ENCORE! Southern Railway continues!PASSENGER TRAIN NOSTALGIA #74
from Page 276Here's something to enjoy regarding the Southern Railway (SOU) in a 1956 advertisement from my private collection: WANT TO PUT IT DOWN IN A SMALL TOWN? MORE AND MORE industries do - because many small towns offer big opportunities for efficient operations and profitable growth. We believe this is particularly true in the South today - - where modern, mechanized farming has made available in many areas a supply of intelligent, high caliber, native-born men and women who can be quickly and economically trained to the skills of industry. Living and working in one of the Southland's friendly and uncongested semi-rural areas offers many other advantages, too. We know - because hundreds of the communities that we serve have a population of 5,000 or less. Our Industrial Development Department now has a detailed, up-to-date catalogue of all the resources of every incorporated community along the Southern. One of our small towns may be just the spot for your factory. Let us tell you more! Look Ahead - Look South!" Harry A. DeButts President . . . . SOUTHERN RAILWAY SYSTEM . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Washington, D.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Southern Serves the South . . . . . Enjoy! Tom
G'day!
Just thought I'd share these with those of you who may drop by . . . just a few of my favorite things!
Still listening to Christmas music in our Haus and I'd like to share a few of my "favorite things" with y'all before leaving . . . .
PRR GG1 #4933 (foto credit: Jack Humphrey)
PRR GG1 #4800 (foto credit: RR Museum of PA)
B&M RDC-1 at Boston's North Station (foto credit: unknown)
BC Rail Cariboo Prospector at Lillooet (with permission & courtesy of: Chris Guenzler/trainweb.com)
Enjoy!
Tom
Hi Tom and all.
Hoping the Our Place patrons all had a good Christmas and many thanks for the kind greetings. For this week I will have some winter brews please RUTH, so I will try a Robinson's Old Tom.
Great posts on the run up to Christmas while I have been away
ERIC I think signaling will be a good topic to return to at Our Place, from the pictures I have seen there was a great variety on the railroads of North America. I wonder if the people controlling train movement over here were ever known as Signalmen or were always called dispatchers?
CM3 Thanks for the great description of the lines around Chester, D&H history and the marvelously evocative post on the Rouses Point depot. It is like being there or being round the stove at Our Place while the story is being told. It is a perfect description of visiting a locomotive depot, hoping a rare visitor is on shed or a loco long sought after is on its home depot.
MIKE Thanks for the links, I think the D&H color scheme, as on # 4113 is one of the best there was. Enjoyed the Christmas posters.
ROB Hope the computer is behaving better now. Thanks for the kind words on Alan's photos, hopefully I should be getting a new batch soon. Good to hear that the main components of Steeple Cab 335 are to hand. I'm sure a demonstration freight with 335 would be a good attraction at the museum With the steam locos in the UK from Barry Scrapyard more components are have to be made from new on the locos being restored.
Enjoyed the Classic Juice Encore on the LE&N. It rang a sadly familiar note on how the timetable was changed so that connections were missed and services ran at inconvenient times to allow the services to be abandoned..
I wonder if the was ever a mistake at Brantford Market St station over switching the voltages?
The NS&T snow-clearing encore is great to read again.
DOUG Yes beer is never far from thoughts Thanks for the Southern Railway freight car posts it seems the SR certainly made a big effort to win back the traffic that had been lost to the roads and trucks, with designs to protect the goods in transit.
Loved the "Bubba Claus and the PC Christmas Day greeting.
Great to see AL call in, hope we shall see more of Al in the New Year.
LARS Really great book and video covers for Christmas time. Many thanks for the kind words; it is indeed a great privilege and pleasure to a part of Our Place. Although most of us are having problems with the forum or the internet at the moment it is very well worth the effort, when we can join in with the info and banter at the bar.
DL Hope you had a great time in the Swanage area over the Christmas period. Great BR Posters, that is an interesting one from 1948 having the 4 grouping companies names with British Railways on the bottom.
Gone are the days, I'm afraid, when there was serviceable coaching stock waiting in sidings for a busy time such as Christmas and peak holiday times. I was talking to someone from England and they were saying the fog that as been over there recently was like it was in the 50s for a few days. As you say let us pay tribute to the railwaymen who will do their best to keep the system running in the trying weather conditions. Remind me when you get back and I will relate a story I was told by a retired driver about a foggy day in steam days.
SILVER PRINCESS CAR. Unfortunately I have not been able to find out about the cars use on the Ulster Express or the Shamrock, there was a picture of the Shamrock being hauled by a class 40 diesel in the early 60s and it looks like the car was in the consist. However I have some info on the car's early days. It was built by Budd in 1947 at Philadelphia. It was tried first on the East Coast Main Line of British Railways, including being in the consist of the Flying Scotsman train. It then was in Ireland, where it ran for 3 months after being fitted with 5 feet 3 inch gauge bogies. The last I can find out was it was at Pressed Steel in the mid 50s. It said that when built, it had capacity for 48 First Class passengers, 30 in an open saloon and 18 in three compartments.
TOM Many thanks for the Christmas Railroad Travel adverts. It was taken as a certainty in those days that the railroads WOULD get you home for the holiday.
I'm afraid you may have to re-think me as a trainee engineer on the CAN-AM. As things were a bit hectic before we headed to South West MO, we set my Irish train set up in a hurry it was OK on the floor but when it had to go on the table I had a wreck. The loco became uncoupled and before I could reach the controller it ran round and hit the coaches causing a de-railment. Luckily without any damage we could not fix. Next year are going to do it better.
