G-day Tom and all present.
Sorry for my absence. Every weekend is going to be busy for me through the next couple of weeks.
Leon- Make it a sandwich and a coffee for me please. keep the change
Erie- Glad you liked the little shuffle unit. The only battery powered units that I knew of where from the Milwaukee road. I know there has to be some more of them out there, I just haven't heard of them.
Well, I won't be getting a ride on the X2000 for awhile. Sweden and China seem quite far to me. And your Semaphore pic.. Got to love them. Thats a Upper quadrent semaphore. Ususally you would find the red blades near diamonds and junctions but it seems so small. I haven't seen one like that before. It must be only five feet high. Do you know what railroad this semaphore came from?
You also had some fine pics to show. Liked the rails with the flowers growing all around them. Very interesting. Do you think it gets used much. Also enjoyed the trolley pics that where there. Very cool. Thanks.
DL- It was a shame that a rialroad like the milwaukee had to go bankrupt. They had many offers for mergers but never took them. If they had merged with the Chicago and Northwestern they would probably never gone bankrupt for the final time.
Tom- Well, I hadn't realized that the New York Central had run to St. Louis. I guess I always thought they had run the east coast. And only there. But since I didn't know the history of the railroad I shouldn't have guessed. There always room for improvement.
I will have to put the Via rail on the top list for traveling by railroad. Iw ould like to see the mountains and all the areas of Canada by train. It would be great. plus I only live a 150 miles from the boarder so I will have to go.
Good to see some Milwaukee road Nostalgia going around. Liked it a lot. Back in 1933 it was most likely (since it said Pudget sound) The electrics. Nicely done. Thanks. Also good Amtrak pics. Do you know hoiw fast it was traveling? By the look of it, it had stopped at the station. So it probably got up to speed really quickly.
Pete- Glad you liked the little battery locomotive. I thought it really cool myself. Plug your locomotive in and go. Liked the llandudno shed link. To bad they tore it down. It was a really nice looking shed. I also liked the sound of the steam engine in the back ground. That was cool to listen to the steamer chug up. Good show of pics on the Severn Valley railway. Quite an impressive steam engine. Thanks.
Rob- Glad you liked the Milwaukee road history. Thanks for the comments on the layout. I like how it has turned out! Good to see another little article from you. This time it was the Candian Pacific. Thanks for posting.
Barndad- A good ahow of pics from you. I really liked the conductor shot. A lot of people symbolize the conductor as the train. Just by what he wears gives this scene away. Thanks. Glad to see a Milwaukee trio. The 265 is a sister of the 261. Do you know if the 265 is still located at the IRM? If so, does it run? Also liked the other two Milwaukee road units. I know for a fact that the F7 runs and still looks great. Also the H12-44 is looking good too. Thanks for the photos.
Another good article from you, this time on the Great Western. This must have been quite a railroad back in it's Hay day! Thanks.
Mike- Also a good show of pics from you. The Minneapolis Milwaukee road Station caught my eye. That is one famous station. There was a steeple like roof that extended about 30 or 40 feet above the clock tower that would light up at night but was taken down in the 1920's. It was quite a sight.
Thanks for the pics
CM3- Well I strongly encourage you to start up with the modeling. Unless space is an issue. It sounds like you've got quite a fleet coming. I say you should go out and get a couple SD45s. It would be a great addition. What ever the case, Good luck with the modeling, whenever you can get around to it.
I will be here tomorrow for the Theme of the Day! Can't wait.
Happy railroading
James
Goos morning Captain Tom and all present!!
Just a cup of coffee, Leon!
It has become a habit to visit "Our" Place before bedtime and it is always rewarding!
Doug – OK, lets go for a private car. I actually won $4 last Saturday for a down payment! I am sure it will be more this Wednesday! Interesting story about the CGW. I have to find a picture of the Blue Train. I have heard about it but never seen a picture of it. I like the picture of the Des Moines River viaduct. I have been there and have some pictures from below of passing train. I would like go to Oelwein next May after the rendevouez. You certainly have to be careful planning a Christmas Party! Mike – Interesting story on an unknown short line. The “streamlined” Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf Railroad rail bus looks unusual! Chicago Great Western’s freight station in Minneapolis and their depot in Rochester are nice additions to Barndad's story on the same railroad.Tom – Kind of fun last night, when I went to bed I turned on the TV and they were showing The Polar Express! But it was too late so I saw only a few minutes of the movie.
So the tavern is closed 2 days this Christmas. That is probably a good idea. If I have something I'll slide it in under the door.CM3 – It looks kind of sad when one or more tracks have been removed. I am adding one more picture from B&A. I like your desciption of Lexington station and what was going on there! I can even smell the Christmas trees!
Pete – It is easy mixing up V3 and V1. They look very much the same. I checked the picture of Class 08 and it looks almost exactly the same as V1. I hope you received the picture of V1.I like your Christmas story! Did you ever go to Union Station in St Louis at that time? James – The semaphore picture was taken at Orange Empire Railway Museum and it was so low on purpose, so people could see the details close up. The track with flowers growing around them is the Eagle Mountain Railroad in California. It was used to ore trains from the Eagel Mountain mine to Fontana, CA. I think the last train ran in 1984. I’ve added a picture of another semaphore below. It is on the way from Elmira Heights, NY to Niagara Falls.
Eric
ENCORE! Theme for the Day -
Southern Railway!
from Page 276
Now arriving on track #1 ..... Railroads from Yesteryear! Number Ten Southern Railway (SOU) Used with permission from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Formatting differences made necessary due to Forums requirements. Some heralds from other sources. Locale: U.S. Southern states Reporting marks: SOU Dates of operation: 1894 - 1982 Track gauge: 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) Headquarters: Washington, D.C. The Southern Railway (AAR reporting mark SOU) was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894. It was combined with the Norfolk and Western Railway to form the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982. History 1921 map The nine-mile South Carolina Canal and Rail Road, Southern's earliest predecessor line and one of the first railroads in the United States, was chartered in December 1827 and ran the nation's first regularly scheduled steam powered passenger train - the wood-burning Best Friend of Charleston - out of Charleston, South Carolina, on December 25, 1830. (The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ran regular passenger service earlier that year.) By 1833, its 136-mile line to Hamburg, SC, was the longest in the world. As railroad fever struck other Southern states, networks gradually spread across the South and even across the Allegheny Mountains. Charleston, South Carolina and Memphis, TN, were linked by 1857, although rail expansion halted with the start of the Civil War. The York River Railroad, which operated from the Pamunkey River at West Point, Virginia to Richmond, Virginia, was a major focus of George McClellan's 1862 Peninsular Campaign, which culminated in the Seven Days Battles and devastated the tiny rail link. The Richmond and Danville Railroad was the Confederacy's last link to Richmond, and transported Jefferson Davis and his cabinet to Danville, Virginia just before the fall of Richmond in April 1865. Known as the "first railroad war," the Civil War left the South's railroads and economy devastated. Most of the railroads, however, were repaired, reorganized and operated again. In the area along the Ohio River and Mississippi River, construction of new railroads continued throughout Reconstruction. Southern Railway, as it came into existence in 1894, was a combination of the Richmond and Danville system and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad. The company owned two-thirds of the 4,400 miles of line it operated, and the rest was held through leases, operating agreements and stock ownership. Southern also controlled the Alabama Great Southern and the Georgia Southern and Florida, which operated separately, and it had an interest in the Central of Georgia. Southern's first president, Samuel Spencer, drew more lines into Southern's core system. During his 12-year term, the railway built new shops at Knoxville, TN, and Atlanta, GA and purchased more equipment. He moved the company's service away from an agricultural dependence on tobacco and cotton and centered its efforts on diversifying traffic and industrial development. Sadly, Spencer was killed in train wreck in 1906. By the time the line from Meridian, Mississippi, to New Orleans, LA was acquired in 1916 under Southern's president Fairfax Harrison, the railroad had attained the 8,000-mile, 13-state system that marked its territorial limits for almost half a century. The Central of Georgia became part of the system in 1963, and the former Norfolk Southern Railway was acquired in 1974. Notable features 1895 map Southern and its predecessors were responsible for many firsts in the industry. Its predecessor, the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road, was the first to carry passengers, U.S. troops and mail on steam-powered trains, and it was the first to operate at night. In 1953, Southern Railway became the first major railroad in the United States to convert totally to diesel-powered locomotives, ending its rich history in the golden age of steam. Every diesel locomotive Southern owned had to be ordered with a high hood and pointed long hood forward, this was meant for crew safety in case of accidents with vehicles and from the first GP7 to the last GP50, they came with this option until the tradition stopped with the SD50. From dieselization and shop and yard modernization, to computers and the development of special cars and the unit coal train, Southern often was on the cutting edge of change, earning the company its catch phrase, "The Railway System that Gives a Green Light to Innovations". Merger into Norfolk Southern In response to the creation of CSX in 1980, the Southern Railway merged with Norfolk and Western Railway to form the Norfolk Southern Railway, further consolidating railroads in the eastern half of the United States. Roads owned by the Southern Railway
G'day Gents!
It's Tuesday morning here at the Saloon by the Siding and time for a cuppa freshly ground 'n brewed coffee, some pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery and a selection from our Menu Board for a <light> or <traditional> breakfast!
As has been advertised - we will be CLOSED for two days - Sunday and Christmas (Monday). I'm not planning on being here on either day, so the "stuff" I usually Post on Sunday will appear on Saturday along with the ENCOREs!
Yesterday was best forgotten insofar as my activities here were concerned - was engrossed in real life "stuff," then beset by those signing-in diffiuclties previously explained. No time or tolerance for it, so figured I'd try another day. <groan>
Some acknowledgments are in order:
CM3 at 12:29 PM yesterday: Thanx for the "Christmas on the branch" ENCORE! Surely helps maintain the "feel" for the season! Also, appreciate the round and quartes for our Coal Scuttle! [
You're "in" for Mar 15th - appreciate your participation!
