This weekend is somewhat special in Louisiana. This is now a page in history.This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of hurricane Rita. It did serious damage along the coast, flooding over 2000 acres of land with salt water, making it unusable for farming for years to come. Around 30,000 cattle were drowned, many people forced the flee from their homes, including myself. My trailer was seriously damaged by the winds that hit here, some measured upwards of 100 mph. My roof was lifted and bowed, the sheets on it stretched to the point that they would never sit flat again. Our volunteer fire dept near here went out to clear the roads for other emergency crews. The depts resources and personnel were stretched beyond their limits, but the efforts of all the fire depts and road crews in the parish began to turn the tide. The 4 mile stretch of road that I live down took two days to clear, there were over 90 trees toppled across it and the power lines. There were few places in the parish that had power. Many people had to depend on generators for weeks. If it hadn't been for the efforts of the volunteer firefighters of the parish, it would have been months. The extent of the damage was the worst that had ever been seen here. Never had Vernon parish taken a direct hit from a hurricane like that. Usually it's just a lot of rain, but this time, there was very little rain and a lot of wind. Almost every home in the neighborhood here was damaged. My parents home didn't lose so much as one shingle, a testament to the contractor who built it. For almost two weeks, the closest place to get gas was above Rapides parish, over a hundred miles away. The town I live near, Leesville, was plunged into the dark ages overnight, emergency crews and police on foot, because they couldn't drive on the roads which were impassible, blocked by trees, pieces of homes and overturned vehicles. Thank God for the Red Cross and the volunteers, who turned out in the hundreds. People who were in shelters here after being forced to leave New Orleans, came out to work, to help people they didn't know and until a few weeks previously, didn't even know they existed. Some of those people chose to stay on here and many have become good citizens. For them, the double punch of two storms, had to be truly traumatic. I found one to be quite sufficient. It was almost six weeks before all of Leesville was up and running again, but the town will never be the same. Rita left deep scars here, on the town and it's people, most of which, will never heal. I truly hope that a disaster like this never hits here again. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Good Evening All,
Still at work - waiting for a couple of e-mails to appear so I can vamoose.
Went to Plattsburgh Ny yesterday to drop a car off for my son the college student. Ambitious fellow that he is, he got a part time job since he has two days with no classes this semester so why not? Nice ride up - took about 4 hours and rode the Adirondack back as far as Poughkeepsie where the CFO picked me up.
First time I've been on the line from Albany to Montreal. It runs along Lake Champlain and for the most part is hewn out of the rock mountains on the western edge of the lake. In a lot of places it seems you could reach out and touch the rock walls of the cuts very rugged and very senic. Lots oof places where the right of way is built up over small inlets and the embankments are really steep and all stone with just a few trees and bushes struggling for a toehold in the rock. One short tunnel and a few girder and one truss bridge. A lot of the line has suffered this summer as the speeds were very slow in a lot of places and there was evidence of rail and ties just flung off to the side some of which looked new though well twisted. Washouts? By the time we made Albany we were an hour behind schedule, and the changeover of crews and power took 30 to 45 minutes instead of the promised 10 so I finally made my exit an hour and a half late at Poughkeepsie.The other odd thing is that even though there is a full time station attendant in Plattsburgh - no tickets can be bought at the station. You need a reservation and to prepay or pay onboard. The train was clean and comfortable and the crew first rate, but I still wouldn't want to have schedule problems like that every day. Makes it just like the airlines without the agita of security checks and profiling. Had lots of fun checking out the sidings and trackside buildings especially in the older built up areas. The main line is still mostly single tracked so we had to take the siding as the North bound (also running late) got the long strech of single track before us adding to our delays, but when it went past at speed it was an impressive sound and shaking indeed.
All for now - I've got to see what other kind of trouble I can get into this weekend with supposedly more rain on the way. CUL, J.R.
Ed, some very neat shots you've got there. It's not to often you see little plymouths like that still around, although it's too bad it's a little rough. All of it looks like it was pretty cool to see. Thanks for letting me know it was here too, or I might have missed it!
Hey guys, long time no see. I know I haven't been around much lately, but with school and all I haven't had much time to hang out on the forums, I've been directing my efforts towards getting my module ready for a show we have this weekend in Monroe, Wi (which is down near the Illinois Border). I haven't really gotten a whole lot of scenery work done though, it's just mainly been wiring. I do have the turntable finally motored up now, but it runs a little rought still, so I'm working on figuring out what's wrong to get it running smooth. It'll be okay for this weekend anyway though.
