Ahoy Cap'n Tom 'n fellow contributors at the bar!
Just wanted to say how great it is to see the participation on this November 11th!
Nice work, gentlemen - 'n have a round on me!
Ring it Boris 'n Tom please serve 'em up!
Until the next time!
Lars
Hi Tom and all.
I watched an English soccer game this morning,and before the kick-off a minutes silence was held for Remembrance Day which I observed with them. The minutes silence was immaculately held by the crowd at the match.
For my contribution for Veteran's Day this is something I posted at the old Our Place on page 160.
A toast, please, for all Veterans Past and Present. Very good posts on this most noteworthy of days showing how the railroads Stepped up to the Plate, as I believe you say over here, in the most difficult of times. The skill needed to drive the often-overloaded trains in the blackout many with hazardous cargos with the danger of air raids is truly amazing. After WW1 some railway companies in the U.K named a loco in Honour of the Fallen who had previously been in the service of that Company. The London Brighton and South Coast had a 2-6-4 tank it named REMBERANCE. The London & North Western had a 4-6-0 named PATRIOT and the Great Central a 4-6-0 named VALOUR. The name VALOUR is carried today on a North American built diesel loco Class 66 owned by the GBRf Company. In Britain, Remembrance Sunday as it is known, is commemorated by the sale of paper poppies, which benefit the Royal British Legion. You may have noticed Prince Charles was wearing one on his recent visit. At the factory I went to work for in Rugby, outside the main gate is a Memorial to the Fallen of the two World Wars. In steam days on Remembrance Sunday the Rugby locomotive depot prepared the locomotive Patriot by covering it in poppies. The loco was then parked on a bridge, which gave access to the works, adjacent to the Memorial. A service was then held there. After Patriot was withdrawn the loco used was a Royal Scot class 4-6-0 #46170 British Legion. This engines nameplate was a replica of the Legion emblem with a lion's head and the words to the top and bottom. I'm Afraid I don't know why Rugby was singled for this honour. Today the bridge and the Engine Shed have gone. Thankfully the Memorial and works (though much smaller still survive).
Pete.
In rememberance of Armistice and Veteran's day, here are a few posters:
Greetings Tom and gentlemen....
Some Sunday reading Regarding WWI and USRA.... $$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer since I'm here....
United States Railroad Administration.....
Background
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I, and very soon the nation's railroads proved inadequate to the task of serving the nation's war efforts. There were several sources of the problem. Although the carriers had made massive investments in first years of the twentieth century, there were still inadequacies in terminals, trackage, and rolling stock. Inflation struck the American economy, and when in 1906 the federal government empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission to set maximum rates, the rail firms had difficulty securing revenue sufficient to keep pace with rising costs. The Interstate Commerce Commission did allow some increases in rates, however. Also, investors had overexpanded the nation's trackage, so by late 1915 fully one-sixth of the railroad trackage in the country belonged to roads in receivership (bankruptcy). The railroad unions (commonly called "brotherhoods"), desiring shorter working days and better pay, threatened strike action in the second half of 1916. To avert a strike, President Woodrow Wilson secured Congressional passage of the Adamson Act, which set the eight hour day as the industry standard. When the Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional, the carriers had no choice but to comply.
The railroads attempted to join forces to coordinate their efforts and help the war effort, but private action proved inadequate. Observers noted, for example, that sometimes competitive practices prevailed that were not in the best interests of efficient mobilization. Also, government departments sought priority for shipment made on their behalf, and congestion in freight yards, terminals, and port facilities became staggering.
Finally, in December 1917 the Interstate Commerce Commission recommended federal control of the railroad industry to ensure efficient operation. The resulting efficiencies were to go beyond simply easing the congestion and expediting the flow of goods; they were to bring all parties, management, labor, investors, and shippers, together in a harmonious whole working on behalf of the national interest.
Nationalization
On December 26, 1917, President Wilson used the Federal Possession and Control Act to nationalize the vast majority of US railroads. William Gibbs McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury, was appointed Director General of Railroads, with the Santa Fe's chairman Walker D. Hines appointed Assistant Director General. The United States Railroad Administration officially took charge at noon on December 28, 1917.
Railroad consolidation
The USRA had a plan to consolidate the nation's railroads into nineteen railroad systems. The plan was abandoned in 1940. The planned railroads were as follows:
Changes and new equipment
Change happened swiftly. The railroads were divided into three Divisions; East, West and South. Duplicate passenger services were killed off, costly and employee-heavy sleeping car services were cut back and extra fares applied to discourage their use. Uniform passenger ticketing was instituted, and competing services on different former railroads were cut back. Terminals, facilities and shops were shared.
Over 100,000 railroad cars and 1,930 steam locomotives were ordered at a cost of $380 million, all of new USRA standard designs, which were up-to-date and standardized types, designed to be the best that could be produced to replace much outdated equipment. However, as commonplace with designs approved by a committee and paid for by the Government, some of the designs were inefficient and the costs higher than they should have been.
Before the new USRA standard locomotive types were built and released, locomotives that builders had on hand were issued to various railroads. 2-8-0 "Consolidation" locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for transport and use in France were made available. Then 2-10-0 "Decapod" locomotives built for Imperial Russia by both ALCO and Baldwin, but stranded in the US by the Russian Revolution of 1917 were also made available to the railroads. The USRA leased these locomotives.
Progression
On March 21, the Railroad Control Act became law; it guaranteed the return of the railroads to their former owners within 21 months of a peace treaty, and guaranteed that their properties would be handed back in at least as good a condition as when they were taken over. It also guaranteed compensation for the use of their assets at the average operational income of the railroads in the three years previous to nationalisation. This act laid down in concrete that the nationalisation would be only a temporary thing; before, it was not defined as necessarily so.
Both wages and rates for both passenger and freight traffic were raised by the USRA during 1918, wages being increased disproportionately for the lower-paid employees, which proved unpopular among more senior ones.
With the Armistice in November of 1918, McAdoo retired from his post, leaving Hines as the Director General.
Winding down
In early 1920 the Interstate Commerce Commission's powers over the railroads were substantially increased, in readiness for the USRA's disbandment in March 1920. They were given powers to approve or reject railroad mergers, to set rates, to approve or reject abandonments of service, and much else. The government also made financial guarantees to the railroads after control was handed back to them, to ensure their financial survival after the restoration of control.
On March 1, the railroads were handed back to their original owners and the USRA disbanded.
Conclusions
It is estimated that the USRA and the nationalizing of the American railroads between December 28, 1918, and March 1, 1920, cost the United States government $1.12 billion dollars, which was a huge amount of money back then (approximately $15 billion in 2003 dollars, adjusted for inflation) . The USRA is generally seen as having been effective in getting things moving for the war effort, but at a steep price.
The locomotives the USRA built, the USRA Standard designs, were immensely successful, and after the war were copied in great numbers, becoming the closest thing the United States locomotive builders came to standard designs. Indeed, the last steam locomotive built for a Class I railroad was a USRA copy, an 0-8-0 for the Norfolk & Western Railway. More controversy exists about their freight car designs, but they were certainly an improvement on many outdated cars in service before the USRA period. It can certainly be said, however, that the influx of new and modern locomotives and cars 'for free' assisted in the revival of the railroads' hitherto shaky fortunes and set up, in the years between the Great War and the Great Depression, a somewhat 'Golden Age' for railroading.
The experiment was not repeated. In World War II, the private railroads handled the war effort admirably, though one could argue that some major East Coast railroads impoverished themselves in so doing, setting up the later railroad collapses in the region.
Credit: Wikipedia...
Here's something that I Posted on Page 427, Nov 11th, 2006 over at the old bar site. Should fit quite well with what's being called for on this VETERAN's DAY - ARMISTICE DAY 'n REMEMBRANCE DAY!
A day we must celebrate, so without taking away from the efforts of our Proprietor, let me provide my input, ever mindful of the efforts, accomplishments and sacrifices put forth by all who wore the uniform of the military or sailed the seas as merchant men during all of the conflicts our nations have engaged in during the 20th and 21st centuries. The U.S. Merchant Marine SongHeave Ho! My Lads! Heave Ho!Heave Ho! My Lads! Heave Ho! Give us the oil, give us the gasGive us the shells, give us the guns.We'll be the ones to see them thru.Give us the tanks, give us the planes.Give us the parts, give us a ship.Give us a hip hoo-ray!And we'll be on our way. It's a long, long way to go, It's a long, long pull with our hatches full,Braving the wind, braving the sea, Fighting the treacherous foe, Heave Ho! My Lads! Heave Ho! Let the sea roll high or low, We can cross any ocean, sail any river, give up the goods and we'll deliver, Damn the submarine! We're the men of the Merchant Marine!Words and Music by Lieut. (jg) Jack Lawrence, USMS, 1943.Performed by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Regimental BandCaptain Kenneth R. Force, USMS, Director of Music
The U.S. Merchant Marine SongHeave Ho! My Lads! Heave Ho!
Heave Ho! My Lads! Heave Ho!
Give us the oil, give us the gasGive us the shells, give us the guns.We'll be the ones to see them thru.Give us the tanks, give us the planes.Give us the parts, give us a ship.Give us a hip hoo-ray!And we'll be on our way.
It's a long, long way to go, It's a long, long pull with our hatches full,Braving the wind, braving the sea, Fighting the treacherous foe,
Let the sea roll high or low, We can cross any ocean, sail any river, give up the goods and we'll deliver, Damn the submarine!
We're the men of the Merchant Marine!
Words and Music by Lieut. (jg) Jack Lawrence, USMS, 1943.Performed by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Regimental BandCaptain Kenneth R. Force, USMS, Director of Music
Now for some WWII posters:
=======================================
Bossman give all of our vets a drink - active duty too! 5- Salute to all of our Armed Forces!
Now Arriving on Track #1
Railroad Ads from the World Wars
Threesomes! - Number One
"Our" Place 2007 Commemoration of
Veterans - Remembrance - Armistice Day!
<A form of these were initially Posted on Pages 159-160 - Nov 11th, 2005 on the Original Thread>
Number 1 of 9:
more Vital than gold
All the gold buried in Fort Knox, Ky., is less important to Victory than the rich iron ore deposits of the Mesabi, Cuyuna, and Vermillion ranges of northern Minnesota. The Mesabi range along contains the world's largest developed deposits, and much of this ore lies in open pits. From these pits giant shovels scoop the vital "red dust" into Great Northern cars which dump it a few hours later into the docks in Duluth and Superior, at the Head of the Lakes. There ore boats are swiftly loaded for delivery to the nation's steel mills. When the shipping season closed December 5, new mining records had been set on the mining ranges, and Great Northern Railway handled nearly 29,000,000 long tons - a third of the Lake Superior district's total production. With the necessity of preserving equipment, Great Northern, between shipping seasons, is reconditioning motive power, cars, trackage and its Allouez docks in Superior making ready for a still bigger job in 1943. The fabulous iron ore deposits in Minnesota are only part of the wealth contributed to America by the Zone of Plenty - and delivered by this vital artery of transportation.
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY ROUTE OF THE EMPIRE BUILDER - BETWEEN THE GREAT LAKES AND THE PACIFIC
IN THE ZONE Of Plenty
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Number 2 of 9
"OVER HILL, OVER DALE, WE WILL RIDE THE IRON RAIL . . . AS THE PULLMAN'S GO ROLLING ALONG" Growing and GOING that's the story of our armed forces. Growing every day and going every night, for long distance troop movements are usually under the cover of darkness, in Pullman sleeping cars. It's a big job for the railroads to haul so many cars. And a big job for Pullman to provide them. But it's a welcome job for both of us, one we're proud and happy we were prepared to handle. Prepared? Oh, yes. The way Pullman and the railroads worked together in peacetime - through the Pullman "pool" of sleeping cars - fitted right into the wartime picture. Here's how that "pool" works: > Railroad passenger traffic in different parts of the country fluctuates with the season. Travel south, for instance, is heaviest in winter. And travel north increases in the summer. > If each railroad owned and operated enough sleeping cars to handle its own peak loads, many of those cars would be idle most of the year. > With the Pullman "pool," however, over one hundred different railroads share in the ability of a sleeping car fleet big enough to handle their combined requirements at any one time. As the travel loads shifts north, south, east or west, these cars shift with it. They are seldom idle for when fewer cars are needed on one railroad, more are needed on another. Now that war has come this "pool"operation of sleeping cars enables troop trains to be made up on short notice - at widely scattered points - and routed over any combination of railroads. That's what we meant when we said that Pullman and the railroads were prepared to handle the tremendous mass movement of troops that goes on constantly. It takes a lot of sleeping cars to do it. Almost drains the Pullman "pool" at times. As a result, civilian travelers are sometimes inconvenienced. But the war comes first with the railroads and first with Pullman - just as it comes first with you! AN AVERAGE OF MORE THAN 25,000 TROOPS A NIGHT NOW
GO PULLMAN Buy War Bonds and Stamps Regularly!
<personal foto>
As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN today for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED.
G'day Gents!
This is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.
So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input TODAY‘ n tomorrow <legal observance>!
It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today!
Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative)
Saturday - Nov 10th, 2007:
Jan (JanOlov) at 8:25 AM ‘n 9:17 AM: Began the ENCOREs with something from a UTB, barndad Doug from Page 28 of the reborn <this> Thread . . . Posted on March 3rd, 2007 (the 4th over in the UK!!) Good selection . . . Doug always provided the guys with so MUCH to read on Saturdays, but all quality stuff replete with fotos. A master at what he did, fer sure, fer sure!
You mentioned a bunch of guys - many whom you never met ‘n I'm surprised you took the time to jot ‘em down. At any rate, guys come ‘n go - just like the weather, we just can't count on any particular group to remain in tact. Such is life as a barkeep!
Followed up with some fine fotos of UP diversity in motive power! Excellent choices, Mate!
Top ups, cigars ‘n cash all appreciated from our Resident Swede in Scotland!
Ron (DD1) at 10:32 AM: And what to our surprise but a Saturday morning appearance from our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker!>
No Ron, can't say that I ever fooled around with anything on board a trolley. Was a bit too young for the gals, so what else is there to fool with, eh
What we DID engage in was to hitch rides on the back of city buses in the winter. Yeah, used to "straight arm" the rear bumper ‘n let the beasts tow us around. Not smart, eh You are absolutely CORRECT! Amazing any of us lived to where we are, eh
Regarding what it will take to turn things around in this country - energy wise - well, IF we are the government, then by we need to INSIST upon an expedited course to get away from petroleum. We squandered so much time and perhaps many, many innovative ideas in favor of pandering. <arrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh> <there goes my B/P!!>
Round much appreciated along with your visit ‘n thoughts!
Per (marthastrainyard: at 2:02 PM: Long time between visits but most happy to have our Resident Cowboy Swede at the bar!
Many decades ago I purchased one of those model RR books on scenery. It left me with a headache . . . The book still resides somewhere in my stack of magazines needing to be placed in binders, if for no other reason than to do it. Anyway, the pikes of my past never were landscaped to any great extent. Couldn't do it because of my career moves . . . made no sense.
Once I retired and built my first trainroom and permanent layout, I figured the landscaping would come later. It never did. That layout is gone <so much for permanence, eh?> And the room is used for something else.
Then after a couple of years and with the prodding of a friend ‘n neighbor of mine, I decided to turn the major portion of our basement into what it is today - The Can-Am Trainroom. The friend of mine is an accomplished model painter ‘n detailer. He also has a rather small HO layout that he landscaped, that in my opinion should be featured somewhere in a magazine. It's that well done. Anyway, he told me if I put up a new layout, he'd do the landscaping. Ha - he bailed out on the "promise." Sooooooooo, the rest is history. I did it myself, with a bit of help from my wife
Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Leon, good to see you my friend! I know, I better have a meatloaf sandwich, fries and coleslaw! Coffee, please! Round for the house!
A lot of stuff to read and look at tonight!
Tom – I think you and I are the only ones who know that 50% of the attendees were awake aboard that Amtrak train! A wild night it was, that is true! What, what, what???? Me tweeted?? Not ordering?? Haven’t you noticed? Leon knows, but you missed it!! Leon knows what I want when I get to Our Place because I always order the same thing. All I have to do is to nod my head! Just like when I have lunch at Cracker Barrel. The waitresses know what I have each day of the week. They don’t ask. This is unbeleivable! Me tweeted? And rule #2 of all rules!?!? Where are those stupid bug lights? Mumble, mumble. Monster truck? No, it is just a regular 18-wheeler, a Freightliner with a trailer loaded with cat- and dog food. The 2nd photo is a loco, a class Rc2, see picture below.
This is actually a Rc1, but they look the same. Thanks for the North Station article by CM3! Very interesting with a lot of details! And thanks for the (last?) Alaska pictures! Very nice! All Quiet On The Western Front! A very good movie! I have seen a couple of older versions and I have the book. The Lost Batallion - Duty, seems also to be a very good movie! Right choice of movies for this week! JanOlov – You re-posted a very interesting article barndad posted earlier this year! Amazing pictures! A bunch of pictures of UP equipment! One of the M-10000 has actually been to the Hoover dam when it was built. I don’t know which one though. UP class 9000 from 1926 is an impressive 3-cyl. steam locomotive. Below are a few pictures of #9000 that is on display at the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Museum in Pomona, CA.
Ron provided some info on these locos.
UP observation car 1535 looks kind of different! I guess it is an radio antenna on its roof. 6 wheel trucks! Ron – Thanks for the info on the Chile streetcar! Built 1925. I wonder if any of them has been preserved? I wish your son best luck with his rig and hope it will work well! It sounds like it is in a pretty good condition! Per – Test track area? Do you mean the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) in Pueblo, CO? As far as I know FRA does not have any test area. TTCI has an interesting site that can be found on this link.http://www.aar.com/welcome.htmI am afraid I do not know if Sunnyside has been downsized from the size in the 50’s. But I don’t think so. Thanks for the Boston pictures! Kind of sad to see Union Station demoted to a restaurant! Not much left of that ball field! Pete – I think you are right about those SF locomotives. I found some info on the locomotives in Alan’s pictures. The first photo shows an (#521) English Electric 400 hp diesel-electric from 1953. Built by Dick Kerr Works, Preston, UK.Locomotive #262 and 264 are known as “Sik”. Built 1936 by Werkspoor, Amsterdam, Holland. Steam locomotive #5 was built by La Meuse, Luik, Belgium 1924. Weight 40.5 metric tons, max speed 40 km/h (25 mph)Steam locomotive #2 Borsele was built by Krupp, Essen, Germany 1924. Weight 43.5 metric tons, max speed 45 km/h (28 mph)Locomotive #1 Wittouck was built by Orenstein & Koppel, Berlin Germany 1921.
Eric
ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day!
at "Our" Place!
We are CLOSED on SUNDAYs!
EXCEPT tomorrow where we'll be open ONLY for those wishing to provide material relevant to Remebrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day!
Starting Sunday at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre!
. . . November 11th thru 17th: All Quiet On The Western Front (1979) Starring: Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm, Patricia Neal - and - The Lost Batallion (2001) Starring: Rick Schroder, Phil McKee, Jamie Harris, Jay Rodan & Adam James (II). SHORT: The Three Stooges - Three Little Twerps (1943).
All Quiet On The Western Front (1979)
PLOT SUMMARY: A devastating story of war and a generation destroyed. In 1914 a group of German schoolboys, idealistic and inflamed with youthful patriotism, set off to fight in the "glorious" war. During their brutal basic training disenchantment begins; then, boarding a train for the front, they see the wounded being rushed back to hospitals. They begin to grasp the grim reality of war.On their first night in action they come under heavy attack. In the trenches, they begin to fall. Their youth is stripped away by the violence, and the boys become as sullen as veterans.When Paul (Richard Thomas) shoots a Frenchman and watches him die, he realizes the futility of the war. Wounded, he returns home to a different world, a place where he cannot fit in. Sent back into battle, he meets destiny on a day when the German High Command Communiqu states simply, All Quiet On The Western Front.
A devastating story of war and a generation destroyed. In 1914 a group of German schoolboys, idealistic and inflamed with youthful patriotism, set off to fight in the "glorious" war. During their brutal basic training disenchantment begins; then, boarding a train for the front, they see the wounded being rushed back to hospitals. They begin to grasp the grim reality of war.On their first night in action they come under heavy attack. In the trenches, they begin to fall. Their youth is stripped away by the violence, and the boys become as sullen as veterans.When Paul (Richard Thomas) shoots a Frenchman and watches him die, he realizes the futility of the war. Wounded, he returns home to a different world, a place where he cannot fit in. Sent back into battle, he meets destiny on a day when the German High Command Communiqu states simply, All Quiet On The Western Front.
<from: amazon.com>
The Lost Batallion (2001)
PLOT SUMMARY: The true World War I story of an American unit that was surrounded by German troops and pounded mercilessly for days (at times even by its own artillery) is vividly portrayed in this made-for-television film starring Rick Schroder. Playing a patrician New York City lawyer commissioned a major and sent into combat, Schroder commands a battalion composed of New York wiseacres as well as so-called "apple knockers" from the West. The plot is straightforward (and will be familiar to those who know World War I history), but the film rises above what could have been a clichéd telling of the story of Major Whittlesey and his heroic men. The action sequences, shot tightly with hand-held cameras, owe a debt to Saving Private Ryan, and the surreal horror of World War I, in which armies killed with machine guns yet communicated by carrier pigeon, is conveyed very well. --Robert J. McNamara
The true World War I story of an American unit that was surrounded by German troops and pounded mercilessly for days (at times even by its own artillery) is vividly portrayed in this made-for-television film starring Rick Schroder. Playing a patrician New York City lawyer commissioned a major and sent into combat, Schroder commands a battalion composed of New York wiseacres as well as so-called "apple knockers" from the West. The plot is straightforward (and will be familiar to those who know World War I history), but the film rises above what could have been a clichéd telling of the story of Major Whittlesey and his heroic men. The action sequences, shot tightly with hand-held cameras, owe a debt to Saving Private Ryan, and the surreal horror of World War I, in which armies killed with machine guns yet communicated by carrier pigeon, is conveyed very well. --Robert J. McNamara
SHORT: Three Little Twerps (1943)
PLOT SUMMARY: The Stooges get a job putting up posters for the circus, but discover that they are paid in tickets rather than cash. They go to the circus to scalp their tickets, and when Curly accidentally finds a long string of tickets, the boys try to scalp them. They're chased by the cops and dragged before the circus owner, who's mad at them for ruining his posters. Instead of sending Happy Railroading! Siberianmo pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Saturday, November 10, 2007 3:15 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams would go down well CINDY.ERIC I guess those Santa Fe locomotives will one day be on display in the museum, thanks for the info on them.Any info you can add to the photos from Alan on his recent trip to Holland would be very welcome.It will be interesting to see what it is you are in the cab of, in the photo, I am guessing a locomotive. JAN Great idea to have DOUG'S Jack Delano post as an encore, really great photos and color from those days. Those photos of the workers at the C&NW roundhouse are simply great works of art. I remember the post caused a lot of discussion at the bar when it was first posted. Thanks for sharing.Many thanks for those great photos from the 1930s and 1940s. M 100000 must have caused quite a stir when it first came out and the sound UP #s 9019 and 4023 must have made with that freight near Wyoming must have been wonderfulThanks for the round.RON Thanks for the info on the Chilean tramcar That is a good link to Standard class 5 No 73129. I have that painting featuring 73129 in Caprotti Crescendo here in mid Missouri. The Midland Railway Centre is a great place to visit with a great museum and workshop at Swanwick Junction. It is also the home of the two Stanier LMS Pacifics, Princess class 46203 and Duchess 6233.They have a narrow gauge railway, which features small diesel locomotives and some cars that were used to carry miners to the coalface.PER I think the Carriage and Wagon department was run by the same management with the locomotive and operating sides run by a separate managements. I think the locomotive and C&W would both report to the Chief Mechanical Engineer.I am sure ROB will be able to help with the San Francisco streetcars.It will be the volunteers would keep those steam locomotives looking as though they have just come out of the paint shop. It is a matter of pride to the support crews, especially when the locomotives that are certified to run on the BR system to haul to specials, on the cleanliness of the locomotives.Glad you liked the photos of the model museum. I don't think the ones this week were on the Tehachapi layout.Many thanks for the photos of Northampton (I used to live about 20 miles from the English town of the same name). Did you get a chance to go inside the Union Station restaurant or the Tunnel Bar. TOM I'm afraid I have not been too clear (again). No 71000 Duke of Gloucester was a one off; the year after the Duke was built the ‘Modenisation Plan' for British Railways was announced which stopped any new steam locomotive designs. The reason I have heard given for the ordering of 71000 was to replace the re-built Turbomotive No 46202, which was destroyed in the very bad Harrow and Weldstone wreck.The Duke is a powerful locomotive (for the UK) on one trip you could feel the acceleration in the cars not often felt with steam or diesel traction.One great trip we had was a trip that was one of the first trips of preserved steam on the southern part of the West Coast Main Line (still very rare today) out of London Euston. The start out of Euston is up Camden Bank a 1% grade. In steam days trains were usually helped up the bank by the locomotive that brought the cars into the terminus. On our trip the Duke took the train up the bank unassisted steadily accelerating, as you say the sound was magnificent.I will see if I can get some photos of the Standard classes of steam locomotives together although I don't think I have any of the Britannias or of the 4 classes out of the 12 classes of Standards built, that did not survive into preservation, although there are a couple of schemes one to build a ‘Clan' class pacific from new and one to convert a 2MT 2-6-0 tender locomotive class number 78XXX to a 2MT 2-6-2 tank locomotive class 84XXX Many thanks for the link to Sacramento Amtrak station. There are some great benches by the back of the Railroad Museum where trains can be watched crossing the Sacramento River. I have a couple of photos I will show next week. I did notice some UP intermodel freights pass through.A pushbike is I guess called a bicycle here, no motor just pedals. Another great Encore today with CM3's classic on the B&M and Boston North station in the change over from steam to diesel, we really have had some great posts at Our Place. Loved the term ‘Complicated Ballet'. Many thanks for sharing this great and evocative post again. JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 3:10 PM Greetings Tom and gentlemen.... May I please have a strong black Java please.....and the usual top up with cigars for the lads as well....keep the change. Any painkillers lying about...? I've managed to attract a slight headache....$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer... UP 4-6-2 2906 in Cheyenne, Wyo., July 18, 1937. UP observation car 1535, "Colorado Club," on its initial run on the Columbine, in Denver, Colo., May 22, 1930.UP M-10006 with train #112, City of Denver, getting ready to leave Denver Union Station on first eastbound run, June 18, 1936. UP M-10005, The City of Denver; before starting service here with 7 cars, on exhibition at Denver, Colo., June 14, 1936. UP streamlined 4-8-2 7002 with train #48, the 49er, here with 8 cars doing 35 mph, near Echo, Utah, October 23, 1937.CMStP&P 10300 with train #15, The Olympian; emerging from Pipestone Pass tunnel with 12 cars, Butte, Mont., August 9, 1938. Credit: Otto Perry and photoswest. All the best! Jan marthastrainyard Member sinceMarch 2006 From: Orange County, CA 98 posts Posted by marthastrainyard on Saturday, November 10, 2007 2:02 PM Hello everybody at the bar! Have a great weekend, all of you.Ruth, I'll have a ham and cheese for lunch and a pint of Guinness. I see that the Grant I left last time must have been a success, so here's another one for the boys when they come in.I finally got some of my New England pictures uploaded, so look for them at the end of this post.Tom, Thanks, it was the PS-4 I was thinking of. I saw the one in the Smithsonian, but I would really have liked to see one under steam!Interesting you should mention landscaping of your layout. That was one of those tasks I thought was going to be really difficult. I had read a lot and everybody said it was easy, but I just didn't believe them. Until I saw one of the guys in the club going at it on his little area of the club layout. "Is that all there is to it?" I asked and he said yes and offered me to try a corner of the area he was working on. Yes, it really wasn't that difficult so now I've finished my part of the layout and I am reay to attack a home layout once I get back to CA.Very interesting reading about the Canadian transcontinental train, the Con-adian. Too bad it's no longer going all the way. I remember reading about the VIA train back in Sweden, it must have been in 1979 or 1980., and wanting then to have a ride on it. Thanks also for the article on BR. Now I understand what "Big 4" the Brits around here are talking about. I like the "Ferret and Dartboard" logo, a real classic. When I looked at the Wikipedia link I got a bit confused with the terminology (why doesn't that surprise me?). A "carriage" is a passenger car and a ""wagon" is a freight car, is that right? But there is one article talking about Carriage and Wagon classification as if they were synonymous.Great article about the Marx company. It's hard to believe that the trains and the "Donald the Demon" figurine come from the same maker. As somebody else mentioned here, Marx must have been a couple of steps down from Lionel and maybe American Flyer, but I bet they are sought after in these days anyhow.That T&P E8 is a beauty! The E8 is a very powerful looking locomotive.The L&N Hummingbird drumhead is great! I wonder if that was an illuminated sign.My first phone number was 11688. See, even I remember that! When the town grew they added a "1" to it, 111688, it was never that easy to say.Great pictures, as usual, from Alaska. That little 0-4-0 looks great. Pete, Yes, those streets in San Francisco are really steep, aren't they? Makes you understand Bill Crosby's "drifting backwards in to the Bay" or "Come around!" much better.I wonder when they started to use other cities' street cars in San Francisco. Makes it like a living museum, almost.That Jubilee 5690 Leander is a real beauty. I wonder who's keeping it that clean and polished.I like the pictures from San Diego. Are those you posted on Wednesday from the Tehachapi layout?I recognize the Sacramento area where you took the pictures, but I was never inside the station, so that mural is something I missed. It looks great! Eric, Thanks for the info on the FRA Metroliner. That was some interesting reading you provided. Are you close to their test track area? It is in AZ, isn't it?Interesting that you should show a picture of the Sunnyside yard. I had just read about the yard in an old issue of Trains. Do you know if it has been downsized from the size in the 50's? Rob, do you mean that the PCC cars in San Francisco are all former "in house" cars that are just painted in other colors? I thought for a while that those were genuine imported cars. But San Francisco had a lot of PCC cars, didn't they. I remember riding in them when I first visited back in 1966. And then when I read farther down I see you mentioned that many of them came from Toronto. Are there any of the original San Francisco PCC cars left? Al, there are many times I have regretted not having a camera as well. There were so many things we took for granted and never put on film that we miss now. One would think that we could learn from past experience and take more pictures nowadays, but that's not always the case, unfortunately. CM3, I hope your family's medical situation has turned to the better by now.I saw that Citibank ad as well. The first time I saw it I thought there was something funny with it, and the second time I realized what it was. I don't think you can buy two boat tickets anywhere in Norway and get to Stockholm with those!I really like the link to the Erie magazine. It was great fun to read what the employees thought of railroading 50 years from then (= today). Everything from an atomic engine to "If Congress just acts this will be fine", to "greater competition". Some of those guys came pretty close to what the situation is today.If you just give me the address to the "Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills" I'll be there right away! I've always wanted to learn how to use a sextant. Or how to cut a perfect dovetail with a handsaw? That's not so easy, really. I still know how to use a stick shift and double clutch, if needed. Maybe I'm a bit rusty on the use of a slide rule, but please tell me how to use an Abacus.I saw Tom had reposted your article about North Station. What a masterpiece! I still haven't had a chance to get there, maybe next time in Boston. Ron, yes I have found a nice train club. It is kind of small around 10-15 members, but everybody get along very well. The only problem is that I have been spoiled now, and will probably have great difficulties finding something in CA when I move back there. San Diego is too far away so those clubs are out of the question.That's a nice shop you have! The size of that D roof is enormous! It didn't hit me when you mentioned the length in feet and inches, but when I saw the picture, oh WOW! How heavy is the roof alone? Do you have any idea what the weight of the complete engine will be?I couldn't agree with you more on the fuel policy, but I really doubt the government will do anything drastic. They are too much in the hands of the oil industry. Jan, nice pictures of the 4-8-2's. That depot in the background in the Fort Worth picture is still there. I think parts of it are converted to lofts and condos now.Thanks for reposting Barndad's article on Delano. That was great! What does it mean when a car is blue-flagged? I don't think it has anything to do with being parked under the Blue Ribbon Beer sign.Great UP Streamliner pictures as well. That M-10000 always looked so "angry" to me. Quite a change in design between that and the LA-1 in only a few years. Lars, nice to see you again. Keep come in as you can. I see the Larsman Mobile has modernized and is now stocking DVDs. That's great. Does anybody know where that tunnel picture on the B&M is taken? DL, I like the links you provided, especially the black and white photos. There seems to be something that has been lost in the photographic skills when we stopped using BW. As promised, here are a couple of pictures from my New England trip.It was the Boston & Maine that went through Northampton, here's the bridge: Home of the Ambroid history page and the up-and-coming City Of Los Angeles from 1950 http://www.trainweb.org/ambroidkits/ My pictures are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/8514678@N08/ siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 12:00 PM This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day! As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents!Continuing on with the Saturday foto parade of my 2006 Alaska Rail Adventure . . . this all began back on Page 85 on July 21st, for anyone interested in picking up on things missed. #1 Steam loco #1 0-4-0 at Anchorage RR Depot#2 To the trains!