"OUR" PLACE - SEE NEW THREAD!

[Anonymous]

Evening Tom and all! I'll have a "Doug special."Hey Rob ... what is that? Sorry about the lack of Michigan quaters these days. I usually flatten them on the tracks at IRM ya know. Very nice Eurostar article Tom, and I'm hoping to make next years rendevous no matter were it is.

Rob, enjoyed your TTC article and CNR encore. You have been a busy boy!

AL, wonderful SP Daylight streamliner. It's always interesting to me to check-out the consists.

CM3, sorry to say I am not very sympathetic to those who get squashed at grade crossings. I figure it's God's way of weeding out the stupid ones.

Lars, critcal of my jokes ... eh? Well you brought this on yourself!

[:I] Two good ole boys down in Alabama were sitting around talking one afternoon over a cold beer...After a while the 1st guy says to the 2nd, "If'n I was to sneak over to your trailer Saturday & make love to your wife while you was off huntin', and she got pregnant and had a baby, would that make us kin?"
The 2nd guy crooked his head sideways for a minute, scratched his head, and squinted his eyes thinking real hard about the question. Finally, he says, "Well, I don't know about kin, but it sure would make us even." [:I]

AND

[:I] He ordered one hamburger, one order of french fries and one drink. The old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half. He placed one half in front of his wife. He then carefully counted out the french fries, dividing them into two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife.
He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them. As he began to eat his few bites of hamburger, the people around them kept looking over and whispering. You could tell they were thinking, "That poor old couple - all they can afford is one meal for the two of them."
As the man began to eat his fries a young man came to the table. He politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple. The old man said they were just fine - They were used to sharing everything. The surrounding people noticed the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink. Again the young man came over and begged them to let him buy another meal for them. This time the old woman said, No, thank you, we are used to sharing everything."
As the old man finished and was wiping his face neatly with the napkin, the young man again came over to the little old lady who had yet to eat a single bite of food and asked "What is it you are waiting for?"
"The Teeth," she answered [:I]

Had enough?

Fortunately, here's the start of another series, on:

The Great Strike of 1877 by H.R. Edwards Railroad Stories Feb. 1936

The determination of Baltimore & Ohio officials to cut the wages of train and engine men in freight services on July 16th, 1877, at a time when flour was high and bread was scarce, led to the biggest railroad labor demonstration in American history.

It led to a walkout which tied up almost every road in fourteen states in that vast area of the Hudson River to the Mississippi and from Canada to Virginia. It led to mob rule which cost more than a hundred lives and the burning of property worth millions of dollars – an orgy of blood and fire which was stamped out by regular troops of the United States army in five of the fourteen states.

Of course, the wage reduction wasn’t the only point at issue. The men complained of irregular employment, since many were laid off away from home three or four days at a time in a single week, and of slow pay, since wages sometimes were held up as long as three or four months in a row. Then, too, it was the second ten per cent pay cut which the men suffered since the panic of 1873.

Logically, the strike should not have started on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, several other big roads had already imposed that second ten per cent pay cut before the B&O joined in the procession. Besides, the B&O had a pretty good excuse. John King, Jr., first vice president, explained that the great business depression which commenced in the autumn of 1873 had continued growing from bad to worse. The Baltimore & Ohio’s revenues had decreased greatly. Other trunk lines had reduced wages ten per cent, one of them on the first of June and two of them on the first of July.

“It will be observed,” stated King, “that the Baltimore & Ohio was the last company competing for the great trade of the West which made the second reduction of ten per cent. Since the panic of 1873, not only have rates of through freight and other traffic been reduced by severe and active competition, but the quantity in the aggregate has been diminished. Especially is this true in coal trade. And even with the (new) wage cut the average wages paid to train and engine men in freight service are 35 per cent higher than the wages paid in January, 1861, although the rates for through freight in 1861 were double those in 1877.”

King gave the following comparative figures for wages per day paid in B&O freight service:

…………….. January, 1861 ………………
…………………..Minimum…..Maximum
Conductors ………$1.35………$1.66
Brakemen…………$1.00………$1.33
Engineers…………$1.33………$3.00
Firemen…………..$1.11……….$1.75

…………….. July 16, 1877 ………………
…………………..Minimum…..Maximum
Conductors ………$1.80………$2.25
Brakemen…………$1.35………$1.58
Engineers…………$2.25………$2.93
Firemen…………..$1.35……….$1.53

The real reason behind the wage cut, of course, was the stupid competition for both freight and passenger service between New York and Chicago. This cut-throat competition had brought rates down to ridiculously low levels, often far below actual cost. For instance, livestock was carried from Chicago to New York, considerably over 900 miles, at a dollar a carload, and passengers were transported between the two cities for as little as $2,50 a round trip. Someone had to pay for those losses; the burden was passed on to the employees. Most of them accepted it without too much grumbling, but in Baltimore forty men in freight service showed resentment by leaving their trains, on the morning of July 16th, and declaring a strike.

The company answered their protest by hiring forty “scab” engine and trainmen in their place. But the strikers would not permit them to work. Assembling at Camden Junction, about three miles from the city, they stopped all freight trains and refused to let them run ni either direction. A drag from the West, bound for Locust Point, Md., was derailed by the strikers. The cars were smashed and the engine cab set afire.

Almost instantly the news flashed over the entire system. At Martinsburg, W.Va., where large B&O shops were located, a hundred members of train and engine crews joined the walkout and forcibly prevented new hands from operating the trains. Locomotives were uncoupled and run into sidings. A cattle shipment bound for Baltimore tried to pull out in Martinsburg. Strike sympathizers swarmed into the engine cab. One of them flourished a revolver and asked the scab engineer where he thought he was going.

“Tuh Baltimore,” replied to hoghead.
“Oh, no, you ain’t!” said the man with the gun. “You’re pulling this train back to the stockyards to be unloaded, and be *** quick about it!”

The train went back to the stockyards. Thereupon the railroad company sent a frantic telegram for help to the governor of West Virginia. The governor immediately sent seventy-five men of the Berkeley Light Infantry Guards, under the command of Captain C.J. Faulkner, Jr., who were rushed to Martinsburg on a B&O special.

Reaching Martinsburg, they unloaded into a crowd of about five hundred strike sympathizers. Threats and catcalls greeted them. Captain Faulkner put them to work at once, deploying them on both sides of a freight which a scab crew was attempting to take out of the city.

As the train reached a switch, a striker named Bill Vandergriff seized the switch ball to run it on a sidetrack. A militia man named John Poisal, who happened also to be the freight conductor, jumped from the pilot of the engine and attempted to replace the switch. What happened immediately after that will always remain a matter of controversy. Strike sympathizers insisted that Poisal fired the first shot. Poisal maintained later that Vandergriff carried a revolver and fired a bullet which grazed his cheek. This much is undisputed: Poisal and other militia men trained their revolvers on William Vandergriff, the striker. Vandergriff fell to the ground with bullet wounds in his hips, his head and arms.

In the excitement the scab crew took to their heels. Captain Faulkner rallied his men, issued command to march away. He saw the temper of the mob and was taking no more chances. The militia company went straight to the armory and ingloriously disbanded, leaving the strike sympathizers in possession of the field.

[:I] A kleptomaniac woman had been caught shoplifting in a supermarket and had to appear in court, taking along her long-suffering husband for marital support. The prosecution proved that the theft had taken place so the judge told her that, considering her record, he was forced to impose a jail term.
"This time you stole a can of tomatoes. There were six tomatoes in the can. Do you agree?" The woman agreed.
"Then I sentence you to six nights in jail."
The husband jumped to his feet, addressing the judge, "Your honor, may I approach the bench?"
"Well," said his honor, "this is somewhat unusual but I will make an exception in this case. You may approach the bench."
The husband wasted no time getting there and, leaning forward, he said in a low voice, "She also stole a can of peas." [:I]

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom And all.

A pint of the Bathams XXX to warm me up as it has definately turned chilly here in Mid-Mo no sign of the bad weather yet. I,ll risk the Cod, Chips and Mushy Peas cooked by the fair hands of H&H. I hope that [C=:-)] NICK can return soon as he would surely enjoy the great posts of late. I will be good to hear his take on B.R.

How about TILLA the Hun for the Cash-register. ( I bet registers are not called tills over here [?])

AL Great post on the Daylights a good taster for the SP day next week.[tup].

ROB Thanks for clearing up the word Lingo for DOUG and I. It was in a song by skiffle singer Lonnie Donnegan in the 50s.
Great Classic Juice on the TTC look forward to part 2. I' m still amazed at the foxes in the Encore on the CNR [tup].

On the wheel arrangements the Whyte system was used in the U.K. with the same names although there was not as many types. The largest non- articulated type was the 9F 2-10-0s. There was only one type of articulated loco on the main lines this was a class of Bayer Garretts which worked on the Midland part of the LMS. I have not heard of them being known by their wheel arrangement which I believe was 2-6-2 2-6-2. they were just known as Garretts.

Reading the link on Tom's post on the wheel arrangements I was amazed that there was a 4-6-0 in North America nearly 50 years before there was in Britain[*^_^*].

CM3 Sorry to hear about the accident near you. In the English 'The Railway Magazine' that I have just recieved, there are 3 photos from the cameras that are mounted on some of the Barrier crossings in the U.K., showing vehicles trying to beat the barriers coming down. The worst is one where a car has stopped at the lowered half barrier and is being passed by a 4x4 weaving between them. Unbelieveable [:(!]. A great comment by the Editor was"Is it worth being a few minutes late in this word rather than a few years early in the next" Wise words indeed.

Another LMS man this was the company through my home town( in BR days). the Railway Magazine done a Great Western issue last year if they do one one the LMS I
will save a copy.

LARS Thanks for the comments. That post of Toms got me going. I cannot remember a time I was not interested in railways and I consider myself fortunate that it was still steam as I grew up. They were great days with a lot of kids interested mainly thanks to a gentleman named Ian Allen who produced books with the numbers, names and technical details of all the locos on British Railways. I will have to get in to some of the locomotive names some time.
Dare I ask. What is a 'rounder' [?][:)].

TOM Just looking through the pages at the bar here I realise what a great passenger system there was in N.America. What makes it sadder is that the railroads invested in new cars inthe 40s and 50s that must have been the best cars for the ordinary public ever built in the world, to lose this in such a short time is indeed very sad indeed. As the Eurostar is proving there is a future for medium length train travel.
The main good thing here is that the frieght on the railroads is increasing where as in Britain only a small percentage now goes by rail. [:(].

The Virgin Pendelinos were built as 53 sets of 8 cars they all all been increased to 9 cars and there is talk of making them 10 car sets. I only hope that the railways in the U.K. don't put off the newly won passengers by over-pricing.

