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Classic Railroad Quiz (at least 50 years old).

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Posted by Mikec6201 on Sunday, May 15, 2011 7:17 PM

Diolkos wagonway transported boats across the isthmus of Corinth in Greece around 600 BC . Men and animals pulled wheeled vehicles that ran in limestone grooves. It was used for about 650 years. I guess its possible Christ or his apostles would have used this "first railroad" .........Mike 

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Posted by narig01 on Sunday, May 15, 2011 9:58 PM

Mike you got it!! Thx IGN

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Posted by narig01 on Sunday, May 15, 2011 10:31 PM

Mike you got it!! Thx IGN

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, May 16, 2011 2:28 PM

a really great question and answer.   thanks to both of you.

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Posted by Mikec6201 on Monday, May 16, 2011 5:26 PM

OK here's one about people.

There was a very famous person-singer, actor, with alleged ties to the Gambino family. Who was also investigated by J Edger Hoover, but never convicted, of communist ties. He made a train movie in 1965.

Who is this man and what is the movie title?

Extra credit for naming the director AND the name of another train movie that he directed.....Mike

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Posted by al-in-chgo on Monday, May 16, 2011 6:20 PM
al-in-chgo
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Posted by narig01 on Monday, May 16, 2011 7:25 PM

Hoover investigated him for being a communist !! Rgds IGN

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Posted by ShopsYardMaster on Monday, May 16, 2011 11:19 PM

Frank Sinatra in Von Ryan's Express

 

Mark Robson, director, later did Avalanche Express

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Posted by Southerngreen1401 on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 11:48 AM

Of course it is Frank Sinatra. His movie is Von Ryan's Express he was a Actor in it.  But the only movie he was the director is None But the Brave.

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Posted by Mikec6201 on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1:16 PM

 Good job Shopsyardmaster!!

Another interesting bit....The jacket that Sinatra wore was the same one worn br Bob Crane in Hogans Heros

The floor is yours

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Posted by ShopsYardMaster on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 5:10 PM

Staying with entertainers--

Which 50's comedian/singer owned his own railcar, what was the name of the railcar, and it's current location?

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Posted by ZephyrOverland on Sunday, May 22, 2011 9:25 AM

ShopsYardMaster

Staying with entertainers--

Which 50's comedian/singer owned his own railcar, what was the name of the railcar, and it's current location?

 

I've been coming up with a blank.  Could we get a hint? Tongue Tied

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Posted by loopmaster on Sunday, May 22, 2011 11:35 AM

Jackie Gleason, Edna II,  Nashville, Tenn.

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Posted by henry6 on Sunday, May 22, 2011 12:53 PM

My first thought was Gleason, too, but he was not a singer...a comedian who loved music enough to have concieved arrangements for Sammy Spear to actually put on paper and record for Capitol Records.  Singer/ Comedian coming to mind most is Dean Martin which would lead one to believe he'd name a car "Dino" but I don't remember any references to a proclivity for railroading or a private car...but come to think of it, there was this movie he did with Kim Novak that took place in and around a private railroad car....

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Posted by ShopsYardMaster on Sunday, May 22, 2011 1:47 PM

I'll give it to loopmaster. While Gleason was not technically a singer, he did a bit of it on his TV shows.

 

You're up loopmaster.

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Posted by loopmaster on Sunday, May 22, 2011 6:25 PM

I don`t have a question to give, i just knew that jackie gleason loved to party on trains and had his own car.

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Posted by Mikec6201 on Sunday, May 22, 2011 6:44 PM

Don't worry about asking the question, You just might have one that will stump us all. So go ahead and ask something. BTW  Your answer was good,  I looked all over the places I could think of and NEVER came up with Gleason .. Great answer......Mike

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Posted by FlyingCrow on Sunday, May 22, 2011 6:48 PM

Interesting you should mention this.    CSX promised us (The ACL & SAL HS) the movies they archived for the Jackie Gleason trips.      We actually saw them stored here in JAX at the General Office Building and when we went back for another load of "stuff", including the movies, 

poof   Lightning

They had magically disappeared.     Oh well...maybe they'll eventually surface when the person who took them no longer thinks the railroad is looking for them.

 

 

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Posted by henry6 on Sunday, May 22, 2011 6:56 PM

Gleason was afrain of flying and he loved Miami.  SO when he took his show from NY to Miami he would charter a train for the whole entourage.  He lived near Peekskill, NY and so named his production company Peekskill Productions...just a thought I remembered when riding through Peekskill on Amtrak train 233 last Monday.  Whether or not he commuted by train from there, I tend to doubt..

RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.

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Posted by loopmaster on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 1:12 PM

Who built the EDNA II, and from who did Jackie Gleason buy the car?

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Posted by Dragoman on Thursday, May 26, 2011 5:31 PM

According to the Auto-Train pages at www.ThemeTrains.com (specifically http://www.themetrains.com/auto-train-consist-0002-business-car.htm), Auto-Train Business Car 2 was built by Budd in 1950 as Southern Pacific 9012 (a 10-6 sleeper).  Then to Pickens Railroad, who converted it into a business car before selling it to comedian Jackie Gleason.

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Posted by loopmaster on Thursday, May 26, 2011 5:59 PM

That is correct,   it`s your question.

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Posted by Dragoman on Thursday, May 26, 2011 9:38 PM

Thank you loopmaster.

How many train names (for regularly-scheduled US trains -- no specials, please!) included the word "Daylight"?  I don't ask how many trains, because it is possible that the same train may have had several variations of the name in its history.  (OK, that's a small hint, but just for the sake of clarity ...)

For extra credit, can you name any trains which did not have/use the Daylight name, but whose consist was (at least at some time) totally in the distinctive "Daylight" red, orange, and black color scheme?

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, May 27, 2011 11:37 AM

Dragoman

Thank you loopmaster.

How many train names (for regularly-scheduled US trains -- no specials, please!) included the word "Daylight"?  I don't ask how many trains, because it is possible that the same train may have had several variations of the name in its history.  (OK, that's a small hint, but just for the sake of clarity ...)

For extra credit, can you name any trains which did not have/use the Daylight name, but whose consist was (at least at some time) totally in the distinctive "Daylight" red, orange, and black color scheme?

Morning Daylight, Noon Daylight, Coast Daylight, San Joaquin Daylight, Sacramento Daylight, and Coast Starlight/Daylight (not allowable, since this is an Amtrak name).

"Daylight' color scheme--the Sunbeam and the Hustler, which ran between Dallas and Houston. I believe that the same equipment was used for both trains, except that the Hustler (the morning train) did not carry a parlor car. Incidentally, the Hustler did not hustle as fast as the Sunbeam did.

Johnny

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Posted by Dragoman on Friday, May 27, 2011 12:06 PM

Good start, Johnny, but you are missing a few -- including a couple of names that pre-date those you mention, and at least one on the other side of the country!

Also good on the Sunbeam and Hustler.  Though I understand that the Hustler was -- albeit with more stops -- just the Sunbeam consist going in the other direction.  So, would they have taken the parlor car off, just to let it wait for the other Sunbeam consist to come to town?

And, by the way, there is at least one other train I know of in this extra-credit category!

(You didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you?)

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Posted by ZephyrOverland on Friday, May 27, 2011 12:58 PM

Dragoman

How many train names (for regularly-scheduled US trains -- no specials, please!) included the word "Daylight"?  I don't ask how many trains, because it is possible that the same train may have had several variations of the name in its history.  (OK, that's a small hint, but just for the sake of clarity ...)

The following does not include what Johnny mentioned already:

 

Chicago Daylight Express

PRR  Louisville/Cincinnati-Chicago


Chicago Daylight Special

PRR LinesWest  Cincinnati-Chicago


Cincinnati Daylight Express

PRR  Chicago-Cincinnati


Cincinnati Daylight Special

PRR  Chicago-Cincinnati


Daylight, Daylight Special

IC  Chicago-St. Louis


Daylight Limited

SP  Los Angeles-San Francisco


Daylight Express

DLW  Buffalo-Hoboken


Daylight Express

FEC  Jacksonville-Miami


Daylight Express

Frisco  Kansas City-Memphis


Daylight Express

MILW  Minneapolis-Chicago


Daylight Express

M&StL IC  Minneapolis-Omaha


Daylight Express

SR  Jacksonville-Atlanta


Daylight Flyer

Alton  Chicago-St. Louis


Daylight Flyer

Alton, CBQ  St. Louis-Kansas City


Daylight Limited

GN  Seattle-Vancouver


Daylight Limited

LH&StL, LN  St. Louis-Louisville


Daylight Limited

Monon, CH&D  Chicago-Cincinnati


Daylight Special

B&O-Southwestern  Cincinnati-St.Louis


Daylight Speedliner

B&O  Philadelphia-Baltimore-Pittsburgh


Daylight Train

B&O  Washington-Chicago


Daylight Train

CNJ RDG B&O B&O-Southwestern  Jersey City-St. Louis


Great Western Daylight

CGW  Chicago-Minneapolis


Louisiana Daylight

TP  New Orleans-St. Worth-San Antonio


Louisville Daylight Express

PRR  Chicago-Louisville


Louisville Daylight Special

PRR Lines West  Chicago-Louisville


Oakland Daylight

SP  Oakland-San Jose(Los Angeles)


