Category: Rich’s Ramblings

We had a great meeting last month with some great slides by Dr. Fred Ripley and wonderful refreshments from Thomas and Jim Bryan. HMMM!

Last week my wife and I visited the Paducah Railroad Museum. They have done a lot of improvements to an already large and interesting collection of railroad historical items along with photos, displays, and hands-on displays. The IC, GM&O, NC&StL, Burlington, and BNSF are all represented nicely. There are several places for kids to see and learn, tools, lanterns, track maintenance vehicles, dispatching controls, locomotive boiler fronts and headlights, and a nice interactive video library of train videos and books.

There is a great HO train layout that is operated by members of a Paducah model railroad club, quite large and fully landscaped and even using command control. The Museum is open from 1-4pm on Fridays and Saturdays and also when a riverboat docks and also by appointment. They are at 200 Washington Street near the Carson Center and the IC steam locomotive. More info can be found at their website, www.paducahrr.org or call 270-519-7377, 270-559-5253, 270-442-4032. There is a nice gift shop, too. My wife liked it a lot.

There is still time to get your name on the ballot to serve as an officer for next year. All offices are open each year and we already have at least one nominee for each office.

I hope to see all of your smiling faces at the meeting on Monday, November 22d, at 7pm at The Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville.

Rich

by Rich Hane, Chapter President

I hope that everyone that came to our train picnic at Crofton and the meeting last month had a good time. We had several nice trains come through and those that stayed longer were treated to even more train action and Wally’s live steam engine display is always fascinating to see.  The 25th Anniversary Dinner was well received and we enjoyed a nice evening of socializing and time together. Dennis Carnal was not able to show his program on remembrances of our good friend Ron Stubblefield due to his mother having to go to the hospital. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dennis and his mother at this time. Dennis’s program will be rescheduled, probably for the December meeting which will include a Christmas banquet too.

On another matter, after trying three different times my wife and I have been able to renew our chapter’s status as a non-profit program which will make us able to remain a tax exempt chapter and all we have to do to keep it is to file an internet postcard each year. We have had a very good year with the chapter moving forward on several fronts with the future of the Pennyrail decided, having a successful 25th Anniversary celebration, a lowering of our chapter dues to reflect these changes, and we can look forward to a firm and stable meeting place now that the use of the L&N depot is assured and set up for our use.

The October meeting is the meeting at which we put out the first call for nominations for the officers of our chapter. The second call will be at the November meeting after which we have the brief election. I have always encouraged people to feel free to come forward and run for any office that they are interested in. A good democracy relies on people willing to rise to the occasion and do their part in promoting the good of the organization. After last year’s election several members came to me and asked me to try and make the election real and have different people run for president to encourage variety and change. With this thought, I have decided to step down as president and make the electoral process open without me in the way. So, all of you need to consider running for president knowing that I will absolutely not be a candidate. My doctor would like me to avoid certain stresses and I will follow his orders, after all, he listens to me when we discuss trees and the environment.

So, to summarize, I will not be a candidate for president under any circumstances so the membership needs to rise to the occasion and someone needs to consider throwing their hat into the ring.

I look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at the next meeting at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm on Monday, October 25th. Dr. Fred Ripley will have a most entertaining program and I am looking forward to it.

September is promising to be a busy month. We went to the Kentucky Railway Museum last week and had a great time riding behind L&N #152 the 105 year old Pacific type steam engine. She ran and looked fine and the track work going north from New Haven is open and as pretty as ever. There was an ex-US Air Force Alco diesel switcher running around, too. The model layouts are closed for a time due to the severe floods in May but the museum itself is open and the trains will be running every weekend. Try to plan a visit and have a good time and don’t forget to make a donation to a fine museum and bunch of volunteers that are keeping railroading alive.

Rex Easterly and myself will be trying to help Kay Stubblefield dispose of some of Ron’s trains. Let me know if you are interested in being put on an informal mailing list to buy some of these trains and other memorabilia that we might find. There are trains of many gauges that we have found including Z, N, HO, S gauge American Flyer, O gauge, G gauge, Marx, Kusan, and probably others beside a few lanterns, posters, pictures, signs, etc.   Items range in quality from good to poor.

I hope to see many of your smiling faces at the annual Crofton, KY picnic that many of us have enjoyed in the past on Saturday, Sept. 25. Also, don’t forget the Sept. meeting on Monday, Sept. 27th and help us celebrate our 25th birthday. Call Wally to reserve a catered meal as soon as possible. The meeting will be at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm.