#3 Anchorage from the RR Depot#4 Final morning in Alaska - Denali Star getting ready to depart for Fairbanks#5 Alaska RR HQ - Anchorage#6 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#7 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#8 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#9 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#10 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#11 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#12 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#13 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * That's IT - no more - finished! Enjoy! Tom Happy Railroading! Siberianmo siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:46 AM This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents!Here's an ENCORE! Post from a guy who has been around this joint from pretty much the "get go." This was provided by CM3 Shane (coalminer3) over on the Original Thread - Sep 9th, 2005, Page 102 . . . as only he could present it! Good Morning All: Coffee, please; $ for a round and jukebox are on the bar. There has been some talk recently abt. North Ststion in Boston. Herewith, another few pages from the "memory book" abt. North Station and the B&M. The heart of the Boston and Maine was the utilitarian North Station, a building that crouched along Causeway Street, hemmed in by the elevated trolley tracks and the Manger Hotel and surmounted by Boston Garden. I always associated North Station with winter even though I traveled from there in all seasons. Maybe it was the name - North Station - that made me think of ice-encrusted freight cars and steam-heated passenger coaches and trains plowing through deep snow "up country." North Station's lobby was neither large nor ornate. It was a low, wide space, somewhat dark, with ticket windows on one side and train gates on the other. It was not a space designed for travelers to spend much time. Buying tickets was simple; tell the agent where you wanted to go, pu***he money under the bars in the window and get your ticket and change back with minimal conversation and no wasted motion; a truly New England process. To the trains, then, ticket in hand. Umbrella sheds protected the platforms and it was always cold under the sheds in the winter, and cool under the sheds in the summer. From North Station, the B&M sent commuter trains to the suburbs and long haul runs to all corners of northern New England, west to New York State, and into Canada. Passengers could not see much as the tracks were close together and it was dark so the scope of operations at North Station was not apparent until a train cleared the umbrella sheds and moved out into an area that was a little more open. North Station was a busy place with cars and locomotives come to the big city from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada. There was also a horde of commuter trains. In the morning, empty trains backed out of the station as loaded trains arrived. In the evening, this complicated ballet occurred again. Loaded outbound trains threaded their way among empty trains backing down from the coach yard to the station. The station tracks quickly narrowed to a pair of drawbridges; truly a yard "throat." A tower just east of the bridges controlled all of the activity. Bridge tenders were responsible for raising the bridges to allow shipping to pass, which was mostly tows of barges. The tracks fanned out after crossing the bridges. Mystic was next. Mystic was truly the operational heart of the Boston and Maine. Across the Charles River from North Station, Mystic was in the shadows of the grim walls of what the newspapers always called the "infamous Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown." Mystic combined freight yards, team tracks, and a coach yard. The Boston Engine Terminal was part of the larger Mystic facility. The names on the cars in the coach yard told where the B&M went and the places it served. There were coaches, lounge cars, sleepers, RPOs and baggage cars from the Canadian Pacific, Boston and Maine, and Maine Central. Commuter coaches were, of course, most numerous. The B&M (in common with other New England lines) terminated a lot more freight than it originated, so many offline cars were interspersed with home road cars. Framed by the coach window, I could see cars from far away roads. They snapped by like slides; Chicago and North Western "Route of the 400s," Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe, SLSF "Ship It On the Frisco," Union Pacific, Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio. There were a lot of cars from eastern roads; Pennsylvania (with the keystone and lined PRR letters), New Haven, Maine Central, B&M, of course, and New York Central. Dull red (boxcar red or tuscan) was the predominant color although refrigerator cars were yellow or orange and there were some red, white and blue "State of Maine" cars to break up the monotony. Sometimes there would be cuts of ratty looking single dome tank cars or loaded and empty coal cars on the yard tracks. There were also indescribably filthy hide cars in the yard along with livestock cars with open, slatted sides. Gondolas were there, too, with loads of scrap of other cargo in large wooden crates. There I could see flat cars with loads of machinery or other equipment, sometimes in the open and sometimes covered with tarps. In any case, freight on flat cars was blocked and tied down to keep the loads from shifting. The engine terminal was a wondrous combination of steam and diesel engines of different types. At the clangorous steam shop, the fleet of aging Pacifics, Atlantics, and Moguls received inspections and running repairs. I also saw 4-8-2s at the steam shop. These engines had enormous pedestal tenders. The diesel house, newer and much cleaner than the steam shop, handled all types of Alco RS-type units and EMD E units from passenger trains and FTs and geeps from freights. The B&M's splendid red and gold color scheme was highlighted by a herald of the Concord Minute Man. B&M engines shared terminal space with Maine Central's green and gold units that came down from the north on passenger trains. Painted a light green, an E unit's engine compartment was hot and noisy even when the engine was idling. Steam engines pulled commuter trains when I was young. Diesel power replaced steam in the mid 50s. Every business day a fleet of Alco RS and EMD GP7-powered trains converged on North Station to discharge a host of businessmen, secretaries and others who worked in the city. The B&M's wine-red commuter cars were, at best, spartan. Air conditioning did not exist as steam heat tried to subdue New England's winters and open windows did their best to cope with summer heat and humidity. The Bruins and Celtics played at Boston Garden (built atop North Station). Other events such as professional wrestling and the circus took place at the Garden, too. My grandmother, who bet on anything that moved, passionately loved professional wrestling. Her two favorite wrestlers were Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and Gorgeous George. The most hated villain was the lantern-jawed blue-jowled "Killer" Kowalski, master of the dreaded claw hold. Over on the main line west from Boston, Waltham was a good place to watch trains, and it wasn' t too far from home, which made it even better. The Boston and Maine's tracks at Waltham were on the north side of the Charles River. Moody Street crossed the Charles on a concrete bridge and the Waltham stati Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:32 AM Good day Tom and all in attendance. Drinks all around and a Guinness for me. Eric: The following explanation was provided along with the photo of the tram.FC Del LLANO De MaipoThese were the first electric chilean railcars, built in Chile in 1925 by Siemens, from the old steam railroad coachs. Foto courtesy of Col L Richter My son's truck is a 1967 cab-over Peterbilt with a Cummins engine and 13 gears. He will get a lot of practice double clutching. He brought it here from Florida with no problems. He has never driven an 18 wheeler on a major road, so this has given him some real time experience. The trailer is a Fruhauf end dump, steel frame and aluminum tub. Everything is surprisingly in good shape. He had to install a wet-line kit for the dump and the ram seals leaked. I helped him yesterday to take the ram out to get new seals installed. After that, he should be ready to make some money. A friend of his moved 60 loads in one week at $300 per load. There's a lot of money to be made hauling dirt. Tom: We have the technology now to replace fossil fuel, but the problem is the oil barons have too much influence in government. They are making lots of money and will milk the wells dry before switching to alternates. When the price of fuel goes up, then we see alternates, like hydrogen, fuel cells, solar, etc hit the market, but when the fuel cost goes down, the plug is pulled on alternates. It will require the government to mandate and subsidize if necessary if alternates are to become fact. At least that's the way I see it. Jan: That early post from Barndad about the Delano photos was of interest to me. I never knew there was so much material that hasn't been made public. Most of what has been made public has pretty much been seen in books and on the internet. I had pictures I took a long time ago, but the quality wasn't good enough to post. Most of them have been deep-sixed. Great pics of the UP engines. I was just last night reading about the UP 4-12-2's. It had three cylinders, was the longest rigid wheelbase of any engine and outperformed 2-10-2's and 2-8-8-0 compound mallets on grades both in speed and fuel consumption. 88 of them were built and one still exists at the Transportation Museum in Los Angeles. Tom: Do you remember hitching rides on the back of a trolley car and pulling the pickup pole off the wire when you wanted to get off? It was a wonder any of us lived long enough to remember those reckless (and exciting) times growing up in New York. For some more information on Caprotti valve gear and a restoration project, go to: http://www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk/73129/home.html Some real nice photos and information. Edit JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 9:17 AM Greetings again Tom and gentlemen....Could I have another top up please...? Give the lads whatever they want when they fall through the door will you...? Here's my contribution to photoposting day....after encore...UP engine number M-10000 with train ##105, The Streamliner, 2 cars, leaving Kansas City, Mo., January 18, 1936. UP engine number M-10001 with train #2, City of Portland and 6 cars, doing 75 mph, near Cheyenne, Wyo., July 7, 1935. UP engine number CD-07 with train #112, City of Denver and 11 cars, near Denver, Colo., April 2, 1944.UP engine number LA-1 with train #103, City of Los Angeles, 14 cars hitting 40 mph, near Julesburg, Colo., June 19, 1938.UP 4-12-2 9019 and 4-8-8- 4023 with a westbound freight train of 83 cars, near Cheyenne, Wyo., June 8, 1947.UP 4-12-2 9009 with a westbound 38 car freight train doing 50 mph, Bosler, Wyo., June 9, 1935.Credit: Otto Perry and photoswest. All the best! Jan JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:25 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen.....May have the usual extra cold Guinness, top up with cigars for the troops please? Keep the change....$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer....While on my snooping around for encore material, I came across a few names that I haven't seen around here for some time....passengerfan, West Coast S, barndad, Gunns, Theodorebear, wrwatkins, earlydiesels, Trainnut484, nickinwestwales, bjdukert, just to mention a few. Plenty of interesting posts though!03-04-2007: barndad wrote:Good evening Tom and friends! Tis I ... the barn weevil. I'll have another Lager, and dig out the Michigan quarters for Herr Wurlitzer. Just saw my horoscope, and it's just darn scary how accurate some of that stuff can be! Got some real nice dome pix from manager "Moon Pie"Lars today! Glad you liked the last installment of the Penn State coal story Catfish Pete. You know, I was wondering if the railroad would have channeled monies blown on fighting Penn State into actual rate reductions, if that story might have had a different, or at least a postponed ending. No mention was ever made about how much these different studies cost the university, so how much did they really save? I agree. The loco pix might have been the very same loco. Thanks very much for the great Alan (what's his sign?) pix!I remember the old pix from Tom. I even recall using one to graft him into a picture of our humble little saloon by the tracks.Hey .. what a coincidence! I was just thinking of West Coast Dave when I came across some Southern Pacific stuff today, and then he shows up! Bummer about being in Iraq. Hope you keep safe.Great URLs from Mike as usual. Loved the color B&O shot, and the witt of Alfred E.Am I the only non-oracle here? Sheesh. Here's another humble submission from me today:Big Shoulders - Photos by Jack Delano. Text by Mark ReuterIn November 1942, a young photographer from the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., set out for Chicago. Armed with credentials from the FBI and a letter of introduction by the Association of American Railroads, Jack Delano was assigned to document railroad transportation during World War II by taking "photographs of Chicago as a railroad terminal, showing yards, tracks, handling the trains, hump-and-retarder operations, inspection and repair of trains, signal systems, roundhouses and repair shops."He and his wife, Irene, rented an apartment in Chicago, and Delano began his assignment by taking photos of wartime crowds at Union Station. He then ventured into locomotive shops and freight yards to get a behind-the-scenes view of railroading that was rarely, if ever, seen by the public.The weather was not cooperative. December 1942 was bitterly cold, and he spent many nights at Chicago & North Western's sprawling Proviso Yard in sub-zero temperatures. He carried his clunky equipment in his arms and on his back, and he rode with crews to document the exchange of traffic between eastern and western carriers. While getting off a boxcar, he bent his Graflex Speed Graphic when he slipped on packed snow.<An inspector has blue-flagged cars to protect them from being moved to Illinois Central's South Water Street Freight Terminal in downtown Chicago>Nearly all of the photographs he took were in black and white, but he also experimented with color shots. These were Kodak sheet-film transparences, mostly 4X5 inches. The color transparences were sent back to Washington along with the black-and-white film, where the OWI documentary project, it turned out, was in crisis and the photography section was soon to be dissolved.< The humpmaster governs the speed at which the pusher locomotive shoves cars over the hump by using a five-notch controller that triggers lineside signals to the engineer>Unpublished at the time, Delano's railroad photographs were transferred to the archives of the Library of Congress, along with more than 150,000 other images produced by photographers at OWI and the Farm Security Administration.<Towerman R.W. Mayberry operates track turnouts (switches) and the retarders that brake the free-rolling cars as they are classified in the yard>Some of Delano's black-and-white images eventually resurfaced in the 1970s, most notably in James E.Valle's "The Iron Horse at War and Don Ball Jr. and Rogers E.W. Whitaker's Decade of the Trains, the 1940s. But even those who had discovered Delano's work assumed that all of his railroad photographs were monochrome. Delano, who had relocated to Puerto Rico and was busy composing music and managing the island's public television station, did not point out the existence of the color images to the few persons who contacted him about his Chicago project.<An employee demonstrates night signaling with a fusee. The up-and-down movement means "proceed." Delano took this timed exposure at Indiana Belt's yard at Calumet City, IL.>Professional photographers in the 1940s disdained color as contrived, but Delano was years ahead of his time. He used color as information rather than ornamentation. Thus we can see the exhaustion of the welder with grit-dusted amber cheeks, and feel the snap of winter as steam spouts above the ice-blue yards of the Indiana Harbor Belt.<Silhouetted against a bright sky, a tank car rolls down the hump track into the classification bowl of C&NW's Proviso Yard in April 1943.>His color images are both matter-of-fact and stunning. He shot many of them at night, finding that the intensely saturated colors of Kodachrome film - warm reds, deep blues, and strong earth tones - bathed in the blackness of dimly lit backshops, lent a painterly vividness to his portraits.<Crews clean the switch points of ice and snow on a frigid January 1943 day at the Harbor Belt's Blue Island Yard>Delano's leap into photography stemmed from his art-student background and lifelong social activism. As a student traveling to Europe on a scholarship in 1935, he was awed by the paintings of Goya and Van Gogh, especially by what he termed "the sympathetic way they rendered ordinary people."<Delano used the gloom of C&NW's roundhouse to dramatically frame the workworn eyes and soot-caked face of "L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker."> All the best! Jan siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:10 AM <personal foto>This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents! Saturday has arrived - fall is in the is still prevailing - petrol is at $2.57 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" <dropped a cent!> ‘n all is well in mid-continent USA! It's time for a few pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board ‘n of course a mug or two of our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee! Comments from the Proprietor: Tomorrow, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Proprietor's Observations: Noticed Fergie (Fergmiester) ‘n Per (marthastrainyard) logged in on Thursday ‘n Friday - but no visit. Also noticed Jan (JanOlov) on Friday - but no visits. Hmmmmmmm. Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Friday - Nov 9th, 2007:Dan (DL-UK) at 12:18 PM: Really enjoyed the Preston Station link - terrific ‘n well done! Good for us that you stumbled upon it! Could easily become overwhelmed with that steam link . . . will require lotsatime to get through that one! <phew>Appreciate your taking the time to swing by ‘n provide the gang with some cheer in the form of a round! CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 3:13 PM: A second visit for the day, but one with quite a message! Yes, the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month." Appreciate your thoughtfulness ‘n will be sure to provide the "good stuff" for those who take the time ‘n make the effort on Sunday ‘n Monday! Thanx for the round ‘n quarters for Herr Wurlitzer! Pete (pwolfe) at 6:08 PM: Those "Duke" series of steam locomotives are great to look at. Can just imagine what they sounded like while underway. Perhaps you could put together a collage of those you have in your photo archives . . . Your "take" on the difference between StL ‘n KCity Union Stations is ‘right on." I was here when StL let the station deteriorate ‘n then when it was purchased for renovation. There was absolutely no intent to ever use the place for operating passenger rail. As I understand it, those who owned the place reluctantly let those sidings remain <which are disappearing> along with some privately owned loco's ‘n cars <now gone>. I witnessed the rebirth of Union Station in KCity ‘n recall how the public support for it was far more energetic than here. In StL the idea was to provide an "upscale" shopping experience with a 5-star hotel ‘n restaurant, etc. Whereas in KCity they featured a Science Center for kids, along with retention of passenger train nostalgia. Amtrak came a about a decade later, but it came! Found this regarding that mural in Sacramento's rail station: The Sacramento station was originally the terminal for the South Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:55 AM Good morning Captain Tom and all present!Leon, I tried to get you some more time off, but it did not help. Finally Friday and an other weekend! Good to see Manager Lars again! Tom – Revealing pictures! I was not aware that so many participants slept through parts of the 2nd Annual Rendezvous! But now we all know! I guess the last (third) photo shows when Pete found out about the leaking soda pop in the bag!I agree 100% with you, nothing binds a nation more than a common language. I don’t understand why English isn’t the official language and why the ballot is available in Spanish? One is supposed to be able to read and speak English to become a citizen. Lars – Good to see Manager Lars again, even for just a little while! Thanks for the trade marks from the Larsman Mobile! Starting with an interesting video, Kicking Horse pass! Triumph VI is my choice of the books! No wonder Ruth was smiling today!CM3 – A princess should always be treated as a princess! Of course they expect it. <grin>I am impressed by the long list of skills you still can use! I know I am still able to stick shift and double clutch. My old stick shift and double clutch vehicle.I am also able to do my math w/o a calculator!Bake real Swedish coffee bread.Ride a bicycle for hundreds of miles in one day.Gassed in the Great War, yes, it says it all. A real hero!Ron – History is of interest! It is always very interesting to learn about people’s background! I think your father did the right thing, making sure that you became a 100% American! A different looking trolley! Do you know if it actually was built in Germany or if it was built in Chile from an old German passenger coach?DL – Interesting links! I bookmarked them for future use! Thanks!Pete – What was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop? I would say almost everything. You can see some samples in the window! As far as I can recall you were never able to get everything out of it! Thanks for the loco numbers! #2925 is a Class 2900, 4-8-4 built by Baldwin 1943-1944 and retired 1959. AT&SF had 30 locomotives of that class.#5021 is a class 5011, 2-10-4, built by Baldwin 1944, retired 1959. AT&SF had 25 of those. Thanks for all the info on the modern days steam locomotives on BR! Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:19 PM Good evening Tom and all. A round of drinks and a Guinness for me. I can only think of a few skills to add to the list of forgotten technologies.Cut wood with a handsawUse basic tools instead of power toolsCooking without the use of Teflon cookwareHow to sharpen a knifeKnow how to fix things that others throw awayHow to mix the perfect martini I heard on a newscast the other night, that China is becoming very dependent on oil and may surpass us in oil consumption pretty soon. This news is good and bad. Bad because that will speed up oil depletion resulting in higher prices. Good because it will further alternate energy sources, like coal for steam locomotives. If it is to happen, my guess would be that the UK would be in the forefront of steam technology. Most European countries have a good electrification infrastructure in place, so the switch from oil to coal wouldn't have too much of an impact. Here in the U.S., coal would probably be the most logical choice, as a nationwide system of electric railways would be a very costly undertaking. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas. Tom: Those two A/C vents are not for the A/C. They are on an air purifier I built to suck dust out of the air. I have 8 A/C registers in the overhead, which also supply heat on the few times when heat is called for. When I replaced the house heating and A/C unit with a new one, the old one went to my shop. That's about all I have for now. See you later.Ron Edit pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Friday, November 9, 2007 6:08 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams please RUTH.ROB I think historic buildings are a lot more appreciated nowadays than say in the 1960s lets hope Toronto Union is left as the great building I have seen in photographs. ERIC Perhaps we could have a quiz as to what was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop.Those Santa Fe steam locomotives outside the Sacramento Locomotive Works are # 2925 and possibly #5021 according to one of my rare notes. Good photo of the X2000 at Sacramento station.Liked the photo of the Caprotti valve on BR standard Class 5 4-6-0. The BR Standard 5s were quite similar to the LMS class 5s. There were 172 Standard 5s built,they were introduced in 1951. There were 30 of class fitted with the Caprotti gear introduced in 1956.Originally 20 were allocated to Patricroft depot near Manchester and sheds in the Derby area after the first 10 started at Shrewsbury. Also the were 10 allocated to St Rollex shed in Glasgow Scotland. The class finished up with the English 20 all at Patricroft and the Glasgow ones spending their whole career at St Rollex. I think the locos need a different method of handling from the original locos; one working I can remember the Caprottis on was a London to Manchester fast freight that used to pass through Rugby in the evening. A strange thing about these locomotives was that in foggy weather the steam seemed to cling around the locos more than other engines.The last express passenger locomotive built in Britain for BR was the Pacific No 71000 'Duke Of Gloucester built in 1954. this 3-cylinder loco also had Caprotti valve gear. The locomotive did not have too good a reputation in BR days. Luckily 71000 found its way to Barry scrapyard and was saved, although there was a lot of items missing, like the outside cylinders. The people who restored the locomotive done a wonderful job and found a mistake in the ashpan dimensions which could have accounted for the locos poor reputation, they have also modified the chimney arrangement and now 71000 is a very strong locomotive and can compete with any of the steam locos running on BR today. A photo of the 'Duke' at Carlisle on a steam special.LARS Great to see you in Yes BORIS is doing really well looking after the Mascots treats, all I have to do is make sure the PPF jars arrive on time and send the empty jars back. The bag is a wonder I got it from Rugby market years ago for about $10, it must have been over the Atlantic at least 10 times as well as carrying the shopping when I was in Rugby.I have missing the Larsman Mobile a great selection today; I think my favorites this time are the B&O Switchers and the Boston & Maine ones, great photo of the Alco leaving the tunnel.Agree with your words on Veteran's Day.CM3 Yes the Sacramento Railroad museum is a great place, If they can ever get the old Locomotive works open to the public as well it would be a complete railroad experience as they already operate a short steam line.I shall look forward to more tales of the L&N as well as some slides at the Rendezvous.I think the new museum of TOM's will be a success. Great list of Things at the museum, which the younger generation can try their hand at.Off the top of my head a couple of things.Able to ride a pushbike with no gears.Circular slide rule.IroningAble to work out exact overtime pay in my head.Very good words for this Sunday, I will indeed have a moment of silence to remember those who gave and are giving so much that we can enjoy the freedom we some times take for granted. RON I think the technology is there to make a feasible new generation of steam locos as it says in the link, L. D Porta and David Wardale have done a lot of work in this direction. With a computer controlled firing locomotive able to use a low grade coal it could be economical to run if a you say the gas prices continue to rise at present rates although it would be a massive cost to put in the infrastructure to run the next generation of steam locomotives.Great link to the railways of Europe there are plenty of great photos.Thanks for that great photo of the Chilean tram, love the windows.Great words about Our Place. I too have learned an enormous amount about the railroads and trolley systems of North America from visiting the bar, from knowing very little when I first visited Our Place.DL Good to see you in the bar. I think Preston station is a listed building, I hope so, as it is a great example of a LNWR large station, now that Rug coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 3:13 PM Good Afternoon BArkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the hosue and $ for the jukebox.Just a quick stop as we are abt. to go offline until Tuesday.I have directed the barkeep to provide bottles of the best available over the weekend. Feel free to use them (as appropriate) for "Toasts to absent friends." We do that a lot around here given our line of work. I'll start things off a little ahead of time for observances. I was looking through a group of old family photos the other night - we brought tons of stuff back here this summer and came across a shot of a British soldier (we have had more than a few in the family over the years). I turned it over and read the caption (in my grandmothers copperplate script). It said, "Picture of Cousin Stanley - Gassed in the Great War." Says it all, I believe. Remember a moment of silence for the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month," and hope for better days ahead.Thanks to all who serve and have served.work safe DL - UK Member sinceAugust 2006 280 posts Posted by DL - UK on Friday, November 9, 2007 12:18 PM Hello Tom and all in Round for the house, bitter for me please.Just a quick call - hope all is well, been able to reveiw soem of the recent stuff - lots of interest - hope to be back before too long with a more inclusive posting and up dates! Bit busy with one thing and another (what with the LMS issue of Railway Magazine, and my Friends of the National Railway Musuem Journal - AND my Settle Carlisle Line journal all turning up at pretty much the same time! Rather a lot of reading matter!)Couple of links people might enjoy (my guess is this is a place Pete for certain will have spent time at - the web site is nicely done - found it by chance):http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bradshaw/preston/And this is a serious index with some detailed articles - plenty to read for certain (if you've not got enough already....)http://www.steamindex.com/index.htmBest wishes to allDL siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 11:43 AM G'day Gents!Ruth, go on 'n take your break - I'll be here for a bit to watch things! And yes, a round on the house - Boris, ring the bell! Have a few things to attend to this afternoon, so figured it's time to get a leg up on the comments . . . . Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Lars (LoveDomes) at 8:10 AM: Ah, the return of our Manager - if only for a brief time - great to see ya again, Mate! Every now ‘n then I get into a <funk> regarding how the times of today seem so drastically <different> from "back in the day." Of course this is nothing more than what all of us encounter as AGE creeps up on us. I don't attach anything more significant to it than that. HOWEVER, society has indeed changed ‘n along with it comes viewpoints running diametrically opposed to the things I hold near ‘n dear. I've wondered aloud many a time, "Would I be willing to defend these people, if . . . . . ?" Hang in there partner, we may be dying off faster than being replaced by like-minded individuals, but while we're here - let's never let ‘em get to us! It's been a long week without your offerings of covers ‘n it surely hit the spot to see those fine selections to help keep our morning humming along. One day I'm just going to have to spring for the DVDs . . . only have a very, very sparse collection, ‘n honestly don't know why! <puzzled>You're absolutely correct regarding our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie. He's anchored somewhere outta sight OR has placed himself in the Penalty Box <feeling shame, of course!> Received your latest Email ‘n responded - thanx! The round for the house is appreciated, but more so having you back amongst the gang! Ruth has a smile that just won't quit - and I think that was a tear coming out of Boris' eye <as in ONE - he is a Cyclops ya know!> CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:39 AM: Now that's quite a listing ‘n of course something to ponder. Surely the guyz can add to it . . . So with this newly created Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills, let's have some fun with it on Fridays! Love ‘n care for ‘em now, for in the not-too-distant-future your precious little ones grow up. Hard for me to believe how fast the time has gone from those days of hearth, home ‘n family. Cherish it all while you can, Mate - it changes right before your eyes. <uh oh>Mention of Rendezvous III brings to mind that I'll probably have to seek out an auditorium for the "presentations" you'll be putting together on "Everything Rails That Was ‘n Is ‘n May be!"Thought you'd pick up on those fotos of Doug ‘n Pete who were obviously overtaken by the sheer excitement of Amtrak travel. <grin>Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Ron (DD1) at 10:37 AM: And who should appear this morning but our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker>! Good to see ya, but I MUST wonder aloud - are you using that REFRESH/RELOAD/RESTORE feature on your browser in order to pick up on the MOST CURRENT POSTS Seems like you're a bit behind on the offerings . . . If you don't understand what I'm referring to, send me an Email ‘n we'll discuss it. Seems we had similar upbringings "back in the day." My two grandfathers came to this land back around 1910 from Germany. One grandma from Ireland, the other from Germany. The grandfathers insisted that only English be spoken in the house and most especially if I happened to be in the room. They refused to allow their native tongue to get in the way of adapting to the ways of their new country. So, I grew up without learning it. About all I can recite are some "colorful phrases," if you follow my drift! <grin>Imagine how great it would be in America if those who are beating a path to our shores ‘n borders had the same attitude as your father ‘n my grandfathers regarding the language I've yet to read or hear an argument convincing enough to change my claim that NOTHING binds a nation more so than a common tongue. But what do I know A captivating read on that "COALS" link. So the question is - why aren't we doing it!?!?!? Methinks we already know the answer - but another question is, "How high must the price of fuel get before we see the light?" <groan>Many thanx for the visit, chat ‘n round! <yes, we ru Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 10:37 AM Good Day Tom and all present. It may be too early for a little libation, but by the time I finish composing this, drinks all around may be in order. First off I want to say, I've learned more about trains in the short time I've been visiting than in the first 60 or so years preceeding my first visit. I realize from the content of these posts, that a lot of time goes into researching what goes into them. We all have to allot time based on our priorities. Some can allot more time than others. If one considers researching material, copying it, composing it, digging through old photos, scanning them and transferring them into a post, much time and effort is expended. it is greatly appreciated by me, as having done the same myself, I can realize the effort. Without trying to excuse myself, I sometimes don't give credit where credit is due. Enuf said. Eric: No, I never learned to speak Chinese, although I wish I had. My father wanted me to be 100% American. He came to this country in 1906 and despite the prejudice he faced, loved his newly adopted land. He was a man of very deep morals who believed in hard work, honor, family, sacrifice and responsibility. Basically, he was a Buddhist, but would attend the Catholic church with the rest of the family. He was a life long Republican and even contributed to the party. I must end this here, as I am writing my memoirs and can go on and on if not stopped. I just thought a little history would be of interest. Pete: I haven't seen Sunnyside yard for many a year. I used to spend much time there on the pedestrian bridges watching the trains. Too bad I didn't have a camera at the time. In an earlier post, (11/06/2007) you made an interesting point about the UK not adopting diesels early due to the cost of importing oil and staying with coal. With the cost of oil rising to all time levels, day by day, maybe there will come a time when steam might be more economical to operate. Wouldn't that be great! At least in this country, steam could be a way to go. In Europe, electric would rule due to their already extensive electrification network. There was a group here called "COALS" (Coal Oriented Advanced Systems) that was trying to develop a steam locomotive using a mix coal dust and water, converting it into a gas and use that to generate steam. The following link describes the COALS project and it's future. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html#TOP Tom: A most interesting history of BR. I came across this link that covers railways all over the world. Of particular interest was the chapter on liveries. See http://www.railfaneurope.net/. This one is for Trolleyboy: An old trolley built in 1925 for a Chilean tram. It was made from an old passenger coach in Germany. Got to run and cook lunch. See you later, Ron Edit coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 9:39 AM Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Partly cloudy here today with temps in the 30s - gas holding at $3.15.Pete has visited with comments and locomotive history. I have never been to Sacramento although I have heard good things abt. The rr museum there. The L&N ran better than average passenger service to the end. I have posted several items about them in the past (including some first hand accounts). Come to the rendezvous and hear more stores,Rob - I knew you would have the answer. I figured changing the trucks on the DC PCCs was, of course, part of the modifications, but I was unsure about what they did electrically - thanks for the information.Eric - she's always treated that way - they expect it don't they (lol)Caprotti valve gear shot was a good one.Lars has been by - good to hear from you - keep the shiny side up, sir! The bookmobile had some interesting items today. Robert W. Jones's books on the B&M are excellent although pricy. I heartily recommend his two volumes on the Boston and Albany as well. I have the B&M passenger car book - these books are black and white photographs which are really useful for looking at details, etc. Captioning is helpful as well because it gives the reader a time frame for when the picture was taken, where, and so on. OSP stopped by too. First, thanks for the L&N summary. I enjoyed your exposition of Weber's Law of Mechanical arts. Now, our vaunted research department (believe me, we pay them what they're worth) went to the legal section in the east wing and found a Corollary to Weber's Law which reads as follows: "The Law also applies to any other activity involving tension adjustments, carburetion, throttle settings, etc., especially when being done outside in snow, sleet, and/or high wind. Sub rule A of the corollary says:"Physical conditions mentioned in Weber's law occur ALWAYS when the truck is several hundred feet away from the job site, AND the one special screwdriver you need is not in your pocket because you left it on the truck."I see where OSP has opened a museum - kind of like the old Gilbert Hall of science - we'll call it Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills.Here are some forgotten technologies CM3 can still useMorse CodeManual typewriterSextant - A long time ago, but it'll come backSlide rule Let's throw in a few more "old" things that we still know how to doStick shift (Three on the tree) Stick shift (Four on the floor) Double clutch and downshiftParallel park Siphoning fuel - (It was a tough neighborhood)Carb adjustment Tuneup - (Includes gapping plugs and setting timing)Flush and fill cooling system Cooling system test Using a church key to open adult beverages w/o getting contents all over the place Patch tires Replace fuses - we don't need no stinkin' breakersUse math w/o a calculatorDo case lot and percent discounts in my head - used to work for a wholesaler back yrs. ago - b4 calculators even existedSquare roots with paper and pencilGeometry and trig - to figure stuff out so I don't get ripped off by suppliersVentilation calculations w/o a calculatorGet around w/o a GPS (day and night) SewCook lots of stuff from scratch - Indoors or outsideI'll bet the barflies can add a few more - let's see how big a list we can get. A word of warning, however: Boris has lots of skills but we don't want to know too much about them if we have to testify.Work safe LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:10 AM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Ruth my deAH, yes it's really me - the Larsman back for a bit with a <grin> ‘n some cheer for da boyz at the bar! Boris, I see you've been feedin' the crittAHs during my absence, so that super-sized jar of PPF is for YOU! And my deAH, I'll take a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please ‘n a round for the house - the change, as always, is for YOU! In keeping with my wishes to remain a bit silent regarding personal things - let me just say it's been a tough couple of weeks. Thanks to youse guyz for stickin' with me "off line" - I've been in contact with Cap'n Tom, so my guess is he's passed some info your way by our e-mail net. Things are hardly "normal" these times, but I'll try to stop in as time permits - couldn't just fuhgedaboudit! Sorry if I'm unable to comment on all the posts. I've checked 'em out though 'n see that Da Bossman has really turned-to with more outstanding material to keep the bar afloat. Way to go Cap'n Tom! Noted that things 'round here are in good order, thanks to Bar Chandler Pete! Acting Manager!?!?!?! <arrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh> So, what do we have ‘round here Great idea for Armistice Day <Veterans Day> on Sunday! I'll do my best to show up with something to contribute - count on it! Monday is the legal observance for the holiday - which of course means another round of weekend sales at the malls across the land. Some places will actually hold parades ‘n services honoring those who have and ARE serving in the military. Those events will be sparsely attended. More people show up for anti-this ‘n anti-that than for patriotic events.A whole bunch of people will be off from work - even those who have nothing but disdain ‘n outright hatred of our military. Can you imagine such a thing? How hypocritical is THAT, I ask Sure, take off the day with pay in honor of our military - but go about your day spitting on those who helped to preserve our freedoms. Ok, ‘nuf of my rants for this day. Good to see some activity this week - especially Wednesday. That was a "gudun," huh Guys seemed to show up with "stuff" to say ‘n share. I see that Fergie the Sailor got <tweeted> for his indiscretions 'round here AND hasn't been heard from SINCE! <yikes>Love those pix of Doug ‘n Pete <snoozing> aboard the train. Caption should be something like, "Are we having fun yet?" <grin> Then there's Pete ‘n that bag of his. What in the world do you suppose he finds so enticing about that thing A man's purse, maybe????? Hmmmmmmm. Best keep a close eye on him! Noted the discussion regarding Union Station up in Toronto and all I could think of was the destruction of Penn Station here in New York City. I think Shane made mention of that too. Anyway, those rail palaces of the past have a place in the future. Hope that those who are setting out to make changes keep in mind that you can nevAH bring back something that you destroy.Can't stay too much longer, but there's time for a few <trade marks> from the Larsman Mobile! CPs Kicking Horse Pass (DVD)CNs Yellowhorse Pass (DVD)B&O Diesel Locomotives, Vol 1 - Switchers & Road SwitchersTriumph VI - Pioneer & ChallengerBoston & Maine - Forest, River & MountainPass siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 5:54 AM <personal foto> Friday's GrinReasons "things" happen! Law of Mechanical Repair: As soon as your hands are coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee. G'day Gents! Week's end OH-FISH-UL-LEE begins at the end of this work day - so let's get a start on the countdown with a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board - pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - ‘n a mugga freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee to wash it all down! Comments from the Proprietor: Sunday, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Thursday - Nov 8th, 2007:CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:26 AM: Nice inclusive Post . . . Never knew the loco wash routine. Makes sense - dirty noses, hmmmmmm. Only YOU would KNOW that!! If one looks back on all of the ‘stuff' crammed into our grey <gray> matter, it would boggle the mind <grey/gray matter>! For example, who today gives a Rat's Patoot about the Morse Code? And yet, I still can "pound it out" and copy at an admirable speed. <used to copy at 35 wpm "back in the day"> Who cares about the use of a manual typewriter or even KNOWS the keyboard by heart ? I do - but the former is a relic of the past whereas the latter is simply that "thing" all computers have. It goes on - I still can recite the major USCG Cutter locations <home ports> from "back in the day" - knew the ships names AND call signs <still do!> But many <if not all> of those old ladies are at the bottom of the sea <or sold off to some foreign government> . . . and who gives a hoot about call signs! <geesh> Then there is the use of a sextant! How about a slide rule? How about . . . . Get my point Oh yeah, I even remember our FIRST telephone number from when I was a kid: Gibralter 80863W <a party line!>I'll take the GG1 cab ride - loco wash notwithstanding! Is round trip airfare to Sunnyside included Good news about the return to the digs for your youngster! Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Pete (pwolfe) at 4:30 PM: Enjoyed speaking with you today ‘n finalizing our December plans. <phew> Sometimes Email just doesn't "get it," eh Regarding your comments regarding the Union Stations here in StL ‘n in KCity - I concur that they have done marvelous restorations. However, KCity is heads ‘n shoulders above StL in that they have TRAINS there - both real ‘n model. They haven't forgotten what the structure was initially built for. In StL they have chased away anything running on the rails and NEVER gave a thought to having Amtrak operate there when it was reopened a couple of decades ago. Structurally, they are as different as Boris ‘n Ruth - however, there's a certain charm that goes with either! <grin>Most interesting mural shot - do you know what it depicts Appreciate the round - chat - fotos ‘n inclusiveness of your comments! Rob (trolleyboy Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:46 PM Good evening Captain Tom and all present!!Leon, don't you ever get any day off? I feel sorry for you! Anyway, a sugar cured ham sandwich on rye would be perfect! A cold Keith's, please!Close to the end of the work week! Just one more day. Tom – Two nice pictures of the T&P EA8A and MP Alco PA in very similar livery! I know that Pete emptied his bag at least once, see picture.Thanks for the L&N info! Nice looking drumheads! Just like Pete I like the Hummingbird one the best. CM3 – Good news, you got your young patient back home!!! Treat her as a princess!!You are right about the tracks in (and out of) the picture! Thanks for all the info on the different cars! Pete – Thanks for the 5s info!! There were quite a few of them built! I copied the text for future reference. I have to find out about the Caprotti valve gear. Sounds like an Italian designed it. I am not sure if those coars are cabooses. I kind of doubt it. I have to get back to the original picture to see if I can find any. Interesting pictures from Sacramento! I am trying to read the number on that Santa Fe locomotive but it is impossible. Here is my only picture from Sacramento. I found some info on Caprotti Valve Gear (Wikipedia) and here is a picture of 5s #73129 with a Caprotti Valve Gear. (Photo shown with permission from Wikipedia) Rob – Do you still have the broad TTC track in Toronto? Eric « First«39404142434445»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
The Stooges get a job putting up posters for the circus, but discover that they are paid in tickets rather than cash. They go to the circus to scalp their tickets, and when Curly accidentally finds a long string of tickets, the boys try to scalp them. They're chased by the cops and dragged before the circus owner, who's mad at them for ruining his posters. Instead of sending Happy Railroading! Siberianmo pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Saturday, November 10, 2007 3:15 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams would go down well CINDY.ERIC I guess those Santa Fe locomotives will one day be on display in the museum, thanks for the info on them.Any info you can add to the photos from Alan on his recent trip to Holland would be very welcome.It will be interesting to see what it is you are in the cab of, in the photo, I am guessing a locomotive. JAN Great idea to have DOUG'S Jack Delano post as an encore, really great photos and color from those days. Those photos of the workers at the C&NW roundhouse are simply great works of art. I remember the post caused a lot of discussion at the bar when it was first posted. Thanks for sharing.Many thanks for those great photos from the 1930s and 1940s. M 100000 must have caused quite a stir when it first came out and the sound UP #s 9019 and 4023 must have made with that freight near Wyoming must have been wonderfulThanks for the round.RON Thanks for the info on the Chilean tramcar That is a good link to Standard class 5 No 73129. I have that painting featuring 73129 in Caprotti Crescendo here in mid Missouri. The Midland Railway Centre is a great place to visit with a great museum and workshop at Swanwick Junction. It is also the home of the two Stanier LMS Pacifics, Princess class 46203 and Duchess 6233.They have a narrow gauge railway, which features small diesel locomotives and some cars that were used to carry miners to the coalface.PER I think the Carriage and Wagon department was run by the same management with the locomotive and operating sides run by a separate managements. I think the locomotive and C&W would both report to the Chief Mechanical Engineer.I am sure ROB will be able to help with the San Francisco streetcars.It will be the volunteers would keep those steam locomotives looking as though they have just come out of the paint shop. It is a matter of pride to the support crews, especially when the locomotives that are certified to run on the BR system to haul to specials, on the cleanliness of the locomotives.Glad you liked the photos of the model museum. I don't think the ones this week were on the Tehachapi layout.Many thanks for the photos of Northampton (I used to live about 20 miles from the English town of the same name). Did you get a chance to go inside the Union Station restaurant or the Tunnel Bar. TOM I'm afraid I have not been too clear (again). No 71000 Duke of Gloucester was a one off; the year after the Duke was built the ‘Modenisation Plan' for British Railways was announced which stopped any new steam locomotive designs. The reason I have heard given for the ordering of 71000 was to replace the re-built Turbomotive No 46202, which was destroyed in the very bad Harrow and Weldstone wreck.The Duke is a powerful locomotive (for the UK) on one trip you could feel the acceleration in the cars not often felt with steam or diesel traction.One great trip we had was a trip that was one of the first trips of preserved steam on the southern part of the West Coast Main Line (still very rare today) out of London Euston. The start out of Euston is up Camden Bank a 1% grade. In steam days trains were usually helped up the bank by the locomotive that brought the cars into the terminus. On our trip the Duke took the train up the bank unassisted steadily accelerating, as you say the sound was magnificent.I will see if I can get some photos of the Standard classes of steam locomotives together although I don't think I have any of the Britannias or of the 4 classes out of the 12 classes of Standards built, that did not survive into preservation, although there are a couple of schemes one to build a ‘Clan' class pacific from new and one to convert a 2MT 2-6-0 tender locomotive class number 78XXX to a 2MT 2-6-2 tank locomotive class 84XXX Many thanks for the link to Sacramento Amtrak station. There are some great benches by the back of the Railroad Museum where trains can be watched crossing the Sacramento River. I have a couple of photos I will show next week. I did notice some UP intermodel freights pass through.A pushbike is I guess called a bicycle here, no motor just pedals. Another great Encore today with CM3's classic on the B&M and Boston North station in the change over from steam to diesel, we really have had some great posts at Our Place. Loved the term ‘Complicated Ballet'. Many thanks for sharing this great and evocative post again. JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 3:10 PM Greetings Tom and gentlemen.... May I please have a strong black Java please.....and the usual top up with cigars for the lads as well....keep the change. Any painkillers lying about...? I've managed to attract a slight headache....$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer... UP 4-6-2 2906 in Cheyenne, Wyo., July 18, 1937. UP observation car 1535, "Colorado Club," on its initial run on the Columbine, in Denver, Colo., May 22, 1930.UP M-10006 with train #112, City of Denver, getting ready to leave Denver Union Station on first eastbound run, June 18, 1936. UP M-10005, The City of Denver; before starting service here with 7 cars, on exhibition at Denver, Colo., June 14, 1936. UP streamlined 4-8-2 7002 with train #48, the 49er, here with 8 cars doing 35 mph, near Echo, Utah, October 23, 1937.CMStP&P 10300 with train #15, The Olympian; emerging from Pipestone Pass tunnel with 12 cars, Butte, Mont., August 9, 1938. Credit: Otto Perry and photoswest. All the best! Jan marthastrainyard Member sinceMarch 2006 From: Orange County, CA 98 posts Posted by marthastrainyard on Saturday, November 10, 2007 2:02 PM Hello everybody at the bar! Have a great weekend, all of you.Ruth, I'll have a ham and cheese for lunch and a pint of Guinness. I see that the Grant I left last time must have been a success, so here's another one for the boys when they come in.I finally got some of my New England pictures uploaded, so look for them at the end of this post.Tom, Thanks, it was the PS-4 I was thinking of. I saw the one in the Smithsonian, but I would really have liked to see one under steam!Interesting you should mention landscaping of your layout. That was one of those tasks I thought was going to be really difficult. I had read a lot and everybody said it was easy, but I just didn't believe them. Until I saw one of the guys in the club going at it on his little area of the club layout. "Is that all there is to it?" I asked and he said yes and offered me to try a corner of the area he was working on. Yes, it really wasn't that difficult so now I've finished my part of the layout and I am reay to attack a home layout once I get back to CA.Very interesting reading about the Canadian transcontinental train, the Con-adian. Too bad it's no longer going all the way. I remember reading about the VIA train back in Sweden, it must have been in 1979 or 1980., and wanting then to have a ride on it. Thanks also for the article on BR. Now I understand what "Big 4" the Brits around here are talking about. I like the "Ferret and Dartboard" logo, a real classic. When I looked at the Wikipedia link I got a bit confused with the terminology (why doesn't that surprise me?). A "carriage" is a passenger car and a ""wagon" is a freight car, is that right? But there is one article talking about Carriage and Wagon classification as if they were synonymous.Great article about the Marx company. It's hard to believe that the trains and the "Donald the Demon" figurine come from the same maker. As somebody else mentioned here, Marx must have been a couple of steps down from Lionel and maybe American Flyer, but I bet they are sought after in these days anyhow.That T&P E8 is a beauty! The E8 is a very powerful looking locomotive.The L&N Hummingbird drumhead is great! I wonder if that was an illuminated sign.My first phone number was 11688. See, even I remember that! When the town grew they added a "1" to it, 111688, it was never that easy to say.Great pictures, as usual, from Alaska. That little 0-4-0 looks great. Pete, Yes, those streets in San Francisco are really steep, aren't they? Makes you understand Bill Crosby's "drifting backwards in to the Bay" or "Come around!" much better.I wonder when they started to use other cities' street cars in San Francisco. Makes it like a living museum, almost.That Jubilee 5690 Leander is a real beauty. I wonder who's keeping it that clean and polished.I like the pictures from San Diego. Are those you posted on Wednesday from the Tehachapi layout?I recognize the Sacramento area where you took the pictures, but I was never inside the station, so that mural is something I missed. It looks great! Eric, Thanks for the info on the FRA Metroliner. That was some interesting reading you provided. Are you close to their test track area? It is in AZ, isn't it?Interesting that you should show a picture of the Sunnyside yard. I had just read about the yard in an old issue of Trains. Do you know if it has been downsized from the size in the 50's? Rob, do you mean that the PCC cars in San Francisco are all former "in house" cars that are just painted in other colors? I thought for a while that those were genuine imported cars. But San Francisco had a lot of PCC cars, didn't they. I remember riding in them when I first visited back in 1966. And then when I read farther down I see you mentioned that many of them came from Toronto. Are there any of the original San Francisco PCC cars left? Al, there are many times I have regretted not having a camera as well. There were so many things we took for granted and never put on film that we miss now. One would think that we could learn from past experience and take more pictures nowadays, but that's not always the case, unfortunately. CM3, I hope your family's medical situation has turned to the better by now.I saw that Citibank ad as well. The first time I saw it I thought there was something funny with it, and the second time I realized what it was. I don't think you can buy two boat tickets anywhere in Norway and get to Stockholm with those!I really like the link to the Erie magazine. It was great fun to read what the employees thought of railroading 50 years from then (= today). Everything from an atomic engine to "If Congress just acts this will be fine", to "greater competition". Some of those guys came pretty close to what the situation is today.If you just give me the address to the "Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills" I'll be there right away! I've always wanted to learn how to use a sextant. Or how to cut a perfect dovetail with a handsaw? That's not so easy, really. I still know how to use a stick shift and double clutch, if needed. Maybe I'm a bit rusty on the use of a slide rule, but please tell me how to use an Abacus.I saw Tom had reposted your article about North Station. What a masterpiece! I still haven't had a chance to get there, maybe next time in Boston. Ron, yes I have found a nice train club. It is kind of small around 10-15 members, but everybody get along very well. The only problem is that I have been spoiled now, and will probably have great difficulties finding something in CA when I move back there. San Diego is too far away so those clubs are out of the question.That's a nice shop you have! The size of that D roof is enormous! It didn't hit me when you mentioned the length in feet and inches, but when I saw the picture, oh WOW! How heavy is the roof alone? Do you have any idea what the weight of the complete engine will be?I couldn't agree with you more on the fuel policy, but I really doubt the government will do anything drastic. They are too much in the hands of the oil industry. Jan, nice pictures of the 4-8-2's. That depot in the background in the Fort Worth picture is still there. I think parts of it are converted to lofts and condos now.Thanks for reposting Barndad's article on Delano. That was great! What does it mean when a car is blue-flagged? I don't think it has anything to do with being parked under the Blue Ribbon Beer sign.Great UP Streamliner pictures as well. That M-10000 always looked so "angry" to me. Quite a change in design between that and the LA-1 in only a few years. Lars, nice to see you again. Keep come in as you can. I see the Larsman Mobile has modernized and is now stocking DVDs. That's great. Does anybody know where that tunnel picture on the B&M is taken? DL, I like the links you provided, especially the black and white photos. There seems to be something that has been lost in the photographic skills when we stopped using BW. As promised, here are a couple of pictures from my New England trip.It was the Boston & Maine that went through Northampton, here's the bridge: Home of the Ambroid history page and the up-and-coming City Of Los Angeles from 1950 http://www.trainweb.org/ambroidkits/ My pictures are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/8514678@N08/ siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 12:00 PM This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day! As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents!Continuing on with the Saturday foto parade of my 2006 Alaska Rail Adventure . . . this all began back on Page 85 on July 21st, for anyone interested in picking up on things missed. #1 Steam loco #1 0-4-0 at Anchorage RR Depot#2 To the trains!#3 Anchorage from the RR Depot#4 Final morning in Alaska - Denali Star getting ready to depart for Fairbanks#5 Alaska RR HQ - Anchorage#6 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#7 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#8 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#9 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#10 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#11 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#12 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks#13 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * That's IT - no more - finished! Enjoy! Tom Happy Railroading! Siberianmo siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:46 AM This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents!Here's an ENCORE! Post from a guy who has been around this joint from pretty much the "get go." This was provided by CM3 Shane (coalminer3) over on the Original Thread - Sep 9th, 2005, Page 102 . . . as only he could present it! Good Morning All: Coffee, please; $ for a round and jukebox are on the bar. There has been some talk recently abt. North Ststion in Boston. Herewith, another few pages from the "memory book" abt. North Station and the B&M. The heart of the Boston and Maine was the utilitarian North Station, a building that crouched along Causeway Street, hemmed in by the elevated trolley tracks and the Manger Hotel and surmounted by Boston Garden. I always associated North Station with winter even though I traveled from there in all seasons. Maybe it was the name - North Station - that made me think of ice-encrusted freight cars and steam-heated passenger coaches and trains plowing through deep snow "up country." North Station's lobby was neither large nor ornate. It was a low, wide space, somewhat dark, with ticket windows on one side and train gates on the other. It was not a space designed for travelers to spend much time. Buying tickets was simple; tell the agent where you wanted to go, pu***he money under the bars in the window and get your ticket and change back with minimal conversation and no wasted motion; a truly New England process. To the trains, then, ticket in hand. Umbrella sheds protected the platforms and it was always cold under the sheds in the winter, and cool under the sheds in the summer. From North Station, the B&M sent commuter trains to the suburbs and long haul runs to all corners of northern New England, west to New York State, and into Canada. Passengers could not see much as the tracks were close together and it was dark so the scope of operations at North Station was not apparent until a train cleared the umbrella sheds and moved out into an area that was a little more open. North Station was a busy place with cars and locomotives come to the big city from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada. There was also a horde of commuter trains. In the morning, empty trains backed out of the station as loaded trains arrived. In the evening, this complicated ballet occurred again. Loaded outbound trains threaded their way among empty trains backing down from the coach yard to the station. The station tracks quickly narrowed to a pair of drawbridges; truly a yard "throat." A tower just east of the bridges controlled all of the activity. Bridge tenders were responsible for raising the bridges to allow shipping to pass, which was mostly tows of barges. The tracks fanned out after crossing the bridges. Mystic was next. Mystic was truly the operational heart of the Boston and Maine. Across the Charles River from North Station, Mystic was in the shadows of the grim walls of what the newspapers always called the "infamous Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown." Mystic combined freight yards, team tracks, and a coach yard. The Boston Engine Terminal was part of the larger Mystic facility. The names on the cars in the coach yard told where the B&M went and the places it served. There were coaches, lounge cars, sleepers, RPOs and baggage cars from the Canadian Pacific, Boston and Maine, and Maine Central. Commuter coaches were, of course, most numerous. The B&M (in common with other New England lines) terminated a lot more freight than it originated, so many offline cars were interspersed with home road cars. Framed by the coach window, I could see cars from far away roads. They snapped by like slides; Chicago and North Western "Route of the 400s," Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe, SLSF "Ship It On the Frisco," Union Pacific, Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio. There were a lot of cars from eastern roads; Pennsylvania (with the keystone and lined PRR letters), New Haven, Maine Central, B&M, of course, and New York Central. Dull red (boxcar red or tuscan) was the predominant color although refrigerator cars were yellow or orange and there were some red, white and blue "State of Maine" cars to break up the monotony. Sometimes there would be cuts of ratty looking single dome tank cars or loaded and empty coal cars on the yard tracks. There were also indescribably filthy hide cars in the yard along with livestock cars with open, slatted sides. Gondolas were there, too, with loads of scrap of other cargo in large wooden crates. There I could see flat cars with loads of machinery or other equipment, sometimes in the open and sometimes covered with tarps. In any case, freight on flat cars was blocked and tied down to keep the loads from shifting. The engine terminal was a wondrous combination of steam and diesel engines of different types. At the clangorous steam shop, the fleet of aging Pacifics, Atlantics, and Moguls received inspections and running repairs. I also saw 4-8-2s at the steam shop. These engines had enormous pedestal tenders. The diesel house, newer and much cleaner than the steam shop, handled all types of Alco RS-type units and EMD E units from passenger trains and FTs and geeps from freights. The B&M's splendid red and gold color scheme was highlighted by a herald of the Concord Minute Man. B&M engines shared terminal space with Maine Central's green and gold units that came down from the north on passenger trains. Painted a light green, an E unit's engine compartment was hot and noisy even when the engine was idling. Steam engines pulled commuter trains when I was young. Diesel power replaced steam in the mid 50s. Every business day a fleet of Alco RS and EMD GP7-powered trains converged on North Station to discharge a host of businessmen, secretaries and others who worked in the city. The B&M's wine-red commuter cars were, at best, spartan. Air conditioning did not exist as steam heat tried to subdue New England's winters and open windows did their best to cope with summer heat and humidity. The Bruins and Celtics played at Boston Garden (built atop North Station). Other events such as professional wrestling and the circus took place at the Garden, too. My grandmother, who bet on anything that moved, passionately loved professional wrestling. Her two favorite wrestlers were Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and Gorgeous George. The most hated villain was the lantern-jawed blue-jowled "Killer" Kowalski, master of the dreaded claw hold. Over on the main line west from Boston, Waltham was a good place to watch trains, and it wasn' t too far from home, which made it even better. The Boston and Maine's tracks at Waltham were on the north side of the Charles River. Moody Street crossed the Charles on a concrete bridge and the Waltham stati Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:32 AM Good day Tom and all in attendance. Drinks all around and a Guinness for me. Eric: The following explanation was provided along with the photo of the tram.FC Del LLANO De MaipoThese were the first electric chilean railcars, built in Chile in 1925 by Siemens, from the old steam railroad coachs. Foto courtesy of Col L Richter My son's truck is a 1967 cab-over Peterbilt with a Cummins engine and 13 gears. He will get a lot of practice double clutching. He brought it here from Florida with no problems. He has never driven an 18 wheeler on a major road, so this has given him some real time experience. The trailer is a Fruhauf end dump, steel frame and aluminum tub. Everything is surprisingly in good shape. He had to install a wet-line kit for the dump and the ram seals leaked. I helped him yesterday to take the ram out to get new seals installed. After that, he should be ready to make some money. A friend of his moved 60 loads in one week at $300 per load. There's a lot of money to be made hauling dirt. Tom: We have the technology now to replace fossil fuel, but the problem is the oil barons have too much influence in government. They are making lots of money and will milk the wells dry before switching to alternates. When the price of fuel goes up, then we see alternates, like hydrogen, fuel cells, solar, etc hit the market, but when the fuel cost goes down, the plug is pulled on alternates. It will require the government to mandate and subsidize if necessary if alternates are to become fact. At least that's the way I see it. Jan: That early post from Barndad about the Delano photos was of interest to me. I never knew there was so much material that hasn't been made public. Most of what has been made public has pretty much been seen in books and on the internet. I had pictures I took a long time ago, but the quality wasn't good enough to post. Most of them have been deep-sixed. Great pics of the UP engines. I was just last night reading about the UP 4-12-2's. It had three cylinders, was the longest rigid wheelbase of any engine and outperformed 2-10-2's and 2-8-8-0 compound mallets on grades both in speed and fuel consumption. 88 of them were built and one still exists at the Transportation Museum in Los Angeles. Tom: Do you remember hitching rides on the back of a trolley car and pulling the pickup pole off the wire when you wanted to get off? It was a wonder any of us lived long enough to remember those reckless (and exciting) times growing up in New York. For some more information on Caprotti valve gear and a restoration project, go to: http://www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk/73129/home.html Some real nice photos and information. Edit JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 9:17 AM Greetings again Tom and gentlemen....Could I have another top up please...? Give the lads whatever they want when they fall through the door will you...? Here's my contribution to photoposting day....after encore...UP engine number M-10000 with train ##105, The Streamliner, 2 cars, leaving Kansas City, Mo., January 18, 1936. UP engine number M-10001 with train #2, City of Portland and 6 cars, doing 75 mph, near Cheyenne, Wyo., July 7, 1935. UP engine number CD-07 with train #112, City of Denver and 11 cars, near Denver, Colo., April 2, 1944.UP engine number LA-1 with train #103, City of Los Angeles, 14 cars hitting 40 mph, near Julesburg, Colo., June 19, 1938.UP 4-12-2 9019 and 4-8-8- 4023 with a westbound freight train of 83 cars, near Cheyenne, Wyo., June 8, 1947.UP 4-12-2 9009 with a westbound 38 car freight train doing 50 mph, Bosler, Wyo., June 9, 1935.Credit: Otto Perry and photoswest. All the best! Jan JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:25 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen.....May have the usual extra cold Guinness, top up with cigars for the troops please? Keep the change....$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer....While on my snooping around for encore material, I came across a few names that I haven't seen around here for some time....passengerfan, West Coast S, barndad, Gunns, Theodorebear, wrwatkins, earlydiesels, Trainnut484, nickinwestwales, bjdukert, just to mention a few. Plenty of interesting posts though!03-04-2007: barndad wrote:Good evening Tom and friends! Tis I ... the barn weevil. I'll have another Lager, and dig out the Michigan quarters for Herr Wurlitzer. Just saw my horoscope, and it's just darn scary how accurate some of that stuff can be! Got some real nice dome pix from manager "Moon Pie"Lars today! Glad you liked the last installment of the Penn State coal story Catfish Pete. You know, I was wondering if the railroad would have channeled monies blown on fighting Penn State into actual rate reductions, if that story might have had a different, or at least a postponed ending. No mention was ever made about how much these different studies cost the university, so how much did they really save? I agree. The loco pix might have been the very same loco. Thanks very much for the great Alan (what's his sign?) pix!I remember the old pix from Tom. I even recall using one to graft him into a picture of our humble little saloon by the tracks.Hey .. what a coincidence! I was just thinking of West Coast Dave when I came across some Southern Pacific stuff today, and then he shows up! Bummer about being in Iraq. Hope you keep safe.Great URLs from Mike as usual. Loved the color B&O shot, and the witt of Alfred E.Am I the only non-oracle here? Sheesh. Here's another humble submission from me today:Big Shoulders - Photos by Jack Delano. Text by Mark ReuterIn November 1942, a young photographer from the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., set out for Chicago. Armed with credentials from the FBI and a letter of introduction by the Association of American Railroads, Jack Delano was assigned to document railroad transportation during World War II by taking "photographs of Chicago as a railroad terminal, showing yards, tracks, handling the trains, hump-and-retarder operations, inspection and repair of trains, signal systems, roundhouses and repair shops."He and his wife, Irene, rented an apartment in Chicago, and Delano began his assignment by taking photos of wartime crowds at Union Station. He then ventured into locomotive shops and freight yards to get a behind-the-scenes view of railroading that was rarely, if ever, seen by the public.The weather was not cooperative. December 1942 was bitterly cold, and he spent many nights at Chicago & North Western's sprawling Proviso Yard in sub-zero temperatures. He carried his clunky equipment in his arms and on his back, and he rode with crews to document the exchange of traffic between eastern and western carriers. While getting off a boxcar, he bent his Graflex Speed Graphic when he slipped on packed snow.<An inspector has blue-flagged cars to protect them from being moved to Illinois Central's South Water Street Freight Terminal in downtown Chicago>Nearly all of the photographs he took were in black and white, but he also experimented with color shots. These were Kodak sheet-film transparences, mostly 4X5 inches. The color transparences were sent back to Washington along with the black-and-white film, where the OWI documentary project, it turned out, was in crisis and the photography section was soon to be dissolved.< The humpmaster governs the speed at which the pusher locomotive shoves cars over the hump by using a five-notch controller that triggers lineside signals to the engineer>Unpublished at the time, Delano's railroad photographs were transferred to the archives of the Library of Congress, along with more than 150,000 other images produced by photographers at OWI and the Farm Security Administration.<Towerman R.W. Mayberry operates track turnouts (switches) and the retarders that brake the free-rolling cars as they are classified in the yard>Some of Delano's black-and-white images eventually resurfaced in the 1970s, most notably in James E.Valle's "The Iron Horse at War and Don Ball Jr. and Rogers E.W. Whitaker's Decade of the Trains, the 1940s. But even those who had discovered Delano's work assumed that all of his railroad photographs were monochrome. Delano, who had relocated to Puerto Rico and was busy composing music and managing the island's public television station, did not point out the existence of the color images to the few persons who contacted him about his Chicago project.<An employee demonstrates night signaling with a fusee. The up-and-down movement means "proceed." Delano took this timed exposure at Indiana Belt's yard at Calumet City, IL.>Professional photographers in the 1940s disdained color as contrived, but Delano was years ahead of his time. He used color as information rather than ornamentation. Thus we can see the exhaustion of the welder with grit-dusted amber cheeks, and feel the snap of winter as steam spouts above the ice-blue yards of the Indiana Harbor Belt.