Thanks for the Eurostar. I will definatly have to travel on the CTRL. I am[*^_^*] to say I have not been through the Chunnel yet. It is great that it is a viable competitor to the airlines. The Eurostar units are impressive and as far as I am aware reliable.
The ones that were used by GNER between London and Leeds has recently been returned to Eurostar.

What speeds the trains of today would be doing if Brunels 7 foot guage had been adopted is anyones guess.

I'll try the Fish n Chips but no carp please. PETE.

[red p]

" Hey Whats going on in here?"
P

[passengerfan]

Good Afgternoon Tom and the rest of the gang. Time for a CR and a round for the house. I have the computer tech from the company coming by this afternoon so I will be able to do taxes from the house as well as the office all tied into the same system. Lots of customers just come by the office and drop off their tax information and it is beginning to pile up so guess I'm going to be taking some of it home, I'm not the only one if thats supposed to be a consolation.

Loved the Eurostar posting and recently had a client who took same last summer, He not into trains could not stop raving about that particular train. By his account it is better than any plane he has ever flown on.

TTFN AL

[LoveDomes]

G'day Tom (to coin a phrase! That "fits" quite well in a bar . . . [swg])

Yet ANOTHER Euro Rail piece! [wow] Good one too, always wondered about that particular set up. Thanx![tup][tup][tup] Great shots too. Looking forward to Pete's comments - he made some great ones yesterday, along with some fine elaborations. Now there's a guy who KNOWS what he' s talking about. Sounds like a rounder to me, but a guy who also has a serious side. My kinda sailor![tup][tup][tup]

Amazing dedication that you have to this thread . . . . just wish we could provide you with a bit of a respite.

I'll do what I can tomorrow - wee bit pressed for time myself, but I'll at least try to maintain my PM schedule, and maybe even sneak one or two in earlier.[tup]

As you know, we're not plagued by the types of rail accidents seen at crossings throughout the country. If you recall, the S.I.R.T. did away with them decades and decades past. I too have seen what you've described and always wonder just what is it with people who do those things? A death wish is just about what I come up with every time. Nuts - just plain nuts.

Enjoyed the posts from trolleyboy Rob, barndad Doug & passengerfan Al - I'd say there's a strong cadre supporting this place right there! Who needs a "crowd"[?][swg]

Rob I'd love to make that trip in May, but as I have posted on some pages way back, we're going to California during that timeframe - it's firmed up and paid for. Next year? Well, I was hoping perhaps St. Louis would be the place. Centrally located - a great town and "knowing" Tom he'd be a great host! That's my "vote!" If I'm qualified to cast it, that is.[%-)]

Doug I think Tom was GENEROUS with his rating of this morning's "joke." UGH! Are there minuses on that scale[?][swg] I will say this, however, between the SUMMARY and the Yogi-isms and your jokes - why, who needs the funny papers[?]

Hey Al don't feel bad - there are days that go by around here when I'm not even sure of the month we're in, much less day of the week![swg] Enjoyed the Southern Pacific Streamliner![tup][tup]

Okay, I'll take one of those Pabst Blue Ribbon brews in a bottle if you please. Set up the house will ya, here's a ten spot to cover it! Oh yeah, a half hero will do - the usual, ok[?] Great!

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

So, how's that story go[?] Threw a party and no one came[?] Rather lonely here at the "Feast or Famine Bar 'n Grill." Was beginning to think perhaps it's time to close 'er up . . . between breakfast and dinner, for we've got some rather loooooooooooong periods of inactivity.

Good to see CM3 liven up things 'round here with that "threesome" of tunes! He knows how to pick 'em, eh[?][swg][tup]

When I first moved to this area in '77 I was astounded at the number of rail crossings in the St. Louis area - moreso over in Illinois. Every day while driving to or from work I'd see people "navigating" around the down & flashing gates - crossing as many as four lines of track! It blew my mind as I had never seen that anywhere I'd been and it just seemed so "commonplace" here. So, when I read of the account of the fellow who lost his life in WVA, well I guess it's sad to say - one just cannot fix stupid, no matter how old one happened to be. Sad. I'm sure the Amtrak people are "tickled" over it too. Trains win all of the time, don't they[?]

Thanx for the round, the quarters and the heads up about being "offline." Couldn't come at a worse time - for I'm really lookng for some "help" tomorrow. Oh well . . .

See ya when the wind shifts![swg]

Later!

Tom[4:-)][oX)]

[coalminer3]

Good AfternoonBarkeep and All Present; coffee, please, round for the house and $ for the jukebox. We'll do a themed set today "Walkin' After Midnight, Walkin' the Flloor Over You, and Sleep Walk." Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb, and Santo & Johnny - not a bad lineup.

We had a bad one yesterday on the C&O. One fatality when the victim drove around gates at Sandstone to "beat" a slow-moving WB train and got smacked by EB #50, the "Cardinal," which T-boned on the driver's side at 60 mph. It took the train approx 1/2-3/4 mile to stop after the engineer dumped the air.

The victim was an elderly man who had gone to the store to get a paper, something he did every day, and was anxious to get back home. Gates were down and flashers were operating .

As a safety person, I can't stress the old rule enough - expect a train at any time on any track in any direction. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but restate it to your kids, significant other, etc. Thank you for your attention - now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Have been enjoying the pieces on British Rail and Eurostar. LMS is one of my favorie British operations. Also, thanks for the pre-history of the TTC. As for binders, I don't use 'em; I do, however, have back issues of some mags professionally bound it it's a long run of something I want to keep such as X2200 South (have those back to 1968, IIRC) The rest of the time I clip articles and put them in plastic sheets in 3-ring binders.

I'm trying to get some SP material together and am looking forward to seeing what we come up with.

work safe - I will be offline for awhile (unless schedule changes - it did 3 times this a.m.)

[siberianmo]

RAILWAYS of EUROPE #2 – Eurostar
(London – Paris – Brussels)

Eurostar




Used with permission from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Formatting differences made necessary due to Forums requirements. Some heralds from other sources.


Eurostar



Eurostar at Vauxhall (GNU Free Documentation)


Franchise:: Eurostar

Main Route(s):: London-Lille-Brussels,
London-Paris

Other Route(s):: Lille-Disneyland Paris-Avignon,
Lille-Bourg-St-Maurice

Fleet size:: 27

Stations: 11

Parent company: Eurostar Group

Website: www.eurostar.com


This article is about high-speed trains between London and Brussels / Paris. For Italian trains called Eurostar, see Eurostar Italia.

Eurostar is a train service that connects London with Paris and Brussels. Trains cross the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel. The French and Belgian sections of the route use the same high-speed rail lines as the TGV and Thalys, and in England a new line is being built to the same standard. This is a two-phase project known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project (CTRL).

The first revenue-earning Eurostar trains ran in November 1994. Eurostar has established a dominant share of the market on the routes it serves - 68% for London-Paris and 63% for London-Brussels, as of November 2004. The company points out that these passenger figures represent a saving of 393,000 carbon dioxide-producing short-haul flights.

The journey time from London to Paris is currently 2 hours 35 minutes; London to Brussels is 2 hours 20 minutes. These times will be cut by 20 minutes in 2007 when the construction of the second phase of CTRL is completed, bringing the British portion of the route up to the same standards as the French and Belgian sections. Completion of the CTRL will also allow a significant increase in the number of Eurostar trains serving London. After phase two is completed, up to 8 trains per hour in each direction could travel the route from London to the continent, as timetabling would be unaffected by peak hour restrictions at London Waterloo and conflicts between Waterloo and Fawkham Junction.

In addition to the three destination cities, some Eurostar services currently stop en route at Ashford in Kent and at Calais Frethun and Lille in northern France. From 2007 all Eurostar trains will be routed through the CTRL to a new London terminus at St Pancras. The company had intended to retain some services to the existing Waterloo terminal, but this was ruled out on cost grounds. Some trains will additionally serve new stations at Ebbsfleet near Dartford in north-west Kent and Stratford International station in east London (not to be confused with Stratford station, or Stratford Regional station as it will be called when Stratford International station is opened)

Organisation

Eurostar services are now managed under a unified management, the Eurostar Group. In each country a member company undertakes Eurostar operation:

• Belgium — NMBS/SNCB
• France — SNCF
• United Kingdom — Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd. or (EUKL)
o EUKL managed (under contract) by InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR), a consortium of:
#61607; National Express Group (40%),
#61607; SNCF (35%)
#61607; NMBS/SNCB (15%)
#61607; British Airways (10%).

A Eurostar on the CTRL near Ashford (Wikimedia Commons)

Additional information

• The trains themselves are 400 metres long, weigh 800 tonnes and carry 750 passengers in 18 carriages (14 carriages for the 7 UK regional sets). In case of an incident in the Channel Tunnel the trains can be divided in two in order to evacuate the passengers in the unaffected carriages.

• In Britain the trains are classified as British Rail Class 373 units, and they were constructed by GEC-Alsthom (now Alstom) at its La Rochelle (France), Belfort (France) and Washwood Heath (England) sites. They can run on third rail and various catenary voltages, achieving a maximum in-service speed of 300 km/h when collecting current from a 25 kV overhead catenary. They are essentially modified TGV sets, and some Eurostar trains not needed for Channel runs are now used in regular TGV service by the French national railway. In July 2003 a Eurostar train set a new UK rail speed record of 334.7 km/h (208.0 mph) during safety testing on the first section of the CTRL. This section opened for commercial services in September 2003 and has helped increase passenger numbers by as much as 20%, as well as shortening journey times by 20 minutes.

• The 27 normal Eurostar-sets are being refurbished with a new interior, designed by Philippe Starck, from September 2004 on. The grey-yellow look (in Standard class) and the grey-red look (In First/Premium First) has been replaced with a more grey-brown look in Standard, and a grey-burnt orange in First class. The Premium First class will be removed from sale in September 2005 as the company looks to simplify its fare structure.

• Eurostar also run services to Disneyland Paris, to Avignon in summer, and - in the skiing season - to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Aime-la-Plagne and Moutiers in the French Alps. It was originally intended to run "regional Eurostars", direct services to Paris and Brussels from places in the United Kingdom other than London. This proved not to be financially viable, but some of the shorter Eurostar trains intended for those services are now operated by GNER (the Great North Eastern Railway) entirely within the UK, on the East Coast Main Line from London's King's Cross railway station to Leeds. 'Nightstar' sleeper trains constructed for the international service were also never used, and the trains were sold to VIA Rail in Canada, which has branded them as Renaissance Cars.

• Eurotunnel, the company that built and runs the Channel Tunnel, is a completely separate entity from Eurostar.


