I heard a nice little story on our radio staion that said it came about when the president of the C&O, Walter Touey, (sp?) recieved a letter from a little girl that lost her dog, due to one of the trains running it over. His office was in the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, Oh. This was I believe, they said in the 1920s ! He had someone get that little girl a new puppy & in his letter back to her, he said they also had a pet cat named Chessie !!
Thanks for any info !!
John
I'd like to know too, as I have a C&O boxcar with the cat logo on it.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29
Thanks, John
The kitten appeared as part of a promotion for passenger trains on the C&O railroad, IIRC in the 30's. The idea was that the C&O sleepers were so comfortable that even a kitten would get a good night's rest. There is a book available on the subject - I am at work and don't have the title. Don't know off hand if the story you heard fits in or not.
Enjoy
Paul
csxt30 wrote:I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29Thanks, John
1972 was when the Chessie System and logo came to be. Rats! My layout is set in the late 50's... I guess I'll have to throw that boxcar away.
I personally have heard 2 rumors. 1, it was a slogan reffering to "the confort of the sleeping passnegers" and an equivilent was a kitten. The other is that a crew found a kitten beside the tracks and named the railroad after it.
We report, you decide- Fox News
"Lionel trains are the standard of the world" - Jousha Lionel Cowen
Ah - I have info - got it last week while we were in Clifton Forge Va - Anything you ever wanted to know about the C&O can be found at www.cohs.org
This is their link to the story of "Chessie"
http://www.cohs.org/history/chessie.htm
Jim - Your timeframe is still cool!
Lisa
Nah - don't kick it across the room after you repaint it - just box it up and send it to me. I will take very good care of it. Some people take in unwanted animals - I'll take your unwanted NS boxcars!
Great question John!
And part of Chessie still lives on today as the C in CSX. S represents the Seaboard Coast Line (which is the merger of Atlantic Coast Line and Searboard Air Line) and I have heard the X is for the inclusion of future mergers.
- Luther
luther_stanton wrote: I have heard the X is for the inclusion of future mergers.- Luther
I have heard the X is for the inclusion of future mergers.
Actually, I beleive the X the multiplcation simple. It means that "We are so much more together" (Seaboard and Chessie).
jaabat wrote: csxt30 wrote: I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29Thanks, John1972 was when the Chessie System and logo came to be. Rats! My layout is set in the late 50's... I guess I'll have to throw that boxcar away.Jim
csxt30 wrote: I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29Thanks, John
The fully illustrated Chessie the Kitten appeared on a series of special boxcars in the 1950's. The paint scheme had the slogan "The Chessie Route" under many of the portraits of the kitten sleeping on a pillow.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
The classic original Chessie pose, where the small kitten is tucked between the sheets, her paw thrust forward and one eye barely open was the work of Guido Gruenewald, an artist in Vienna. Gruenewald used cats and kittens in many of his etchings.
The C&O was looking for an new slogan to replace "It's Always Springtime on the C&O". The new slogan was to be "Sleep Like a Top" , when head of public relations for the railroad saw a reproduction of Gruenewald's etching in a magazine and then asking, "Which is better? 'Sleep Like a Top' or 'Sleep Like a Kitten' ? "
The "Sleep Like a Kitten" ad first appeared on a timetable in 1932 to promote the air conditioned George Washington. By 1933, the C&O had put into service enough air-conditioned Pullmans and advertised in the September issue of Fortune Magazine. Within two days of the ad, the railroad received more than 300 requests for reprints, and it was evident that an ad campaign based on the kitten was a good idea.
In 1934, the C&O printed 40,000 calenders featuring the kitten. An ad in January 1935 is the first time the kitten was given the name, Chessie. http://www.tlcrailroadbooks.com/cgi-bin/tlcstore.pl?user_action=detail&catalogno=101T
When you visit the Baltimore, Ohio and Wabash Railroad at Roger's Corners, Ohio, make sure you see the 1954 C&O calender commemorating Chessie's 21st birthday.
I personally thought it was the dumbest move to drop the kitten as a corporate symbol by the CSX.
Now for the trivia question. There are three major railroads that have used animals as logo? C&O had the cat and NS has the horse. Who is the third?
Now that is a paint scheme.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Buckeye,
I believe that you refer to the Great Northern as the 3rd - the mountain goat?
luther_stanton wrote: Buckeye,I believe that you refer to the Great Northern as the 3rd - the mountain goat?- Luther
Give that man a cigar!
