String Lining

[tree68]

I live within a stones throw of the Canadian border, and even when I lived in Michigan, wasn't far off.  Listened to Windsor powerhouse CKLW (one of three top forty stations in the market) and travelled through Ontario virtually every year enroute to our vacation, which was in the area I now live.

So my kids grew up on the Canadian border as well.  

"O, Canada" is played at most events along where the "Star Spangled Banner" is played.

My daughter attended Liberty University in VA for a couple of years (her best friend also attended there).  At one sporting event, one of her friends expressed no end of surprise that my daughter knew the words to "O, Canada."

Eh?

[NDG]

Thank You.

[Miningman]

Mr. Pachucha eh? 

How about Ohforoh...as in 0-4-0, to go along with the 4-8-2 bike.

 Steamers could be quite troublesome and finnickity at times. 

 

[NDG]

Mr. Mining Man.

Pachucha Tanks are a big part of any Mineral Processing Mill. 

Tanks under regulated and carefully monitored pressure and temperature and pH level... added flocculants, chemicals, depending on the minerology of the ore and what it is you are trying to "win".

 

The 4th, Now.

 

Another significant date, as are Dec. 7th, Nov. 22nd and many others that have affected us ALL!!

 

Just a quick codicil.

 

I was going to name The Kat ' Mister Pachucha ' on CanDay, as it suits him, and He was getting out of hand. Always trying to ' win ' with him.

 

That plan in abeyance, for now.

 

He is giving me ' Come Hither ' looks and running into the bedroom, where I can rub his ears, of course, as he hogs the bed.

 

Poor Old Guy, Lost and Lonely.

 

Thank You.

[Miningman]

Great narrative NDG. Very heartfelt. You have many friends, here on the forum. There is a cadre of us that eagerly await your next posting and stories. Still waiting on the Hamilton trip story at the fine Art Deco TH&B station. 

You stated earlier you had a drawer containing your train stories and accounts...bring them on! 

[NDG]

 

RE. The  'O Canada ' Horns.

 

I saw the train only once, and it was on public display. They blew the ' O Canada ' horn a few times, but, we were very close and it's effect was lost. As I recall, each note was separate.

 

The horn-set was Genius, in retrospect, given the time and the place.

 

The National Anthem was still played and sang, in schools, at sports events, on the News and at many public gatherings. We all stood.

 

Even those who did not speak English understood the significance of the Anthem of OUR Country.

 

The movement of the train was given much notice and people came from far and wide to view it, even where it did NOT stop.

 

Smaller towns would turn out en masse and gather at the Station, still, then, the focal point of the area, everyone alerted by the ' OSes By ' following it down the Wire inside.

 

Folks living out would be by the track long before the train showed up. Flashlights, and fires at night. Damn the Mosquitoes.

 

Kids up way late into the wee hours, under blankets against the cold, and the bugs.

 

Big Place, Canada, and much of it remote before dial phones, asphalt roads and TV.

 

Much of it STILL remote.

 

Everyone knew someone who worked for the Railway. The trains brought almost everything used at home, and took away the lumber, grain, and minerals that provided the work.

 

And, if you went away, you went by train.

 

Finally someone would say ' Here she comes!! out in the middle of nowhere, stars caroling above with the Northern Lights as a background.

 

Headlight got brighter, the rails sang, and the horn sounded ' O Canada ' w/567 as an accompaniment.

 

Not many knew about THE HORN!

 

No One knew the 567 chant, but everyone knew O Canada.

 

The kids yelled out  ' The TRAIN sang O CANADA!!!'

 

A Big Deal in the TV just coming in era.

 

Yes, a good idea, the horn!

 

I cried on Canada Day, for many reasons.

 

Mostly for what has been lost, esp youth.

 

The Kat was Good! and pensive, too!

 

Sat close, but, did NOT purr when I rubbed his ears. He knew, too.

 

Listened to ' Amazing Grace, Nearer My God To Thee, The Maple Leaf Forever, and O Canada'  then made breakfast, for two.

 

Miss you all, Absent Friends, and so much more.

 

Thank You.

[Miningman]

All those great genuine train scenes.  Wow wow wow. Wanswheel is a genius and should be the Director of the Smithsonian. 

May I take this opportunity to humbly and quietly sneak in here that I received my Queen Scout Badge in a ceremony, presented to me by Gov. General Vincent Massey. As NDG would say...Long time ago. 