Used with permission from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Formatting differences made necessary due to Forums requirements. Some heralds from other sources.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Enjoy!

Tom [4:-)] [oX)]


Did you miss the first in the series, British Rail[?] Click on the URL:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=247&TOPIC_ID=35270



Waving flag credits to: www.3Dflags.com

[siberianmo]

Good Mornin’!

What a morning! Have had to minor “crashes” on my WP and therefore am off to a terrible beginning at the keyboard!![tdn] Software, the enigma of ‘puting!

Temps are about to drop in 20 degree increments as a front is moving in rather quickly here in mid-Continent USA. Reached the lower 60s yesterday and the same is expected for early afternoon – then . . . it is supposed to be colder than a Well Diggers Butt in the Klondike in January, if that gives you an idea![swg] Gotta batten down the hatches as severe weather is forecast – thunder, lightning and heaven only knows what else.[tdn]

Petrol still holding at $1.97 (rounded) up at “Collusion Corner.”

As you all can tell, I’m trying my best to keep coming up with “stuff” to keep this place movin’ forward. I appreciate the willingness on the part of several to join in with the various “themes” that have sprung up to supplement these new offerings. That’s really the idea ‘round here, isn’t it[?] Getting the dialogue going and sharing the Classic Trains info.[yeah][tup][tup]

RENDEZVOUS Emails have been sent to all concerned.


HELP REQUIRED! for tomorrow. I will be away from the keyboard for about a 7 hour period. Should be departing here around 10 AM (Central), so PULEEEZE guys, try to fill in the “blanks” with appropriately TIMED Posts. Ain’t asking much – just spread ‘em out and all will go just fine. The good news is that Cindy is taking a “personal day” from the University and will fill in while I’m away![yeah][wow]


Some acknowledgments are in order:

passengerfan Al Posted: 16 Feb 2006, 03:39:03 & 07:21:56

No harm done with the SP “Streamliner” info …. Always good reading and appreciated![tup] There’s little doubt you’ll find “something” for next Tuesdays “Theme!”[swg]


barndad Doug
Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 21:23:26

Busy guy with the acknowledgments and of course our ‘daily joke!’ Good stuff on both counts and appreciated! [tup][tup][tup] So, how come no Michigan quarters in that roll you dropped off yesterday[?][swg]

I liked that “Club” logo spread, but it’s a shame it cannot be enlarged. I’d love to make a logo (herald) for the Can-Am, but haven’t begun to learn “how to” yet. Nice bit of info!

Grade-a-Joke: Four on a scale of Ten.<grin>

If we hold the 2007 Rendezvous here in the St. Louis area, one of the evenings will be devoted to some model railroading - with appropriate adult beverages included! – down in the Can-Am Trainroom. So, perhaps you’ll get a chance to operate the 3 different layouts! Something to look forward to, eh[?][swg] Appreciate your comments![tup]


trolleyboy Rob
Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 23:50:14 and 16 Feb 2006, 00:36:45, 08:14:56 & 08:21:48

So what’s THIS!![?][?] Trying to make up for lost time[?] Thought “data dumpin’” belonged to another on this Thread!!<grin> In all seriousity (yeah, go ahead and steal that on also!!) always enjoy the input from our Ontario connection! Speaking of which – did you ever establish comms with jdonald[?][?] Surely thought he was a “keeper,” then – pfffffffffffft – gone-zo! Some of you guyz north of zee border are rather unpredictable to say the least![swg]

Good timing with the TTC piece and hopefully it will get the attention of our Rendezvous attendees.[tup]

My sentiments precisely and couldn’t have said it any better. Here was Europe, many countries had their transportation infrastructures torn to shreds. Along comes the “Marshall Plan” and assorted other international efforts to help rebuild and they come out with a hulluva fine railroad network. Meanwhile back in the lands of the “Liberators,” we’re tooling along as if there’s no tomorrow and before we realize it, zap – gone-zo. Go figger that one!<frown>

Also appreciate the comments on the piece put out “just for you” (as Lars put it! and glad you enjoyed the CNoR. Nice thing about doing those is that I learn a lot simply by preparing those Posts. Good readin’ and learnin’ at the same time. My grade school teachers should be rockin’ & rollin’ wherever they are![swg]

I may live to regret this "decision," but OKAY with the H&H gals to fill in for Nick our Chief Chef [C=:-)]and former regular!! It will be YOUR responsibilty to keep 'em OUT of Boris' shed![:O] This outta be a riot!<groan>


Thanx to all who bought rounds! Ka-ching, Ka-ching, music to my ears![swg] By the by, I think we’re going to have to come up with names for our two cash registers (both mechanical) one at each 1/3rd of the bar. So let’s kick that idea ‘round, okay[?] After all, we have Coal Scuttle for the Pig’s Feet Jar “feeding” our Juke, Herr Wurltizer. So, why not a couple of names for the cash boxes[?]


Okay boyz, time to move on!


Tom [4:-)] [oX)]

Later!

Tom[4:-)] [oX)]


Stick around a few minutes AFTER POSTING - The information you MISS may be for YOU!

Those who acknowledge the other guy, get acknowledged!

[trolleyboy]

ENCORE ! ENCORE ! Cklassic Steam# 13 From pg# 218
This is / wass to go along with Tom's fine piece on the Candian Northern the other day.

Later
Rob

CLASSIC CNR STEAM # 13 THE FORMING OF THE CNR


Tom and I have talked about the various bits and parts of the CNR so here is the short short history of how they came to be. Enjoy Rob.

Sir Robert Borden,who had become Prime Minister in 1911,kept arguing for publi ownership of a nationwide railway system. He pointed out that 90 % of the Grand Trunk's transcontinental ambitions were already publically funded by government loans,and for only 10 % more the country could own and control the system. Faced by the urgent demands of the war,Parliment decided to act on his suggestion.

It began in 1917 by obtaining the Candian Northern, and appointing a board of directors chaired by D.B. Hanna. The following year, the board's jurisdiction was extended over the Candian Government Railways. 15 lines in all, the main one's being the Intercolonial,the National Transcontinental,the Hudson Bay Railway,and the Prince Edward Island Railway.

Then , on June 6,1919, Parliament passed an act incorporating the Canadian National Railway Company and appointed Hanna as President. The first major aquisition made by the new corporation was of the Grand Trunk Pacific the next year.


The first anual report issued by the board was for 1921, the third year in the life of the new railway. They gave details of the assets and liabilities of the component companies as well as those of Canadian National. They reported earnings in 1921 of $47,321.44, compared to the 1920 defficet of $4 million. By 1923 with the takeover of the rest of the Grand Trunk and it's Grand Trunk Western ( american holdings ) they had built a soilid company.

SOME STATS ON THE NEW RAILWAY


Once the govt incorporated the company Canadian National Railway's, it created one of the largest railways in the world, with various railway related services. All for the benefit of it's sole shareholder the people of Canada ( aka the Federal govt ). At the outset it had 105.905 employees , 2078 pensioners, 3268 loccomotives , 138,925 pieces of rolling stock passenger and freight, 21,700 miles of track, and telegraph lines , hotels, car ferries,barges and tugs.

Candian National telegraph's had 3852 employee's serving the public and railway needs for messeges along 113,105 miles of wire. The express dept had 3255 employee's, as well as 628 horses , 111 motor trucks, 1095 waggons and sleighs, 2959 platform trucks ( hand dollies ), and 584 safes ( locaated in express buildings, amnd stations ) Among the business handles during the year were 47 million pounds of fish,3500 live foxes and 4400 Horses ( principally the racing type )

Eight major hotels. built by the predessesr companies werw there to serve the riding public in style. These were not operated by a separate company but left in control of the General Manager of Hotels,Sleeping and Dinning cars.

[trolleyboy]

morning Tom, 1 Doug speacial with a short stack chaser please[:D], oh and a really big coffee to kick my but into gear this morning.If Nick is unable to this evening the girls AKA H&H have graciously offered to put on the fish fry and fixings for us all tonight. Plaice , haddock, cod and carp ( the last you will want to avoid as I think they were caught in the Welland Canal )[:O][xx(]

Good day to not be outside today , hovering at or about 0C with a snow/rain slain mix falling [sigh] Hey at least gas has ottomed out again around here .80C a litre,been a couple of years since it's hit that level [tup]

Al Coffee is maybe what you don't need,too many coffee's and tax returns makes the tax guy a tad confused and edgy [:O] Been there though today feels like Friday here as well ( maybe cause it's my day off ) I'm sure that it Russ or dave make it in today that thye will pick up upon and appreciate the streamliner anyway. [tup]

Well must head out for now. I will attempt to leave you all with the ENCORE I had pepared a couple days(daze) ago.

Rob

[passengerfan]

Good Morning Tom see thats what happens when you have insomnia and Tuesday looks like Thursday. Sorry Tom Really do need a cup of coffee fer sure fer sure. OK will find another surporise for tuesday SP day. I'm sure I can find something for the SP theme.

TTFN AL.

[siberianmo]

We open at 6 AM (all times zones!) (Don’t ask how we do that!)[swg]

THURSDAY’s INFO & SUMMARY of POSTS

Mornin’ All! The best way to start the day is here with us![tup] Some pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery along with a hot cuppa freshly brewed coffee “works” well! Then we have our <light> and <traditional> breakfasts from the Menu Board. So, c’mon and join us![tup]

Anyone watching[?] We are coming up on the 5,000th reply at ”Our” Place! And there were “those” who said this Thread would fold-up in a matter of several weeks![tdn][swg]


Daily Wisdom

It’s déjà vu all over again.
(yogi-ism)


Info for the Day:

Railroads from Yesteryear: Southern Pacific arrives next Tuesday! This will be the THEME for the DAY!

* Weekly Calendar:

Today: Fish 'n Chips Nite!
Friday: Pizza Nite! & Steak ‘n Fries Nite!
Saturday: Steak ‘n Trimmin’s Nite! – and – ENCORE! Saturday


SUMMARY

Name …..…………… Date/Time …..…..………. (Page#) .. Remarks

(1) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 05:17:39 (247) Wednesday’s Info & Summary

(2) barndad Doug Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 05:19:02 (247) Acknowledgments & Our Own Lingo, Part II & jokes!

(3) passengerfan Al Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 06:36:38 (247) Streamliner #62 – ATSF Kansas Cityan

(4) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 07:36:37 (247) Something Special coming!

(5) coalminer3 CM3 Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 08:28:08 (247) AM pick-us-up!

(6) SmithBrazil Daniel Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 08:30:33 (247) 1st Post

(7) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 08:53:29 (247) reply to: SmithBrazil

(8) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 09:23:55 (247) Acknowledgments, Rendezvous Report, etc.