Pete at 4:42 PM yesterday: Appreciate seeing the "Winter Tale" once again - an appropriate ENCORE! for this Christmas season!
Enjoyed checking out the URL you provided on the "Vulcan" - some fine looking equipment, as always!
Perhaps you are overdue for a "crash course" in Brit-English <huh> You may be entering the "Americanization" phase of the language of the land.
E-mail received and responded to . . . thanx!
James at 7:24 PM yesterday: A fine inclusive Post and you've touched all the bases! That's the ticket to ensuring that everyone gets a chance to become engaged in the "talk" here at the Bar by the Ballast!
A recommendation regrding VIA Rail: The cross-Canada trip should be taken from Toronto to Vancouver, for to board the train anywhere else would deprive you of some great scenery and the experience of it all. It's an expensive proposition to travel in a bedroom (Silver & Blue class) but very much worth it in terms of capturing the essence of passenger travel in those beautiful Budd streamliner passenger cars, especially the domes. There are less costly trips - but you've seen mention of them here; the "Ocean" and "Chaleur" being just two. Unfortunately the "Ocean" has discontinued use of the Budd equipment except during "tourist season" which apparently varies on the calendar VIA is using. This year it begins on June 15th - that's when they put the observation dome car on - Park car - a great place to enjoy the sights from Montreal to Halifax. Check out: www.viarail.ca for more info . . .
If you were referring to the Amtrak Pix I provided on Sunday - those were taken at the Kirkwood, MO station and of course the train was at a crawl arriving and departing. Otherwise, I'm not sure of the reference . . .
Eric at 12:23 AM today: Another 'early bird' but always welcome! Two fine Pix to put me in the mood for a train trip! Of course, it doesn't take much for THAT to occur!
Highly recommend viewing The Polar Express flick - really well done and surely a Christmas "classic" for watching again 'n again at this time of year.
Hope to see some particpation in our Tuesday Theme for the Day - Southern Railway (U.S. style!). For those who may not know, Great Britain also has a Southern Railway . . . and I expect we'll be reading a bit from DL 'n Pete about it one of these days!
10,000th Post CONTEST entries:
Feb 14th - BK
Feb 15th - Lars
Mar 12th - Pete
Jan 1st - James
Jan 28th - Eric
Jan 18th - DL
Feb 8th - Doug
Jan 31st - Rob
Mar 15th - CM3
CONTEST closes on Fri, Dec 22nd
Reminder: Ruth opens up at 9 AM until Leon the night man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.
Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!
Tom
Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the way...
A couple ads to start
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/graphics/sr0198.jpg
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/T/T32/T3258-72dpi.jpeg
Best Friend of Charleston 1948
http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/archives/cushman/full/P04025.jpg
http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/archives/cushman/full/P04060.jpg
4-8-2 at Chattanooga 1929
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015267.jpg
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015252.jpg
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015261.jpg
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015253.jpg
4-6-2 Ponce de Leon at Jacksonville 1932
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015276.jpg
4-6-2 Royal Palm at Jacksonville 1932
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015288.jpg
2-8-2 at Hattiesburg 1936
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015287.jpg
EMD F3 near Chattanooga 1950
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015290.jpg
EMD E7 The Crescent at Inman, SC 1950
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015289.jpg
Alco DL-109 at Johnson City, TN 1950
http://photoswest.org/photos/00015251/00015291.jpg
Alco PA1
http://www.cbu.edu/~mcondren/MRP/images/SRR-Tennessean-2-jpl-3.jpg
Bristol 1941, the new Tennessean ceremonies
http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/spcollimages/av/lane/jpeg/LBCE21-030a.jpg
http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/spcollimages/av/lane/jpeg/LBCE21-036a.jpg
http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/spcollimages/av/lane/jpeg/LBCE21-032a.jpg
Semaphore
http://www.srha.net/photos/SR7201xx07bwL.jpg
Traffic stopper
http://www.srha.net/photos/SR6903xx1143wL.jpg
The Cresent on its last run in 1979
http://www.srha.net/photos/SR79013111bwL.jpg
Mike
Good Morning Barkeep and All Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.
A few comments and then on to the Southern.
Pete - Had to be P&W train you saw. BTW, the P Company had an extremely short branch which ran from Princeton Jct. to Princeton, NJ. It was electrified and served by an MP54 MU car. Nickname for this line was the PJ&BA (Princeton Junction and Back Again.)
Eric - State Line Tunnel - Excellent! Have many memories of that spot. For those not familiar it is very close to the Massachusetts-New York border. It used to have two tunnels, but is now down to one. Thanks for sharing.
Mike provided some interesting URLs re the Southern. The first ad is from the period when Southern was highlighting industrial development, etc. It was fallout from the "New South" movement which came about after what my friends in Nashville used to call the "Recent Unpleasantness." Also, check out the varieties of power in some of the pictures. There were not too many DL109s or PAs on the SOU, but they sure did look pretty. I had the good fortune of making 34 trips on the Crescent over the years; my, my it was a fine train. Recall riding in the lounge car with Mr. Claytor - a good man, still missed today. He was very approachable and easy to talk with. But that's another story for another time.
Herewith a SOU encore.
Southern Railway System - 1969
"Crescent" between New York, Washington, Atlanta
SOU 37/38 Northbound operated via L&N between New Orleans and Montgomery, A&WP between Montgomery and Atlanta and SOU from Atlanta to Washington
Sleeping cars
11dbr: Washington to Atlanta
10 rtte/6db: Atlanta to New York; Atlanta to Washington
Dining Car: Washington-Atlanta
Diner lounge: New Orleans-Montgomery
Coaches: Washington-Atlanta, New Orleans-Atlanta
"Southerner" between New York, Washington, Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans
SOU 47/48 (NOTE: Ran with SOU 37 between New York and Atlanta) Dep. Atlanta 9:40 a.m. (ET), arr. New Orleans 8:40 p.m. (CT)
Sleeping cars:
11 dbr: Atlanta - Washington
10 rtte/6db: Washington-Birmingham-New Orleans
10 rtte/6 db: New York-Atlanta
DR, MR, buffet lounge: Washington-Atlanta
Dining Car: Washington-New Orleans
Tavern lounge car: Washington-Atlanta
Reclining seat coaches: Washington-New Orleans, New York-New Orleans (2 cars), Atlanta to Washington
Coaches: Washington-Atlanta
"Peach Queen" between New York, Washington, Greensboro; New York, Asheville
Southbound Charlotte, Atlanta, Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans
PC 175-155-137/SOU 29
Sleeping cars - Northbound sleepers operated in SOU 38
10 rtte/6 db: New York-Atlanta, Washington-Atlanta
10 rtte/6 db: New York-Asheville (in SOU 15 from Greensboro) Northbound in
SOU 16-38
Dining Car: Greensboro-Atlanta, Mobile-New Orleans
Reclining Seat Coach: New York to Atlanta
Reclining Seat Coaches: Washington-Atlanta, Greensboro-Asheville, Atlanta-New Orleans
"Asheville Special" between New York, Washington, Asheville
PC 175-155-137/SOU 29-15
PC 140-4/SOU 16-38
This train dep. Greensboro 7:00 a.m., arr. Asheville at 12:13 p.m.; dep. Asheville 1:35 p.m. arrive Greensboro at 705 p.m.
Sleeping car 10 rtte/6db: New York-Asheville
Dining Car: Greensboro-Washington
Reclining Seat Coach; New York-Greensboro (Atlanta)
Reclining Seat Coaches: : Washington-Greensboro, Greensboro-Asheville
"Birmingham Special" between Washington, Chattanooga, Birmingham
PC 137/107/SOU 17
PC 154/SOU 18
Operated via SOU between Washington and Lynchburg, N&W between Lynchburg and Bristol, SOU between Bristol and Birmingham
Dining Car: Washington-Monroe
Reclining Seat Coaches: Washington-Birmingham
Between Washington-Bristol-Roanoke and Bluefield
Operated via SOU between Washington and Lynchburg and N&W between Lynchburg and Bristol
SOU 41
SOU 42
Reclining Seat Coaches: Washington-Bristol
Between Cincinnati and Somerset (pending discontinuance) - Numbers were the same in TT
SOU 3/4
Coaches
Between Atlanta and Dalton (pending discontinuance) - Numbers were the same in TT
work safe
Hi Tom
I'll have a pint of Bateman's Mild please.
Thanks to yourself and ‘miner for clarification on the NYC and PRR issues, helps increase the knowledge base.
Doug, nice run down on the IRM stock the other day - interesting stuff. Sounds like a great museum.
Takes me on to Rob's comments about the number of preserved steam etc in the UK - I think on reflection we are pretty lucky, reflects a lot of work by a lot of people over the years. EG within about 40 miles of me there are probably 6 good steam preservation places (+ a streetcar museum), some of these being quite big operations with plenty to see.
Tom - the itinerary you and Pete have cooked up for Canada looks like a good one - some of the places I failed to get to, but it will be a very good trip - worth doing the whole thing if you're gonna go that far!
Incidentally - and this touches on something Pete has mentioned about Google searches - I think Google works by ‘remembering' the sorts of websites your PC views, so if you view Our Place frequently and then you search for something that is mentioned at Our Place, then it picks that for you high up - does not mean it would be the same for the next guy. I think this is how it works anyway, someone with more IT knowledge than myself might be able to clarify.
Pete - just back to your previous post, I can't help repeating the gist of the comment Eric made - so essentially what you are saying is you spent 11 days behind main line steam in some of the UK's most scenic locations and this ended up with you finding a bride? Well, all good things follow those who follow the steel rail is all I can say. (And the only downside of this is that it ended up with you living in a place where they not only drink cold beer, but claim to like it cold?)
Incidentally - your Scottish itinerary did not include the Far North line - have you ever ridden that route? - one of my favourites, superb coastline stretches near the most remote beaches and then wild open country that really is seriously remote (by UK standards).