Well, I better get going. I've got to get my equipment ready for a weekend worth of running, so I need to oil the locomotives, make sure all of the equipment I plan to run is up to club standards, and other things like that. I've also go to figure out exactly how much I've got to spend at the show this weekend! Hopefully I'll be back with a show report Sunday night or Monday.
See ya around,
Noah
I went to see if I had gotten any new members on my forum today, and I don't mind telling you, I got one heck of a shock! Mr Schatborn, the creator of the paper intermodal containers I've been pushing lately (with his permission), has joined my forum! I feel honored! I don't know whether to laugh, jump up and down or go shopping.
Pc, it's good to hear that the walk through went OK. Let's hope that everything continues as it has.
Ed, those are dynamite pics, far better than anything I can take with the prehistoric equipment I have.
I'll be back later.
Yup, everything on the Newfoundland Railway was 3'-6" gauge. (With the exception of some dual-gauge track in the yard at Port-aux-Basques for the following purpose). They did some interchange with mainland railroads, by means of a car ferry across the Gulf of St Lawrence between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland, and lifted the cars off their standard gauge trucks and mounted them on narrow gauge trucks for movement on the Nfld railway.
Ed
Hi all,
Ed thanks for sharing those photo's with us, was all the equitment photoed all narrow gauge?
Okay, went back and re-edited the whole post. I think it works now. So here is the trip report on the summer trip. Glad I finally got this completed before startingout on our next trip. I get behind so easily these days.....
As you may remember, we made a trip to Newfoundland this summer, and I’m just now getting around to editing my photos and writing up some notes. Thought I’d share a few thoughts about the trip. I was born in Newfoundland, but not raised there. And I’ve never been all that interested in the history of the railroad there until I started preparing for this trip.
To give a quick, condensed summary of the Newfoundland Railway, suffice it to say that it was built between 1881 – 1898. It was narrow gauge, built to 3’-6” gauge. About 550 miles of mainline from the capital, St John’s to Port-aux-Basques on the southwestern coast.
Including all branch lines, total mileage was around 900 miles (depending on at what period you were measuring), making it the longest narrow gauge system in North America. After Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, the Newfoundland Railway came under the control of Canadian National. Towards the end of its run, they changed the name to Terra Transport.
Like many railroads serving large, underpopulated regions, it was a money losing proposition. When government funds starting running low, and with the competition from the newly completed Trans-Canada Highway in 1956, traffic decreased and deficits mounted. Service was terminated in 1988. Tracks were torn up almost immediately afterwards. Very little track or equipment remains today.
For more detailed information see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_Railway
Okay, enough background. We landed at St Johns, and spent most of our time out on the Bonavista Peninsula, so my train watching was limited to spots in between those points, which covers basically the eastern section of the island.
Here’s a map of the island:
http://home.earthlink.net/~lkstrong/NfldMap.htm
Considering that I had the wife and junior in tow, I got to see a good number of sites. We hit the Railway Coastal Museum, Avondale, Whitbourne, Clarenville, Trinity Loop, Bonavista and Pt Union.
Best Museum
Wow, they sure did a good job on restoring the old main station and railroad headquarters building in St John’s and turning it into the “Railway Coastal Museum”. Good exhibits with lots of photos and displays. Learned a lot about the Coastal Boats too. (The railroad also operated a fleet of small coastal boats providing passenger and freight service to outlying posts). Nice job restoring and/or preserving the building. Too bad they didn’t have more rolling stock outside, but the museum itself is excellent. Here’s a shot of the building.
Best preserved rolling stock
I have to hand it to Bonavista. The locomotive (#932) and cars there were in the best condition of those that we saw. The station building is nicely maintained and serves as a senior citizen center. I have no idea how much the current condition resembles the station as it was when it was in service. #932 is a class NF210 diesel, 1200 hp, built by EMD in the late 50’s.
Biggest (pleasant) surprise
I’m originally from Pt Union. Of course, the trains were gone from that particular branch long before I came along. In fact, I never associated trains with Pt Union. I knew they had recently turned the old station into a museum, but didn’t really expect to see much. Turns out that they did a very nice job of reconditioning the building. It was moved some 50-100 yards from where it originally stood. While about half the station is dedicated to the town in general, they do have much more railroadiana than I expected to see. Where the station once stood, you can still see the original platform curb. And you can see where they blasted the spur leading to the station and it’s associated wharf, and the spur leading to the Fisherman’s Union buildings, through the local rock. I also toured the local Fisherman’s Union buildings, and in one of them they had an old (+/- 1918) plot of the town, which showed the whole track arrangement at Pt Union, including the wye, the station and spur, the wharf track, and the spur leading over to the Fisherman’s union buildings and wharf. Didn’t seem to include trackage up to the main branch line at Pt Union Jct, or at least I didn’t make it out.