(9) trolleyboy Rob Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 11:06:09 (247) Back online, etc.

(10) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 11:54:33 (247) Railways of Europe #1 – British Rail

(11) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 13:27:09 (247) Pike Perspectives! NA Steam loco wheel arrangements

(12) LoveDomes Lars Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 14:47:04 (248) PM comments

(13) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 18:32:47 (248) Acknowledgments, etc.

(14) passengerfan Al Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 18:56:39 (248) Comments

(15) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 19:04:00 (248) reply to passengerfan

(16) pwolfe Pete Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 19:15:40 (248) Inclusive & Most Informative Post!

(17) siberianmo Tom Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 20:34:55 (248) reply to pwolfe, etc.

(18) barndad Doug Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 21:23:26 (248) Inclusive Post, joke, etc.

(19) trolleyboy Rob Posted: 15 Feb 2006, 23:50:14 (248) Inclusive :Post, etc.

(20) trolleyboy Rob Posted: 16 Feb 2006, 00:36:45 (248) Classic Juice #21



NOW SHOWING:

The Mentor Village Emporium Theatre
. . . . . Double Features, all of the time . . . . .

. . . Sunday, February 12th thru 18th: Bound for Glory (1976) starring: David Carradine, Ronny Cox & Melinda Dillon – and – Emperor of the North Pole (1973) starring: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine & Keith Carradine.


That’s it! [tup][;)]

Tom [4:-)] [oX)]
Proprietor of “Our” Place, an adult eating & drinking establishment!

[siberianmo]

For: Al

Nope - TUESDAY is Southern Pacific! Gotta read those SUMMARIES!! [swg]

Tom[4:-)] [oX)]

[passengerfan]

Good Morning Tom I realize "Our Place is not open yet in any Time Zone so will just slip this under the door for posting later.

Since this is SP DAY I will start with this.

PASSENGERFAN AL'S STREAMLINER CORNER #62

DAYLIGHT SP Trains 98-99 March 21, 1937 Los Angeles – San Francisco daily each direction 470 miles 935 miles round trip 10 hours 15 minutes
By Al

The SP came up with what some believe were the most beautiful trains in the world when they launched their streamlined DAYLIGHTS between Los Angeles and San Francisco on March 21, 1937. The new trains pulled by new streamlined GS-2 4-8-4 locomotives were striking in the red, orange, black paint scheme with silver separation stripes and lettering. The new trains were twelve cars in length and carried 392 coach passengers and 57 parlor car patrons. Within days of the new daily trains entering service the SP added a second heavyweight section to carry the overflow from the streamlined trains. Each train operated with three pairs of articulated coaches all other cars were single cars. The DAYLIGHTS shortcomings were a shortage of dining space and lounge space. These shortcomings would be corrected in 1938.

DAYLIGHT CONSIST ONE

Inaugural #98

4411 Streamlined Lima GS-2 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3300 Baggage Newsstand 44–Revenue Seat Coach

2400 48-Revenue Seat Coach

2402 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2403 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2404 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2405 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2406 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2407 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10310 24-Seat Lunch Counter Bar 18-Seat Tavern Lounge Car

10200 40-Seat Dining Car

3000 29-revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2950 23-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

DAYLIGHT CONSIST TWO

Inaugural #99

4413 Streamlined Lima GS-2 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3301 Baggage Newsstand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2401 48-Revenue Seat Coach

2408 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2409 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2410 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2411 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2412 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2413 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10311 24-Seat Lunch Counter Bar 18-Seat Tavern Lounge Car

10201 40-Seat Dining Car

3001 29-Revenue Seat Parlor Car with 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2951 23-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

The DAYLIGHT consists received two new cars each beginning January 25, 1938. Passengers had complained since the inaugural of the DAYLIGHTS that waiting time to dine was far to lengthy and additional Tavern space was needed as 18-seats were not enough. SP management listened and the new cars a 56-seat Coffee shop car and full Tavern Lounge car with seating for 68 and a half round bar against one side in the center of these cars. One 56-seat Coffee Shop car 10400 was trainlined in the first consist directly behind articulated Coach 2407 replacing Lunch Counter Tavern Lounge Car 10310. To the rear of 40-seat Dining Car 10200 was the new Tavern Lounge Car 10312.

CONSIST ONE dining and lounge cars now looked like this

10400 56-Seat Coffee Shop Car

10200 40-Seat Dining Car

10312 68-Seat Tavern Lounge Car

From consist two Lunch Counter Tavern Car 10311 was replaced with cars in the following order

CONSIST TWO dining and lounge cars now looked like this

10401 56-Seat Coffee Shop Car

10200 40-Seat Dining Car

10313 68-Seat Tavern Lounge Car

The next changes to take place to the DAYLIGHTS were the addition of a pair of Articulated 50-seat Coaches to each consist in June 1939. These cars were not new but were transferred from the SP subsidiary T&NO where they had operated in the SUNBEAM & HUSTLER. The former T&NO cars were renumbered into the SP schemes as follows.

2454 originally T&NO 506
2453 originally T&NO 507

2456 originally T&NO 504
2455 originally T&NO 505

At the same time DAYLIGHT cars 2400 and 2401 both single 48-seat coaches were transferred to the T&NO becoming their 452 and 453 respectively.

The altered DAYLIGHTS from the rear of articulated cars 2406-2407 in consist one and articulated cars 2412-2413 in consist two now looked like the following.

CONSIST ONE

10400 56-Seat Coffee Shop Car

10200 40-Seat Dining Car

2454 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2453 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10312 68-Seat Tavern Lounge Car

3000 29-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2950 23-seat Parlor 10-seat Lounge Observation

CONSIST TWO

10401 56-Revenue Seat Coffee Shop Car

10201 40-Seat Dining Car

2456 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2455 Articulated 50-revenue Seat Coach

3001 29-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2951 23-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

All new 14-car DAYLIGHTS were introduced January 5, 1940. The new DAYLIGHTS were named the MORNING DAYLIGHTS March 30, 1940 and the original DAYLIGHT trains that had grown to fourteen cars became the NOON DAYLIGHTS on March 30, 1940.

MORNING DAYLIGHT March 30, 1940
CONSIST ONE train 98

4424 Streamlined Lima GS-3 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3302 Baggage News Agents Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2442 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2441 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2444 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2443 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

10252 Articulated 80-Seat Coffee Shop Car
10251 Articulated Kitchen Car
10250 Articulated 72-Seat Dining Room Car

2446 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2445 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2439 44-Revenue Seat Coach

10314 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3002 27-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2952 22-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

CONSIST TWO MORNING DAYLIGHT
Train 99

4429 Streamlined Lima GS-3 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3303 Baggage News Agent Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2448 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2447 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2450 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2449 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

10255 Articulated 80-Seat Coffee Shop Car
10254 Articulated Kitchen Car
10253 Articulated 72-Seat Dining Room Car

2452 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2451 Articulated 46-revenue Seat Coach

2440 44-Revenue Seat Coach

10315 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3003 27-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2953 22-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

CONSIST ONE NOON DAYLIGHT
Train 96

4421 Streamlined Lima GS-3 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3300 Baggage New Agents Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2402 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2403 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2404 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2405 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2406 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2407 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10400 56-Seat Coffee Shop Car

10200 40-Seat Dining Car

2454 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2453 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10312 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3000 29-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2950 23-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

CONSIST TWO NOON DAYLIGHT
Train 97

4427 Streamlined Lima GS-3 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3301 Baggage News Agents Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2408 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2409 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2410 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2411 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

2412 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2413 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10401 56-Seat Coffee Shop Car

10201 40-Seat Dining Car

2456 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach
2455 Articulated 50-Revenue Seat Coach

10313 68-Seat Bar –Tavern Lounge Car

3001 29-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2951 23-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

By the end of June 1941 the SP had received enough new cars to inaugurate a third DAYLIGHT the new SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT on July 4, 1941. Beginning July 30, 1941 the MORNING DAYLIGHT and NOON DAYLIGHT received enough new cars to be listed by consist again.

CONSIST ONE MORNING DAYLIGHT

4432 Streamlined Lima GS-4 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3302 Baggage New Agent Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2458 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2457 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2460 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2459 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2462 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2461 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

10258 Articulated 80-Seat Coffee Shop Car (New)
10257Articulated Kitchen Car (New)
10256 Articulated 72-Seat Dining Room Car (New)

2474 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2473 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2485 44-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

10314 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3002 27-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Drawing Room

2954 22-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation (New)

CONSIST TWO MORNING DAYLIGHT

4437 Streamlined Lima GS-4 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3303 Baggage News Agent Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2466 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2465 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2468 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2467 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2470 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2469 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

10261 Articulated 80-Seat Coffee Shop Car (New)
10260Articulated Kitchen Car (New)
10259 Articulated 72-Seat Dining Room Car (New)

2476 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2475 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2486 44-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

10315 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3003 27-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2955 22-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation (New)


CONSIST ONE NOON DAYLIGHT
Train 96

4439 Streamlined Lima GS-4 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive & Tender

3300 Baggage News Agents Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2442 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2441 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2444 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2443 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2446 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2445 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

10252 Articulated 80-Seat Coffee Shop Car
10251 Articulated Kitchen Car
10250 Articulated 72-Seat Dining Room Car

2464 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2463 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2439 44-Revenue Seat Coach

10312 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3000 29-Revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2952 22-revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation


CONSIST TWO NOON DAYLIGHT
Train 97

4436 Streamlined Lima GS-4 4-8-4 Locomotive & Tender

3301 Baggage New Agents Stand 44-Revenue Seat Coach

2448 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2447 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2450 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2449 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

2452 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach
2451 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach

10255 Articulated 80-Seat Coffee Shop Car
10254 Articulated Kitchen Car
10253 Articulated 72-Seat Dining Room Car

2472 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)
2471 Articulated 46-Revenue Seat Coach (New)

2440 44-Revenue Seat Coach

10313 68-Seat Bar Tavern Lounge Car

3001 29-revenue Seat Parlor Car 5-Revenue Seat Parlor Stateroom

2951 23-Revenue Seat Parlor 10-Seat Lounge Observation

For information on the SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT see separate listing under July 4, 1941.

The NOON DAYLIGHT was discontinued for the duration of WW-II beginning January 5, 1942. The two NOON DAYLIGHT consists listed above were transferred to the SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT route for the duration of the war.
The NOON DAYLIGHT trains 96 and 97 were reinstated April 14, 1946 with the prewar consists that had operated in the SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT consists of WW-II.
The passenger loads the prewar NOON DAYLIGHT trains had enjoyed did not return after reinstatement following the war. The NOON DAYLIGHTS were discontinued October 1, 1949 and the cars went to two other trains the new STARLIGHT and the SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT. See those trains for further details.