Oakland Lark

SP  Oakland-San Jose(Los Angeles)


Omaha and Des Moines Daylight Express

MStL IC  Minneapolis-Des Moines/Omaha

 

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, May 27, 2011 2:51 PM

Dragoman

Also good on the Sunbeam and Hustler.  Though I understand that the Hustler was -- albeit with more stops -- just the Sunbeam consist going in the other direction.  So, would they have taken the parlor car off, just to let it wait for the other Sunbeam consist to come to town?

Well, I was just going by what is in the SP's representation in the Guide as to the parlor car. Apparently when the Sunbeam arrived at night, the parlor car was cut out and then put back in after the Hustler arrived in the early afternoon. Little, if any, parlor car traffic for the morning train, and save an attendant's wages?

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Posted by Dragoman on Friday, May 27, 2011 3:21 PM

WOW!  ZephyrOverland, your knowledge/resources far outstrip mine!  And I was all excited about recently discovering just B&O's Daylight Speedliner (which you do mention), as a non-Southern Pacific "Daylight".

But both you and Deggesty did miss a fairly obvious one -- SP's Oakland - Portland steamliner, the Shasta Daylight.  And while you do mention SP's Daylight Limited (which was the pre-streamliner San Francisco - LA train), SP's very first steamlined train on the route (in the new colors) was called, simply, the Daylight.  (As was the case with so many trains, like the 400, Eagle, Hiawatha, Mercury, and Zephyr, a successful train would spawn an entire family!)

And, while you (I presume accidentally) mention the Oakland Lark, which was neither a "Daylight" nor was it in "Daylight colors", it does remind me of the last of the extra-credit answers (that I know of).  In 1949, the Noon Daylight was cancelled, and its brightly-colored consist assigned to the Starlight, a new overnight premium all-coach streamlined partner to the streamlined all-Pullman Lark (in its 2-tone gray livery), both on the SF-LA coast route.

So, Deggesty got us started (and got most of the extra-credit), while ZephyrOverland regales us with so many additional examples.  I am overwhelmed and think I have to throw in the towel and declare a tie!

I'll leave it to the two of you to decide who goes next

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Posted by ZephyrOverland on Friday, May 27, 2011 3:47 PM

Dragoman

WOW!  ZephyrOverland, your knowledge/resources far outstrip mine!  And I was all excited about recently discovering just B&O's Daylight Speedliner (which you do mention), as a non-Southern Pacific "Daylight".

But both you and Deggesty did miss a fairly obvious one -- SP's Oakland - Portland steamliner, the Shasta Daylight.  And while you do mention SP's Daylight Limited (which was the pre-streamliner San Francisco - LA train), SP's very first steamlined train on the route (in the new colors) was called, simply, the Daylight.  (As was the case with so many trains, like the 400, Eagle, Hiawatha, Mercury, and Zephyr, a successful train would spawn an entire family!)

And, while you (I presume accidentally) mention the Oakland Lark, which was neither a "Daylight" nor was it in "Daylight colors", it does remind me of the last of the extra-credit answers (that I know of).  In 1949, the Noon Daylight was cancelled, and its brightly-colored consist assigned to the Starlight, a new overnight premium all-coach streamlined partner to the streamlined all-Pullman Lark (in its 2-tone gray livery), both on the SF-LA coast route.

So, Deggesty got us started (and got most of the extra-credit), while ZephyrOverland regales us with so many additional examples.  I am overwhelmed and think I have to throw in the towel and declare a tie!

I'll leave it to the two of you to decide who goes next

You're right, the Oakland Lark was an accidental entry and I had assumed Johnny took care of the Shasta Daylight.

Anyway, even though I had the most entries I'm going to request that Johnny ask the next question.  I will be out of town for the next week and will not have the time to offer and monitor a question.

Take it away Johnny!

Myron

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