I've stayed in these Camping Coaches on this line, which are really nicely done:
http://www.sleeperzzz.com/index.php
Interesting comments re the Ex Barry locos, I don't read the preservation press so was not aware of that - would be ashamed to loose some stuff after all these years, although using parts to make missing engines is no bad idea.
Good Llandudno link - what a Car shed! Why could that not have been converted to a supermarket instead of the bland building in the replacement photo? Or better still moved brick by brick to a preservation site - You'd get some rakes of coaches in there - I know a few preserved railways are desperate for proper under cover storage for their pre 1948 stuck (eg LNER teak bodied stuff etc) - it would have been perfect!
Batemans tour - I guess Alan knows the proximity of the brewery to Wainfleet station on the Skegness line - I've done the full brewery tour (need to go mid week for that) which is great, and the village where the brewery is sited has a few nice pubs if you can tear yourself away from the brewery site itself. Well worth a trip, and the Skegness line itself is always of interest. They did an evening beer train (train with barrel of beer on baord plus folk band playing in one car) from here to Wainfleet 3 weeks back, but I did not know in advance so missed the opportunity - hopefully there will be another one.
On a topical point you may be interested to know GNER has gone down the pan (announced last Friday) - (this company is owned by Sea Containers which will ring a bell to you statesiders). Essentially they have handed in their franchise but govt are allowing them to continue to operate it until a new bidder is selected in about 18 months. I fear this will result in major cut backs to restaurant cars and a reduction in customer service. Essentially they over bid for the right to run the route and can't make it pay - or so it would appear.
By the way a mate of mine leant me a handful of old Modern Railway magazines he had had from his youth - I avoid buying these when I see them on mass but reading the odd one is of immense interest. The one I'm looking at now is from June 63. Beeching Report just published, much debate about that, some pics of Viscount Garnock just having bought his LNER loco (as you mentioned a few posts back now), pics of pre grouping steam in action, plus pics of an LMS /BR LMR operated Budd built stainless carriage called ‘Silver Princess' built for UK use, no doubt in hope of further orders (I'll have to find out more about this for you Budd fans (eg TOM)). I'll post some more about highlights from this mag in due course.
Yes, I'll keep of the UK southern railway theme for today, but will read and learn more about the US
SR as theme day develops!
Festive greetings all
Cheerio
DL
Good Morning Captain Tom and fellow sophisticates!
Greetings from Alberta which in all probability will be my last for several weeks. Ruth, a round on me, a steaming mug of coffee with just a "splash" to make it interesting, and a couple of crullers from the Mentor Village Bakery; thank you!
I have received many e-mails from several of you and appreciate being placed on the distribution for your thoughts. However, perhaps you should consider dropping my addresss, at least until my return, as I am not planning to access that account. It was established strictly for the bar. Further, I must admit that my habits are rather hit and miss when it comes to checking the in box.
It has been a most exasperating experience since Saturday morning with reference to logging into the forums. For whatever the reason, my efforts were to no avail. I could read what had been provided, but could not contribute. That continued through Sunday and probably yesterday. I was not "up" on Monday, therefore I cannot speak with authority on the situation in the ether. <groan> I can well understand how these experiences can, and probably do, drive some to take their leisure time elsewhere.
Captain Tom, I read your most recent thoughts this morning and since I am not planning to respond in kind, let me simply say that you have summed the situation up quite well. If the bar has relocated prior to my return, I will contact you to find out where.
I enjoyed the feature Theme for the Day that you, Tom, provided and recall that the first time around, the Southern Railway was well received. I have a few photos to offer and then will have to return to helping Lydia with the last minute arrangements before we depart.
Of the Sunday photo display, Tom, I enjoyed those Train Wreck saloon shots along with those taken at the local train station. Even the window display of the Lionel train provided just a bit of a flashback to the days when department stores featured those elaborate layouts. Nicely done, Sir Tom, and if the opportunity presents itself, I would dearly love to hoist a toast to those of you at the Rendezvous!
I shall miss this place. The mascots, the banter at the bar, t he staff, the enormous amounts of reading material, the humor from Doug (if we still are able to call it that!) and the comfort in knowing that there is indeed a special place set aside for those of us with like minds (as Tom mentioned in his e-mail).
A very special Christmas and New Years greeting to all who have been so kind to me over the months I have been a part of this group. In particular, Sir Lars and Sir Rob and Sir Doug and Sir CM3 and Sir Pete and Sir Nick (is he "off" again??) and of course, Sir Tom. Wishing all of you and yours the happiest of holidays!
Southern Railway No. 1401 at the Smithsonian Instiution, Washington, D.C.
Southern 2-8-8-2 #4057 (1938)(from: www.yesteryeardepot.com)
Southern 4-8-2 #495 (1950)(from: www.yesteryeardepot.com)
Southern Railway 2-8-8-2 #4053 (1946)(from: www.yesteryeardepot.com)
BK in Alberta, Canada's beautiful high mountain country!
Greetings Captain Tom and fellow travelers at the bar!
Ruth, a tankard of Keiths fine ale, some snacks for the critters, a small jar of pickled pig's feet for Boris and a round for the boys!
Southern Railway it is and a fine job, as always, by our Proprietor, Captain Tom with his early, early morning arrival for the featured road! What in the world were you doing up so late/eary?? Hope it was nothing more than a touch of insomnia. Happens to us old guys now 'n then, huh
Great to see my "bookend" finally make it to the bar, but just a bit sad to know that he'll be gone for quite awhile. Bon voyage to you 'n Lydia and think of us shivering back here in the not-so-temperate zones of North America! <grin> Also, a very Merry Christmas and most Happy 2007 to you both!
I too have received your email, Tom. You're driving the ship, so whatever you decide is fine with me. You know I'm "good" for an opinion or two, and will be danged if I give a rat's patoot about hurt feelings from those who should have the bar's interest at heart and not something else. The only way corrective measures can be taken in life's problems is to recognize there is a problem. Otherwise the ship takes on far too much water and down she goes.
I've held off my rant regarding yet another loss for my Jints. What's to say, other than for a season to begin with such promise and now wind up as it has, well, I think I said it!
That Train Wreck bar looks terrific! What a great bunch of pix and it surely makes for a "must" stop during the Rendezvous in May. Perhaps you should carefully consider the "when" part, for guys could get awfully comfortable, in my not-so-humble opinion! My guess is you 'n Pete had a fine time and it's nice that some of us can get together in real life. Way to go!
Sounds to me as if you and the Wolfman have charted quite an adventure for yourselves. Appears that May is going to be a busy month for you guys. The Rendezvous and then two rail trips plus a trip to that rail museum near Montreal. Sounds great! If you don't mind, would you send me the itinerary when known Never know, I just may be able to join you guys for some of the festivities.
Between the Jints losing, my not being able to log on to the forums and the 'stuff' circulating on email, I simply haven't been in the proper frame of mind to be sociable. However, that's over and I'd like to submit my offering for this Tuesday's Theme - book covers!
Ruth, one more, then I better skedaddle, I think my name is being belowed called . . . <grin>
Until the next time!
Lars
Hi Tom and all.
I'll join DL in a Bateman's please RUTH.
I'll catch up on the posts before the Theme Day if I may.
JAMES Yes that is a great web site on the Llandudno Junction loco shed, glad you enjoyed it.
The Severn Valley Railway is a wonderful line to travel on as it follows the River Severn in some pleasant scenery; it is a single line with passing loops at the stations. In the autumn they run continuous steam trains for 3 days, to see the original stations some lit by oil lights at 2 AM in a steam heated train is magical.
ERIC Thanks for the e-mail. I have a link to the class 11 diesel shunters, which were the forerunners of the class 08s.
http://www.watercressline.co.uk/tw/pages/12049.htm
When went to St Louis we were lucky, as the bride was able to get a very reasonable rate to stay at the Hyatt hotel which is situated in the upstairs of the Union Station site. The dining room is quite ornate perhaps TOM knows if this part was a part of the original. It was also a very pleasant surprise to find the vintage F units and cars which were stored along side the Union Station site, as I had no idea they were there at the time.
MIKE Thanks for the Southern railway links. I found the 2nd advert rather sad as it announced the end of steam of the Southern Railway. Good selection of SR motive power staring with the "Best Friend".
CM3 The Princeton Junction to Princeton N.J. sounds an interesting line, where the trains very frequent on the line? On the Stourbridge Junction to Town line it seems the driver takes longer changing ends that he does driving. I heard that a vehicle called the Parry People Mover was going to be used on the line. This is powered by a large flywheel, which it 'charged up' at both ends of the line.
Thanks for the details of the SR named trains in 1969. It must have been great to travel on the Crescent in those days. It will be good to hear more about Mr. Clayton.
DL thanks for the info on the computer search; I'm afraid I know next to nothing about computers.
As you say it is indeed a shame about the Llandudno Jct carriage shed. It is amazing, on that great web site, how the former railwaymen at the depot have so much affection for the depot..
Yes it was a great time in 2000 on the Highland steam tour, started by a trip on the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William with the first part spent in the bar car until it ran out of beer. I think you would have the ale we had I had at the Train Wreak with Tom the winter ale was very good.
I have traveled on the Far North line by steam. I can quite recall the year but they ran a Stanier 8F 2-8-0 from Inverness up to Wick and Thurso, after a night in Thurso the loco worked Thurso to Wick the next morning for local people while we had busses that we took to photograph the train in the Highland Scenery. Then it was Wick back to Inverness. It was the first steam train to Thurso/ Wick since the 1960s. As there isn't anywhere to turn the loco at Thurso, the 8F worked tender first up to Thurso and chimney first back, a good decision as the weather turned nasty on the way back. On the bride's visits to Britain we stayed in Inverness and visited the Far North line to Thurso, this time it was a 158 Diesel unit.