The COAST DAYLIGHTS as the MORNING DAYLIGHTS had been renamed were dieselized beginning January 5, 1955.

The COAST DAYLIGHT received ¾ length domes beginning November 3, 1962. These cars originally assigned to the SHASTA DAYLIGHT never returned to that train but remained assigned to the COAST DAYLIGHT. The COAST DAYLIGHTS had been operating with the former SHASTA DAYLIGHT “Timberline” Lounge Cars until they were replaced by the dome lounges.

Beginning November 3, 1962 the SP assigned Automats to replace the COAST DAYLIGHT trains triple unit coffee shop – kitchen - dining cars for the winter months. The Christmas season and summer peak travel boom witnessed the return of the triple unit dining sets to the COAST DAYLIGHTS.

Beginning May 12, 1968 the SUNSET consists that originated in New Orleans began running through from Los Angeles to San Francisco as the COAST DAYLIGHT. Only the Dome and Parlor Observation were added and deleted at Los Angeles for the run to and from San Francisco.


TTFN AL

[trolleyboy]

well good evening again Leon hope you are in a better mood than the last time. Just a small CR ( 4 fingers ) tonight for me. I figured that with the rendezvous fast approaching that I would run a few bits on the TTC. as some here know the TTC has only existed as such since 1921,it was made up of 5 separate lines ( all with their own fare systems and not transferable between each other ) all serving the city of Toronto. So the next couple of days I'll try to splain some of the nuances.

CLASSIC JUICE # 21 THE PRE HISTORY OF THE TTC PART 1

Toronto Street Railway Company

This company was incorporated in march of 1861,with Alexander Easton becoming it's president. the company was given a thity year franchise from the city of Toronto, to provide horsecar service on Yonge street, Quenn and King streets. Cars were not to exceed 6 miles an hour,and would work sixteen hours during the summer months and fourteen hours during the winter.There was to be no less than 30 min headway between cars, and the fares were to be set at 5 cents.

The company proceeded with these operations until 1869 when they ran into financial distress ( missed bond payments ). Trustee William Casey was appointed to right the ship. In 1873 William and George Kiely took over the assets of the company, and were granted a new act of incorporation to continue the companies obligations to the franchise.The company remained under Kiely control until 1891 when the franchise expired and the city assumed control.

Tornto Railway Company

The city of Toronto continued to operate the street railways until sept of 1891 when the group under William McKenzie ( of McKenzie and Mann intrests ) bouhgt the operation from the city, and began operations on a new 30 year franchise. The New company was now known as the Toronto Railway Company ( TRC ), and would become the largest operator of street railway lines in toronto until the comming of the TTC in 1921.

During the days of the TRC, electrification of the entire system occured and the horse cars were withdrawn.Extenions top the system were made, and the introdustion of open cars in the summer and closed cars in the winter began. Stoves were also installed in these new electric cars ( closed )new double truck and single truck designs ( TR Cars ) were constructed. Double truck cars were mostly rebuilt with airbrakes starting in 1905. ( ahnd brakes were banned in 1917 on passenger cars ).

In 1915, open cars were banned by the Railway Municiple board, and all cars were henceforth required to be the closed type with doors at front and rear. Lifeguards were added to car fronts providing new safety features.There had been many complaints that pedestrians would be maimed or killed if they fell in front of moving cars accidentally if these features were not insatlled. ( Consider the garb of women at the time and the rutted unpaved for the most part roads of this period )

Another improvement which the TRC completed during it's franchise was the replacement of the horse car tracks with heavier girder rail which could more easily support the newer heavier cars. Sunday service was approved by council vote in 1897 making it easier for the public to access beaches and other lesure activities. Even the horse cars were brought back as trailers for the new TR cars to handle the heavier peek traffic times during the week.

progress came to a halt in 1910, when the TRC refused the cities request to expand beyond their original franchise bounderies, as set out in 1891. This decision was upheld by the courts and as a result the cities expansion into the newly annexed areas was hampered. The TRC would uphld this desision until the end of it's franchise on August 31 , 1921. The TRC as a compnay existed on paper until 1930.

Part 1

Rob

[trolleyboy]

Good evening Leon put the shotgun now you know it's me <sheesh> you would think that i haven't been around much lately, at least I got a welcome back nip from Tex and a rather sloppy kis from Boris ( Nick get back here soon )

Tom Great Brit rail piece, it's interesting to read how they put it back togehter after the war, and have made a decent passenger rail network out of it. To think that neither the US nor Canda were bombed back into the stone age and we could not build as proper a passenger rail system as the UK and the rest of Europe for that fact Oh well. Sorry my rants done. Boris ring a round for everyone for me please.

Tom I did get all your emails and have already responded in return. At that end I'm still reasonably connected. BTW thanks for all the confirmations guys,it's good to know that my emails are at least getting through. I may resort to poney express for posts however.

Nice list of all the steam locomotuives in NA's combined roundhouses,all the common and the uncommon a great list. One wnders how many more wheel arrangements are out there that didn't make that list.Perhaps Pete or Nick could give us a similar list of British wheel arragmements and names.

Lars I doid finally catch some of what Tom posted yesterday, I was going to re-run a piece on the CNR's prehistory to support his CnoR bit but alas i was summarlty kicked off the forum by it's internal server. I put a call into a comp tech i know and he gave my sysytem a clean bill of health, mind you he told me that his doorstop was more powerfullb but that's another story. We would love to have you in toronto well next year I'm sure tyou will be in for. Who knows we may pick your backyard.

Doug I will likely take you up on your offer on the emailing of that article if it's like part two it's certainly a keeper.happy housebuilding BTW LOL. I think that you will find that most of the historical societies have decent articles and periodicals available, I get allot of my info from the museum's archieves.


Pete I hazzard a guess that the term Lingo has been used for a good few decades over hear, if I were to guess it started at or near the end of the first world war. It's a term my greatgrandfather would use ( I was 6 when he passed away ) and he was a WW1 CDN vet.
Rob

[Anonymous]

Good evening Tom and friends! I'll take a bottomless draught, and here's some Michigan quarters that I've been holding out. No dinner, please. I'll just drink! [:o)]

Nice streamliner on the Chicagoan Al. Where do you get all your info? Here's a secret as to where I look for mine these days .... see all the professional rail club logos below?

I've been looking up the individual organizations to see if they had monthly publications, and then find them on e-bay to share with ya'll should they prove to be interesting.

Enjoyed reading about your layout inspirations CM3. I find Tom's layout to be as good as I've seen anywhere. Speaking of whom ...the British Railway post blew me away in both content and quality! (Nice steam wheel chart too.) Then Pete added some info of his own, which was a real nice touch. And no ...I have no idea how long "lingo" has been used as a word, or it's origin. Pray tell?

Rob, I would love to join ya'll at the reunion in May, but I'm not allowed to go. I'm being punished for commiting to build a house this year. I'll send you the first part of the lingo post you're having trouble loading if you send me your e-mail address. Have a good night!

[:I] An old man lying on his deathbed summond his doctor, lawyer and his priest. He handed each of them an envelope containing $30,000. "Gentlemen, they say you can't take it with you but I am going to try. When they lower my casket into the ground I want each of you to toss in the envelope I gave you. After the funeral the doctor confessed to the other two "We needed money to build a new clinic, so I kept $20,000 and only threw in $10,000." The Priest also confessed "We needed renovations at the the church so I kept $10,000 and only threw in $20,000." The lawyer shook his head in disgust. "Gentlemen I am ashamed of you...I threw in a check for the full amount" [:I]

[siberianmo]

Evenin' Gents!

I'm still hangin' around until Leon takes over at 9 PM . . .

Redemption! A Post from Pete!!! Was hoping to get a comment or two and I hit the "jack pot!" Thanx for the great insights to the British Rail situation. Obviously "things" none of us would ever know unless and until someone such as yourself would reveal.[tup][tup][tup]

Really liked those heralds and logo - "cool" stuff, eh[?]

At lest you still have a first class operating rail system in Merry Olde, hardly can say the same for the U.S.A. [tdn] A shame - a pity and a downright crime, in my not-so-humble opinion. Just think about the men who toiled at making those passenger railroads in this great land. Think about the companies - the investments - the supporting industries - all of it. Mostly gone - evaporated - zap! So what's left[?] Hardly a shadow of what used to be and it ain't gonna EVER go back. I only can wish we had what England still has in terms of passenger rail transportation.

But one nice thing about this cyber bar 'n grill of ours, is we can bring it all back with pretty much the "stroke of a key!" The narratives - the pix - the maps - the stats, everything accept the experience, and that's in the mind's eye![tup]

Thanx for the round, Pete - but you have several Bathams comin' your way from the guys who picked up the tab prior to your arrival![swg] Drink up!!

Catch y'all in the AM![tup]

Tom[4:-)][oX)]

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom And All.

A pint of Bathams and a round please.

Another good day at the bar after a great Santa Fe Day[tup][tup].

AL Thanks for the details on the Kansas Cityan and the Chicagoan. Really enjoyed the post on the Baggage and Post Office Cars. I now know what Head End cars are. In the U.K. the Parcel cars etc were known as NPCCS( non-passenger carring coaching stock).
I believe that the railways there no longer carry parcels another traffic ,like newspapers, they have lost [V].

ROB Good to hear from you I hope you can solve the computer problem quickly, missing your posts.

CM3 Look after the models. The wife was watching BBC America recently when on the programme they gather antiques etc from someones home and sell them at auction. On the programme we were watching there were 4 model engines from the early 60s, unfortunately they didn,t show them in close up but two were diesel locos they fetched over 400 Pounds. about 700 Dollars I quess.

DOUG Thanks for the Lingo part 2 another well written and informative article. Keep the jokes coming [(-D][tup]. Slightly[#offtopic] but do you know how long the term Lingo as been in use over here.[?].

Great post LARS glad things are getting back to normal up there. My mate from England says the system you had is heading that way, hopefully it will calm down over the pond. Your right TOM's post on B.R. IS a feast. It brought out very mixed feelings on what has happen to the British Rail system.

TOM Many thanks for the informative and though prevoking post on B.R.

The railways were in a very bad state after WW11 after performing brilliently in very hard circumstances. If the companies had been paid the true rate for its services they could probably have remained as they were.
As to diesels, after the war I believe that the country was in dire straights financally and the thought of having to buy oil when there was plenty of coal was not acceptable at the time. As the post said the idea of the pilot plan for the diesels was sound but to order large numbers of un-tried designs was rediculous. Luckily for B.R.,Sulzer, Brush and English Electric were very good products. if they had been as bad as some of the others, I fear what would have happened.

