Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house.
Mets are stalled at one to clinch. They rather do it at Shea, that's fine.
Rob, halfway to 70, give me a break, you're younger than Amtrak. But be optimistic, you're one fifth of the way to 175. Just think like a B&O locomotive.
Al, do a data dump for old times sake.
Pete, does Alan ride through the Channel Tunnel to get to the Continent?
Dave, Pacific Electric pictures are fun because I get to see vintage automobiles.
Doug, that cannon in town is so cute it's almost easy to forget it was deadly.
CM3, thanks for the title, I'll look for it next library visit.
Railroads in the Civil War, article short enough to read quickly.
http://www.gatewaynmra.org/articles/civil-war1.htm
City Point, Va
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/01800/01855v.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/01800/01858v.jpg
J. H. Devereaux locomotive
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/07200/07295v.jpg
Edwin M. Stanton locomotive
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/07200/07291v.jpg
General Haupt locomotive
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/07200/07297v.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/07200/07293v.jpg
Orange & Alexandria RR near Union Mills, Va
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g04000/3g04500/3g04589v.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g07000/3g07900/3g07973v.jpg
Hanover Junction, PA, where Lincoln changed trains enroute to Gettysburg
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/01500/01534v.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3a50000/3a50000/3a50400/3a50436r.jpg
Richmond
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/02700/02706v.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/02700/02709v.jpg
Manassas
http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/speccoll/imcatimages/77-12-009.jpg
http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/speccoll/imcatimages/77-12-010.jpg
Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/02100/02118v.jpg
Nashville
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/02100/02110v.jpg
Harper's Ferry
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cwpb/03800/03870v.jpg
http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/speccoll/imcatimages/77-12-026.jpg
Mike
Good Morning Barkeep and All Present; coffee, please, round for the house and $ for the jukebox.
Lots of comment today and then we’ll add some “new” material.
Tom provided us with lotsa cool pictures, an index, and new movies. “Slippery Silks” is surreal in some spots – not that many of the Three Stooges offerings weren’t. Re your comments on the NHL; $ my boy, $....Let’s play “Money Changes Everything” on the juke box.
The Buffalo Daily Whiz Bang has been running a series re plans to require passports for folks going to and from Canada. My, won’t that put a twist in the Bills and Sabres. It would cost us $400 to get passports, so I guess our Canadian trips will be a thing of the past. One hopes that cooler heads will prevail. I hope that I won’t have to shell out for a matching bag to go with my Bruins hat this year. BTW, what ever happened to the Black Hawks?
One last comment re passenger equipment; I think a lot of the backlog at Beech Grove has been put back into service. The big problem is that there is no long-term funding so you can’t purchase cars to replace older equipment (all of which was purchased at the same time). Also, since we have systematically dismantled the industrial structure of the Nation, nobody makes passenger cars here anymore. O.K. Boris, you can put the leg irons away; that’s all I’m going to say.
Mike: Interesting set of URLs. The shot of Nashville is a good one as it shows what was in the “gulch” before it all got rebuilt. The Tennessee capital bldg. is the large structure on the hill in the distance. In a previous life I had plans to do a book on Tennessee RRs in the CW and Reconstruction, but life intervenes when you plan.
Lars is with us! Giants were on TV here yesterday, but the weather was too nice (plus mom had a long list of chores – she was going to stake me out in the yard if I didn’t deal with some housing issues for the K9 Korps; so I only got to see Washington and Dallas last night. Anyway, we can raise a glass together. It may have been ugly, but they all count.
Pete. Thanks for sharing the German steam pictures. I see where another post answered the AGEIR question you had.
Rob sent more pictures and some comments re retirement. I could go now, but I still feel as if I have a lot to contribute. This is one job where experience has some value, thank the Lord.
Barndad sent us some interesting pictures as well. I went to a CW reenactment in Phillipi earlier this year; and got to see a battery from Ohio fire one of those beasties. Noise was tremendous echoing off of the hills. There was all sorts of artillery there (both Federal and Confederate).
Technical talk, technical talk – you can skip to the next part of the post if you’re not interested.
Unlike the late lamented Word Perfect, Word (gotta love it) does not work all that well with columns. So I put my data in tables. The tables feature in word is tremendously powerful, so take a look at it and explore it a little.
I copy, cut and paste into a Word file, and then do a cut and paste into the post itself. One other thing to do is to go to a REAL small font size in the document b4 you paste it in. I don’t know why, but this seems to work with the forums.
Herewith a couple of items from the shortline file. Today, we go to Georgia.
Georgia Northern Ry Co.
Operated 68.0 miles between Boston and Albany(!), and 22 miles between Moultrie and Sparks.
Connections with SCL, G&F, A&N and GAS&C.
Georgia Ashburn, Sylvester and Camilla Ry (GAS Line)
Operated 51.0 miles between Ashburn and West Camilla
Connections with GS&F, SCL, and Georgia Northern
Albany and Northern (A&N) part of SOU operated 36.0 miles between Cordele and Albany
All for now
Work safe
P.S. Thnaks for NP material, Tom.
Until the next time!
