There is no submission for this feature this month. If you have a “spot” you’d like to submit, please do so. Get a photo that does not reveal the location. If you have an old photo but it contains the location, drop it off at Coldwell Banker Terry & Associates, 1096 North Main St, Madisonville, and I will scan it, then return the photo to you. I can “fuzz” out the identity if necessary. Please put your photo in an envelop clearly marked with my name, your name, phone number, email, etc. Mona Forker, our receptionist will put it in my mail box.
Author: Jim Pearson
Well, we’ve experienced another tragedy in the railroad industry. As I’m sure all have heard, two Amtrak track workers were killed earlier this month due to what looks like human error or some sort of communication glitch. Either way, we should send up a prayer for their families.
It is a strong reminder how quickly a situation can turn deadly when multiple tons of massed energy are speeding down the tracks. Take time to check your surroundings when standing track-side. It occasionally occurs to me to think about my escape route should a passing train derail—granted, the chances are slim– but when so close to such machinery it crosses our minds.
Also take time to do an amateur inspection of track, possible obstructions, etc. in your location. As impersonal as the major railroads may seem these days, they don’t put those 800 numbers on the cross bucks for nothing. Put the numbers in your smart phones. I know we’ve had chapter members report broken rail and stuck air horns in the past.
So let’s be good neighbors and wisely choose our photo spots and watching locations as we continue to enjoy plenty of RR activity in our area and abroad.
Keep the news and pictures coming! Bill
By Bill Farrell, President, West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS
The time sure has passed since our last meeting; it just seems like last week we were conducting the March meeting. All the membership cards have been mailed out to the membership. If you have not received yours please contact me so I can re-issue a new card.
This is the second issue of the “Pennyrail”, by Bill Thomas this year. Matt in the past did a great job with the news letter. Bill is doing a great job of dissemination of information to the club members. If you have anything worth publishing in the “Pennyrail” please submit it to Bill for publication. I think we need to have a deadline on information to Bill in order to give him time to assemble the newsletter. We can talk about it in the meeting on Monday evening.
I hope everyone had a chance to get out and get a picture for the photography contest. All pictures needed to be submitted to Jim Pearson by April 11th. Jim will announce the winners at the April Monday evening. If you have one of the trophies from the last photo contest please bring it with you or try to get it back in time for the meeting. Blair and I were in Florida last week for spring break and got some great pictures of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Needless to say I thought about all of you in Kentucky with the cool weather.
I need to set a date for a work day on the modular layout. It is very close to completion and we need to get the modules out to the members that want them. All we need to do is plaster cloth the top, wiring, and insert the legs. We need to do this within the next three week and get this project out of the way and into the hands of the members. In the last meeting the membership agreed that a module can go to a non Western Kentucky Chapter/NRHS member. So if you know of someone who is interested in “O” scale railroading and they would like to be part of the modular group invite them.
Remember to bring “Show and Tell” along with Raffle items to the meeting. This month refreshments will be provided by Betty & Donny Knight, the program by Thomas Bryan.
Chapter member, Bill Corum got out with the action while CSX crews replaced rail along their main line between Madisonville and Earlington, KY, earlier this month. – Photos by Bill Corum
The other entries were:
We will have our chapter member photo contest from April 1-8th for shooting and email your entry(s) (no more than two entries per member) to Jim Pearson by the 12th of April. Open subject as long as it’s train related. You have to be a chapter member to participate.
Send entries to: jim@jimpearsonphotography.com.
Jim will judge and have results at the April meeting.
We will produce a club calendar for 2017 from the photos submitted.
We hope you get out and participate!!
Our chapter member Jim Pearson produced this timelapse of CSX changing out the switch at Mortons Junction, Mortons Gap, Ky. He used his Nikon D800 to shoot a photo every 2 seconds and shot for a total of 8 hours which resulted in the video you see here.
Title – Montana Rail Link, EMDs in the Rockies Volume 1, The East End
Producer – C. Vision Productions
Format – DVD Wide Screen
Playing Time – 2 hrs.
Purchased From – Trainvideodepot.com
Date Purchased – 3/3/16
Price Paid – $26.95
Yes, my fellow Chapter members, yet another Montana Rail Link video review. Sorry, but I had short notice that we were going to resume my reviews and this is the best I can do for this month.
I have videos on the MRL by Pentrex, by Plets Express, by 7idea Productions, by Highball Productions, and now by C. Vision Productions. That might give you the impression that the Montana Rail Link is one of my favorite railroads. Yep, it is.
This is Volume 1, which covers the eastern half of the MRL, as the title indicates. MRL mainline Subdivisions 1 and 2 are included but we also see some of subdivisions 5, 6, and 13. We travel west from Jones Junction, the eastern terminus of the MRL, to Helena, MT, the western end of Subdivision 2.
Some of the geographic features we encounter are: the Yellowstone River, Bozeman Pass, Winston Hill, and Jefferson Canyon, a truly beautiful location.
The MRL put some SD-45’s back into service in 2014 and these are seen in action in this video.
C. Vision did a fantastic job in producing this video. Montana’s beautiful scenery is presented in wide screen format with top notch video quality. The railroad action is good with a variety of freight behind those gorgeous locomotives proudly displaying their deep blue MRL livery. Maps are used to keep the viewer aware of his location along the route and the narration keeps him informed about the action he is watching. I cannot think of any way that this video could have been improved. I highly recommend it.