<Silhouetted against a bright sky, a tank car rolls down the hump track into the classification bowl of C&NW's Proviso Yard in April 1943.>His color images are both matter-of-fact and stunning. He shot many of them at night, finding that the intensely saturated colors of Kodachrome film - warm reds, deep blues, and strong earth tones - bathed in the blackness of dimly lit backshops, lent a painterly vividness to his portraits.<Crews clean the switch points of ice and snow on a frigid January 1943 day at the Harbor Belt's Blue Island Yard>Delano's leap into photography stemmed from his art-student background and lifelong social activism. As a student traveling to Europe on a scholarship in 1935, he was awed by the paintings of Goya and Van Gogh, especially by what he termed "the sympathetic way they rendered ordinary people."<Delano used the gloom of C&NW's roundhouse to dramatically frame the workworn eyes and soot-caked face of "L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker."> All the best! Jan siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:10 AM <personal foto>This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents! Saturday has arrived - fall is in the is still prevailing - petrol is at $2.57 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" <dropped a cent!> ‘n all is well in mid-continent USA! It's time for a few pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board ‘n of course a mug or two of our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee! Comments from the Proprietor: Tomorrow, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Proprietor's Observations: Noticed Fergie (Fergmiester) ‘n Per (marthastrainyard) logged in on Thursday ‘n Friday - but no visit. Also noticed Jan (JanOlov) on Friday - but no visits. Hmmmmmmm. Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Friday - Nov 9th, 2007:Dan (DL-UK) at 12:18 PM: Really enjoyed the Preston Station link - terrific ‘n well done! Good for us that you stumbled upon it! Could easily become overwhelmed with that steam link . . . will require lotsatime to get through that one! <phew>Appreciate your taking the time to swing by ‘n provide the gang with some cheer in the form of a round! CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 3:13 PM: A second visit for the day, but one with quite a message! Yes, the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month." Appreciate your thoughtfulness ‘n will be sure to provide the "good stuff" for those who take the time ‘n make the effort on Sunday ‘n Monday! Thanx for the round ‘n quarters for Herr Wurlitzer! Pete (pwolfe) at 6:08 PM: Those "Duke" series of steam locomotives are great to look at. Can just imagine what they sounded like while underway. Perhaps you could put together a collage of those you have in your photo archives . . . Your "take" on the difference between StL ‘n KCity Union Stations is ‘right on." I was here when StL let the station deteriorate ‘n then when it was purchased for renovation. There was absolutely no intent to ever use the place for operating passenger rail. As I understand it, those who owned the place reluctantly let those sidings remain <which are disappearing> along with some privately owned loco's ‘n cars <now gone>. I witnessed the rebirth of Union Station in KCity ‘n recall how the public support for it was far more energetic than here. In StL the idea was to provide an "upscale" shopping experience with a 5-star hotel ‘n restaurant, etc. Whereas in KCity they featured a Science Center for kids, along with retention of passenger train nostalgia. Amtrak came a about a decade later, but it came! Found this regarding that mural in Sacramento's rail station: The Sacramento station was originally the terminal for the South Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:55 AM Good morning Captain Tom and all present!Leon, I tried to get you some more time off, but it did not help. Finally Friday and an other weekend! Good to see Manager Lars again! Tom – Revealing pictures! I was not aware that so many participants slept through parts of the 2nd Annual Rendezvous! But now we all know! I guess the last (third) photo shows when Pete found out about the leaking soda pop in the bag!I agree 100% with you, nothing binds a nation more than a common language. I don’t understand why English isn’t the official language and why the ballot is available in Spanish? One is supposed to be able to read and speak English to become a citizen. Lars – Good to see Manager Lars again, even for just a little while! Thanks for the trade marks from the Larsman Mobile! Starting with an interesting video, Kicking Horse pass! Triumph VI is my choice of the books! No wonder Ruth was smiling today!CM3 – A princess should always be treated as a princess! Of course they expect it. <grin>I am impressed by the long list of skills you still can use! I know I am still able to stick shift and double clutch. My old stick shift and double clutch vehicle.I am also able to do my math w/o a calculator!Bake real Swedish coffee bread.Ride a bicycle for hundreds of miles in one day.Gassed in the Great War, yes, it says it all. A real hero!Ron – History is of interest! It is always very interesting to learn about people’s background! I think your father did the right thing, making sure that you became a 100% American! A different looking trolley! Do you know if it actually was built in Germany or if it was built in Chile from an old German passenger coach?DL – Interesting links! I bookmarked them for future use! Thanks!Pete – What was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop? I would say almost everything. You can see some samples in the window! As far as I can recall you were never able to get everything out of it! Thanks for the loco numbers! #2925 is a Class 2900, 4-8-4 built by Baldwin 1943-1944 and retired 1959. AT&SF had 30 locomotives of that class.#5021 is a class 5011, 2-10-4, built by Baldwin 1944, retired 1959. AT&SF had 25 of those. Thanks for all the info on the modern days steam locomotives on BR! Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:19 PM Good evening Tom and all. A round of drinks and a Guinness for me. I can only think of a few skills to add to the list of forgotten technologies.Cut wood with a handsawUse basic tools instead of power toolsCooking without the use of Teflon cookwareHow to sharpen a knifeKnow how to fix things that others throw awayHow to mix the perfect martini I heard on a newscast the other night, that China is becoming very dependent on oil and may surpass us in oil consumption pretty soon. This news is good and bad. Bad because that will speed up oil depletion resulting in higher prices. Good because it will further alternate energy sources, like coal for steam locomotives. If it is to happen, my guess would be that the UK would be in the forefront of steam technology. Most European countries have a good electrification infrastructure in place, so the switch from oil to coal wouldn't have too much of an impact. Here in the U.S., coal would probably be the most logical choice, as a nationwide system of electric railways would be a very costly undertaking. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas. Tom: Those two A/C vents are not for the A/C. They are on an air purifier I built to suck dust out of the air. I have 8 A/C registers in the overhead, which also supply heat on the few times when heat is called for. When I replaced the house heating and A/C unit with a new one, the old one went to my shop. That's about all I have for now. See you later.Ron Edit pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Friday, November 9, 2007 6:08 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams please RUTH.ROB I think historic buildings are a lot more appreciated nowadays than say in the 1960s lets hope Toronto Union is left as the great building I have seen in photographs. ERIC Perhaps we could have a quiz as to what was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop.Those Santa Fe steam locomotives outside the Sacramento Locomotive Works are # 2925 and possibly #5021 according to one of my rare notes. Good photo of the X2000 at Sacramento station.Liked the photo of the Caprotti valve on BR standard Class 5 4-6-0. The BR Standard 5s were quite similar to the LMS class 5s. There were 172 Standard 5s built,they were introduced in 1951. There were 30 of class fitted with the Caprotti gear introduced in 1956.Originally 20 were allocated to Patricroft depot near Manchester and sheds in the Derby area after the first 10 started at Shrewsbury. Also the were 10 allocated to St Rollex shed in Glasgow Scotland. The class finished up with the English 20 all at Patricroft and the Glasgow ones spending their whole career at St Rollex. I think the locos need a different method of handling from the original locos; one working I can remember the Caprottis on was a London to Manchester fast freight that used to pass through Rugby in the evening. A strange thing about these locomotives was that in foggy weather the steam seemed to cling around the locos more than other engines.The last express passenger locomotive built in Britain for BR was the Pacific No 71000 'Duke Of Gloucester built in 1954. this 3-cylinder loco also had Caprotti valve gear. The locomotive did not have too good a reputation in BR days. Luckily 71000 found its way to Barry scrapyard and was saved, although there was a lot of items missing, like the outside cylinders. The people who restored the locomotive done a wonderful job and found a mistake in the ashpan dimensions which could have accounted for the locos poor reputation, they have also modified the chimney arrangement and now 71000 is a very strong locomotive and can compete with any of the steam locos running on BR today. A photo of the 'Duke' at Carlisle on a steam special.LARS Great to see you in Yes BORIS is doing really well looking after the Mascots treats, all I have to do is make sure the PPF jars arrive on time and send the empty jars back. The bag is a wonder I got it from Rugby market years ago for about $10, it must have been over the Atlantic at least 10 times as well as carrying the shopping when I was in Rugby.I have missing the Larsman Mobile a great selection today; I think my favorites this time are the B&O Switchers and the Boston & Maine ones, great photo of the Alco leaving the tunnel.Agree with your words on Veteran's Day.CM3 Yes the Sacramento Railroad museum is a great place, If they can ever get the old Locomotive works open to the public as well it would be a complete railroad experience as they already operate a short steam line.I shall look forward to more tales of the L&N as well as some slides at the Rendezvous.I think the new museum of TOM's will be a success. Great list of Things at the museum, which the younger generation can try their hand at.Off the top of my head a couple of things.Able to ride a pushbike with no gears.Circular slide rule.IroningAble to work out exact overtime pay in my head.Very good words for this Sunday, I will indeed have a moment of silence to remember those who gave and are giving so much that we can enjoy the freedom we some times take for granted. RON I think the technology is there to make a feasible new generation of steam locos as it says in the link, L. D Porta and David Wardale have done a lot of work in this direction. With a computer controlled firing locomotive able to use a low grade coal it could be economical to run if a you say the gas prices continue to rise at present rates although it would be a massive cost to put in the infrastructure to run the next generation of steam locomotives.Great link to the railways of Europe there are plenty of great photos.Thanks for that great photo of the Chilean tram, love the windows.Great words about Our Place. I too have learned an enormous amount about the railroads and trolley systems of North America from visiting the bar, from knowing very little when I first visited Our Place.DL Good to see you in the bar. I think Preston station is a listed building, I hope so, as it is a great example of a LNWR large station, now that Rug coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 3:13 PM Good Afternoon BArkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the hosue and $ for the jukebox.Just a quick stop as we are abt. to go offline until Tuesday.I have directed the barkeep to provide bottles of the best available over the weekend. Feel free to use them (as appropriate) for "Toasts to absent friends." We do that a lot around here given our line of work. I'll start things off a little ahead of time for observances. I was looking through a group of old family photos the other night - we brought tons of stuff back here this summer and came across a shot of a British soldier (we have had more than a few in the family over the years). I turned it over and read the caption (in my grandmothers copperplate script). It said, "Picture of Cousin Stanley - Gassed in the Great War." Says it all, I believe. Remember a moment of silence for the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month," and hope for better days ahead.Thanks to all who serve and have served.work safe DL - UK Member sinceAugust 2006 280 posts Posted by DL - UK on Friday, November 9, 2007 12:18 PM Hello Tom and all in Round for the house, bitter for me please.Just a quick call - hope all is well, been able to reveiw soem of the recent stuff - lots of interest - hope to be back before too long with a more inclusive posting and up dates! Bit busy with one thing and another (what with the LMS issue of Railway Magazine, and my Friends of the National Railway Musuem Journal - AND my Settle Carlisle Line journal all turning up at pretty much the same time! Rather a lot of reading matter!)Couple of links people might enjoy (my guess is this is a place Pete for certain will have spent time at - the web site is nicely done - found it by chance):http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bradshaw/preston/And this is a serious index with some detailed articles - plenty to read for certain (if you've not got enough already....)http://www.steamindex.com/index.htmBest wishes to allDL siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 11:43 AM G'day Gents!Ruth, go on 'n take your break - I'll be here for a bit to watch things! And yes, a round on the house - Boris, ring the bell! Have a few things to attend to this afternoon, so figured it's time to get a leg up on the comments . . . . Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Lars (LoveDomes) at 8:10 AM: Ah, the return of our Manager - if only for a brief time - great to see ya again, Mate! Every now ‘n then I get into a <funk> regarding how the times of today seem so drastically <different> from "back in the day." Of course this is nothing more than what all of us encounter as AGE creeps up on us. I don't attach anything more significant to it than that. HOWEVER, society has indeed changed ‘n along with it comes viewpoints running diametrically opposed to the things I hold near ‘n dear. I've wondered aloud many a time, "Would I be willing to defend these people, if . . . . . ?" Hang in there partner, we may be dying off faster than being replaced by like-minded individuals, but while we're here - let's never let ‘em get to us! It's been a long week without your offerings of covers ‘n it surely hit the spot to see those fine selections to help keep our morning humming along. One day I'm just going to have to spring for the DVDs . . . only have a very, very sparse collection, ‘n honestly don't know why! <puzzled>You're absolutely correct regarding our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie. He's anchored somewhere outta sight OR has placed himself in the Penalty Box <feeling shame, of course!> Received your latest Email ‘n responded - thanx! The round for the house is appreciated, but more so having you back amongst the gang! Ruth has a smile that just won't quit - and I think that was a tear coming out of Boris' eye <as in ONE - he is a Cyclops ya know!> CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:39 AM: Now that's quite a listing ‘n of course something to ponder. Surely the guyz can add to it . . . So with this newly created Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills, let's have some fun with it on Fridays! Love ‘n care for ‘em now, for in the not-too-distant-future your precious little ones grow up. Hard for me to believe how fast the time has gone from those days of hearth, home ‘n family. Cherish it all while you can, Mate - it changes right before your eyes. <uh oh>Mention of Rendezvous III brings to mind that I'll probably have to seek out an auditorium for the "presentations" you'll be putting together on "Everything Rails That Was ‘n Is ‘n May be!"Thought you'd pick up on those fotos of Doug ‘n Pete who were obviously overtaken by the sheer excitement of Amtrak travel. <grin>Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Ron (DD1) at 10:37 AM: And who should appear this morning but our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker>! Good to see ya, but I MUST wonder aloud - are you using that REFRESH/RELOAD/RESTORE feature on your browser in order to pick up on the MOST CURRENT POSTS Seems like you're a bit behind on the offerings . . . If you don't understand what I'm referring to, send me an Email ‘n we'll discuss it. Seems we had similar upbringings "back in the day." My two grandfathers came to this land back around 1910 from Germany. One grandma from Ireland, the other from Germany. The grandfathers insisted that only English be spoken in the house and most especially if I happened to be in the room. They refused to allow their native tongue to get in the way of adapting to the ways of their new country. So, I grew up without learning it. About all I can recite are some "colorful phrases," if you follow my drift! <grin>Imagine how great it would be in America if those who are beating a path to our shores ‘n borders had the same attitude as your father ‘n my grandfathers regarding the language I've yet to read or hear an argument convincing enough to change my claim that NOTHING binds a nation more so than a common tongue. But what do I know A captivating read on that "COALS" link. So the question is - why aren't we doing it!?!?!? Methinks we already know the answer - but another question is, "How high must the price of fuel get before we see the light?" <groan>Many thanx for the visit, chat ‘n round! <yes, we ru Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 10:37 AM Good Day Tom and all present. It may be too early for a little libation, but by the time I finish composing this, drinks all around may be in order. First off I want to say, I've learned more about trains in the short time I've been visiting than in the first 60 or so years preceeding my first visit. I realize from the content of these posts, that a lot of time goes into researching what goes into them. We all have to allot time based on our priorities. Some can allot more time than others. If one considers researching material, copying it, composing it, digging through old photos, scanning them and transferring them into a post, much time and effort is expended. it is greatly appreciated by me, as having done the same myself, I can realize the effort. Without trying to excuse myself, I sometimes don't give credit where credit is due. Enuf said. Eric: No, I never learned to speak Chinese, although I wish I had. My father wanted me to be 100% American. He came to this country in 1906 and despite the prejudice he faced, loved his newly adopted land. He was a man of very deep morals who believed in hard work, honor, family, sacrifice and responsibility. Basically, he was a Buddhist, but would attend the Catholic church with the rest of the family. He was a life long Republican and even contributed to the party. I must end this here, as I am writing my memoirs and can go on and on if not stopped. I just thought a little history would be of interest. Pete: I haven't seen Sunnyside yard for many a year. I used to spend much time there on the pedestrian bridges watching the trains. Too bad I didn't have a camera at the time. In an earlier post, (11/06/2007) you made an interesting point about the UK not adopting diesels early due to the cost of importing oil and staying with coal. With the cost of oil rising to all time levels, day by day, maybe there will come a time when steam might be more economical to operate. Wouldn't that be great! At least in this country, steam could be a way to go. In Europe, electric would rule due to their already extensive electrification network. There was a group here called "COALS" (Coal Oriented Advanced Systems) that was trying to develop a steam locomotive using a mix coal dust and water, converting it into a gas and use that to generate steam. The following link describes the COALS project and it's future. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html#TOP Tom: A most interesting history of BR. I came across this link that covers railways all over the world. Of particular interest was the chapter on liveries. See http://www.railfaneurope.net/. This one is for Trolleyboy: An old trolley built in 1925 for a Chilean tram. It was made from an old passenger coach in Germany. Got to run and cook lunch. See you later, Ron Edit coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 9:39 AM Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Partly cloudy here today with temps in the 30s - gas holding at $3.15.Pete has visited with comments and locomotive history. I have never been to Sacramento although I have heard good things abt. The rr museum there. The L&N ran better than average passenger service to the end. I have posted several items about them in the past (including some first hand accounts). Come to the rendezvous and hear more stores,Rob - I knew you would have the answer. I figured changing the trucks on the DC PCCs was, of course, part of the modifications, but I was unsure about what they did electrically - thanks for the information.Eric - she's always treated that way - they expect it don't they (lol)Caprotti valve gear shot was a good one.Lars has been by - good to hear from you - keep the shiny side up, sir! The bookmobile had some interesting items today. Robert W. Jones's books on the B&M are excellent although pricy. I heartily recommend his two volumes on the Boston and Albany as well. I have the B&M passenger car book - these books are black and white photographs which are really useful for looking at details, etc. Captioning is helpful as well because it gives the reader a time frame for when the picture was taken, where, and so on. OSP stopped by too. First, thanks for the L&N summary. I enjoyed your exposition of Weber's Law of Mechanical arts. Now, our vaunted research department (believe me, we pay them what they're worth) went to the legal section in the east wing and found a Corollary to Weber's Law which reads as follows: "The Law also applies to any other activity involving tension adjustments, carburetion, throttle settings, etc., especially when being done outside in snow, sleet, and/or high wind. Sub rule A of the corollary says:"Physical conditions mentioned in Weber's law occur ALWAYS when the truck is several hundred feet away from the job site, AND the one special screwdriver you need is not in your pocket because you left it on the truck."I see where OSP has opened a museum - kind of like the old Gilbert Hall of science - we'll call it Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills.Here are some forgotten technologies CM3 can still useMorse CodeManual typewriterSextant - A long time ago, but it'll come backSlide rule Let's throw in a few more "old" things that we still know how to doStick shift (Three on the tree) Stick shift (Four on the floor) Double clutch and downshiftParallel park Siphoning fuel - (It was a tough neighborhood)Carb adjustment Tuneup - (Includes gapping plugs and setting timing)Flush and fill cooling system Cooling system test Using a church key to open adult beverages w/o getting contents all over the place Patch tires Replace fuses - we don't need no stinkin' breakersUse math w/o a calculatorDo case lot and percent discounts in my head - used to work for a wholesaler back yrs. ago - b4 calculators even existedSquare roots with paper and pencilGeometry and trig - to figure stuff out so I don't get ripped off by suppliersVentilation calculations w/o a calculatorGet around w/o a GPS (day and night) SewCook lots of stuff from scratch - Indoors or outsideI'll bet the barflies can add a few more - let's see how big a list we can get. A word of warning, however: Boris has lots of skills but we don't want to know too much about them if we have to testify.Work safe LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:10 AM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Ruth my deAH, yes it's really me - the Larsman back for a bit with a <grin> ‘n some cheer for da boyz at the bar! Boris, I see you've been feedin' the crittAHs during my absence, so that super-sized jar of PPF is for YOU! And my deAH, I'll take a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please ‘n a round for the house - the change, as always, is for YOU! In keeping with my wishes to remain a bit silent regarding personal things - let me just say it's been a tough couple of weeks. Thanks to youse guyz for stickin' with me "off line" - I've been in contact with Cap'n Tom, so my guess is he's passed some info your way by our e-mail net. Things are hardly "normal" these times, but I'll try to stop in as time permits - couldn't just fuhgedaboudit! Sorry if I'm unable to comment on all the posts. I've checked 'em out though 'n see that Da Bossman has really turned-to with more outstanding material to keep the bar afloat. Way to go Cap'n Tom! Noted that things 'round here are in good order, thanks to Bar Chandler Pete! Acting Manager!?!?!?! <arrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh> So, what do we have ‘round here Great idea for Armistice Day <Veterans Day> on Sunday! I'll do my best to show up with something to contribute - count on it! Monday is the legal observance for the holiday - which of course means another round of weekend sales at the malls across the land. Some places will actually hold parades ‘n services honoring those who have and ARE serving in the military. Those events will be sparsely attended. More people show up for anti-this ‘n anti-that than for patriotic events.A whole bunch of people will be off from work - even those who have nothing but disdain ‘n outright hatred of our military. Can you imagine such a thing? How hypocritical is THAT, I ask Sure, take off the day with pay in honor of our military - but go about your day spitting on those who helped to preserve our freedoms. Ok, ‘nuf of my rants for this day. Good to see some activity this week - especially Wednesday. That was a "gudun," huh Guys seemed to show up with "stuff" to say ‘n share. I see that Fergie the Sailor got <tweeted> for his indiscretions 'round here AND hasn't been heard from SINCE! <yikes>Love those pix of Doug ‘n Pete <snoozing> aboard the train. Caption should be something like, "Are we having fun yet?" <grin> Then there's Pete ‘n that bag of his. What in the world do you suppose he finds so enticing about that thing A man's purse, maybe????? Hmmmmmmm. Best keep a close eye on him! Noted the discussion regarding Union Station up in Toronto and all I could think of was the destruction of Penn Station here in New York City. I think Shane made mention of that too. Anyway, those rail palaces of the past have a place in the future. Hope that those who are setting out to make changes keep in mind that you can nevAH bring back something that you destroy.Can't stay too much longer, but there's time for a few <trade marks> from the Larsman Mobile! CPs Kicking Horse Pass (DVD)CNs Yellowhorse Pass (DVD)B&O Diesel Locomotives, Vol 1 - Switchers & Road SwitchersTriumph VI - Pioneer & ChallengerBoston & Maine - Forest, River & MountainPass siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 5:54 AM <personal foto> Friday's GrinReasons "things" happen! Law of Mechanical Repair: As soon as your hands are coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee. G'day Gents! Week's end OH-FISH-UL-LEE begins at the end of this work day - so let's get a start on the countdown with a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board - pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - ‘n a mugga freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee to wash it all down! Comments from the Proprietor: Sunday, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Thursday - Nov 8th, 2007:CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:26 AM: Nice inclusive Post . . . Never knew the loco wash routine. Makes sense - dirty noses, hmmmmmm. Only YOU would KNOW that!! If one looks back on all of the ‘stuff' crammed into our grey <gray> matter, it would boggle the mind <grey/gray matter>! For example, who today gives a Rat's Patoot about the Morse Code? And yet, I still can "pound it out" and copy at an admirable speed. <used to copy at 35 wpm "back in the day"> Who cares about the use of a manual typewriter or even KNOWS the keyboard by heart ? I do - but the former is a relic of the past whereas the latter is simply that "thing" all computers have. It goes on - I still can recite the major USCG Cutter locations <home ports> from "back in the day" - knew the ships names AND call signs <still do!> But many <if not all> of those old ladies are at the bottom of the sea <or sold off to some foreign government> . . . and who gives a hoot about call signs! <geesh> Then there is the use of a sextant! How about a slide rule? How about . . . . Get my point Oh yeah, I even remember our FIRST telephone number from when I was a kid: Gibralter 80863W <a party line!>I'll take the GG1 cab ride - loco wash notwithstanding! Is round trip airfare to Sunnyside included Good news about the return to the digs for your youngster! Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Pete (pwolfe) at 4:30 PM: Enjoyed speaking with you today ‘n finalizing our December plans. <phew> Sometimes Email just doesn't "get it," eh Regarding your comments regarding the Union Stations here in StL ‘n in KCity - I concur that they have done marvelous restorations. However, KCity is heads ‘n shoulders above StL in that they have TRAINS there - both real ‘n model. They haven't forgotten what the structure was initially built for. In StL they have chased away anything running on the rails and NEVER gave a thought to having Amtrak operate there when it was reopened a couple of decades ago. Structurally, they are as different as Boris ‘n Ruth - however, there's a certain charm that goes with either! <grin>Most interesting mural shot - do you know what it depicts Appreciate the round - chat - fotos ‘n inclusiveness of your comments! Rob (trolleyboy Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:46 PM Good evening Captain Tom and all present!!Leon, don't you ever get any day off? I feel sorry for you! Anyway, a sugar cured ham sandwich on rye would be perfect! A cold Keith's, please!Close to the end of the work week! Just one more day. Tom – Two nice pictures of the T&P EA8A and MP Alco PA in very similar livery! I know that Pete emptied his bag at least once, see picture.Thanks for the L&N info! Nice looking drumheads! Just like Pete I like the Hummingbird one the best. CM3 – Good news, you got your young patient back home!!! Treat her as a princess!!You are right about the tracks in (and out of) the picture! Thanks for all the info on the different cars! Pete – Thanks for the 5s info!! There were quite a few of them built! I copied the text for future reference. I have to find out about the Caprotti valve gear. Sounds like an Italian designed it. I am not sure if those coars are cabooses. I kind of doubt it. I have to get back to the original picture to see if I can find any. Interesting pictures from Sacramento! I am trying to read the number on that Santa Fe locomotive but it is impossible. Here is my only picture from Sacramento. I found some info on Caprotti Valve Gear (Wikipedia) and here is a picture of 5s #73129 with a Caprotti Valve Gear. (Photo shown with permission from Wikipedia) Rob – Do you still have the broad TTC track in Toronto? Eric « First«39404142434445»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
A pint of Bathams would go down well CINDY.
ERIC I guess those Santa Fe locomotives will one day be on display in the museum, thanks for the info on them.
Any info you can add to the photos from Alan on his recent trip to Holland would be very welcome.
It will be interesting to see what it is you are in the cab of, in the photo, I am guessing a locomotive.
JAN Great idea to have DOUG'S Jack Delano post as an encore, really great photos and color from those days. Those photos of the workers at the C&NW roundhouse are simply great works of art. I remember the post caused a lot of discussion at the bar when it was first posted. Thanks for sharing.
Many thanks for those great photos from the 1930s and 1940s. M 100000 must have caused quite a stir when it first came out and the sound UP #s 9019 and 4023 must have made with that freight near Wyoming must have been wonderful
Thanks for the round.
RON Thanks for the info on the Chilean tramcar
That is a good link to Standard class 5 No 73129. I have that painting featuring 73129 in Caprotti Crescendo here in mid Missouri. The Midland Railway Centre is a great place to visit with a great museum and workshop at Swanwick Junction. It is also the home of the two Stanier LMS Pacifics, Princess class 46203 and Duchess 6233.
They have a narrow gauge railway, which features small diesel locomotives and some cars that were used to carry miners to the coalface.
PER I think the Carriage and Wagon department was run by the same management with the locomotive and operating sides run by a separate managements. I think the locomotive and C&W would both report to the Chief Mechanical Engineer.
I am sure ROB will be able to help with the San Francisco streetcars.
It will be the volunteers would keep those steam locomotives looking as though they have just come out of the paint shop. It is a matter of pride to the support crews, especially when the locomotives that are certified to run on the BR system to haul to specials, on the cleanliness of the locomotives.
Glad you liked the photos of the model museum. I don't think the ones this week were on the Tehachapi layout.
Many thanks for the photos of Northampton (I used to live about 20 miles from the English town of the same name). Did you get a chance to go inside the Union Station restaurant or the Tunnel Bar.
TOM I'm afraid I have not been too clear (again). No 71000 Duke of Gloucester was a one off; the year after the Duke was built the ‘Modenisation Plan' for British Railways was announced which stopped any new steam locomotive designs. The reason I have heard given for the ordering of 71000 was to replace the re-built Turbomotive No 46202, which was destroyed in the very bad Harrow and Weldstone wreck.
The Duke is a powerful locomotive (for the UK) on one trip you could feel the acceleration in the cars not often felt with steam or diesel traction.
One great trip we had was a trip that was one of the first trips of preserved steam on the southern part of the West Coast Main Line (still very rare today) out of London Euston. The start out of Euston is up Camden Bank a 1% grade. In steam days trains were usually helped up the bank by the locomotive that brought the cars into the terminus. On our trip the Duke took the train up the bank unassisted steadily accelerating, as you say the sound was magnificent.
I will see if I can get some photos of the Standard classes of steam locomotives together although I don't think I have any of the Britannias or of the 4 classes out of the 12 classes of Standards built, that did not survive into preservation, although there are a couple of schemes one to build a ‘Clan' class pacific from new and one to convert a 2MT 2-6-0 tender locomotive class number 78XXX to a 2MT 2-6-2 tank locomotive class 84XXX
Many thanks for the link to Sacramento Amtrak station. There are some great benches by the back of the Railroad Museum where trains can be watched crossing the Sacramento River. I have a couple of photos I will show next week. I did notice some UP intermodel freights pass through.
A pushbike is I guess called a bicycle here, no motor just pedals.
Another great Encore today with CM3's classic on the B&M and Boston North station in the change over from steam to diesel, we really have had some great posts at Our Place. Loved the term ‘Complicated Ballet'. Many thanks for sharing this great and evocative post again.
May I please have a strong black Java please.....and the usual top up with cigars for the lads as well....keep the change. Any painkillers lying about...? I've managed to attract a slight headache....
$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer...
UP 4-6-2 2906 in Cheyenne, Wyo., July 18, 1937.
UP observation car 1535, "Colorado Club," on its initial run on the Columbine, in Denver, Colo., May 22, 1930.
UP M-10006 with train #112, City of Denver, getting ready to leave Denver Union Station on first eastbound run, June 18, 1936.
UP M-10005, The City of Denver; before starting service here with 7 cars, on exhibition at Denver, Colo., June 14, 1936.
UP streamlined 4-8-2 7002 with train #48, the 49er, here with 8 cars doing 35 mph, near Echo, Utah, October 23, 1937.
CMStP&P 10300 with train #15, The Olympian; emerging from Pipestone Pass tunnel with 12 cars, Butte, Mont., August 9, 1938.
Credit: Otto Perry and photoswest.
Hello everybody at the bar! Have a great weekend, all of you.
Ruth, I'll have a ham and cheese for lunch and a pint of Guinness. I see that the Grant I left last time must have been a success, so here's another one for the boys when they come in.
I finally got some of my New England pictures uploaded, so look for them at the end of this post.
Tom, Thanks, it was the PS-4 I was thinking of. I saw the one in the Smithsonian, but I would really have liked to see one under steam!
Interesting you should mention landscaping of your layout. That was one of those tasks I thought was going to be really difficult. I had read a lot and everybody said it was easy, but I just didn't believe them. Until I saw one of the guys in the club going at it on his little area of the club layout. "Is that all there is to it?" I asked and he said yes and offered me to try a corner of the area he was working on. Yes, it really wasn't that difficult so now I've finished my part of the layout and I am reay to attack a home layout once I get back to CA.
Very interesting reading about the Canadian transcontinental train, the Con-adian. Too bad it's no longer going all the way. I remember reading about the VIA train back in Sweden, it must have been in 1979 or 1980., and wanting then to have a ride on it.
Thanks also for the article on BR. Now I understand what "Big 4" the Brits around here are talking about. I like the "Ferret and Dartboard" logo, a real classic. When I looked at the Wikipedia link I got a bit confused with the terminology (why doesn't that surprise me?). A "carriage" is a passenger car and a ""wagon" is a freight car, is that right? But there is one article talking about Carriage and Wagon classification as if they were synonymous.
Great article about the Marx company. It's hard to believe that the trains and the "Donald the Demon" figurine come from the same maker. As somebody else mentioned here, Marx must have been a couple of steps down from Lionel and maybe American Flyer, but I bet they are sought after in these days anyhow.
That T&P E8 is a beauty! The E8 is a very powerful looking locomotive.
The L&N Hummingbird drumhead is great! I wonder if that was an illuminated sign.
