Category: Bill Thomas

When I was a teenager, as now, I was very much involved in my church, First Baptist, Ellijay, GA.  My church established a relationship with a small Baptist Church start in Logan, West Virginia about 1978.  I was then fortunate to travel to the Logan area three consecutive summers for week-long mission trips there.  I caught my first sight of a “Chessie” system paint scheme when we crossed the Big Sandy River on I-64, there around the Ashland production facility at the state line.  I was pumped! 

We arrived in Logan and I was wide-eyed!  I’d never seen so many “diverging routes” in one place.  Everywhere we went, there were tracks alongside the roads.  Not just spindly 70 lb. rail, I mean nice looking track with signals! 

As we went about our work, we set up at Rum Junction Baptist Church, just southeast of downtown Logan.  Now a location named for a junction had to be a railroad hotspot – and it was.  I’d never seen unit coal trains until then. Lots of C&O paint still around, a little B&O here and there, then those rainbow-like Chessie diesels with that oddball outline shape on the inside of the C.  My only other view of these colorful creatures had been on the pages of a Christmas catalog.  Did I mention there were lots of yellow cabooses???  With cupolas, not bay windows!

I don’t remember when I learned that strange shape in the C had it’s beginnings as an artistic logo for the C&O of Chessie the kitten.  “Sleep like a kitten on the C&O.”  Certainly my hometown L&N/Family Lines or the down-to-business sleek black and aluminum Southern locomotives paled in comparison to the Chessie.  I do have some old photographs and pictures, but not nearly enough. 

Seems I always get around to pontificating on the subject of taking more photos of the rail action around us.  I guess it’s how I deal with the regret of not doing it enough when I had the chance.  Seems I still love to take that worn-out shot trackside – totally uncreative.  But, I hold out hope that it may prove beneficial in a historical way someday. 

With the ease of seeing by satellite that area in West Virginia where friends and I created so many great memories of mission work and trains, I have lately discovered that many of those roadside tracks are gone and that most of the ones remaining dead-end into what looks to be inactive mining facilities.  Peach Creak Yard holds many empty and possibly stored coal hoppers. 

Now, here’s the benefit of having a network of friends with the same interests.  Thanks to Fred Ripley and his knowledge of the C&O and connected rail lines, I know some of those trains passing through Rum Jct, were possibly bound for connection with the Virginian or N&W several miles south at Gilbert, WV.  Sadly the C&O bridge that once connected the lines is out of service.  I know where a lot of that coal from all those diverging routs was going and which direction. 

SO, KEEP TAKING PICTUES, AND STAY IN TOUCH WITH  YOUR RAILROAD BUDDIES!  You never know what little enjoyable nuggets of information you might stumble across.  See related photo on the following page in Photo Gallery.

 

Opinions and Stories by Bill Thomas, Editor

Here today, gone tomorrow!  We’ve all heard this saying at some point.  There are so many railroad related things I wish I had taken pictures of when I was carrying around my 35mm Yashica FR camera in the late 70s and early 80s.  I was fortunate to get a couple of photos of the Family Lines/L&N GP40 I claim as my first cab ride.  But, oh, the things I missed within 100 miles of me; two train stations in Chattanooga, my native city.  The yard at Elizabeth (Marietta) GA, where the Hook & Eye line diverged from the main Atlanta/Chattanooga/Knoxville line.  Etowah, TN, former division point and offices.  Atlanta and its variety of railroads – Family Lines, Southern, Central of Georgia, West Point Route – back when you could run around the yards without being chased out.

My “point” is, take as many photos as you can of current railroad things.  Those SD40-2s have only so many years although they seem immortal.  Have you noticed how many RR crossing lights and gates now have electronic bells instead of the “gas station” bells we’ve heard for so long?  Remember journal boxes?  Cabooses, section flags, wig wags, roof walks, stock cars, not to mention steam locomotives?  Looking at Don’s picture, above left, I wonder how much longer we can ride public passenger trains.  At one time these were items that we took for granted.   In a day of nearly unlimited photo storage and easy access to digital cameras, we should have plenty of visual records.  So get out there and shoot! 

Opinions and Stories by Bill Thomas, Editor

I WAS enthusiastically looking forward to our modular railroad layout display at Madisonville Square Mall AND I was not disappointed!  Thanks to our president Bill Farrell, Rick Bivins, Rich Hane, Jim Kemp, Wally, and others who helped set up, maintain, and take down the displays.  I am of the opinion that this was a fantastic “touch point” for us with our community. 

Thanks also to those who purchased and prepared modules for our display.  You can see pictures in the following pages of the newsletter. 

If room permits, I’ll include some photographs I took on our family Christmas trip to New York City, December 26-31.  We were fortunate to visit a small RR museum in Huntington, WV (pictured with museum volunteer Jim Pickett, insert), as well as the Transit Museum of NY, and The Railway Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, PA.  I can thank my wife Angela for scheduling those stops for me along with the visits to Gettysburg, Central Park NYC, and the Independence Hall area of Philadelphia.  I finally saw the Liberty Bell!

Bill Thomas, editor, The PennyRail

 

New Your Transit Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Railway Museum, Huntington, WV

Railway Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, PA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opinions and Stories by Bill Thomas, Editor

I am enthusiastically looking forward to our modular railroad layout display at Parkway Plaza Mall this Christmas season.  I’m one of those who believes every kid should have a Lionel train set at some point in his or her life. 