Trinity Loop was a well known site on the railroad. As far as I know it’s the only visible train loop in Canada. Originally constructed as a long trestle, it was eventually filled for most of its length.
When most of the tracks of the Nfld Railway were taken up, they left the trackage at the loop, which was operated as a very short tourist attraction for a number of years (using small home made motors and cars). It was apparently still operating last year, but I’m sorry to report that Trinity Loop park was shut down by the time we got there this summer. We walked around the loop just for the sake of it. The right of way is really overgrown with weeds, and the ties are badly in need of replacement.
The little Plymouth switcher they have there has suffered badly from vandalism. I understood that the #802 (a class G8, 875 hp unit built by EMD in 1954. Designed for use on light weight branch lines) was supposed to be there, but if it is it must be well camouflaged. We looked around and found the few cars that they have spread around.
As a side note, I was surprised and a bit disappointed at the amount of vandalism I saw at the various sites. Maybe I shouldn’t be. But I guess I just didn’t expect it. It was especially evident at Trinity Loop, Whitbourne, and to a lesser extent at Avondale.
Whitbourne
I guess I expected the museum to have more of a train orientation, especially considering that for a long time the railroad maintained their main shops here, but most of the material was about the town in general. They did have a locomotive, snowplow, and a few cars on a siding.
Avondale
Excellent job of restoring the depot. Nice selection of items on display. I think they are operating one of the cars as a diner, but it didn’t appear to be open when we were there. Here’s an overall shot of the depot area.
Clarenville
The station is now a Shrine Masonic Center. As at Bonavista, at least the building still exists and is being used for something. Kind of easy to see where the yard tracks were. Considering that it was a division point it’s too bad they didn’t preserve more equipment or make the station into a rail museum. But hey, at least they have something there.
Overall it was a great trip. We’re hoping to get back there again next year. If I do I’ll certainly continue exploring what’s left of the railway.
By the way, if anyone is interested I do have more photos. But the ones here are representative. Since I was only photographing static displays and old station buildings, there are no dramatic shots.
Best regards
Mornin all, coffee please Zoe
Thundering here this morning, rainy and cool for the day .. Got some stuff done outside yesterday, but it'll be inside chores today and the next 3 days. Think I'll get in some train time also.
Coldy,,, sounds like some interesting projects you've had going on,, and that you enjoyed doing them.. Bet you got a good grade on the career prep. I think most of us have ups and downs in MRR, I know I do, so your no different.
PC,,, glad the walk through went ok. Are you going to get moving before you thought now?
Paul,, I farmed along the tracks that run out back for almost 4 years. I've found all kinds of stuff, including a bundle of 1" plywood, the corners were kinda beat up, but was in purrty good shape. Used part of it on a layout I was building at the time.
ED,, I've had trouble too from rail images, so I use photo bucket to post in here. Only one I can get to work all the time
Need to get ta chores I guess, don't want to, but need to keep CFO in an almost good mood. Hope ya'll has a gooden
inch
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4309
Good morning ! from Indiana.
09-22-06
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good morning
Happy MRRing
Curses, I've been trying to post my trip report from the Newfoundland trip this summer, with photos, and this stupid new forum software is giving me fits. Shows one or two photos, not others, nothing consistent, even though they come from the same source. It's late. I'll try again tomorrow, maybe.
Later
Evening All:
Jeff: I see that you hit it again. Since I've already had supper I'll just have a small dish of the sugar free ice cream. Strawberry,please, Chloe.
Not much going on here today. Mary Ann and I got a late start and didn't have breakfast until 10:30. We never did get lunch. After picking up feed and unloading same at home we took her tractor into the dealer so they sould find out why all the leakage of oil and fuel on the top of the engine. I just hope that the repaire is going tobe some that they will cover.
Inch: That's a good one there. I can tell you from personel experiance that some neat stuff falls off trains. When you have the U.P. running through your place nothing suprises you.
Ed: When are you and Fran coming NOB again?
Well I'm going to hit the sack.