I don't think steam as been up to Thurso since although I see that next year there is to be a 'Great Britain Steam Tour' that is going to have steam all the way from Penzance to Thurso with nights in hotels.
It IS sad to hear about GNER to my mind they were, by far, the best privatised rail company..
Central Trains a few years ago used to advertise a ticket from stations in the West Midlands to Wainfleet , which included a Bateman's Brewery tour, in the week. Unfortunately I was at work and could not go on it, I don't think it is available now.
That is the first I have heard of the BUDD Silver Princess coaches it will be very interesting to find out more about them.
Good photo of the Camping Coach, at one time they were very popular on UK railways. I believe there are some at Dawlish in Devon.
BK It is really good to see you in the Bar before you leave for your trip. Sorry you have been having connection problems on the computer. Many thanks for the kind wishes for Christmas and may I wish the same to Lydia and yourself.
I think that is a great pic of No 1401 in the Smithsonian. The Southern design of tender to me was one of the best it really improves the appearance of their locos.
Have a great trip.
TOM I see you was up very early doing the Southern Railway posts. I see that is an old and detailed map as it shows the Bagnal line from Jefferson City. The Southern turn it to a great line after its early struggles, a line well worth reading about again, Thanks TOM.
Glad you enjoyed the Winter Tale again.
It looks my turn to have probs with the computer I lost the internet connection and have just got it back, luckily I was able to save this in the Word. I'll post this(I hope) and will call in later as we are going out for a while now.
Here's another Fallen Flag for the gang from Classic American Railroads:
first Posted on page 155
Southern (SOU) Headquarters: Washington, DC Mileage in 1950: 6,300 Locomotives in 1963: Diesel: 644 Rolling stock in 1963: Freight cars: 40,038 Passenger cars: 587 Principal routes in 1950: (not all)Washington, DC-Charlotte, NC-Atlanta, GA-Birmingham, AL-New Orleans, LA Cincinnati, OH-Chattanooga, TN-Birmingham Danville, KY-St. Louis, MO Chattanooga-Memphis, TN Chattanooga-Morristown-Knoxville-Bristol, TN Chattanooga-Atlanta-Valdosta, FL-Jacksonville, FL Valdosta-Palatka, FL Salisbury-Asheville, NC-Morristown, TN Asheville-Spartanburg-Charleston, SC Charlotte-Jacksonville Danville-West Point, VA Greensboro, NC-Norfolk, VA Rome, GA-Mobile, AL Passenger trains of note: (not all)Aiken-Augusta Special (Washington-Salisbury-Augusta) Asheville Special (Washington-Greensboro-Asheville) Birmingham Special (Washington-Lynchburg-Bristol-Knoxvillle-Chattanooga-Birmingham Carolina Special (Cincinnati-Knoxville-Asheville-Greensboro & Charleston) Crescent (New York-Washington-Atlanta-Montgomery-New Orleans)) Florida Sunbeam (Cincinnati-Atlanta-Florida points) Kansas City-Florida Special (Kansas City-Birmingham-Atlanta-Brunswick & Florida points) Peach Queen (Washington-Atlanta) Pelican (New York-Lynchburg-Bristol-Knoxville-Chattanooga-Birmingham-New Orleans) Piedmont Limited (Washington-Atlanta-Montgomery-New Orleans) Ponce de Leon (Cincinnati-Atlanta-Jacksonville) Queen & Crescent (Cincinnati-Chattanooga-Birmingham-New Orleans) Royal Palm (Cincinnati-Chattanooga-Jacksonville) Skyland Special (Asheville-Jacksonville) Southerner (Washington-Atlanta-Birmingham-New Orleans) Sunnyland (Memphis-Birmingham-Atlanta) Tennessean (Washington-Lynchburg-Bristol-Knoxville-Chattanooga-Memphis) Washington-Atlanta-New Orleans Express (Washington-Atlanta-Montgomery-New Orleans) Of note: PRR handled SR trains east of Washington. N&W handled SR trains via Bristol between Lynchburg and Bristol. A&WP handled SR trains to and from New Orleans via Montgomery. WRofA and L&N handled SR trains to and from New Orleans via Montgomery west of Atlanta. Frisco handled SR trains between Memphis and Birmingham, west of Birmingham (The Kansas City-Florida Special). Frisco handled SR trains handled the Sunnyland Memphis-Birmingham route. SAL handled SR train The Florida Sunbeam south of Jacksonville. Enjoy! Tom
G-day Tom and all present!
Leon- Just a coffee for me tonight but, get the guys a round, Thanks
Eric- I does make sense to lower the Semaphore, to show the detial. But thanks for clearing that up. At the NSSR in Duluth, we still have the tiny dwarf semaphores used to bring in the passenger trains. They're really cool looking little signals.
Well, since the ore trains no longer use the line, what is it used for now? Anything? And another great Semaphore pic from you, thanks.
Tom- Thanks for the small portion of History on the Southern RR. Now I see how the NS was formed. Thanks
I will have to take your advice on the Via rail run. I would love to see all that I can. So when it comes to that time, I will do so, thanks. Also, Yes I meant to say that the Amtrak train was located at Kirkwood, so that you could better understand. Anywho, Nice pics.
Mike- Thanks for the many pics posted. Nice Semaphore post. I think those are E7s coming through, and by the looks of it, they have a high green too. Nice pics.
CM3- Good little portion on the Southern Railways Cresent passenger train. Must have been quite a ride. Thanks for the info.
Budkarr- Nice selection of steam pics from you. I see you have an IRM steamer in the bunch. They did a good job in restoring that locomotive. Thanks.
Lars- Thanks for all the book covers. There are always a few that catch my eye, thanks.
Pete- Steam heated Passenger trains!!!! I wish we still had that. I now envy the British trains. That goes way back here in the U.S. The steam was taken out quite awhile ago. You guys still have it and thats great. I would love to ride someday! Thanks.
Now it's time for picture posting! Theme of the day!
A little newer southern Railway but still old fashion at the same time. The station maintaner is handing the crew there orders. This is nolonger done with the now more improved radio. Pretty cool shot.
Photo from: focalplanerrblog.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_foca...
I know this is not the southern railway we are talking about but, DL had mentioned something about a southern railway in Britain. This would be located at Keyness station on the Bluebell railrway. The Southern Railway Q1 Class 0-6-0 locomotive.
Photo from: southern.railfan.net/.../e_units/e_unit.html
Photo by: This photo was posted to A.B.P.R by Gary Morris. It was taken in New Orleans during May 1979.
Here is a passenger train that I "believe" is traveling a high rate of speed. It looks good with all the smoke rolling out. Probably not the best for the enviroment but still looks good.
Good evening Tom and gents! I'll have a bottomless draught and buy a round for the house. I've some catching-up to do here as usual, starting with Mike's little known railroads. Hey CM3 I wish that the Christmas season would go back to starting after Thanksgiving, and not before Halloween, as it does now. Don't know anything more on that trainset Peter. We had our chance. Just snagged a 2007 IRM calendar today, and just as I predicted, neither steam nor the Zephyr will run. I'm hoping for both to happen in 2008. Yep James, the 265 is still at the museum. Come and see her! Not sure if she runs. There are only a few diesels run with any kind of regularity, and the 265 is not one of them. Neat stuff from you Eric. Sad seeing the removed track but nifty shot from the cab! Wow! Look how early Tom put in the SR theme stuff today! Then we got many many URLs from Mike, and 1969 SR routes from CM3. Glad you liked the IRM stuff DL. I too find the old rail magazines interesting. I have some that are almost 100 years old. Great to see BK here today, and his wonderful Southern pix. Good to see manager Lars again too, and his usual collection of theme-related book covers. I may not have any books specific to the Southern, but I do have many of their trade magazine, which are titled "Ties". I think you guys are going to like this. Here is my first offering:
Confronted with the device pictured here, the casual observer might conclude Southern has taken to carting its own portable tunnels around.
Actually, it's a portable form being used for the pouring of the concrete lining inside the greatly enlarged Swannanoa tunnel on the Southern's Asheville division. "Opening up" the Swannanoa is part of the railway's bottleneck-breaking project on the Asheville division, where seven narrow tunnels with low clearances have in the past kept Southern's big new cars from being used most effectively to save money for shippers and the public.
In the past, such equipment as the "Big Boy" box cars and others have had to be circuitously routed to avoid these low, narrow clearances on the division. Work being done on the Asheville division will let our largest cars travel the most direct routes to serve our customers better. Result: Savings in time and money for all concerned.
It was also in the interest of saving time and money that the contractor on this job - Cowin & Company, Inc., of Birmingham, Ala. - conceived of the form shown here at the Swannanoa tunnel.
The form "slips" inside the permanent steel frame (seen projecting from the end of the tunnel) which lies against the natural face of the greatly enlarged bore of the Swannanoa tunnel. When the form is in place, 17 inches of space remains between it and the permanent steel frame.
The outside of the form fits snugly at the bottom against a permanent concrete "curb" that is poured beforehand. This curb is as high as track level, which is two feet higher than the lip of the form.
Once the 30-foot-long form is in place, concrete is pumped through the "doors" which can be detected in vague outline on the form tops and sides. One door near the top in the side of the form (top picture) is open, as are two doors in the top of the form (second picture).
The concrete - while filling the 17-inch space between the form and the steel frame that lies hard against the natural wall of the tunnel - is kept from running out the sides by wooden sheeting which is held in place at the bottom of the curb.
When the concrete has set, the form is "broken loose" through the operation of mechanical devices which swing the bottom of the form inward, causing the form to slip down and away from the hardened concrete. Then the form is moved on the next 30-foot section that is to be poured.
This form is being used in the Swannanoa tunnel only. In other tunnels being "opened up", wooden forms are being used because the curvature of the track inside the tunnels make it necessary to construct each section of form according to local conditions.
