Month: March 2013
Several chapter members were involved in the process of making the recent public radio feature “Kentucky High Iron” which aired Sunday morning, March 2, 2013, on WKMS public radio on the campus of Murray State University. The NPR station is giving CD copies of the story to new subscribers. Although the spring campaign ends Saturday, March 16, you might still get a copy by contributing to WKMS, 1-800-599-4737, or go online to http://www.wkms.org.
Respondek Railroad, operator of the Fredonia Valley Railroad, has recently been issued a FCC license for several locations for their U.S. operations. 160.8750 Mhz is now licensed for several mobile radios. Railfans will want to program this one in their scanner when trying to chase and photograph the trains of both this operation, and their operation in southern Indiana around Yankeetown. Submitted by Chris Dees.
Norfolk & Western Class J 611 Restoration and Return to Excursion Service – The “Fire Up 611!” Study will research what it will take to restore, maintain and operate the iconic locomotive.
A Fire Up 611! committee has been formed to examine the costs and feasibility of restoring the locomotive so she can once again thunder across the landscape. The Fire Up 611! committee will announce its findings within 90 days. February 22, 2013 – ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – The Virginia Museum of Transportation announced today that it is studying the feasibility of returning the iconic Norfolk & Western Class J 611 Steam locomotive to operating condition.
| Title | Rotaries, Avalanche on the Mountain |
| Producer | BA Productions |
| Format | Wide Screen DVD |
| Playing Time | 1 hr 3 min |
| Purchased From | TrainVideoDepot.com |
| Date Purchased | 11/2/2011 |
| Price Paid | $27.89 |
This month’s review is going to be a re-run of my August review. I’m doing this to promote the entertainment that I have planned for our March 2013 meeting. I plan to show this DVD at that time and I am very excited about sharing it with all of you. You will not want to miss this! Here’s the review I submitted in August 2012 for this video…
Fellow Railfans, this one is a must for your collection of RR videos! If the contents of this DVD do not excite you, then you had better check for a pulse.
The location is Donner Pass, where the Union Pacific RR crosses the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the time is late March of 2011. There has been record snowfall and more snow is coming down. The battle to keep the rails cleared of snow so that trains can get through is being lost.
At Donner Pass the order of battle is to first deploy the flangers, which are rail cars with belly blades to plow the snow. The flangers cannot push the snow very far and become ineffective when the snow gets very deep.
When the flangers cannot get the job done, the Jordan spreaders are then deployed. These machines have enclosed cabs and sport huge front-mounted blades that can be adjusted to throw the snow to either side. They also have retractable wings that work in conjunction with the blades to push the snow even further from the tracks. The spreaders are pushed along by trailing locomotives. For the vast majority of winters, the Jordan speaders are able to keep the rails cleared.
Last to be deployed in the order of battle are the rotary snow plows. Very rarely a winter will come along in which the snow depth exceeds the capability of the spreaders, and then it is time to call out the rotary snow plows. In this video we see the rotaries put into service for the first time since 1998, the first time in thirteen years! What a rare treat!
The rotaries are nothing short of amazing in their ability to remove snow and watching them in operation as they throw snow high into the air is a joy to behold. We see them in this video clearing snow that appears to be all the way up to the cab.
We are taken inside the cab to ride along with the crew and we are also shown spectacular scenes from outside the rotary as it eats its way through the deep snow. There are some great night scenes.
You simply cannot go wrong by adding this one to your collection. This is probably going to be the video that I share with you guys the next time I am scheduled for entertainment but don’t wait for that; get one ordered for yourself. I promise you, you will watch it over and over again.
Back a year or so we saw how the wheels could develop flat spots from sliding along the rail. Those flats pots cause that Whooomp, whoomp, when a train goes by. On a freight car it is relatively simple lifting the car off the wheelset, remove the guilty wheels and axle, replace it or turn it on a lathe. Since the wheels on the axle rotate as a unit both will be flat.