Rocky or one of his kin can be found stuffed inside the Glacier Park Hotel, just a short walk from the railroad station in West Glacier.
Chessie the Railroad Kitten by Thomas Dixon outlines the history of the kitty. They added "Peake", Chessie's "old man" in 1937. He was used extensively in WW2 adds.
The Yellow, Blue and Vermillion paint scheme with the sleeping kitten inside the "C" was a beautiful paint scheme. CSX was nuts to drop that for the primer grey with blue CSX lettering. It looks like they couldn't even afford real paint.
The Gray with Blue Lettering paint scheme used for CSX in the 5 years following the merger looked more like they thought the Chessie System and Seaboard System schemes were too much fun for a serious railroad. Now that they are freight only, who can sleep like a kitten? They have to work 24 hours a day moving freight. No Time to Sleep, kitties.
fifedog, the only problem is that the NS might be thinking cheaper in the near future. I caught NS 7571 pulling pigs north from the Ohio River towards Columbus in August of last year. I hope it was just primer, but I always thought the manufacturer did the painting.
Buckeye Riveter wrote: fifedog, the only problem is that the NS might be thinking cheaper in the near future. I caught NS 7571 pulling pigs north from the Ohio River towards Columbus in August of last year. I hope it was just primer, but I always thought the manufacturer did the painting.
Usualy GE does paint them but when I worked in Erie from 99 to 02, N&S was getting a lot of engines out of there in primer. Their still not painted !! I see them up here too all the time. The BNSF got a bunch out of their too & had them painted at a private facility & had to get every one repainted within a couple years cause that paint didn't hold up in the heat out west, etc. A big fee for getting a paint job at GE, but their's holds up.
John, have you ever been on a tour of the GE plant in Erie? Do they even have tours?
I'm very proud to say that I have had a tour of the Ohio Central Shops. Since they also do steam rehabs, it is impressive.
Buckeye Riveter wrote: John, have you ever been on a tour of the GE plant in Erie? Do they even have tours? I'm very proud to say that I have had a tour of the Ohio Central Shops. Since they also do steam rehabs, it is impressive.
I used to have to go in there every time they had engines coming out to go on our mainline in Erie, & inspect them. Most of the time they weren't even painted yet & I would walk all through the whole place from one Dept. to another looking for these engines. That place is like a little city in there, with streets & a traffic light and a Police Dept. Gigantic transfer tables that engines go from one Dept. to another. Oh, one guy in one of the offices had a old Postwar Lionel engine on a shelf in his office !! I always liked that guy !! Plus they always had a test train I had to put the marker on when it was going out on our main. In their yard they had some old trolleys & passenger cars. They have a 2 mile test track too I liked with catenary on it yet !! There's a lot to see in that plant & though only one time inspecting our engines coming out, I found a sand door open !!
Not sure but I think they have tours there & I know they do for prospective buyers !!
Oh, what did you see in that Ohio Central tour ? !!
You guys live (somewhat near) Pittsburgh; there are great ON DEMAND programs from Comcast.
If you have Comcast..1) Go to the On Demand screen. Select "your town"
2) Then scroll down to the next page and select "PCN"
3) Then select "tours".
You have these differant tours to pick from!!
1) Altoona Railroad Museum
2) G.E. Locomotives
3) Norfolk Southern Freight
Lots more...
Let me know if you can get them. They are really awesome programs!!
Buckeye - I got to tour the GE Erie plant back in 1990, during a NMRA Convention (Pittsburgh). They (GE) would not allow picture taking once we got off the bus. This was during GE's first big series of C40-8's, and as luck would have it CSX's order was being constructed. It was neat seeing everything done in kit form, and very cool seeing frames and bodies suspended in air with lifts. Of course, back then CSX was big on painting its engines stealth grey, remember that? Kinda reminiscent of NS's habit of putting them GE's right into revenew service.
chuck,
Glad you mentioned about Peake, Chessie's old man, not too many people know about Peake today.
Lee F.
I work for CSX and I agree that our current logo is a bad one. In looking at the current CSX logo I can see a quick way to improve it CSX, can you?
Scott
broadythecableguy wrote: I work for CSX and I agree that our current logo is a bad one. In looking at the current CSX logo I can see a quick way to improve it CSX, can you? Scott
Scott : do run through Ashtabula ? I'm 2nd. trick car inspector there, right now.
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