"Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment!

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Ruth, take a break young lady, I'll handle the bar .  .  .

Great to see Shane ‘n the Larsman "in" today . . . I'll catch-up with ya in my next Customer Acknowledgment.

 

Thanx, Lars, for the "heads up" for the weekend. May or may not impact us, but nice to be aware of the possibilities.

 

Here are a few Pix not seen on at the reborn bar, although perhaps a few were viewed on the original Thread. Anyway, in keeping with the continuing Canadian Passenger Railways "theme" - enjoy these BC Rail photos of my favorite cars - the RDCs by Budd (of course)!!

Of note is that permission was obtained from the owner of the photos for use on this Thread . . .

 

 

BC Rail: RDCs along Anderson Lake in British Columbia

(courtesy: www.scenic-railroads.com)

 

 

BC Rail: RDCs along Anderson Lake in BC

(courtesy: www.scenic-railroads.com)

 

BC Rail: RDCs along Seton Lake south of Lilloet, BC

(courtesy: www.scenic-railroads.com)

 

 

BC Rail: RDCs along curved fill in the Cariboo (yes, that's correct spelling!)

(courtesy: www.scenic-railroads.com)

 

 

BC Rail: Budd Cars at Marble Tunnel up in the Cariboo

(courtesy: www.scenic-railroads.com)

 

 

BC Rail: RDCs cross Pine River Trestle

(courtesy: www.scenic-railroads.com)

 

Boris ring the bell, time for a round on me!

Enjoy!

Tom

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom and all.

A pint of Holden's Bitter please RUTH and of course some of H&H's Fish, Chips ‘n' Mushy peas for later

ERIC Many thanks for the interesting link to the FP9s.I don't know how up to date the info is but it said that there 7-left working Metro-North work trains and some in museums. The locos in the photo are certainly in really good condition in their NH livery.

Thanks for the photo of Toronto.

CM3 I see the Queen, did not look too happy in Mike's link showing climbing on to the cab of the CN 6057 steam loco.  I have seen the Queen twice when she arrived at Rugby by Royal Train. It was good to see as the diesel locomotives that hauled her train as they were always in immaculate condition and usually fresh out of works. The times I saw the train it was double-headed and I think that was the standard procedure with diesel traction. This was I believe brought about after an embarrassing moment in 1961 when the then, nearly new, diesel which was hauling a train, with the special saloon car with the Queen aboard failed. The Train had to be rescued by an ex LNER class B1 steam loco. Her return journey was behind a BR Britannia class pacific which arrived on time.

In recent years there were two class 47 diesels that were dedicated for use with the royal train, these were 47798 Prince William and 47799 Prince Henry. The loco were painted in Royal train colours to mach the coaching stock and mainly worked the train with one loco at the head of the train and one on the rear. After these locos were withdrawn from the service their place as been taken by two class 67 locos, a GM class of loco that was sub-contracted and built in Spain and introduced in 1999. The locos of this class in, Royal Train colours, are 67005 Queen's Messenger and 67006 Royal Sovereign. The last name as appeared on an ex LNER B2 4-6-0 steam loco and later on a class 87 West Coast electric.

I know I have posted this pic recently, but on the right is the front of 47798 in the NRM York in the Royal train livery.

I though you would enjoy the latest Classic Trains, I am sure DOUG will enjoy the piece on the CTA. Thanks for the info on Greenbrier station and hotel and the C&O stations.   

Looking forward to the ‘mushy peas' recipe.

LARS Looking forward to your report of your caravan trip to the Keys, Have a safe journey.

If I may answer on the models, the first is indeed an LNER Teak set behind 4468 Mallard it was labeled for the Flying Scotsman. The second train behind the Brunswick Green livered A4 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley is BR MK1 coaching stock as got Atlantic Coast Express, boards on the cars, this puzzled the gentleman in the Hall's Station shop, as the ACE was a Southern Region train. 60007 is a splendid model though. I will put in a good word for you with RUTH as the prize (not that you need it).

It is a shame that the train you had to Plattsburg was in a dirty condition on the outside, I am hoping the train we have next week is in cleaner condition than when Tom and I traveled. It will be good if the train keeps to reasonable time at least on the way out, or if it runs late on the way back they have increased the stock of Sam Adams from 3.

Many thanks for the photos of the CP FP9As. I noticed there is what appears to be hand rails on the top of the CP FP9s that are not on the NH units in Eric's link, perhaps one of the regulars know something about them and their purpose.

TOM Yes just two weeks to the Rendezvous.

It seems that KCS are a company who are really good with public relations and have a good regard to their heritage with the Heritage cars and are now painting some of their new diesels into a livery similar to old colors on their preserved #34. It would be great if they could get hold of a steam loco and run excursions from the KC area.

I am sure I read the gentleman in charge of the Union Station in KC is from KCS, I hear that the station should make a profit this year, which is great news. I seem to remember that Trains magazine done a special in one of their issues when Union Station was renovated. I picked one up in England but I'm afraid I don't seem to have it now.

I well remember you showing me the staircase at Chicago Union Station where that scene in ‘The Untouchables" was filmed.

Many thanks for those really great photos of the BC RDCs in such great British Columbian scenery. I see in the photos there are 5 RDCs forming the train and in the photo of the Cariboo leaving Marble Tunnel someone in the cab is taking a photo of the photographer taking a pic of the RDC. Thanks again for sharing such great photos..

Well LEON I will have another and l see Tom is getting them in.

[EricX2000]

Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Leon, a Cheese-burger, please. I haven't hade a hamburger for months, so it is time for one right now!

Kind of slow day here at the Bar by the siding!  I have been doing some planning for my trip to the Rendezvous tonight. Nothing decided so far except that I am coming.

Tom –  You are probably correct about the reason Amtrak hand washed the X2000. But, at the same time, they washed all regular trains using the automated train wash and that is where the X2000 usually was washed almost every day. One problem is that they most likely don’t have any wash available in St. Louis or Kansas City.

Yes, my picture was taken in Toronto.

Beautiful pictures from Canada with nice looking RDCs!! Amazing! Are those RDCs still in service?

I am afraid I never saw the Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. But I have seen the old TV-series with the same name.

CM3 –  Thanks for all the info on those pictures! Always more interesting to look at pictures with info available!

Lars –  I have never heard that Märklin shouldn’t measure up to HO in scale. I am quite sure their models do. But I know that Fleischmann’s models were too big in the 50’s and maybe even in the early 60’s.

Two nice pictures of the CP FP9s! Good looking locomotives indeed!

Like Pete I am looking forward to a report from your caravan trip to the Keys!

Pete –  I’ll do some more research about the FL9s this weekend. I would like to know if any of them still is being used in revenue service and not only hauling museum/dinner trains.

What is catching my eye in your photo is that old steam locomitve! That the saddle tank is kind of small and those buffers are of a very different design indicate that the loco is (my guess) from the mid 1800’s. Am I right?

Not exactly Canada, but Travemünde, Germany 1970. A small diesel rail car is arriving in the early morning. 

 

Eric 

[wanswheel]

Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house

Call it a pile of mushy peas, or Canadian National soup

2-8-2 Oshawa, Ontario 1953

http://67.15.20.45/images/c/cn3434-2.jpg.29728.jpg

MLW FPA-4 Sherbrooke, Quebec 1961

http://67.15.20.45/images/images2/c/CN_6769.jpg.66274.jpg

FM CPA16-4 Dorval, Quebec 1962

http://67.15.20.45/images/images2/c/cn_6703.jpg.52840.jpg

EMD GP9 Sherbrooke 1964

http://67.15.20.45/images/images2/c/CN4495.jpg.72841.jpg

4-8-4 Brattleboro, Vermont 1967

http://67.15.20.45/images/images2/c/CNR_6218_Tender.jpg.96032.jpg

Turbo Lachine, Quebec 1975

http://67.15.20.45/images/0/008-022_CN_TURBO.jpg.78568.jpg

MLW FP-4 Toronto 1975

http://67.15.20.45/images/r/rr1492.jpg.76072.jpg

EMD F7 Hamilton, Ontario 1976 (Rob's hometown iirc)

http://67.15.20.45/images/0/031-007_F7_HAMILTON.jpg.97319.jpg

RDC Baudette, Minnesota 1977

http://67.15.20.45/images/c/CN_RDC_Baudette2.jpg.13658.jpg

Elliot Ness in Cleveland 1938

http://ech.case.edu/Resource/Image/P11.jpg

Map of Fenway Park neighborhood

http://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19861&stc=1&d=1171786177

Ted Williams

http://baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23191&stc=1&d=1177784120

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6976/thekidthebambinonm1.jpg

The Dodgers

http://baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=16728&stc=1&d=1167372247

Studebaker at a gas station

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=23631&page=2

Mike

[siberianmo]

<from my personal collection>

* Idiot of the Week #14

When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car,

we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department

and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door.

As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and

discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the mechanic, "It's open!"

His reply, "I know, I've already got that side."

This was at a Chevy dealership in Mississippi!

Stay Alert! They walk among us . . . and they reproduce . . . !!!

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

 

G'day Gents!

The end of the week and time for breakfast! Draw a mugga Joe, order a  <light> or <traditional> breakfast and don't forget a pastry or two from The Mentor Village Bakery!

Mai Fest will be celebrated under the "big tent" out in the picnic area on all weekends in May. The "Our" Place staff will be adorned in appropriate German attire with our Menu Board listing "specials" prepared by the H&H "gals," under the watchful eye of our Chief Chef  of course! <grin>

CHANGE is on the way:

Starting today - my morning acknowledgments will be provided on Monday - Wednesday ‘n Friday. Also, I'll be scarce on Saturdays too - however, the ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day will continue with Cindy, Leon ‘n Boris attending to things ‘round here as usual.

 

Two weeks from TODAY the Rendezvous in St. Louis will be underway!

 

Customer ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (since my last narrative):

CM3 Shane at 8:53 AM yesterday: You are correct, the current Classic Trains issue is a "keeper" in all respects.

Thanx for the visit, insights, quarters ‘n round!

 

Lars at 11:26 AM yesterday: A caravan to Florida's Keys - sounds like something to AVOID! Just kidding, but two days of driving doesn't do much for me these days (daze). Makes sense though, as getting "stuff" from where you are to where you want to be leaves only a few options - having ‘em shipped is one and taking them down yourselves is certainly another. Since you wanna get going on outfitting your new place, surely is the way to go. Good luck with it all!

