Thank You.
That bell is a winner!
NDG- No cat report?
NDGFWIW. Note Road Trucks in latter incarnations. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4382945 http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1002/js231.jpg http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0602/js133.jpg Thank You.
And that bell! MStL along with the NH is one of the most unappreciated railroads.
Thank You!
Wow...Grand Central as a ballroom ...that I did not know about.
Anyone attend here from the Forum...Dave K. Perhaps?
It is quite striking how far from a bedrock of commerce, importance and even society the New York Central fell.
I still to this day cannot get my head around the fact the NYC is gone.
At least Grand Central still stands...but the Central is fading into a footnote.
Excerpt from The Hotel World, Nov. 18, 1922
With workers demolishing the old Tiffany Studios at 45th street and Madison avenue, the first step in the construction of The Roosevelt, New York's newest and one of greatest hotels has begun. A bond, the largest ever filed in New York guaranteeing the completion of this ten million dollar enterprise, has been filed by the New York United Hotels Inc., a corporation organized to build and operate this new structure being added to the famous development of the Grand Central zone.
The Roosevelt, which will be formally opened in the Spring of 1924, is being built directly over the incoming tracks of the New York Central Railroad and the engineers of the New York Central have co-operated in preparing the engineering work for the construction of the foundations.
The hotel will have an under surface entrance from the Grand Central terminal, which will be a great advantage to incoming and outgoing railroad passengers.
The hotel will be 22 stories high and will contain 1107 rooms and baths, several spacious restaurants and private dining rooms… An important feature of The Roosevelt will be a grill room which will be located on the central part of the ground floor and will be approachable from the streets and avenues surrounding the hotel.
Excerpt from the NY Times, Dec. 30, 2008
In 1929, the bandleader Guy Lombardo and his phenomenally popular Royal Canadian orchestra were ensconced at the Roosevelt Hotel. (“Canadian” was an honest enough name. Band members came from there. “Royal,” however, was a flourish that Mr. Lombardo added during the band’s two-year engagement in Chicago.)
William S. Paley, the founder of the embryonic Columbia Broadcasting System, had urged the Royal Canadians to move to New York for a radio series that would be broadcast from the Roosevelt Grill, under the sponsorship of Robert Burns cigars. Before that series began, the band also struck a deal with CBS to close out the old year from the Roosevelt, immediately after which it would usher in 1930 on the National Broadcasting Company network.
“We knew we were going to use ‘Auld Lang Syne’ as a theme, because Robert Burns wrote it,” Mr. Lombardo recalled in a 1976 interview with The Times. “So we decided to use it on that New Year’s Eve program, too. It seemed appropriate, and we were familiar with ‘Auld Lang Syne’ from Canada, where we grew up. As kids, we lived in a big Scottish settlement — London, Ontario — and they always closed an evening by playing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ before the traditional ‘God Save the King.'”
Thanks Canada Southern!
http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/headlight/headlight-1964.htm
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians,,,"sweetest music this side of heaven". ...Guy and his brothers hailed from London, Ontario, a big RR city in it's day.
Definitely a steam era ensemble, always associated with New Years Eve in the Big Apple until the seventies.
They must have taken a awful lot of train trips and overnights on Pullmans.
Growing old beats the alternative!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
It's been said that you have to grow old. You don't have to grow up...
Although some people take that to an extreme...
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...
CSSHEGWISCH What a drag it is getting old. With apologies to Jagger & Richards.
Be happy that you are getting older. The alternative is not better. Enjoy your memories. Think of all the friends you have made.
My brother used to say to me "DON'T GET OLD" But he had no alternative. Unfortunatly, he is no longer GETTING OLD. I wish he were.
I'd completely forgotten about that song . . . will have to listen to it sometime soon.
What a drag it is getting old. With apologies to Jagger & Richards.
Extreme cold and heat tough on us older folks.... breathing, lung function in turn effects the old ticker. If on blood thinners then bleeding nose or hands or anything can be downright scary. Bone density goes to hell as well. Doc says I have >20% chance of bone fracture in the next 10 years.. yah, so what else is knew, seems like that's for anyone!
NDG- recall that you took a tumble on the ice earlier and were really feeling the bad of it.. did you recover ok or still ongoing? Re references to X-rays and possible surgery.
Suppose in a way we see ourselves or at least relate to white lined steam... steam locomotives were so individual in nature even among their own class and seemed to be "alive" each with it's own personality.... being crafted one by one almost entirely by hand and skill and assembled with a zillion components themselves carefully crafted by hand and eye it's no wonder no two were exactly the same.
Kind of like us. So if we follow the progression then mass produced precision duplicates will displace us .. ie- the robots take over.
Anyone remember Alvin Toffler "The Third Wave" referring to power in society.. first was just brute strength, the nastiest cave man got all the food and women, second was money, Kings and such, and the third was new... it was knowledge, like Silicon Valley.... so I say we can now predict the fourth... the machines take over.. And we get Whitelined!
In any case I wheeze like an old steamer, and can be real nifty looking when polished up but I wonder and worry about time.
Thanks to Paul North and NDG for the contributions regarding smelter operations and their railroading component.