Lars
Good aftrenoon Ruth nice to see your smiling face again.I think a number 4 and a Keith's will suffuce for me today.What ? Oh yes Boris it's nice to see the good side of your face as well <sheesh> Nick never should have given him those spa visits to H & H's house of ill rupute, I mean bakery / deli / spa on the main drag of the village.
Tom-Nice NP add.I think that tomorrows theme should work well too. I was originally going to suggust a pick your favourite and encore it week with so little prep time but I think that the roads of Great Britain ought to dredge up some good stuff
I'm not an Amtrak mover or shaker so I'm not sure why those superliners were on that train. I was told at the time by the local railfans that it was a fairly common occurance, since this was the To-Chicago train and it had alot business type travellers on board,so they got the better equipment, again hard to say as I rarly got down that way to take pictures.
Lars-Morning or afternoon, I get confused when I'm off It may seem like alot of vacation time but with our stress level it's a godsend.Mind you you and Tom are tow to talk don't you both have 365 days off now . I had to say that looking at Doug's shots of Woodstock that I can remember bits of Toronto having those fancy brick roads at one point ( long gone now maintenance nightmare )Even with as big as the city has become.You still see the various neighbourhoods still go all out with decorations come Christmas time.BTW I got your email, you should have a responce even as I'm typing.
CM3-Interesting tech talk on how you've been able to skirt around the forum formatting issues. I'm not at all proficient with Word but I shall attempt that as well, thanks for the tip.Interesting info on those Southern feeder routes as well I think we need to revisit the Southern in the upcomming weeks for one of our tuesday railroad themes.
Doug-You are going to have to bail us out buddy, I have no idea what that thingamagig is in that picture,are you sure that you photographed it right side upI'm thinking that it's a piece of track maintenance equipment, but that's as close of a guess as I'm giving.
Back in a bit. Ruth another round fore da boyz if you don't mind, thanks.
Rob
All right folks, time to get back into the swing of things as it were.It's been a while since I reagailed you with a classic tale of any discription or type.So without further adieu.
CLASSIC STEAM # 34 THE PEANUT LINE CPR's CORNWALL ROUTE
Over the boom years of the railroad building boom in ontario, the province and country witnessed the chartering,surveying and in most cases the building of humndreds of small railway lines.In the early yeasr most of them actually operated as independant companies till various downturns in economies forced them to amalgamate or die.Even with this there were still dozens of other railway companies on paper, that were in fact just subsidiaries of the larger companies.The Peanut line is one of these.
In 1910 the CPR had been limited to the number of railway charters that it could own.They still remained however anxious to keep adding to their network of branchlines in order to feed their mainlines throughout the country.One method they used to get around these restrictions was for private individuales ( paid by the CPR under the table ) to establish a railway company on paper, obtain a provincial or federal charter and hopefully raise the start up funding and capitol. They would then lease this company to the CPR to operate it for 999 years.This was how the Peanut Line as it came to be known was started up.It ran from Cornwall Ontario to St Polycarpe PQ.
From the start of the railway building boom the Grand Trunk had obtained a virtual monopoly along the north shore of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River. Through the various mergers and almalgamations of the small feeder lines through out this area.When the CPR decided to follow the lake shore they had to locate farther inland, and missed the key port cities of Kingston,Ganaoque,and Cornwall.To obtain lake access the CPR in the case of Kingston took over the Kingston and Pembrooke RY which was already an established resource railway.
In the cas of the City of Cornwall, it was forced to create a dummy company.This Dummy corp was known as the Glengary and Stormont.The cahrter for the G&S laid out a 40 km ( 29 mile ) route from St Polycarpe Jct in Quebec which was on the CPR's Montreal mainline, to Cornwall where it would establish junction points with the GT and the New York Centrals Ottawa branchline.The line was finished in 1915 and was leased immediatly to the CPR.seven stations were built along the line.With main ones at St Polycarpe and Cornwall and small depots at Bridge End,North Lancaster,Glen Gordon,Williamstown, and Glenbrooke.Passenegr service was included in the CPR's daily mixed train from Montreal to Cornwall.
It was a small resorce and farm product carrying line ( peanuts at the time being a major revenue sorce hence it's nickname )As small manufacturing plants came on line some finished products were carried as well. In Cornwall itself the line never actually reached the harbour it stopped at a station several miles away at pitt street, where it conected and exchanged passengers with the local street rialway the Cornwall Street Railway (CSR)A samll engine house and turntable as well as a freight shed wre built at this terminal point with the CSR.This yard also connected locally with the NYC and the GT.Passeneger servcie ended in 1952 and the CPR finally lifted the line entirly in 1990. The last ten or so years saw one or two local switching trains a day.
Hi Tom and all.
A pint of Bathams please RUTH and a round please.
The puter as decided to work real slow so I will have to leave it till later to look at the links
ROB Good to see the return of the Classic Steams. Am I right in thinking PQ is Quebec. The Peanut line lasted until fairly lately. It would good to see a pic of where the line met with the Street Railway.
LARS I was able to get a look at the link to the Colorado railcar site and they look some classy cars, lets hope they are able to interest Amtrak in them.
CM3 Thanks for the info on the Stored Superliners and the two short lines.
