Although I have an eclectic assortment of metal, wood, paper, etc. artifacts collected over more years than i care to admit, I suspect my most unusual item is a pair of bookends with short sections of rail that, because of where the rail was found, almost certainly originated with the Manassas Gap Railroad. A now-deceased friend made several pairs of them.
This was the line that "Stonewall" Jackson used in the first large-scale movement of troops from Front Royal to Manassas, Virginia, during the first Battle of Manassas (Bull Run to Yankees) during the War for Southern Independence. It is now the NS "B" line and still active. By the way, the recent excursion pulled by N&W 611 over this line was quite enjoyable, even though there were no open-window cars. Sigh.
Larry Lee (CGSGENMAN)
An old timetable from 1894 for Frisco locals. Mom had it from her family and passed it on to me. We turned in a copy of it to our Union Station when it was renovated and reopened for the museum they opened along with our memories of waiting there for trains. I also have my grandpa's coal oil lantern which is special to me, since he died long before I was born.
A hobo that followed me home and weeded my garden in exchange for staying in my guest room for two days.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
A November 1990's Issue of Trains Magazine, has a timeline of events from 1940-1990.
- A full size drumhead rendering on posterboard from Western Sandblasting (the company which produced a number of railroad drumheads) for Santa Fe's Golden Gate. This is the first version of the drumhead, the one with a Santa Fe logo "sunburst". The major difference between the rendering I have versus the eventual design is that the latter features the Santa Fe logo on an angle, while the version I have shows the logo with an up-and-down cross. I need to get this framed one of these days.
- An ad and newspaper clips scrapbook, which I purchased from the RI Chicago auction in 1980. The book was produced by RI's passenger department in Omaha, and covers the years 1938-1946, skipping most of the war years. The scrapbook is actually a RI ledger book, with written entries made in the 1920's.
As a major portion of my railroadiana collection consists of Official Guides, I have some odds and ends relating to that publication:
- A September 1874 issue - it lacks covers but otherwise the paper is in good condition. Besides its age, this particular issue is unique because the first page has a signiture of the editor, W.F. Allen, and appearantly this was used as a foundation in producing the next issue, based on numerous handwritten markings and proofreading notations.
- Two renewal postcards for Official Guide, one from 1909 and another from 1939.
- A recept from the National Railway Publication Co, covering a year subscritpion for the Official Guide for the year 1890, made out to a ticket agent who resided at the Union Depot in Kansas City, Mo.
- A quartet of passes (from 1884, 1906, 1907, and 1909), allowing the holder free use of the National Railway Publication Co's meeting rooms in New York. Most likely, the meeting rooms were considered "neutral territory" as far as railroads were concerned, as the Official Guide was started by an industry group, the National Association of General Passenger and Ticket Agents.
- Two pairs of Official Guide binders, all of them in blue with gold lettering, and were produced for the separate passenger and freight editions of the Guide in the late 1970's. Unstead of railroad markings, the binders were marked with the Official Guide logos. I don't know whether or not the publisher produced these binders, and who actually used them.
- Finally, I have a glass dome paperweight which contains a reduced-size cover of the Official Guide with a "Published Monthly" phrase instead of an actual date.
Myron Bilas
The title says "oddest", so with that I'm going with some ashes I collected from the N&W 611 after excursion serivce in 2015.
TG3 LOOK ! LISTEN ! LIVE ! Remember the 3.
I have a Illinois Central operational handbook that was my Grandfathers from 1963
A broken pin and link from the original UPRR transcon railroad, 1860's vintage I would guess. Also hand forged RR spikes from the original UPRR grade. Given to me by a rancher from his property. They were picked up by scrappers in the early 40's and bounced off the truck where he found them on an old dirt 2 track.
A very small engineer's cap with a Santa Fe logo and the words "Junior Engineer", along with a small red bandana. Both got pretty worn before I grew out of them, so they're probably not worth much to anyone but me. It was a souvenir item available for purchase onboard the San Francisco Chief. Best part of the story is the conductor gave it to me after my mom ignored my pleas to buy it.
Lord Atmo I have some paint chips off of CNW 4160. Found them on the ground and walkways of the unit. Museum volunteers said I was actually doing them a favor by taking them.
I have some paint chips off of CNW 4160. Found them on the ground and walkways of the unit. Museum volunteers said I was actually doing them a favor by taking them.
I have one of those gizmos that holds down the lever you use to throw a switch and lock it in place.
I also have a group of three fiberglass double-sided route name and number signs from Septa. They say for example: R1 West Trenton, R5 Bryn Athyn, R7 Glenside, and have different color backgrounds and are different on each side. They would have been slid into a holder on the of the MU cars. One thing I find interesting about them is while Septa still uses R#'s to designate its regional rail routes, all the numbers have changed. (R1 is now the airport, West Trenton is the R3).
I think my most unusal itme is a letter from the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad, indicating that the bearer is an engineer who is qualifing on a new divsion. At the bottom is a fill-in-the-blank section where the supervising engineer wrote in his name, route, engine number, and that the new guy "ran OK". I really like that artifact. I paid all of about three dollars for it in a Pennsylvania antique store.
I don't have anything, but I do recall a visit to the Strasburg RR in what, 1967? where a friend and I climbed on top of a Nickel Plate Road Berkshire that was in a long line of dead locomotives and we opened up the sand dome. He had a small paper bag and filled it with sand from the dome. We were both 12 years old and he had that on his desk at home right through high school which we graduated from in 1973. He may still have it. George Pernicone, if anyone feels like prosecuting him.
By the way Fireflite, Exner was the man, next to Elwood Engel, of course!
I have a photocopy of a handwritten letter from James J. Hill (the Empire Builder) written to my grandfather's brother, James M. Gruber, congratulating him on his new position as general manager of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy lines east of the Missouri River. The letter is dated January 7, 1904 but is actually from January 7, 1905. As is the case with many of us, James J. Hill was still writing the former year's date the first few days of the new year. At that time Hill was living in New York City in an apartment building called the Bolkenhayn at 763 Fifth Avenue. In October, 1912, James M. Gruber was elected vice president of the Great Northern Railway.
Cast iron cradle used by Allegheny Portage Railroad to fasten rail to stone sleepers. Hollidaysburg neighbor, mechanical engineer and historian, Ronald Fye i the 1950's had access to an Army mine detector. He undertook many hikes along riht of way between Hollidaysburg and Johnstown to find remnants for the Blair County Historical Society. His widow gave the sleeper to me knowing my interest.
A 1963 note from artist and industrial designer Otto Kuhler thanking me for postcards sent to him of the Horseshoe Curve. I had acquired copy of his "Thunder on the Horseshoe Curve" being sold by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the NRHS as a fundraiser. The note is signed in india ink in his distinctive way.
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