I don't believe people stop and think where 1) all the metals and minerals we use as a society come from or what's involved and 2) just how many things are made from mining ...like just about everything.
...and Paul North, yes the operations of the Iron Ore Company are still going gangbusters....continuously since the '50's.
After a ten day hiatus off for "reading week" I'm back to the classroom teaching but I will check into the forum all the time however contributions may drop a bit.
Went to -30 last night, got to high -26 ...and air is so and cold and dry my nose has not stopped bleeding for a day now...another hazard of the Shield!
A little more on electric operations in connection with mining operations:
The EMD SW1200MG electric automated/ robot locomtives of the Iron Ore Co. of Canada at its Carol Lake Mine, near Labrador City, Labrador:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMD_SW1200MG - says built 1963 - 1971.
Also: http://www.trainorders.net/discussion/read.php?15,3889210
YouTube video - 8:37 long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogMe9Zhlm-M
Comments say they were still running as of a year ago ! So the median age ~50 years !
- PDN.
Disappointing to read of a strike at Noranda/Glencore Zinc refinery. Generally there has been great peace for some time now. With most commodity prices remaining low it is difficult to have your cake and eat it to.
Two giant multinational Canadian companies, Falconbridge and Noranda merged to form Xstrata, a Swiss company, then takeover by Glencore, a big hedge fund and mining outfit. I don't know but, but do know that losing sovereign control of resources is not good. Largest shareholder is Qatar Investment Authority. When your company does the smelting and refining you have some control and say of metal prices, albeit in a free market system, but here in Canada we are losing our big miners to foreign interests who are interested in only $$$ and little else.
Not good for the folks.
Believe it or not but I have been shot at while in a helicopter, being air lifted out past a picket line in Sudbury. My wife was delivering daughter #2 and the Union would not let mangement go anywhere, we being called in to keep the Mine intact and put up the mattresses! Pilot brought the chopper down real quick exactly were we took off from.
Daughter was 6 weeks old before I saw here. 1975
All our students up here, in high school and beyond throughout the North, must learn basics in Snowshoes, X-Ski's, snowmobile basic maintenance, chain saw use and safety and Fire Fighting for forest fires, even the gals. No exceptions here. It's a good thing and is quite a contrast to the couch dwellers and snowflakes elsewhere.
Trivial information -survival packs up here include Cheesie's because in addition to being able to eat them they are excellent fire starter. Kindling hard to find.
Mining and railroads go hand in hand. Most folks do not get to see the railroad operations around the mines, mills and smelters.
Lots of myths and misconceptions, urban legends and nonsense.
Take VIA to Churchill on Hudsons Bay or ONR to Moosonee on James Bay for true Northern experience. Only passenger trains that stop anywhere, just wave!
Early Uranium mining for Manhatten Project ...we simply did not know about radiation and it's effects, but we learned the hard way. Big Uranium Mines up here in the Athabasca Basin, our #1 employer are over the top safe nowadays. A miner receives less radiation than city dwellers walking down a sidewalk on a sunny day.
Got to believe in the future.
Above Photos showing -Slag dump from the smelter at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting in Flin Flon...The electrics, 1st Photo above are retired..all Diesel now.
Other large smelters are in Sudbury, Ontario; Trail, BC; Timmins,Ont; and Noranda, Quebec.
A new discovery of an enormous orebody in Snow Lake, the new Lalor Lake Mine, by HBM&S, has the company looking into seriously modernizing and upgrading their smelter in Flin Flon.
Have pictures of the equipment at the museum, locomotives and various cars they used. Will try to post some of these later.
https://youtu.be/EQ5yKIez7ho
This is only a minute and a half or so long. This is my Field School on the Canadian Shield. Done with a drone...the fun never stops!
Above photograph is #701 permanently displayed at Englehart, Ont. This "pocket size" Pacific regularly hauled the Northland up from North Bay to Cochrane, and would have been a regular at that station in Temagami for many years. Saw her a few years ago travelling through Northern Ontario.
Have lived in the Canadian Shield from Newfoundland to Pine Point,NWT and never approached anything near 200 grand a year! Now in my twilight I'm in Northern Saskatchewan, still on the Shield. Still no 200K but life is simple and certainly not a rat race.
NDG- I am very familiar with that accident that you mention.
Big smelters in Sudbury, Ont and Flin Flon, Manitoba have or had electric operations. I run a week long field school in Flin Flon each spring and the museum there has many of the older locomotives and cars from the past on display.
NDG- Luv that Shay picture you posted.
Abitibi Paper and Power Company in Iroquois Falls, Ont., near Timmins and all the them Gold Mines of the Porcipine Camp.
My my, the Elesco Feedwater salesman sure did well in Canada! Just about darn near everything had an Elesco hanging up front.
Surprised they didn't stick 'em on diesels for the steam boilers up here!
Speaking of Cougars...yesterday I see from my front window, a lady walking past walking her dog...she has flip flops on and no socks, pants to the top of the ankles only like ladies wear and a $1,000 Canada Goose parka on. -16, hard pack snow on roads all winter long,no sidewalks. Cougars are weird.
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