Chuck Hinrichs caught this northbound CSX manifest at Latham early afternoon January 23, 2010, with four  CSX B36-7s in the consist.  Chuck – “A lot of these old warhorses have been pulled from the roster and I wonder where these four might be headed.”  Ed. – from looks of the cover on the trailing unit, the vintage GEs are probably dead in tow. – Photos by Chuck Hinrichs

Paducah & Louisville RR Business Train for Sale!

2 Passenger Cars and 1 Power Car:

“Bluegrass State 1” was originally designed and built for operation as a Business Railcar for the Illinois Central Railroad. This railcar is still being used as a business car. Excellent condition, the interior having been completely gutted & rebuilt alter a fire destroyed the interior in the late 1980’s. It contains an observation room and open platform. Microphor hall toilet, dining room and fully equipped kitchen w/ Microphor toilet, two master bedrooms w/ shared Microphor toilet & shower wet bar along with all furnishings and accessories.

Bluegrass State was originally designed & built as a six double bedroom sleeper/bar lounge by Pullman in 1955 for the New York. New Hampshire (Editor’s note: I believe this to be New Haven) & Hartford RR. The car was originally named the “Nutmeg State” and numbered (NH-552). The car is generally in good operational condition.

The water & power car PAL 10 was built in 1958 as a milk freight carrier.

Price: $445,000

Any takers?

Submitted by Cliff Downey

Distant Whistle by Mary Rae McPherson
A reprint from her blog site: http://alongtherails.wordpress.com

We woke up to snow on the ground on the morning of Saturday, January 5, 1985. While the snow was nice to see, it did seem to be something of a waste; after all, school was out on Saturday regardless. Why couldn’t have come down earlier and given us an extended weekend?

I was 12 years old that winter, still plenty young enough to be able to appreciate the opportunity to sled down the hill out behind our house east of Carbondale, Illinois. That would have to wait for later in the day, however. First up was a rare late morning basketball game at the SIU arena with my father and grandmother. The Salukis lost to Tulsa in a close game, 98-96. The loss wasn’t all that unexpected; we lost half our games that year.

It was mid afternoon before I got out in the back yard for a go on the hill. My grandmother stayed on the back porch and watched as I got my red toboggan out. I had gone down the hill several times when I could have sworn I heard the sound of a steam whistle. I stopped and listened more closely. For a few moments there was nothing but the sounds of traffic on nearby Illinois highway 13.

After a few moments I went down the hill again and was trudging back up the hill when I heard it again. It wasn’t my imagination. It was the deep moan of a three chime steamboat whistle off in the distance.

“Did you hear that?” I asked my grandmother.

“Yes,” she said.

I was surprised; not that there was the whistle of a steam locomotive to hear, but rather the fact that I COULD hear it. I knew that the nearby Crab Orchard & Egyptian Railroad was the last steam powered shortline in the United States. I had known about it for a few years. I had even seen the engine running up close on a couple of occasions. But to actually HEAR it? They almost never ran on Saturdays, and the prevailing winds almost always carried sounds from the west. The CO&E was east of us.

CO&E #17 on 1/5/1985, in a photo by Jerry Mart, Note the piggyback flat and trailer - ed.

I stood there quietly, listening as the sound of that whistle came rolling in through the woods from the east. I would have loved to have been standing along the track somewhere, watching as the railroad’s #17 came by with a short train heading for the west end of the line. That wasn’t going to happen, as it was too far away for me to get to on my own. But to be standing in the back yard and listening to that melodious whistle was the next best thing.

It turned out to be the only time I ever heard that whistle from my house. The railroad often ran before I was home from school, and sound didn’t usually carry that way anyway. More often I would hear the distant air horns coming from the Illinois Central Gulf trains in Carbondale a few miles to the west. I would see #17 one more time, toward the end of June when I was invited to ride the cab of the engine from the west end to downtown Marion on a freight train. Then in September of ‘86, the engine suffered a serious failure of the piping inside the boiler and never ran again. I never forgot those days, when I lived so close to the last steam powered railroad in America.

In early December, 1987, my copy of the latest issue of Trains Magazine arrived in the mail. I brought it to the house with the rest of the mail, and went to my room to look through its pages. Imagine my surprise when I turned to the photo spread on pages 46 and 47, only to see a photo of Crab Orchard & Egyptian #17 passing Odum Concrete in Marion.  The caption began as follows:  Southern Illinois doesn’t get all that much snow, and the 8-mile Crab Orchard & Egyptian rarely strayed from its Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, so 2-8-0 17 heading west from Marion after a 4-inch snowfall on Saturday, January 5, 1985, was a double treat for the photographer.

Immediately I thought back to that afternoon, standing in the back yard with my grandmother and listening to the distant sound of #17’s whistle. It was wonderful to see a photo taken that day, a photo that rekindled that memory and changed it into something I would remember the rest of my life.