Thanks ALL for the comments on Alan's German photos. I have had to speak to him earlier today and I have some more info on the roundhouse at Chemnitz,it is indeed in the former East Germany its former name was Karl Marx Stadt. it is not far from the Checzslovakian border The two nearest big cities are Leipzig and Dresden.There are two half-roundhouses there one was containing old diesels, but were covered by a steam loco 89. 6009. the fireless loco in the background steamed the next day and as Alan says "looked amazing".Alan said the atmosphere at the roundhouse was like going back to British steam sheds in the 50s
TOM Thanks for the Northern Pacific Blast from the Past. Do you know why some lines were known as Railways and others Railroads.
The first trip I had on Amtrak was from Kansas City to St Louis at the end of 2000 and was in a Superliner and being used to the small cars in the UK was a marvellous experience, especially as the countryside was covered in heavy snow.
Looking forward to the Great Britain day tomorrow, I will put something on a GB Fallen Flag on the word and try not to delete it this time.
Another pint please Ruth then.
Pete.
Good morning Tom and all. I'll have a light breakfast please. Really enjoyed the VIA pix over the weekend from Tom and Rob, as well as the Northern Pacific ad from Tom and the Peanut Line from Rob. Peter posted some terrific steam pix from East Germany (please thank your friend Alan for me), and Mike had some real interesting CW-related URLs. Enjoyed comments from regulars CM3 and Lars too. Well done guys!
The "thingamajig", as you might have guessed, was from maintenance of way equipment, and is used for cutting brush
Nifty ... eh? I'd love to see it in operation!
Ya'll have a great Tuesday. Just working one job today .... maybe.
Good Morning Barkeep and All Present; coffee, please, round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Let's see, I think we'll play A-34, "If I Throw a Stick Will You Leave."
I forgot to mention Dave's red lead story in my last post. Thanks for sharing - reminds me of the old ad, "We'll paint any car."
Rob gave us some classic steam, we had Barndad's beasties, and Lars with the sports report. I am going to check out that link you provided. When I said car builders, I meant something like Budd, ACF and P-S back in the day. To ad to the list there are presently approx. 41 Amfleet I cars stored as well as at least one Viewliner. It's enough to make you weep.
I see we are doing British railroads today, so I will assume my "watch and learn" posture at the bar. Looking forward to today's posts.
Lars - Was it me or did the Steelers sleepwalk through that game last night? I know it could have had something to do with the Jags defense. Knicks RIP, how about the Celtics, the body's not even twitching!
NHL score (I know its preseason) but... Buffalo 4 Toronto 0
work safe
G'day Gents!
Tuesday once again and time for some delights from the Mentor Village Bakery! Coffee is freshly ground 'n brewed - what are you waiting for
Loves that Pix of the vehicle with the gasoline pump apparatus trailing along - you do live dangerously, Doug! <grin> Hey! I KNEW it was a RR weed wacker - just wanted to see if YOU did! <yeah, right!>
Good seeing Pete yesterday and appreciate the straight scoop on the location of that German roundhouse. I did a wee bit of checking into the "railways" vs "railroads" terminology and wound up with a "cyclops eye" - if you know what I mean. Really couldn't find anything definitive that would explain where the use began - changed, and so forth. Seems to be a rather amorphous use - with railway pretty much the term used as a counterpart to highway. From what I've been able to ascertain, railway is the accepted form throughout most of the world - but in the US - it's been railroad for the most part - not exclusively, but seemingly with the majority of companies. <phew>
Rob was active yesterday, which is good to see - most likely he's "zonked" right now after a night at work. He's got a point with the vacation banter - some of us do have 365 days worth! Enjoyed the "Peanut Line" and further elaboration on the use of those Superliners on the International. It surely would have made sense to use 'em for that route - but when it comes to Amtrak - that would surely be a surprise!
I too hope the info provided by CM3 regarding the Beach Grove facility in Indiana having repaired many of those Superliners is true. Again, my info came from these Forums and who knows what is fact from anecdotal to just plain BS The railways from Georgia, albeit rather obscure - set the mind wonderin' just how many active roads did we have in the U.S. and Canada at one time No answer expected - but there must have been at least a "skosh" of 'em!
Lars, that Post of yours really brought back some bittersweet recollections of 1957-58. When the Dodgers scrammed out of Brooklyn at the close of the season, one of my most favorite ballplayers - ever - Roy Campanella (perhaps the best NL catcher in decades) became wheel chair bound due to a most tragic auto accident iin January 1958. The sadness permeated throughout our family - we were ALL rabid - and I mean rabid - Dodger fans. A double whammy - the loss of the team and the loss of a great player and human being. He inspired so many after his accident that to this day I admire the manner in which he resumed what was left of his life.
Just caught this AMs contribution from CM3 - thanx for reminding me - I too neglected to mention how much I enjoyed that "red lead" story of the car painting episode from Left Coast Dave!
Also, who wuddathunkit about the Steelers being blanked by anyone Boring game - was switching back 'n forth between the Cards boring game with the Brewers and wound up way before it was "time".