Nice shots of those CP ‘n CPR diesels! I like the maroon ‘n grey with the beaver herald!

Again, thanx for the "head's up" on the possibility of disruption on the Forums this weekend. Good job, Manager!!

Many thanx for the continuing support!

 

Pete at 5:51 PM yesterday: Eagle-eye Pete once again has astounded me with the observation made of someone in the RDC taking a photo of the person taking the photo of the train! Amazing eye for detail.

The Cariboo Prospector was a train run by BC Rail from North Vancouver to Prince George in British Columbia. The run took 12 hours through some magnificent scenic terrain. One didn't take the trip for speed, as the train slowed many, many times to permit the passengers to take photos. Onboard meal service was provided with at-your-seat servings rivaling the best I've ever experienced on board trains. Far, far better than anything the airlines could come up with, fer sure, fer sure. The trip was pricey, but well worth it for the experience of traveling in those RDCs and the scenery. A normal consist was 5 cars, if I recollect properly. They ran 2-car consists on shorter routes, but the Cariboo Prospector was their ‘signature' run.

Not quite half-way to Prince George is a town named Lillooet situated in a picturesque valley along the Fraser River with scenery well worth the visit. That location was an ideal "day" round-trip, although when we did it, we departed as the sun was coming up and returned well after it set. A great experience and lotsafun. I'll always hold BC Rail in the highest esteem for friendliness, service and well maintained cars.

Thanx for the info on the Royal Trains and so forth. Interesting Pix too! My guess is that the Queen will find the area of interest and from what I viewed on TV last night, the crowds in Williamsburg were enthusiastic and most welcoming. Nice to see.

Officer's Candidate School (OCS) was located in Yorktown, VA, near the site of the final surrender of the Red Coats by General (Lord) Cornwallis to the "rag tag" army of the colonialists. That was the last major battle of the war, but not the end. One more year and it was over. Spent 17 weeks there and had the opportunity to march in their October 19^th Yorktown Day celebration of the surrender.

That area is steeped in U.S. colonial history and well worth a visit. Williamsburg isn't that far from where we used to live and is adjacent to Yorktown. Really an impressive place to see, fer sure, fer sure.

Good to see you "in" at what is now your normal "slot"!

 

Eric at 1:40 AM today: You are correct, there are no wash "facilities" in KCity or StL - However, what ever happened to a bucket of soap &lsqu

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Here's something for those of you who've enjoyed the flicks at our theatre . . .  

Movies shown at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre

2006:

. . . GRAND RE-OPENING - Monday, January 9^th: DOUBLE FEATURE: Von Ryan's Express (1965) starring Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard - and - The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) starring Jeffrey Hunter, Fess Parker & Slim Pickens. LIVE STAGE SHOW in between features!

. . . January 10^th thru 14^th: Silver Streak (1976) starring Gene Wilder & Richard Pryor.

. . . Sunday, January 15^th DOUBLE FEATURE The Iron Horse (1924) SILENT MOVIE starring George O'Brien & Fred Kohler - and - The General (1927) SILENT MOVIE starring Buster Keaton.

. . . January 16^th thru 21^st: Disaster on the Coastliner (1979-TV) starring Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr & Robert Fuller.

. . . Sunday, January 22^nd: DOUBLE FEATURE Danger Lights (1930) starring Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong & Jean Arthur. - and - Runaway Train (1985) starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts & Rebecca De Mor Nay.

. . . January 23^rd thru 28^th: Denver and Rio Grande (1952) starring Edmond O'Brien, Sterling Hayden & Dean Jagger

. . . Sunday, January 29^th: DOUBLE FEATURE Narrow Margin (1990) starring Gene Hackman & Anne Archer - and - North by Northwest (1959) starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint & James Mason.

. . . Monday, January 30th thru February 4th: Oh, Mr. Porter! (British - 1937) starring: Will Hay, Moore Marriott & Graham Moffitt - and - Shadow of a Doubt (1943) starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten & Macdonald Carey.

. . . Sunday, February 5^th thru 11^th: The Titfield Thunderbolt (British 1953) starring: Stanley Holloway, Naunton Wayne, John Gregson & Sidney James - and - Breakheart Pass (1975) starring Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson & Richard Crenna.

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

. . . Sunday, February 19^th thru 25^th: Fahrenheit 451 (1966) starring: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie & Cyril Cusack - and - Northwest Frontier (1959) starring: Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall & Herbert Lom.

. . . Sunday, February 26^th thru March 4^th: Fours a Crowd (1938) starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland & Rosalind Russell - and - Holiday Affair (1949) starring: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh & Wendell Corey.

. . . Sunday, March 5th thru 11th: North to Alaska (1960) starring: John Wayne, Stewart Granger & Capucine - and - Lost in Alaska (1952) starring: Bud Abbott & Lou Costello. Short: The Three Stooges - A Pain in the Pullman (1936). (Page 264 w/Pix)

. . . Sunday, March 12th thru 18th: Mystery Alaska (1999) starring: Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria & Mary McCormack - and - Slap Shot (1977) starring: Paul Newman - Strother Martin & Michael Ontkean. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Beer and Pretzels (1933).

. . . Sunday, March 19th thru 25th: Midnight Run (1988) starring: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin & Yaphet Kotto - and - The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) starring: Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde & Charlton Heston. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Hello Pop (1933).

. . . Sunday, March 26th thru April 1st:Major League (1989) starring Tom Beringer, Charlie Sheen & Corbin Bernson - and - Bull Durham (1988) starring: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon & Tim Robbins. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Plane Nuts (1933).

. . . Sunday, April 2nd thru 8th: Eight Men Out (1988) starring: Jace Alexander, John Cusack & Gordon Clapp - and - Field of Dreams (1989) Kevin Costner, Burt Lancaster & James Earl Jones. SHORT: The Three Stooges - The Big Idea (1934).

. . . Sunday, April 9th thru April 15th: The Harvey Girls (1946) starring: Judy Garland, John Hodiak & Ray Bolger -and- The Train (1964) starring: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield & Jeanne Moreau. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Woman Haters (1934).

. . . Sunday, April 16th thru 22nd: The Molly Macquires (1970) starring: Sean Connery, Richard Harris & Samantha Eggers - and - It Happened to Jane (1959) starring: Doris Day, Jack Lemmon & Ernie Kovacs. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Punch Drunks (1934).

. . . Sunday, April 23rd thru Apr 29th: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford & Kathy Ross -and- The Sting (1973) starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford & Robert Shaw. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Men In Black (1934).

. . . Sunday, April 30th thru May 6th: Cobb (1994) starring: Tommy Lee Jones & Robert Wuhl -and- Hoosiers (1986) starring: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey & Dennis Hopper. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Three Little Pigskins (1934).

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

My final "tribute" to the Tuesday "theme" - Canadian Passenger Railroads - an ENCORE! presentation  first Posted on Oct 12th, 2005, page 134 on the original Thead:

Good Morning Gents!

My contribution to our 6th Month Anniversary Celebration of "Our" Place's founding - an adult cyber bar ‘n grill!

The train they called The Canadian 

 

There is a rather large, beautifully frame, lithograph print on our living room wall, of the Canadian Pacific Railway's passenger train "The Canadian" at Morant's Curve in Alberta, Canada. It is a winter scene and one that carries with it the images of what railroad travel must have been like when rail artist, Max Jacquiard, first painted it from his vantage point overlooking this rather famous "train watchers" overlook.

(his work may be viewed at: http://www.islandnet.com/~pacific/steam1.html)

The print in our living room:


This then, is my story of a personal reflection of a trip that takes place each and every time I view that picture - a birthday gift from my friend, traveling companion and wife shortly after first viewing it in a shop in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Gather ‘round train lovers ‘n give a listen to a "snippet" of information from long ago when the mighty and proud Canadian Pacific traveled the main line on the banks of the Bow River at a place known as *Morant's Curve in Alberta, Canada.

Best viewed on a winter's day, with the snow and ice capped peaks against the brilliance of a blue sky, the scene of the streamliner winding its way along the Banff-Lake Louise segment of the Canadian Pacific Railway was (and is) perhaps one of the most photographed of all the "rail watchers" sites. Following the steel ribbon of rail, the FP7A #1425 and F7B #4459 maroon & grey diesels with their gleaming Budd stainless steel beauties follow in perfect procession: baggage - coach - coach - coach - Skyline dome - diner - bedroom - bedroom - bedroom - Park observation dome.

Did you catch those Beaver heralds of the CPR This train called The Canadian is making its way up to the Spiral Tunnels, thence over the Canadian Rockies into Golden, where there's a Depot awaiting. Did you know the Kicking Horse Pass is 5,340 ft.

Inaugurated on April 24, 1955, The Canadian heralded in a new age in passenger railroading for the CPR with what was to become the last of the North American "built from scratch" streamliners. The train offered a "dome" experience covering a distance of nearly 2,900 miles across the land called Canada.

It's a winter's day and inside the train, the conversation flows as freely as the beverages back in the Banff Park car. Named after the National and Provincial parks of Canada, these observation dome cars of the Budd Company are so well appointed that one only wishes the journey could last longer, if for no other reason than to fully take in and appreciate the full fledged ambiance of Budd's creation on steel wheels. An apéritif in the bar-lounge, or perhaps just sitting in the lower level of the rounded rearmost lounge. Then of course there are the 24 seats awaiting the wide eyed traveler up in the dome. Ah, what a splendid experience while traversing the area known as Morant's Curve! For those fortunate enough, the car also contains three double-bedrooms and a drawing room suite (triple). Ah, to be "booked" in the Park car is considered a "coup" in timing. For this trip, we've got the drawing room suite!

First serving for the evening meal in the dining car, forward of the sleepers, will be announced by the attendant. Three seatings and always a fine selection from the menu's sumptuous offerings. Perhaps some Salmon tonight - or Prime rib. Amazing how much of an appetite one can acquire while sitting aboard a train! And those menu selections change each night of the 3 day-night journey from Toronto or Montreal.