-thanks to Mary Rae McPherson for her permission to reprint this story.

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.

  • Madisonville Head-quartered and Energized Railroad Buffs (MH&E RRB) – Thursday, January 28, at 6pm, at the (unfinished) home of Ricky Bivins, on North Railroad Street, Mortons Gap, KY.  Bring  your own drinks and snacks.  All are welcome!  Port-a-potty next door.  Torpedo heater provided by Ricky!
  • Great Midwest Train Show – February 14, 2010.  DuPage County Fairgrounds County Farm Road and Manchester, Wheaton, Illinois Show Hours 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM.   Train Show Inc., 120 Easy Street #4
    Carol Stream IL 60188.  Phone: 630-290-1962
    Fax: 240-597-4482, staff@GreatMidwestTrainShow.com.
  • sHOw Modular Model RR Club Train Show – Saturday February 20, 2010, 10am to 3pm, at the L&N Depot on Kentucky Street, Bowling Green, KY.  Admission is $2.  Table rental for vendors is $15.  Contact Kevin, kcomer300@yahoo.com.

The best way to see how bullet trains transform economies is to ride them and see the cities they serve.  To ride a bullet train you have to travel overseas. A year ago, members of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association traveled to Spain to see how that country is using high-speed trains to unify the country. This year, we hope to visit France, which pioneered European high-speed rail in 1982.  We hope to include the following elements on this trip:

  • A TGV duplex ride on France’s first high-speed line
  • A ride at 205 mph on a German-built ICE-3
  • A presentation on SNCF’s proposal for a bullet train network in the Midwest
  • A tour of a modern light rail line
  • A visit to Antwerp Central, rated one the world’s most beautiful railroad stations. It also has a new four track bypass similar to Chicago’s proposed West Loop Transportation Center.

Before we move forward planning the details of trip, we need to gauge interest. We are considering either June 13 – 19 or September 12 – 18.  The trip will go when we have received ten refundable deposits for one of the possible weeks.  We will book the trip through the Society of International Railway Travelers which has given excellent support on past trips.  A potential agenda can be found at: http://www.midwesthsr.org/events/. Please respond to this email and answer the following questions if you are interested in going: (If this email got forwarded to you, send the email to: mark@midwesthsr.org)

1) Do you prefer June or September?
2) Are you willing to spend up to $2,500, $3,500 or $4,000 plus airfare?
3) Would you be interested in an extra three days that would have a focused agenda on trains and facilities?
4) Would you rather go to China?

Make sure to include your full contact information if you want to keep informed. Rick Harnish, Executive Director Midwest High Speed Rail Association 4765 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60625, 773-334-6758.  Join us at midwestHSR.org.

From Channel 18’s (Lexington KY) web site:

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) – Paducah & Louisville Railway is looking for incentives to build a new headquarters in downtown Paducah rather than move to one of the other cities where it does business.

Railroad President Tony Reck told The Paducah Sun that the company is hoping to stay in western Kentucky, but isn’t close to making a commitment to any place. P&L, a 265-mile regional railroad, has grown steadily in recent years by acquiring rail lines in West Virginia, Indiana and Illinois. Reck said the company has newer contracts with CSX to build and operate intermodal facilities in West Baltimore, Ohio, and Winter Haven, Fla.

Paducah Mayor Bill Paxton says the city is trying to keep the railroad, despite heavy recruiting from places like Louisville and Florida.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Submitted by Chuck Hinrichs

A couple months ago I mentioned that I have a new book coming out entitled “Kentucky and the Illinois Central Railroad”. It is a soft cover book from Arcadia Publishing and, well, is about the IC’s trains and operations in the Bluegrass State. I had hoped that it would be out by the end of 2009, but that didn’t happen.

However, I’ve now been advised that the book will be available March 29. Unlike another book publisher I worked with who announced publication dates that were repeatedly delayed, Arcadia does not announce a publication date unless they are rock solid certain that the book will actually be printed and in stores. So, the long wait is drawing to a close.

The book is not yet listed on Arcadia’s website (arcadiapublishing.com). But if you go to amazon.com, booksamillion.com, or barnesandnoble.com, and type in “clifford downey”, you can at least see the front cover. As publication draws nearer, then each site will include previews of inside pages.
As always, once the book is out I welcome all comments , good or bad. I certainly hope folks will consider buying this book, for I believe they will enjoy it.

Cliff Downey

Updated member-renewal spread sheets for January 2010 have been sent to the national office.  If you have not paid your renewal dues, please do so as soon as possible to simplify paper work for treasurer Wally Watts and electronic contact, Bill Thomas(me).  The February sheets will be emailed around the 10th of February so Wally will need your dues in hand before then.  Thanks!

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 25th, 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