Year: 2012
Tuesday morning, March 6, 2012, James Futrell found Canadian National Engineering Test Car 1501 (Budd RDC) idling at the Fulton yard office.
P&L East bound on March 15th at West Yard running long hood forward and with a new NRE locomotive in tow. Photo by Rick Bivins
P&L East bound on March 15th at West Yard running long hood forward and with a new NRE locomotive in tow. Photo by Rick Bivins
by Ricky Bivins, President
OK NRHS Members, where does the time go? There is an old saying that goes: “Time is fun when you are having flies”. Wait, Kermit the Frog said that! “Time flies when you are having fun”. That’s it! Well, I have been having fun with my model train layout. The recent warm weather has sent me outside as I am sure many others have done. CSX keeps my neck in shape with all the trains running past the house, and of course March Madness ya’know. Anyhow, here we are coming up on the March Chapter meeting yet it seems like only a few days ago we were at the Depot for the February meeting. My oh my time does fly indeed. (Can an airport manager get away with saying that?)
As for the February meeting, I for one think we had a good turnout, a productive evening and an excellent program. Keith’s munchies were spot on and the video “Chicago Odyssey” from our late friend Dennis Carnal’s estate was very good. In fact, I have only seen the video briefly since the meeting night as members have been passing it around for another look. Dennis would be proud to know we are taking advantage of him! R.I.P. Dennis.
At one point during the past two meetings I expressed a need for a Program Director. Our Rail Camper Thomas Bryan has decided to take on that challenge. I “versed” Thomas to talk to the members, find out what the Chapter would like to do, where we would like to go etc. Thomas has some ideas on his plate already and I encouraged him to move forward and “to make plans”. He will be in touch with Chuck and Rich about the previously discussed trip to Paducah KY and Mayfield KY for a day of rail fanning. Of course we have the three Friday Night Live events coming up and the annual Pick Nick at the Crofton KY Veterans Memorial. Not to mention the C&W Railroad open house and a revised Christmas event. Thomas has a plate full indeed. Give him your support and encouragement Members; he has taken on a big job for the Chapter.
As viewed by the Members at the February meeting, Steve Miller has been working on the photo archive in full force. Great job Steve, keep up the good work. This is no easy task even for a computer whiz such as Steve. Kudos again Steve.
As I am sure everyone can see, we have a full year ahead of us. The only point to make now is Member Participation. Our overall Member involvement is good if one looks at the number of Members we have and the number of members present at our events. But that is a ratio of numbers. I want those not in attendance to feel as though they have missed something. That is to say, when one finds out what is going on, they resolve to “join in” the festivities. That will grow our Chapter and improve our overall effectiveness to preserve our local rail history. That is after all what we as Members resolve to do, preserve our Rail History.
We will have a guest program this month. Gary Ostland from Murray KY will present a program of slides. Gary or “GOO” as he signs his email, is very much in the know of all things Milwaukee Road. I am sure we will see much of the railroad and its territory. I met GOO last fall at Gorham IL while rail fanning the old MoPac line while in the company of Wally, Thomas and Phil Randall. Gary travels a lot in his motor home and bright red VW. The good life I would dare say. And he is willing to share with us his experiences!
I will see you “NRHS Member” on March 26, 2012.
If this lamp could talk, what an array of stories it could tell. The bent top, dirty glass, and broken wire frame adds much character and story to this photo. This Handlan Buck lantern glows intently in the fading dusk at the East Ely Yard of the Nevada Northern Railway.
Just how many conductors or brakemen waved this relic in signaling the engineer to stop, proceed or kick a car. Clearly this lamp earned it’s keep. Reliable and effective, these only need TLC and a little kerosene to faithfully serve it’s handler. No dead batteries, no cell towers, or cyber wizardry, just solid technology from an era long past.