Upon the Gov. General retiring everything was still in Green and Gold at  the CNR. None of this wet noodle stuff.

The scene in the movie with the Selkirk is amazing...CPR at it's finest and in it's right setting. #5926 Bell swinging away. Open air observation car too! 

In the movie you just got to love this dialogue from Laurence Olivier:

who's spent the last eleven months hunting in the wilds and so has no idea Canada is at war. Johnny is a French-Canadian trapper played by - who else? - Laurence Olivier. We first meet him in the bath tub singing "Alouette", and, as often with Olivier, the attention to detail on the accent is so good that it becomes oddly obtrusive: "Diss is one big country, but verra few pipple. Ever-wan know ever-body. You can't make goosestep trew it widdout da police fine out," he tells the senior German officer (Eric Portman).

Thanks and credit go to the review by author Mark Steyn.

Several still talk that way up here. It's kind of nifty. 

Does anyone say "athwart" anymore? I think I'm going to use it everyday from now on!

[wanswheel]

[tree68]

BaltACD

Case steam pulling tractor - with color

I love how it just keeps on pulling - right out into the parking lot...

[BaltACD]

Case steam pulling tractor - with color

[Miningman]

Well maybe someone could craft something up for "once a year" or very special occasion use on the T1. First two lines of The Star Spangled Banner..that would wow the crowd. No fireworks from the stack though Wait...thats not bad! Up to you, you know just once a year. 

Checked out a movie called "The 49th Parallel" after reading a review. Basically it was a war propaganda film intended for you folks. We were in the war and America was not and we were warning you how fleeting freedom can be and the menace facing us all. 

The opening narrative is kinda cool though. Spoken by an uncredited Vincent Massey, our future Govenor General. His brother Raymond Massey is in the film. 

49th Parallel takes its title from the very border between Canada and America. The picture opens with a map of North America, and then a voiceover: "I see a long straight line athwart a continent. No chain of ports or deep-flowing river or a mountain range, but a line drawn by men upon a map nearly a century ago, accepted with a handshake and kept ever since. A boundary that divides two nations yet marks their friendly meeting ground: the 49th Parallel, the only undefended frontier in the world."

We are both still going strong with that approaching 200 years. 

[RME]

Does someone either have a recording/link for the locomotive horns or know the exact chords that the setup would blow?

With four bells for three fundamental pitches (there are only three in the first four notes of O Canada) there have to be chords, as in the Heritage Horns -- but there are 10 bells in the chromatic setup there. 

I don't think the locomotive setup used the 'working' horns for additional notes or harmony, and I'd suspect the working 'mechanism' was similar to that in the sort of car horns that play a tune, one note at a time ... perhaps the fourth note was reinforced with an octave, or had a descant effect, or something.

Come to think of it, I think we could do the first bar of 'To Anacreon in Heaven' with just four bells (different bells of course, a bit like Stephen King's different atoms, but I digress) and a variable-duration cam for the air valves.  Pity we didn't have the same combination of ingeniousness and motivation during our bicentennial that the Canadians showed!

(Of course there are various reasons we 'couldn't' use it for a Bicentennial celebration, but aren't they just nit-picks?)

[NDG]

 

Another Glorious Occasion!

 

Thank You, Sir!

[wanswheel]

https://books.google.com/books?id=_pfBV0512o8C&pg=PA16&dq=%22the+broadway+limited+one+means+by+which+visitors+arrived%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwis0u233-3UAhUKET4KHX4eBkQQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20broadway%20limited%20one%20means%20by%20which%20visitors%20arrived%22&f=false

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

To paraphrase Lucius Beebe, who had this response to someone who complained about something being very old:

"What was wrong with 50 years ago?" 

Wish I'd been born about 15 years earlier so I would have had a chance to see this stuff.

Thanks for sharing, all of you.  It's just a wonderful "time machine" - and "teleporter machine" too, in a way.

- PDN. 

