Hard to Believe!
– submitted by Jim Futrell

This is not a cropped photo.  It is a blower off a freight train that this guy found at a junk yard.  They did start the car with it on.  With one blip of the throttle lifted the left rear wheel a foot off the ground and blew both head gaskets.

Interesting factoid – February 4, 1936,  Vidette Messenger
From the ‘Round About section… – Submitted by Chuck Hinrichs

Approximately 7,000 tons of ice making up 275 carloads, has been harvested and shipped from Cedar Lake by the Monon Railroad company.  More than 100 men have been engaged on the project, cutting the ice which was fifteen to sixteen inches thick. It was reported work was handicapped by a lack of sufficient men.

The Today Show ran a short segment on the resurgence of model trains.

Click HERE to view the clip.

Act Now!! Murray Scholarship Deadline Set for March 2 –
– Submitted by John Licht, Western Bluegrass Terminal, LLC

The deadline will be March 2, 2009 for applications for the annual Susan C. Murray Memorial Women?s Scholarship. The four-year college scholarship is named after Mrs. Murray–an executive at Commonwealth Business Media who was instrumental in the creation and early success of the ASLRRA?s annual exhibition–who passed away in January 2003.

The ASLRRA scholarship is open to daughters and granddaughters of ASLRRA Railroad and Associate Members in good standing.  Past winners are: Amanda Dawn Simmons, granddaughter of Tommy Joe Alexander from Jefferson Warrior Railroad; Dina McKenney, daughter of Rob McKenney from the former Georgia & Florida RailNet; Kathryn Medlock, daughter of Mike Medlock from Klutts Equipment; Marion Joy, daughter of Christine Joy from Union Switch & Signal; Kristin Wegner, daughter of Mark Wegner from Twin Cities & Western Railroad.

Click  HERE for the application form. Please contact Kathy Keeney (kkeeney@cbizmedia.com) with any questions about the scholarship program.