But, woe be the engineer that lets flat spots develop on his locomotive. Now you are talking serious issues. The master mechanic and road foreman will have his hide. The loco goes to the back shop, where all the drive wheel/axles must be removed. If one drive wheel has a flat spot, all will because they are connected and work together.
A gas fired ring heats up the tire. You can see the axle is secure in a cradle, and the heat will expand the tire enough for a machinist to sledge hammer it loose. A safety chain will be looped through the spokes. The process is reversed for applying the new tire.
The importance in not allowing the loco to slide along the rails, ever, is best explained by the fact that a train has two sets of brakes. One system is for the locomotive only, the other for the train. A smart engineer will use only the train brakes while operating out on the mainline, and bringing the train to a stop. Once stopped, he can apply the engines to secure the train.
Books have been written on train brakes. The above is only “RR Brakes 101.” – Gary Ostlund, submitted by Jim Futrell.
Well, a couple of folks got close to our mystery location in the February 2013 Pennyrail. The “exact” location, is Emerson, Georgia, on the former Western & Atlantic mainline, just South of Cartersville, Georgia. What you don’t see in this photo is the long steel and concrete bridge which now carries the main and siding over interstate 75. If those B units are NC& StL, I’d guess this shot taken before or right after the NC&StL/L&N merger of 1957. The NC&StL reached Atlanta via the state-owned W&A. This segment is also where the Great Locomotive chase (The General and The Texas) occurred during the Civil War. The chase began just a few miles south of this point, in Kennesaw (Big Shanty), Georgia. As for the kudzu, most of us from the deep south have learned to live with the invasive vine. It does produce lovely purple blooms, but it can take over a few acres in a short period of time.
Spring is in the air, (rain), flowers are blossoming (pollen), March Madness (round ball) and rail excitement abounds…..WHAT? Well three out of four isn’t bad! Welcome to the March edition of our news-letter. Hopefully the time change didn’t cause issues for our members. I like the time change myself; it gives me time to accomplish something in the evenings! As for Chapter functions, it is time to get excited, Matt has sent a “re-do” of our calling card project based on member input from the February meeting. The digital scan looks really good. Hats off to Matt Gentry for his work and time spent on this project.
After prodding the members to send in their dues and waiting as long as possible, Wally Watts Jr. and Bill Thomas have completed and sent the membership spread sheet to Fernley & Fernley. Fernley & Fernley being the agency NRHS National uses to handle membership tasks. Wally will have a full report this month as to membership numbers etc. If you have not renewed and plan to do so, send it in by meeting night. Bill and Wally will have to put forth additional efforts to keep late members on the roster but it can be done. However, March 31st is the deadline. Meaning, any dues received by National after March 31st will be considered a NEW MEMBER. If someone waits too lone they will lose their seniority! Thanks Again to Wally and Bill, the hard work is much appreciated.
The membership needs to focus on the upcoming events involving our Chapter. Friday Night Live, downtown Madisonville KY. will be held the months of June, July and August. It would be nice to have even more involvement from the membership this year than was had last year. I hope Wally will have his steam engines again, Bill will hopefully have his Mobil Garden Railroad available, perhaps a video “viewing booth” could be made available….and any other idea’s the membership has are welcome. This is a great opportunity to share our enjoyment with others, spread the word of our Chapter and just have a good time seeing reactions of the kids, young and old as the stroll past our booth. So get to thinking members, what can we add this year? What can YOU add this year?
The booth in Parkway Plaza Mall is still available; it is free and would be a semi-permanent way to make our efforts known. As I said last month, I could fill it up but I would like for other members to participate as well. I would like to set this meeting as a deadline to decide what and who will assist in this project. Again, start thinking about what can be added to this project. If you have something to add, bring it to the meeting Monday March 18th. We will move forward from there.
OK Members the meeting will be held Monday March 18th at 7:00PM at the former Louisville & Nashville Railroad Passenger Station, 38 West Arch Street, Madisonville KY. Bring a show-n-tell and a friend.