After dinner it will be a drink or two in the rearmost lounge, then back to the dome for some nighttime viewing in the mountains. Of course the car attendant is "savy' enough to ensure that the dome lights are out, with just the soft glow of the emergency lighting providing that ambiance and comfort only dome travelers can recognize. Amazing what one can see on a crisp, clear winter's night!

Now, then - the morning will bring ...............


* Nicholas Morant (1910-1999) Special photographer for the CPR. He began working for the railroad in 1929 at $9 per week in their "PR" department. His photo's appeared in the leading magazines of the day, including: The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Life, Look and Time. During the war years, his photos were on the backs of $10, $50 and $100 bills in Canada and on postage stamps. In June 1981, he retired.

Enjoy!

Tom

[coalminer3]

Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.  Lovely day here today with fog, clouds, and maybe some rain.  Gas is now at $3.06/gal.  Can't wait for Memorial Day.

A few comments this a.m. and I've got to get back to other activities. 

Pete sent some good information on the Royal train.  The FL9 was a locomotive unique to the New Haven in that it was a dual power unit - ran either as a diesel or off of third rail in electrified zones.  It had a two axle lead truck and a three axle trailing truck.  They ran all over the NYNH&H, but I especially remember them on the Shore Line.  They had a Hancock chime whistle instead of a horn.  They were not exactly a powerful piece of equipment, either.

Eric sent a shot of a railcar.  That beast bears a very close resemblance to the Mack railcars which ran on the New Haven - thanks for sending it along.

I could not open a lot of Mike's pictures, but I did enjoy the shot of 6218 and also the one of Teddy Ballgame and the Babe.

OSP sent along some fine RDC material, more ads AND a most righteous list of movies - it was inetersting to see how many different classic pictures have been screened.

Lars - Good luck on what I call (when it refers to travel with my relatives) the psychotic road trip from !@#$.

Will try and stop by again later.

Work safe

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!

Ruth my deAH, it's time again for a mugga Joe with a "jolt," and a bit o' lunch. This time only a half sandwich if you please. Yeah, the same-ol, same-ol will be fine. Treats all around for Boris ‘n the crittAHs! Change is yours!

Just when you think it's safe to plan a trip . . . Jaws XXVI appears! <arrrggghhhh> Another delay and this time it's over absolute nonsense. Sorry, I'm venting . . . <deep breath> <very deep breath> <exhale> <repeat the process>

The Mrs. and I had this all figured out, but leave it to the off-spring to come up with a "better mousetrap." Yeah, right. Huge family "discussion" ensued and we now are pretty much ready to roll, but not today as planned. Shane is correct with his opinion of family travels . . . <grin>

Number two son is a "hi-tech-techie" and assures me that I will be on-line from down there whenever he can get "things" hooked up. Seems he has some sort of Flash Gordon "stuff" that is totally wireless and hooks into some satellite service where he's able to get "up" whenever he desires. Anyone understand this stuff??? Don't even know how this even entered the conversation, but it did and at least when I have some free time that won't interfere with the Mrs. and her idea of "free time," I'm hoping to "connect" with y'all. <grin>

Really, really impressed with that movie list you provided, Cap'n Tom - that took effort and it's really noticed and appreciated by me. Another thing that took much more effort is putting those movies together week after week. Coming up with new movies for us, finding the movie posters, uploading, downloading, the narratives, etc. THAT's WORK! A platinum-5 salute to Da Boss!

Also enjoyed the copy of your litho with "The Canadian." Now that's a picture worth starring at, huh I always get mesmerized by things like that, just wonderin' . . . . . The story is on the money too and surely a nice way to wind down the "Canadian Passenger RR" theme.

Must make note of your decision to also wind down. Long time overdue and well deserved. What's the point of beating yourself to distraction when the numbers are where they are??? I mean we now can count on one hand who the "regulars" are and even they are off ‘n on. That's NOT a criticism, simply what I'd call "life." So, I support your trimming the sails, surely beats dry dock.

Good to see the continuing presence of Pete - Eric ‘n Shane. Always enjoy what you have to provide and hope that in this period coming up where the absences will be long and often, that somehow, some way, you'll be able to help out whenever possible.

Thanx to all for the positive comments . . .

Kinda ran out of things to say this morning - one more mugga Joe, then I best get a move on.

Ruth my deAH, why the long face??? Remember, that saying, "Where there's a will, there's a way!" We'll figure out a way to get you down to the Keys!

Boris my man, ring the ding, drinks on the Manager. Be sure to take care of the ladies while I'm gone. <uh oh>

 

VIA Rail's Ocean (from: viarail.ca - photo: Steven J. Brown)

VIA Rail's Ocean (from: viarail.ca - photo: Steven J. Brown)

VIA Rail's Ocean (from: viarail.ca - photo: Steven J. Brown)

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[pwolfe]

Hi Tom and all

A pint of Bathams please RUTH and the Steak for later.

ERIC. The saddle tank 0-4-0 locomotive in the photo was built in 1874 and was built by Black Hawthorn in Gateshesd, which is across the River Tyne from Newcastle. It worked at the plant of International Aluminium Co Ltd. Hence its name Bauxite No2. The loco retired in 1947 and was very lucky to be saved as a scrap merchant decided to donate the loco to a Historical Society. As footnote aluminium is the word the bride gets me to say to her friends as not only is the word pronounced differently over it is spelt different.

I was going to take delight in pressing ‘ignore' when the word comes up in the spell checker. But looking a Wikipedia it seems the American version of the spelling was used first and the British spelling may have been a spelling mistake by Humphrey Davy in 1808. Hope the bride doesn't read this.

Thanks for the photo of the German railbus, as this type were called on BR. There were some of these built by Waggon und Maschinenbau of Germany and some by a variety of British manufacturers, they did not have a long life in service as the branch lines they ran on closed or were too small for the traffic, I do not think they could be used in multiple operation.

Two of the WuM railbuses are on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Here is a link showing a photo of them, they are just below the middle of the page and lower down it says that one is running now and it is hoped to have both running for next year.

http://www.kwvr.co.uk/dieselpage.htm

I too can remember the Untouchables old TV series, no doubt Tom can tell us who played Eliot Ness.

MIKE Thanks for the great Canadian color photos in the links. Great shot of the F7 running down the street in Rob's hometown and the railway was close to Fenwick Park in Boston.

CM3 I was surprised to see that the FL9s were so relatively low powered It seems the FL9s were different from the Electro-diesels on BR in that I have read the FL9 s were mainly used the diesel engine where the BR ones were mainly powered by the third rail.

I bet the Hancock chime whistle sounded great.

LARS So the caravan to the Keys is delayed, still it is good to see you in the bar. That is good news that you should be able to call in while you are down there.

I agree there is an amazing amount of work by Tom to supply us with all those different movies every week.

What's this about trying to entice RUTH down to the Keys.

Great photos of the VIA Ocean and thanks for the drink.

TOM It is hard to believe the Idiot of the Week but after what as happened here lately anything is possible.

Mai Fest time again and the Lederhosen for H&H, BORIS and the gang. The only worry is what the Bar Chandler has to wear and you know what happens to H&H when the German Band starts up after dark.

It is a real pity that BC is not there to run those RDCs on the great route you described. It seems they had it right with the great food and friendly service not to mention the wonderful scenery. It just goes to prove that one must take advantage of trains like this while they are running as it a fact that things can quickly chance and the trains or equipment no longer run anymore.

The bride and I would very much like to visit the area around Yorktown and the surrounding area of Virginia. Also while we were in the area it would great to visit those great lines in West Virginia like the Cass Scenic Railroad.

That really is an impressive list of films we have seen at the Emporium. I see there have been films ranging in dates from 1924 to 2005 and it is amazing the number of the Stooges films there have been on Also we had four Monty Python films over two weeks in the run up to Christmas.. Please take a for all those great films

[EricX2000]

Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Ahh, finally a weeken! Leon, nice to see you smiling! Tonight, sorry, this morning I'll have Balcberry pancakes for breakfast! Lots of whipped cream! While you are ati it, bring me a bisquit with my coffee! Thank you!

Some changes coming here at Our Place! I feel they are necessary and will give the boss some well deserved time off!

Mike –  Thanks for the round!

As usual a bunch of interesting pictures!  My favorite this time, CN #6769 (Alco)! I like that paint scheme (and the locomotive)!

Tom –  Idiot of the week is certainly well qualified! Chevy dealership? That is why I drive a Ford!

Received email, will respond this weekend.

The RDC from Germany was (and I think, still is) very common on branch lines in Germany. It is scale 1:1! I guess the main advantages with them were/are light axle load and cheap to operate.

Thanks for the movie list!! I found another of my favorite movies, Emperor of the North Pole! Plus The Titfield Thunderbolt, North to Alaska, Field of Dreams, Crocodile Dundee, A Fish Called Wanda, The Pink Panther, Memphis Belle, Battle of Britain, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Von Ryan’s Express, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Forest Gump! Just to mention a few!

A very good story about train travel at its best, on the Canadian!
You have a beautiful print in your living room! Snow or not, it is ver beautiful!

CM3 –  I have a model 3-car set of those German railcars (made by Märklin). I guess that was one reason I took that picture that early morning in 1970, on my way to Hamburg.

Lars –  Ruth to the Keys?! Hey, what is going on? Thanks for the drink BTW.

Some very nice pictures from Canada in the fall! I can even see a couple of F40s!

Have a nice and safe trip down to the Keys!!

Pete –  1874? Wow, it looks older to me! Interesting!

Aluminium is spelled the same way in Swedish as in English English!

The German railbuses could be used in multiple operation. As I already mentioned above, i have a 3-car model set of those railcars and I will take a picture of them as soon as my camera is back from California. The camera broke down Thursday morning so now I am without a working digital camera for a couple of weeks! I don’t know if I will survive, I also need it in my job.

Thanks for the link to the pictures of the former DRB (Deutsche Reichs Bahn) railbuses! They look very similar to the one I have in my picture.

 

I'll be back later today!

 

Eric 

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

It's ENCORE! Saturday 'n  Photo Posting Day! But, there's site maintenance going on and who knows whether this will make it - here goes!

From my recent Amtrak trip to KCity with Pete . . .

Traction on display at KCity's Union Station: 

 

A reminder:

CHANGE is on the way:

Starting yesterday (Friday) - my morning acknowledgments will be provided on Monday - Wednesday ‘n Friday. Also, I'll be scarce on Saturdays too - however, the ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day will continue with Cindy, Leon ‘n Boris attending to things ‘round here as usual.