The Celtics of old - now you're really flicking my Bic! Used to travel up to the Gahden from GCT in NYC to catch the doubleheaders that the NBA used to schedule - anyone out there recall those Yup - once upon a time that's what they did on Sundays. Anyway, the Celts were ALWAYS "my team" - what a bunch. Guess my role model was Cousy - given that he and I share one of life's similar "hands" - a great ball handler and gave us "vertically challenged" guys some hope. Later on, when stationed in Bahston - one couldn't get any tickets to the games, unless they were obstucted view. "We takes what we gets" - really enjoyed the Bill Russell era - ah, what a team.
The "Theme for the Day!" - Railways of Great Britain . . . so let's see what we can come up with!
Boris - serve 'em up all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle.
Tom
THEME for the Day! - THEME for the DAY!
Railways of Great Britain
PASSENGER TRAIN NOSTALGIA #40
(first Posted on page 185)Here’s something to enjoy regarding the BRITISH RAILWAYS in a 1948 advertisement from my private collection: . . . . . 25% Reduction IN TOUR FARES . . . . . . . . . . For Americans Visiting The BRITISH ISLES . . . . . When planning your British Isles holiday, make a list of all the places you want to see in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Your Travel Agent will be glad to help you prepare your complete individual itinerary. That way you’ll effect substantial savings on planned tour tickets offered by British Railways. . . . . . . . . . . See More in Britain! . . . . . . . . . . Naturally, you’ll visit our great cities, our world-famous historic and scenic shrines (all within a day’s train trip from London) . . . but with more time you can enjoy so many equally memorable travel experiences in our less publicized byways. So plan to stay longer – discover for yourself the charm of our villages, countryside and rugged coastline. . . . . . . . . . . Travel means BRITISH RAILWAYS TRAINS . . . Swift, comfortable transportation to every corner of the British Isles. HOTELS . . . 45 hotels associated with British Railways, strategically situated for your tour or business trips. CROSS-CHANNEL FACILITIES . . . Railway-operated steamer services over a wide variety of routes to Ireland and the Continent. Depend on the all-inclusive travel services of British Railways for every phase of your tour of the British Isles. We suggest you secure your rail transportation, as well as Pullman, cross-channel steamer and hotel reservations before your leave. British Railways – official agents for air tickets on British European Air Corporation routes in the British Isles. Write for British Railways – new and amusing booklet, ”WHAT, NO ICE?” – written especially for Americans planning to visit us; as well as the full-color map folder, ”THE BRITISH ISLES” both free upon request to Dept. 25 at any of the offices shown below. For tickets, reservations and authoritative travel information on the British Isles CONSULT YOUR LOCAL TRAVEL AGENT or any British Railways office: . . . . . NEW YORK 20, N. Y., 9 ROCKEFELLER Pl. . . . . . CHICAGO 3, ILL, 39 So. Lasalle St. . . . . . LOS ANGELES 14, CAL., 510 W. 6th St. . . . . . TORONTO, ONT., 69 Younge Street . . . . . . . . . . BRITISH RAILWAYS . . . . . . . . . . Enjoy! Tom
THEME for the Day! - THEME for the Day!
BR 71000 Class 8 Pacific Duke of Gloucester (Foto: K. Langston)
Great Britain: LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 45110 at Bewdley
(foto: unknown - GNU Free Documentation)
Great Britain: LMS Royal Scot Class 6100 Royal Scot
(foto: unknown - Public Domain)
Great Britain: LMS Stainer Class 5 4-6-0 45110 at Bridgnorth
(foto: unknown - Wikimedia Commons)
Enjoy!
A cup or two of the coffee and a bacon roll please RUTH.
DOUG Thanks for answer to the track machine. Great photo of that car. Many years ago while with a mate we had to pull into a garage to change a flat tire. while we were doing this a guy was washing his car with a long brush which had the water coming out of the brush head. I happened to look up as he drove off and he had got the brush stuck in the back fender with the brush sticking up like a trolley pole. there was a hell of a bang as the hose stretched out and came away from the wall. His fender must have been attached real well..
TOM That advert makes me long for a time machine. At least today the Brit-Pass is still good value when compared to the rover tickets availiable in the UK.
Great pics with a LMS flavor which I think CM3 said was his favorite British railway
Duke Of Gloucester #71000 was the last express passenger loco built for BR in 1954. She is having her third stint of main line running since preservation.
Class5 #45110 took part hauling the last BR steam train on AUG 11th 1968. This class of 842 locos was widely regarded as the best mixed traffic locos on BR.
Royal Scot is fitted with the Headlight etc ready for its visit to North America. This loco class was rebuilt by the LMS by Stanier in the 40s and 50s with a taper boiler( virtually new locos) Royal Scot herself is being renovated to running condition at the present.
For BR day I have written some thing on the Great Central. I will post it in 2 parts.
A British Fallen Flag. The Great Central (The London Extension).Part 1
As a boy there were two stations serving my hometown of Rugby. They were both island stations although the LMS station Rugby Midland was much larger with two very long platforms with bays at both ends, with the through lines and the goods lines passing on both sides. The Rugby Central was much smaller with the main line passing the platform faces and a goods loop on the up (towards London) and just a siding on the down. The line passed through Rugby in a 1 ¾ mile cutting that was 48 feet at its deepest. The approach to the station from the north was on a curve but from the south the line was straight and the steam of the locos could be seen approaching for many miles.