As to the elimination of steam it was originally planned that steam would be around until the early seventies. In my opinion they should have done the main line electrification and kept steam while they did it, instead of the indecent haste shown at the end of steam,some locos were barely 5 years old when they were scrapped but I suppose it was only taxpayers money after all.[:(!].

I must mention though the Diesel Multiple Units introduced in the mid 50s they were a great success and no doubt saved some branch lines.

As to Beeching no doubt some reduction of the network was needed but what would be given today for some of the lines like in the West Country and elsewhere that were closed. Today there is still talk of a new railway on the route of the Great Central, closed in 1966, although the cost would be horrendous.Although to be fair to him ,not that I want too, he is credited with the introduction of the Merry-Go Round system of getting coal from the mines to the power stations and the introduction of the frieght-liner containers on BR. As to his appointment, look at the interests of the Minister Of Transport who appointed him.

The regions formed is interesting. in the late 50s some of the region's borders were changed. often when this old rivalries surfaced. Take the Great Central it was owned by the LNER and became part of the Eastern Region of BR, in the change it became part of the London Midland and not long afterward the the expresses were withdrawn and the line suffered. it had been a rival to the Midland companies since it had been built in 1899. Also the London Midland locos supplied to the line were often the ones discarded by other depots and it took great efforts on the part of the GC sheds to run a decent service.

I guess every cloud has a silver lining with the ru***o get rid of steam the railway works could not keep up with the scrapping of locos and they were sold to private firms.
The photo of the tank locos looks to be in Dai Woodhams scrap yard. He did not cut the locos up at once and luckily over 200 engines survived long enough to have been saved from his yard.

The photo of the 87electric loco was taken ,unless I am very much mistaken,at a place called "Cathiron" about 3 miles from where I used to live. A wonderful place to watch trains at speed. I have seen the last days of only steam hauled trains, through the various diesels and AC electric locos to the Pendelinos there.It is still a great place to watch trains in the countryside.with the Oxford canal naer the line.
Well TOM thanks again for the post If any one has a question I will try my best to answer it. PETE.

[siberianmo]

Hey Al . . .

Absolutely on the mark! It's all a matter of priorities, isn't it[?] After all, here in the U.S.A. and Canada, we seem to place the independence of being behind the wheel of our cars way over efficient mass transportation. Then there is our Congress which could have - but didn't - appropriate sufficient funding over the past several decades to ensure that we didn't lose our "edge" with regard to the upgraded infrastructure and equipment required for a first rate passenger rail system. Man, I'm on a roll.[swg]

Thanx for the comments![tup]

Thanx for the round and catch ya later!

Tom[4:-)] [oX)]

[passengerfan]

Good Afternoon Tom and the rest of the gang. Time for a CR and a round for the house.

Enjoyed the British Rail theme for the day. And those pictures from the other day makes you kind of wonder why we are unable to have train service like that in this country.

TTFN AL

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Here at the Feast or Famine Bar 'n Grill one never knows just who or how many will come through those front doors! But, one thing is certain, we appreciate the patronage![swg] Keeps the sound we love best ringin' in our ears - Ka-ching, Ka-ching.<grin>

So, thus far nary a word from our Brit friends - saw Pete lurking in the shadows a couple of hours ago - hope he's not experiencing the trolleyboy syndrome with the Forums.[tdn]

Good to see Rob's Post and appreciate the effort to make it as inclusive as possible, given the circumstances. By the by, I received several of your Emails and responded to all of 'em. Hope you are getting those!

Thanx for the "Dubloons" - don't even want to know where they originated! However, we'll turn 'em into ready cash for Herr Wurtlitzer!

Lars Thanx for the dependability and being the only one sticking to a timeframe![tup][tup][tup]

I have been trying to get the guys to understand this "principle" for months and thought it was working until West Coast S Dave and a couple of other guys had significant events take place in their lives changing the frequency of participation. Anyway, it helps to know that you'll be around in the mid-afternoon - kinda frees me up to do other things.

Thanx for the round![tup]

Been seeing some "browsers" from the "CS" over here, but as has been the practice, they don't grace us with their presence. I "know them," but for whatever the reason they apparently aren't interested in particpating - but they ARE checking us out.[swg] Ya know, this Thread was never established to run in competition with any other. It was intended to be a stand-alone site for the type of "stuff" we enjoy as adults. It seems to be working well and here we are approaching the 11th month of existence on the Forums. Not bad, not bad at all![tup]

Received an Email from BK and he's back in the States and should be heading up to Alberta and his "intended" by the weekend. Said to buy ya all a drink - so Boris ring it! Drinks on BK!! We most probably will be seeing him next week.[yeah] Remember, this will be his first return to the bar since his "induction" into the Order of the Stools! - so let's give him a rousing [#welcome] Back!!

I'm not sure that I'll be Positng anything else tonight - so, let's keep in mind that:

Leon the Night Man takes the bar at 9 PM!

Catch y'all later!

Tom[4:-)][oX)]

[LoveDomes]

Greetings Tom and whoever may be in the back room!

We're into a major melt here on the Island. Much of the mess is messier! However, things are getting to somewhat of a normal chaotic stage.[swg] Actually not all that bad - temperatures hitting 50 degrees and it is supposed to remain this way for a couple of days, with rain on the way. Ugh. Well, the kids enjoyed it all. Don't know if you are aware of this - but the schools - at least most of 'em - stayed opened throughout the week. No Candy A's around here![swg][yeah]

So, what "eye candy" have you provided us today, Captain of the Bar[?] A rather extensive and informative piece on Brit Rail. My guess is this is a "feast" for Pete & Nick and their comments should be interesting.

Really surprised at some things lately - but given reported "problems" with the Forums, perhaps the low attendance here can in some way be tied to that. I have my doubts. No problems here connecting and remaining on board. Anyway, too blankety-blank bad that the crowd has thinned so much. Would've been nice to get some "real time" input from some of the "missing" guys. By the time they read the pages - if they read the pages - it will be kinda like spilled milk. Even the cat has problems with it after a few days![swg]

You get another four-[tup] Salute for yet another fine effort with the "Euro Railways #1" [tup][tup][tup]. Hey Rob you mean to say you didn't even see what Tom did just for you on the previous page[to your post?] Man, you NEED to get a new machine and do it now![swg] Maybe we should empty that Lars box and send him the dough.[^]

barndad Doug You need to keep your day job! The jokes are - well - not all that bad! Enoying your series, but like Tom I have to wait 'til I am sufficiently waked to read 'em.[swg] Good job!][tup][tup]

Sorry, but I haven't a thing for the Pike Perspectives theme and probably will not until I get off my duff and resume my interest in model trains. I have the room - the stuff and the means to put together a couple of pikes (previously discusssed), just a mattter of doing it I suppose.[%-)]

That reference to Frank Ellison by CM3 (is that really a name[?][?]) also brought back some memories from a far distant past. I'm not into reading the MRR mags anymore, but surely did when at sea. Somewhere in the basement are boxes upon boxes of 'em. Should probably get going with those too. Did I read somewhere that you put decades worth in binders[?] Not a bad thought - either that or find someone who may have 'em all on discs! Now there's a thought.

Sounds like your Rendezvous plans are fillling in quite nicely. If it wasn't for a planned trip during the same timeframe, I'd probably wind up in Toronto too. Piece of cake from here - just jump aboard Amtrak. Then again, maybe not so quick![swg] Maybe fly up and rail back would do it. Wouldn't want to arrive late. But that's all wishful thinking - I'm heading to the left coast, as mentione sometime earlier.

Your steam loco wheel arrangement 'chart' really is quite interesting - and of course, so is the URL. I spent a considerable amount of time checking out both. [tup][tup]

Given that there is no RR "theme" for this day, I presume we are taking somewhat of a break from that, huh[?] Maybe our Brit friends will "load us up" with something to supplement your post.[yeah]

Wife is beckoning - so it's time for me to move out of the den and into the fray![swg] I think we're going to fire up the four-wheeler (aka: car) and get some shopping done. Oh that ought to be really a lot of fun . . . .NOT!

Here's a ten spot for a round, whenever you have sufficient numbers at the bar to justitfy it! I'll take a "quickie" - just a hit of JD should do it.

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

For Pike Perspective's Day! . . . and steam fans too!


G’day!

Here’s something for the Steam Locomotive fans in our group:
The North American Steam Locomotive Wheel Arrangements
first Posted on page 153

Type ………. Wheel diagram ………. Name(s)

0-2-2 ……… Oo
0-4-0 ……… Oo ………………….. 4-coupled
0-4-2 ……… OOo
0-4-4 ……… OOoo ……………….. Forney 4-coupled
0-4-6 ……… OOooo ……………… Forney 4-coupled
0-6-0 ……… OOO ……………….. 6-coupled
0-6-2 ……… OOOo ………………. Baldwin, Uintah
0-6-4 ……… OOOoo ……………... Forney 6-coupled
0-6-6 ……… OOOooo ……………. Forney 6-coupled
0-8-0 ……… OOOO ………………. 8-coupled
0-8-2 ……… OOOOo
0-10-0 ……. OOOOO ……………..10-coupled
0-10-2 ……. OOOOOo …………… Union

2-2-0 ……… oO .………………….. Planet
2-2-2 ……… oOo. ………………… Single
2-4-0 ……… oOO. …………………Porter
2-4-2 ……… oOOo ……………….. Columbia
2-6-0 ……… oOOO ………………. Mogul
2-6-2 ……… oOOOo ................... Prairie
2-8-0 ……… oOOO ………………. Consolidation
2-8-2 ……… oOOOOo …………… Mikado
2-8-4 ……… oOOOOoo ………….. Berkshire, Kanawha
2-10-0 …….. oOOOOO ................ Decapod
2-10-2 …….. oOOOOOo …………. Santa Fe
2-10-4 …….. oOOOOOoo ………... Texas

4-2-0 ……… ooO ………………… Six-wheeler
4-2-2 ……… ooOo ……………….. Bicycle
4-2-4 ……… ooOoo
4-4-0 ……… ooOO ………………. American
4-4-2 ……… ooOOo ……………... Atlantic
4-4-4 ……… ooOOoo ……………. Reading
4-6-0 ……… ooOOO …………….. Ten-wheeler
4-6-2 ……… ooOOOoo ………….. Pacific
4-6-4 ……… ooOOOoo ………….. Baltic, Hudson
4-8-0 ……… ooOOOO .………….. Mastodon
4-8-2 ……… ooOOOOo …………. Mountain
4-8-4 ……… ooOOOOoo .……….. Northern
4-10-0 …….. ooOOOOO ………… Decapod
4-10-2 …….. ooOOOOOo ……….. Overland, Southern Pacific
4-12-2 …….. ooOOOOOOo .…….. Union Pacific

Articulated Locomotives

0-2-2-0 …… OO …………………. Mt. Washington Cog Railroad
0-4-4-0 …… OO OO
0-6-6-0 …… OOO OOO ………… Mallet
0-8-8-0 …… OOOO OOOO …….. Angus

2-6-6-0 …… oOOO OOO
2-6-6-4 …… oOOO OOOoo
2-6-6-6 …… oOOO OOOooo …….. Allegheny
2-8-8-0 …… oOOOO OOOO …….. Bull Moose
2-8-8-2 …… oOOOO OOOOo …… Chesapeake
2-10-10-2 … oOOOOO OOOOOo

4-4-6-2 …… ooOO OOOoo
4-6-6-4 …… ooOOO OOOoo ………….. Challenger
4-8-8-4 …… ooOOOO OOOOoo ……… Big Boy
2-8-8-8-2 … oOOOO OOOO OOOOo … Triplex
2-8-8-8-4 … oOOOO OOOO OOOOoo .. Triplex

Note: Forum format differences make for “skewed” columns.