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[EricX2000]

Hello Captain Tom and all present!!

Hi Cindy, nice to see you! You look gorgeous today, as always! Yes, I would like to have a Filet Mignon with lots of mushrooms! Quiet here today? I know, people have other things to do and I don't blame them! 

I stopped by to get something to eat and post a few pictures.

Tom –  Thanks for those pictures of the PCC outside Kansas City's Union Station! Kind of sad they don't use them!

I'll add a couple of pictures of some other old streetcars from Hamburg, Germany.

 

1970.

 

Here is a picture (for Pete) of a roundhouse in the old country. There are actually two of them next to each other. Both are still used for what they were built for.

I know, it is taken from the wrong side but it shows the old water tower for the steam engines now replaced by a tank for diesel fuel.

An old (very) narrow gauge (600 mm) steam locomotive.

 

Eric 

[siberianmo]

ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day!

at "Our" Place!

We are CLOSED on SUNDAYs!


Starting Sunday at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre!

 

. . .May 6^th thru 12^th: The Untouchables (1987) Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia & Robert De Niro - and - Long Gone (1987) Starring: William Petersen, Virginia Madsen, Dermot Mulroney, Larry Riley & Katy Boyer. SHORT: The Three Stooges - No Census, No Feeling (1940).

 

 

The Untouchables (1987)

PLOT SUMMARY:

From a script by David Mamet, the movie pits four underdog heroes (the maverick lawmen known as the Untouchables) against a singular villain in Al Capone, played by Robert De Niro as a dapper caesar holding court (and a baseball bat) against any and all challengers. Kevin Costner is the naive federal agent Eliot Ness, whose lack of experience is tempered by the streetwise alliance of a seasoned Chicago cop (Sean Connery, in an Oscar-winning performance), a rookie marksman (Andy Garcia), and an accountant (Charles Martin Smith) who holds the key to Capone's potential downfall. The movie approaches greatness on the strength of its set pieces, such as the siege near the Canadian border, the venal ambush at Connery's apartment, and the train-station shootout. --Jeff Shannon

 

from: amazon.com

 

 

Long Gone (1987)

PLOT SUMMARY:

Story of the Tampico Stogies, a low minor-league baseball team, and its star player and manager, Stud' Cantrell, as they battle for the league championship amidst the corruption and racism of the American south. William L. Petersen (Manhunter) is a player-manager for a 1950s minor-league team whose fortunes and hopes turn around during their battle for a championship. As with Bull Durham, this comedy has the feeling of taking place in a world larger than that of baseball, and thus provides useful perspective into why the game is so central in people's lives each spring. Another similarity is the farm-team milieu, a life of abridged hopes and stardom outside the Show--the thematic implication being that most of us have some kind of Show we can only admire from a distance. (Underscoring the point is a nice performance by Virginia Madsen as a small-town beauty queen.) But hope does come in Long Gone, and because of its sharp dialogue and enjoyable acting (by Dermot Mulroney, Larry Riley, Henry Gibson, Katy Boyer, and Teller) this film deserves to be included in anyone's collection of baseball features. --Tom Keogh   

From: amazon.com

  

 

SHORT: No Census, No Feeling (1940)


PLOT SUMMARY: Featuring Moe, Larry & Curly

The Stooges, upon escaping from the police after another random act of vandalism, suddenly find themselves in employment as census takers. Making their rounds, they help out a bridge club where Curly has spiked the punch with alum (thinking it was sugar) and invade the field of a football game in progress.

from: threestooges.net

Enjoy!

Tom

[EricX2000]

Good afternoon Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Thanks, Cindy, just a cup of coffee! My stomach is still full.

Just saw the movies for next week at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre! Good choice of our Captain, as usual. The Untouchables! If it is even close to be as good as the old TV-series its worth a visit to the theatre!

The real reason I stopped by was to provide a link for Pete (or maybe DL) that I found at a Swedish forum. It shows an articel from The Railway magazine about a British WD 2-8-0, #90733. What do you know about that locomotive? There is also a picture of Lord Nelson steaming along!

http://f15.parsimony.net/forum25608/messages/757930.htm 

 

Eric 

[EricX2000]

Good evening/morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Let's see, here it is, the mail slot. Push it in and I am done. 

Not much to say, the place look kind of sad when it is closed. Saturday was probably the slowest I have seen here. But we are all busy so that is what happens!

At least I am going to post a picture of something you don't see any more, F40s pulling Amtrak trains across the nation! I don't know if Amtrak has any F40 still in service? I doubt it.  

 

1993.

 

Eric 

[siberianmo]

<from my personal collection>

A smile to begin the week!

I'm hiding these right here.

(A Yogi-ism!)

G'day Gents!

A new day, a new week and time to begin this Monday with a hot mug of coffee, pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery along with a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board!

 

Changes: Morning acknowledgments will be provided on Monday - Wednesday ‘n Friday. Also, I'll be scarce on Saturdays too - however, the ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day will continue with Cindy, Leon ‘n Boris attending to things ‘round here as usual.

 

Received Emails from Las 'n James indicating they couldn't log in on Saturday - probably due to the site maintenance by Kalmbach.

Customer ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (since my last narrative):

 

CM3 Shane at 10:11 AM Friday: Thanx for the insights regarding the FL9 and its dual power capability - always learning something ‘round this place.

More than a few of those flicks on the Emporium's screening list were suggested by you.

Always appreciate the quarters, round ‘n support!

 

Lars at 10:55 AM Friday: Continuing support of the bar means a lot - thanx!

If you got away as planned (this time) I guess you're somewhere in the "deep" south as the Larsman Caravan winds its way to the Florida Keys. Good knowing that we may be hearing from you while down there . . .

Many thanx for the Email, VIA Rail Pix ‘n round!

 

Pete at 4:35 AM Friday: So what's wrong with alumin-I-um???

Fine, fine URL, chock full o' RDCs ‘n stuff!

IF BC Rail were in operation today, we'd be making a trip along their route to Prince George. It was a fine, fine RR with scenery that just didn't quit all viewed from RDCs in excellent material condition! Ahhhh, memories.

Films at the Emporium all are provided for the enjoyment of our customers and I'm glad you have (and do)! Many thanx for the visit ‘n round!

 

Eric at 2:55 AM ‘n 3:28 PM ‘n 6:02 PM Saturday: I'm not sure there's been a time when we've seen you at the bar for three Postings on one day. Maybe for a special occasion, but surely not on a "routine" Saturday. Many thanx for being our only customer!

Glad you too found the Emporium movie list of interest. We've covered quite a bit of ground with our showings, eh

In a matter of one week and a few days, you'll be here and able to check out the library of VHS ‘n DVD flicks we have and of course that fine lithograph of "The Canadian" too.

Thanx for the traction Pix from Germany and RR shots from Sweden!

"Cool" traction shot! Got a kick out of the "Lord Nelson" URL, especially the native tongue narrative! I've always found it interesting to detect any words ‘n linkages to my language. Most definitely a challenge.

Appreciate the Email response, visits and continuing support!

 

Eric at 11:49 PM Sunday: Yes, it is sad when the joint ain't rockin' - let's hope the weekend can be chalked off to the site maintenance. Otherwise, we're definitely on the rocks . . .

Saw a few Amtrak F40s sitting on a siding just outside of Chicago's Union Station this past January . . .  other than that, don't see 'em 'round here anymore. Thanx for the Pix and of course, visit!

 

Reminder: Ruth has the bar from 9 AM until Leon the Night Man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.

Cindy is now our Saturday bartender!

Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!

Tom

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

The Passenger Railroad Fallen Flags of "Our" Place #13
 
Union Pacific Railroad -  Passenger operations (UP)

A form of this was initially Posted on Page 124 of the original Thread
source: Classic American Railroads

 

Caveat: The information provided is NOT all inclusive and is reflective only of the periods mentioned.  

Union Pacific (UP) - (passenger ops)

Headquarters: Omaha, NE

Mileage:

1950: 9,9720
1996: 22,785 (trackage rights included)

Locomotives as of 1963:

Steam: 29
Diesel: 1,347
Gas-turbine: 49

Rolling stock in 1963: Freight cars - 54,959 Passenger cars - 851

Principal lines in 1950:

Omaha-Ogden, UT via Cheyenne, WY
Ogden-Los Angeles via Las Vegas, NV
Julesburg-La Salle, CO
Granger, WY-Seattle, WA via Montpelier, ID & Portland, OR
Pocatello, ID-Butte, MT
Hinkle, OR-Spokane, WA
Ogden-McCammon (Pocatello)
Cheyenne & Borie-Kansas City via Denver
Topeka, KS-Gibbon, NE
Marysville, KS-Valley (Fremont) NE

Principal lines added as of 1996:

Salt Lake City, UT-Oakland, CA via Sacramento, CA
Freemont & Omaha-Chicago
Nelson, IL-St. Louis
Chicago-Green Bay via Kenosha and Oshkosh, WI
Chicago-Milwaukee via Bain, WI
Milwaukee-Minneapolis
Minneapolis-Kansas City via Des Moines, IA
Minneapolis-Omaha via Sioux City, IA
Chicago-Madison, WI

Plus the MoPac/ subsidiary lines:

Omaha-St. Louis via Kansas City
Chicago-Houston via Pana, Dupo (St. Louis) and Thebes, IL, Little Rock, AR and Palestine, TX
Houston-Brownsville, TXPalestine-Laredo, TX via Austin
Houston-New Orleans via Baton Rouge, LA
Kansas City-Little Rock, AR via Coffeyville, KS
El Paso, TX-New Orleans via Fort Worth and Shreveport, LA
Kansas City-Pueblo, CO

Passenger trains of note:

Butte Special (Salt Lake City, UT-Butte, MT)
Challenger (Chicago-Los Angeles)
City of Las Vegas (Los Angeles-Las Vegas)
City of Denver (Chicago-Denver)
City of Los Angeles (Chicago-Los Angeles via Cheyenne, WY)
City of Portland (Chicago-Portland, OR via Cheyenne [via Denver 1959-68])
City of Salina (Kansas City-Topeka-Salina, KS)
City of St. Louis (St. Louis-Los Angeles & San Francisco & Portland via Kansas City & Denver)
City of San Francisco (Chicago-Oakville, CA via Cheyenne)
Columbine (Omaha-Denver)
Forty Niner (Chicago-Oakland)
Gold Coast (Chicago-Oakland & Los Angeles)
Idahoan (Cheyenne-Portland via Pocatello)
Los Angeles Limited (Chicago-Los Angeles)
Pony Express (Kansas City-Los Angeles)
Portland Rose (Denver-Portland)
San Francisco Overland (Chicago-Oakland; after 1955 St. Louis-Oakland)
The Spokane (Spokane, WA-Portland)
Utahn (Cheyenne-Los Angeles)
Yellowstone Special (Pocatello, ID-West Yellowstone, MT)

Of note: UP trains serving Chicago operated Omaha-Chicago via C&NW until Oct 1955, then via Milwaukee Road 1955-71. All UP trains serving St. Louis operated via Wabash between St. Louis & Kansas City.