The expense of using wooden forms inside the 1,822-foot-long Swannanoa is being avoided through the use of this steel form; and the time-saving use of the steel form is made possible by the straight line of the track going through Swannanoa tunnel.
So the actual work of "opening up" the Swannanoa is being carried out in the same spirit as that which led to the project in the first place - the spirit of doing the job at hand in new ways that will save time and money for everyone concerned.
Hi Tom and all
I'm back LEON,so a pint of Batemans Victory please .
When the bride said we had to out by 5 PM I had no probs but when the internet link was lost I was stuck. Luckily I did not lose the post.
LARS Great to see you in after the problems getting on the forum .Good words on the bar..
The subject of WHEN the best time to go the Train Wreck Saloon did crop up, as it will be a lot harder to leave then to enter,I am really looking forward to getting the beers from the bar in the caboose. So we may see you when we are in Canada? Great.
Thanks for the book covers, they have great photos of the Southern locos on them.
JAMES. The main lines of British Railways went over to electric heat many years ago, it is on the preserved lines that use steam heat,although there may be some steam specials on the main line that are steam heated. In my opinion it is a much more better heat than electric. Up to the late 70s there were quite a few diesel classes that had boilers so they could provide steam heating.
Thanks for the Southern photos. Quite a while ago we had a discussion on the Q1 locos in the bar, as in your pic, they were the strangest looking locos to work on BR, in my opinion.
DOUG Good to see you. Very interesting article on the enlarging of the Swannanoa Tunnel.
I too enjoy reading the old railway magazines, especially those from the 50s..
TOM Enjoyed the Fallen Flag on the Southern. That is quite an impressive list of the Passenger Trains of Note.
For my contribution I have "borrowed" a post from Passengerfan AL on the Crescent Limited from Page 276.
PASSENGERFAN AL'S STREAMLINER CORNER # 74 L&N/A&WP/WofA/ SOU/PRR CRESCENT LIMITED (December 17, 1949) By Al The pride of the SOUTHERN was the all Pullman CRESCENT LIMITED and when its lightweight streamlined replacement entered service it was just in time for the Christmas rush of 1949. The new streamlined CRES-CENT LIMITED was an all Pullman train initially only between New York City and Atlanta, beyond Atlanta to New Orleans the CRESCENT LIMITED operated with Coaches added. The CRESCENT LIMITED was one of only three postwar streamlined trains to carry the most deluxe sleeping car space the Master Room; the other two postwar trains with this space were both PRR trains the BROADWAY LIMITED and the LIBERTY LIMITED. The general makeup of the CRESCENT LIMITED was initially a pair of EMD E7A units south of Washington, They were trailed by a Baggage 60' Railway Post Office Car, a Baggage 21 Crew Dormitory Car, five sleeping cars, a dining Car and five more sleeping cars one being a Sleeper Lounge located next to the Dining Car. As was the case with the NEW ROYAL PALM the streamlined 5 Double Bedroom Buffet 25 seat High Windowed Lounge Observations were not ready for the train's debut as a streamliner. The L&N, A&WP, W of A, Southern, and PRR all contributed cars to the lightweight streamlined CRESCENT LIMITED. TTFN Al
Well LEON one more pint and a round for the regulars please.
Pete.
Good morning Captain Tom and all present!!
Leon, I would like my favorite tonight, Rumpsteak Café de Paris! Thank you!
A lot of interesting info on Southern Railway today! I did not know much about them, basically just that the Crescent Limited was a SR train.
Tom – Thanks for the info on Southern Railway, a road I don’t know much about! Until now, that is. I can see that the former president , W. Graham Claytor,of Amtrak was a president of the Southern Railway for ten years! I talked to him a few times and he was a very nice man! SR had a lot of passenger trains with some fancy names!Mike – A whole bunch of old pitures of Southern! Nice pictures and I think I like one with the train passing a couple of semaphores the best. Thanks!CM3 – Wow, you know a lot about the B & A line. Maybe you have some information about the picture below, also from tha B & A line. There was a guy living in that old caboose nad I was told about him when I took the picture, but now I can’t recall much (= nothing).Thanks for the SR train info!
DL – Those Camping Coaches look real nice. Are they old sleepers or plain coaches?BK – Nice pictures of the SR locomotives. I remember I saw No. 1401 at the Smithsonian Institution 1992-93. In case you don’t have time/possibility to stop by again before your trip to Hawaii I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Lars – Quite a few book covers with many nice pictures of SR Locomotives!! More to look for.Pete – After checking your link I agree, Class 11 looks almost identical to Class V1. At least one of the two V1 is still operational. It now belongs to a railroad museum in northern Sweden.Hyatt is the same hotel I stayed at when I was in St. Louis 1993 with the X2000.Crescent Limited, one of the few trains I knew about before reading all material about SR tonight. I have a model of a Crescent Limited steam locomotive (#1401?) that is actually a phone. James – Tiny dwarf semaphores? Are they something like the ones you can see on the picture below? I like the SR picture you’ve posted! It is indeed a pretty cool shot.
Doug – Interesting info on the Swannanoa tunnel! Smart way to get the concrete lining in place.
Good morning Tom and friends. I'll have a light breakfast, and leave you with some reading material. It's off to work with me! Have a great day
Ninety-four hogheads alongside the "Big Boy car. Thirty-six hogheads alongside the standard car. Built to recapture tobacco traffic for Southern, the "Big Boy" is doing that - and more. Other shippers are finding its high-volume loading of value as well.
When Southern Railway designed and built the "Big Boy" box car and assigned it the mission of bringing tobacco traffic back to the rails, the prediction was that shippers of other lightweight, bulky commodities would also take an interest in the car's possibilities for them.
The prediction has become fact and the "Big Boy" cars - believed to be the biggest railroad cars now in use for general freight service - are ranging far and wide, making money for Southern and showing how users in a variety of industries can cut their costs of transportation.
One of the reasons the "Big Boy" equipment can vut transportation costs was illustrated by a dramatic photograph in the June 8 issue of the nationally circulated magazine Business Week.
Used as the lead-ff illustration for an article titled "Boxcars go to battle for the Southern," the photo showed a "Big Boy" and a standard box car with the tobacco hogheads that each can carry arranged alongside the cars,.
There were 964 hogheads alongside the "Big Boy." There were only 36 alongside the standard car.
The photo - taken at an R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company warehouse near Winston-Salem, N.C. - made clear the meaning of what Southern President D.W. Brosnan meant when he told Business Week: "We're going to fight for the traffic that's rightfully ours and we're going to keep fighting until we win."
It is this dynamic determination to create competition - not just meet it - which led to Southern Railway's development of the "Big Boy" car in the first place.
As Business Week relates it:
"Tobacco represents a typical example of what the Southern has done. It is, of course, one of the major crops grown in the Southern's territory. At one time it all went by rail, but bit by bit it switched to trucks as they grew bigger and more efficient, highways improved and truck rates came down.
"The first thing the Southern did was to research the market thoroughly. It asked questions such as "Where does the tobacco come from, where does it go, does it always travel in hogsheads, why did it go to trucks, was the service better, lower rates?"
"The Southern officials then had a roundtable discussion to see what they could do. The standard boxcar, they discovered, simply was not an economic vehicle for carrying hogsheads, it was too small, and too much time was required to load and unload the giant barrels. So the Southern designed an entirely new car with wide doors and such cavernous interior that the road then had to put skylights in the roof to relieve the inky darkness."
"The final step in the process - after building and testing the car and after discovering how significantly it reduced the Southern's handling costs - was to reduce rates. As a result, the tobacco traffic is now coming back."
As the Business Week article then went on to note, Southern's "Big Boy" box car has entered the "fight for the traffic that's rightfully ours" on more than one front. Tobacco was only the beginning, and the end is nowhere in sight.
There is cotton.
A southern "Big Boy" was switched into the Spring Hills Cotton Mills warehouse at Fort Lawn, S.C., recently with 251 bales of California cotton.
Weighing 126,037 pounds, the bales were of a type called "gin standard." The accepted average for this kind of bale is 2 ½ bales of cotton per acre. That meant 100 acres of cotton in one car.
It was more than twice the amount of cotton that can be loaded into a standard car, which carries between 100 to 110 bales.
And the 10-foot-wide doorway allowed workmen to unload this greatly increased volume in the sharply reduced time of something like an hour ... with time out for a soft drink. In contrast to the hour it took to unload the 251 bales of cotton at Springs' Elliot warehouse, it took a receiver in New Orleans three days to unload a "Big Boy" full of General Electric home appliances.
More later ................
Good Morning Barkeep and All Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Clear weather this a.m. with temps in the low 20s and a heavy frost. Gas is $2.29 at the moment, but who knows?
Let's get to our posting for the morning.
BK - Sent along some pictures of SOU steam. The 4-6-2 in the Smithsonian is one of the locomotives that pulled FDRs funeral train.
Lars - Books to look for. The interesting thing is that there is no full history of the SOU in existence. Bits and pieces of the road have been covered. You'd be surprised how many large rrs do not have written histories.
James - Nice picture of the Crescent. Blow it up and you can see the train name on the locomotives; an old school touch. Also, check out the cars.
Barndad - Ties was one of the best corporate mags out there. The L&N magazine was a good one as well. The Asheville Division was a rugged stretch of railroad, and that's putting it mildly. Any line that had a location called "Slaughter Pen Cut" should tell you something. Thomas Wolfe, in several of his novels, had vignettes of the Asheville Div., along with a couple of extended pieces about riding the Pullman line that operated between Asheville and New York. The material on Swannanoa was a good call, especially for those of us who feel comfortable underground. Many of the machines used as tunnel borers or raise borers look like stuff from Star Wars. Southern did a lot of experimentation with freight cars including the "Big John" hopper car, the tobacco cars you showed, and several other pieces of innovative car design.