Check out this URL for more: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/wheels.shtml


Enjoy! [tup]

Tom[4:-)][oX)]

For Pike Perspective's Day! . . . and steam fans too!

[siberianmo]

RAILWAYS of EUROPE #1 – British Rail

British Rail



Used with permission from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Formatting differences made necessary due to Forums requirements. Some heralds from other sources.


British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the 'Big Four' British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997.

This period saw massive changes in the nature of the railway network: steam traction was eliminated in favour of diesel and electric power, passengers replaced freight as the main source of business, and the network was severely rationalised.

History

Background


British Railways Eastern Region timetable for Summer 1963.

The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century. After the grouping of 1923 by the Railways Act 1921 there were four large British railway companies, each dominating its own geographic area. These were the Great Western Railway (GWR), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the Southern Railway (SR).

The London Underground and the Glasgow Subway were independent concerns and there was a small number of independent light railways and industrial railways, which did not contribute significant mileage to the system. Neither were non-railway-owned tramways considered part of the system.

During the Second World War the railways were taken into state control. They were heavily damaged by enemy action and were run down aiding the war effort.

Nationalisation

The Transport Act 1947 made provision for the nationalisation of the network, as part of a policy of nationalising public services by Clement Attlee's Labour Government. British Railways came into existence on 1 January 1948 with the merger of the Big Four, under the control of the Railway Executive of the Briti***ransport Commission (BTC).

The Northern Counties Committee lines owned by the LMS in Northern Ireland were quickly sold to the Stormont Government, becoming part of the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1949.

The emblem of British Railways, also called the "Ferret and Dartboard"

British Railways

The new system was split geographically into six regions along the lines of the Big Four:

• Eastern Region (ER) — southern LNER lines.
• North Eastern Region (NER) — northern LNER lines in England and all ex-LMS lines east of Skipton.
• London Midland Region (LMR) — LMS lines in England and Wales and most ex-LNER lines west of Skipton.
• Scottish Region (ScR) — LMS and LNER lines in Scotland.
• Southern Region (SR) — SR lines.
• Western Region (WR) — GWR lines.

These regions would form the basis of the BR business structure until the 1980s. The Eastern and North Eastern Regions were merged to form the Eastern Region in the 1960s, Anglia Region was split off from the Eastern Region in the 1980s. They retained a level of independence, though there was also some centralisation.


ex-LMS Jubilee Class 45641 Sandwich at Chinley in 1954 [Wikimedia Commons]

1955 Modernisation Plan

After the Second World War, Britain's railways fell behind others in the world. Countries like Japan, USA and France were experimenting with new diesels and electrics. However, Britain wasn't, and the run down network deteriorated even more because of painfully slow rebuilding. Finally, and lately, came the modernisation plan for Britain's railways. It cost the government much more than it should have, because of bad timing.

The 1955 Modernisation Plan, detailed in the Briti***ransport Commission's (BTC) Modernisation and Re-equipment of British Railways, argued for spending £1,240 million over a period of 15 years. Services were to be made more attractive to passengers and freight operators, thus recovering traffic which was being lost to the roads. There were three important areas:

• Electrification of principal express routes, the Eastern Region of British Railways, Kent, Birmingham and Central Scotland,
• Large-scale introduction of diesel and electric traction with new coaching stock to replace steam locomotives
• Resignalling and track renewal

A government White Paper was produced in 1956, stating that modernisation would help eliminate BR's financial deficit by 1962.

However the modernisation plan failed to take into account the effect that mass road transport would have upon the traditional role of the railways, and as a result much money was wasted by heavy investment in things like marshalling yards, at a time when small wagon-load traffic was in rapid decline. Much money was also wasted by the rapid introduction of new classes of diesel locomotives into fleet service without an adequate period of prototype testing, which resulted in several classes being scrapped within a very few years of their being built. The failure of the Modernisation Plan led to a distrust of British Rail's financial planning abilities by the Treasury which was to dog BR for the rest of its existence.

Tank engines at May 1966 at Barry Scrapyard (GNU Free Documentation)

There was mass withdrawal of steam types

The Beeching Axe and the end of steam

Main article: Beeching Axe

In 1963, BR chairman Dr Richard Beeching published the Re-Shaping of British Railways calling for major rationalisation of the system. Many rural routes were unprofitable in the face of increasing competition from road hauliers and the private car. The Beeching Axe fell on most branch lines and some main lines. Some of these lines have since become heritage railways.

The early 1960s also saw the "Great Locomotive Cull", with mass withdrawals of steam types, and their replacement with diesels, fewer of which were needed on the shrinking system. Steam traction's last stand came in the North-West of England in August 1968. The use of steam locomotives on independent industrial lines, particularly by the National Coal Board (NCB), continued into the 1970s. Many locomotives were preserved, having not been scrapped immediately on withdrawal, but most fell victim to the cutter's torch.

From 1958 to 1974 the West Coast Main Line was electrified in stages at the French voltage of 25 kV 50Hz AC overhead line electrification. Many commuter lines around London and Glasgow were also electrified, and the Southern Region extended its 750 V DC third rail system to the Kent coast. However electrification never reached system-wide level as on many other European railways.

British Rail


Class 47 47241 in "corporate blue" livery in 1980 (GNU Free Documentation)

Steam traction on British Railways ended in August 1968 after the system was rebranded British Rail (see British Rail brand names for a full history). This introduced the double-arrow logo, still used by National Rail to represent the industry as a whole (though some cynics claimed the logo meant the railway "didn't know if it was coming or going"); the standardised typeface used for all communications and signs; and the "rail blue" livery which was applied to nearly all locomotives and rolling stock.

In 1973 the TOPS system for classifying locomotives and multiple units was introduced, and is the basis of the classification system. Hauled rolling stock continued to carry numbers in a separate series. Also during this time, yellow warning panels, characteristic of British railways, were added to the front of diesel and electric locomotives and multiple units in order to increase the safety of track workers.

The major engineering works were split off into a separate company, British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL), in 1970.

Sectorisation


BR Class 411, no. 1586, at London Victoria (GNU Free Documentation)

Sectorisation produced a more colourful railway — this is the Network SouthEast livery. It is a Mk1 electric multiple unit.


BR class 87 electric loco & trains (Virgin Trains) (GNU Free Dcoumentation)

Old trains, new livery -- Virgin Trains took over two InterCity franchises.

In the 1980s the regions of BR were abolished and the system sectorised into five sectors. The passenger sectors were InterCity (express services), Network SouthEast (London commuter services) and Regional Railways (regional services). Trainload Freight took trainload freight, Railfreight Distribution took non-trainload freight, Freightliner took intermodal traffic and Rail Express Systems took parcels traffic. The maintenance and remaining engineering works were split off into a new company, BRML (British Rail Maintenance Limited). The new sectors were further subdivided into divisions. This ended the "BR blue" period as new liveries were adopted gradually. Infrastructure remained the responsibility of the Regions until the "Organisation for Quality" initiative in 1991, when this too was transferred to the sectors.

Privatisation

Main article: Privatisation of British Rail

On the advice of the Adam Smith Institute, under John Major's Conservative Government's Railways Act 1993 British Rail was split up and privatised. This was a continuation of the policy of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government's privatisation of publicly-owned services. The unpopular Conservative Government was facing a Labour victory at the May 1997 General Election and so privatisation was rushed through and was finished in November 1997.

BR was privatised within the business structure that was in place. Passenger services in each sector were franchised out to private companies, mostly bus operators. The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) was created to organise ticketing and market the rail services using the National Rail brand. Freight operations were sold but mostly bought by one company, EWS. Railtrack controlled infrastructure. The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority was created to oversee and advise the government. The British Railways Board remained with some residual functions.

Privatisation has had mixed results. Passenger growth has been stimulated, but this has been at extra cost to the taxpayer and passengers, who have seen steady fare increases since 1997. Freight has also increased; however, there is debate as to whether these increases in passengers and freight have been due to privatisation, or simply to an improved economy which usually results in more travel. Some analysts have pointed out that a similar rise in passenger numbers occurred in the late 1980s when the economy was buoyant, only to fall again in the recession of the early 1990s; however, recent passenger-journey numbers have climbed back to the level last seen in the 1950s.

Railtrack's management proved to be incompetent and the Labour government refused to continue to subsidise the losses of shareholders. It went insolvent, was put in receivership and was replaced by a not-for-profit publicly owned Network Rail. Some saw this as the first step towards renationalisation. Given the costs this is unlikely at present although some studies have recommended this as a cheaper choice than the current subsidies to commercial companies. The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority's power became real when it dropped part of its name, becoming the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). The functions of the SRA were later transferred to the Department for Transport.

There has been some controversy over the decision to withhold subsidies from Railtrack, which forced it to become insolvent. Recent press reports have indicated that the then transport minister Stephen Byers deliberately forced the company to become insolvent, as this would remove any obligation on the government to provide compensation to Railtrack's shareholders, who would lose their investment.

Network

The BR network, with the trunk routes of the West Coast Main Line, East Coast Main Line, Great Western Main Line and Midland Main Line, remains unchanged. The Beeching Axe fell on many branch lines and some other main lines.

Locomotives and rolling stock

Locomotives

Steam locomotives

Main article: Steam locomotives of British Railways

BR inherited more than 20,000 locomotives from the constituent "Big Four" companies, the vast majority of which were steam locomotives. BR also built 2537 steam locomotives in the period 1948-1960: 1538 were to pre-nationalisation designs, and 999 to its own standard designs. These locomotives were destined to lead short lives, some as little as 5 years against a design life of over 30 years, because of the decision to end the use of steam traction in 1968.