Enjoy!

Tom

[coalminer3]

Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house; and $ for the jukebox.

A few comments and some thoughts about F40s today.

Thanks to Eric for pictures; I especially enjoyed the 600 mm steam locomotive.  I'm guessing, but I'll bet the F 40 was on the "Empire Builder."  I made that trip a few times, and always enjoyed the ride.

The F40s appeared early on the NEC where they replaced trashed out former PRR and NYC E units east of New Haven.  This was, of course, before the NEC electrification.  I remember photographing most of them "number by number" as they ran in and out of Boston.  They also congregated at New Haven and I made several trips to shoot them there.  Later they appeared on 50 and 51 when I moved over here.  They replaced the GE "Pooches" which, IIRC, went west.  F40s were fine locomotives according to the crews who operated them and brutally powerful.  Operating rules here allowed for one F40 with ten cars over Alleghany - not bad. You probably remember how loud they were with the HEP feature, though.

OSP - Rec'd e-mails and thanks for them.  Agree with your decision.  

Thank you for UP material.

Movies are good ones for the Theatuh.

The movie "Untouchables" is far better than the TV show ever was.  We were in Chicago when they were filming some of the scenes and got to see vintage cars driving around, etc.  A lot of it was, of course, filmed around the Loop.  Fascinating to watch how they did it.  

Favorite lines for me were the veteran police officer explaining to Ness how to get Capone. Also the scene late in the picture "Where's Nitti?"  Ness replies, "He's in the car."  Those of you who have seen the film will remember the background for that.

As for "Long Gone," is, IMHO one of the best baseball pictures ever.  "Did I ever tell you about the time I struck out Ted Williams?"  I won't spoil it, but it is great stuff.   

Speaking of the Olde Towne Team, the Boston sportswriters have their knickers in a twist now that Roger has returned to the Yankees.  He's forty-fiver years old, which means his legs are forty-five as well.  As I have said before, 'That's why they play."

Work safe

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Stealing a page from the Larsman, here's a few book covers on the UP that haven't been Posted before . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth, give 'em a drink on me and Boris, ring the bell!

Enjoy!

Tom

[EricX2000]

Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Leon, time for an early breakfast! Coffee and the remaining Cheese Danish! Oh, do you have two? I'll take them both. Thanks!

Another quiet day! It is like Cracker Barrel, where I have my lunch every day, they have been very slow the last few weeks! Things will likely start picking up soon.

Tom –  Yes, the movie list certainly includes a wide variety of movies. Most of them very good ones!

Just read today that Metro North retired its last FL9 by the end of April this year. Connecticut Department of Transportation is still operating a few FL9s in their commuter service. So I guess those FL9s are the very last ones in service of the 60 built.

I am very much looking forward to checking out your flick library! And, of course, the lithograph “The Canadian”. I’ll teach you some Swedish words during the Rendezvous!

Union Pacific! Now also found in Arizona since a number of years! Instead we lost Southern Pacific. SP makes me think about West Coast Dave. I hope he is okay!
Back to UP! Just noticed they used to have a train called Yellowstone Special. I have been to Yellowstone N.P. but never to the west entrance, to where that train was running. Maybe next year, when I am going to take my sister and brother-in-law to Yellowstone.

Stand-in for Manager Lars?! Well done! Interesting books with real nice covers! One of them, Union Pacific’s Challenger, makes me wonder why they named that train the same as their steam locomotives? Or was that train pulled by Challengers in the beginning?

CM3 –  The picture of the 600 mm steam locomotive is from the early 1900’s. I am afraid your guess isn’t correct even though very logic. They are/were pulling the X2000 on its National Tour in 1993. See picture below. Yes, I remember that they were loud when providing HEP for the train. Thanks for the info!

Over and through the Cascades.

 

Eric 

[coalminer3]

Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.  Nice weather here today, gas is at $3.06.

OSP sent book covers which were interesting.  Maury Klein ahs done a lot of work over the years.  One of his earliest was a history of the L&N.  OSP showed pictures of his UP book.  He also did a book on Jay Gould which was a good one as well.

Eric - I tried, what threw me was the Cut Bank designation on the relay box.  Oh well, thanks for playing. 

We haven't done much with the Illinois Central in awhile, so here's a rerun of some earlier IC stuff about their trains and what goodies one could find in the diner.

The IC still had a fair amount of passenger service in 1969.   

Trains 1 and 2, the "City of New Orleans" was an all-coach operation between Chicago and New Orleans (two dome coaches as well).  The City had a diner-counter-lounge between Chicago and Jackson

Trains 3 and 4, ‘The Panama Limited" was still the pride of the railroad although itnow had coaches.

The "Mid-American" was an all-coach train between Chicago and Memphis which had a food-bar-coach as well.

Trains 7 and 8 "The Illini" ran with coaches and a food-bar-coach between Chicago and Carbondale, as did Trains 9 and 10, the "Shawnee."

We have discussed trains 52 and 53, the "City of Miami" in an earlier post.  Trains 105 and 106 ran between St. Louis and Carbondale.

Trains 11 and 12 , the "Hawkeye" were all-coach operations that ran on a God-awful schedule between Chicago and Sioux City.

Last was trains 21 and 22 "Governor's Special" between Chicago and Springfield.  These runs had coaches and a "Palm Grove Café" Car.

Going back to the early 60s we find that the "Panama" was still all-Pullman.

It had the following consist

Sleeping Cars:

Chicago-New Orleans: 10 rtte/6db (2 cars); 4 comp./4db/2 drawing rooms; 11 db

Chicago-New Orleans: 2 db/1dr/2 comp observation car

Chicago-Jackson: 10 rtte/6db

St. Louis-New Orleans: 10rtte/6db (via Carbondale)

Chicago-New Orleans Twin-Unit diner

The IC was noted for its food and the top offering was the Kings Dinner on the Panama.

Here's what the passenger got for $9.85 in 1965 (damn the blood tests, full speed ahead!)

Manhattan or martini cocktail

Appetizers

Shrimp cocktail

Wine

Fish

Char-broiled steak with mushrooms

Salad and dressing (prepared at your table)

Rolls/breads

Cheese/ apple wedges

Coffee

After dinner cordial

I also found a menu from the City of Miami in my material

Entrees included

Fried halibut, potatoes and salad - $1.50

Saute Veal, spaghetti Milanese, Lima beans - $1.60

Roast turkey - dressing, potatoes, Lima beans - $ 1.75

Dinner rolls

Pineapple sundae

Chilled melon

Cheese and crackers

Peach cobbler/vanilla sauce

Coffee - tea - milk

All this and a train trip as well - when do we eat?

Work Safe

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Somewhere back in time there's a reference to "winding down," but I never figured that the guys depended on the most would've done so first! And this is just the beginning of sloooooooooooooow times at the Saloon by the Siding! <grin 'n bear it!>

Noted that Amtrak has curtailed its run between Jefferson City 'n Kansas City for part of the day, which probably wiped out the Wolfman's plans. Amtrak arranged to "bus"  the passengers however. Prolonged heavy rains to the west has caused the Missouri River to rise above flood stage in many places and that spells p-r-o-b-l-e-m-s for the UP mainline running parallel to the river in some areas in the Show-Me-State. Expected fast rise 'n fall in these parts too. Nothing like the flood of 1993 though, where levies were topped 'n burst in places.

Email responses from Doug 'n Eric are in, still pending Rob 'n Pete . . .

Petrol at $3.18 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" and there's lotsa "grumping" going on because of it.

Customer Acknowledgments on Wednesday, HOWEVER, many thanx to Eric 'n CM3 Shane for not abandoning the joint!

 

Illinois Central is a road with all kinds of material to Post. Shane brought up a "good-un"  - how about some book covers (in the spirit of the Larsman)? I don't believe we've seen these at the bar . . . Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth, set 'em up and Boris ring the ding - drinks on Da Bossman!

 

Tom

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Spoke with the Wolfman earlier this afternoon - he should be back on line tomorrow (Wednesday). That's good news! Has had his hands full with "house problems" far too much to get into here, but no fun at all in JCity . . . <ugh> Then Amtrak did in fact cancel their train plans for KCity today. <geesh> Boris, best treat our Bar Chandler very, very kindly when he comes in. Methinks he'll require a bit of TLC from the gang! <ahhhhhhhh>

 

A bit more on the Union Pacific from Monday to keep things moving at this rather lonely bar - check out these advertisements . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[wanswheel]

Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house

Thanks to Tom, Eric and CM3 for keeping things going. I envy you guys your travels.

Penn-Central merger is bad even now because it's failure more or less forced the creation of Amtrak in a hurry, with a structure designed I think to favor the interests of the railroads over the riding public. I bet maybe without it, Santa Fe would have run passenger trains for many years to come, not because they might have had to but because they were good at it.

Toward the 21st Century Ltd  Time Magazine  Jan. 26, 1968  http://www.time.com/

No green light flared from a track-side tower; no warning whistle echoed down the line. But no trainman missed the signal. When the Supreme Court gave its approval last week to the merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads, it was clearing the track for the nation's entire rail system. It was giving railroad management permission to highball into the future.

As Justice Abe Fortas read the 37-page opinion that put an end to ten years of frustrating negotiation and deliberation, the smile on the face of a chunky, balding spectator seemed to light up the marbled chamber. For Stuart Thomas Saunders, 58, the man who has already been picked to head the Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Co., the court's 8-0 vote was a singular personal triumph.