The present Midland station is the 3rd one opening in 1885; the line first arrived in Rugby in 1838. This is planned to be completely remodeled soon as part of the West Coast Modernization.
The Great Central was born from the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway serving the area in its title. It had a branch that served the Nottinghamshire coalfield in the Colwick area near to Nottingham. It was from this that the chairman of the MS&LR Sir Edward Watkin planned his new railway south. Watkin was also chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, serving the northern suburbs of London. and of the South Eastern Railway, serving as the name suggested, the south east of England. It was Sir Edwards dream to connect these lines and run them to a tunnel under the English Channel to France. He was about 100 years ahead of his time!
The Act of Parliament to build the London Extension was obtained in 1893. The line was built as a double track main line, with deep cuttings and ruling grade of 0.8%, built to the Berne Gauge which was larger than most of the other UK lines. It was an expensive line to build with the railway going through the large cities of Nottingham and Leicester on brick viaducts.
On the approach to London the GC shared tracks with the Metropolitan The line open in 1899.The GC established a large locomotive shed in a small village called Woodford Halse about 20 miles south of Rugby south of Woodford a branch line was built to connect the GC with The Great Western Railway at Banbury on the GWR main line from London to Birmingham. This connection gave the GC a great deal of traffic opening up a route to the South coast and South Wales. The GC enjoyed a good relationship with the GWR, unlike the fierce rivalry with the London & North Western and the Midland Railways. The GWR and the GC built a joint line from London which bypassed the Metropolitan lines which had become overcrowded with the growth of the London suburbs, which the Great Western used as a cut off to their Birmingham line which previously had to go via Oxford, and allowed the GWR to compete with the L&NWR for the London to Birmingham traffic timewise.
Good Morning Captain Tom and all assembled!
Ruth, a round for the house and two #3s for us . . . hot coffee with just a "splash" to make it interesting for me and a pot of tea for Lydia if you please!
My offering for this Railways of Great Britain "theme" day! With full credit given to Lydia for putting this together!
InterCity (or, in the earliest days, the hyphenated Inter-City) was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services (see British Rail brand names for a full history).
In 1986 the British Railways Board divided its operations into a number of sectors ("sectorisation"). The sector responsible for long-distance express trains assumed the brand-name InterCity, although many services that were designated as such were assigned to other sectors (eg, London to King's Lynn services were transferred to the commuter sector Network SouthEast).
InterCity was divided into the following divisions:
The InterCity sector was also responsible for Motorail and overnight sleeper services to and from London.
It operated High Speed Trains (under the brand-name "Inter-City 125", reflecting its top speed in miles per hour - roughly 200 km/h), InterCity 225s (although this refers to the top speed in kilometers per hour - roughly 140mph), and various other loco-hauled trains.
The original InterCity livery consisted of standard British Rail corporate blue and grey with the brand "InterCity" added in white lettering on each coach. The power cars at each end of Inter-City 125 trains had extensive yellow panels, hence the nickname "flying bananas". A separate InterCity livery was introduced in 1986 after sectorisation, which consisted of dark grey on white with a red stripe. There were several variations:
The success of the HST trains and the investment in electrification schemes, resulting in shorter and more reliable journey times, coupled to innovative marketing led to InterCity becoming one of the great successes for British Rail in the 1980s. Patronage increased markedly, and it soon became the most profitable part of the state-owned rail operator, and cross-subsidisation from InterCity's profits was used to safeguard the future of unprofitable (but necessary) rural routes which had been under threat from closure since the Beeching Axe of the 1960s.
After the privatisation of British Rail, InterC
Wonderful write up from Sir Pete and we are looking forward to Part II. This idea to feature the railways of Great Britain comes at a good time, for we are planning a trip to the British Isles in the spring or early summer. Nothing definite, but with all of this railway chatter - I would not be surprised if we wound up sampling the rails, once or twice!
Your account illustrates what must have been a grand era for the railways in England. Different times - different way of life and far different pace. Oh to return to those days - but of course that will never be. Therefore for those with such cherished memories, consider yoursleves blessed.
Good to be back amongst the "regulars" at my favorite tavern and hope all of you are doing well. There seems to be a bit more coziness to this place of ours now that the pace has slowed somewhat - far fewer pages to catch up with and far less long-winded postings. A-men, brothers! I do NOT care for those data dumps in any shape or form and would hope that we have finally come to a point of consideration for those viewing this thread, along with a bit of self control.
Ruth, another round if you please and I could use a refill, with a "splash" - thank you!
Nice work from our Captain and add me to the list of those who appreciated seeing the Via Rail photos - brought back some vivid recollections of our round trip to Vancouver from Jasper not that long ago. Also, your "Blasts from the Past!" are looked forward to along with the energy you provide to keeping this thread so "alive"! Thank you, Sir!
The return of Sir trolleyboy Rob and all that he brings to the bar - we missed you and welcome back to the "fold" so to speak. Do not let these "Yanks" get to you with regard to the holiday time - they are simply envious! grin> If they think we have a liberal vacation policy, take a look at many European countries - now that is what I would call overstating it.