My first phone number was 11688. See, even I remember that! When the town grew they added a "1" to it, 111688, it was never that easy to say.
Great pictures, as usual, from Alaska. That little 0-4-0 looks great.
Pete, Yes, those streets in San Francisco are really steep, aren't they? Makes you understand Bill Crosby's "drifting backwards in to the Bay" or "Come around!" much better.
I wonder when they started to use other cities' street cars in San Francisco. Makes it like a living museum, almost.
That Jubilee 5690 Leander is a real beauty. I wonder who's keeping it that clean and polished.
I like the pictures from San Diego. Are those you posted on Wednesday from the Tehachapi layout?
I recognize the Sacramento area where you took the pictures, but I was never inside the station, so that mural is something I missed. It looks great!
Eric, Thanks for the info on the FRA Metroliner. That was some interesting reading you provided. Are you close to their test track area? It is in AZ, isn't it?
Interesting that you should show a picture of the Sunnyside yard. I had just read about the yard in an old issue of Trains. Do you know if it has been downsized from the size in the 50's?
Rob, do you mean that the PCC cars in San Francisco are all former "in house" cars that are just painted in other colors? I thought for a while that those were genuine imported cars. But San Francisco had a lot of PCC cars, didn't they. I remember riding in them when I first visited back in 1966. And then when I read farther down I see you mentioned that many of them came from Toronto. Are there any of the original San Francisco PCC cars left?
Al, there are many times I have regretted not having a camera as well. There were so many things we took for granted and never put on film that we miss now. One would think that we could learn from past experience and take more pictures nowadays, but that's not always the case, unfortunately.
CM3, I hope your family's medical situation has turned to the better by now.
I saw that Citibank ad as well. The first time I saw it I thought there was something funny with it, and the second time I realized what it was. I don't think you can buy two boat tickets anywhere in Norway and get to Stockholm with those!
I really like the link to the Erie magazine. It was great fun to read what the employees thought of railroading 50 years from then (= today). Everything from an atomic engine to "If Congress just acts this will be fine", to "greater competition". Some of those guys came pretty close to what the situation is today.
If you just give me the address to the "Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills" I'll be there right away! I've always wanted to learn how to use a sextant. Or how to cut a perfect dovetail with a handsaw? That's not so easy, really. I still know how to use a stick shift and double clutch, if needed. Maybe I'm a bit rusty on the use of a slide rule, but please tell me how to use an Abacus.
I saw Tom had reposted your article about North Station. What a masterpiece! I still haven't had a chance to get there, maybe next time in Boston.
Ron, yes I have found a nice train club. It is kind of small around 10-15 members, but everybody get along very well. The only problem is that I have been spoiled now, and will probably have great difficulties finding something in CA when I move back there. San Diego is too far away so those clubs are out of the question.
That's a nice shop you have! The size of that D roof is enormous! It didn't hit me when you mentioned the length in feet and inches, but when I saw the picture, oh WOW! How heavy is the roof alone? Do you have any idea what the weight of the complete engine will be?
I couldn't agree with you more on the fuel policy, but I really doubt the government will do anything drastic. They are too much in the hands of the oil industry.
Jan, nice pictures of the 4-8-2's. That depot in the background in the Fort Worth picture is still there. I think parts of it are converted to lofts and condos now.
Thanks for reposting Barndad's article on Delano. That was great! What does it mean when a car is blue-flagged? I don't think it has anything to do with being parked under the Blue Ribbon Beer sign.
Great UP Streamliner pictures as well. That M-10000 always looked so "angry" to me. Quite a change in design between that and the LA-1 in only a few years.
Lars, nice to see you again. Keep come in as you can. I see the Larsman Mobile has modernized and is now stocking DVDs. That's great. Does anybody know where that tunnel picture on the B&M is taken?
DL, I like the links you provided, especially the black and white photos. There seems to be something that has been lost in the photographic skills when we stopped using BW.
As promised, here are a couple of pictures from my New England trip.
It was the Boston & Maine that went through Northampton, here's the bridge:
This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!
As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED.
#1 Steam loco #1 0-4-0 at Anchorage RR Depot
#2 To the trains!
#3 Anchorage from the RR Depot
#4 Final morning in Alaska - Denali Star getting ready to depart for Fairbanks
#5 Alaska RR HQ - Anchorage
#6 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#7 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#8 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#9 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#10 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#11 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#12 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
#13 Denali Star underway for Fairbanks
That's IT - no more - finished!
Enjoy!
Tom
Here's an ENCORE! Post from a guy who has been around this joint from pretty much the "get go." This was provided by CM3 Shane (coalminer3) over on the Original Thread - Sep 9th, 2005, Page 102 . . . as only he could present it!
Good Morning All: Coffee, please; $ for a round and jukebox are on the bar. There has been some talk recently abt. North Ststion in Boston. Herewith, another few pages from the "memory book" abt. North Station and the B&M. The heart of the Boston and Maine was the utilitarian North Station, a building that crouched along Causeway Street, hemmed in by the elevated trolley tracks and the Manger Hotel and surmounted by Boston Garden. I always associated North Station with winter even though I traveled from there in all seasons. Maybe it was the name - North Station - that made me think of ice-encrusted freight cars and steam-heated passenger coaches and trains plowing through deep snow "up country." North Station's lobby was neither large nor ornate. It was a low, wide space, somewhat dark, with ticket windows on one side and train gates on the other. It was not a space designed for travelers to spend much time. Buying tickets was simple; tell the agent where you wanted to go, pu***he money under the bars in the window and get your ticket and change back with minimal conversation and no wasted motion; a truly New England process. To the trains, then, ticket in hand. Umbrella sheds protected the platforms and it was always cold under the sheds in the winter, and cool under the sheds in the summer. From North Station, the B&M sent commuter trains to the suburbs and long haul runs to all corners of northern New England, west to New York State, and into Canada. Passengers could not see much as the tracks were close together and it was dark so the scope of operations at North Station was not apparent until a train cleared the umbrella sheds and moved out into an area that was a little more open. North Station was a busy place with cars and locomotives come to the big city from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada. There was also a horde of commuter trains. In the morning, empty trains backed out of the station as loaded trains arrived. In the evening, this complicated ballet occurred again. Loaded outbound trains threaded their way among empty trains backing down from the coach yard to the station. The station tracks quickly narrowed to a pair of drawbridges; truly a yard "throat." A tower just east of the bridges controlled all of the activity. Bridge tenders were responsible for raising the bridges to allow shipping to pass, which was mostly tows of barges. The tracks fanned out after crossing the bridges. Mystic was next. Mystic was truly the operational heart of the Boston and Maine. Across the Charles River from North Station, Mystic was in the shadows of the grim walls of what the newspapers always called the "infamous Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown." Mystic combined freight yards, team tracks, and a coach yard. The Boston Engine Terminal was part of the larger Mystic facility. The names on the cars in the coach yard told where the B&M went and the places it served. There were coaches, lounge cars, sleepers, RPOs and baggage cars from the Canadian Pacific, Boston and Maine, and Maine Central. Commuter coaches were, of course, most numerous. The B&M (in common with other New England lines) terminated a lot more freight than it originated, so many offline cars were interspersed with home road cars. Framed by the coach window, I could see cars from far away roads. They snapped by like slides; Chicago and North Western "Route of the 400s," Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe, SLSF "Ship It On the Frisco," Union Pacific, Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio. There were a lot of cars from eastern roads; Pennsylvania (with the keystone and lined PRR letters), New Haven, Maine Central, B&M, of course, and New York Central. Dull red (boxcar red or tuscan) was the predominant color although refrigerator cars were yellow or orange and there were some red, white and blue "State of Maine" cars to break up the monotony. Sometimes there would be cuts of ratty looking single dome tank cars or loaded and empty coal cars on the yard tracks. There were also indescribably filthy hide cars in the yard along with livestock cars with open, slatted sides. Gondolas were there, too, with loads of scrap of other cargo in large wooden crates. There I could see flat cars with loads of machinery or other equipment, sometimes in the open and sometimes covered with tarps. In any case, freight on flat cars was blocked and tied down to keep the loads from shifting. The engine terminal was a wondrous combination of steam and diesel engines of different types. At the clangorous steam shop, the fleet of aging Pacifics, Atlantics, and Moguls received inspections and running repairs. I also saw 4-8-2s at the steam shop. These engines had enormous pedestal tenders. The diesel house, newer and much cleaner than the steam shop, handled all types of Alco RS-type units and EMD E units from passenger trains and FTs and geeps from freights. The B&M's splendid red and gold color scheme was highlighted by a herald of the Concord Minute Man. B&M engines shared terminal space with Maine Central's green and gold units that came down from the north on passenger trains. Painted a light green, an E unit's engine compartment was hot and noisy even when the engine was idling. Steam engines pulled commuter trains when I was young. Diesel power replaced steam in the mid 50s. Every business day a fleet of Alco RS and EMD GP7-powered trains converged on North Station to discharge a host of businessmen, secretaries and others who worked in the city. The B&M's wine-red commuter cars were, at best, spartan. Air conditioning did not exist as steam heat tried to subdue New England's winters and open windows did their best to cope with summer heat and humidity. The Bruins and Celtics played at Boston Garden (built atop North Station). Other events such as professional wrestling and the circus took place at the Garden, too. My grandmother, who bet on anything that moved, passionately loved professional wrestling. Her two favorite wrestlers were Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and Gorgeous George. The most hated villain was the lantern-jawed blue-jowled "Killer" Kowalski, master of the dreaded claw hold. Over on the main line west from Boston, Waltham was a good place to watch trains, and it wasn' t too far from home, which made it even better. The Boston and Maine's tracks at Waltham were on the north side of the Charles River. Moody Street crossed the Charles on a concrete bridge and the Waltham stati Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:32 AM Good day Tom and all in attendance. Drinks all around and a Guinness for me. Eric: The following explanation was provided along with the photo of the tram.FC Del LLANO De MaipoThese were the first electric chilean railcars, built in Chile in 1925 by Siemens, from the old steam railroad coachs. Foto courtesy of Col L Richter My son's truck is a 1967 cab-over Peterbilt with a Cummins engine and 13 gears. He will get a lot of practice double clutching. He brought it here from Florida with no problems. He has never driven an 18 wheeler on a major road, so this has given him some real time experience. The trailer is a Fruhauf end dump, steel frame and aluminum tub. Everything is surprisingly in good shape. He had to install a wet-line kit for the dump and the ram seals leaked. I helped him yesterday to take the ram out to get new seals installed. After that, he should be ready to make some money. A friend of his moved 60 loads in one week at $300 per load. There's a lot of money to be made hauling dirt. Tom: We have the technology now to replace fossil fuel, but the problem is the oil barons have too much influence in government. They are making lots of money and will milk the wells dry before switching to alternates. When the price of fuel goes up, then we see alternates, like hydrogen, fuel cells, solar, etc hit the market, but when the fuel cost goes down, the plug is pulled on alternates. It will require the government to mandate and subsidize if necessary if alternates are to become fact. At least that's the way I see it. Jan: That early post from Barndad about the Delano photos was of interest to me. I never knew there was so much material that hasn't been made public. Most of what has been made public has pretty much been seen in books and on the internet. I had pictures I took a long time ago, but the quality wasn't good enough to post. Most of them have been deep-sixed. Great pics of the UP engines. I was just last night reading about the UP 4-12-2's. It had three cylinders, was the longest rigid wheelbase of any engine and outperformed 2-10-2's and 2-8-8-0 compound mallets on grades both in speed and fuel consumption. 88 of them were built and one still exists at the Transportation Museum in Los Angeles. Tom: Do you remember hitching rides on the back of a trolley car and pulling the pickup pole off the wire when you wanted to get off? It was a wonder any of us lived long enough to remember those reckless (and exciting) times growing up in New York. For some more information on Caprotti valve gear and a restoration project, go to: http://www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk/73129/home.html Some real nice photos and information. Edit JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 9:17 AM Greetings again Tom and gentlemen....Could I have another top up please...? Give the lads whatever they want when they fall through the door will you...? Here's my contribution to photoposting day....after encore...UP engine number M-10000 with train ##105, The Streamliner, 2 cars, leaving Kansas City, Mo., January 18, 1936. UP engine number M-10001 with train #2, City of Portland and 6 cars, doing 75 mph, near Cheyenne, Wyo., July 7, 1935. UP engine number CD-07 with train #112, City of Denver and 11 cars, near Denver, Colo., April 2, 1944.UP engine number LA-1 with train #103, City of Los Angeles, 14 cars hitting 40 mph, near Julesburg, Colo., June 19, 1938.UP 4-12-2 9019 and 4-8-8- 4023 with a westbound freight train of 83 cars, near Cheyenne, Wyo., June 8, 1947.UP 4-12-2 9009 with a westbound 38 car freight train doing 50 mph, Bosler, Wyo., June 9, 1935.Credit: Otto Perry and photoswest. All the best! Jan JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:25 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen.....May have the usual extra cold Guinness, top up with cigars for the troops please? Keep the change....$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer....While on my snooping around for encore material, I came across a few names that I haven't seen around here for some time....passengerfan, West Coast S, barndad, Gunns, Theodorebear, wrwatkins, earlydiesels, Trainnut484, nickinwestwales, bjdukert, just to mention a few. Plenty of interesting posts though!03-04-2007: barndad wrote:Good evening Tom and friends! Tis I ... the barn weevil. I'll have another Lager, and dig out the Michigan quarters for Herr Wurlitzer. Just saw my horoscope, and it's just darn scary how accurate some of that stuff can be! Got some real nice dome pix from manager "Moon Pie"Lars today! Glad you liked the last installment of the Penn State coal story Catfish Pete. You know, I was wondering if the railroad would have channeled monies blown on fighting Penn State into actual rate reductions, if that story might have had a different, or at least a postponed ending. No mention was ever made about how much these different studies cost the university, so how much did they really save? I agree. The loco pix might have been the very same loco. Thanks very much for the great Alan (what's his sign?) pix!I remember the old pix from Tom. I even recall using one to graft him into a picture of our humble little saloon by the tracks.Hey .. what a coincidence! I was just thinking of West Coast Dave when I came across some Southern Pacific stuff today, and then he shows up! Bummer about being in Iraq. Hope you keep safe.Great URLs from Mike as usual. Loved the color B&O shot, and the witt of Alfred E.Am I the only non-oracle here? Sheesh. Here's another humble submission from me today:Big Shoulders - Photos by Jack Delano. Text by Mark ReuterIn November 1942, a young photographer from the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., set out for Chicago. Armed with credentials from the FBI and a letter of introduction by the Association of American Railroads, Jack Delano was assigned to document railroad transportation during World War II by taking "photographs of Chicago as a railroad terminal, showing yards, tracks, handling the trains, hump-and-retarder operations, inspection and repair of trains, signal systems, roundhouses and repair shops."He and his wife, Irene, rented an apartment in Chicago, and Delano began his assignment by taking photos of wartime crowds at Union Station. He then ventured into locomotive shops and freight yards to get a behind-the-scenes view of railroading that was rarely, if ever, seen by the public.The weather was not cooperative. December 1942 was bitterly cold, and he spent many nights at Chicago & North Western's sprawling Proviso Yard in sub-zero temperatures. He carried his clunky equipment in his arms and on his back, and he rode with crews to document the exchange of traffic between eastern and western carriers. While getting off a boxcar, he bent his Graflex Speed Graphic when he slipped on packed snow.<An inspector has blue-flagged cars to protect them from being moved to Illinois Central's South Water Street Freight Terminal in downtown Chicago>Nearly all of the photographs he took were in black and white, but he also experimented with color shots. These were Kodak sheet-film transparences, mostly 4X5 inches. The color transparences were sent back to Washington along with the black-and-white film, where the OWI documentary project, it turned out, was in crisis and the photography section was soon to be dissolved.< The humpmaster governs the speed at which the pusher locomotive shoves cars over the hump by using a five-notch controller that triggers lineside signals to the engineer>Unpublished at the time, Delano's railroad photographs were transferred to the archives of the Library of Congress, along with more than 150,000 other images produced by photographers at OWI and the Farm Security Administration.<Towerman R.W. Mayberry operates track turnouts (switches) and the retarders that brake the free-rolling cars as they are classified in the yard>Some of Delano's black-and-white images eventually resurfaced in the 1970s, most notably in James E.Valle's "The Iron Horse at War and Don Ball Jr. and Rogers E.W. Whitaker's Decade of the Trains, the 1940s. But even those who had discovered Delano's work assumed that all of his railroad photographs were monochrome. Delano, who had relocated to Puerto Rico and was busy composing music and managing the island's public television station, did not point out the existence of the color images to the few persons who contacted him about his Chicago project.<An employee demonstrates night signaling with a fusee. The up-and-down movement means "proceed." Delano took this timed exposure at Indiana Belt's yard at Calumet City, IL.>Professional photographers in the 1940s disdained color as contrived, but Delano was years ahead of his time. He used color as information rather than ornamentation. Thus we can see the exhaustion of the welder with grit-dusted amber cheeks, and feel the snap of winter as steam spouts above the ice-blue yards of the Indiana Harbor Belt.<Silhouetted against a bright sky, a tank car rolls down the hump track into the classification bowl of C&NW's Proviso Yard in April 1943.>His color images are both matter-of-fact and stunning. He shot many of them at night, finding that the intensely saturated colors of Kodachrome film - warm reds, deep blues, and strong earth tones - bathed in the blackness of dimly lit backshops, lent a painterly vividness to his portraits.<Crews clean the switch points of ice and snow on a frigid January 1943 day at the Harbor Belt's Blue Island Yard>Delano's leap into photography stemmed from his art-student background and lifelong social activism. As a student traveling to Europe on a scholarship in 1935, he was awed by the paintings of Goya and Van Gogh, especially by what he termed "the sympathetic way they rendered ordinary people."<Delano used the gloom of C&NW's roundhouse to dramatically frame the workworn eyes and soot-caked face of "L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker."> All the best! Jan siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:10 AM <personal foto>This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents! Saturday has arrived - fall is in the is still prevailing - petrol is at $2.57 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" <dropped a cent!> ‘n all is well in mid-continent USA! It's time for a few pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board ‘n of course a mug or two of our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee! Comments from the Proprietor: Tomorrow, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Proprietor's Observations: Noticed Fergie (Fergmiester) ‘n Per (marthastrainyard) logged in on Thursday ‘n Friday - but no visit. Also noticed Jan (JanOlov) on Friday - but no visits. Hmmmmmmm. Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Friday - Nov 9th, 2007:Dan (DL-UK) at 12:18 PM: Really enjoyed the Preston Station link - terrific ‘n well done! Good for us that you stumbled upon it! Could easily become overwhelmed with that steam link . . . will require lotsatime to get through that one! <phew>Appreciate your taking the time to swing by ‘n provide the gang with some cheer in the form of a round! CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 3:13 PM: A second visit for the day, but one with quite a message! Yes, the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month." Appreciate your thoughtfulness ‘n will be sure to provide the "good stuff" for those who take the time ‘n make the effort on Sunday ‘n Monday! Thanx for the round ‘n quarters for Herr Wurlitzer! Pete (pwolfe) at 6:08 PM: Those "Duke" series of steam locomotives are great to look at. Can just imagine what they sounded like while underway. Perhaps you could put together a collage of those you have in your photo archives . . . Your "take" on the difference between StL ‘n KCity Union Stations is ‘right on." I was here when StL let the station deteriorate ‘n then when it was purchased for renovation. There was absolutely no intent to ever use the place for operating passenger rail. As I understand it, those who owned the place reluctantly let those sidings remain <which are disappearing> along with some privately owned loco's ‘n cars <now gone>. I witnessed the rebirth of Union Station in KCity ‘n recall how the public support for it was far more energetic than here. In StL the idea was to provide an "upscale" shopping experience with a 5-star hotel ‘n restaurant, etc. Whereas in KCity they featured a Science Center for kids, along with retention of passenger train nostalgia. Amtrak came a about a decade later, but it came! Found this regarding that mural in Sacramento's rail station: The Sacramento station was originally the terminal for the South Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:55 AM Good morning Captain Tom and all present!Leon, I tried to get you some more time off, but it did not help. Finally Friday and an other weekend! Good to see Manager Lars again! Tom – Revealing pictures! I was not aware that so many participants slept through parts of the 2nd Annual Rendezvous! But now we all know! I guess the last (third) photo shows when Pete found out about the leaking soda pop in the bag!I agree 100% with you, nothing binds a nation more than a common language. I don’t understand why English isn’t the official language and why the ballot is available in Spanish? One is supposed to be able to read and speak English to become a citizen. Lars – Good to see Manager Lars again, even for just a little while! Thanks for the trade marks from the Larsman Mobile! Starting with an interesting video, Kicking Horse pass! Triumph VI is my choice of the books! No wonder Ruth was smiling today!CM3 – A princess should always be treated as a princess! Of course they expect it. <grin>I am impressed by the long list of skills you still can use! I know I am still able to stick shift and double clutch. My old stick shift and double clutch vehicle.I am also able to do my math w/o a calculator!Bake real Swedish coffee bread.Ride a bicycle for hundreds of miles in one day.Gassed in the Great War, yes, it says it all. A real hero!Ron – History is of interest! It is always very interesting to learn about people’s background! I think your father did the right thing, making sure that you became a 100% American! A different looking trolley! Do you know if it actually was built in Germany or if it was built in Chile from an old German passenger coach?DL – Interesting links! I bookmarked them for future use! Thanks!Pete – What was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop? I would say almost everything. You can see some samples in the window! As far as I can recall you were never able to get everything out of it! Thanks for the loco numbers! #2925 is a Class 2900, 4-8-4 built by Baldwin 1943-1944 and retired 1959. AT&SF had 30 locomotives of that class.#5021 is a class 5011, 2-10-4, built by Baldwin 1944, retired 1959. AT&SF had 25 of those. Thanks for all the info on the modern days steam locomotives on BR! Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:19 PM Good evening Tom and all. A round of drinks and a Guinness for me. I can only think of a few skills to add to the list of forgotten technologies.Cut wood with a handsawUse basic tools instead of power toolsCooking without the use of Teflon cookwareHow to sharpen a knifeKnow how to fix things that others throw awayHow to mix the perfect martini I heard on a newscast the other night, that China is becoming very dependent on oil and may surpass us in oil consumption pretty soon. This news is good and bad. Bad because that will speed up oil depletion resulting in higher prices. Good because it will further alternate energy sources, like coal for steam locomotives. If it is to happen, my guess would be that the UK would be in the forefront of steam technology. Most European countries have a good electrification infrastructure in place, so the switch from oil to coal wouldn't have too much of an impact. Here in the U.S., coal would probably be the most logical choice, as a nationwide system of electric railways would be a very costly undertaking. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas. Tom: Those two A/C vents are not for the A/C. They are on an air purifier I built to suck dust out of the air. I have 8 A/C registers in the overhead, which also supply heat on the few times when heat is called for. When I replaced the house heating and A/C unit with a new one, the old one went to my shop. That's about all I have for now. See you later.Ron Edit pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Friday, November 9, 2007 6:08 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams please RUTH.ROB I think historic buildings are a lot more appreciated nowadays than say in the 1960s lets hope Toronto Union is left as the great building I have seen in photographs. ERIC Perhaps we could have a quiz as to what was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop.Those Santa Fe steam locomotives outside the Sacramento Locomotive Works are # 2925 and possibly #5021 according to one of my rare notes. Good photo of the X2000 at Sacramento station.Liked the photo of the Caprotti valve on BR standard Class 5 4-6-0. The BR Standard 5s were quite similar to the LMS class 5s. There were 172 Standard 5s built,they were introduced in 1951. There were 30 of class fitted with the Caprotti gear introduced in 1956.Originally 20 were allocated to Patricroft depot near Manchester and sheds in the Derby area after the first 10 started at Shrewsbury. Also the were 10 allocated to St Rollex shed in Glasgow Scotland. The class finished up with the English 20 all at Patricroft and the Glasgow ones spending their whole career at St Rollex. I think the locos need a different method of handling from the original locos; one working I can remember the Caprottis on was a London to Manchester fast freight that used to pass through Rugby in the evening. A strange thing about these locomotives was that in foggy weather the steam seemed to cling around the locos more than other engines.The last express passenger locomotive built in Britain for BR was the Pacific No 71000 'Duke Of Gloucester built in 1954. this 3-cylinder loco also had Caprotti valve gear. The locomotive did not have too good a reputation in BR days. Luckily 71000 found its way to Barry scrapyard and was saved, although there was a lot of items missing, like the outside cylinders. The people who restored the locomotive done a wonderful job and found a mistake in the ashpan dimensions which could have accounted for the locos poor reputation, they have also modified the chimney arrangement and now 71000 is a very strong locomotive and can compete with any of the steam locos running on BR today. A photo of the 'Duke' at Carlisle on a steam special.LARS Great to see you in Yes BORIS is doing really well looking after the Mascots treats, all I have to do is make sure the PPF jars arrive on time and send the empty jars back. The bag is a wonder I got it from Rugby market years ago for about $10, it must have been over the Atlantic at least 10 times as well as carrying the shopping when I was in Rugby.I have missing the Larsman Mobile a great selection today; I think my favorites this time are the B&O Switchers and the Boston & Maine ones, great photo of the Alco leaving the tunnel.Agree with your words on Veteran's Day.CM3 Yes the Sacramento Railroad museum is a great place, If they can ever get the old Locomotive works open to the public as well it would be a complete railroad experience as they already operate a short steam line.I shall look forward to more tales of the L&N as well as some slides at the Rendezvous.I think the new museum of TOM's will be a success. Great list of Things at the museum, which the younger generation can try their hand at.Off the top of my head a couple of things.Able to ride a pushbike with no gears.Circular slide rule.IroningAble to work out exact overtime pay in my head.Very good words for this Sunday, I will indeed have a moment of silence to remember those who gave and are giving so much that we can enjoy the freedom we some times take for granted. RON I think the technology is there to make a feasible new generation of steam locos as it says in the link, L. D Porta and David Wardale have done a lot of work in this direction. With a computer controlled firing locomotive able to use a low grade coal it could be economical to run if a you say the gas prices continue to rise at present rates although it would be a massive cost to put in the infrastructure to run the next generation of steam locomotives.Great link to the railways of Europe there are plenty of great photos.Thanks for that great photo of the Chilean tram, love the windows.Great words about Our Place. I too have learned an enormous amount about the railroads and trolley systems of North America from visiting the bar, from knowing very little when I first visited Our Place.DL Good to see you in the bar. I think Preston station is a listed building, I hope so, as it is a great example of a LNWR large station, now that Rug coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 3:13 PM Good Afternoon BArkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the hosue and $ for the jukebox.Just a quick stop as we are abt. to go offline until Tuesday.I have directed the barkeep to provide bottles of the best available over the weekend. Feel free to use them (as appropriate) for "Toasts to absent friends." We do that a lot around here given our line of work. I'll start things off a little ahead of time for observances. I was looking through a group of old family photos the other night - we brought tons of stuff back here this summer and came across a shot of a British soldier (we have had more than a few in the family over the years). I turned it over and read the caption (in my grandmothers copperplate script). It said, "Picture of Cousin Stanley - Gassed in the Great War." Says it all, I believe. Remember a moment of silence for the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month," and hope for better days ahead.Thanks to all who serve and have served.work safe DL - UK Member sinceAugust 2006 280 posts Posted by DL - UK on Friday, November 9, 2007 12:18 PM Hello Tom and all in Round for the house, bitter for me please.Just a quick call - hope all is well, been able to reveiw soem of the recent stuff - lots of interest - hope to be back before too long with a more inclusive posting and up dates! Bit busy with one thing and another (what with the LMS issue of Railway Magazine, and my Friends of the National Railway Musuem Journal - AND my Settle Carlisle Line journal all turning up at pretty much the same time! Rather a lot of reading matter!)Couple of links people might enjoy (my guess is this is a place Pete for certain will have spent time at - the web site is nicely done - found it by chance):http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bradshaw/preston/And this is a serious index with some detailed articles - plenty to read for certain (if you've not got enough already....)http://www.steamindex.com/index.htmBest wishes to allDL siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 11:43 AM G'day Gents!Ruth, go on 'n take your break - I'll be here for a bit to watch things! And yes, a round on the house - Boris, ring the bell! Have a few things to attend to this afternoon, so figured it's time to get a leg up on the comments . . . . Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Lars (LoveDomes) at 8:10 AM: Ah, the return of our Manager - if only for a brief time - great to see ya again, Mate! Every now ‘n then I get into a <funk> regarding how the times of today seem so drastically <different> from "back in the day." Of course this is nothing more than what all of us encounter as AGE creeps up on us. I don't attach anything more significant to it than that. HOWEVER, society has indeed changed ‘n along with it comes viewpoints running diametrically opposed to the things I hold near ‘n dear. I've wondered aloud many a time, "Would I be willing to defend these people, if . . . . . ?" Hang in there partner, we may be dying off faster than being replaced by like-minded individuals, but while we're here - let's never let ‘em get to us! It's been a long week without your offerings of covers ‘n it surely hit the spot to see those fine selections to help keep our morning humming along. One day I'm just going to have to spring for the DVDs . . . only have a very, very sparse collection, ‘n honestly don't know why! <puzzled>You're absolutely correct regarding our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie. He's anchored somewhere outta sight OR has placed himself in the Penalty Box <feeling shame, of course!> Received your latest Email ‘n responded - thanx! The round for the house is appreciated, but more so having you back amongst the gang! Ruth has a smile that just won't quit - and I think that was a tear coming out of Boris' eye <as in ONE - he is a Cyclops ya know!> CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:39 AM: Now that's quite a listing ‘n of course something to ponder. Surely the guyz can add to it . . . So with this newly created Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills, let's have some fun with it on Fridays! Love ‘n care for ‘em now, for in the not-too-distant-future your precious little ones grow up. Hard for me to believe how fast the time has gone from those days of hearth, home ‘n family. Cherish it all while you can, Mate - it changes right before your eyes. <uh oh>Mention of Rendezvous III brings to mind that I'll probably have to seek out an auditorium for the "presentations" you'll be putting together on "Everything Rails That Was ‘n Is ‘n May be!"Thought you'd pick up on those fotos of Doug ‘n Pete who were obviously overtaken by the sheer excitement of Amtrak travel. <grin>Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Ron (DD1) at 10:37 AM: And who should appear this morning but our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker>! Good to see ya, but I MUST wonder aloud - are you using that REFRESH/RELOAD/RESTORE feature on your browser in order to pick up on the MOST CURRENT POSTS Seems like you're a bit behind on the offerings . . . If you don't understand what I'm referring to, send me an Email ‘n we'll discuss it. Seems we had similar upbringings "back in the day." My two grandfathers came to this land back around 1910 from Germany. One grandma from Ireland, the other from Germany. The grandfathers insisted that only English be spoken in the house and most especially if I happened to be in the room. They refused to allow their native tongue to get in the way of adapting to the ways of their new country. So, I grew up without learning it. About all I can recite are some "colorful phrases," if you follow my drift! <grin>Imagine how great it would be in America if those who are beating a path to our shores ‘n borders had the same attitude as your father ‘n my grandfathers regarding the language I've yet to read or hear an argument convincing enough to change my claim that NOTHING binds a nation more so than a common tongue. But what do I know A captivating read on that "COALS" link. So the question is - why aren't we doing it!?!?!? Methinks we already know the answer - but another question is, "How high must the price of fuel get before we see the light?" <groan>Many thanx for the visit, chat ‘n round! <yes, we ru Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 10:37 AM Good Day Tom and all present. It may be too early for a little libation, but by the time I finish composing this, drinks all around may be in order. First off I want to say, I've learned more about trains in the short time I've been visiting than in the first 60 or so years preceeding my first visit. I realize from the content of these posts, that a lot of time goes into researching what goes into them. We all have to allot time based on our priorities. Some can allot more time than others. If one considers researching material, copying it, composing it, digging through old photos, scanning them and transferring them into a post, much time and effort is expended. it is greatly appreciated by me, as having done the same myself, I can realize the effort. Without trying to excuse myself, I sometimes don't give credit where credit is due. Enuf said. Eric: No, I never learned to speak Chinese, although I wish I had. My father wanted me to be 100% American. He came to this country in 1906 and despite the prejudice he faced, loved his newly adopted land. He was a man of very deep morals who believed in hard work, honor, family, sacrifice and responsibility. Basically, he was a Buddhist, but would attend the Catholic church with the rest of the family. He was a life long Republican and even contributed to the party. I must end this here, as I am writing my memoirs and can go on and on if not stopped. I just thought a little history would be of interest. Pete: I haven't seen Sunnyside yard for many a year. I used to spend much time there on the pedestrian bridges watching the trains. Too bad I didn't have a camera at the time. In an earlier post, (11/06/2007) you made an interesting point about the UK not adopting diesels early due to the cost of importing oil and staying with coal. With the cost of oil rising to all time levels, day by day, maybe there will come a time when steam might be more economical to operate. Wouldn't that be great! At least in this country, steam could be a way to go. In Europe, electric would rule due to their already extensive electrification network. There was a group here called "COALS" (Coal Oriented Advanced Systems) that was trying to develop a steam locomotive using a mix coal dust and water, converting it into a gas and use that to generate steam. The following link describes the COALS project and it's future. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html#TOP Tom: A most interesting history of BR. I came across this link that covers railways all over the world. Of particular interest was the chapter on liveries. See http://www.railfaneurope.net/. This one is for Trolleyboy: An old trolley built in 1925 for a Chilean tram. It was made from an old passenger coach in Germany. Got to run and cook lunch. See you later, Ron Edit coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 9:39 AM Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Partly cloudy here today with temps in the 30s - gas holding at $3.15.Pete has visited with comments and locomotive history. I have never been to Sacramento although I have heard good things abt. The rr museum there. The L&N ran better than average passenger service to the end. I have posted several items about them in the past (including some first hand accounts). Come to the rendezvous and hear more stores,Rob - I knew you would have the answer. I figured changing the trucks on the DC PCCs was, of course, part of the modifications, but I was unsure about what they did electrically - thanks for the information.Eric - she's always treated that way - they expect it don't they (lol)Caprotti valve gear shot was a good one.Lars has been by - good to hear from you - keep the shiny side up, sir! The bookmobile had some interesting items today. Robert W. Jones's books on the B&M are excellent although pricy. I heartily recommend his two volumes on the Boston and Albany as well. I have the B&M passenger car book - these books are black and white photographs which are really useful for looking at details, etc. Captioning is helpful as well because it gives the reader a time frame for when the picture was taken, where, and so on. OSP stopped by too. First, thanks for the L&N summary. I enjoyed your exposition of Weber's Law of Mechanical arts. Now, our vaunted research department (believe me, we pay them what they're worth) went to the legal section in the east wing and found a Corollary to Weber's Law which reads as follows: "The Law also applies to any other activity involving tension adjustments, carburetion, throttle settings, etc., especially when being done outside in snow, sleet, and/or high wind. Sub rule A of the corollary says:"Physical conditions mentioned in Weber's law occur ALWAYS when the truck is several hundred feet away from the job site, AND the one special screwdriver you need is not in your pocket because you left it on the truck."I see where OSP has opened a museum - kind of like the old Gilbert Hall of science - we'll call it Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills.Here are some forgotten technologies CM3 can still useMorse CodeManual typewriterSextant - A long time ago, but it'll come backSlide rule Let's throw in a few more "old" things that we still know how to doStick shift (Three on the tree) Stick shift (Four on the floor) Double clutch and downshiftParallel park Siphoning fuel - (It was a tough neighborhood)Carb adjustment Tuneup - (Includes gapping plugs and setting timing)Flush and fill cooling system Cooling system test Using a church key to open adult beverages w/o getting contents all over the place Patch tires Replace fuses - we don't need no stinkin' breakersUse math w/o a calculatorDo case lot and percent discounts in my head - used to work for a wholesaler back yrs. ago - b4 calculators even existedSquare roots with paper and pencilGeometry and trig - to figure stuff out so I don't get ripped off by suppliersVentilation calculations w/o a calculatorGet around w/o a GPS (day and night) SewCook lots of stuff from scratch - Indoors or outsideI'll bet the barflies can add a few more - let's see how big a list we can get. A word of warning, however: Boris has lots of skills but we don't want to know too much about them if we have to testify.Work safe LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:10 AM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Ruth my deAH, yes it's really me - the Larsman back for a bit with a <grin> ‘n some cheer for da boyz at the bar! Boris, I see you've been feedin' the crittAHs during my absence, so that super-sized jar of PPF is for YOU! And my deAH, I'll take a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please ‘n a round for the house - the change, as always, is for YOU! In keeping with my wishes to remain a bit silent regarding personal things - let me just say it's been a tough couple of weeks. Thanks to youse guyz for stickin' with me "off line" - I've been in contact with Cap'n Tom, so my guess is he's passed some info your way by our e-mail net. Things are hardly "normal" these times, but I'll try to stop in as time permits - couldn't just fuhgedaboudit! Sorry if I'm unable to comment on all the posts. I've checked 'em out though 'n see that Da Bossman has really turned-to with more outstanding material to keep the bar afloat. Way to go Cap'n Tom! Noted that things 'round here are in good order, thanks to Bar Chandler Pete! Acting Manager!?!?!?! <arrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh> So, what do we have ‘round here Great idea for Armistice Day <Veterans Day> on Sunday! I'll do my best to show up with something to contribute - count on it! Monday is the legal observance for the holiday - which of course means another round of weekend sales at the malls across the land. Some places will actually hold parades ‘n services honoring those who have and ARE serving in the military. Those events will be sparsely attended. More people show up for anti-this ‘n anti-that than for patriotic events.A whole bunch of people will be off from work - even those who have nothing but disdain ‘n outright hatred of our military. Can you imagine such a thing? How hypocritical is THAT, I ask Sure, take off the day with pay in honor of our military - but go about your day spitting on those who helped to preserve our freedoms. Ok, ‘nuf of my rants for this day. Good to see some activity this week - especially Wednesday. That was a "gudun," huh Guys seemed to show up with "stuff" to say ‘n share. I see that Fergie the Sailor got <tweeted> for his indiscretions 'round here AND hasn't been heard from SINCE! <yikes>Love those pix of Doug ‘n Pete <snoozing> aboard the train. Caption should be something like, "Are we having fun yet?" <grin> Then there's Pete ‘n that bag of his. What in the world do you suppose he finds so enticing about that thing A man's purse, maybe????? Hmmmmmmm. Best keep a close eye on him! Noted the discussion regarding Union Station up in Toronto and all I could think of was the destruction of Penn Station here in New York City. I think Shane made mention of that too. Anyway, those rail palaces of the past have a place in the future. Hope that those who are setting out to make changes keep in mind that you can nevAH bring back something that you destroy.Can't stay too much longer, but there's time for a few <trade marks> from the Larsman Mobile! CPs Kicking Horse Pass (DVD)CNs Yellowhorse Pass (DVD)B&O Diesel Locomotives, Vol 1 - Switchers & Road SwitchersTriumph VI - Pioneer & ChallengerBoston & Maine - Forest, River & MountainPass siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 5:54 AM <personal foto> Friday's GrinReasons "things" happen! Law of Mechanical Repair: As soon as your hands are coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee. G'day Gents! Week's end OH-FISH-UL-LEE begins at the end of this work day - so let's get a start on the countdown with a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board - pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - ‘n a mugga freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee to wash it all down! Comments from the Proprietor: Sunday, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Thursday - Nov 8th, 2007:CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:26 AM: Nice inclusive Post . . . Never knew the loco wash routine. Makes sense - dirty noses, hmmmmmm. Only YOU would KNOW that!! If one looks back on all of the ‘stuff' crammed into our grey <gray> matter, it would boggle the mind <grey/gray matter>! For example, who today gives a Rat's Patoot about the Morse Code? And yet, I still can "pound it out" and copy at an admirable speed. <used to copy at 35 wpm "back in the day"> Who cares about the use of a manual typewriter or even KNOWS the keyboard by heart ? I do - but the former is a relic of the past whereas the latter is simply that "thing" all computers have. It goes on - I still can recite the major USCG Cutter locations <home ports> from "back in the day" - knew the ships names AND call signs <still do!> But many <if not all> of those old ladies are at the bottom of the sea <or sold off to some foreign government> . . . and who gives a hoot about call signs! <geesh> Then there is the use of a sextant! How about a slide rule? How about . . . . Get my point Oh yeah, I even remember our FIRST telephone number from when I was a kid: Gibralter 80863W <a party line!>I'll take the GG1 cab ride - loco wash notwithstanding! Is round trip airfare to Sunnyside included Good news about the return to the digs for your youngster! Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Pete (pwolfe) at 4:30 PM: Enjoyed speaking with you today ‘n finalizing our December plans. <phew> Sometimes Email just doesn't "get it," eh Regarding your comments regarding the Union Stations here in StL ‘n in KCity - I concur that they have done marvelous restorations. However, KCity is heads ‘n shoulders above StL in that they have TRAINS there - both real ‘n model. They haven't forgotten what the structure was initially built for. In StL they have chased away anything running on the rails and NEVER gave a thought to having Amtrak operate there when it was reopened a couple of decades ago. Structurally, they are as different as Boris ‘n Ruth - however, there's a certain charm that goes with either! <grin>Most interesting mural shot - do you know what it depicts Appreciate the round - chat - fotos ‘n inclusiveness of your comments! Rob (trolleyboy Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:46 PM Good evening Captain Tom and all present!!Leon, don't you ever get any day off? I feel sorry for you! Anyway, a sugar cured ham sandwich on rye would be perfect! A cold Keith's, please!Close to the end of the work week! Just one more day. Tom – Two nice pictures of the T&P EA8A and MP Alco PA in very similar livery! I know that Pete emptied his bag at least once, see picture.Thanks for the L&N info! Nice looking drumheads! Just like Pete I like the Hummingbird one the best. CM3 – Good news, you got your young patient back home!!! Treat her as a princess!!You are right about the tracks in (and out of) the picture! Thanks for all the info on the different cars! Pete – Thanks for the 5s info!! There were quite a few of them built! I copied the text for future reference. I have to find out about the Caprotti valve gear. Sounds like an Italian designed it. I am not sure if those coars are cabooses. I kind of doubt it. I have to get back to the original picture to see if I can find any. Interesting pictures from Sacramento! I am trying to read the number on that Santa Fe locomotive but it is impossible. Here is my only picture from Sacramento. I found some info on Caprotti Valve Gear (Wikipedia) and here is a picture of 5s #73129 with a Caprotti Valve Gear. (Photo shown with permission from Wikipedia) Rob – Do you still have the broad TTC track in Toronto? Eric « First«39404142434445»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Good day Tom and all in attendance. Drinks all around and a Guinness for me.
Eric: The following explanation was provided along with the photo of the tram.
FC Del LLANO De Maipo
These were the first electric chilean railcars, built in Chile in 1925 by Siemens, from the old steam railroad coachs. Foto courtesy of Col L Richter
My son's truck is a 1967 cab-over Peterbilt with a Cummins engine and 13 gears. He will get a lot of practice double clutching. He brought it here from Florida with no problems. He has never driven an 18 wheeler on a major road, so this has given him some real time experience. The trailer is a Fruhauf end dump, steel frame and aluminum tub. Everything is surprisingly in good shape. He had to install a wet-line kit for the dump and the ram seals leaked. I helped him yesterday to take the ram out to get new seals installed. After that, he should be ready to make some money. A friend of his moved 60 loads in one week at $300 per load. There's a lot of money to be made hauling dirt.
Tom: We have the technology now to replace fossil fuel, but the problem is the oil barons have too much influence in government. They are making lots of money and will milk the wells dry before switching to alternates. When the price of fuel goes up, then we see alternates, like hydrogen, fuel cells, solar, etc hit the market, but when the fuel cost goes down, the plug is pulled on alternates. It will require the government to mandate and subsidize if necessary if alternates are to become fact. At least that's the way I see it.
Jan: That early post from Barndad about the Delano photos was of interest to me. I never knew there was so much material that hasn't been made public. Most of what has been made public has pretty much been seen in books and on the internet. I had pictures I took a long time ago, but the quality wasn't good enough to post. Most of them have been deep-sixed.
Great pics of the UP engines. I was just last night reading about the UP 4-12-2's. It had three cylinders, was the longest rigid wheelbase of any engine and outperformed 2-10-2's and 2-8-8-0 compound mallets on grades both in speed and fuel consumption. 88 of them were built and one still exists at the Transportation Museum in Los Angeles.
Tom: Do you remember hitching rides on the back of a trolley car and pulling the pickup pole off the wire when you wanted to get off? It was a wonder any of us lived long enough to remember those reckless (and exciting) times growing up in New York.
For some more information on Caprotti valve gear and a restoration project, go to:
http://www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk/73129/home.html
Some real nice photos and information.
Greetings again Tom and gentlemen....
Could I have another top up please...? Give the lads whatever they want when they fall through the door will you...? Here's my contribution to photoposting day....after encore...
UP engine number M-10000 with train ##105, The Streamliner, 2 cars, leaving Kansas City, Mo., January 18, 1936.
UP engine number M-10001 with train #2, City of Portland and 6 cars, doing 75 mph, near Cheyenne, Wyo., July 7, 1935.
UP engine number CD-07 with train #112, City of Denver and 11 cars, near Denver, Colo., April 2, 1944.
UP engine number LA-1 with train #103, City of Los Angeles, 14 cars hitting 40 mph, near Julesburg, Colo., June 19, 1938.
UP 4-12-2 9019 and 4-8-8- 4023 with a westbound freight train of 83 cars, near Cheyenne, Wyo., June 8, 1947.
UP 4-12-2 9009 with a westbound 38 car freight train doing 50 mph, Bosler, Wyo., June 9, 1935.
Greetings Tom and gentlemen.....
May have the usual extra cold Guinness, top up with cigars for the troops please? Keep the change....
$$$$ for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer....
While on my snooping around for encore material, I came across a few names that I haven't seen around here for some time....passengerfan, West Coast S, barndad, Gunns, Theodorebear, wrwatkins, earlydiesels, Trainnut484, nickinwestwales, bjdukert, just to mention a few. Plenty of interesting posts though!
03-04-2007:
barndad wrote:Good evening Tom and friends! Tis I ... the barn weevil. I'll have another Lager, and dig out the Michigan quarters for Herr Wurlitzer. Just saw my horoscope, and it's just darn scary how accurate some of that stuff can be! Got some real nice dome pix from manager "Moon Pie"Lars today! Glad you liked the last installment of the Penn State coal story Catfish Pete. You know, I was wondering if the railroad would have channeled monies blown on fighting Penn State into actual rate reductions, if that story might have had a different, or at least a postponed ending. No mention was ever made about how much these different studies cost the university, so how much did they really save? I agree. The loco pix might have been the very same loco. Thanks very much for the great Alan (what's his sign?) pix!I remember the old pix from Tom. I even recall using one to graft him into a picture of our humble little saloon by the tracks.Hey .. what a coincidence! I was just thinking of West Coast Dave when I came across some Southern Pacific stuff today, and then he shows up! Bummer about being in Iraq. Hope you keep safe.Great URLs from Mike as usual. Loved the color B&O shot, and the witt of Alfred E.Am I the only non-oracle here? Sheesh. Here's another humble submission from me today:Big Shoulders - Photos by Jack Delano. Text by Mark ReuterIn November 1942, a young photographer from the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., set out for Chicago. Armed with credentials from the FBI and a letter of introduction by the Association of American Railroads, Jack Delano was assigned to document railroad transportation during World War II by taking "photographs of Chicago as a railroad terminal, showing yards, tracks, handling the trains, hump-and-retarder operations, inspection and repair of trains, signal systems, roundhouses and repair shops."He and his wife, Irene, rented an apartment in Chicago, and Delano began his assignment by taking photos of wartime crowds at Union Station. He then ventured into locomotive shops and freight yards to get a behind-the-scenes view of railroading that was rarely, if ever, seen by the public.The weather was not cooperative. December 1942 was bitterly cold, and he spent many nights at Chicago & North Western's sprawling Proviso Yard in sub-zero temperatures. He carried his clunky equipment in his arms and on his back, and he rode with crews to document the exchange of traffic between eastern and western carriers. While getting off a boxcar, he bent his Graflex Speed Graphic when he slipped on packed snow.<An inspector has blue-flagged cars to protect them from being moved to Illinois Central's South Water Street Freight Terminal in downtown Chicago>Nearly all of the photographs he took were in black and white, but he also experimented with color shots. These were Kodak sheet-film transparences, mostly 4X5 inches. The color transparences were sent back to Washington along with the black-and-white film, where the OWI documentary project, it turned out, was in crisis and the photography section was soon to be dissolved.< The humpmaster governs the speed at which the pusher locomotive shoves cars over the hump by using a five-notch controller that triggers lineside signals to the engineer>Unpublished at the time, Delano's railroad photographs were transferred to the archives of the Library of Congress, along with more than 150,000 other images produced by photographers at OWI and the Farm Security Administration.<Towerman R.W. Mayberry operates track turnouts (switches) and the retarders that brake the free-rolling cars as they are classified in the yard>Some of Delano's black-and-white images eventually resurfaced in the 1970s, most notably in James E.Valle's "The Iron Horse at War and Don Ball Jr. and Rogers E.W. Whitaker's Decade of the Trains, the 1940s. But even those who had discovered Delano's work assumed that all of his railroad photographs were monochrome. Delano, who had relocated to Puerto Rico and was busy composing music and managing the island's public television station, did not point out the existence of the color images to the few persons who contacted him about his Chicago project.<An employee demonstrates night signaling with a fusee. The up-and-down movement means "proceed." Delano took this timed exposure at Indiana Belt's yard at Calumet City, IL.>Professional photographers in the 1940s disdained color as contrived, but Delano was years ahead of his time. He used color as information rather than ornamentation. Thus we can see the exhaustion of the welder with grit-dusted amber cheeks, and feel the snap of winter as steam spouts above the ice-blue yards of the Indiana Harbor Belt.<Silhouetted against a bright sky, a tank car rolls down the hump track into the classification bowl of C&NW's Proviso Yard in April 1943.>His color images are both matter-of-fact and stunning. He shot many of them at night, finding that the intensely saturated colors of Kodachrome film - warm reds, deep blues, and strong earth tones - bathed in the blackness of dimly lit backshops, lent a painterly vividness to his portraits.<Crews clean the switch points of ice and snow on a frigid January 1943 day at the Harbor Belt's Blue Island Yard>Delano's leap into photography stemmed from his art-student background and lifelong social activism. As a student traveling to Europe on a scholarship in 1935, he was awed by the paintings of Goya and Van Gogh, especially by what he termed "the sympathetic way they rendered ordinary people."<Delano used the gloom of C&NW's roundhouse to dramatically frame the workworn eyes and soot-caked face of "L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker."> All the best! Jan siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Saturday, November 10, 2007 8:10 AM <personal foto>This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!As an exception to our policy, the bar will be OPEN on Sunday for those who have something to contribute to Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day. Otherwise, we're CLOSED. G'day Gents! Saturday has arrived - fall is in the is still prevailing - petrol is at $2.57 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" <dropped a cent!> ‘n all is well in mid-continent USA! It's time for a few pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board ‘n of course a mug or two of our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee! Comments from the Proprietor: Tomorrow, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Proprietor's Observations: Noticed Fergie (Fergmiester) ‘n Per (marthastrainyard) logged in on Thursday ‘n Friday - but no visit. Also noticed Jan (JanOlov) on Friday - but no visits. Hmmmmmmm. Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Friday - Nov 9th, 2007:Dan (DL-UK) at 12:18 PM: Really enjoyed the Preston Station link - terrific ‘n well done! Good for us that you stumbled upon it! Could easily become overwhelmed with that steam link . . . will require lotsatime to get through that one! <phew>Appreciate your taking the time to swing by ‘n provide the gang with some cheer in the form of a round! CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 3:13 PM: A second visit for the day, but one with quite a message! Yes, the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month." Appreciate your thoughtfulness ‘n will be sure to provide the "good stuff" for those who take the time ‘n make the effort on Sunday ‘n Monday! Thanx for the round ‘n quarters for Herr Wurlitzer! Pete (pwolfe) at 6:08 PM: Those "Duke" series of steam locomotives are great to look at. Can just imagine what they sounded like while underway. Perhaps you could put together a collage of those you have in your photo archives . . . Your "take" on the difference between StL ‘n KCity Union Stations is ‘right on." I was here when StL let the station deteriorate ‘n then when it was purchased for renovation. There was absolutely no intent to ever use the place for operating passenger rail. As I understand it, those who owned the place reluctantly let those sidings remain <which are disappearing> along with some privately owned loco's ‘n cars <now gone>. I witnessed the rebirth of Union Station in KCity ‘n recall how the public support for it was far more energetic than here. In StL the idea was to provide an "upscale" shopping experience with a 5-star hotel ‘n restaurant, etc. Whereas in KCity they featured a Science Center for kids, along with retention of passenger train nostalgia. Amtrak came a about a decade later, but it came! Found this regarding that mural in Sacramento's rail station: The Sacramento station was originally the terminal for the South Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:55 AM Good morning Captain Tom and all present!Leon, I tried to get you some more time off, but it did not help. Finally Friday and an other weekend! Good to see Manager Lars again! Tom – Revealing pictures! I was not aware that so many participants slept through parts of the 2nd Annual Rendezvous! But now we all know! I guess the last (third) photo shows when Pete found out about the leaking soda pop in the bag!I agree 100% with you, nothing binds a nation more than a common language. I don’t understand why English isn’t the official language and why the ballot is available in Spanish? One is supposed to be able to read and speak English to become a citizen. Lars – Good to see Manager Lars again, even for just a little while! Thanks for the trade marks from the Larsman Mobile! Starting with an interesting video, Kicking Horse pass! Triumph VI is my choice of the books! No wonder Ruth was smiling today!CM3 – A princess should always be treated as a princess! Of course they expect it. <grin>I am impressed by the long list of skills you still can use! I know I am still able to stick shift and double clutch. My old stick shift and double clutch vehicle.I am also able to do my math w/o a calculator!Bake real Swedish coffee bread.Ride a bicycle for hundreds of miles in one day.Gassed in the Great War, yes, it says it all. A real hero!Ron – History is of interest! It is always very interesting to learn about people’s background! I think your father did the right thing, making sure that you became a 100% American! A different looking trolley! Do you know if it actually was built in Germany or if it was built in Chile from an old German passenger coach?DL – Interesting links! I bookmarked them for future use! Thanks!Pete – What was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop? I would say almost everything. You can see some samples in the window! As far as I can recall you were never able to get everything out of it! Thanks for the loco numbers! #2925 is a Class 2900, 4-8-4 built by Baldwin 1943-1944 and retired 1959. AT&SF had 30 locomotives of that class.#5021 is a class 5011, 2-10-4, built by Baldwin 1944, retired 1959. AT&SF had 25 of those. Thanks for all the info on the modern days steam locomotives on BR! Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:19 PM Good evening Tom and all. A round of drinks and a Guinness for me. I can only think of a few skills to add to the list of forgotten technologies.Cut wood with a handsawUse basic tools instead of power toolsCooking without the use of Teflon cookwareHow to sharpen a knifeKnow how to fix things that others throw awayHow to mix the perfect martini I heard on a newscast the other night, that China is becoming very dependent on oil and may surpass us in oil consumption pretty soon. This news is good and bad. Bad because that will speed up oil depletion resulting in higher prices. Good because it will further alternate energy sources, like coal for steam locomotives. If it is to happen, my guess would be that the UK would be in the forefront of steam technology. Most European countries have a good electrification infrastructure in place, so the switch from oil to coal wouldn't have too much of an impact. Here in the U.S., coal would probably be the most logical choice, as a nationwide system of electric railways would be a very costly undertaking. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas. Tom: Those two A/C vents are not for the A/C. They are on an air purifier I built to suck dust out of the air. I have 8 A/C registers in the overhead, which also supply heat on the few times when heat is called for. When I replaced the house heating and A/C unit with a new one, the old one went to my shop. That's about all I have for now. See you later.Ron Edit pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Friday, November 9, 2007 6:08 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams please RUTH.ROB I think historic buildings are a lot more appreciated nowadays than say in the 1960s lets hope Toronto Union is left as the great building I have seen in photographs. ERIC Perhaps we could have a quiz as to what was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop.Those Santa Fe steam locomotives outside the Sacramento Locomotive Works are # 2925 and possibly #5021 according to one of my rare notes. Good photo of the X2000 at Sacramento station.Liked the photo of the Caprotti valve on BR standard Class 5 4-6-0. The BR Standard 5s were quite similar to the LMS class 5s. There were 172 Standard 5s built,they were introduced in 1951. There were 30 of class fitted with the Caprotti gear introduced in 1956.Originally 20 were allocated to Patricroft depot near Manchester and sheds in the Derby area after the first 10 started at Shrewsbury. Also the were 10 allocated to St Rollex shed in Glasgow Scotland. The class finished up with the English 20 all at Patricroft and the Glasgow ones spending their whole career at St Rollex. I think the locos need a different method of handling from the original locos; one working I can remember the Caprottis on was a London to Manchester fast freight that used to pass through Rugby in the evening. A strange thing about these locomotives was that in foggy weather the steam seemed to cling around the locos more than other engines.The last express passenger locomotive built in Britain for BR was the Pacific No 71000 'Duke Of Gloucester built in 1954. this 3-cylinder loco also had Caprotti valve gear. The locomotive did not have too good a reputation in BR days. Luckily 71000 found its way to Barry scrapyard and was saved, although there was a lot of items missing, like the outside cylinders. The people who restored the locomotive done a wonderful job and found a mistake in the ashpan dimensions which could have accounted for the locos poor reputation, they have also modified the chimney arrangement and now 71000 is a very strong locomotive and can compete with any of the steam locos running on BR today. A photo of the 'Duke' at Carlisle on a steam special.LARS Great to see you in Yes BORIS is doing really well looking after the Mascots treats, all I have to do is make sure the PPF jars arrive on time and send the empty jars back. The bag is a wonder I got it from Rugby market years ago for about $10, it must have been over the Atlantic at least 10 times as well as carrying the shopping when I was in Rugby.I have missing the Larsman Mobile a great selection today; I think my favorites this time are the B&O Switchers and the Boston & Maine ones, great photo of the Alco leaving the tunnel.Agree with your words on Veteran's Day.CM3 Yes the Sacramento Railroad museum is a great place, If they can ever get the old Locomotive works open to the public as well it would be a complete railroad experience as they already operate a short steam line.I shall look forward to more tales of the L&N as well as some slides at the Rendezvous.I think the new museum of TOM's will be a success. Great list of Things at the museum, which the younger generation can try their hand at.Off the top of my head a couple of things.Able to ride a pushbike with no gears.Circular slide rule.IroningAble to work out exact overtime pay in my head.Very good words for this Sunday, I will indeed have a moment of silence to remember those who gave and are giving so much that we can enjoy the freedom we some times take for granted. RON I think the technology is there to make a feasible new generation of steam locos as it says in the link, L. D Porta and David Wardale have done a lot of work in this direction. With a computer controlled firing locomotive able to use a low grade coal it could be economical to run if a you say the gas prices continue to rise at present rates although it would be a massive cost to put in the infrastructure to run the next generation of steam locomotives.Great link to the railways of Europe there are plenty of great photos.Thanks for that great photo of the Chilean tram, love the windows.Great words about Our Place. I too have learned an enormous amount about the railroads and trolley systems of North America from visiting the bar, from knowing very little when I first visited Our Place.DL Good to see you in the bar. I think Preston station is a listed building, I hope so, as it is a great example of a LNWR large station, now that Rug coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 3:13 PM Good Afternoon BArkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the hosue and $ for the jukebox.Just a quick stop as we are abt. to go offline until Tuesday.I have directed the barkeep to provide bottles of the best available over the weekend. Feel free to use them (as appropriate) for "Toasts to absent friends." We do that a lot around here given our line of work. I'll start things off a little ahead of time for observances. I was looking through a group of old family photos the other night - we brought tons of stuff back here this summer and came across a shot of a British soldier (we have had more than a few in the family over the years). I turned it over and read the caption (in my grandmothers copperplate script). It said, "Picture of Cousin Stanley - Gassed in the Great War." Says it all, I believe. Remember a moment of silence for the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month," and hope for better days ahead.Thanks to all who serve and have served.work safe DL - UK Member sinceAugust 2006 280 posts Posted by DL - UK on Friday, November 9, 2007 12:18 PM Hello Tom and all in Round for the house, bitter for me please.Just a quick call - hope all is well, been able to reveiw soem of the recent stuff - lots of interest - hope to be back before too long with a more inclusive posting and up dates! Bit busy with one thing and another (what with the LMS issue of Railway Magazine, and my Friends of the National Railway Musuem Journal - AND my Settle Carlisle Line journal all turning up at pretty much the same time! Rather a lot of reading matter!)Couple of links people might enjoy (my guess is this is a place Pete for certain will have spent time at - the web site is nicely done - found it by chance):http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bradshaw/preston/And this is a serious index with some detailed articles - plenty to read for certain (if you've not got enough already....)http://www.steamindex.com/index.htmBest wishes to allDL siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 11:43 AM G'day Gents!Ruth, go on 'n take your break - I'll be here for a bit to watch things! And yes, a round on the house - Boris, ring the bell! Have a few things to attend to this afternoon, so figured it's time to get a leg up on the comments . . . . Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Lars (LoveDomes) at 8:10 AM: Ah, the return of our Manager - if only for a brief time - great to see ya again, Mate! Every now ‘n then I get into a <funk> regarding how the times of today seem so drastically <different> from "back in the day." Of course this is nothing more than what all of us encounter as AGE creeps up on us. I don't attach anything more significant to it than that. HOWEVER, society has indeed changed ‘n along with it comes viewpoints running diametrically opposed to the things I hold near ‘n dear. I've wondered aloud many a time, "Would I be willing to defend these people, if . . . . . ?" Hang in there partner, we may be dying off faster than being replaced by like-minded individuals, but while we're here - let's never let ‘em get to us! It's been a long week without your offerings of covers ‘n it surely hit the spot to see those fine selections to help keep our morning humming along. One day I'm just going to have to spring for the DVDs . . . only have a very, very sparse collection, ‘n honestly don't know why! <puzzled>You're absolutely correct regarding our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie. He's anchored somewhere outta sight OR has placed himself in the Penalty Box <feeling shame, of course!> Received your latest Email ‘n responded - thanx! The round for the house is appreciated, but more so having you back amongst the gang! Ruth has a smile that just won't quit - and I think that was a tear coming out of Boris' eye <as in ONE - he is a Cyclops ya know!> CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:39 AM: Now that's quite a listing ‘n of course something to ponder. Surely the guyz can add to it . . . So with this newly created Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills, let's have some fun with it on Fridays! Love ‘n care for ‘em now, for in the not-too-distant-future your precious little ones grow up. Hard for me to believe how fast the time has gone from those days of hearth, home ‘n family. Cherish it all while you can, Mate - it changes right before your eyes. <uh oh>Mention of Rendezvous III brings to mind that I'll probably have to seek out an auditorium for the "presentations" you'll be putting together on "Everything Rails That Was ‘n Is ‘n May be!"Thought you'd pick up on those fotos of Doug ‘n Pete who were obviously overtaken by the sheer excitement of Amtrak travel. <grin>Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Ron (DD1) at 10:37 AM: And who should appear this morning but our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker>! Good to see ya, but I MUST wonder aloud - are you using that REFRESH/RELOAD/RESTORE feature on your browser in order to pick up on the MOST CURRENT POSTS Seems like you're a bit behind on the offerings . . . If you don't understand what I'm referring to, send me an Email ‘n we'll discuss it. Seems we had similar upbringings "back in the day." My two grandfathers came to this land back around 1910 from Germany. One grandma from Ireland, the other from Germany. The grandfathers insisted that only English be spoken in the house and most especially if I happened to be in the room. They refused to allow their native tongue to get in the way of adapting to the ways of their new country. So, I grew up without learning it. About all I can recite are some "colorful phrases," if you follow my drift! <grin>Imagine how great it would be in America if those who are beating a path to our shores ‘n borders had the same attitude as your father ‘n my grandfathers regarding the language I've yet to read or hear an argument convincing enough to change my claim that NOTHING binds a nation more so than a common tongue. But what do I know A captivating read on that "COALS" link. So the question is - why aren't we doing it!?!?!? Methinks we already know the answer - but another question is, "How high must the price of fuel get before we see the light?" <groan>Many thanx for the visit, chat ‘n round! <yes, we ru Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 10:37 AM Good Day Tom and all present. It may be too early for a little libation, but by the time I finish composing this, drinks all around may be in order. First off I want to say, I've learned more about trains in the short time I've been visiting than in the first 60 or so years preceeding my first visit. I realize from the content of these posts, that a lot of time goes into researching what goes into them. We all have to allot time based on our priorities. Some can allot more time than others. If one considers researching material, copying it, composing it, digging through old photos, scanning them and transferring them into a post, much time and effort is expended. it is greatly appreciated by me, as having done the same myself, I can realize the effort. Without trying to excuse myself, I sometimes don't give credit where credit is due. Enuf said. Eric: No, I never learned to speak Chinese, although I wish I had. My father wanted me to be 100% American. He came to this country in 1906 and despite the prejudice he faced, loved his newly adopted land. He was a man of very deep morals who believed in hard work, honor, family, sacrifice and responsibility. Basically, he was a Buddhist, but would attend the Catholic church with the rest of the family. He was a life long Republican and even contributed to the party. I must end this here, as I am writing my memoirs and can go on and on if not stopped. I just thought a little history would be of interest. Pete: I haven't seen Sunnyside yard for many a year. I used to spend much time there on the pedestrian bridges watching the trains. Too bad I didn't have a camera at the time. In an earlier post, (11/06/2007) you made an interesting point about the UK not adopting diesels early due to the cost of importing oil and staying with coal. With the cost of oil rising to all time levels, day by day, maybe there will come a time when steam might be more economical to operate. Wouldn't that be great! At least in this country, steam could be a way to go. In Europe, electric would rule due to their already extensive electrification network. There was a group here called "COALS" (Coal Oriented Advanced Systems) that was trying to develop a steam locomotive using a mix coal dust and water, converting it into a gas and use that to generate steam. The following link describes the COALS project and it's future. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html#TOP Tom: A most interesting history of BR. I came across this link that covers railways all over the world. Of particular interest was the chapter on liveries. See http://www.railfaneurope.net/. This one is for Trolleyboy: An old trolley built in 1925 for a Chilean tram. It was made from an old passenger coach in Germany. Got to run and cook lunch. See you later, Ron Edit coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 9:39 AM Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Partly cloudy here today with temps in the 30s - gas holding at $3.15.Pete has visited with comments and locomotive history. I have never been to Sacramento although I have heard good things abt. The rr museum there. The L&N ran better than average passenger service to the end. I have posted several items about them in the past (including some first hand accounts). Come to the rendezvous and hear more stores,Rob - I knew you would have the answer. I figured changing the trucks on the DC PCCs was, of course, part of the modifications, but I was unsure about what they did electrically - thanks for the information.Eric - she's always treated that way - they expect it don't they (lol)Caprotti valve gear shot was a good one.Lars has been by - good to hear from you - keep the shiny side up, sir! The bookmobile had some interesting items today. Robert W. Jones's books on the B&M are excellent although pricy. I heartily recommend his two volumes on the Boston and Albany as well. I have the B&M passenger car book - these books are black and white photographs which are really useful for looking at details, etc. Captioning is helpful as well because it gives the reader a time frame for when the picture was taken, where, and so on. OSP stopped by too. First, thanks for the L&N summary. I enjoyed your exposition of Weber's Law of Mechanical arts. Now, our vaunted research department (believe me, we pay them what they're worth) went to the legal section in the east wing and found a Corollary to Weber's Law which reads as follows: "The Law also applies to any other activity involving tension adjustments, carburetion, throttle settings, etc., especially when being done outside in snow, sleet, and/or high wind. Sub rule A of the corollary says:"Physical conditions mentioned in Weber's law occur ALWAYS when the truck is several hundred feet away from the job site, AND the one special screwdriver you need is not in your pocket because you left it on the truck."I see where OSP has opened a museum - kind of like the old Gilbert Hall of science - we'll call it Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills.Here are some forgotten technologies CM3 can still useMorse CodeManual typewriterSextant - A long time ago, but it'll come backSlide rule Let's throw in a few more "old" things that we still know how to doStick shift (Three on the tree) Stick shift (Four on the floor) Double clutch and downshiftParallel park Siphoning fuel - (It was a tough neighborhood)Carb adjustment Tuneup - (Includes gapping plugs and setting timing)Flush and fill cooling system Cooling system test Using a church key to open adult beverages w/o getting contents all over the place Patch tires Replace fuses - we don't need no stinkin' breakersUse math w/o a calculatorDo case lot and percent discounts in my head - used to work for a wholesaler back yrs. ago - b4 calculators even existedSquare roots with paper and pencilGeometry and trig - to figure stuff out so I don't get ripped off by suppliersVentilation calculations w/o a calculatorGet around w/o a GPS (day and night) SewCook lots of stuff from scratch - Indoors or outsideI'll bet the barflies can add a few more - let's see how big a list we can get. A word of warning, however: Boris has lots of skills but we don't want to know too much about them if we have to testify.Work safe LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:10 AM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Ruth my deAH, yes it's really me - the Larsman back for a bit with a <grin> ‘n some cheer for da boyz at the bar! Boris, I see you've been feedin' the crittAHs during my absence, so that super-sized jar of PPF is for YOU! And my deAH, I'll take a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please ‘n a round for the house - the change, as always, is for YOU! In keeping with my wishes to remain a bit silent regarding personal things - let me just say it's been a tough couple of weeks. Thanks to youse guyz for stickin' with me "off line" - I've been in contact with Cap'n Tom, so my guess is he's passed some info your way by our e-mail net. Things are hardly "normal" these times, but I'll try to stop in as time permits - couldn't just fuhgedaboudit! Sorry if I'm unable to comment on all the posts. I've checked 'em out though 'n see that Da Bossman has really turned-to with more outstanding material to keep the bar afloat. Way to go Cap'n Tom! Noted that things 'round here are in good order, thanks to Bar Chandler Pete! Acting Manager!?!?!?! <arrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh> So, what do we have ‘round here Great idea for Armistice Day <Veterans Day> on Sunday! I'll do my best to show up with something to contribute - count on it! Monday is the legal observance for the holiday - which of course means another round of weekend sales at the malls across the land. Some places will actually hold parades ‘n services honoring those who have and ARE serving in the military. Those events will be sparsely attended. More people show up for anti-this ‘n anti-that than for patriotic events.A whole bunch of people will be off from work - even those who have nothing but disdain ‘n outright hatred of our military. Can you imagine such a thing? How hypocritical is THAT, I ask Sure, take off the day with pay in honor of our military - but go about your day spitting on those who helped to preserve our freedoms. Ok, ‘nuf of my rants for this day. Good to see some activity this week - especially Wednesday. That was a "gudun," huh Guys seemed to show up with "stuff" to say ‘n share. I see that Fergie the Sailor got <tweeted> for his indiscretions 'round here AND hasn't been heard from SINCE! <yikes>Love those pix of Doug ‘n Pete <snoozing> aboard the train. Caption should be something like, "Are we having fun yet?" <grin> Then there's Pete ‘n that bag of his. What in the world do you suppose he finds so enticing about that thing A man's purse, maybe????? Hmmmmmmm. Best keep a close eye on him! Noted the discussion regarding Union Station up in Toronto and all I could think of was the destruction of Penn Station here in New York City. I think Shane made mention of that too. Anyway, those rail palaces of the past have a place in the future. Hope that those who are setting out to make changes keep in mind that you can nevAH bring back something that you destroy.Can't stay too much longer, but there's time for a few <trade marks> from the Larsman Mobile! CPs Kicking Horse Pass (DVD)CNs Yellowhorse Pass (DVD)B&O Diesel Locomotives, Vol 1 - Switchers & Road SwitchersTriumph VI - Pioneer & ChallengerBoston & Maine - Forest, River & MountainPass siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 5:54 AM <personal foto> Friday's GrinReasons "things" happen! Law of Mechanical Repair: As soon as your hands are coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee. G'day Gents! Week's end OH-FISH-UL-LEE begins at the end of this work day - so let's get a start on the countdown with a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board - pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - ‘n a mugga freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee to wash it all down! Comments from the Proprietor: Sunday, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Thursday - Nov 8th, 2007:CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:26 AM: Nice inclusive Post . . . Never knew the loco wash routine. Makes sense - dirty noses, hmmmmmm. Only YOU would KNOW that!! If one looks back on all of the ‘stuff' crammed into our grey <gray> matter, it would boggle the mind <grey/gray matter>! For example, who today gives a Rat's Patoot about the Morse Code? And yet, I still can "pound it out" and copy at an admirable speed. <used to copy at 35 wpm "back in the day"> Who cares about the use of a manual typewriter or even KNOWS the keyboard by heart ? I do - but the former is a relic of the past whereas the latter is simply that "thing" all computers have. It goes on - I still can recite the major USCG Cutter locations <home ports> from "back in the day" - knew the ships names AND call signs <still do!> But many <if not all> of those old ladies are at the bottom of the sea <or sold off to some foreign government> . . . and who gives a hoot about call signs! <geesh> Then there is the use of a sextant! How about a slide rule? How about . . . . Get my point Oh yeah, I even remember our FIRST telephone number from when I was a kid: Gibralter 80863W <a party line!>I'll take the GG1 cab ride - loco wash notwithstanding! Is round trip airfare to Sunnyside included Good news about the return to the digs for your youngster! Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Pete (pwolfe) at 4:30 PM: Enjoyed speaking with you today ‘n finalizing our December plans. <phew> Sometimes Email just doesn't "get it," eh Regarding your comments regarding the Union Stations here in StL ‘n in KCity - I concur that they have done marvelous restorations. However, KCity is heads ‘n shoulders above StL in that they have TRAINS there - both real ‘n model. They haven't forgotten what the structure was initially built for. In StL they have chased away anything running on the rails and NEVER gave a thought to having Amtrak operate there when it was reopened a couple of decades ago. Structurally, they are as different as Boris ‘n Ruth - however, there's a certain charm that goes with either! <grin>Most interesting mural shot - do you know what it depicts Appreciate the round - chat - fotos ‘n inclusiveness of your comments! Rob (trolleyboy Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:46 PM Good evening Captain Tom and all present!!Leon, don't you ever get any day off? I feel sorry for you! Anyway, a sugar cured ham sandwich on rye would be perfect! A cold Keith's, please!Close to the end of the work week! Just one more day. Tom – Two nice pictures of the T&P EA8A and MP Alco PA in very similar livery! I know that Pete emptied his bag at least once, see picture.Thanks for the L&N info! Nice looking drumheads! Just like Pete I like the Hummingbird one the best. CM3 – Good news, you got your young patient back home!!! Treat her as a princess!!You are right about the tracks in (and out of) the picture! Thanks for all the info on the different cars! Pete – Thanks for the 5s info!! There were quite a few of them built! I copied the text for future reference. I have to find out about the Caprotti valve gear. Sounds like an Italian designed it. I am not sure if those coars are cabooses. I kind of doubt it. I have to get back to the original picture to see if I can find any. Interesting pictures from Sacramento! I am trying to read the number on that Santa Fe locomotive but it is impossible. Here is my only picture from Sacramento. I found some info on Caprotti Valve Gear (Wikipedia) and here is a picture of 5s #73129 with a Caprotti Valve Gear. (Photo shown with permission from Wikipedia) Rob – Do you still have the broad TTC track in Toronto? Eric « First«39404142434445»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
I remember the old pix from Tom. I even recall using one to graft him into a picture of our humble little saloon by the tracks.
Hey .. what a coincidence! I was just thinking of West Coast Dave when I came across some Southern Pacific stuff today, and then he shows up! Bummer about being in Iraq. Hope you keep safe.
Great URLs from Mike as usual. Loved the color B&O shot, and the witt of Alfred E.
Am I the only non-oracle here? Sheesh. Here's another humble submission from me today:
Big Shoulders - Photos by Jack Delano. Text by Mark Reuter
In November 1942, a young photographer from the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., set out for Chicago. Armed with credentials from the FBI and a letter of introduction by the Association of American Railroads, Jack Delano was assigned to document railroad transportation during World War II by taking "photographs of Chicago as a railroad terminal, showing yards, tracks, handling the trains, hump-and-retarder operations, inspection and repair of trains, signal systems, roundhouses and repair shops."
He and his wife, Irene, rented an apartment in Chicago, and Delano began his assignment by taking photos of wartime crowds at Union Station. He then ventured into locomotive shops and freight yards to get a behind-the-scenes view of railroading that was rarely, if ever, seen by the public.
The weather was not cooperative. December 1942 was bitterly cold, and he spent many nights at Chicago & North Western's sprawling Proviso Yard in sub-zero temperatures. He carried his clunky equipment in his arms and on his back, and he rode with crews to document the exchange of traffic between eastern and western carriers. While getting off a boxcar, he bent his Graflex Speed Graphic when he slipped on packed snow.
<An inspector has blue-flagged cars to protect them from being moved to Illinois Central's South Water Street Freight Terminal in downtown Chicago>
Nearly all of the photographs he took were in black and white, but he also experimented with color shots. These were Kodak sheet-film transparences, mostly 4X5 inches. The color transparences were sent back to Washington along with the black-and-white film, where the OWI documentary project, it turned out, was in crisis and the photography section was soon to be dissolved.
< The humpmaster governs the speed at which the pusher locomotive shoves cars over the hump by using a five-notch controller that triggers lineside signals to the engineer>
Unpublished at the time, Delano's railroad photographs were transferred to the archives of the Library of Congress, along with more than 150,000 other images produced by photographers at OWI and the Farm Security Administration.
<Towerman R.W. Mayberry operates track turnouts (switches) and the retarders that brake the free-rolling cars as they are classified in the yard>
Some of Delano's black-and-white images eventually resurfaced in the 1970s, most notably in James E.Valle's "The Iron Horse at War and Don Ball Jr. and Rogers E.W. Whitaker's Decade of the Trains, the 1940s. But even those who had discovered Delano's work assumed that all of his railroad photographs were monochrome. Delano, who had relocated to Puerto Rico and was busy composing music and managing the island's public television station, did not point out the existence of the color images to the few persons who contacted him about his Chicago project.
<An employee demonstrates night signaling with a fusee. The up-and-down movement means "proceed." Delano took this timed exposure at Indiana Belt's yard at Calumet City, IL.>
Professional photographers in the 1940s disdained color as contrived, but Delano was years ahead of his time. He used color as information rather than ornamentation. Thus we can see the exhaustion of the welder with grit-dusted amber cheeks, and feel the snap of winter as steam spouts above the ice-blue yards of the Indiana Harbor Belt.
<Silhouetted against a bright sky, a tank car rolls down the hump track into the classification bowl of C&NW's Proviso Yard in April 1943.>
His color images are both matter-of-fact and stunning. He shot many of them at night, finding that the intensely saturated colors of Kodachrome film - warm reds, deep blues, and strong earth tones - bathed in the blackness of dimly lit backshops, lent a painterly vividness to his portraits.
<Crews clean the switch points of ice and snow on a frigid January 1943 day at the Harbor Belt's Blue Island Yard>
Delano's leap into photography stemmed from his art-student background and lifelong social activism. As a student traveling to Europe on a scholarship in 1935, he was awed by the paintings of Goya and Van Gogh, especially by what he termed "the sympathetic way they rendered ordinary people."
<Delano used the gloom of C&NW's roundhouse to dramatically frame the workworn eyes and soot-caked face of "L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker.">
Saturday has arrived - fall is in the is still prevailing - petrol is at $2.57 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner" <dropped a cent!> ‘n all is well in mid-continent USA!
It's time for a few pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board ‘n of course a mug or two of our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee!
Comments from the Proprietor:
Tomorrow, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.
So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!
Proprietor's Observations: Noticed Fergie (Fergmiester) ‘n Per (marthastrainyard) logged in on Thursday ‘n Friday - but no visit. Also noticed Jan (JanOlov) on Friday - but no visits. Hmmmmmmm.
Friday - Nov 9th, 2007:
Dan (DL-UK) at 12:18 PM: Really enjoyed the Preston Station link - terrific ‘n well done! Good for us that you stumbled upon it! Could easily become overwhelmed with that steam link . . . will require lotsatime to get through that one! <phew>
CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 3:13 PM: A second visit for the day, but one with quite a message! Yes, the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month."
Appreciate your thoughtfulness ‘n will be sure to provide the "good stuff" for those who take the time ‘n make the effort on Sunday ‘n Monday!
Thanx for the round ‘n quarters for Herr Wurlitzer!
Pete (pwolfe) at 6:08 PM: Those "Duke" series of steam locomotives are great to look at. Can just imagine what they sounded like while underway. Perhaps you could put together a collage of those you have in your photo archives . . .
Your "take" on the difference between StL ‘n KCity Union Stations is ‘right on." I was here when StL let the station deteriorate ‘n then when it was purchased for renovation. There was absolutely no intent to ever use the place for operating passenger rail. As I understand it, those who owned the place reluctantly let those sidings remain <which are disappearing> along with some privately owned loco's ‘n cars <now gone>.
I witnessed the rebirth of Union Station in KCity ‘n recall how the public support for it was far more energetic than here. In StL the idea was to provide an "upscale" shopping experience with a 5-star hotel ‘n restaurant, etc. Whereas in KCity they featured a Science Center for kids, along with retention of passenger train nostalgia. Amtrak came a about a decade later, but it came!
Found this regarding that mural in Sacramento's rail station:
The Sacramento station was originally the terminal for the South Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:55 AM Good morning Captain Tom and all present!Leon, I tried to get you some more time off, but it did not help. Finally Friday and an other weekend! Good to see Manager Lars again! Tom – Revealing pictures! I was not aware that so many participants slept through parts of the 2nd Annual Rendezvous! But now we all know! I guess the last (third) photo shows when Pete found out about the leaking soda pop in the bag!I agree 100% with you, nothing binds a nation more than a common language. I don’t understand why English isn’t the official language and why the ballot is available in Spanish? One is supposed to be able to read and speak English to become a citizen. Lars – Good to see Manager Lars again, even for just a little while! Thanks for the trade marks from the Larsman Mobile! Starting with an interesting video, Kicking Horse pass! Triumph VI is my choice of the books! No wonder Ruth was smiling today!CM3 – A princess should always be treated as a princess! Of course they expect it. <grin>I am impressed by the long list of skills you still can use! I know I am still able to stick shift and double clutch. My old stick shift and double clutch vehicle.I am also able to do my math w/o a calculator!Bake real Swedish coffee bread.Ride a bicycle for hundreds of miles in one day.Gassed in the Great War, yes, it says it all. A real hero!Ron – History is of interest! It is always very interesting to learn about people’s background! I think your father did the right thing, making sure that you became a 100% American! A different looking trolley! Do you know if it actually was built in Germany or if it was built in Chile from an old German passenger coach?DL – Interesting links! I bookmarked them for future use! Thanks!Pete – What was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop? I would say almost everything. You can see some samples in the window! As far as I can recall you were never able to get everything out of it! Thanks for the loco numbers! #2925 is a Class 2900, 4-8-4 built by Baldwin 1943-1944 and retired 1959. AT&SF had 30 locomotives of that class.#5021 is a class 5011, 2-10-4, built by Baldwin 1944, retired 1959. AT&SF had 25 of those. Thanks for all the info on the modern days steam locomotives on BR! Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:19 PM Good evening Tom and all. A round of drinks and a Guinness for me. I can only think of a few skills to add to the list of forgotten technologies.Cut wood with a handsawUse basic tools instead of power toolsCooking without the use of Teflon cookwareHow to sharpen a knifeKnow how to fix things that others throw awayHow to mix the perfect martini I heard on a newscast the other night, that China is becoming very dependent on oil and may surpass us in oil consumption pretty soon. This news is good and bad. Bad because that will speed up oil depletion resulting in higher prices. Good because it will further alternate energy sources, like coal for steam locomotives. If it is to happen, my guess would be that the UK would be in the forefront of steam technology. Most European countries have a good electrification infrastructure in place, so the switch from oil to coal wouldn't have too much of an impact. Here in the U.S., coal would probably be the most logical choice, as a nationwide system of electric railways would be a very costly undertaking. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas. Tom: Those two A/C vents are not for the A/C. They are on an air purifier I built to suck dust out of the air. I have 8 A/C registers in the overhead, which also supply heat on the few times when heat is called for. When I replaced the house heating and A/C unit with a new one, the old one went to my shop. That's about all I have for now. See you later.Ron Edit pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Friday, November 9, 2007 6:08 PM Hi Tom and all.A pint of Bathams please RUTH.ROB I think historic buildings are a lot more appreciated nowadays than say in the 1960s lets hope Toronto Union is left as the great building I have seen in photographs. ERIC Perhaps we could have a quiz as to what was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop.Those Santa Fe steam locomotives outside the Sacramento Locomotive Works are # 2925 and possibly #5021 according to one of my rare notes. Good photo of the X2000 at Sacramento station.Liked the photo of the Caprotti valve on BR standard Class 5 4-6-0. The BR Standard 5s were quite similar to the LMS class 5s. There were 172 Standard 5s built,they were introduced in 1951. There were 30 of class fitted with the Caprotti gear introduced in 1956.Originally 20 were allocated to Patricroft depot near Manchester and sheds in the Derby area after the first 10 started at Shrewsbury. Also the were 10 allocated to St Rollex shed in Glasgow Scotland. The class finished up with the English 20 all at Patricroft and the Glasgow ones spending their whole career at St Rollex. I think the locos need a different method of handling from the original locos; one working I can remember the Caprottis on was a London to Manchester fast freight that used to pass through Rugby in the evening. A strange thing about these locomotives was that in foggy weather the steam seemed to cling around the locos more than other engines.The last express passenger locomotive built in Britain for BR was the Pacific No 71000 'Duke Of Gloucester built in 1954. this 3-cylinder loco also had Caprotti valve gear. The locomotive did not have too good a reputation in BR days. Luckily 71000 found its way to Barry scrapyard and was saved, although there was a lot of items missing, like the outside cylinders. The people who restored the locomotive done a wonderful job and found a mistake in the ashpan dimensions which could have accounted for the locos poor reputation, they have also modified the chimney arrangement and now 71000 is a very strong locomotive and can compete with any of the steam locos running on BR today. A photo of the 'Duke' at Carlisle on a steam special.LARS Great to see you in Yes BORIS is doing really well looking after the Mascots treats, all I have to do is make sure the PPF jars arrive on time and send the empty jars back. The bag is a wonder I got it from Rugby market years ago for about $10, it must have been over the Atlantic at least 10 times as well as carrying the shopping when I was in Rugby.I have missing the Larsman Mobile a great selection today; I think my favorites this time are the B&O Switchers and the Boston & Maine ones, great photo of the Alco leaving the tunnel.Agree with your words on Veteran's Day.CM3 Yes the Sacramento Railroad museum is a great place, If they can ever get the old Locomotive works open to the public as well it would be a complete railroad experience as they already operate a short steam line.I shall look forward to more tales of the L&N as well as some slides at the Rendezvous.I think the new museum of TOM's will be a success. Great list of Things at the museum, which the younger generation can try their hand at.Off the top of my head a couple of things.Able to ride a pushbike with no gears.Circular slide rule.IroningAble to work out exact overtime pay in my head.Very good words for this Sunday, I will indeed have a moment of silence to remember those who gave and are giving so much that we can enjoy the freedom we some times take for granted. RON I think the technology is there to make a feasible new generation of steam locos as it says in the link, L. D Porta and David Wardale have done a lot of work in this direction. With a computer controlled firing locomotive able to use a low grade coal it could be economical to run if a you say the gas prices continue to rise at present rates although it would be a massive cost to put in the infrastructure to run the next generation of steam locomotives.Great link to the railways of Europe there are plenty of great photos.Thanks for that great photo of the Chilean tram, love the windows.Great words about Our Place. I too have learned an enormous amount about the railroads and trolley systems of North America from visiting the bar, from knowing very little when I first visited Our Place.DL Good to see you in the bar. I think Preston station is a listed building, I hope so, as it is a great example of a LNWR large station, now that Rug coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 3:13 PM Good Afternoon BArkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the hosue and $ for the jukebox.Just a quick stop as we are abt. to go offline until Tuesday.I have directed the barkeep to provide bottles of the best available over the weekend. Feel free to use them (as appropriate) for "Toasts to absent friends." We do that a lot around here given our line of work. I'll start things off a little ahead of time for observances. I was looking through a group of old family photos the other night - we brought tons of stuff back here this summer and came across a shot of a British soldier (we have had more than a few in the family over the years). I turned it over and read the caption (in my grandmothers copperplate script). It said, "Picture of Cousin Stanley - Gassed in the Great War." Says it all, I believe. Remember a moment of silence for the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month," and hope for better days ahead.Thanks to all who serve and have served.work safe DL - UK Member sinceAugust 2006 280 posts Posted by DL - UK on Friday, November 9, 2007 12:18 PM Hello Tom and all in Round for the house, bitter for me please.Just a quick call - hope all is well, been able to reveiw soem of the recent stuff - lots of interest - hope to be back before too long with a more inclusive posting and up dates! Bit busy with one thing and another (what with the LMS issue of Railway Magazine, and my Friends of the National Railway Musuem Journal - AND my Settle Carlisle Line journal all turning up at pretty much the same time! Rather a lot of reading matter!)Couple of links people might enjoy (my guess is this is a place Pete for certain will have spent time at - the web site is nicely done - found it by chance):http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bradshaw/preston/And this is a serious index with some detailed articles - plenty to read for certain (if you've not got enough already....)http://www.steamindex.com/index.htmBest wishes to allDL siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 11:43 AM G'day Gents!Ruth, go on 'n take your break - I'll be here for a bit to watch things! And yes, a round on the house - Boris, ring the bell! Have a few things to attend to this afternoon, so figured it's time to get a leg up on the comments . . . . Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Lars (LoveDomes) at 8:10 AM: Ah, the return of our Manager - if only for a brief time - great to see ya again, Mate! Every now ‘n then I get into a <funk> regarding how the times of today seem so drastically <different> from "back in the day." Of course this is nothing more than what all of us encounter as AGE creeps up on us. I don't attach anything more significant to it than that. HOWEVER, society has indeed changed ‘n along with it comes viewpoints running diametrically opposed to the things I hold near ‘n dear. I've wondered aloud many a time, "Would I be willing to defend these people, if . . . . . ?" Hang in there partner, we may be dying off faster than being replaced by like-minded individuals, but while we're here - let's never let ‘em get to us! It's been a long week without your offerings of covers ‘n it surely hit the spot to see those fine selections to help keep our morning humming along. One day I'm just going to have to spring for the DVDs . . . only have a very, very sparse collection, ‘n honestly don't know why! <puzzled>You're absolutely correct regarding our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie. He's anchored somewhere outta sight OR has placed himself in the Penalty Box <feeling shame, of course!> Received your latest Email ‘n responded - thanx! The round for the house is appreciated, but more so having you back amongst the gang! Ruth has a smile that just won't quit - and I think that was a tear coming out of Boris' eye <as in ONE - he is a Cyclops ya know!> CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:39 AM: Now that's quite a listing ‘n of course something to ponder. Surely the guyz can add to it . . . So with this newly created Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills, let's have some fun with it on Fridays! Love ‘n care for ‘em now, for in the not-too-distant-future your precious little ones grow up. Hard for me to believe how fast the time has gone from those days of hearth, home ‘n family. Cherish it all while you can, Mate - it changes right before your eyes. <uh oh>Mention of Rendezvous III brings to mind that I'll probably have to seek out an auditorium for the "presentations" you'll be putting together on "Everything Rails That Was ‘n Is ‘n May be!"Thought you'd pick up on those fotos of Doug ‘n Pete who were obviously overtaken by the sheer excitement of Amtrak travel. <grin>Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Ron (DD1) at 10:37 AM: And who should appear this morning but our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker>! Good to see ya, but I MUST wonder aloud - are you using that REFRESH/RELOAD/RESTORE feature on your browser in order to pick up on the MOST CURRENT POSTS Seems like you're a bit behind on the offerings . . . If you don't understand what I'm referring to, send me an Email ‘n we'll discuss it. Seems we had similar upbringings "back in the day." My two grandfathers came to this land back around 1910 from Germany. One grandma from Ireland, the other from Germany. The grandfathers insisted that only English be spoken in the house and most especially if I happened to be in the room. They refused to allow their native tongue to get in the way of adapting to the ways of their new country. So, I grew up without learning it. About all I can recite are some "colorful phrases," if you follow my drift! <grin>Imagine how great it would be in America if those who are beating a path to our shores ‘n borders had the same attitude as your father ‘n my grandfathers regarding the language I've yet to read or hear an argument convincing enough to change my claim that NOTHING binds a nation more so than a common tongue. But what do I know A captivating read on that "COALS" link. So the question is - why aren't we doing it!?!?!? Methinks we already know the answer - but another question is, "How high must the price of fuel get before we see the light?" <groan>Many thanx for the visit, chat ‘n round! <yes, we ru Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 9, 2007 10:37 AM Good Day Tom and all present. It may be too early for a little libation, but by the time I finish composing this, drinks all around may be in order. First off I want to say, I've learned more about trains in the short time I've been visiting than in the first 60 or so years preceeding my first visit. I realize from the content of these posts, that a lot of time goes into researching what goes into them. We all have to allot time based on our priorities. Some can allot more time than others. If one considers researching material, copying it, composing it, digging through old photos, scanning them and transferring them into a post, much time and effort is expended. it is greatly appreciated by me, as having done the same myself, I can realize the effort. Without trying to excuse myself, I sometimes don't give credit where credit is due. Enuf said. Eric: No, I never learned to speak Chinese, although I wish I had. My father wanted me to be 100% American. He came to this country in 1906 and despite the prejudice he faced, loved his newly adopted land. He was a man of very deep morals who believed in hard work, honor, family, sacrifice and responsibility. Basically, he was a Buddhist, but would attend the Catholic church with the rest of the family. He was a life long Republican and even contributed to the party. I must end this here, as I am writing my memoirs and can go on and on if not stopped. I just thought a little history would be of interest. Pete: I haven't seen Sunnyside yard for many a year. I used to spend much time there on the pedestrian bridges watching the trains. Too bad I didn't have a camera at the time. In an earlier post, (11/06/2007) you made an interesting point about the UK not adopting diesels early due to the cost of importing oil and staying with coal. With the cost of oil rising to all time levels, day by day, maybe there will come a time when steam might be more economical to operate. Wouldn't that be great! At least in this country, steam could be a way to go. In Europe, electric would rule due to their already extensive electrification network. There was a group here called "COALS" (Coal Oriented Advanced Systems) that was trying to develop a steam locomotive using a mix coal dust and water, converting it into a gas and use that to generate steam. The following link describes the COALS project and it's future. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html#TOP Tom: A most interesting history of BR. I came across this link that covers railways all over the world. Of particular interest was the chapter on liveries. See http://www.railfaneurope.net/. This one is for Trolleyboy: An old trolley built in 1925 for a Chilean tram. It was made from an old passenger coach in Germany. Got to run and cook lunch. See you later, Ron Edit coalminer3 Member sinceJanuary 2001 From: WV 1,251 posts Posted by coalminer3 on Friday, November 9, 2007 9:39 AM Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Partly cloudy here today with temps in the 30s - gas holding at $3.15.Pete has visited with comments and locomotive history. I have never been to Sacramento although I have heard good things abt. The rr museum there. The L&N ran better than average passenger service to the end. I have posted several items about them in the past (including some first hand accounts). Come to the rendezvous and hear more stores,Rob - I knew you would have the answer. I figured changing the trucks on the DC PCCs was, of course, part of the modifications, but I was unsure about what they did electrically - thanks for the information.Eric - she's always treated that way - they expect it don't they (lol)Caprotti valve gear shot was a good one.Lars has been by - good to hear from you - keep the shiny side up, sir! The bookmobile had some interesting items today. Robert W. Jones's books on the B&M are excellent although pricy. I heartily recommend his two volumes on the Boston and Albany as well. I have the B&M passenger car book - these books are black and white photographs which are really useful for looking at details, etc. Captioning is helpful as well because it gives the reader a time frame for when the picture was taken, where, and so on. OSP stopped by too. First, thanks for the L&N summary. I enjoyed your exposition of Weber's Law of Mechanical arts. Now, our vaunted research department (believe me, we pay them what they're worth) went to the legal section in the east wing and found a Corollary to Weber's Law which reads as follows: "The Law also applies to any other activity involving tension adjustments, carburetion, throttle settings, etc., especially when being done outside in snow, sleet, and/or high wind. Sub rule A of the corollary says:"Physical conditions mentioned in Weber's law occur ALWAYS when the truck is several hundred feet away from the job site, AND the one special screwdriver you need is not in your pocket because you left it on the truck."I see where OSP has opened a museum - kind of like the old Gilbert Hall of science - we'll call it Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills.Here are some forgotten technologies CM3 can still useMorse CodeManual typewriterSextant - A long time ago, but it'll come backSlide rule Let's throw in a few more "old" things that we still know how to doStick shift (Three on the tree) Stick shift (Four on the floor) Double clutch and downshiftParallel park Siphoning fuel - (It was a tough neighborhood)Carb adjustment Tuneup - (Includes gapping plugs and setting timing)Flush and fill cooling system Cooling system test Using a church key to open adult beverages w/o getting contents all over the place Patch tires Replace fuses - we don't need no stinkin' breakersUse math w/o a calculatorDo case lot and percent discounts in my head - used to work for a wholesaler back yrs. ago - b4 calculators even existedSquare roots with paper and pencilGeometry and trig - to figure stuff out so I don't get ripped off by suppliersVentilation calculations w/o a calculatorGet around w/o a GPS (day and night) SewCook lots of stuff from scratch - Indoors or outsideI'll bet the barflies can add a few more - let's see how big a list we can get. A word of warning, however: Boris has lots of skills but we don't want to know too much about them if we have to testify.Work safe LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Friday, November 9, 2007 8:10 AM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Ruth my deAH, yes it's really me - the Larsman back for a bit with a <grin> ‘n some cheer for da boyz at the bar! Boris, I see you've been feedin' the crittAHs during my absence, so that super-sized jar of PPF is for YOU! And my deAH, I'll take a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please ‘n a round for the house - the change, as always, is for YOU! In keeping with my wishes to remain a bit silent regarding personal things - let me just say it's been a tough couple of weeks. Thanks to youse guyz for stickin' with me "off line" - I've been in contact with Cap'n Tom, so my guess is he's passed some info your way by our e-mail net. Things are hardly "normal" these times, but I'll try to stop in as time permits - couldn't just fuhgedaboudit! Sorry if I'm unable to comment on all the posts. I've checked 'em out though 'n see that Da Bossman has really turned-to with more outstanding material to keep the bar afloat. Way to go Cap'n Tom! Noted that things 'round here are in good order, thanks to Bar Chandler Pete! Acting Manager!?!?!?! <arrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh> So, what do we have ‘round here Great idea for Armistice Day <Veterans Day> on Sunday! I'll do my best to show up with something to contribute - count on it! Monday is the legal observance for the holiday - which of course means another round of weekend sales at the malls across the land. Some places will actually hold parades ‘n services honoring those who have and ARE serving in the military. Those events will be sparsely attended. More people show up for anti-this ‘n anti-that than for patriotic events.A whole bunch of people will be off from work - even those who have nothing but disdain ‘n outright hatred of our military. Can you imagine such a thing? How hypocritical is THAT, I ask Sure, take off the day with pay in honor of our military - but go about your day spitting on those who helped to preserve our freedoms. Ok, ‘nuf of my rants for this day. Good to see some activity this week - especially Wednesday. That was a "gudun," huh Guys seemed to show up with "stuff" to say ‘n share. I see that Fergie the Sailor got <tweeted> for his indiscretions 'round here AND hasn't been heard from SINCE! <yikes>Love those pix of Doug ‘n Pete <snoozing> aboard the train. Caption should be something like, "Are we having fun yet?" <grin> Then there's Pete ‘n that bag of his. What in the world do you suppose he finds so enticing about that thing A man's purse, maybe????? Hmmmmmmm. Best keep a close eye on him! Noted the discussion regarding Union Station up in Toronto and all I could think of was the destruction of Penn Station here in New York City. I think Shane made mention of that too. Anyway, those rail palaces of the past have a place in the future. Hope that those who are setting out to make changes keep in mind that you can nevAH bring back something that you destroy.Can't stay too much longer, but there's time for a few <trade marks> from the Larsman Mobile! CPs Kicking Horse Pass (DVD)CNs Yellowhorse Pass (DVD)B&O Diesel Locomotives, Vol 1 - Switchers & Road SwitchersTriumph VI - Pioneer & ChallengerBoston & Maine - Forest, River & MountainPass siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! 3rd Year of adults 'n REAL Classic Trains in a special environment! Posted by siberianmo on Friday, November 9, 2007 5:54 AM <personal foto> Friday's GrinReasons "things" happen! Law of Mechanical Repair: As soon as your hands are coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee. G'day Gents! Week's end OH-FISH-UL-LEE begins at the end of this work day - so let's get a start on the countdown with a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board - pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case - ‘n a mugga freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee to wash it all down! Comments from the Proprietor: Sunday, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.So, as an exception to our "CLOSED on Sundays" rule - we invite one ‘n all to provide your input on SUNDAY ‘n MONDAY!It's just our way of thanking those who provided us with a chance to have what we have today! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Thursday - Nov 8th, 2007:CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:26 AM: Nice inclusive Post . . . Never knew the loco wash routine. Makes sense - dirty noses, hmmmmmm. Only YOU would KNOW that!! If one looks back on all of the ‘stuff' crammed into our grey <gray> matter, it would boggle the mind <grey/gray matter>! For example, who today gives a Rat's Patoot about the Morse Code? And yet, I still can "pound it out" and copy at an admirable speed. <used to copy at 35 wpm "back in the day"> Who cares about the use of a manual typewriter or even KNOWS the keyboard by heart ? I do - but the former is a relic of the past whereas the latter is simply that "thing" all computers have. It goes on - I still can recite the major USCG Cutter locations <home ports> from "back in the day" - knew the ships names AND call signs <still do!> But many <if not all> of those old ladies are at the bottom of the sea <or sold off to some foreign government> . . . and who gives a hoot about call signs! <geesh> Then there is the use of a sextant! How about a slide rule? How about . . . . Get my point Oh yeah, I even remember our FIRST telephone number from when I was a kid: Gibralter 80863W <a party line!>I'll take the GG1 cab ride - loco wash notwithstanding! Is round trip airfare to Sunnyside included Good news about the return to the digs for your youngster! Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters! Pete (pwolfe) at 4:30 PM: Enjoyed speaking with you today ‘n finalizing our December plans. <phew> Sometimes Email just doesn't "get it," eh Regarding your comments regarding the Union Stations here in StL ‘n in KCity - I concur that they have done marvelous restorations. However, KCity is heads ‘n shoulders above StL in that they have TRAINS there - both real ‘n model. They haven't forgotten what the structure was initially built for. In StL they have chased away anything running on the rails and NEVER gave a thought to having Amtrak operate there when it was reopened a couple of decades ago. Structurally, they are as different as Boris ‘n Ruth - however, there's a certain charm that goes with either! <grin>Most interesting mural shot - do you know what it depicts Appreciate the round - chat - fotos ‘n inclusiveness of your comments! Rob (trolleyboy Happy Railroading! Siberianmo EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:46 PM Good evening Captain Tom and all present!!Leon, don't you ever get any day off? I feel sorry for you! Anyway, a sugar cured ham sandwich on rye would be perfect! A cold Keith's, please!Close to the end of the work week! Just one more day. Tom – Two nice pictures of the T&P EA8A and MP Alco PA in very similar livery! I know that Pete emptied his bag at least once, see picture.Thanks for the L&N info! Nice looking drumheads! Just like Pete I like the Hummingbird one the best. CM3 – Good news, you got your young patient back home!!! Treat her as a princess!!You are right about the tracks in (and out of) the picture! Thanks for all the info on the different cars! Pete – Thanks for the 5s info!! There were quite a few of them built! I copied the text for future reference. I have to find out about the Caprotti valve gear. Sounds like an Italian designed it. I am not sure if those coars are cabooses. I kind of doubt it. I have to get back to the original picture to see if I can find any. Interesting pictures from Sacramento! I am trying to read the number on that Santa Fe locomotive but it is impossible. Here is my only picture from Sacramento. I found some info on Caprotti Valve Gear (Wikipedia) and here is a picture of 5s #73129 with a Caprotti Valve Gear. (Photo shown with permission from Wikipedia) Rob – Do you still have the broad TTC track in Toronto? Eric « First«39404142434445»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Good morning Captain Tom and all present!
