSIC STEAM #36

The First UP Passenger trains west of Missouri sported a locomotive,mail , and baggage car,passenger coach a sleeper and a business car.These trains held 110 passengers for  the kingly fare of $63.33 per person.Second class or Immigrant class tickets ran at $26.81, but the coaches for these fares were just hitched to the back of freight trains and the trip took four to six days instead of the 60 hours for the first class passenger trains.The trip accross the entire country, from New York to San Fran. took just over a week, and cost $150.00 .By today's standards these trips would be nightmarish ( some argue Amtrak still is )but compared to the earlier excursions they were a dream come true and the essence of modern railroading ( at the time ). A year after the historic meeting at Promontory, the cross country fare was reduced to $136.00 for first class and $110.00 for emigrants, who now also got to travel in passsenger trains instead of the back of freights.

  Comfort came to UP in the form of Pullman's first Palace Cars. These height of luxury cars were the ornate new plush sleepers which George Pullman and Andrew Carnegie first created in 1867.When Pullman and Carnegie first approached Durant with the idea for sleeper cars the UP's response was a contract requiring that the Pullman cars be kept under UP control. In January of 1868, the Pacific Pullman Company was formed, with UP taking 2600 of it's 5000 shares , Pullman and Carnegie each getting 1200.

   These new Pullman cars were an instant hit,which further inspired George Pullman to produce and develope the "Hotel Train" it ran with Dinning Drawing room and Saloon cars which were added to the original sleepers, to create a rolling 5 star hotel.These editions eliminated the need for meal stops and cut down travel time conciderably. The Hotel train ran only one year, but it's short lifespan  suggested to the UP what type of deluxe luxurious trains could be produced in the future of rail travel.

The rest is as they say history, Pullman's became standard fare on most railways in the US. Even TH&B and CP handled through Pullman's from connecting routes through Canada. The TH&B handled through sleepers from Chicago and NY from it's NYC parent. And SOO and CP operated through sleeper service on their joint Winnepegger and Wolverine Runs.

Rob