Been a bit busy around here with household maintenance and domestic life. We - or should I say: I - have been trying to catch up on reading which of course keeps me away from the "tube" and the computer screen - not such a bad thing. I am an avid reader and enjoy immersing myself in books. Fortunately, Lydia is the same way and we spend hours doing so with only a break now and then to get the dogs out.
I have enjoyed the postings from Sirs Dave (red lead story!) - Lars (how do you really feel?) - Doug (very funny photos) and CM3 (obscure RRs along with reflections). Also, the photos posted on Sunday were excellent and I hope to get back in the swing of things - but must ascertain just what this "warning" is all about. I have ALWAYS ensured that my photos are posted with full and proper credit and never do so if they have stated prohibitions. Unfortunately, one does not always retrieve the photos fromt the "original" web site and may wind up with a copy of a copy of a copy.
Sorry that I cannot join in on the sports chatter going on, other that to agree that today we see more and more of the spoiled young men and far fewer of the dedicated and humble soul, thankful for the "gift" and happy for the opportunity. Different times - different people and far different way of life.
Enough of my nostalgia rant - it is time to get back to my real life - so I leave you with this thought:
Change is inevitable except from vending machines.
BK in Alberta, Canada's beautiful high mountain country!
Hi Tom and all .
I am really enjoying the BR theme day so RUTH a Bathams for me and what the others are having on my tab please.
The Great Central (London Extension) Part 2.
At the BIG 4 grouping in 1923 the GC became part of the London& North Eastern Railway. The Midland and the L&NWR were part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway.
With Nationalization of British Railways in 1948 not a lot changed with the GC being part of what now was the Eastern Region of BR. One great innovation was the introduction of what became known as the Windcutters, which were fast freights, hauled by the then new 9F 2-10-0 freight locos. These locos were on fast schedules between Nottingham and Woodford.
It was in 1958 that the GC was transferred to the London Midland region and I’m afraid it was downhill from there. First the express passenger trains were withdrawn then many of the cross-country trains disappeared until all that was left was a semi-fast London Nottingham service. The end of the London Extension came on September 6th 1966 with a small service between Rugby and Nottingham lasting a couple of more years.
In the early days the GC was served by some handsome and good engines designed by J.G. Robinson. In LNER days there was even Gresleys A1/A3 pacifics on the line, Flying Scotsman was allocated to Leicester Central Shed for a time. In BR days the ex LNER V2 2-6-2s and B1 4-6-0s gave way to LMS types. Some Royal Scot class locos which had been displaced by diesels elsewhere were allocated to Leicester. These locos were very run down but Leicester shed got them back into good condition and they did fine work. From what I read as soon as the LM authorities heard of this they had the good Scots transferred away from Leicester and sent another batch of rough engines to Leicester, which broke the moral. Old rivalries die hard.
One train in my youth that was well worth seeing on the GC, was the Grimbsy Fish train this was hauled by one of Immingham’s Britannia Pacifics with names like Boadicea, Robin Hood or Hereward The Wake.
Probably the best place to see the trains in Rugby was at the Girder Bridge where the GC crossed over the LMS, but I shall never forget being on Rugby Central station as a Windcutter came through with a 9F hauling a rake of 16 ton unbraked mineral wagons at unbelievable speed. How do you describe this when someone asks, “What do you see in steam trains?”
Fortunately a part of the GC main line as been saved. It is the stretch from Loughborough and the site of Belgrave & Birstal station to a new terminus station named Leicester North. About 2/3rds of the line is now back to double track. There are 3 of the original stations, two being of the type that served smaller towns and a larger version that served Loughborough, all are of the island type. The station at Rothley is lit by gas lamps and it is a great Edwardian atmosphere to be there on a cold winter night with the loco wreathed in steam and the cars being steam-heated. There is also a fairly large museum at the preserved Quainton Road station. The site is in two halves with the old GC/MET line passing through the station still seeing some use as a freight only line
The locos of the GC were not as lucky with only 2 of the railway being saved. Although there are some of the GC locos that served in the war that found there way to Australia.
One loco is a Robinson Director 4-4-0 # 506 BUTLER HENDERSON it ran for at time at Loughborough and is now in the National Railway Museum at York.
The other is a 2-8-0 freight loco #63601 also part of the national collection. This loco was part of the Steam Railway magazine appeal to restore her and now she can be seen at work at Loughbourgh. Another appeal from the same mag, which caught the imagination, was for some of the 16-ton mineral wagons that were found at a motor manufacturer works after they were long gone on BR. The money raised bought a good rake of these and paid towards there upkeep. Having donated some money I was invited the first outing with these wagons and was there when a 9f loco #92212 was returned to steam at Loughborough and hauled the wagons, apart from the loco being in immaculate condition, it was like going back years.
In the 70s a wonderful photographic book titled Main Line Lament by Colin Walker was published which featured the London extension. The cover photo was of a bare trackbed looking towards Catesby Tunnel taken on a moonlit midnight.
Two of Alan's pics of # 63601 at Loughborough Central.