Leon, I tried to get you some more time off, but it did not help.
Finally Friday and an other weekend! Good to see Manager Lars again!
Tom – Revealing pictures! I was not aware that so many participants slept through parts of the 2nd Annual Rendezvous! But now we all know! I guess the last (third) photo shows when Pete found out about the leaking soda pop in the bag!I agree 100% with you, nothing binds a nation more than a common language. I don’t understand why English isn’t the official language and why the ballot is available in Spanish? One is supposed to be able to read and speak English to become a citizen. Lars – Good to see Manager Lars again, even for just a little while! Thanks for the trade marks from the Larsman Mobile! Starting with an interesting video, Kicking Horse pass! Triumph VI is my choice of the books! No wonder Ruth was smiling today!CM3 – A princess should always be treated as a princess! Of course they expect it. <grin>I am impressed by the long list of skills you still can use! I know I am still able to stick shift and double clutch. My old stick shift and double clutch vehicle.I am also able to do my math w/o a calculator!Bake real Swedish coffee bread.Ride a bicycle for hundreds of miles in one day.Gassed in the Great War, yes, it says it all. A real hero!Ron – History is of interest! It is always very interesting to learn about people’s background! I think your father did the right thing, making sure that you became a 100% American! A different looking trolley! Do you know if it actually was built in Germany or if it was built in Chile from an old German passenger coach?DL – Interesting links! I bookmarked them for future use! Thanks!Pete – What was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop? I would say almost everything. You can see some samples in the window! As far as I can recall you were never able to get everything out of it! Thanks for the loco numbers! #2925 is a Class 2900, 4-8-4 built by Baldwin 1943-1944 and retired 1959. AT&SF had 30 locomotives of that class.#5021 is a class 5011, 2-10-4, built by Baldwin 1944, retired 1959. AT&SF had 25 of those. Thanks for all the info on the modern days steam locomotives on BR!
Good evening Tom and all. A round of drinks and a Guinness for me.
I can only think of a few skills to add to the list of forgotten technologies.
I heard on a newscast the other night, that China is becoming very dependent on oil and may surpass us in oil consumption pretty soon. This news is good and bad. Bad because that will speed up oil depletion resulting in higher prices. Good because it will further alternate energy sources, like coal for steam locomotives. If it is to happen, my guess would be that the UK would be in the forefront of steam technology. Most European countries have a good electrification infrastructure in place, so the switch from oil to coal wouldn't have too much of an impact. Here in the U.S., coal would probably be the most logical choice, as a nationwide system of electric railways would be a very costly undertaking. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas.
Tom: Those two A/C vents are not for the A/C. They are on an air purifier I built to suck dust out of the air. I have 8 A/C registers in the overhead, which also supply heat on the few times when heat is called for. When I replaced the house heating and A/C unit with a new one, the old one went to my shop.
That's about all I have for now. See you later.
A pint of Bathams please RUTH.
ROB I think historic buildings are a lot more appreciated nowadays than say in the 1960s lets hope Toronto Union is left as the great building I have seen in photographs.
ERIC Perhaps we could have a quiz as to what was in the black bag apart from loose soda pop.
Those Santa Fe steam locomotives outside the Sacramento Locomotive Works are # 2925 and possibly #5021 according to one of my rare notes. Good photo of the X2000 at Sacramento station.
Liked the photo of the Caprotti valve on BR standard Class 5 4-6-0. The BR Standard 5s were quite similar to the LMS class 5s. There were 172 Standard 5s built,they were introduced in 1951. There were 30 of class fitted with the Caprotti gear introduced in 1956.Originally 20 were allocated to Patricroft depot near Manchester and sheds in the Derby area after the first 10 started at Shrewsbury. Also the were 10 allocated to St Rollex shed in Glasgow Scotland. The class finished up with the English 20 all at Patricroft and the Glasgow ones spending their whole career at St Rollex.
I think the locos need a different method of handling from the original locos; one working I can remember the Caprottis on was a London to Manchester fast freight that used to pass through Rugby in the evening. A strange thing about these locomotives was that in foggy weather the steam seemed to cling around the locos more than other engines.
The last express passenger locomotive built in Britain for BR was the Pacific No 71000 'Duke Of Gloucester built in 1954. this 3-cylinder loco also had Caprotti valve gear. The locomotive did not have too good a reputation in BR days. Luckily 71000 found its way to Barry scrapyard and was saved, although there was a lot of items missing, like the outside cylinders. The people who restored the locomotive done a wonderful job and found a mistake in the ashpan dimensions which could have accounted for the locos poor reputation, they have also modified the chimney arrangement and now 71000 is a very strong locomotive and can compete with any of the steam locos running on BR today.
A photo of the 'Duke' at Carlisle on a steam special.
LARS Great to see you in Yes BORIS is doing really well looking after the Mascots treats, all I have to do is make sure the PPF jars arrive on time and send the empty jars back.
The bag is a wonder I got it from Rugby market years ago for about $10, it must have been over the Atlantic at least 10 times as well as carrying the shopping when I was in Rugby.
I have missing the Larsman Mobile a great selection today; I think my favorites this time are the B&O Switchers and the Boston & Maine ones, great photo of the Alco leaving the tunnel.
Agree with your words on Veteran's Day.
CM3 Yes the Sacramento Railroad museum is a great place, If they can ever get the old Locomotive works open to the public as well it would be a complete railroad experience as they already operate a short steam line.
I shall look forward to more tales of the L&N as well as some slides at the Rendezvous.
I think the new museum of TOM's will be a success. Great list of Things at the museum, which the younger generation can try their hand at.
Off the top of my head a couple of things.
Able to ride a pushbike with no gears.
Circular slide rule.
Ironing
Able to work out exact overtime pay in my head.
Very good words for this Sunday, I will indeed have a moment of silence to remember those who gave and are giving so much that we can enjoy the freedom we some times take for granted.
RON I think the technology is there to make a feasible new generation of steam locos as it says in the link, L. D Porta and David Wardale have done a lot of work in this direction. With a computer controlled firing locomotive able to use a low grade coal it could be economical to run if a you say the gas prices continue to rise at present rates although it would be a massive cost to put in the infrastructure to run the next generation of steam locomotives.
Great link to the railways of Europe there are plenty of great photos.
Thanks for that great photo of the Chilean tram, love the windows.
Great words about Our Place. I too have learned an enormous amount about the railroads and trolley systems of North America from visiting the bar, from knowing very little when I first visited Our Place.
DL Good to see you in the bar. I think Preston station is a listed building, I hope so, as it is a great example of a LNWR large station, now that Rug
Good Afternoon BArkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the hosue and $ for the jukebox.
Just a quick stop as we are abt. to go offline until Tuesday.
I have directed the barkeep to provide bottles of the best available over the weekend. Feel free to use them (as appropriate) for "Toasts to absent friends." We do that a lot around here given our line of work.
I'll start things off a little ahead of time for observances. I was looking through a group of old family photos the other night - we brought tons of stuff back here this summer and came across a shot of a British soldier (we have had more than a few in the family over the years).
I turned it over and read the caption (in my grandmothers copperplate script). It said, "Picture of Cousin Stanley - Gassed in the Great War." Says it all, I believe.
Remember a moment of silence for the "Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month," and hope for better days ahead.
Thanks to all who serve and have served.
work safe
Hello Tom and all in
Round for the house, bitter for me please.
Just a quick call - hope all is well, been able to reveiw soem of the recent stuff - lots of interest - hope to be back before too long with a more inclusive posting and up dates!
Bit busy with one thing and another (what with the LMS issue of Railway Magazine, and my Friends of the National Railway Musuem Journal - AND my Settle Carlisle Line journal all turning up at pretty much the same time! Rather a lot of reading matter!)
Couple of links people might enjoy (my guess is this is a place Pete for certain will have spent time at - the web site is nicely done - found it by chance):
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bradshaw/preston/
And this is a serious index with some detailed articles - plenty to read for certain (if you've not got enough already....)
http://www.steamindex.com/index.htm
Best wishes to all
DL
Ruth, go on 'n take your break - I'll be here for a bit to watch things! And yes, a round on the house - Boris, ring the bell!
Have a few things to attend to this afternoon, so figured it's time to get a leg up on the comments . . . .
Lars (LoveDomes) at 8:10 AM: Ah, the return of our Manager - if only for a brief time - great to see ya again, Mate!
Every now ‘n then I get into a <funk> regarding how the times of today seem so drastically <different> from "back in the day." Of course this is nothing more than what all of us encounter as AGE creeps up on us. I don't attach anything more significant to it than that. HOWEVER, society has indeed changed ‘n along with it comes viewpoints running diametrically opposed to the things I hold near ‘n dear. I've wondered aloud many a time, "Would I be willing to defend these people, if . . . . . ?"
Hang in there partner, we may be dying off faster than being replaced by like-minded individuals, but while we're here - let's never let ‘em get to us!
It's been a long week without your offerings of covers ‘n it surely hit the spot to see those fine selections to help keep our morning humming along. One day I'm just going to have to spring for the DVDs . . . only have a very, very sparse collection, ‘n honestly don't know why! <puzzled>
You're absolutely correct regarding our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie. He's anchored somewhere outta sight OR has placed himself in the Penalty Box <feeling shame, of course!>
Received your latest Email ‘n responded - thanx!
The round for the house is appreciated, but more so having you back amongst the gang! Ruth has a smile that just won't quit - and I think that was a tear coming out of Boris' eye <as in ONE - he is a Cyclops ya know!>
CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:39 AM: Now that's quite a listing ‘n of course something to ponder. Surely the guyz can add to it . . . So with this newly created Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills, let's have some fun with it on Fridays!
Love ‘n care for ‘em now, for in the not-too-distant-future your precious little ones grow up. Hard for me to believe how fast the time has gone from those days of hearth, home ‘n family. Cherish it all while you can, Mate - it changes right before your eyes. <uh oh>
Mention of Rendezvous III brings to mind that I'll probably have to seek out an auditorium for the "presentations" you'll be putting together on "Everything Rails That Was ‘n Is ‘n May be!"
Thought you'd pick up on those fotos of Doug ‘n Pete who were obviously overtaken by the sheer excitement of Amtrak travel. <grin>
Thanx for the visit, chat, round ‘n quarters!
Ron (DD1) at 10:37 AM: And who should appear this morning but our Resident Southern Gentleman down in Ole Miss <aka: transplanted New Yorker>! Good to see ya, but I MUST wonder aloud - are you using that REFRESH/RELOAD/RESTORE feature on your browser in order to pick up on the MOST CURRENT POSTS Seems like you're a bit behind on the offerings . . . If you don't understand what I'm referring to, send me an Email ‘n we'll discuss it.
Seems we had similar upbringings "back in the day." My two grandfathers came to this land back around 1910 from Germany. One grandma from Ireland, the other from Germany. The grandfathers insisted that only English be spoken in the house and most especially if I happened to be in the room. They refused to allow their native tongue to get in the way of adapting to the ways of their new country. So, I grew up without learning it. About all I can recite are some "colorful phrases," if you follow my drift! <grin>
Imagine how great it would be in America if those who are beating a path to our shores ‘n borders had the same attitude as your father ‘n my grandfathers regarding the language I've yet to read or hear an argument convincing enough to change my claim that NOTHING binds a nation more so than a common tongue. But what do I know
A captivating read on that "COALS" link. So the question is - why aren't we doing it!?!?!? Methinks we already know the answer - but another question is, "How high must the price of fuel get before we see the light?" <groan>
Many thanx for the visit, chat ‘n round! <yes, we ru
Good Day Tom and all present. It may be too early for a little libation, but by the time I finish composing this, drinks all around may be in order.
First off I want to say, I've learned more about trains in the short time I've been visiting than in the first 60 or so years preceeding my first visit. I realize from the content of these posts, that a lot of time goes into researching what goes into them. We all have to allot time based on our priorities. Some can allot more time than others. If one considers researching material, copying it, composing it, digging through old photos, scanning them and transferring them into a post, much time and effort is expended. it is greatly appreciated by me, as having done the same myself, I can realize the effort. Without trying to excuse myself, I sometimes don't give credit where credit is due. Enuf said.
Eric: No, I never learned to speak Chinese, although I wish I had. My father wanted me to be 100% American. He came to this country in 1906 and despite the prejudice he faced, loved his newly adopted land. He was a man of very deep morals who believed in hard work, honor, family, sacrifice and responsibility. Basically, he was a Buddhist, but would attend the Catholic church with the rest of the family. He was a life long Republican and even contributed to the party. I must end this here, as I am writing my memoirs and can go on and on if not stopped. I just thought a little history would be of interest.
Pete: I haven't seen Sunnyside yard for many a year. I used to spend much time there on the pedestrian bridges watching the trains. Too bad I didn't have a camera at the time.
In an earlier post, (11/06/2007) you made an interesting point about the UK not adopting diesels early due to the cost of importing oil and staying with coal. With the cost of oil rising to all time levels, day by day, maybe there will come a time when steam might be more economical to operate. Wouldn't that be great! At least in this country, steam could be a way to go. In Europe, electric would rule due to their already extensive electrification network. There was a group here called "COALS" (Coal Oriented Advanced Systems) that was trying to develop a steam locomotive using a mix coal dust and water, converting it into a gas and use that to generate steam. The following link describes the COALS project and it's future. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html#TOP
Tom: A most interesting history of BR. I came across this link that covers railways all over the world. Of particular interest was the chapter on liveries. See http://www.railfaneurope.net/.
This one is for Trolleyboy:
An old trolley built in 1925 for a Chilean tram. It was made from an old passenger coach in Germany.
Got to run and cook lunch. See you later,
Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Partly cloudy here today with temps in the 30s - gas holding at $3.15.
Pete has visited with comments and locomotive history. I have never been to Sacramento although I have heard good things abt. The rr museum there. The L&N ran better than average passenger service to the end. I have posted several items about them in the past (including some first hand accounts). Come to the rendezvous and hear more stores,
Rob - I knew you would have the answer. I figured changing the trucks on the DC PCCs was, of course, part of the modifications, but I was unsure about what they did electrically - thanks for the information.
Eric - she's always treated that way - they expect it don't they (lol)
Caprotti valve gear shot was a good one.
Lars has been by - good to hear from you - keep the shiny side up, sir! The bookmobile had some interesting items today. Robert W. Jones's books on the B&M are excellent although pricy. I heartily recommend his two volumes on the Boston and Albany as well. I have the B&M passenger car book - these books are black and white photographs which are really useful for looking at details, etc. Captioning is helpful as well because it gives the reader a time frame for when the picture was taken, where, and so on.
OSP stopped by too. First, thanks for the L&N summary.
I enjoyed your exposition of Weber's Law of Mechanical arts. Now, our vaunted research department (believe me, we pay them what they're worth) went to the legal section in the east wing and found a Corollary to Weber's Law which reads as follows:
"The Law also applies to any other activity involving tension adjustments, carburetion, throttle settings, etc., especially when being done outside in snow, sleet, and/or high wind.
Sub rule A of the corollary says:
"Physical conditions mentioned in Weber's law occur ALWAYS when the truck is several hundred feet away from the job site, AND the one special screwdriver you need is not in your pocket because you left it on the truck."
I see where OSP has opened a museum - kind of like the old Gilbert Hall of science - we'll call it Weber's Warehouse of Wondrous Forgotten Technologies and Skills.
Here are some forgotten technologies CM3 can still use
Morse Code
Manual typewriter
Sextant - A long time ago, but it'll come back
Slide rule
Let's throw in a few more "old" things that we still know how to do
Stick shift (Three on the tree)
Stick shift (Four on the floor)
Double clutch and downshift
Parallel park
Siphoning fuel - (It was a tough neighborhood)
Carb adjustment
Tuneup - (Includes gapping plugs and setting timing)
Flush and fill cooling system
Cooling system test
Using a church key to open adult beverages w/o getting contents all over the place
Patch tires
Replace fuses - we don't need no stinkin' breakers
Use math w/o a calculator
Do case lot and percent discounts in my head - used to work for a wholesaler back yrs. ago - b4 calculators even existed
Square roots with paper and pencil
Geometry and trig - to figure stuff out so I don't get ripped off by suppliers
Ventilation calculations w/o a calculator
Get around w/o a GPS (day and night)
Sew
Cook lots of stuff from scratch - Indoors or outside
I'll bet the barflies can add a few more - let's see how big a list we can get. A word of warning, however: Boris has lots of skills but we don't want to know too much about them if we have to testify.
Work safe
Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!
Ruth my deAH, yes it's really me - the Larsman back for a bit with a <grin> ‘n some cheer for da boyz at the bar! Boris, I see you've been feedin' the crittAHs during my absence, so that super-sized jar of PPF is for YOU! And my deAH, I'll take a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please ‘n a round for the house - the change, as always, is for YOU!
In keeping with my wishes to remain a bit silent regarding personal things - let me just say it's been a tough couple of weeks. Thanks to youse guyz for stickin' with me "off line" - I've been in contact with Cap'n Tom, so my guess is he's passed some info your way by our e-mail net.
Things are hardly "normal" these times, but I'll try to stop in as time permits - couldn't just fuhgedaboudit!
Sorry if I'm unable to comment on all the posts. I've checked 'em out though 'n see that Da Bossman has really turned-to with more outstanding material to keep the bar afloat. Way to go Cap'n Tom!
Noted that things 'round here are in good order, thanks to Bar Chandler Pete! Acting Manager!?!?!?! <arrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh>
So, what do we have ‘round here Great idea for Armistice Day <Veterans Day> on Sunday! I'll do my best to show up with something to contribute - count on it!
Monday is the legal observance for the holiday - which of course means another round of weekend sales at the malls across the land. Some places will actually hold parades ‘n services honoring those who have and ARE serving in the military. Those events will be sparsely attended. More people show up for anti-this ‘n anti-that than for patriotic events.
A whole bunch of people will be off from work - even those who have nothing but disdain ‘n outright hatred of our military. Can you imagine such a thing? How hypocritical is THAT, I ask Sure, take off the day with pay in honor of our military - but go about your day spitting on those who helped to preserve our freedoms.
Ok, ‘nuf of my rants for this day.
Good to see some activity this week - especially Wednesday. That was a "gudun," huh Guys seemed to show up with "stuff" to say ‘n share.
I see that Fergie the Sailor got <tweeted> for his indiscretions 'round here AND hasn't been heard from SINCE! <yikes>
Love those pix of Doug ‘n Pete <snoozing> aboard the train. Caption should be something like, "Are we having fun yet?" <grin> Then there's Pete ‘n that bag of his. What in the world do you suppose he finds so enticing about that thing A man's purse, maybe????? Hmmmmmmm. Best keep a close eye on him!
Noted the discussion regarding Union Station up in Toronto and all I could think of was the destruction of Penn Station here in New York City. I think Shane made mention of that too. Anyway, those rail palaces of the past have a place in the future. Hope that those who are setting out to make changes keep in mind that you can nevAH bring back something that you destroy.
Can't stay too much longer, but there's time for a few <trade marks> from the Larsman Mobile!
CPs Kicking Horse Pass (DVD)
CNs Yellowhorse Pass (DVD)
B&O Diesel Locomotives, Vol 1 - Switchers & Road Switchers
Triumph VI - Pioneer & Challenger
Boston & Maine - Forest, River & Mountain
Pass
Friday's Grin
Reasons "things" happen!
Law of Mechanical Repair: As soon as your hands are coated with
grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee.
Sunday, Nov 11th is Remembrance - Armistice ‘n Veteran's Day, all rolled into one - depending on where in the ‘free world' one resides. A tradition at the Tavern by the Tracks has been to Post material featuring the RRs and those who served in the Armed Forces during times of global conflict.
Thursday - Nov 8th, 2007:
CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:26 AM: Nice inclusive Post . . . Never knew the loco wash routine. Makes sense - dirty noses, hmmmmmm. Only YOU would KNOW that!!
If one looks back on all of the ‘stuff' crammed into our grey <gray> matter, it would boggle the mind <grey/gray matter>! For example, who today gives a Rat's Patoot about the Morse Code? And yet, I still can "pound it out" and copy at an admirable speed. <used to copy at 35 wpm "back in the day">
Who cares about the use of a manual typewriter or even KNOWS the keyboard by heart ? I do - but the former is a relic of the past whereas the latter is simply that "thing" all computers have. It goes on - I still can recite the major USCG Cutter locations <home ports> from "back in the day" - knew the ships names AND call signs <still do!> But many <if not all> of those old ladies are at the bottom of the sea <or sold off to some foreign government> . . . and who gives a hoot about call signs! <geesh>
Then there is the use of a sextant! How about a slide rule? How about . . . . Get my point Oh yeah, I even remember our FIRST telephone number from when I was a kid: Gibralter 80863W <a party line!>
I'll take the GG1 cab ride - loco wash notwithstanding! Is round trip airfare to Sunnyside included
Good news about the return to the digs for your youngster!
Pete (pwolfe) at 4:30 PM: Enjoyed speaking with you today ‘n finalizing our December plans. <phew> Sometimes Email just doesn't "get it," eh
Regarding your comments regarding the Union Stations here in StL ‘n in KCity - I concur that they have done marvelous restorations. However, KCity is heads ‘n shoulders above StL in that they have TRAINS there - both real ‘n model. They haven't forgotten what the structure was initially built for. In StL they have chased away anything running on the rails and NEVER gave a thought to having Amtrak operate there when it was reopened a couple of decades ago. Structurally, they are as different as Boris ‘n Ruth - however, there's a certain charm that goes with either! <grin>
Most interesting mural shot - do you know what it depicts
Appreciate the round - chat - fotos ‘n inclusiveness of your comments!
Rob (trolleyboy
Good evening Captain Tom and all present!!
Leon, don't you ever get any day off? I feel sorry for you! Anyway, a sugar cured ham sandwich on rye would be perfect! A cold Keith's, please!
Close to the end of the work week! Just one more day.
Tom – Two nice pictures of the T&P EA8A and MP Alco PA in very similar livery! I know that Pete emptied his bag at least once, see picture.
Thanks for the L&N info! Nice looking drumheads! Just like Pete I like the Hummingbird one the best. CM3 – Good news, you got your young patient back home!!! Treat her as a princess!!You are right about the tracks in (and out of) the picture! Thanks for all the info on the different cars! Pete – Thanks for the 5s info!! There were quite a few of them built! I copied the text for future reference. I have to find out about the Caprotti valve gear. Sounds like an Italian designed it. I am not sure if those coars are cabooses. I kind of doubt it. I have to get back to the original picture to see if I can find any. Interesting pictures from Sacramento! I am trying to read the number on that Santa Fe locomotive but it is impossible. Here is my only picture from Sacramento.
I found some info on Caprotti Valve Gear (Wikipedia) and here is a picture of 5s #73129 with a Caprotti Valve Gear. (Photo shown with permission from Wikipedia)
Rob – Do you still have the broad TTC track in Toronto?
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