The Nevada Northern RR is a great place to visit, been there twice. Great operating collection, and a friendly staff that had no problem letting me wander around at will. You can experience the so-called “loneliest road in the world,” US 50, if coming from the Reno area. Bring water, have the wife bring a book….
Rails today use hand held radios to do all the signaling from the ground and lamps like this find their way into memorabilia collections, as this one did for Steve Crise. Watch for them at the next garage sale down the street. There are a few hanging from the ceiling of my man cave.
Excerpts from Railroads Illustrated May 2009. Photo credit: Mike Massee, submitted by Gary O. Ostlund
This is a very enjoyable video that shows the narrow gauge Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad being cleared of snow in early May of 1997 by a steam powered rotary plow. The C&TS RR runs the 64 miles of track between Chama, New Mexico, and Antonito, Colorado. This is a section of what was once Denver & Rio Grand trackage that ran from Alamosa,CO, to Durango, CO, and was abandoned in 1968.
The viewer is given a very informative tour of the features and the controls of the rotary at the beginning of the video.
Even though it is early May, there is still 4 to 6 feet of snow over the track near the summit of Cumbres Pass, which is at 10,015 feet in elevation.
The scenery is great and the camera work is very good, capturing the snow plow from all angles. There are good, tight shots of the rotary in action and also some nice vista shots.
This is a good video and is worth the price.
| Title | Rocky Mountain Snow Plow |
| Producer | Greg Scholl |
| Format | full screen |
| Playing Time | 1 hr 30 min |
| Purchased From | http://www.trainvideodepot.com |
| Date Purchased | 01/04/12 |
| Price Paid | $27.95 |
My job with TRW Automotive Commercial Steering Systems in Lafayette involves being the technical liaison between several TRW manufacturing locations and over 200 different component suppliers. While most of these suppliers are in the Midwest region of the United States, occasionally I get to travel outside the states to foreign locations. In the last days of January 2012, this Gringo headed south to our manufacturing facility in Queretaro, Mexico facility to work on a new product launch.
Please understand that on trips like this, the most important thing is not railfanning. However, if you drop enough hints and ask around, occasionally you’ll get treated to at least a small glimpse of railroading in such faraway places. In preparing for this trip, I did a fair amount of research on the internet, including the popular and most helpful MEXLIST yahoo group. After a couple hours of browsing, I had enough information on the local area to be able to know about a great railfan spot close to where I stayed – and that place was the main train station in Queretaro.
CN 301 on the Wainwright Sub, derails on the Fabyan Bridge over the Battle River near Wainwright, Alberta, Canada, January 2012. Photos submitted by Andrew Futrell.
by Ricky Bivins, Chapter President
Well hello again fellow Chapter Members. As the last meeting drew to a close January 23rd, a lot of points concerning our Chapter had been made. Better than half of the thirteen members present were at one point or another, involved it what turned out to be a very constructive discussion. I am very aware that several members were not so entertained. Others said the meeting was positive. One member said it was long overdue. It is not easy to please everyone on every aspect of being a “club” of any type. We have a singular interest, as Bob Moffet pointed out when he said, “I like trains”.
Near the end of the meeting, Chuck Hinrichs made a very good point, one that I vividly recall having been made several years ago when a discussion ensued over lengthy business portions of our meeting night. Chuck said to the effect “…then let the Officers meet before the meeting to decide issues…that’s what we elect them to do”.
The Officers will meet on February 23rd at my house at 7:00PM! The results of the meeting and decisions made there in will be presented to the members present on the 27th and if a vote is needed so it will be done. All members are invited to attend this first pre-meeting meeting. CSX may provide some entertainment just across Railroad Street and I do have some trains running on my Lionel Layout in the upstairs bay.
I asked for a volunteer to take charge of programs and coordinate trips, events etc. and to bring new event ideas to the members for consideration. No one was willing to do so! After the business portion of the meeting was over I ask 7 members at random it they had read the newsletter. I was disappointed but not surprised to learn only two had done so….one of the members asked that had not is an officer!!!