Diesel locomotives

Main article: Diesel locomotives of British Rail

When BR was created, diesel traction was in its infancy in the United Kingdom (though more progress had been made in other countries, whose experience could arguably have been used to a greater degree in informing developments in the UK). Only one mainline diesel locomotive was inherited in 1948 (though more were on order) and a handful of diesel shunters of various types.

Initially, BR persisted with the small scale experimentation with diesel traction while continuing to build hundreds of steam locomotives to old and new designs. Even some steam shunters were being built through to the mid-1950s, when standard diesel shunters were already in large scale production. However, it was not until the 1955 Modernisation Plan that more substantial developments in mainline diesel locomotive technology were planned.

The Plan envisaged small numbers of prototype locomotives of varying power types being ordered from a variety of manufacturers. These could be tested and compared against each other before large scale orders were placed. Unfortunately, even before many of the prototypes had been delivered, a combination of the political need to maintain employment in the British locomotive-building industry and over-optimistic assessments of the possibilities offered by new diesel locomotives meant that large scale orders were placed for a wide variety of untested and incompatible designs, many of which proved to be very poor.

By the end of 1968, all the remaining mainline steam locomotives and shunters had been withdrawn - but during the period 1967-71 so were a large number of virtually new diesel locomotives and shunters (some only three years old) as many designs had proved unsuccessful, non-standard, and unnecessary with changed requirements on the railways, e.g. widespread line closures and the decline of wagonload freight traffic. However, some of the diesel shunters withdrawn during this period did find further use on industrial railway systems.

After the large scale production of some 5000 diesel locomotives and shunters in the period 1956-1968, the British locomotive-building industry virtually collapsed. BR needed very few new diesel locomotives from then on; only 285 heavy duty freight locomotives and the 199 High Speed Train power cars were purchased from then until privatisation began in 1994. No diesel locomotives have been built in Britain for the mainline system since 1991; the most recent new types have been imported from Canada and Spain.

Electric locomotives

Main article: Electric locomotives of British Rail

Electric traction was more advanced than diesel traction at Nationalisation, with a number of isolated electrified networks across the country using a variety of power supplies, though 1500V dc overhead supply had been accepted as the national standard in the 1930s. However, most of these networks used electric multiple units to provide the passenger service, with steam locomotives operating freight trains. Thus, BR inherited only 13 ex-North Eastern and 3 ex-Southern Railway electric locomotives, plus two departmental electric shunters, also ex-Southern Railway.

In the early years of BR, a number of locomtives were built to operate on the newly-refurbished and electrified Woodhead Route using the 1500V dc overhead system. However, by the time that the next major electrification project, the West Coast Main Line (WCML), was underway, the decision had been taken to adopt 25kV ac overhead as the standard supply system.

BR decided to test a variety of new 25kV ac types for the WCML electrification; in all 100 locomotives of five classes were built by different manufacturers. Having learned the lessons from these types, a standard class of a further 100 examples was ordered. This latter type, which was introduced in 1966 is still in service today. The earlier prototypes, though they were mostly pretty successful, succumbed in the 1980s and early 1990s as non-standard following the arrival of new electric locomotives.

Although the purchase of new electric types was carried out in a more successful way than the comparable process for diesel locomotives (see above), the 200-or-so electric locomotive fleet used to operate the WCML from the mid-1960s until the recent introduction of Pendolino trains was still far smaller than that originally envisaged; more than 500 were thought necessary when the initial plans were developed! It was fortunate that changes in the railway's operation had already occurred before mass orders were placed for electric traction.

Coaches

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail for additional information on:

• British Carriage and Wagon Numbering and Classification
• Coaches of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
• Coaches of the Great Western Railway
• Coaches of the Southern Railway
• Coaches of the London and North Eastern Railway
• British Rail Mark 1
• British Rail Mark 2
• British Rail Mark 3
• British Rail Mark 4


Freight wagons and industrial tankers.

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail for additional informatmion on:

• Coal trucks.
• Parcels vans and mail wagons.
• Industrial and oil tankers.
• Flat-cars and car-transporters.
• Gravel hoppers.

Multiple units

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/siberianmo/Euro%20trains/British%20trains/c3e61dee.jpg
BR Class 142 Pacer at Manchester Victoria station. (Public Domain)

The Pacer was British Rail's attempt to create a low cost Diesel Multiple Unit

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail for additional informatmion on:

• Multiple units.
• Diesel and electric multiple units.
• Pacer units.


Used with permission from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Formatting differences made necessary due to Forums requirements. Some heralds from other sources.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Enjoy!

Tom [4:-)] [oX)]



Waving flag credits to: www.3Dflags.com

[trolleyboy]

Morning Tom a spiked coffee and light breakfast if you please [:D] here's a sack of dubloons for the Coal scuttle as well ( best not to ask where they came from. Boris sadi they were in the "change" he got at the second national )

Well the system has let me read a couple pages today, odd that onlt thuis thread is not loading properly, I can log in on any of the other forums and not have any dificulty [alien]'s perhaps.

Anyway a few fractured responces as i have no way of knowing what was on 244 or 245.

Tom truly good stuff on the Sante Fe yesterday,excelleant info ond encores to be sure.I'm not a SF guy so I had no relevant info to add but I surly enjoyed your efforts [tup] Al and Russell and Lars Amazing add ons to tom's body of work as well, I see that Al has graced us with several more thought provoking and on topic SF streamliners. lars the dome info was again surly on target and enhanced our reading pleasure as well [tup] It was nice to see our resident SF guy Russ drop some thought on us as well,truly a testiment to the boss and this thread [tup]

Doug i see that you have come up with a article series close to my heart. Too bad that I can't convince you to join us in may, we could let you see the various items of lingo in use. of coasre your museum does have a fair bit of electric equiopment so it is old hat as they say for you. Hopefully I can catch an encore of part 1 as I can't get the blammed page to load soI can read it first hand [sigh]

I see our good firend CM3 has started us off well on this weeks pikes perspectives. Frank Ellison was truly one of the pioneers with his thoughts and concepts on how model railroads were to be designed and operated. I know that Tony Koester and Allan Maclelland have continued in his foot steps as they were, createing realisticness from the either of mrring.

I had thought that some film had been shot of Frank's layout, if not I'm sure that Carsten's( sorry Kalmbach ) did run a book and possibly a video on his layout. I'll have to go over to their site and check now.

Well folks that's as caught up as i can get at the moment. BTW where's Nick at these days(daze) Boris is pinning away for him. [alien]

for those who have recoieved the first rendezvous email please respopnd back that it was recieved,this way I know that I have the right addresses for further communications.If anyone else is thinking of joining us I ahve one extra room reservation which I'll sit on for a week, then it will get cancelled,as there is a hockey tournament in town that weekend as well and I'm sure that the room can be of use.

Later Rob

[siberianmo]

Mornin' Gents!

A bit of a chill in the air here in mid-Continent USA, but we're supposed to get back into the 60s once again. The rains are en route, so they tell us, with tomorrow expected to be a "wash out." Where in the world has winter gone[?]

Topped off the tank on the way home from our Valentine's Day dinner and petrol was at $1.97 (rounded). That price surely won't hold for very long . . . . but I suppose we all need to be "thankful" for whatever "break" we can find, eh[?]

Appreciate the favorable comments regarding yesterday's "Marathon" on the Santa Fe. Lots and lots of information fer sure, fer sure - and I didn't Post everything in my files![swg]

Heard from Rob again and his 'puter situation isn't getting any better. Still cannot access the most current pages. Sez he's working on getting a new one. Sure do miss his Posts and of course, he's missing out on some great stuff 'round here.

Haven't received anything from BK lately, so there's nothing new to "report" on his whereabouts. If you recall, this European business trip of his started shortly after the New Year began. [wow] Now THAT's a hulluva trip, eh[?] For all the guys who complain about being gone for a few days, think about that one . . . .

RENDEZVOUS REPORT

Hotel reservations have been taken care of by Rob for those of us attending our "First Annual" get together in Toronto this May. The activities are falling into place quite well, so this idea of mine is beginning to bear fruit.

Looks like it will be a "foursome" and we're all looking forward to a great couple of days in "Oh Canada!"[swg]

Anyone interested in participating should get an Email off to me ASAP, but the timing is now pretty much at "critical stage."

Acknowledgments:

I see Doug has begun the day with a long-winded Post [swg] but well appreciated! Those jokes put us all in a good mood, nice way to start the day![tup][tup] A roll of quarters from you and not a single Michigan one in it! Whazup with that[?][swg] Thanx![tup]

Al You are a tenacious character, fer sure, fer sure! Still at the good old Santa Fe this AM, eh[?] No problem - it's all great input and somewhere "out there" are some browsers who are simply amazed at how much info there is on this Thread of ours.[tup][tup]

CM3 Frank Ellison, now there's a name from way back when. I recall reading lots of "stuff" regarding him and his model railroading expertise. A pace setter fer sure, fer sure![tup][tup] By the by, yours may be the ONLY submission for "Pike Perspectives Day!"[tup] Thanx for remembering!

Appreciate the round and quarters for Herr Wurlitzer![tup]

Okay boyz, time to order something from the menu board . . .

Later!

Tom[4:-)] [oX)]

[siberianmo]

For: SmithBrazil - Daniel

I see this is your first Post on the Kalmbach Forums - [#welcome] Welcome aboard! and we all hope you enjoy your time with those of us who enjoy real and model trains.

This thread (site) is for Classic Trains and perhaps you would find what you are looking for on the Model Railroad Forum. Just check through all of the Forums available and you should quickly determine where best to Post your question.

You will also find that many participants of these Forums freely give of their personal infomation on the "Profile" page. Yours is rather lacking in information therefore, it would be difficult for anyone to "get to know you" and of course, contact you by Email. Your choice, of course - but if you "click" on my cyber name (left hand side of the Post) you will quickly see my "profile."

Again, enjoy your time on the Forums and if you find our Thread interesting, c'mon back - just be sure to check out what we are all about. Starting off on Page One of this and any other Thread you find yourself on is a good way to learn.

Later!

Tom [4:-)] [oX)]
Proprietor of “Our” Place, an adult eating & drinking establishment!

[Anonymous]

Coalminer3,

Thanks for sharing your story on the B&A in New England. I'm from Framingham and found at this site ( http://www.zekedev.com/sites/boston_line/index.cfm ) B&A track plans from 1950, from Rennselaer, NY to Boston, MA. I'm interested in modeling the B&A at Framingham during the 50-60's. Now I'm trying to find the track plans of the NYNH&H that went through Framingham (north and south). Have any clues were I could find them?

Thanks,
Daniel