It was Saunders, as chairman and chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania, who planned the tactics and organized the arguments that led to one of the largest mergers in corporate history. It was Saunders who held the pieces together during the frequent assaults from competitors concerned about the Penn Central's potential power; it was Saunders who won over dubious labor leaders, worried lest future economies lead to fewer jobs. Above all, it was Saunders, the lawyer-turned-railroader, who convinced the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Justice Department that both public interest and private good would be helped if two troubled rivals were allowed to operate as a unit, instead of continuing costly and wasteful competition. His victory was a victory for railroads across the country. For the court gave its approval to his philosophy that railroads must combine, that they must grow in size and decline in number if they are to serve their customers and survive.

Envious Hill or Harriman. Saunders will be working in tandem with the Central's President Alfred E. Perlman, 65, one of the best operating men in the business; and the two men will be managing a railroad empire to excite the envy of a Hill or a Harriman. The Penn Central will operate on 40,000 miles of track in 14 states and two Canadian provinces. It will run 4,200 locomotives, 195,000 freight cars, and 4,937 passenger cars. It will also be the nation's largest private landlord, with real estate holdings that include Park Avenue hotels and a Pittsburgh office building-apartment complex, a 25% share in the new Madison Square Garden, erected over the rebuilt Pennsylvania Station in New York City, resorts in Florida, parks in Texas and housing developments in California. The diversified corporation will have total assets of $6.3 billion, annual revenues of almost $2 billion, and tidy tax-loss credits from dismal years in the past that will help to improve net income for years to come. Most of all, in its plans and in its performance, Penn Central will be a prototype of the U.S. railroad of the future.

Saunders moved into the chairman's suite at Pennsy's Philadelphia headquarters only four years ago. He brought with him the bright reputation he had built as president of the Norfolk & Western, which he helped turn into one of the nation's most profitable railroads. He also brought a consuming energy that threatened to wear out associates. For he is a man who dotes on work. An average day includes twelve hours at the office, another three working at home-after which Saunders relaxes with a vengeance. He ordinarily takes a couple of double martinis before dinner, wine during the meal, and brandy plus two or three Scotches and soda afterward. Not long ago, at a reunion at Roanoke College, where Alumnus Saunders ('30) is now chairman of the trustees, a classmate told him: "You always were a lucky guy." Replied Saunders: "Yes, I suppose I was-but I have also noticed that the harder you work the luckier you get."

To work out his luck when he came to the Pennsy, Saunders had two major aims. One was to shake awake a slumbering, 121-year-old railroad that had stumbled onto hard times. Falling earnings and a high debt had led the road's conservative management to cut back on new spending; the Pennsy had hardly enough modern equipment to remain competitive. The new boss changed all that by allocating huge funds ($577 million in the last three years alone) for new equipment and by branching out into fields other than railroading. His other goal was to push through the merger with the New York Central, something that had been discussed and contemplated for years.

Tangled Midwest. To be sure, the merger trend among U.S. railroads is nothing new (see map). But the plans for the Penn Central were the most ambitious yet. As Saunders promoted them, his tireless determination seemed to promise eventual success. Inevitably, it gave new impetus to a growing roster of other corporate unions:

In the East, the coal-rich Norfolk & Western and the Chesapeake & Ohio-Baltimore & Ohio are moving toward a merger that will probably be consummated some time in 1970. The C. & O. took effective control of the B. & O. five years ago in a move that enabled the limping B. & O. to use C. & O. credit ratings to buy new equipment ($312 million worth last year). Together, the two lines achieved savings averaging $35 million annually. By merging with the Norfolk & Western, they estimate that they can save another $30 million a year. The merger would create a system every bit as affluent as the Penn Central. It would include the Nickel Plate and the Wabash, already owned by the Norfolk & Western, as well as the Erie Lackawanna, Delaware & Hudson, and Boston & Maine, which the ICC already has ordered the Norfolk & Western to absorb.

In the Midwest, where the railroad map is incredibly tangled, several efforts are under way to unsnarl it. The aggressive Chicago & North Western, run by Ben Heineman, has merger agreements worked out with the Chicago Great Western, and would like to include the Milwaukee Road. The Illinois Central and Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, with 9,200 miles of frequently parallel track, hope to merge too. The Missouri Pacific is anxious to take over the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. The three "Northerns"-the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific and the Burlington-have been given tentative ICC permission to combine lines that cover most of the territory between Chicago and the Pacific.

The Rock Island Line, an enticing property despite financial difficulties, has a plethora of suitors. Hoping to take all or part of the Rock Island over are the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Heineman's Chicago & North Western. - In the Southeast, the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroad have already merged into the Seaboard Coast Line and expect to realize annual savings of $38.7 million. Meanwhile the Southern Railway, bothered by this increase in competition, has been shopping around for a partner.

In the West, where mergers are less urgent because rail routes are longer, highways fewer and profits greater, one small railroad is being assiduously courted. Both the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe have attempted to acquire the Western Pacific, if only because its profits are steady and its route includes the easiest pass through the Sierra Nevada. So far, Western President M. M. Christy has turned down all offers.

Sustained Sentiment. The man who is slated to preside over the Penn Central, fittingly enough, is the man who started the merger trend. It was Saunders, as president of the Norfolk & Western, who arranged for the takeover of the Virginian Railway in 1959 and laid the groundwork for the N. & W. to acquire the Nickel Plate and the Wabash. Born in McDowell, W. Va., Saunders grew up in Bedford, Va., within sight and sound of the N. & W.'s main line through the coal fields. He attended college in the town where the N. & W. has its headquarters. Even after he was graduated from Harvard Law School and set up a practice in Washington, Saunders retained his sentimental attachment to the region. In 1939, he and his wife Dorothy jumped at the chance to return to Roanoke when Saunders was offered a job in the legal department of the N. & W. There he made himself so valuable that he moved up steadily until he was finally named president in 1958. In that job, he left operating problems mostly to subordinates, concentrated on mergers and finance.

Saunders' performance at the N. & W. impressed the Pennsylvania Railroad directors, who, at that time, held 33% of the N. & W.'s stock. A delegation from the Pennsy, headed by Pittsburgh Banker Richard Mellon, called on Saunders in Roanoke to of fer him the opportunity of running the nation's largest railroad. Saunders accepted without hesitation. When he moved to Philadelphia, he took along a cadre of N. & W. executives who are still known around headquarters as the "Virginia Mafia." Before long the Mafiosi had eased 550 oldtimers into retirement. Almost nothing about the Pennsy remained untouched. Saunders, who collects cookbooks as a hobby, even hired a new chef for the executive dining room, ordered him not to serve diet lunches.

He did much more than change menus. Besides making huge investments in equipment and rolling stock, he really began to diversify. He concluded the purchase of the Buckeye pipeline, which threads for 8,000 miles through eight states in the East and South. Today, Buckeye ownership makes the railroad the principal supplier of jet fuel to Kennedy International Airport through a pipeline laid under New York harbor. Already well-stocked with real estate through its rail-related holdings, the Pennsy spent some $80 million to get more. It bought into Arvida Corp., Great Southwest Corp. and Macco Realty Co., which deal in real estate in California, Texas and Florida. Through its subsidiaries, the Pennsy is now developing Rancho California, an 87,500-acre residential project near Los Angeles; it is opening industrial and recreational parks in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, and it operates the Boca Raton Hotel and Club in Florida.

Unique Position. Saunders also bought a 57% interest in Executive Jet Aviation, a young company organized to provide charter service to businessmen. Among other advantages, Executive Jet gives the Pennsy a foothold in aviation and a start toward what Saunders calls a "total transportation company." For such investments the Pennsy has a large kitty. From its sale of the Long Island Railroad to New York State in 1966, and from the gradual disposal of its shares in the N. & W. and its 98.5% interest in the Wabash, the Pennsy had about $500 million to spend, still has around $107 million unallocated. "We are," says Saunders with some understatement, "in a rather unique position to pursue diversification."

For all the advantages of diversification, Saunders always looked upon consolidation with the New York Central as his most important project. The two lines were in the process of beating each other into bankruptcy. As early as 1957, merger talks had started between Saunders' Pennsy predecessor, James M. Symes, and the Central's Robert Young. Then, after Young committed suicide in 1959, he was succeeded at the Central by Perlman, an M.I.T. graduate who was with the Denver & Rio Grande before Young brought him back East. As it happened, Perlman was most reluctant to couple with the Pennsy, and Saunders had a tough time persuading him that it would be a good deal for both companies.

In his talks with Perlman, Saunders pursued a policy of not letting the opposition polarize. But keeping the opposition unpolarized was a herculean task; there was almost too much to keep track of. ICC examiners studying the Penn Central merger proposal, traveled to 18 cities, took 40,000 pages of conflicting testimony from 461 witnesses in 128 days. Nearly 350 lawyers have thus far been involved. Aside from legal tribulations (their case went to the Supreme Court twice and lower courts five times) the prospective partners have had to overcome objections from both labor and Government.

First, as far as Saunders was concerned, came labor. At one point during the ICC hearings, a railroad spokesman had glowingly boasted that the merger would enable the lines to get rid of some 7,800 employees. Officials and members of the 24 railroad brother hoods reacted with understandable concern. In an industry where management and labor rarely meet except in the hostile atmosphere of the bargaining room, Saunders began seeking out union leaders for informal talks. "I knew I had to change labor's position," he says. "My argument with the leaders was: 'This is really in the interest of your people. Merger means better earnings, which mean better savings, more business and more jobs. I can only get these savings with your cooperation.' " As a more practical matter, Saunders also promised the unions that no one would be fired because of the merger; only as jobs become vacant because of retirement or death will the Penn Central cut down on employees.

Next came the Justice Department, which strongly opposed the merger on the ground that it would lessen competition among Eastern railroads. Saunders brought the Government lawyers over to his side by agreeing to absorb the bankrupt New Haven. Perlman and the Central had said that they would not take the New Haven under any circumstances. "But it was apparent," says Saunders, "that the New Haven provided the factor needed to get the merger through: an urgent public interest."