Good Night All
Evening all, just coffee trip Cleo,
Just a quick holler for now. I have a scanner turned into the RR out back, so I kinda know whats going on. I'll try to give a bit of the last transmisson as best I can.
train ; Dispacht.... engine 83 63
dispach; Go ahead 8363
train ; Dispacht, have you had any strange reports of washing machines today?
dispach; No, and I'm afraid to ask, WHY?
train ; Well, there must be a box car door open because there's washing machines along the track. Between marker 86 and 87 1/2 on the S. side. One of them's next to a scrap yard, bout the right place for it.
dispacht,, your kidding? Is there any indangering the track. Was there any dryers, I could use a new one
train ; No dryers, but 6 or 8 beat up washing machine laying along side the track. Looks like they were new. Ready for a scratch n dent sale..
dispacht ; Ok I'll get a report filed. Any thing else strange out there.
train ; Not yet, but we'll let you know.
Catch ya'll laters
Ed- Thanks for the help.
Dick- Sorry for not getting back. Doing 2 layouts at once is tough. We are @ 4161 Naco-Perrin, San Antonio 210-655-4665
Ya'll keep well and prayers for who needs them.
Trent
Cool timetable Colby!
Well, the walk through went real good. Things are on schedule. Hope they stay that way!
ed- thanks. and also today I got the last Maine Central Time Table that was printed before the Gilford take over.
ModelTrainLover wrote: ...and for the career prep. well I only had to interview 1 person insted I interview 4. One was from Gilford, and the Downeastern (Amtrak) and 2 from the Maine Narrow Gauge RR. For the Maine Narrow Guage I got cab rides of the Amtrak I got the grand tour of the Train from front to back I even got to got in side the cab of the engine and I had to walk past the diesle engine that was in side.. now this past Aug 26 I was able to volinteer at the Maine Narrow Gauge RR for their Day out With Thomas. I had the blast of a life time.. even got to keep the staff shirt I was given. I was a car host there.. on that day it was higher than my 7th grade school year..
...and for the career prep. well I only had to interview 1 person insted I interview 4. One was from Gilford, and the Downeastern (Amtrak) and 2 from the Maine Narrow Gauge RR.
For the Maine Narrow Guage I got cab rides
of the Amtrak I got the grand tour of the Train from front to back I even got to got in side the cab of the engine and I had to walk past the diesle engine that was in side..
now this past Aug 26 I was able to volinteer at the Maine Narrow Gauge RR for their Day out With Thomas. I had the blast of a life time.. even got to keep the staff shirt I was given. I was a car host there.. on that day it was higher than my 7th grade school year..
Dick, the other day you were asking about Trent's shop. Here's a picture of Trent (with moustache, on the right), with Clay, the shop owner that I took when we visited there last year. The shop is "Lone Star Trains & Collectibles".
hey guys..
well 1st quarter for the school year ends Nov 1st progress report cards come out in 2 weeks.
and well. I have a confession...... My interest in trains can some times be like the stock market... for a few years it could be at it's highest then drops down and stays low for a few months then it goes back up, ect. this mainly happens when I get use to doing the same thing on the other forums that I frequient, and it also happens off the comp. like durring my 4th and 5th grade year at school. I was not that deeply into trains. Come 6th grade is goes up through out the school year 7th grade it spikes past all of my other high's because we had to do a community service project and a research paper, and had to interview people for career prep.
For the community service I volinteerd at the YWCA and I brought my model train to show the kids, every day that I was at the YWCA I had my model train with me. and even when school let out I still went there.
and for the research report I did it on the history of Railroading in Maine more on the narrow gauge railroads.
and for the career prep. well I only had to interview 1 person insted I interview 4. One was from Gilford, and the Downeastern (Amtrak) and 2 from the Maine Narrow Gauge RR.
now I'm going to lower level but with Nov 4 comming.. well It's going to go up. A train show is comming to the Auburn Middle school hosted by the Great Falls Model Railroad club that I am a member of......
so untill next time
so long
Mornin again, another coffee here, an since Jeff's again, think I'll have the same as he got.
got no kids for some reason, havn't heard from Pat or Shila why yet, but maybe I can get some thing after all today.
PC,, you be ok [for a city boy], just know your ready to get the movin done an over with, know I would. Hope the walkin through goes well and there's no big problems.
Ryan,,, it's an honor to have your granddads flag, my hats off to you and him. A good freind of mine and Jerry's, Jim Winger, flew the Hump, during WW 2. once in a while I could get him to tell a story or two bout that time. We lost him serval years ago, now I wish I had recorded the storys he and serval other vets from that time told me. such a great loss of history now, never thought about it then.