Interesting info on the origin of Boxing Day and thanks for the SR Encore, they had a great ad writer. A good way to start after Christmas with the GG1 and RDC photos..
Well RUTH I will have another and get a drink for anyone who ca
trolleyboy wrote:Okay tom another refill of the ole thermos if you don't mind, a bit too early for anything heavier, but here's a10 spot for a round of real stuff later on this afternoon. A quick Classic juice for you folks today then it's off to work I go. CLASSIC JUICE # 30 The Cornwall Street Railway The city of Cornwall ontario lies just 25 miles from the Quebec Boarder and sits on the shores of the St Lawrence River.The town was founded in 1780 by UEL.s but saw little growth until 1843 when the Cornwall Canal was built and allowed ships to bypass a set of rapids on the ST Lawrence. The first steam Railway reached Cornwall 7 years later in 1850 thus spawned the industrial age in this once small farming town. In order to meet the needs of local transportation the town council passed a speacial bylaw in 1885 granting operating rights for a street railway.On July 7, 1896 six singlwe truck arched roofed cars were purchased from Preston Car ad Coach and the Cornwall Electric Street Railway began operating up and down the streets of Cornwall . In 1898 the railways nmae was officially changed to the Cornwall Street Railway , Light and Power Company.To reflect the extended scope of the company ( owned the power houses for the city and outlying areas as well )Cornwall was the first town in Ontario to own it's own electric lighting plant. After the initail purchase of equipment the little company never purchased new cars again, they purchased replacements from twenty different cities in the US and Canada. These cities included Green Bay , Ottawa, Williamsport , Windsor, Fort Worth , Fort Wayne and New York City. By 1935 the entire line was operating with single truck Birney saftey cars with double ended control stands. The line also went to one man crews in the early 20's on their street cars. The system satrted out with two routes, Pitt street, and Second street ( the second street line was the heaviest travelled ), a third route was built in 1934, the Belt Line as it was called wa one of the last street car lines built in North America. It was three miles long, and provided crucial acccess to several industrial sites at the edge of the city. they ferried the workers to the plants and operated electric locomotives to switch theindustries as well. When the war broke out in 1939 the CSR wa carrying 1 milliomn passengers a year by the end of the war in 1945 that passenger count had tripled to 3.3 million riders a year. In addition, the CSR's freight division handled 20,000 freight cars, all impressive numbers when you concider that Cornwall at the time had a poulation of about 25,000 people !It's even more interesting when you concider that the CSR waas essentilaly a single track system with a couple of passing sidings which limited the lentgh of frieght train movements during daylight hours. The Cornwall Street Railway, as it was locally known, had a fleet of 5 steeple cab locomotives with which it served all the local industries. they interchanged freight cars with CN, cars were spotted at night at the various industries around town. As was the case with the passenger equipment the freight motors wer also second hand, having come from the NS&T,The Kansa City Kaw Valley and Western,The Windsor essex and Northshore,and the Chatham Wallaceburg & Lake erie.They were all of standard type however as they were all class B or C baldwin Westinghouse Locomotives. By the end of the war, the CSR built a new three mile long frieght route in order to remove the freight trains from the streets of the city. New track was laid, and new overhead was installed. Also for the first time the CSR began operating buses, the first new transit equipmenet the city had bough since the turn of the century. The busses they decoded were used to feed the three streetcar routes instead of building new streetcar lines. Despite the new track and overhead the CSR decided to phase out the streetcar operation, on july 27 1949, the last car ran in Cornwall. They were replaced by fifteen trolley busses of the early Brill design. A sixteenth was purchased in 1951. Cornwall thus became the smallest city in North america to operate trolley coaches !The trolley coaches were retired in 1970 replaced by standard deisel busse. The frieght operations continued to operate under wires until 1971, the last such friegth operation in Canada. Today the only remainders of the CSR electrification are two of the frieght motors. #16 is stuffed and mounted in a central park in the city facing the St lawrence River. The other 4 were sold to the Illinois terminal. In 1974 #17 was purcahsed from teh IT by the Halton County Radial Railway Museum and restored as lake Erie and Northern 335 our museum's gate guardian for the time being as the locomotive had it's copper stripped by some interprising JO while it was waiting to be delivered to us in a CPR freight yard. Rob
G'day Gents!
A departure from the "norm" this AM - I'm going to be away for most of the day, if not all. Same may occur for tomorrow. Have some personal matters to attend to in the form of outpatient surgery. Soooooooooo, it's up to you guys to keep the bar up ‘n running.
As we're now into the final mid-week of 2006, pour yourself a hot cuppa Joe, try a couple of pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery and while you're at it, check the Menu Board selections for our <light> and <traditional> breakfasts!
Good to see Pete 'n Rob stop by and I'll get to some specifics next time I'm on line . . .
Still listening to Christmas music in our Haus and I'd like to share a few of my "favorite things" with y'all before leaving - something for our OPTIONAL Toy ‘n Model Trains Day!
These are Pix of the "add ons" to my Lionel O-27 trains from many decades past! The trains, sad to say, are long gone, but "live" here in the Ether!
Lionel #2402 Chatham passenger car (1948-49)
Lionel #2400 Maplewood passenger car (1948-49)
Lionel #2401 Hillside observation car (1948-49)
Lionel #115 City Station
Reminder: Ruth opens up at 9 AM until Leon the night man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.
Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" EGG NOG they can handle!
I'll have a Bourbon Winter Ale please RUTH, better make that a pitcher and something from the pastry cupboard. We have got to get some cash in to feed AWK, TEX and FROSTBITE..
ROB Thanks for keeping going despite the forum problems.I wont say too much about my puter as it seems to be behaving itself at the moment.
