Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Carl - Trust me. You'll wonder how you ever found time to go to work.
The biggest danger is with the folks for whom working was their life. No hobbies, no outside interests. When they retire, they are lost.
A concern of mine was simply human contact - something you take for granted when you see the people at work every day. I'm getting around enough to see people, so it hasn't been an issue.
I've been missed at work (and I have the emails to prove it), but they're getting by. It's tough trying to pass along everything about a rather complex system in the few weeks I had to get my replacement up to speed - and he is only filling in until the permanent replacement comes on board.
I haven't missed work yet, though.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
CShaveRRNot sure, but I think John W. Barriger was still president of the P&LE in 1964. His hiring Howard Fogg to do the calendar art was truly a class act.
His "signature" is on the preface to the calendar, so you have that right, on both counts.
To pass on one's affinity for something to the next generation...that's priceless. I can't wait to have experiences like that with my little guy (not so little...try picking him up!) but that will come with time.
Carl and Larry (anyone else too!)-Does the prospect of being retired make you nervous? My father equated it to not being needed anymore...and was quite antsy about it.
Dan
Cute video. Reminds me of another young railfan some of us know.
Happy birthday, Jay!
Stopped at the fire station the other day and found a large envelope marked to my attention. One of our members was in a old station now being used by a feed and farm supply store. He came away with several interesting items.
Newest was a pictorial calendar entitled "Railroading 1979." Curiously, it was all steam locomotives - all the more interesting because a number of them are still under steam. Conway Scenic 47 (now known as 7470 and still in service), Roaring Camp and Big Trees #2, "Jupiter", Sierra RR #28, "Edison" at Greenfield Village - still in service, California Western #46 (on the "Super Skunk"), Huckleberry #2 in Flint, MI (still in steam), Knott's Berry Farm # 40 (possibly the current 340?), "Engine #3 at Virginia City", Mt Washington's "Col. Teague" (#10 - possibly now called "Kroflight"), Edaville #7, and Calistoga #1913 - a 1/3 scale Pacific.
The other calendar is a 1964 appointment calendar, side bound, from the P&LE. Noteworthy here is that the art for each month was done by Howard Fogg.
Both calendars are pristine.
From a historical standpoint, the most significant piece is the mimeographed "Standing of Passenger Conductors, St Lawrence and Ontario Divisions" dated January 1, 1919. I want to scan it, but the pages are extremely brittle. We'll see.
The most senior conductor has a seniority date of July 4, 1882. Beginning in 1901, most of the names listed also have a freight date as well, with the oldest being March 1, 1892.
The list also has brakemen, with the most senior listed as 1875, no month given.
Many of these folks would have started with the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg (or one of the predecessors thereof).
Fascinating stuff.
I hope everyone here gets a chance to look at the video on the thread "Train Watching with rail fan friends" on the Classic Trains forums. It is about two young boys watching a crew doing some switching. It is the way I spent my life as an "AgentKid" for years. As the expression goes "nice work if you can get it!"
I first saw the video last night and my mood has been better ever since.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
tree68 CShaveRRThat woodchuck (yes, I know how to spell Punxsutawney) saw his shadow this morning. Now, if we could only hold him to his prediction that spring will begin on March 16. We should be so lucky! Yep - If he sees his shadow, we're in for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, spring will be here in about a month and a half...
CShaveRRThat woodchuck (yes, I know how to spell Punxsutawney) saw his shadow this morning. Now, if we could only hold him to his prediction that spring will begin on March 16. We should be so lucky!
Yep - If he sees his shadow, we're in for six more weeks of winter.
If he doesn't, spring will be here in about a month and a half...
So true...
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Our snow overnight....almost didn't happen. I'll call it a very light skiff, but it hardly qualifies for such. In fact, it has already disappeared. Temps headed up again today....Above freezing now. And partly sunny.
Somehow, here in the rail corridors of the mid west, and even other traffic qualified sections around the country, to my thinking would be well served with 110 mph service....Cost to speed ratio might produce a more efficient way to spend transportation {rail}, dollars. Bang for the buck....compared to money required to get to 200 plus mph speeds. Perhaps some areas would be "right" for a creation of a corridor of the high speed service.
Quentin
....That's an interesting article....and perhaps the "new" funding for at least a move to get HSR off dead center.
The pic's. from Chris seems to show the station sure still has the potential spaces to be a show place. And exciting entry / exit, to the big city.
....I have been in Chicago Union.....but oh so long ago. My only memory of the inside....that it was dark and dungy. Time frame was: About February 1953....On my way west {way west}, for Uncle Sam. We met a troop train there and perhaps we didn't even get into some of the massive spaces Chris has recorded in his great B/W photos. So we would have disembarked off a train from the east and boarded the troop train headed to Seattle.
My memory of it and the beautiful elegance in Chris's photos is so different....surely it was Union we changed trains in.....
To quote Ricki, concerning the wonderful views of Chicago Union--
Johnny
And that just seemed really, really wrong to me. I think I'm still going to call it the Sears Tower.
Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments. I really need to go back sometime and shoot the station with a tripod (if they allow that). All these shots are handheld at ISO 3200...it'd be nice to shoot at a lower ISO (and with a wider lens...next time I'm there, I hope to have something a bit wider than the 18mm I had on this occasion).
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
blhanel Niiiiice. I've been through Union Station a couple of times, but I don't remember the huge central room and the grand staircase- is it possible to access the trains on the south side without going through those?
Niiiiice. I've been through Union Station a couple of times, but I don't remember the huge central room and the grand staircase- is it possible to access the trains on the south side without going through those?
I did not get to Chicago until 1968, about the time that the air rights over the concourses were sold, or let, and it was not long before the first reconstruction of that side began, so I really have no knowledge of the original concourses. I do remember that it is not easy to go down one of the staircases from the street at the time when people are coming in to work.
I forwarded your note to my wife; she has not yet had time to comment on it, but I am sure that she will appreciate (as I have), seeing these views.
CShaveRRBrian, that's one of two such staircases there. If you entered the building anywhere east of Canal Street and went through the rat's maze right to the tracks, you could easily avoid these places. Go into the building from the west side of Canal Street.
Which is precisely what we did, went straight out to the closest exit/entrance to the Sears Tower (yeah, I know it's got a new name, but I forget what it is).
Genuine railroad ambience at it's best....Beautiful. And the B/W photos are so sharp.....If the technology would happen to be 3-D, I believe one could walk right into the scene, and on the marble floor then hear the echo's from the footsteps....Just great Chris.
Hey Gang,
I finally got all of my shots from my January Chicago trip up. There's not a whole lot rail related, but I did shoot this series in Union Station, so I thought I'd share:
C&C always welcome.
Plows were needed here today. I woke up to seven inches of light, powdery snow. The thirteen year old Beagle would not go out until I shoveled the patio. I can't blame her, the snow was up past her belly. I was surprised when I left for work, the county and then the city had done a very good job of plowing the streets.
Unfortunately, it is a thirty minute drive (in good weather) to the nearest active rail line. That is the UP line through Bismark, Mo. The Texas Eagle uses that line twice daily. I have noticed that it is still jointed rail through there. Does anyone know what the highest class rating that track can get without CWR? I have also noticed that Bismark has a MOW office. Well, that what it looks like with all the MOW trucks parked there.
James
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