BK Good to see the BR double arrow logo. when it was first introduced in the 60s it got a fair bit of ridicule but now is probably the most reckonized symbol in the UK. Good pics of the Inter-city 125 or HST and the IC225, the electric loco is now known as a class 91. The class 91s work the East Coast trains in Push Pull mode with the loco at one end an an unpowered Driving Van Trailer (DVT) at the other, when the first part of the East Coast main Line was electrified to Leeds the DVTs were not ready so a few of the HST powercars were adapted. With the class 91 at one end and the 2,500 HP of the HST at theother it was said the accelleration was superb.
I hope you do get to England and are able to sample the rails there as DL says the Brit-Rail pass is a great way to get about there, if you have any queries about the trains over there let us know, if I dont know I can get Alan to find out.
LARS Great book covers. Another Our Place coincidence as well as a fellow englishman calling in on BR day, on the first book , shown in the bottom right hand is a picture of a 16 ton mineral wagon, which I mentioned in the post on the GC.
DL-UK May I add my welcomes to TOM and LARS. This is a great site and I am sure you will enjoy it. Thanks for the info on the GC. I too used to visit Loughborough quite regular when I lived over there. Do you know what is happening to the preservation scheme at Ruddington now a days.
Yes it is a shame what as happened to Rugby station. I will have a look at the link in your post.
TOM Many thanks for the Theme day.. and for looking into the railways/railroads. It is strange in Britain, where they are known as railways, the rail staff always say that when a signal clears that they have g
Hi Tom!
Like I said I would be here, but this is my first time posting so hopefully I can sink right in at the bar.
I read your rules, and I will follow them, starting with the top two words.
So I noticed that the theme of the day was Great Britain (classical) Trains.
Well I've got a picture but I don't know a lot about it. I know that it is a passenger train but of the likes I've never seen!?
I know it's a train since it sits on rails and you don't need a Stirring wheel to drive it!! Heehehehe.
Hopefully you will have no problem for me coming in.
BTW: Can I have a cold one?
James
Hi Tom and DL and James and everyone, a round for the house
Well I've never been to England, but I kind of like the Beatles.
The Power of Steam on Land
Like the steamship, the railway predates the Victorian era. Steam locomotives were extensively used on colliery and quarry lines, particularly in the north east of England, and experimentally in other areas, during the first decades of the 19th century, with the technology being constantly improved by engineers such as George Stephenson and Richard Trevithick. However, the start of the modern railway age is usually marked by the opening of the Stockton and Darlington line in 1825.
Other early steam-hauled lines included the Canterbury and Whitstable and the Liverpool and Manchester, both opened in 1830. It was on the latter's line that the Rainhill locomotive trials were held in 1829, won comprehensively by Robert Stephenson's Rocket. With its multi-tube boiler, blast-pipe exhaust and pistons connected directly to the driving wheels, it set the standard for locomotive design. It also hauled its train easily at 30 miles per hour, proving to the world that locomotive haulage was the way to the future.
Railway building now began apace and a number of predominantly local lines opened during the 1830s. The first trunk routes to be completed, in 1837 and 1838, were the Grand Junction Railway, linking Birmingham to Manchester, and the London and Birmingham Railway, engineered by Robert Stephenson.
The same year saw the opening of the first section of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway, which was finally completed between London and Bristol ten years later. Other early lines were the Midland Counties Railway, linking Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Rugby, and the London and Southampton, completed in 1840.
A railway boom and mania followed during the 1840s, with promoters planning lines the length and breadth of Britain. By 1845 some 2441 miles of railway were open and over 30 million passengers were being carried.
The success of the railway was in part due to the legislation pushed through Parliament in 1844 by Gladstone, which ensured that trains conformed to standards of speed and comfort and that cheap travel was broadly available. This Act also compelled railway companies to allow the new electric telegraph to be carried alongside their lines.
There is no doubt that the popularity of the railways was immediate, despite public dismay expressed by figures as diverse as the Duke of Wellington and William Wordsworth. From the earliest days railway companies ran excursions, to race meetings, to temperance gatherings, even to public executions.
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Robert Stephenson (1803-1859)
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London & Birmingham Railway
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Coventry Station
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Port of London
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Queen Victoria's sitting room
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Kings Cross Station
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Liverpool Street Station, London
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Lime Street Station, Liverpool
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Charing Cross Station
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St. Pancras Station
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Paddington Station, Westminster
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Metropolitan Railway Electric # 1
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Electrics
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Trainwatching
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Metropolitan Railway Electric #1 John Lyon
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Llangollen
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Midland 0-6-0
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4-4-0
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4-4-4T
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0-6-4T G Class
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4-4-2T
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4-6-0
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Leicester Central Station
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Gallery of locomotives
http://www.transportarchive.org.uk/table.php?searchitem=%25photograph%25&mtv=L1&pnum=1
681 kilobytes of a train on a bridge in London
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Well a big hello to all at the `Bar by the ballast` (how many more synonyms & alliterations can there be ??)-welcome back ROB and PASSENGER FAN AL and to the new faces at the bar-pull up a stool the drinks are on-well- ROB actually .
Right,I`ll start with sunday pix `cos were not gonna live forever-DOUG -nice shots of Woodstock,looks like a fine place to live-the railway device is quite obviously a double sided off-set hoople gromit polisher and,as any fan of Dr Seuss will tell you,comes in all sizes from double ought to 14H and are often ( but not always) larger than each other-glad we got that settled...........