Thanks for the info on Brantford Market St stationI think then when a line is prevented from withdrawing its services it should be made to not change its schedules and connections.
I remember being amazed at the over 3 million passengers on the Cornwall Street railway from a town with a population of only 25,000 people. It is a real shame that the copper on # 17 was stolen before the frieght motor could reach the safety of your museum.
TOM Hope everything goes allright at the surgery.
Great pics of the Lionel Passenger cars and the Lionel City station, I bet they have brought a great deal of pleasure over the years.
For Model day I have a couple of pics of the Irish train set.
( They should enlarge).
As far as I can find out I believe the loco is a Maunsell 2-6-0 design for the Great Southern Railway of Ireland of the K1 or K1a classes.
Well RUTH I see the Our Place mascots are looking a little thin so I had better have another pitcher
Pete.
Well Gentleman,
I will make this quick, as I am not allowed to share my appreciation for Classic Trains in here due to my age.
James has brought to my attention some questionable posts which were made by a troll under the name cobUrn35. That obviously was not me, but owing to the fact some members refer to me as Coburn35, I will plead my innocence here.
I DID not and DO not spam these forums and do not ever think about doing such things.
So I hope this clears up any confusion and angst towards myself and James.
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
Good evening Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Hello Leon, tonight I would like my favorite, Rumpsteak Café de Paris! Yeap, coffee please1
It has been a quiet Christmas at home and here at Our Place. Santa made a very brief stop and I haven't done much at all. It is real nice to have a week off!
Doug – I’ll see if I will be able to follow your greeting from Christmas Day. But after reading it I feel kind of dizzy and confused. But I had no problem to understand your article about SR’s freight cars! Tom – Hope everything went well today! Please, feel free to “adopt” the pix I used early, early in the morning of Christmas Eve. Glad you liked it. I took it in February 1990 when we were running some winter tests with the X2000 north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.Thanks for the SR ad! I am beginning to get a very clear picture of that railroad!Very nice pictures of the GG1s. Too sad no one is operational any more.Also nice pictures of #2400, 2401, and 2402! Pete – The definition of a Signalman is “A person who maintains and operatesrailroad signal equipment”. I hope that answers your question. I agree, signaling would be a good topic when we meet at Our Place. A question about your Irish train set. Is the gauge to scale or is it the same (16 mm) as HO?How about the two locomotives , one on each side of the Christmas tree?Rob – Interesting info on the Cornwall Street Railway. It must heve been like a zoo with all the equipment coming from so many different places. They certainly were early introducing one man crews.
Maybe it was this kind of Brill built trolley buses Cornwall Street Railway used to replace the streetcars?
coborn35 – Sad to say, you are not the only one having your signature slightly changed and used for the wrong purposes. Now to a question I have about Pullman sleepers from the 1800’s. According to information I have Pullman built a number of cars with 16 wheels and used them on Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. My question is, how many of those 16-wheelers were built? I have also tried to find a picture of them in a book I have, "Travel by Pullman", but had no luck.
Eric
Good morning Tom and gang. I'll help myself to a light breakfast, thanks. Hope your "out-patient" stuff isn't anything serious Tom. Liked your Lionel trains and building yesterday. Pretty slick stuff. Enjoyed Peters Christmas tree layout pix as well, and great to see Eric pop in. Interesting Pullman question, and I can't answer it. I'll take the question to the Locomotive and Historical Society, and see what pops up.
REMINDER - CM3 is having a birthday tomorrow!!! He'll be 7 5/8", which is also Lars' hat size ... I believe. Have a great day!
Little Johnny's damn Christmas
Little Johnny went to sit on Santa's lap, and Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas.
Little Johnny answered, "A damn swing set in the backyard."
"Excuse me?" said Santa.
"I want a damn swing set in my backyard," repeated Little Johnny.
Santa said, "You'll have to ask nicer if you want Santa to bring you something. Let's try again. What else do you want?"
Little Johnny answered, "A damn sandbox for the side yard."
"You have to ask politely! One more time. What else do you want for Christmas?"
Little Johnny thought for a minute, then said, "I want a damn trampoline in the front yard."
Santa sighed and set Little Johnny off his lap. "I'm sorry son, I can't give anything to someone who talks like you do. I'm not bringing you anything for Christmas."
Santa then called Johnny's parents over and told them what had happened. They apologized profusely, saying they didn't understand why he talked like that, and they had been trying to break him of the habit with no luck.
"I know how to stop it," Santa said. "Don't get him anything for Christmas. Just get some dog doo. Put a pile of dog doo in the backyard where he wants the swing set, another pile in the side yard where he wants the sandbox, and another pile in the front yard where he wants the trampoline. That will break him of it."
The parents agreed.
Christmas morning the kid heads downstairs to open their presents. Johnny runs out the back door, looks around, and comes back in. He runs out the side door, looks around, and comes back in. He runs out the front door, looks around, and comes back in, looking upset.
"What's wrong, son?" asked his father. "What did Santa bring you?"
Little Johnny answered, "He brought me a damn dog, but I can't find him!"
G'day Cap'n Tom & fellow travelers at the bar!
'Tis I, the Larsman with a huge Egg Nog TOAST to our Proprietor, Capn' Tom, for a full 'n speedy recovery from the "knife"!
I see that several of you guys have done a great job at keeping this bar of ours moving forward, including Da Bossman too! Loved seeing those Lionel trains from his past, and it's great to know that in spite of the trains being long gone, recreations can be found in the ether. Sweet!