The writing of this article brings me great sadness as the news of the passing of one of our old friends and longtime Chapter member Ron Stubblefield came to me. Ron passed away late on Sunday afternoon, August 8th after suffering through several illnesses for the last couple of years. He will be missed by all of us for his great wit and humor, knowledge, kindness, and real humanity. Ron was 66 years old. Our condolences go out to his family and friends and his wonderful wife, Kay.

At the last meeting we discussed and voted on an issue that will change some things that we have done for awhile. The January, 2011 issue of the PennyRail will be published primarily in an email version in an attempt to rein in some of our ongoing costs. For any member that does not have access to a computer we will still publish a printed copy and make it available to them. There is no problem for us doing this and we don’t want to make a burden for any member. All we ask is that you contact Bill Thomas and request a printed copy. For those of you that have a computer or can see the PennyRail on one at home, library, or through a friend or relative, you will be amazed at how different the publication looks when it is in full color and at a higher quality. It can be easily stored or printed out, also.  For those of you who would like this service please provide Bill with your current email address so that he can update your file. Again, we wish to make everyone satisfied so please let us know how you like this idea.

Along with this change, I have asked Wally Watts and Bill Thomas to develop some idea of our annual costs so that we may be able to reduce our Chapter dues with the coming new year. We will discuss their ideas at the nest meeting. Also, as the Chapter decided, please keep in mind that we have changed the date of the fall Crofton Picnic to Saturday, Sept. 25 to coincide with the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Chapter to be held on Monday, Sept. 27th.   Dr. Ross will be attending this meeting which should be a fun time and there will be a meal provided for us that night.  So, I will be anxiously looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at our next meeting on Monday, August 23 at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville, Ky at 7pm.

Those of you who attended the June meeting were treated to a great program of personal photos from Chuck Hinrich’s collection. The photos were from many places and the quality was excellent. Chuck is one of our most talented photographers

I now have a new key to the Center since it officially passed to the City of Madisonville. We have been welcomed by the Mayor and his staff to continue our use of the building for which I expressed thanks to them. Hopefully, we can enjoy the very nice location and facilities at this fine 1929 L&N Railroad Depot downtown for many years to come.

In light of the continued oil spill problems in the Gulf I thought that it was interesting to learn in the July, 2010 issue of Trains Magazine that several major railroads are continuing to study the use of biodiesel for their engines.  Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, and Amtrak are all testing the use of concentrations of from 5 to 20 percent biodiesel blends made from soybeans, vegetable oil, and animal fats. Amtrak is testing a blend made from the remains of Texas cattle. Previous tests have found some problems with fuel gelling in cold weather but the biodiesel industry claims that this can be dealt with.  The railroads are using diesels from both major manufacturers in their tests which include tests for reliability, overhaul and maintenance, and reviews of specific components on diesel engines. Canadian Pacific even tested the blend in the Calgary-Edmonton area which should be a revealing cold weather test and Amtrak has tested the blends on their Heartland Flyer between Ft. Worth, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. So both cold and hot testing sites are being used. The railroads have not yet released the results of these tests but it should be interesting and might be a good way to extend the oil supply.

At this writing, member Ron Stubblefield has been in the hospital in Marion, Kentucky for about two weeks. Keep Ron and his wife, Kay in your thoughts and prayers as we all hope for a speedy recovery.

by President, Rich Hane

Those of you that made it down to the train station in Hopkinsville for our May meeting were treated to an interesting program hosted by Wallace Henderson. The setting was beautiful, several trains came bye, and the evening was a lot of fun.

The recent floods have severely impacted the Kentucky Railway Museum (KRM) with sections of track heavily damaged and 40 inches of water in the model train center. As of May 15th the train rides have resumed on a modified basis with the trains going to New Hope, KY. The Days out with Thomas the Tank Engine were held on June 5-6 and June 12-13. The train track, museum, and model train center are all in need of volunteers to help restore this wonderful train museum and donations are urgently needed since insurance and FEMA funds will only pay a portion of the repairs needed. You can contact them at 502-549-5470, email at kyrail@bardstown.com and website at kyrail.org.  They do a great job of presenting the history and equipment of railroads and are in need of our help. The museum and train rides are a nice way to introduce young people to the great tradition of American railroading. There is a nice variety of diesel and steam powered trains and some well preserved passenger cars.

I am looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at our next meeting at The Center here in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm on Monday, June 28th.

We had a very interesting slide presentation by Dr. Fred Ripley that covered some interesting portions of the Pennsylvania Railroad last month. Fred is an accomplished photographer and had some great morning and twilight time photos to show us.