[wanswheel]

 “Six carloads of Canadiana; The Confederation Train rolled into Toronto today and a crowd of 1,000 was on hand behind the Coliseum building at Exhibition Park to see Mayor Dennison officially open its 24-day visit. The six cars of the train tell the history of Canada with models; sound effects artifacts and photos. Open daily 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.; the train will stay at Exhibition until Wednesday; then move to other city locations.” July 29, 1967

“She dodged a line-up of 2,000; RCMP Sgt. Raymond Zwicker assists Mrs. Sarah Kingdon, 85, to the head of a line-up of 2,000 waiting in the hot sun today to get into the Confederation Train at Danforth and Victoria Park Ave. Sgt. Zwicker went down the long line, picking out people who were over 70 and moving them up to the front of the crowd.” Aug. 3, 1967

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/centennial-train-takes-canadian-history-on-tour

https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/ConfederationTrainBrochure.pdf

[Miningman]

Well there's half the mystery solved. Good idea doing the replica through a small speaker using an interactive button. Can you imagine a zillion urchins blowing the real horn all day long. Who could blame them! 

Terrific stuff also on your posted videos over on Steam and Preservation 

Great mournful whistle's on the prairies again. Really really nice equipment. Those two need to stretch their legs, er rods, a bit and come to, say, Prince Albert! Look great crossing over the North Saskatchewan River on our old swing span bridge. 

Say hello to my old friend 6060. Last time I saw her was in Niagara Falls under steam. 

Keep the faith and the fires going because we have little left running in Canada steam wise. 

[SD70M-2Dude]

Don't know offhand what happened to the actual horns (or the CP F-unit), but the CN unit "1967" (originally CN/VIA 6509, later rebuilt by VIA and renumbered to 6304) survives today in private ownership, stored at the Alberta Railway Museum.  It has just been repainted into CN green, black & yellow, and has been put on display along with an push-button interperative sign which will play the "O Canada" horn sequence on a small speaker. 

Even though 6304/1967 was normally the trailing unit on the Confederation train I believe the owner did investigate replicating the actual air horn, but it was deemed too loud for constant sounding considering how much it would be played throughout the day (there are always lots of children wandering around everywhere when the Museum is open).

And happy Canada Day everyone!

[Miningman]

Heck- I want to know what happened to RME's "end of the world siren".

As to the horns on the Confederation Train:

1) a railroad shop person took it home

2) a government bureaucrat took it home

3) it got junked and the metal scrapper took it home

https://youtu.be/DkyYjr30bKc

Hemi powered too!

Let me tell 'ya folks...I put this through on my Paul Sue Barton Gold's at home and I swear I can blow the neighbours house off the foundation IF I cranked it to the top ...what a hoot! Once the windows start rattling and my T1 framed print shakes I back it off. One of these days!

[AgentKid]

Just to let everyone know, NDG's 1655 MDT post shot into my e-mail program's Junk Mail folder. If you don't have it, check there.

Bruce

 

[Miningman]

Well there's the bomber, just dropped its water load....I know the whole thing is kind of "Mayberry" but what the heck. It was a great day. 

 

[Miningman]

[NDG]

Thank You.

[Miningman]

[Miningman]

Our big Calithumpian Parade featured of course...horses!

And a water bomber, which scooped up water in front of us and water bombed the lake. 

[Miningman]

 

[wanswheel]

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=84855

http://www.railfame.ca/sec_ind/technology/en_2007_ConfederationTrain.asp

[Miningman]

Once in a while in class I inadvertently blurt out the term "foolscap" and the students look at me like I'm nuts.

Of course these days, with a new class, I hold up book and ask them if they know how to turn it on. 

Best be careful with those Photobucket uploads to the forum...K.P. Harrier and Penny Trains have lost all their posted photos on account of a new pay wall policy. I would hate to lose your pics. 

In the Classic Forum postings, I was doing some research on the NYC Canada Southern Division and came across 4 accounts, recorded service records, of the whistle being stuck in full blast glory, once while travelling at a full highball...that must have been somewhat alarming, amusing and annoying all at the same time. 

The question I asked, which you may know the answer to,  is what circumstances would cause such a thing and would there be a serious drop in steam pressure after a while. 

Have fun at the festivities tomorrow. I am going to our Calithumpian Parade to see our glorious float of a 20 foot long Spruce Budworm Beetle with fangs and flashing red eyes. They eat trees and humans. 

 

[NDG]

 

Thank You.

[Miningman]

Thanks for that Schlimm. Barney and Smith built the consist for the Soo  Deluxe, which ran in NDG's backyard, but before his time...legend and lore, what a train!

Wanswheel- Forwarded that on to many many people, too much fun for the big day tomorrow. Best laugh I've had in a month. It's perfect.