Also enjoyed the pix from Pete of his trains, most deserving of a layout of their own! Hope you are planning on it. By the way, what are those "displays" on either side of the oval of track Looks like the makings of a RR empire to me!
Doug, your wit and witticisms help to keep things around here in a light manner, which isn't all so bad. However, I think the Groan-o-Meter is in dire need of replacement thanks solely to those <ahem> "funnies" of the past several days. <grin> Nice continuation of the Southern 'theme' too. Lotsastuff out there to learn, huh
Tom, the Christmas travel posters are great reminders of times long gone when America traveled by rail. Now it's jammed airports and planes, highways that await the crunch of traffic along with the "take you life into your own hands" approach to travel and so forth. Seriously doubt that we'll ever see a return to what once was. But it is still nice to think about it . . .
Eric, I can surely see why Tom wants to use that pix of yours. No doubt in my mind that it will become one of our "icons" for Christmas' to come. Nicely done and knowing the history of it makes it even more significant.
As Tom would tell us, Ruth is behind the bar 'til 5 PM when Leon the Night Man comes in 'til closing. Tonight is Fish 'n Chips Night at the saloon by the siding with a 5 pm start for !
A round on me, Boris ring the bell!
Until the next time!
Lars
trolleyboy wrote:Okay Classic Juice #10 The changes in car design and crewing and the comming of the safety car' A lot of you will remember the Saftey car or the Birney from your own cities systems. Next to the Witt Birney's were likely the most common streetcar type out there, with most major and alot of the minor systems operating them,they came in two main forms the single or double truck models. They were designed for singleman operation as well, hence the safety car moniker. First a bit of run up back history to the avant of the one man car. To the uninitiated,the general appearance of trolley'sappearse tio have chaged little before the 1930's. One however can find many subtle changes beginning in the 20's. Monitor roofs , with their small openable clerestry windows, gave way to the arched roof with ventilators around 1910. Rear plateforms were enlarged for the new Pay as you enter PAYE fare system , and doors started to appear more commonly in the centre when Paye as you pass started with the Witt cars. More common use of bright colours, and the abandonment of fancy lettering and striping in the 20's also occured. Likley the biggest change was construction methods, in the 20's steel replaced wood as the construction medium. At the turn of the century (approx 1906 ) steel was used as an underframe, with a wood body previous to that cars were generally all wood. The first NA manufacturer tp do steel bodies was the pressed steel company of Pittsburgh which delivered it's first all steel cars to Montreal in 1907. Most companies however beleaved that heavier wood bodied cars ( steel underframe ) gave a smoother ride,some going even as far as to insist on concrete floors for extra added stability ! Nevertheless steel offered more strength ,was less fragile for external panel use, and could be more easily repaired with rivetting or welding. It was also more fireproof and held together better under vibration. As steel's advantages became better known and hardwoods became more scarce,the tide of opinion changed and by 1912 the star of the changeover took place. Wood interiors and wood framed canvas covered roofs remained in vogue for many years yet but after 1917 the all wood car was obsolete. While double truck cars became increasingly more popular after the turn of the century ,single truck trams continued to be built to the 1930's. Because they were shorter and lighter, and took up less street space,required less maintenance and consumed less energy.They were better suited to single man pay as you pass operations as well for smaller cities and less travelled routes. Money savings were the prime motivation in the 30's to single man cars as well. The unions of coarse were not happy with the loss off two man crewing. The main crux was what if the motorman passes out ot dies with no conductor who would save the passengers, this is a death trap etc etc. Enter the safety car ( and better motorman wages/ sorry conductors the union got less jobs but, more money for the remaining members ) Significant technical improvements / advances happen just prior to WW1 making 1 man operation safe and practical. With the "safety cars " the first was built by St louis car in 1913 for the illinois traction ( later terminal , thought you would like that Tom ). It featured a combination brake,sand and door mechanism plus a deadmans handle. The latter became the main feature to overcome the objections to one man operation should the operator become unconscious or dead.The handle has to remain depressed,otherwise the brakes and would automatically apply amd the doors would be made openable only by hand. Doors could not be openned while the car was moving nor could the car move if the doors were open. Hence the "safety car" name. This system was designed by J.M. Boisenbury ( Illinois Traction's superintendant of motive power ) he worked in conjunction with westinghouse. A foot positioned deadman's button which had to be stood on at all times was also developed at this time.( PCC's use these ) Safety cars of all shapes and sizes were built to double and single truck models.The most popular was the Birney designed by Charles O. Birney of Stone & Webster. his car standarized on a 28 foot 16,000 pound car first produced by Brill in 1916 ( The KW picture I posted on Sunday ) This was a rougyh riding but cheap to produce car essentilally the model T of the transportion systems.They were no frills minimal heating with rataan seats. The latter double truck models rode better but were still rough 47 feet long 40,000 pounds. The later still witt's and PCC's are also safety cars in that their safety appliances are the same ( deadman handle on the Witt , floor pedal on the PCC ) they were just more civilized to the ride characteristcs and of coarse they wer faster. Rob
G-day Tom and all present.
Ruth- Could you kindly get me a coffee and a sandwich please.
I am sorry for my long absence. For the past week or so, up untill a couple of days ago, had lost the internet. Our computer completely died. So we are getting a new desktop,soon. But I have my own computer now, a laptop to do all my posting, so I hope to be frequenting this place more often.
Now I am going back four or so pages, so bare with me.
First off, I want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope the Holidays were good to you and your families.
Barndad- I would love to come and see the 265 in person. So maybe when I come down to Chicago in March, I can go to the IRM. Your article on the tunnels was interesting. I have never seen such a small tunnel in my life. I couldn't believe the amount of clearence between the wall of the tunnel and the frieght car. Amazing!