It looks as if The Center will be turned over to the City of Madisonville on July 1st of this year.  They could not find a buyer for the old train depot and the City has agreed to take it over for possibly several kinds of future uses. I have met twice with our Mayor and he is agreeable to our continued use of the facilities so we should be in good shape for at least the near future. This is an excellent facility for us and I was able to joke with him about how the train noise does not bother us in the least. I am not sure about the status of the audio/visual equipment so we are trying to put together programs that can be shown without the fancy equipment that we have become used to. Hopefully, we will know more about this in a month or two but for now the June and following meetings will be held as usual.

Remember that the May meeting will be held in Hopkinsville as usual but this year it will be at the old L&N train depot downtown where we have had meetings in the past.  Also, because the 4th Monday of May is not Memorial Day this year we will be meeting on this day which is May 24th.  So, I am hoping to see all of your smiling faces in beautiful downtown Hopkinsville at 7pm on May 24th.

Hopefully, you have all been enjoying the beautiful spring weather. This is a very special time of the year and it goes well with our very special celebration of our Chapter’s 25th Anniversary. The time since we first formed our Chapter has slipped by too fast but the ride has been exceedingly enjoyable. It has been a learning experience for us and a great opportunity to participate with our friends in learning about the history of railroading in our country and the part that it played in settling and growing our great nation. Being able to come together each month and renew old friendships and make new ones is one that I look forward to.  We are able to share our experiences gain insight into the forces that have shaped our nation while seeing the advances that railroading has made in technology, efficiency, safety, and speed.

The National Railway Historical Society has been a great force in preserving and spreading the history of these advancements. They have documented this movement and spread this information to new generations of people interested in the history of railroading by providing an ever improving bulletin, maintaining a library of books, films, and photographs open to all, and hosting events for young people and members in general.

Our Chapter’s 25th Anniversary is a milestone and a time to appreciate the past and look forward to the future. All organizations evolve and our Society has tried to move into the new century with new ideas and ways of doing things while preserving the best of what has been done in the past. We need each member’s help in improving and participating in this ongoing movement. When good people come together to grow and learn, only good things can come from this.

One thing that will change is the ownership of the old train station that we meet in each month. Funding has run out for the current owners and the building will have to be taken over by someone else. At this time the City of Madisonville is exploring ways to take over the building and preserve its future.  I have met once with the Mayor to explain our Society and Chapter and will be meeting again with him soon to try to ensure our continued use of this beautiful and historic facility. The City realizes the importance of this building and will be looking to ways that it can be used and maintained while serving the community. I am optimistic at this point and will bring you more information as I find it out.

I am looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at the next meeting, Monday, April 26th, at 7pm at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville. Come and celebrate with us the 25th Anniversary and  join in the friendships and learning experience that has meant so much to many of us.

by President, Rich Hane

Those of you that attended the February meeting were treated to a fine program brought to us by Bill Thomas and Dennis Carnal. It was an excellent video about the history of the Electromotive Division Geeps, their General Purpose diesel locomotives and it compared these with similar offerings from ALCO. The explanation and photography was excellent.

I saw an interesting article in the Feb. 8th issue of USA Today that described the progress that China has made in high speed rail transportation. They claim to have the fastest trains in the world and at an operating speed of 221 mph, they may have. On Dec 26th they had the grand opening of a new dedicated high speed rail line that connected the south China cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan, a distance of 664 miles. The new train can cover this distance in 3 hours for the express train compared to 10 ? hours for the previous train. Many people prefer this quiet and comfortable means of travel with less security restrictions than air travel.

The Chinese government is spending massive amounts of money to keep the economy moving and the new rail system is a point of pride for many Chinese. Last year the government spent $88 billion and now a total of 1,758 miles of high speed rail line are in place, the most in the world. The cost of building these new high-speed tracks is about $20.1 million per mile. President Obama, in contrast, promised to spend $8 billion on high speed rail in this country. Much of this will be spent on upgrading present lines to accommodate faster trains. The first radical upgrade announced is an 84 mile line between Tampa and Orlando Florida which will carry 168 mph trains. Many people are hoping that this will be an idea that catches on in other places such as the Midwest, East, and West Coasts. They would like to see much of these funds spent on true high speed rail lines instead of just the upgrading of present lines. But the reality of the situation will probably demand more affordable upgradings rather than new dedicated lines. These have shown to be successful so far, such as the Acela route in the Northeast Corridor.