One of Saunders' main efforts was to cultivate Lyndon Johnson. A lifelong Democrat, the ambitious railroad man made himself available for public statements approving almost all Johnson Administration policies-from Viet Nam to tax increases. "I could not have gotten the merger through without help from members of the Administration," Saunders says frankly. Then, in a masterpiece of understatement, he adds: "They got the Justice Department to change its thinking." It was significant that Saunders, while celebrating his Supreme Court victory in a Washington dining room last week, received a congratulatory personal telephone call from the President.

Without Illusions. While Saunders was maneuvering so skillfully toward merger, an unexpected problem arose: the New York Central began making noises about backing out of the deal. Elated by rising profits in 1966, Perlman announced that the Central appeared to be "recession-proof" and might not have to merge in order to prosper. Saunders paid calls on Central directors, pointed out that their line, unlike the Pennsy, was not widely diversified; he warned that a dip in the general economy would cause the Central painful headaches. Last year's mini-recession proved Saunders right. Rail returns for the less diversified Central during the nine months figured so far showed a $2,640,000 deficit, while Pennsy earnings held up substantially better. Suddenly the Central's merger enthusiasm revived.

Now only ragtag ends of the complicated corporate battle remain to be resolved. But Saunders labors under no illusions about the future. "The Pennsy itself," he says, "is a tough property to operate." The Penn Central will be a lot tougher. Pennsy President Allen J. Greenough, 62, whose title in the company is still unsettled, puts it even more strongly. "This is a big dog with a lot of fleas," says Greenough. "We'll be scratching for a long time."

To ease the itch, 40 representatives of both the Pennsylvania and the Central have planned together for many months. They worked in neutral territory-offices of the consulting firm of McKinsey & Co. The first sessions were stiffly formal, but even though some Central executives fear that they will be frozen out of key jobs by their opposite numbers at the dominant Pennsy, the atmosphere soon thawed.

More than 3,000 major merger problems have been discussed. One of the first projects was to take an inventory of all the equipment on both roads, from diesel engines down to dining-car flatware. A unified purchasing system for 180,000 kinds of hardware should save $750,000 a year. Altogether, eventual savings from combined operations should be at least $80 million a year. Plans have been made to eliminate about 1,000 miles of duplicate tracks, and computers were called into service to help decide upon the best routes. With a choice of two main lines from Chicago to the Northeast, for example, the computers found that the Central's water-level route would be much more economical than the Pennsy tracks that ascend nearly 3,000 feet over the mountains of western Pennsylvania. Connecting links between Pennsy and New York Central tracks are being rushed at Toledo, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati, Terre Haute, Chicago, Buffalo and Detroit. Freight yards at Cleveland and Indianapolis will be modernized, and an entire new yard-to be named after Perlman-is being built at Albany. The basic idea is to take advantage of the savings that through-freight operations can provide. "The speed factor is vital," says Perlman. "If goods are in transit for four days, someone has to have them on the books for four days. Any reduction in time that we can make will be beneficial."

Flying the Colors. Hundreds of problems remain to be settled. One immediate difficulty was deciding upon a new emblem to replace the red and gold keystone of the Pennsy and the olive, black and white oval of the Central. "Red and green together are too psychedelic," explains a Pennsy vice president in charge of paints. Last week, therefore, Saunders and Perlman inspected four freight cars that have been painted in various combinations of browns, greys, blues and greens, and now will decide which to adopt. When "M Day" (for Merger Day) takes place-with luck on Feb. 1 and almost certainly by March 1-the first order of business will be a meeting of the 25 directors of the combined lines.

Of these, 14 will come from the Pennsy and eleven from the Central. They will elect Saunders to be chairman and chief executive officer of the Penn Central and Perlman to be president and chief administrative officer. Even at that, it will be at least eight years before the two roads are completely integrated.

Small Succor. Long before then, freight should be moving faster and more efficiently than ever. But passengers will receive small succor from the merger. The benighted commuters of the New Haven will, to be sure, benefit from new equipment made possible by an infusion of money required by the ICC as part of the Penn Central deal. But the Pennsy lost $54 million last year on passenger service, while the Central dropped $25 million. And neither line is anxious to fritter away more cash. Says Saunders ominously: "We are studying all our passenger operations and will be forced, I am sure, to initiate at an early date a far-reaching program to adjust passenger service to actual public needs."

But even as the Penn Central prepares to cut back regular passenger service, it is forging ahead with a fleet of high-speed passenger trains. The railroad has committed $45 million of its own money, in addition to $11 million in Department of Transportation funds, to lay high-speed track between New York City and Washington and to buy ultramodern trains to make the run.

Already tested, the high-speeds will cruise at up to 150 m.p.h.; they promise to cut Washington-New York running times from nearly 4 hours to 2 hours and 18 minutes. Speed, plus such amenities as direct-dial telephones, good food and common courtesy, may win back shuttle passengers whose elapsed airplane time-commuting trips to and from airports-will at least be equaled by midcity to midcity railroad runs.

The high-speeds will spread no farther than densely populated corridors, for the long-distance (more than 200 miles) passenger train is already disappearing down the track to oblivion. "The railroads," says Saunders, "simply cannot compete with jets, to say nothing of supersonics." The Pennsy's boss is equally adamant that Government should support shorter-haul commuter service with subsidies. Says he: "The U.S. Government is spending virtually nothing to assist 73 million people to get to and from their jobs, while putting up $25 billion to send three men to the moon."

No railroad man anywhere disagrees. Western Pacific President Christy announced last week that his road will make another effort to drop the California Zephyr next month. "You can't run a long-distance passenger service on nostalgia," he says. The nostalgia-covered Twentieth Century Limited made its final run for the Central last month. Southern Pacific's president, Benjamin Franklin Biaggini, who would like to chop off his Lark trains running between Los Angeles and San Francisco, says: "It takes a crew of 21 and the operation of a whole train just to move an average of less than two busloads of people. There are 10,000 airline seats available each day in each direction, and it is obvious that the people who fly them don't want to ride trains."

Rent-a-Train. The future of the railroads, quite clearly, lies in freight. And in anticipation of that rich haul, railroads all around the country are adding new equipment, with a handsome outlay of $3.45 billion over the past two years. The results are already impressive. The Pennsy, for instance, pioneered with "unit" trains, in which continuously linked cars carrying bulk cargoes like coal can bypass freight yards and switching delays because they never have to be uncoupled. Beginning with one unit train in 1964, the road now runs 550 a month. Illinois Central has gone a step farther and devised a rent-a-train plan that Hertz and Avis might envy. Under the system worked out by I.C. Marketing Vice President John Ingram, companies can rent an 86-car train for $1,000,000 a year, run it as frequently as they like. Illinois Central has so far rented out five such trains to grain companies.

Three-tiered automobile haulers have won back new-car haul business from trucks and saved the auto companies on freight charges as well. For other customers, railroads can offer everything from "rail whale" tank cars with 50,000-gal. capacity to "high cube" cars built with extra-high roofs for odd-size loads. Piggyback hauls, in which flatcars carry over-the-road trailers, have increased 385% in a decade, to 1,207,242 carloads. The Southern Pacific, for one, has seen its piggyback service grow from 18,000 tons twelve years ago to 2,200,000 tons last year.

Everywhere, trains are getting bigger -the Norfolk & Western recently ran a 500-car train that was pulled by six engines with radio-connected controls operated by a single engineer. Last week the Santa Fe inaugurated service of its Super C freight from Chicago to Los Angeles. On its first run it zoomed from city to city in 34 hours and 35 minutes, or five hours faster than Santa Fe's famed Super Chief.

Happy Marriage. Nothing is changing railroading more than the computer. Just about every Class I U.S. road has acquired some of the electronic giants to control the costly and time-consuming business of putting freight trains together, taking them apart, and keeping track of the cars. The Union Pacific has so far installed 53 computers in 37 yard offices, ties them all in with four master computers in Omaha by a 2,900-mile private microwave system; the line figures that the economies obtained are equal to having 3,000 additional freight cars on hand.

Computers and the men necessary to run them have nourished a new breed of railroaders-management experts with wide-ranging interests. And they, in turn, have fueled the railroads' drive to diversify-if the Government eases up-into related areas of transportation. The Missouri Pacific, which already owns two truck lines extending 17,000 miles, last week applied to the CAB for permission to start an air-freight service. Says W. Graham Claytor Jr., new president of the Southern: "The railroads must press hard for the right to sell transportation, not railroad service. Then they must supply it in the most economical form suited to the customer's needs, including in many cases a combination of highway, rail, water and even air." Saunders enthusiastically agrees. "A transportation company," he says, "should be able to offer a customer every kind of shipping service."

In the effort to do that, the railroads are showing increasing enterprise. The Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Union Pacific and Southern Pacific, among others, have opened sales offices in the Far East. The Pennsy, in turn, has opened offices in seven European cities. The aim is to build up a business in containerized shipments that can be handled by rail after they are unloaded from ships. The U.S. railroads are pushing to establish a "land bridge" service by which freight bound between the Far East and Europe would travel by ship to the U.S., go by rail across the country, and on ships again to its final destination. The savings in time would be significant: 28 days from Japan to Europe by way of the land bridge v. 44 days on an all-ship transit through the Suez Canal.

Such is the future of U.S. railroading, and so auspicious is the outlook for the Penn Central merger, that Stuart Saunders last week relaxed his customary aggressiveness. "I have heard it said that a long courtship makes for a happy marriage," said Saunders, as he looked back over the years of fuss and frustration, "and I hope that it is true, for it will surely mean eternal bliss for the Penn Central." Bliss, perhaps. But with Saunders running things, certainly not tranquillity. Honoring Saunders last week with its annual Benjamin Franklin award, Philadelphia's Poor Richard Club summed up the situation pretty well. "When Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia," said a society spokesman at the presentation ceremonies, "things began to happen. It's the same with Stuart Saunders."

Time cover

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/time/images/jpg/07.jpg

IC Chicago 1965

http://67.15.20.45/images/images2/i/IC4032sChiILrp.jpg.31516.jpg

IC Chicago April 9, 1971

http://67.15.20.45/images/r/rr473.jpg.54881.jpg

UP Chicago April 30, 1971

http://67.15.20.45/images/r/rr535.jpg.87343.jpg

Video clip of Amtrak F40 overcoming inertia at Chicago

http://static.thoughtequity.com/video/aux/warehouse/345/6254/3456254_094_lp.wmv

Mike

[EricX2000]

Good evening Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!