Eric - I believe that the picture you sent along was made in Chester, MA. No, Boris, not the Charles Ives music. Anyway, Chester was a helper station on the B&A back in the days of steam. Many of the structures still stand and there is an equipment display as well. It is one of the few places left where you can get a flavor of what life on the Albany was like. The station has been restored and moved back from the tracks a little. It serves as a visitor center and heart of an annual rail festival. The town itself has some interesting buildings and is one of my more favorite spots on the B&A. Trains 448 and 449 (Boston-Albany plug on the "Lakeshore') pass through there in daylight, depending upon how late they are and the time of year.
Our ‘Steamed Proprietor gave us a good capsule history of the Southern. As always, he keeps the shiny side up.
B4 I forget; the run between Princeton Jct and Princeton was abt. 15 minutes. PRR billed the service as "frequent." I do not have the right PRR form tt here with me, but I'll do some more digging.
Work safe
Mid-week in mid-continent USA and the gloomy weather has arrived. Lowering temps along with rain as we approach the Christmas weekend. Petrol was still at $2.19 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" but expected to rise. Why not Last chance to gouge from the motorists before 2007 arrives!
I had wondered about our Tuesday ENCORE! Theme for the Day - Southern Railway insofar as being a success. Apparently it was, as the contributions were many and varied. Good job one and all! A special THANX to those of you who made mention of my Posts and those from the other guys!
Yes, there was a bit of insomnia involved with the "kick off" for the Southern Railway - one of those nights where I dreamt that I was awake all night! (go ahead and steal that one, while you're at it, Rob - wherever you are!).
Regarding the next two Tuesday's - the 26th of December and 2nd of January - there won't be any "Theme's" - just normal Posting. We'll resume our Tuesday activities on the 9th!
Okay - to the acknowledgments:
Mike at 7:24 AM yesterday: Another Tuesday spate of URLs for the Southern Railway. If you guys want to view some great Pix - check ‘em out.
CM3 at 8:21 AM yesterday: A fine ENCORE! for the Southern Railway, along with come comments for the guys and a round ‘n quarters for Herr Wurlitzer!
DL at 12:40 PM yesterday: The return of our friend from GB! There's still time for you to make arrangements to join Pete ‘n Moi in Canada for our May extravaganza on and off the rails! Whaddyamean "claim" - we LOVE our beer COLD! <grin> AND we're doing the best we can to convince Pete that he's got one foot in the door to becoming a U.S. citizen - why not the other Gotta get our Brits while we can!
Looking forward to the info on the "Silver Princess"! Also, feel free to provide as much info as you'd like regarding the GB version of the Southern Railway. Perhaps something appropriate for either of the next two Tuesdays when we're "dark" for a "theme."
Thanx as always for your fine contributions and banter . . .
And finally - you NEED to get an operating Email; if for no other reason than to ensure you are truly and fully part of the group.
BK at 12:53 PM yesterday: Great to see ya again and much empathy regarding the difficulties with logging on . . . same here. But, you made it and provided us with some excellent Pix for the Southern Railway!
It would be more than fantastic if you were able to meet up with us for our Rendezvous in St. Louis! I think you'd find the TrainWreck Saloon an uncanny reminder of "Our" Place, and who knows - perhaps Boris, Leon, Ruth and the mascots do in fact reside therein!
It goes without saying that the feelings are mutual regarding your connection with us - Lydia too! Wishing the both of you a most enjoyable and safe holiday journey to those Pacific islands called Hawaii. Think of us now ‘n then, will ya <grin>
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!
Lars at 2:56 PM yesterday: Great to have you back with us and especially for our Theme for the Day! Always look forward to your efforts with those book covers and you didn't let us down! Many, many thanx for ensuring that these "themes" continue on with the wonderful variations of input we have seen and are seeing. A 5- Salate to the Larsman!
NFL football Hey, don't get me started! Our Lambs (aka: Rams) are still being discussed by some of the "talking heads" as having a shot at the playoffs. Good Gawd Gertie
G'day Cap'n Tom and fellow travelers at the bar!
Ruth, a double JD on the rocks, a round for the boys, treats for the animals, a small jar of pickled pig's feet for Boris and keep the change!
Looks like another one of those days with some quiet time during daylight. However, we sure do make up for it at night and into early morning. Nice going for those of you who are keeping us going!
I see the emails are flowing and I've added one to the mix as well. Let's "belly up to the bar" and give 'em something to think about! The faint at heart should exit now! <grin>
Hard to believe that we're nearly through with the mid-week and heading into the "stretch."There used to be a time when the Mrs. would pretty much wait 'til the last minute for a trip over to "the city" and Macy's. Arggggggghhhhh - no more, thank heavens. She's done and so am I. Let 'er rip, I'm ready for the fat man!
Nice post from Da Boss today, as he likes to say, covered all of the bases. Must have taken a bit of time since you were typing so fast the keys were flying off of your keyboard! <grin> Don't ya hate it when that happens Anyway, glad to see you're back in rare form and keeping things ship-shape 'round here.
Enjoyed the outpourings for the Southern Railway yesterday and into early this morning. Some fine, fine stuff to read and enjoy. So, what is it that some find objectionable about a thread where relevance to Classic Trains is alive 'n well Best left for email . . .
Ok, lemme get this straight - we're CLOSED on Sunday and Christmas Monday. That, plus we'll have no "themes" until Jan 9th. I get it, do you
I have a request, guys. Please drop a post over at Tom's "other thread" at least thru the end of the year. With BK gone, and I'm planning a bit of away time, I'd surely like to see some help over there. Just a pix or Url to keep things moving. There's nothing better the detractors would like than to have us disappear, and that ain't gonna happen!
One more Ruth, then I better skedaddle . . .
OPTIONAL Toy 'n Model Trains Day!
I'll hold the acknowledgments 'til the 'morrow in favor of some Pix representing my first train set. Unfortunately, that set is long gone and what you will see are recreations from other sources on the web . . . I'm sure you'll get the idea!
Lionel 2020 (O-27) PRR 6-8-6 S-2 turbine (1946-49)w/smoke & MagneTraction
Lionel #6020 I(O-27) tender w/whistle (1948-49)
Lionel #3451 operating log car (1947-48)
Lionel #6452 PRR gondola w/barrels (1948-49)
Lionel #2456 LV hopper (1948)
Lionel #2460 Bucyrus Erie Crane Car (1946-50)
Lionel #6420 DL&W work caboose /w searchlight (1948-50)
Lionel #1033 90 watt transformer (1948-56)
These trains are "classics" in every sense and represent to many an era as important as those we discuss here at the bar involving the real trains of days gone by . . .
Enjoy!
Good evening Tom and gents! I'll have a Schlitz, from the back of the "discontinued beers" vault, and buy a round for the house. Quite a bit of great material, as usual from all our patrons. I really got a kick out of CM3's comments. I couldn't believe that someone here knew about the SR "Ties" magazines, and remembered all the unique cars that the Southern developed. I'll share the "Big John" which CM3 mentioned in a bit. I'll have to look for L&N magazines too. Tom, thanks for generous offer of magazines to take home from the 2nd Rendezvous. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have (assuming I can still see after raiding the beer fridge). Cool camping coaches Eric. Peter, don't think of taking Al stuff as "borrowing". Think of it as recycling. I'm glad you thought to do it. AL put up a lot of information here. I don't believe I mentioned BK's pretty Southern pix. Very nice indeed, and I caught that remark about my "jokes". That's ok. The more they get slammed, the more there will be ... so just keep it up! Great to see manager Lars on this fine day. Didn't see him volunteer his hat size though. Excellent Lionel pix Tom. How much money do you think it would take to duplicate your first trainset today? Must be a bunch!
And now, here's a little more Southern stuff:
Meet Big John - This lightweight aluminum-body covered hopper is a freight rate reducer that lowers the cost of living for everyone who eats biscuits, bread, poultry and eggs. It's a big car for a big job - the giant economy size. Designed by Southern to carry 100 tons and more of grain, corn and other vulk commodities, it holds twice as much as the cars ordinarily used for hauling grain. Compare its size with the 50-ton hopper and the 70-ton hopper on either side.
Big John squeezes the waste out of transportation cost and the benefits are felt in the pocketbooks of the consuming public. With this car doing the job of two cars, there is only one car to switch, instead of two. Move them in groups of 5, 10, or 20, on one waybill with the requirement that shippers must quickly load and unload them, and spectacular, almost unbelievable, savings in transportation costs are generated.
Big John has other advantages beyond its large carrying capacity Four separate compartments can hold four different kinds of grain in a single car without mixing. Loading is a breeze through the twelve roof hatches. Unloading through the eight hopper doors is as easy and simple as pulling the stopper out of a bathtub.
Big John is the main reason Southern can reduce its grain freight rates as much as 65 per cent on grain moving into and within the Southeast, and make a handsome profit at the same time. The savings add up to an estimated $37 million annually in the Southeast alone. That causes pleasant sensations in the pocketbook area for farmers who raise grain, for grain shippers and users, for poultrymen, cattle raisers, dairymen, feed and flour mills - and, most importantly, the family budget. It's a happy circumstance that Southern also realizes a handsome profit on the lower rates.
Big John is a striking example of how modern railroad technology can work for you - bringing you important savings in transportation costs - if railroads are freed from regulation which discriminates against you.
You can't have wider doors than this car Southern designed will give you. It's all door. Southern has these cars now because shippers need them. Actually, it has these cars because originally one shipper had a need for a car that would allow loading of finished lumber with the same ease that an open flat car would provide but which would afford box-car protection while the lumber was in transit. No railroad had such a car. Southern built it first. This first car became the prototype for the production line car you see here. It underwent extensive testing with the cooperation of shippers and receivers all over the country. It proved to be useful for many other commodities besides lumber. What looks like the car side and what is the car side really consists of three flexible aluminum doors, which work very much like an overhead garage door. Control wheels at the ends of the car are used to raise the doors. Catches are released and the doorposts are rolled easily out of the way. The whole car side is opened and packages up to 50 feet long can be loaded quickly with mechanical materials handling equipment. The car has roller bearings and Southern's Super-Cushion underframe which protects all freight. The car will carry more than 75 tons with complete closed-car protection and the unmatched ease of loading and unloading that is saving shippers money every day in handling costs. Some observers have called this the box car of the future. Southern is glad that you can use it now.