One of the reasons that China is able to proceed at such a pace is that much of the country is set up for electrified rail lines whereas only a few sections of rail are electrified in this country. Also, their population density is generally far higher than is ours which makes the economics of the process much more favorable. Our trains tend to be heavier, and thus, slower, because they have to meet more strict safety standards than in some countries. This makes it more difficult to achieve the truly high speeds that are found in some countries. This seems to be a fair trade off to me, however.
The new Chinese trains even have car attendants dressed like air stewards who push snack carts down the aisles of the well lit, comfortable, and quiet cars. In the dining cars, only microwaved Chinese dishes and fast food is available but the cars are quiet and comfortable. The restrooms are far larger than on the average airplane.

China is spending large amounts on its infrastructure and this will probably pay off in the long run in more convenience, less air pollution, and a higher quality of life. China is learning from it’s experience in meeting the difficulties of construction and it is hoped that the U.S. will be able to pick the best of the new technologies from China and other countries as we head into the new world of high speed rail.

Please remember to pay your dues to Wally if you have not yet done so and I hope to see all of your smiling faces at the next meeting on March 22d at 7 pm in beautiful downtown Madisonville at the Center.

by Chapter President, Rich Hane

I hope that all of you that attended our last meeting had a good time. I enjoyed giving the program and our evening of fellowship.

We will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of our Chapter in April so this is a good time for anyone who would like to do something special for the evening in the way of program or refreshments to be thinking of this and bring it up at this month’s meeting so that we can discuss it. Perhaps a special “show and tell” or an interesting personal story or some background history would be appropriate. The 25th Anniversary should be a special time for us and a time to remember all of the good times that we have shared over the years. We share a rather unique interest in the history of railroading and all that railroads of done for our country. The friendships that we have made and the fellowship shared at our meetings is should always be looked at as a happy time for us.

Bill Thomas has the program this month and it promises to be quite interesting.  I am looking forward to seeing all of your happy faces at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm, on Monday, February 22d, 2010.

by Chapter President, Rich Hane

I hope that everyone had a nice Holiday season and are looking forward to a wonderful new year.  Those of you that joined us at the Christmas Dinner were treated to great food and fellowship and a wonderful program of nostalgia photos of many of our long time members when we were all a bit younger put together by Dennis Carnal. It was great to see reminders of some of the activities that we have enjoyed together over the years and of the good times that we have spent together.

I noticed in the press that the brand new Pacific type locomotive that I talked about last year which was built in England for excursions, was used for revenue purposes when it was used to fill in for some diesels that developed engine problems.  The commuters certainly were treated to quite a show when this beautiful steam engine rescued them and carried out the remainder of the scheduled runs.

Don’t forget to send or give Wally your dues renewals as it is that time of year again.

There is a new walking and fitness trail in Madisonville just west of Trover Clinic that affords some great train viewing as it parallels the CSX mainline.  This trail is a very scenic one half mile loop and includes benches, a pond, forest, and fitness stations. The view of the trains is excellent and is level to just below grade for a little variety. It is an impressive place to watch our trains pass through town at a nice speed.

I am hoping to see all of your smiling faces this month at the next meeting at 7pm on January 25^th, at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville. I will be providing the show and the refreshments this month and will have some nice L&N photos.

Rich

by Chapter President, Rich Hane

Last month we were treated to a truly excellent program on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad by Ron Flanary and presented by Chuck Hinrichs. The photography was excellent and the program did a great job in showing the human side of running a railroad. Our thanks go to Ron and Chuck for presenting this program for our enjoyment.

Remember that we will be holding our annual election for Chapter officers for the coming year. Also, it is still possible to put your name in the hat for an office if you would like to serve. Elections are the bedrock of democracy.

One very interesting thing recently in the news was the announcement that Warren Buffet will be buying the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad).  Mr. Buffet is a well known stock investor whose moves in the marketplace are avidly watched by many people worldwide. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, will be paying either $26 Billion or $34 Billion, depending on the story you read, for the remainder of the stock that they do not already own. This move is looked upon by many people as a vote of confidence in the American economy and a sign that we may be moving past the recent recession.  Hopefully, this will be true.

I noticed a story in the media where some reporters asked Mr. Buffet why he was buying the railroad and he reportedly said that he was doing it because he always wanted a model train setup and his Dad would not give him one when he was a kid. He was smiling when he said this but the same story said that Mr. Buffet was a collector of Lionel model trains and that the third floor of his house has a layout and an extensive collection of trains. Well, if this is true it is a cute story and I can certainly understand the his love of Lionel trains.

I hope to see all of your smiling faces at the next meeting at 7pm at The Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville on Monday, November 23, 2009.