Good show on all your Southern railway contributions. I have seen the big boy boxcar before in many photos but never knew that they called it the "Big Boy."
The covered hopper called big john was also an amazing railcar. I thought of these things as big stomachs. There is always room for more.
Also the piggyback, autorack from the southern was also interesting to read. Good show on all three. Thanks.
Eric- I know it sounds really weird, a dwarf Semaphore, but the next time I'm at one of the meetings, I will get a few pics of the signeals. They are some really unusual signals.
Tom- I saw that Rob had mentioned you were going to see the "witch" doctors. I hope it's nothing. But come back soon. Some good pics from you sir. liked the lionel pics, but what caught my eye were the RDCs. They looked really nice. Thanks for showing. Just love them. I also liked the GG1s above the RDCs. Some good pics.
Mike- I noticed that you had given us a few URLs. I really liked the RS-3. I loved the other pictures too, but how could you not like an RS-3. Alcos are great. I can't get enough of them. Same with the RDC.
Pete- and also DL, thanks for the small explanation on the heating of the trains. You guys were lucky to see it and still experience a few trains with it. Here in the U.S. it is all but lost. Unfortunate for me but life goes on. Pete, thanks for pics on the Irish trainset. It was cool to see the little steamer and it's three coaches. Cool.
Rob- I saw a lot of articles from you too. Good to see some of the "classic juice" Enjoyed reading them. Keep them coming.
Well that concludes this for tonight. Have a Happy New Year and have a good night.
Happy railroading
James
A pint of Bateman's Victory, thanks LARS, please RUTH, and I,ll have some of the Fish 'N' Chips later..
ERIC It seems the meaning of Signalman is slightly different in the UK to here. In the UK the signalman, as far as I know, does not do any of the maintainance on the signals. The signalmen in the UK are still known as "Bobbies" by a lot of the railway staff, from the English nickname for a policeman. This comes from the very early days of the railways when the person controlling train movements, by hand signals at first, were called Policemen.
The Brill Trolley Bus looks a vehicle full of caracter, it would be good if it could be restored to its former glory.
The Irish loco is in HO/OO. The British locos seem to be the same, although I am very much a novice on modelling matters.I thought I would see if anyone could guess what the 2 model British locos are, perhaps DL and Nick will have a try.
DOUG Glad you liked the layout. It will interesting to know more about those Pullmans. Thanks for the joke.
LARS The train set was put up in a rush this year but we are going to make it more permanent on a proper board. We have got to do some work in the basement then see about setting it up there. The bride seems quite keen on the set and is looking forward to making some scenery. The only problem is, as far as I have been able to find out, it seems that the loco I have is the only Irish loco there is in ready to run form in HO scale, hopefully I am wrong.
ROB Just saw you in the bar, have a beer. It is a real pity that security is needed to protect the museum, which gives a lot of pleasure to people, from theives. In the UK there are some preservation sites that suffer a lot from vandelism, the ones who do this must have a very sad life.
Hopefully by next year the model layout will look a lot better. I am still drooling over the Hornby Orient Express set with the Merchant Navy loco and the Pullman Cars. I have found out that you can get 4 extra Pullmans to go with it which would mean there was 7 Pullmans. It would need a fair amount of room though.
Many thanks for the Safety Car encore, .
TOM Hope you are feeling OK after yesterday .
I will be away from the bar for a few days. We are going to Kansas City for a friend of the brides birthday, then to see the Chiefs. I am hoping to be able to get to Union Station and see if the model railway is set up there this year. I shall have to take the camera with me.
Well RUTH it is nearly time for Fish 'n' Chips .
Before I go may I wish all at Our Place A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Pete
Good Morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Just a cup of coffee, please. Thank you Leon, nice of you to let me in this early hour.
A quiet week, the last one of 2006. But I would like to start wishing our
Top Notch Reporter CM3 a Very Happy Birthday!!!
7 5/8"!!! Free drinks all day, Sir!!! For you and your friends! They are on me.
Tom – Hope everything went well yesterday and today and that you will have a speedy recovery!!!
Doug – I love that little story about little John’s Christmas!! It will be interseting to see if you can find out anything about those 16-wheelers. I found some facts myself today. The 8 wheel trucks were used on the first Pullman cars built by C.B&Q’s shops and used by C.B.&Q. The trucks were invented by C.F. Allen, master mechanic of the C.B.&Q shops at Aurora, IL. But New York Central ruled them as being too rigid and would not accept them on their road. C.B.&Q. had to re-equip them with conventional 6 wheel trucks.
Lars – Lets hope we will have many more years to celebrate Christmas at this bar and tavern!!Rob – About those Brill trolley buses, do you know if any of them still exists? Thanks for the story about the safety car! Interesting indeed! The pictures below show a Pacific Electric streetcar that, according to a sign on it was built by Brill. Later I have seen info that it is actually Birney Safety Car (single truck). Looking at pictures of Birney Safety Cars I think the one on my picture is a Birney! The other picture shows the control stand.
James – Looking forward to a picture of those dwarf semaphores! Pete – Yes, I would say a Signalman in UK is doing a a little bit different job than here. Yes, I also hope they will restore that Brill trolley bus to what it once was. Having worked as a conductor on electric trolley buses I like them a lot.
Friday at the Saloon by the Siding and time to get ready for our 2nd long weekend! Pull up a stool, pour a cuppa Joe, grab a couple of pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case and check out our Menu Board for a <light> or <traditional> breakfast!