One night, after closing time a barman is sitting at his bar minding his own business, when a spectral hound floats in through the door.
The barman, being an exceptionally cool kind of guy, asks "yeah, what do you want?".
The phantom hound explains, in a haunting voice "I've lost my tail ... and cannot rest until a kindly barman stitches it back-on".
At this request the barman stands back astonished and says to the phantom dog ... "Sorry, but we don't re-tail spirits at this time of night".
A pint of the Holdens Special please LEON, I believe DOUG has got the round in.
I was going to post this morning as I knew I would be out this afternoon but I had no internet connection at all .
ERIC Great pic of the minature semaphores. I think Doug posted some of the signalling equipment that is at the IRM a while back.
It is an interesting topic, the different signals used by the different railways. On BR the small signals to control shunting movements were known as Ground Signals, an old style was minature semaphore arms, then it was a round disc with a red stripe across the center, in the ON position the stripe was horizontal, when the signal was OFF the disc rotated so the stripe was at 45 degress. the signal had red and green lenses illuminated by a lamp at night.To indicate the different routes controlled by the signal, each route had its own signal, these were mounted on the same post on top of each other.
It is good to know that a V1 is still operational .
DOUG I think you will make Tom very happy with the offer to recycle those magazines.
Interesting post on the Southern Railway Big Boy and Big John freight cars. I never knew a Hogshead was a measure of tobacco, 94 of them was a large load and pretty valuable I would think.
In the UK a hogshead is a measure of beer a hogshead contains 54 Imperial gallons. The Railwayman's Arms on Brignorth staion on the Severn Valley Railway has the Bathams Bitter in hogsheads, most of the beer in pubs is in Barrels, 36 gallons.
I wonder if many of the All Door Box Cars were built, they certainly seem good idea.
CM3 Great post. Do you know what events they have at the annual rail festival at Chester?
I have had a look at the Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town branch, the journey time is 3 minutes.
LARS Good to see you in.
As you say,can anyone with an interest in Classic Trains do any better than to visit Our Place. I know when I go back through the pages to look for something for an encore, I very often get engrossed in the great info that is there. I know when I first visited Our Place I had such little knowledge of the Railroads and trolleys of North America it has been a wonderful and fun way to learn.I really do regret not seeing the great days of the N. American passenger trains at first hand but the posts at Our Place give a real feel of what it was like.
TOM I can't understand your problem with the 6 just turn the keyboard round and use the 9 .
One of the things that really struck me when I was at Union Station at St Louis was the number of tracks that there must have been going in to the station, I have now seen photos of the station in its working days.
Thanks for sharing the Lionel PRR 6-8-6 set they certainly are classic models, the detail on the Bucyrus Crane Car is amazing.
Sorry I am late with this, but we may be leaving earlier tomorrow and in case I don't get to the bar I would like to wish all at Our Place A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS INDEED.
Pete
Nice to see you again Boris! Yeah, just a cup of coffee, thank you! Kepp the change!
More to learn about Southern Railway today! As I said before, the only thing (basically) I knew about SR before these last two days was that the train, Crescent Limited, was a SR train.
Doug – I learned something new again tonight, the story about the Big Boy car! So it was SR that created it. Quite a difference in size compared with a standard box car. I guess it could take 96 hogheads, not 964. Big John is also an impressive car! CM3 – Chester, MA, I have written down the name of the place. A plce to visit next time I am in the northeast. B & A line is an interesting line with beautiful views. Maybe they will put back a second track sometime in the future? Tom – Mr Claytor was the president of Amtrak when they leased the X2000 and he loved to ride it whenever he had a chance. Doing so he spent a lot of time in the cab where I was all the time. As I said before, he was a very nice man. Lucky you! You could at least could recreate your first train set. I barely remember what mine looked like. Steam engine (of course) and some passenger and freight cars. That is it (and an oval of course)! You had a very nice train set, very nice indeed! All freight? At least I still have my first model train set from 1955. Lars – I am going to have next week off so I will pay some visits to Tom’s “other thread” and post some stuff then. Good idea! Pete – I agree 100%, signals is a very interesting topic! During the few years I actually had a working layout for all my model trains I spent a lot of time building a signalling system that worked the same way as on the big roads. I’ll try to find out if even the second V1 is still around. I think there used to be 32 tracks going in to Union Station, St. Louis. A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to You too!!!
No tracks in sight!
Thursday and more gloomy weather here in mid-continent USA! But, all is bright here at the Tavern by the Tracks and it's time to start the day with a steaming mug of our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee. Then check out The Mentor Village Bakery case and our Menu Board for <light> and <traditional> breakfasts!
Appreciate the continuing support in reference to the Emails - thanx! It is most evident who amongst you really supports all this bar is about!
Acknowledgments since my last narrative:
Lars at 3:40 PM yesterday: Thanx for saving the day as it appeared we were heading towards another daylight shutout! <grin> But our Larsman came through once again! You certainly are one of the pillars of this place and it shows!
We too are "ready" for the Jolly ole Elf to come down the chimney. Just hope Juneau doesn't get to him before he works his "magic"!
Given that we may have dwindling business the closer we get to the "big day" let me wish you and your Mrs. a Merry Christmas and Happy 2007!
Doug at 6:29 PM yesterday: To recreate that Lionel train set in today's dollars would break the bank in my Haus, fer sure, fer sure. Seems to be that these days auctions and the like are outta sight with many hoping to make a killing on stuff that heretofore was simply relegated to sitting in boxes up in the attic or down in the basement. Such is life, eh Anyway, I had seriously thought about trying to find and reassemble not only that set, but the additional cars and loco added along the way. Came to the realization that I haven't got a place for it to run nor a true desire to get into toy trains - especially now that I have the S-Capades layout. That'll do for the rest of my days . . . .
I'm considering an access arrangement for the Can-Am Trainroom beer fridge. Perhaps a combination lock - or maybe a voice activated "box" with a special code phrase - or just Boris standing guard!
The "Big John" Southern Railway "stuff" surely provides ‘nother dimension to this week's Tuesday Theme. Nice going!
Pete at 10:59 PM yesterday: First ‘n foremost, hope you and your bride have a safe trip to southwest Missouri and a most Merry Christmas and Happy 2007!
I shudda tried that idea of yours regarding the keyboard - never gave it a thought! <grin> Amazing thing happened with my request for tech support - they are shipping me a new keyboard via overnight express - should be here today. Pays to have a maintenance contract. That's the good news - the bad news is that it took me about 45 minutes to get to the point where the "outsourced" TechRep FINALLY figured out what to do. <arghhhhhhhhhhhhh>
Hogheads - I NEVER knew! <grin> But figures it would be in measurements of beer!!
I share those same sentiments regarding not only St. Louis' Union Station but all of the great edifices of past railroading days. Just to take in the sights and imagine what it once was like . . . . We've discussed this several times in KCity's Union Station. Good thoughts . . .
Thanx for the inclusive and most informative Post - we'll miss those while you're gone. And a special THANX for your continuing support for the bar and "my other Thread"!
Eric at 12:54 AM today: I think once you see St. Louis' Union Station in May, it will be pretty much the same as you recall. It's a marvelous structure and one that was refurbished in fine fashion - no expense spared to restore the place to a close semblance to what it once was. Only thing is, they failed to permit operating passenger trains in it! But, we've kicked that ‘round many a time here at the bar, eh
Wish you and your bride a Merry Christmas and Happy 2007 should we not see you ‘til afterwards . . . Appreciate your continuing support for "Our" Place! [tup
10,000th Post CONTEST entries (in order of submission):
Christmas train travel NOSTALGIA
These special Posts will be provided thru Saturday to help keep us in the proper spirit!
. . . . . . . . . . CHRISTMAS RR TRAVEL #1 of 8 . . . . . . . . . . Here is an advertisement for Christmas holiday travel retyped from a 1937 advertisement in my private collection: Enjoy the Christmas Holidays at SUN VALLEY Opening of the New Challenger Inn Combining economy with all the Winter Sports of Sun Valley. Modest rates for rooms - popular prices for meals - accommodations for 400 - all in a "mountain village." Warm water swimming pool - motion picture theatre - two restaurants including unique night club - shops for all your needs. Sun Valley Lodge Living at its best! Continental service and comforts. A matchless cuisine. Rooms for single or double occupancy, and suites. Accommodations for 250 guests. American plan. Nothing like it anywhere else - long, timber free ski runs, deep "powder" snow, brilliant summer sun - skiing stripped to the waist - sleighing in bright moonlight, skating, swimming in warm water open-air pools - the perfect Christmas holidays. . . . . . . . . . . INTERCOLLEGIATE SKI MEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dartmouth College - University of Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SUN VALLEY, DECEMBER 29 to JANUARY 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ONLY UNION PACIFIC SERVES SUN VALLEY . . . . . For information and Union Pacific representatives in principal cities or write or wire . . . . . . . . . . K.M. SINGER . . . . . . . . . . W.S. BASINGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gen'l Mgr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P.T.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun Valley, . . . . . . . . . . . Union Pacific R.R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Omaha, Nebr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE PROGRESSIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UNION PACIFIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SERVES ALL THE WEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enjoy! Tom
Hello all
I'll have a Bateman's mild please, plus something convenient from the food selection. Gonna be scarce soon because going to be away from the ‘puter for much of Christmas and new year, but never fear - as I'm heading to the Dorset Coast in Southern England - where I will be able to ride on the Swanage Railway a few times. See:
http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/
This is a preserved steam line that Pete has mentioned in the past. I'm looking forward to few rides in classic era caches behind steam power and I'll be making the most of it!