Rich

by Chapter President, Rich Hane

Those of you who were at the last meeting were treated to an excellent slide program by Fred Ripley on Pennsylvania RR operations.  It was interesting to see and hear his discussion on how the several yards operated and how they tied in to the overall scope of the railroad and its customers.

In April of this year, Charles Bertram “Bert” Pennypacker passed away at the age of 85 of an aneurysm.  He was a very well known photographer and author who covered many aspects of mid-century railroading in this country.  He was the author of over 200 articles and 8 books, primarily on Northeastern railroad subjects.  His easy style of writing and the way he would draw you into his subject were liked by all. He had a real knack for explaining complex subjects in a way that was easy to understand. Pennypacker’s large body of carefully researched and substantial work stands as a lasting contribution to our understanding of railroad history. His wife of 56 years, Theresa, survives him.

I hope to see all of your smiling faces at the next meeting at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville at 7pm on Monday, September 28th, 2009.

From our President Rich Hane

Those of you that made it to the July meeting were treated to some great treats by Steve Miller and a great program from Tim Moore on the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The photography was very good.

Jumping, perhaps into the future, I have been pleased to see that a number of railroads around the country are giving the new diesel genset engine a chance to prove if it has a place with some railroads.  Bunge North America has purchased 4 of these and they will be used at their operations in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Neptune Bulk Terminals will be using a pair of these in British Columbia, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis had a demonstrator on the property earlier this year.  The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority bought two in March and was even nice enough to put one in an engine house until the New England Railroad Club had a chance to look it over at their monthly meeting at the end of March. Others have been sold around the country but I have not seen a complete list. I know that the San Diego yards had some in operation.

These are made by National Railway Equipment and utilize an interesting concept for saving fuel. Basically, they use either one, two, or three smaller diesel prime movers each equipped with its own generator in each engine.  These individual prime movers can be cut in as needed depending on the load on the engine.  The engine has a sophisticated control system that maximizes fuel efficiency by running the engine at 700 horsepower, 1400 horsepower, or 2100 horsepower depending on the load, thus using only as many prime movers as necessary. And even Lionel has shown interest by announcing that they will offer a new scale sized and detailed model for O Gauge modelers. It sounds to me like National Railway Equipment has an interesting product that may fit in with a lot of railroads and save a bunch of oil.

I do hope to see your smiling faces at the next meeting at 7pm at The Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville on Monday, August 24th and don’t forget that I would appreciate anyone who would like to volunteer to fill out the year as Vice-President and/or to run as VP this fall.

Last month we had an excellent program on the Santa Fe by Wallace Henderson and good refreshments were provided by David Millen. The discussions during the meeting were, also, very interesting. It was a great summer night on the platform as well.

On a different topic, Chuck Hinrichs resigned his position as Vice-President last month in part because he felt that he has not been able to motivate the membership into going on trips or partaking in projects and he also wants to take things a bit easier in his retirement. I want to sincerely thank Chuck for his long time service to the Chapter in various positions such as doing the newsletter for many years, as National Director, as Vice-President, and as our Historian.  He has continually supported the Chapter and will continue to do so as the Historian and provider of articles and photos to the newsletter and website. We should all take the opportunity to thank Chuck for his continued service. He is a very knowledgeable fan of railroading and very interested in rail history and the future of our Chapter.

I would like to take a moment to ask you, the members, to consider volunteering to fill out the remainder of Chuck’s term as Vice-President and to give full and thoughtful consideration to allowing your name to be put in the hat for a full term when we have the yearly elections this fall.  The job would entail filling in for me in the remote chance that I will not be able to make a particular meeting.  I have tried very hard to be at every meeting and scheduling our “Granddaughter trips” around these dates. I did have to miss a meeting in 2007 because of the passing of my Mom but that was unavoidable.

The other function of the Vice President is to try and organize Chapter activities and projects.  Examples of past trips have been to the Kentucky Railroad Museum, the rail trip last fall in Tennessee, our rail trip to Chattanooga, our trip to the VMV engine shops in Paducah, the trip to see the yard operations in Paducah, and the yearly picnic in Crofton alongside the CSX tracks.  There are other things that we could do and your input and suggestions are welcome. If anyone would like to discuss the possibility of filling out Chuck’s term and of running for the position please feel free to call or contact me anytime. My phone number is 270-825-3429 and my email is rkhane@newwavecomm.net.  Thanks for considering this position.

I hope to see all of your smiling faces at our next meeting at 7pm on Monday, July 25, at the Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville.

Rich Hane, President West Ky Chapter NRHS