Need to get back to chores. the steak was purrty good hit, the spot, thanks Jeff. Later in the day all
PC, Oh, sounds like the final walk through kinda thingy! Have fun with that...
And, looks like Jeff hit the jackpot two days in a row... let's see, what will I have for lunch today....
....I'll check in later to see what the cooks have for a special today!
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
Ryan, it's a thing where they show you around and then you point out any touchups that are needed before you sign your life away. Thats all.
Hey Jeff! You're quickly becomming the new PC! You're going to go broke quick (quicker then normal) if you keep this up!
Good morning all and top 'o' the day to ye. I'll have the steak and eggs with orange juice this morning, if you'd be so kind.
Well I got two turnouts left to wire then I start with the scenery base. I figure I'll start at the back of the layout and work forward. That way, any early mistakes wont be as glaring and I'll be in good practice by the time I get to the front. Other than that, I've nothing else on my schedule except the odd fire call from 911. With the recent rains those have been few and far between and I hope they stay like that for a while. Have a good day, and I'll be back around later.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Chloe, err…. Bill and Luct I mean…… how about a tall cup o Joe and some of those fresh pastries for starters this crisp morning. Hope Chloe and the gang don’t get lost on their extended vacation….
Wow, temp was 46 degrees as I walked out the back deck this morning to let the dogs out. Funny how they seem to have a bit more pep in their step when it is cooler outside. I think they like it that way too…..
Tomorrow is my flex Friday off, so I will be a workin on the railroad for at least half the day. The plan is to extend the double main line another 8 feet along the north wall and start building the middle peninsula benchwork section.
Then we are off to Asheville tomorrow afternoon to celebrate our 14th year of married life together! Yea!
Jeff and PA Belt, I don’t know a lick of the German language, except take for a few lines from Hogan’s Heroes, ya know! Like, frauline, or schnell, or “I know nuting, I see nuting, I hear nuting”, stuff like that. Since the translators are stuck at the UN General Assembly meeting this week, maybe you guys could tell us what the heck is going on over there….
Attaboy, now that sounds like it could have been a lot worse situation, I mean, water and electricity don’t mix too well. Glad you got out of that one safely.
Hoople, yep, PC is moving into his brand spanking new home on Friday, September 29, but whos counting? Well, glad that you asked…. Check out the countdown timer right here…. http://www.rymocs.com/countdown.html.
Inch, boys will be boys! I know you really did not do any BAD stuff; you were just being bad in a good natured sense.
I know what you mean about military funerals, I have been to many of them myself, and they are very much the tear jerker. I still have my grandfathers U.S. flag that was draped over his coffin, along with a few of the shell casings from the 21 gun salute. He was a pilot in the Army Air Force during WWII. He flew bomber missions over India and Egypt.
Hey, gas at the Murphy Oil at the Wall Mart was down to $2.19 a gallon last night.
Hey, PC, what kind of orientation do you need there buddy?
Ed, you are welcome my friend! I like to help out when I actually know what the heck I am talking about, which, by the way isn’t very often. That links looking good there.
Cheers,
Good morning everyone!
Hi Zoe, Chloe. Hows that coffee today? Just brewed you say? Sign me up!
Well, the big walk-through day has arrived! Was looking through some of the paperwork last night and some of it says that we could be closing several days earlier then planned. That's OK though. We were thinking of doing some painting, so this would give us a chance to do that. Guess we'll find out this morning, huh?
inch53 wrote: PC,,,House looks good and looking forward to your being gone from here a few days, know you are too.
PC,,,House looks good and looking forward to your being gone from here a few days, know you are too.
Mike, I thought you liked me? Now you want me gone?
All, There's an awful lot of prayer needed. I've been lifting all of you up. Lisa, how's the therapy going? RT, when you get back in here, we're here for you. Krump, your family has been on my mind and in my prayers. And so many others, I speak your names to the Father every day, several times a day. Please know that my Father hears my words and cares about you.
Mornin all,,,, cup of Luc's coffee and and couple Bill's doughnut Zoe,
Didn't get as cold as they forecast [37], got 44 now, looking for some sun and high bout 70. Chance of rain coming in tonight and through Sunday morning, just what I don't need right now.
Just think of all the fun your going to have trying to put every thing away after the hauling part
ED,, #1 son puts my car kits togaither any more. My fingures and small detail parts don't get along well anymore.
Not much planned for the day, got KC and Leroy, Mother doing a jewerly party in Casey this evening, so I get a couple hours to myself anyway. Best get ta chores, hope ya'll has a good one