A to CM3! One of our long, long time customers and supporters of this adult bar ‘n grill who has provided so much pleasure to those of us in appreciation of everything "classic" when it comes to trains! A 5- Salute to you, Sir on YOUR day!
Many thanx to all who passed on those ‘well wishes.' The details were in Emails, but in general, all's well.
I see that we've had some customers, so at least let me make mention of the Posts:
Pete at 3:59 PM 26 Dec: Good to have you amongst us again - welcome back!
Not to worry, you'll be under proper guidance as you master the "technique" for operating the Can-AM HO layout! Now, the O-gauge Polar Express and S-Capades layouts require little, if any, "in depth" training! Derailments and uncouplings "happen" - not to worry.
Enjoyed your most-inclusive Post, as I'm sure the guys have and will!
Rob at 11:55 PM 26 Dec & 12:01 AM 27 Dec: Nice ENCORE! with the Cornwall Street Railway and of course your inclusive Post. Too bad about the continuing formatting issue. Seems to be a "thing" - comes ‘n goes. And we are to believe these are "improved' formats Hang in there!
Thanx for the personal Email.
Pete at 2:35 PM 27 Dec: Love the Pix of the Irish train set! Just MUST wind up on a layout. Just let me know if I may be of assistance. The FUN is in the building of it!
Eric at 10:05 PM 27 Dec: Bet that Brill trolleybus looked great when in full operating condition with a fresh paint job. Even if the GG1s were able to be operational, there'd be an enormous power source problem, from what I've been led to believe. Times and technology have changed that much.
Thanx for the "okay" to use that fine winter Pix of yours! It shall indeed become one of our Christmas "fixtures" - a gift from YOU!
Doug at 5:46 AM yesterday: That last one definitely put the Groan-o-Meter on the "blink." Outta commission! Amazed you got it by the "censor"!!
Appears as if your narratives are also experiencing formatting difficulties, eh
Lars at 10:48 AM yesterday: Many THANX for the mid-morning pick-us-up Post! At this time of year, with so many engaged in other activities, it's always a pleasure to KNOW there are some of you who consistently take the time and make the effort to keep us going!
Extremely interesting "findings" in your Emailings. Had no idea so much was going on, but then again, between you 'n BK, I shudda known better! <grin>
Rob at 4:09 PM & 4:13 PM yesterday: A double-header from Rob! An interesting way to look at the "cyber trains" - makes sense. I'd dearly love to have those trains from my childhood. The worth of ‘em to me certainly would have nothing to do with dollars, but moreso with the joy they brought to me as a kid.
The ENCORE! for the "safety car" makes for a great read and for some strange reason, I just don't recall seeing it. Must be age creeping in, eh <grin>
James at 4:38 PM yesterday: Figured it was either the holidays or the 'puter that had you "away." Amazing how we've come to depend on ‘puters for everything from pleasure to business from the professional to the personal and so forth. When there's a void, it's really a "strange" feeling to know that you can't connect . . .
Pete at 4:59 PM yesterday: What's this ANOTHER absence!! You two should seriously consider moving to the KCity area! <grin>
Received your Email and will be in contact after the long week end.
Interesting comment you made about the "Bobbies." With my academic and professional background in law enforcement, when that term comes to the fore, I think of Sir Robert Peel. Who's he Some of you may be thinking. He was the Home Secretary for the UK when he created the Metropolitan Police Force for the city of London in 1829. This was the beginning of what we today think of as the beginning of modern municipal policing. The "Bobbie" reference is of course what the po
Hey all!
A quick heads up regarding this thread. I know it's been over 2 years and there is a lot of history here. It's great to see such an active discussion like this. These long discussion threads do impact forum performance over time and at some point we need for it to be continued in a new thread. Due to the size of this thread and the number of posts, I'm asking that you start a new one for 2007. With the new year approaching, it's as perfect time as ever to do this.
Thanks & Happy New Year!
David Voss
Good morning Tom and friends, and an extra to CM3, size 7 5/8" today! I'll have a light breakfast and retreat to the caboose to bake a cake (hope it's not crummy).
Hey CM3 ... did you know:
Yep Tom. Looks like the censors don't catch everything. I was surprised by that too. I see the football Gods have moved the Bear game so everyone can enjoy it along with their other new years celebrations. Can't believe the PAckers could actually make the playoffs with a Jint and Bear loss. That would be awful.
You should hear the CUBS management talking about how great a team they will be in 2007. Seems like only a year ago they said the same thing about 2006. Hmmmm
I was going through a new book I got, titled The Subway and the City by Stan Fischler, celebrating 100 years of subway service in New York City. Excellent pictures, and among them, several from "Subway Series" years when the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Yankees, with the original series being the Giants Vs. the Yanks back in 1921, and the most recent being the Yanks Vs. the Mets in 2000. Must be pretty cool having both the World Series teams from the same town. Uh-oh ... this isn't rail-related ... so:
Only one baseball player ever carried the nickname "Subway." He was a Brooklynite named Samuel (Sam) Nahem who had become a heroic figure on Kings County sandlots in the early 1930s. Obstensibly because he travelled to and from various Metropolitan Area ballfields such as the Parade Grounds and Dexter Park on the BMT, IRT and IND lines. Nathem was dubbed "Subway Sam."In his one game with the Dodgers during the 1938 season, the Jewish hurler appeared promising. Not only did the righty pitch a complete game, but he went 2-for-5 at bat. Despite the solid start, Brooklyn inexplicably released him.