Just going back to the Theme Day - certainly enjoyed the Southern Contributions, some great pictures Mike (esp liked the Semaphore shot and the classic era cars on show in the ‘Traffic Stopper' pic).
BK - good wishes for your travels, by the way.
James - yes, as Pete says steam heated carriages are a thing of the past on the main line here in the UK - although I read recently that the last steam heated stock ran as recently as about 1988/89 in Scotland. Your mention of the Bluebell Railway is correct - this is a preserved line operating on a former part of the Southern Railway of England (as indeed is the Swanage Railway). The Bluebell is recreated as it would have been in the 1930s period, with SR locos and coaches being the mainstay of the stock they use.
Doug - interesting articles on Tobacco and Cotton etc.
Eric - you asked about those camping coaches I linked to. In fact they are former 1960s built first class day carriages with compartments and the side corridor European style. The chap who runs the place lives in the old station building (depot?) (trains still run to the location) and the cars are parked in the disused freight yard. In each car he has taken out the furnishings in a couple of compartments to make a kitchen area and dining area, in other compartments he has removed seats on one side to replace them with 2 bunks leaving the seat on the other side for sitting on. I asked him why he had not used a sleeper but he said he felt the compartments were too small if people were staying for several days on holiday. As many original features from the cars have been retained where possible, and the whole things is presented very nicely (spotlessly clean for example). Pub close by if you don't want to cook for yourself whilst staying.
Tom - Canada trip invite - very tempting. I think I may use my hols next year to travel to Toronto to visit relatives and then take in the ONR line to Hudson's bay as prev discussed here.
I know I need to get my e-mail sorted, but last week I've not even had a 'phone as the provider messed up when fixing a neighbours line and crossed the two over - then told me a week would be as quick as they could fix it! Mind you, kind of pleasant not being able to be disturbed by callers!
Both yourself (Tom) and Pete asked about the Budd Silver Princess - well I've had a good web search and not come up with anything (‘Silver' and ‘Princess' are not uncommon words which hardly helps). It maybe that info on this car never made it to the web and the thing is long forgotten. What I'll do is copy the text from the magazine for info and post later. The car in the picture is silver body style as you would be familiar with - one half 1st class compartments, 1 half 3rd Class (UK had no second class for many years - another story), what we call a ‘Corridor Composite Carriage'. Body side script ‘Silver Princess' along the side of the car on the lower panel. Familiar corrugated stainless steel lower body side in the ‘Budd' style.
Pete - thanks for your recollections of the Far north line - behind an 8F - nice!
Finally, there has been some mention of Signalling and semaphores recently so I thought I'd lost this link to a rather interesting site on UK signalling with lots of classic era info. No doubt worthy of a them day sometime but in the mean time worth a look:
http://www.signalbox.org/branches.shtml
. . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTMAS RR TRAVEL #2 of 8 . . . . . . . . . . Here is an advertisement for Christmas holiday travel retyped from a 1948 advertisement in my private collection: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HOLIDAY HOMECOMING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . There's nothing quite so pleasant as coming home again . . . Especially when it's "home for Christmas" . . . and when you take the train! This is the happy season when Pennsylvania Railroad's great fleets of trains between East and West, North and South, assume a particularly festive air. By Pullman, by coach, joyous families are going to visit the folks at home - carefree, or comfortable, relaxed as they speed on their way. For your holiday travels Pennsylvania Railroad offers a wide choice of daily trains . . . . conveniently scheduled to fit your plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pennsylvania Railroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enjoy! Tom
G'day Cap'n Tom & fellow travelers at the bar!
Ruth, set 'em up and I'll have a frosty mug of Schaefer's finest brew! Slide the snack tray down my way, wudja Ah yes, snacks for the critters and a small jar of pickled pig's feet for our resident cloven-footed-cyclops, Boris! <grin>
All this talk about rail trips, bars and upcoming holidays just makes me want to "get it on"! <grin> It's THAT time of year, huh Really "dig" those Christmas RR travel ads from our 'steamed Proprietor! If they don't make a train lover want to climb aboard, nothing will.
Thanks for the email regarding your Canada rail trips in May. Yes, that IS a busy month and I surely hope that somehow Canada or St. Louis figures into my travel plans! Really want to meet up with "youse guys"!
An overnight shipment for your replacement keyboard! Sounds like a "winnAH" of a warranty plan that you have. But I DO know the exasperation that goes with having to put up with these clowns who pretend to be "us" all the while located in a faraway land of not only language differences, but cultural as well. Makes for all kinds of interesting dialogue! Been there, done that, too many times with other products. I doubt that we have very many U.S. centered tech services for things electronic. Oh well . . . .
So, we're winding down a bit as the big day approaches, but that's ok. The staff will be here for all of you for tonight's bill o' fare: Fish 'n Chips 'til mid-night. Since we're at a loss for a Chief Chef or his assistant, the H&H gals will be doing the chores . . . <uh-oh>
Tomorrow it's Pizza 'n Beer along with Steak & Fries Night! Then Saturday it's just plain Steam with all the trimmings. is served at 5 PM 'til mid-night.
And of course, there will be NO breakfast, brunch or lunch this Sunday, as the place will be CLOSED tighter 'n a tick (as Tom likes to say!).
One of these days I'm gonna put forth some pix of my Lionel and American Flyer stuff. Nice work from Da Boss on his childhood Lionel trains. I saw a couple of short news blurbs on the tube indicating a resurgence in the purchase of electric trains. The clips I viewed showed some fine looking Lionel stuff, but all on that new track system, what' s it called FasTrack, I think. Anyway, perhaps there is hope for the future! Anything to get the kids away from the gidget 'n gadgets that are not only addictive (and we all KNOW that, huh) but oh so costly. Nothing beats a train going 'round 'n 'round the Christmas tree.
Let me add my Merry Christmas greetings and Happy New Year to all who are planning to be away for awhile.
By the by, THANX to Pete for stopping over at Tom's "other thread"!! Way to go!
Ruth, one more if you please, then I'm heading for the back door and jog on over to the "other thread" before the Mrs. finds out where I am!
Hi all
Thanks for those seasonal advert postings Tom!
Light breakfast for me today, with a quick entry on the Budd ‘Silver Princess'
This is extract from Modern Railways, June 1963 page 416, a UK railway magazine. Taking a leaf out of Doug's book I have transcribed the following caption which appears against 2 pictures.
"Still active on the London Midland Region of British Railways is the prototype stainless steel coach, built by the Budd Co of Philadelphia USA and demonstrated in this country (the UK) by Pressed Steel in 1947. It first saw service on the east coast route, but was later taken out of use. It returned to work on the LMR in July 1956, after modification. Repainted in BR livery, it became the "Ulster Lunge" on the "Ulster Express", with its first class compartments removed and replaced by a lounge bar, and its former third class saloon, with pivoted reclining seats, up-graded to first class. The coach is now running on the LMR "Shamrock" express, in which it was photographed at London Euston on April 15 1963"
The east coast route referred to means London to Edinburgh. The Shamrock express and Ulster express are probably trains run in connection with boat services to Northern Ireland. Pressed Steel was a UK private car building company (as opposed to a railway owned car builder - I use the word ‘car' in the US sense).
Pivoted reclining seats would be very rare in the UK, esp. in a Third Class seating area!
The picture before modification shows it in typical Budd stainless style finish, the rebuilt version shows it in BR maroon carriage livery, the ridged style of the lower body side stainless steel is lost, so perhaps that was re-built. I suspect this was an attempt by Pressed Steel to get a licence from Budd for stainless cars to be built in the UK if BR would buy them. Instead BR settled on its own BR Mark 1 Carriage design, which was very successful, and was essentially sheet steel construction on a steel frame (not stainless). It was probably the non standard nature of this Budd car that resulted in it being selected for conversion to a lounge car. Intrigues me as to what ever happened to it.....(over to you Pete to search your archive railway magzines....)
Festive gretings
Incidentally - the whole of the UK has been fog bound for several days and not due to lift for a few more days (!) - all very like Dickensian. Rather amusingly the airline industry has gone into melt down and of course people are taking to the trains in droves at what is a busy time (but there isn't the spare capacity on the railway that there should be, and little scope for lengthening the trains, with disused cars locked up in depots not fit to run (it's not just Amtrak guys). Here's the message on the National Railway website - good to know the steel wheel can take the strain! Lets raise a glass to the railway men and women (and their colleagues around the world) who will work darn hard over the next few days to shift these folk to where they want to go!
Form UK National Rail:
Disruption is expected at most UK airports on Friday 22 December due to heavy fog. British Airways have cancelled all UK domestic services on Friday 22 December from London Heathrow. There is currently disruption to flights to and from Cardiff, Norwich, Gatwick, Coventry, Bristol and Southampton airports, as well as London Heathrow. Please ensure that you check with your travel company before starting your journey, using the telephone numbers on the 'Further Information' page or as given in your travel documentation Customers using Eurostar services from Waterloo International and Ashford International are advised to allow extra time for collecting tickets due to increased passenger numbers when using the Eurostar instead of flying and should contact Eurostar on 08705 186 186 or visit www.eurostar.com Customers without tickets should contact Eurostar before starting their journey as tickets may not be available for sale for all services Customers wishing to travel on long distance train services today are STRONGLY ADVISED to purchase tickets in advance and to make seat reservations as all services are expected to be extremely busy (*see important note regarding Virgin Trains services). Customers that already hold tickets can make seat reservations at their nearest staffed station, this can normally be done up to 2 hours before the train starts on its journey from its origin station. *Virgin West Coast services operating between London Euston and Manchester / Liverpool / Birmingham and Wolverhampton are now closed for reservations on Friday 22nd December and until 13.00 on Saturday 23 December. Customers not holding reservations wishing to travel on Virgin West Coast services will be conveyed on a first-come first-served basis Extra Trains are running on Friday 22 December
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