In a recent conversation with a real estate client, I heard those horrible words, “I don’t know how they can stand those railroad tracks so close to the house!  I don’t want my grandchildren that close to the tracks!”  In reality, the tracks are a full city block away.  When we moved to town in 2003, I tried my best to get near the tracks, but just couldn’t find a place with enough yard.  But, occasionally I can hear three trains at a time in my back yard, so I guess it turned out ok. 

Back on track – I predict the modular layout will draw a crowd, we just need to get the word out!  So spread the news where ever you go.  If you’re a Facebook, Twitter, or other social media user, post it on your timeline or page you manage. 

I’ve enjoyed re-introducing my 10-year-old to the hobby through this project and hope we all can bring a little nostalgic happiness to those who come our way in the next few weeks.

 

I love a good spooky and maybe strange story.  This one matches my criteria, mainly because there are not many more spooky and creepy places than abandoned rail equipment and empty churches at night, after dark.

A friend sent me this story via Facebook Messenger about FDR’s secret railcar, still abandoned beneath the streets of New York City.

Grand Central’s abandoned Track 61. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in office, he utilized a secret train line that connected Grand Central to the Waldorf-Astoria. The area even has a huge freight elevator that was used to fit his limousine allowing FDR to travel to and from New York City in secrecy during World War II. This was the train he used which still sits on Track 61.

I hope to return to NYC this winter to hear and see my daughter perform with the New York Choral Society on their Christmas Concert.  She’s not a soloist, she just sings in this fantastically talented ensemble.

I’ve two other things I want to see there:  The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, and a Christmas window display with Lionel trains running in it.  I’m not sure that last one exists anymore, but the hunt will be fun.

Bill Thomas

Note: You can read more about this by Googling “FDR Railcar Track 61” or clicking on the link. Click play below to view a video.

I have some great news.  As most of you know, we came to Madisonville in 2003, when I answered the call to First Baptist Church to serve as their Minister of Music.  Since leaving that church in the summer of 2013, two week shy of my 10 year anniversary there, I’ve been making a living in lawn care, landscape design, real estate sales, driving a school bus, and serving as an interim music minister at First Baptist Bowling Green.

I am happy to announce that on August 28, 2016, I will begin service as the Full-time Associate Pastor/Minister of Music at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Madisonville.

It is a bitter-sweet transition as I leave a great church in Bowling Green which has helped me find the joy in music ministry again.  I often tell them, “They’ve been better for me than I could ever be for them!”

I also am sorry to leave the hard working team of professional drivers, trainers, and staff in our Hopkins County School District’s Transportation Department, led by Marcie Cox, who answered a late-night call from me needing another job to make ends meet.  I am forever grateful.

While I will be full-time at the church, I’ll be keeping my real estate license and business active for the time being.  Time will tell if I can manage the two while giving First Christian my time priority.

Thanks to all of you for your support, prayers, and kind words over the last three years of this long transition.  I look forward to continuing my work as your editor and fellow railway historian.  Whether you’re looking for a home in Madisonville or heaven, I can help.  In a pinch, I can mow your yard and drive a bus too.

Bill Thomas

Bird’s Eye View!

If you own and use a computer or smart phone, you now have access to a great tool for locating rail lines and more interestingly, abandoned rail lines.

Lately, I’ve enjoyed Elmer G. Sulzer’s Ghost Railroads of Kentucky first published in 1967, by Indiana University Press (originally by Vane A. Jones Company) which presents 23 chapters of railroads that used to be.  Chapter 18 unpacks the history of the L&N’s and IC’s adventures through Clay, Dixon, Morganfield and Henderson, KY, right in our back door.

Now back to the computer and/or smart phone.  I’ve begun to “mentally overlay” the satellite images available on sites like Google Earth and other mapping apps on Sulzer’s maps provided in the book.  The drawback to the latter is that there are no roads mapped in Sulzer’s book, just rivers, streams, county and state lines.  You have to be a little creative, but it’s fun to find some of these places on the computer screen then visit in person.  And, if you have the smart phone map app, it will  pinpoint your location as you move.

Many of you are probably familiar with this technology as am I, but I wanted to share the possibilities with those who may just be getting caught up with it.

As a side note, also included in Sulzer’s book are railroads which once served Russellville, Adairville, Gracey, Princeton, Elkton, Guthrie, Hartford, Irvington, and Falls of Rough.

Mr. Sulzer also published Ghost Railroads of Tennessee and Ghost Railroads of Indiana. I’m looking forward to browsing through both of these in the near future.  All are available on Amazon.com.

Bill Thomas…

 

Greetings all!  I hope you will join us Monday, June 20, 7pm, here at our home at 1025 Lakewood Dr, Madisonville.  As President Bill stated above, Blair’s family will be supplying the burgers for my grill Monday so come hungry.  Just bring a lawn chair and all the other stuff will be provided.  If you’d like to take a dip in the pool, feel free to come early at 6.  I believe happy hour will begin at that point as well.

Informal Program: If you have any G gauge equipment you’d like to run on the garden tracks, feel free to bring it along.  Bob McCracken is scheduled to have his live-steam Shay here and it’s always a treat to see it chugging among the flora.  Keep in mind the track work can be like a maintenance-deferred short line so no guarantees we’ll be derailment free.  RJ Corman is on standby.

Directions if needed: From South Main St (Hwy 41 S), take SR 70/McLaughlin/Princeton Rd west.  Turn right on Lakewood Dr., just past the Elks Club.  Take the first left (which remains Lakewood Dr.).  Go right as the road elbows, our drive way is the first on the right.  Blue house with a yellow front door, RR crossing sign in the back yard.

Hope to see you here!

Bill

 

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