I guarantee you that I will be purchasing Volume 2 when it becomes available.
To the left you see a picture of my Papaw (my mother’s father) holding me on his knee, about 1965. Mamaw seems to be coaxing me to smile. This shot was taken at my aunt’s and uncle’s home on Hog Jowl Road, Walker Co. GA, about 10 miles from the TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia RR) as the crow flies. I owe this man my interest in trains. He spent countless hours running me all over Chattanooga, TN, chasing trains. I later learned he did the same to my mother. I saw TVRM in its infancy but didn’t know it. The Incline Rwy was always a special treat. Southern’s Big John cement hoppers rumbled by their home in Redbank 2-3 times a day. Precious memories. Send me your memories in print and I’ll publish them for all to enjoy. It’s a great way to share, inspire, and keep the memories alive! – Bill Thomas, Editor
Rick Bivins’ model mountain and bridge in process and after his friend Josh added some color. Click on photos to view larger. – Photos by Rick Bivins
The Spill with President Bill, Chapter President
Well, it just seemed like last week and we were having our February meeting. We need to thank Ricky for getting the February program together for us. Rich did a good job on the refreshments; Blair Terry gave him a four star rating on the food. In other words, you did good, Rich. Our program this month will be brought to us by Ricky Bivins. We will have some guests from the former Owensboro, chapter of NRHS.
We have some exciting news about events and projects coming up in March and April. On March 28th we have a trip planned to the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis, MO. We have two 15-passenger vans lined up for those who would rather ride then drive. I say 15-passengers but the plan is to carry only 10 people per van. I believe the word we are looking for is “comfortable”. We will fill the seats on a first come first serve basis, so if you would like to go, let me know soon. The cost per member and or guest to take the van is $17.00 (per person). We will discuss this in more detail at the March meeting.
We now have some thirty DVDs for the chapter Video Library. Any member that would like to put a DVD in the library on loan please bring them to the next meeting. I noticed several members checking out movies last month. Until we get the number of DVDs up in the library members can only check out one per month.
April 11th is “Archeology Saturday”. The plan is to use metal detectors and go to a former location of a train depot in Hopkins County. We are going to list and catalog all the artifacts our club members unearth. These items can be placed in the case in the Parkway Plaza Mall or stored at the Hopkins County Historical Society. Now keep all that in mind, last Friday I called one of our chapter in house railroad historians, Wally Watts. I said, Wally lets go and find a depot site for “Archeology Saturday”, Wally said sound fine lets meet at Cracker Barrel. Once we got on the road, Wally dragged your President through the bowels of Hopkins County looking for sites where depots once stood. I don’t know how many times I hear Wally say, “I’ll sit in the car, you wade through that water and see what is over there”. “Wally it’s just more snow and ice”. All kidding aside we did find one very interesting site, I think you will find the pictures we have of the Nebo site very rewarding. Wally and I will have the pictures for the next meeting.
Do you have a digital camera? Well if not, maybe you can borrow one from a good friend. April 1st – 8th, the chapter plans on having a photography contest within the club. Jim Pearson, one of the chapter members will chair this event. It will be open to all our chapter members in good standing. The pictures you submit to Jim (by email) will have to be taken in Western Kentucky during the week of the contest. The theme is open so anything is game as long as it’s train related. Photos must be submitted by April 12th. Those members who are worried about Jim winning the photo contest need to know he will not be a contestant. We are still working on the prize to the winner. The most important thing in this event is, you have fun. In the case of Matt Gentry, he will be allowed to submit a picture from the west coast. At the end of the year we’ll use some of the photos to produce a calendar for 2017 which will be available for purchase.
Those who missed the last meeting, it was announced that the GarGraves track company has donated between 1,000.00 and 1,100.00 in track for the modular layout. We still have three module’s unspoken for, any member who wants to build one, let me know.
We need “Show & Tell” items and things for the raffle for the next meeting. Weather permitting I hope to see you on the 21st of March @ 7:00.
Hello Chapter members. First let me thank Matt Gentry for his work with the PennyRail over the last couple of years. Matt has had the publication rolling from afar—California to be exact. This is a difficult task to manage when you are in the area much less when out. I cannot imagine doing it from such distance, even with the high-tech gadgets we have at our disposal. Matt, thank you so much for your service to the chapter.
As we move ahead with this monthly document let me kindly remind you it is yours, not mine. I just organize the layout and content. I need all of you to submit material for printing. This includes railroad-related articles, pictures, stories, and other odds and ends you might consider for sharing. Feel free to use your smart-phone cameras. The higher the resolution the better. Please try to submit all material in digital format. If you do not have a word processor, just type your stories and/or articles in an email message and send it to me. If you have any technical problems, feel free to call, text, or email me with the information below.
Bill Thomas Cell: 270-339-9482
Text to the same number
Email: billtrainthomas@gmail.com
You can also message me on Facebook and Twitter.
Keep the news coming! Bill
Trains are running again on the Hook Line & Singer RR after a long winter curfew. First crew reported about 3 weeks ago. Now track crews are dealing with strong weed growth on the right of way. – Photo by Bill Thomas
While touring some commercial property last week, I happened upon the CSX Ahlstrom siding which comes off the Morganfield Branch near Pride Ave, Madisonville. Ahlstrom recently had the siding rebuilt but the line of demarcation between the company and CSX is clear. Love the drainage technique. Photo by Bill Thomas