Leon, I'll have a Cheese burger tonight! Curled fries, please. Yeah, coffee!

Not so many visits today but still a lot of info to read and pictures to look at! It seems like our 100+ degrees days will start on Thursday this week. It is going to be a long, hot summer.

CM3 –  As I said, I think it was a very logic guess you did about that Amtrak train!

If I understand this correct it was the Illinois Central that was running the “City of New Orleans” from the beginning! I learned something new again. Interesting info! They really got a nice dinner for $9.85 in 1965!

Thanks for the drink!

Tom –  Wow, gas in your area is more expensive than here! So Amtrak has to “bus” passengers? I remember the 1993 flooding, it was real bad. In the picture below is a house sitting in the Mississippi River (almost) in 1993.

View from the train.

Some very nice book covers! I like the one, Illinois Central Railroad”, with a very good looking locomotive on it. I like that paint scheme!

Thanks for the drink!

I also like those UP ads! Especially the second one from the top, “A Train Provides...” True!

Mike –  Thanks for the drun... drink! Wow, what an evening!

I think you have a point there, about the Penn-Central merger. But I think the creation of Amtrak was a way for the government preparing to get rid of all long distance train in the future.

A very interesting article on the Penn-Central merger! I did not know that Pennsy had a foothold in aviation! Obviously Saunders worked very hard to land the deal! He also wanted high speed trains Washington-New York, running at 150 mph. It took a little bit longer to get those trains up and running, but today Amtrak's Acela is doing it.

Some nice pictures too! Plus an Amtrak video. I did not get the sound, but it was nice to see it anyway.

Westbound on the Harrisburg line!

 

Eric 

[siberianmo]

<from my personal collection>

 

Wednesday's Witticism

A loud mouth and a shallow brain go well together.

 

G'day Gents!

Mid-week brings another opportunity to join us for a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from the Menu Board - fresh pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery and of course our home brewed coffee <light> or <regular>!

Changes: Morning acknowledgments will be provided on Monday - Wednesday ‘n Friday. Also, I'll be scarce on Saturdays too - however, the ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day will continue with Cindy, Leon ‘n Boris attending to things ‘round here as usual.

 

Customer ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (since my last narrative):

 

CM3 Shane at 10:30 AM Monday: Good "skinny" on the F40s . . . "He's in the car," is perhaps the best one-liner of the movie, "The Untouchables." Noted that "Long Gone" is not yet available on DVD - but I'm on the "list" to be notified when it is!

Quarters, round ‘n visit much appreciated!

 

Eric at 1:13 AM Tuesday: Now THAT's quite a looooooong time between customers, eh Makes one wonder where in are the guys who always seem to think "all's well" and so forth. Nice to know we have a couple of "dependables" around . . . Ah yes, life and circumstances, eh

In my first visit to Yellowstone it was by train (1953) and my memory has a rather rustic station for the park. Decades later, didn't see any remnants . . .

So, is the Amtrak F40 pulling the X2000 - OR - is the X2000 pushing Amtrak??? Just kidding! Nice foto . . .

If one is to believe what appears in Wikipedia, there's really no connection between the use of the name "Challenger" for the UPs passenger train and the locomotives of the same name. Check out the URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_(passenger_train)

Many thanx for the visit ‘n conversation!

 

CM3 Shane at 10:09 AM Tuesday: Some fine UP information along with a menu that tricked my "senses" into thinking it was time to dine! Nice work . . .

I see where this area has topped yours for petrol prices. Expected to rise even higher. Noted that SFran has it above four bucks . . . <arrrrgggghhh>

Again, appreciate the info, quarters ‘n round!

 

Mike at 5:46 PM Tuesday: A most welcomed contribution to the discussion of Classic Trains from Not-So-Silent-Mike!

Definitely think you are "right on" with the thought regarding the Santa Fe and their passenger trains. They surely knew how . . .

I'm sure Red P (Legion of the LONG Lost!) would have something to say regarding the <dratted ‘n dreaded> Penn Central.

That's quite a piece, chock full o' info regarding Stuart Saunders, the PC merger and the thinking at the time. Surely provides insights to the men and the times that shouldn't be forgotten. Many thanx - good selection! [

Really liked those IC ‘n UP passenger trains in the URLs!

Amtrak equipment, other than baggage car, hasn't changed much since then - at least ‘round here for the trains running between Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City. <grin>

 

Eric at 11:59 PM Tuesday: Just made it "in" before mid-night! <grin>

The floods of 1993 were devastating here in mid-continent USA. When the levee gave way in Chesterfield Valley it filled like a bath tub. In short order there was 8 feet of water inundating businesses, farms, homes - everything. The problem back then was a sustained high level of water in the Missouri River - over a month. That coupled with high water in the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers all added to the problem - something we are not experiencing now. So this round of flooding is pretty much what we look upon as "typical" spring flooding.

Yes - it was the Illinois Central who ran the "City of New Orleans" - some lyrics from the song "Riding on the City of New Orleans, Illinois Central, Monday morning mail . . ." I always preferred the Willie Nelson version, whereas the "purists" go with Arlo Guthrie.

That Harrisburg line foto brings to mind that some decades past, those beautiful Pennsy passenger ran that route . . . <ahhhhhhhh>

Thanx for the visit ‘n conversation!

 

 

Reminder: Ruth has the bar from 9 AM until Leon the Night Man comes in at 5 PM ‘til closing.  Tomorrow is Fish ‘n Chips Nite with servings beginning at 5 PM!

Cindy is now our Saturday bartender!

Boris, serve ‘em all of the "spiked" OJ they can handle!

Tom

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

Here are some advertisements for the Illinois Central from days long gone!

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[coalminer3]

Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house, and $ for the jukebox.  Another beautiful day here.  Spent $15 for a ¼ tank of gas this a.m., but can we do?

Here's some more Illinois Central material re postwar sleeper purchases and rebuilds.

The IC purchased sleeping cars from several railroads.  These included the C&O in 1950, the New York Central between 1958 and 1963, and the Nickel Plate in 1965.  Today we'll look at cars from the C&O.  This purchase included eight 10 roomette/6 double bedroom cars from the C&O's "City" series.  The following gives the C&O name followed by the IC name.

"City of St. Joseph" r/n "Calvert"

"City of Fostoria" r/n "Chehanse"

City of Logan r/n "Clarksdale"

"City of Marion" r/n "Clifton"

"City of Benton Harbor" r/n "Cobden"

"City of Petoskey" r/n "Coles County"

"City of Montgomery" r/n "Corinth"

"City of Charleston r/n "Crystal Springs"

The NKP cars were all 10 roomette/6 db cars in that road's "City" series.

Other sleepers from the New York Central included eleven 4 compartment/4 double bedroom/2 drawing room cars.  Two of them were former "Bridge" cars, and the rest all carried the "Imperial" prefix.  These went to the IC between 1958 and 1963.

The IC, in 1958, acquired four 10 roomette/5 db cars from the NYC's "Cascade" series.

They also bought four "Bay" series 22 roomette cars obtained from the Central in 1960.

As a personal note, I always liked the 10/5 cars as they had a little more space in the roomettes. 

The IC also rebuilt sleepers into postal cars.  These carried IC #s 150-160.  Four of these cars were originally NYV "Bay" series sleepers, and the rest came from the IC.  These rebuilds occurred between 1961 and 1965.

Last came three more former NYC "Bay" cars which the IC r/b to baggage/ express cars in 1961.

Eric stopped by with some comments.  I agree with you on that UP poster, "The Train That Provides."  Lovely layout, type face, and graphic design.  I enlarged the picture you sent from old PRR.  You have a clear signal for your track.   

Mike sent some PC material.  I'll talk more about that later as there is a lot to digest in your post. Suffice to say, it was an example of how not to do things.  

Also thanks for the IC pictures.  The first one is probably the Panama; whatever you do, don't look too close at the track.

The other one is either the last or next to the last "Panama" given the date.  As for those lovely UP E units, "my, my."  Uncle Pete and Uncle John both knew how to railroad - right up to the end.

OSP sent along IC books and videos.  "Today's IC" is a nice two-video set.  Also, if you can find it, take a look at Green Frog's "Illinois Central Odyssey."  I already remarked about one of the UP posters.  The IC one with the flappers in front of the Trib tower is an all-time favorite of mine.   John Stover's History of the Illinois Central is probably the best one volume account out there, although I do have a cy. of Corliss's IC book which was done back in the late 40s.

It's nearly time to go check out what we have in the dinner bucket.  Hot soup, roast beef sandwich, a couple of apples, and a handful of cookies - not bad.  See, Boris, you have breakfast early; you get to have lunch early, too.

Work safe

[siberianmo]

G'day Gents!

The Passenger Railroad Fallen Flags of "Our" Place #14
 
Santa FE -  Passenger operations (AT&SF)

A form of this was initially Posted on Page 125 of the original Thread
source: Classic American Railroads

Caveat: The information provided is NOT all inclusive and is reflective only of the periods mentioned.  

 

Santa Fe (AT&SF)

Headquarters: Chicago, Il

Mileage:

1950: 13,074 including subsidiaries
1995: (prior to merger with Burlington Northern): 9,126

Locomotives in 1963: Diesel: 1,855

Rolling stock in 1963: Freight cars: 84,439 Passenger cars: 1,235

Principal routes in 1950:

Chicago-Los Angeles via Kansas City, MO. and La Junta, CO
Emporia, KS-Galveston, TX via Oklahoma City, OK & Ft. Worth & Houston, TX
Emporia, KS-Dalies, NM
Barstow-Richmond, CA
Temple-Farwell, TX
Denver-LaJunta, CO
Albuquerque, NM-El Paso, TX
Dallas-Presidio, TX
Kansas City-Tulsa

Passenger trains of note:

Super Chief (Chicago-Los Angeles)
El Capitan (Chicago-Los Angeles)
The Chief (Chicago-Los Angeles
Grand Canyon (Chicago-Los Angeles
The Scout (Chicago-Los Angeles)
San Francisco Chief (Chicago-San Francisco, CA)
Texas Chief (Chicago-Houston)
San Diegan (Los Angeles-San Diego
Tulsan (Kansas City-Tulsa)
Chicagoan (Dallas-Kansas City-Chicago)
Golden Gate (Los Angeles-San Francisco)

Drumheads

Enjoy!

Tom