Something a bit different for this Friday in honor of CM3 and his BIRTHDAY! An ENCORE! Post . . . .
coalminer3 Posted on Page 2 on 04-15-2005, 3:05 PM
One of my favorite Berraisms - "Ninety percent of the game is half mental." Now, let's move on to RDCs. When I was growing up in the frozen north, the Boston and Maine had commuter trains pulled by a fantastic variety of steam locomotives. Then came the diesels and we saw locomotive hauled trains pulled by GP7s and RS3s (I am sure there are a few out there who'll remember the B&Ms maroon and gold color scheme.) The RDCs came after that, and IIRC, the B&M had the largest fleet of RDCs anywhere. As a sidebar, Boston and the RDC have a long history as some of the first RDCs ran on the Boston and Albany - they were called "Beeliners." The New Haven had an extensive fleet of RDCs as well including the "Roger Williams" which had RDC cab units; the "Roger" survived throught the Penn Central days and onto Amtrak. I had the good fortune to have a cab ride on this beast from Boston to Springfield and on to New Haven; an interesting trip. I believe it's been preserved and is undergoing restoration. The B&M had all models of RDCs; 1s, 2s,3s,4,s and 9s and they ran all over the system. I'm reaching back again, but IIRC, the RDC4s were the model with the RPO compartment. I rode on one of them on a trip from Vermont back to Boston. The RPO was long gone, but it was interesting to see what had once been there. The Lexington Branch of the B&M (which is now a !@#$ bicycle path) provided a most interesting RDC trip. The branch's track was questionable in spots, and the RDC gave the impression of being on boat rolling in a good sea. Once you got off the main line, a ride on the branch became more like a time machine as there were certain crossings that had to be flagged by the train crew and some really interesting stations including a depot with a wooden train shed (Lexington). Many of the buildings along the branch have been saved and are being used for other purposes. The station in Bedford, MA has a B&M RDC on display along with an ongoing project to reconstruct part of the B&B which was a 2' gauge operation. The RDC was a utilitarian machine, at least on the B&M; walkover seats, vinyl covered and a tile floor. They could get noisy now and then (sort of like a bus on steroids), but thay had good acceleration and rode pretty well once they got up to track speed. I hope this is enough to get you started on RDCs. BTW, the C&Os U25Bs ran out their last days, virtually going by the house - you always knew when they were coming; some stories, there, too, if anybody's interested... BTW, Siberiamo, appreciate the comments on WV. I'm at the opposite end of the state - blessed to be in former C&O, VGN, N&W, K&M and KGJ&E country. The terrain here is mostly vertical but we have good fishing. My vote goes to Place#1 - any Friday evening specials for the workin' folks? Place #1 looks like they'd cash a check as long as you bought a round. Now let's move the pool tables out front. work safe
A most to you and we look forward to a continuation of your fine contributions to "Our" Place in 2007!
Special for David Voss, Kalmbach Publishing
In viewing the comments made regarding your request to close certain Threads on the Forums, I believe the intent is more along the lines of reducing the enormous amount of memory these Threads occupy on your system. If that is the idea, then we have no problem with opening a new Thread.
One request though, I would like to provide the guys at "Our" Place with a bit of time to retrieve those Posts they feel are special to them, before they disappear forever into the Ether. Unlike many of the other Threads you've notified, we DO indeed go back through our Pages - frequently.
I expect that you'll see us begin anew in a week or so.
Tom (siberianmo)
Good afternoon Tom and friends. My first reaction to David Voss' request was along the lines of "why do this to us?", and I e-mailed him for an explanation. He got right back to me, and I'm satisfied with his answer to me as well as his posted responses to others. There's nothing sinister going on. He's trying to improve forum performance for all of us, and how can we not support that?
And now, another age-related joke for CM3
A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment.
Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.
The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. Used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing."
The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans. After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face.
"This recession's really putting a big dent in my income," he told them. "From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans."
The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they did accept his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus.
A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street. "Look," he said, "I haven't received my Social Security check yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?"
"A lousy quarter?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we're going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you're nuts! No way, mister. We quit!"
And the old man enjoyed peace and serenity for the rest of his days.
siberianmo wrote:Special for David Voss, Kalmbach PublishingIn viewing the comments made regarding your request to close certain Threads on the Forums, I believe the intent is more along the lines of reducing the enormous amount of memory these Threads occupy on your system. If that is the idea, then we have no problem with opening a new Thread.One request though, I would like to provide the guys at "Our" Place with a bit of time to retrieve those Posts they feel are special to them, before they disappear forever into the Ether. Unlike many of the other Threads you've notified, we DO indeed go back through our Pages - frequently.I expect that you'll see us begin anew in a week or so.Tom (siberianmo)
My reason for asking that you start a new "Our" Place for 2007 is strictly for performance reasons. While the forum software has been able to handle the large threads, I know it's affecting the overall performance. I'm sure we could keep it going for another few thousand posts or more, but at some point we have to close long threads like this. With 2007 only a few days away, I think it's the best time for it to be done -- a new year, a new thread.
This thread will still be here, albeit locked and for reference only. I have no intentions of deleting these posts. We'll make sure there is a post at the end with directions to the new thread. I would suggest that whoever starts the new "Our" Place posts a link to this one so it's easily found for people who do want to come back and reference this thread.
Thanx for the clarification. Makes sense to me and I presume, the rest of the guys who "hang out" here.
A new "Our" Place will begin on Jan 1st as requested now that I know nothing from our illustrious past will be forever zapped into infinity.
A most interesting day in spite of the relative quiet 'round the place. Ruth, a tankard of Keiths finest Ale if you please, and slide the snack tray down my way, wudja please
So, we are to have a new beginning, huh Glad the clafification came through both here and with the e-mails. Initially my reaction was quite different from the way things have apparently finished. Good show, Cap'n Tom - I like the way you've guided us through this.