O.K,beer for the company-to avoid contentious debate R.E. the relative merits of British,American & Canadian ales,might I recommend Staropramen fine Prague lager to one and all..?
TOM & ROB-A delightful selection of VIA & GO Trains finest,many thanks -TOM-R.E the VIA/AMTRAK consist,my understanding is that it used AMTRAK cars (usually 2/3 coaches + F/S car) and alternated VIA & AMTRAK power on consecutive days-apparently,pass. stock could be almost anything that was not assigned elsewhere
PETE-very nice roundhouse shots-ROCO & Fleishmann could use those as a catalogue cover .
The mystery pic looks very much like one of Virgin Rail`s new "Pendolino" 5 car tilting trains-had the pleasure of travelling first class on one of these between Swansea & Paddington last year (bumped up from standard to make up for a 2 hour delay after some poor s*d jumped in front of the I.C 125 <see BK & Lydia`s excellent submission>on which we were originally travelling-you wouldn`t believe the hole in the nose fairing of the power car...) and can attest to their speed and comfort-I believe they are built to run at 225 kph,although the permanent way doesn`t yet allow for this.
So then-Brit day,well I have to go with my all time favourite road, the near legendary Somerset & Dorset Jt Rly,gather round the fire my dears,fill your glasses and relax........
Originally formed by the combining of two fairly minor lines,the Somerset Central & the Dorset Central,this line made a fairly rambling route north from Bournemouth,on the south coast,up as far as Evercreech in Somerset (not far north of the L.S.W.R main line at Templecombe Jn) then turned sharp left and wandered across the Somerset levels,past Glastonbury, to eventually arrive at Burnham -on-Sea,on the Bristol Channel.
In a bid to increase traffic returns,a northern extension was decided upon and a new line was built from Evercreech (now Jn) to connect with the Midland Rly at Bath (Green Park).
However the building of the extension (across the Mendip hills ,requiring some significant viaducts and some ferocious tunnel bores at the northern end) effectively bankrupted the company and the moribund assets were leased by the Midland & L.S.W.R (later L.M.S & Southern) whose networks were thus connected.
-The G.W.R,the other `major player` in this area were always in contention for S&D traffic and remained aloof,although interchange points existed at Burnham,Wells & Radstock North.
With a link established between north & south,the S&D came into it`s own and for many years the quiet countryside through which it ran was disturbed by huge volumes of summer holiday traffic from northern industrial towns such as Leeds,Bradford & Manchester to the south coast.
These `saturday extras` became a byword for variety in both locos and stock-it is said that a S&D layout can run almost anything,and give an historical precedent for so doing-a modellers dream.....
The everyday running of the line fell upon the L.M.S to provide the power & the Southern to provide the stock,although this was subject to availability-A `classic` S&D formation would be:- a Fowler 2p 4-4-0 (L.M.S) piloting a Bulleid streamlined light pacific (S.R.) pulling cars from all over the British isles
The principal train on the line was the `Pines Express` which departed Bournemouth West at 10.00am every morning for Manchester,with portions for Leeds,Bradford & points north.
Freight traffic included heavy coal working north from the pits around Radstock
In it`s later years,by a cruel irony, the northern part of the line came under the control of B.R(Western region) -the successors of the G.W.R (thus,pannier tanks & Collet 2251`s are also legitimate models) who as a matter of policy,directed traffic onto their own lines ( a jaundiced view to be sure.....) and the route was finally closed to traffic on 5th March 1965-my 5th birthday,although I try not to take it personally...................
So-there we go,a brief overview-I would ramble on,but it`s half past late again and to be quite honest,after yet another w/end of mindless overindulgence my liver is trying to crawl out past my spine & seek refuge and in truth I can hardly blame it
A big hello to LARS,CM3 and anyone else I `ve failed to mention -cant comment on the sports-outside my field,so to speak
Brief footnote-Copperkettle,the new kitchen assisstant-have recently been reading a rather weighty historical novel (contradiction in terms) about the last days of the Aztecs at about the time of Cortez & Montezuma--since most of the characters names are both polysyllabic and unpronounceable the minds eye renders them into something slightly more maneagable,thus Copaquetzal becomes Copperkettle and so on-as a copper kettle is a tradional part of a kitchen range he seemed a likely addition to the Addam`s family-like cast of characters hereabouts.........gentlemen.I cast myself upon your mercy (possible train link ( although tenuous-) Neil Young,the new(ish) part owner of Lionel wrote a marvellous song called "Cortez the Killer"which we use as a grand finale piece with one of my bands---well I did say it was tenuous.................
sleep well one and all,moonlight mile for me,speak soon
nick
Hey MIKE-you sneaked in behind me-how does it go-" She loves you yeah,yeah,yeah,she loves you ,yeah yeah yeah yeah will check out the links in the a.m
Catch up again-TOM -fine pix of Brit steam,LARS-have read both of Hendry`s volumes shown and some very fine modelling detail-highly recommended for anyone contemplating a foray into western region/GWR modellingto both
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