So, what we have submitted to "Our" Place will remain available to us all. That's good, just as long as that 'search' feature works better than my recent experiences. Appears it has been "tweeked" so that one can now at least get to the appropriate page of the post that has been looked for. That's an improvement, big time!
I expect to be about the decks for the weekend, but rather unsure of the timing. Have the family descending upon us tomorrow and we have a Norwegian "thing" about the New Year. Too much to get into here, but a great family tradition for us.
A to our friend CM3 I'm NOT Shane! 60 I noted on the last B'day List that Tom provided. Welcome aboard, mate, always room for one more!
Let's take a ride aboard one of these one day!
B&O #5551 Sky Dome (from: www.trainweb.com/photo credit: unknown)
Evening Tom and friends. I'll have a bottomless draught please, and buy a round for the house. I'll be sure to tip extra big tonight so we have money to relocate on Jan 1. Anyone want to guess when we hit 1,000 posts? Lars, was that last picture a model or prototype? Just wondering.
A 92 year-old man went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later the doctor saw the man walking down the street with a gorgeous young lady on his arm. At his follow up visit the doctor talked to the man and said, "You're really doing great, aren't you?" The man replied, "Just doing what you said Doctor, 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful'." The Doctor said, "I didn't say that. I said you got a heart murmur. Be careful."
trolleyboy wrote:I'm back again with a bit of rail information.since BK so expertly wove us the story of Pullman , I thought that I would try to do likewise ( most likely not quite as eloquantly ) The Nearside Car A Classic Juice tech story Since the beginning of public transportation, fare collection and how it was handled has always been a determining factor of car design.When horse cars were first introduced the driver handled the horses and the conductor collected the fares from the passengers as they entered the rear of the car and exited at the front. This is ( was known) as pay as you enter. ( PAYE ) This continued into the electrification of the street railways.The conductor would signakl the stop and starts for the motorman via bell signals.Howerevr because passengers entered at the rear of the car the motorman did not always have a clear view of them and accidents were unfortunatly common as the motorman would start off and passengers would grab for a handrail etc miss and fall. This resulted in injuries sometimes deaths and lawsuits against the company. To combat these problems and lawsuits, an English born Thomas E. Mitten ( who was the acting chairman of the executive commitee of Philladelphia Rapid Transit, initiated and oversaw the design of a new type of car.This car was ultimatly named the "Nearside" car.Passengers boarded and departed through the front doors on these cars, this gave the motorman much better control. The conductor sat behind the motorman and called out street names and destinations as well as still collecting the fairs and issuing the transfers.Passengers could still exit the car via the back doors if they wished In the days before the Nearsides the car would pull through the intersection to line up the back doors for the passengers to board. So they stopped on the farside of the intersection. Mitten's design called for the passengers to enter at the front, so the cars stopped on the "near" side of the intersection, hence the name. For political reasons trhe first cars of this design were built by J. G . Brill of Philladelphia. Both cars were sent to Buffalo and tested there for assesment as Buffalo's street railway was once served by Mitten as General manager. The first prototypes #6000 and 6001 were built in 1912. The standard specs for these cars was as follows 45' 6" in length over the anticlimbers.width of 8' 5" ,top of the rail to top of the roof 12' 0". The original design called for the use of Brill's maximum traction truck 33" driving ( powered ) wheels and the second axel with 22" non powered. IN typical Brill fashion the cars had a high arched roof for summer time ventilation. The Brill records show that slightly more than 2000 of these casr were built. Used by Buffalo,Chicago,Philladelphia,Atlantic City ,and Lincoln Nebraska. One of these cars was made for Canada for the British Columbia Electric Railway ( BCE ) in Vancouver. It was number 501 and was to be the prototype no more were ordered however. Philly not supprisingly had the largest fleet numbering 1500 cars The Nearside was the first of two major fare collection induced design changes for streetcars. the next happening in 1920 by peter Witt of Cleveland. That story will come later. Rob
Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Saturday morning and the last weekend of 2006! Oh, thanks Boris! I haven't seen you for a long time, I hope you are okay! Good!
Start on a new thread? I guess that is okay, especially when the old thread will be saved. I guess post number 9000 will happen... right now! Yeah!!! Did I win? Oh, was it #10,000?
Tom – As far as I know the problem with GG1 is that the main transformer is built for some kind of transformer oil that is outlawed today (environmental issues). The power supply should not be a problem at all. AEM-7 uses more power, not to mention Acela with 2 power units. Hope you found out about 7 5/8”. If not you better ask Doug, he is the mathematician that figured that number out.I think the RDC is interesting from many perspectives and I will probably buy a model of one. I like CM3’s short story about the Lexington Branch.Doug – I printed out that check list so I know what I should check for. I already have A in my hands. That wise man knew how to get things done! Which is what you expect from a wise man.Sometimes it is an advantage that the hearing isn’t so good! Imagine all the fun that old man would have missed if he had heard what the doctor actually said.Lars – That is a nice looking Dome car! But for whatever reason the link did not work. Rob – Another reason to go to Toronto, to see that Brill trolley bus! To me an old single truck streetcar is what the comes to my mind I when I talk about streetcars.Interesting info on the Nearsides! I am looking forward to the Peter Witt story! Mike – Nice pictures as always! But I could not get to the Boston & Albany steam picture. How about that futuristic train, was that just a fantasy or a projet that died before it happened? I think the engineer is on the phone!
No pictures this morning. I'll save them for Sunday.
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