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.
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
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. You can email me a JPG of the photo also at: billtrainthomas@gmail.com
Taken over the Holidays while visiting family, Bill Thomas remarks that Norris Yard, in Irondale, AL (Birmingham) is starting to look more and more like the switches are made by Lionel! Editor’s note; West Colton Yard has lights like this as well. – Bill Thomas
The diamond on the northside of Madisonville Ky on CSX’s Henderson Subdivision is shown after at least one train went through damaging the it, completely removing the east side rail, in February 2014. No trains hit the ground or derailed. – Photo submitted by Bill Thomas.
I’m not sure exactly when I told Chuck Hinrichs I would try my hand at producing and editing our chapter’s fine newsletter, The PennyRail. I was following a long line of astute volunteer railroad walking encyclopedias like Chuck and our missed-friend Dennis Carnal. Talk about tough acts to follow – needless to say I felt inadequate for the job. But with encouragement from both and many chapter members I set out to simply maintain the integrity and level of quality we’d all come to expect.
With my recent shift in career paths from professional minister to realtor, I need to reorganize my civic work load in order to assure financial stability for my family. So, beginning this January, 2014, our own Ricky Bivins will take the bull by the horns and begin the task of assembling and producing our newsletter. I hope you will join me in welcoming him to the post and encourage him by contributing publishing material on a regular basis. No information or stories are too small or insignificant for publication. Remember, this is a local chapter, not the Chicago Board of Trade. Personal stories and local photographs are necessary. Keep those cameras and smart phones handy. You never know when a once-in-a-lifetime shot will come along.
I want to say “thanks” to the chapter for your support and many contributions to the PennyRail over the last several years as I attempted to bring you a publication of which you are proud. I’m looking forward to being a contributor in the future!
Take a look at this old RR luggage tag. L&N RR and SF&W Ry P2172 via P&A RR. After some Googling, I have L&N RR and South Florida and Western (absorbed by L&N) then the ID number, then via Pensacola & Atlantic RR. Does anyone have more knowledge of these pieces? Best I can tell it is brass. Some were pewter. My neighbor found it in 8 inches of soil just off the old track at Browning Springs Middle School, Madisonville, Ky. Lucky me! – Bill Thomas
Bill and Angela Thomas have graciously volunteered to host our Christmas Dinner at their home in Madisonville. The date is December 21, 2012 at 6:00 PM. Details will be forth coming Monday November 26, 2012 during the Chapter Meeting. Please make plans to attend both and feel free to bring a guest. Their address is 1025 Lakewood Drive, Madisonville.
Here’s a nice shot of RJ Corman’s Z544 with the boxcars up front. When I was at Southern Seminary (near this spot) those signals in the background were the old target type. (Editor) – Photo by Bill Thomas
Great classic lines here on this EMD GP38 at LaFayette, GA, December 2011. In Georgia the accent falls on “Fay” in LaFayette.
As a child and teen I often traveled the route from Chattanooga, down along the southern slope of Lookout Mountain to Kensington, GA, in Walker County, where my Aunt and Uncle Mary and Perry Jordan farmed dairy cattle in the Cedar Grove community. Nestled in the cove formed by Lookout and Pigeon Mountains, are many great family memories of thanksgiving meals, flying kites over cow herds, and the sounds and smells of the farm. No wonder my mother had great roses – all that fertilizer brought home in paper grocery sacks.
This was the route we took if going from my grandparents’ home in Chattanooga to the farm. It practically paralleled the Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railroad (TAG) for almost the entire trip. The TAG veered due south about five miles before reaching the cove. What was great is that when traveling from our home in Ellijay, Georgia to the farm, we encountered the line as it continued through the mountainous terrain, skirting the town of LaFayette. At the time, from there I had no idea where the line went. For years I thought it joined the former Central of Georgia somewhere south of LaFayette. After all, that’s the way my eyes saw it through the big windows of my parents’ Oldsmobile.
I am fortunate to have remembrances of Southern Railway Geeps working the line along GA route 136. Seeing those black hulks striped in aluminum white sneak through the pines is an image I will never forget.
The photos above were taken this past Christmas season as I took my family on their annual trip through Northwest Georgia to see Aunt Mary and Uncle Perry. The Chattanooga & Chickamauga (former Central of Georgia) is the closest operating rail line to the farm now. Driving on to Kensington, I still kept one eye on the old roadbed where the Geeps once rolled. I still tried to figure out exactly where that tunnel portal is as we negotiate the switchback highway across the ridge, peering into the valley to catch a glimpse of the right-of-way through the naked trees of a cool Georgia winter. It’s such a melancholy experience.
The TAG from Chattanooga to Kensington is all but abandoned. This last trip left me saddened to see small bridges falling apart, washouts, and fresh pavement over the rails where the crossing gates have been amputated from their cross buck bodies.
My dream would be that the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum could somehow pull a rabbit out of their hat and restore the line. What a beautiful ride it would be through the scenic southern Chattanooga Valley. If not, and the ties silently return to dirt, maybe I can model it and bring back some of those childhood memories onto which I so strongly hold. Bill Thomas, editor
Former Columbus & Greenville GP7 seemed to be in operable condition the same day at LaFayette.
Some say if you have three good friends in your life, you’re a lucky man. I must say that my luck has been abundant. When my family and I moved to Madisonville just a bit over eight years ago, we went through the normal new-in-town steps of finding a physician, dentist, hair dresser, barber, and other necessary people for living. I make friends pretty quickly, guess it comes with the territory of ministry. Not long after our arrival, someone at church told me, “You need to meet Don Clayton and that bunch of guys in the train club.” You see, I included my fascination of trains in my bio that went out to my church – why not?
Dennis Carnal
That was the beginning of what is still a wonderful relationship I have with those of you in our chapter. Outside the chapter meetings we gathered at the Clayton home and while Wally smoked up the basement with lamp oil, several of us sat around the table, on the fireplace hearth, and floor to ramble about railroading, women, taxes, and several other topics. Dennis Carnal was always in the seat on the north side of the room or at least it seemed that way. With his bowl of peanut M&Ms he’d munch away, sharing his colorful treats with me and Liam, who was then only 4 or 5.
Liam is now 12! He and I were both fortunate enough to see Dennis at our house the Saturday before he passed. He had a way of popping in and carrying on a conversation with you while you continued to whatever odd job you may be in the middle of. This was the case on that Saturday afternoon. I’m in the pool (74 degree water) painting the deck and Dennis is sitting at the patio table. We talked about everything under the sun.
That was the beauty of my friendship with Dennis. We could talk about anything, while doing anything, and enjoy it. Dennis could appear a little rough around the edges at times, but he had a soft spot for my kids. A few Christmases ago he dropped by with a nice stuffed Santa for them and even that Saturday around the pool, he gave Joe a dollar because the cheap-o tooth fairy only left him a quarter the night before.
I admired the way he cared for his mother in her last days. I was privileged to officiate the grave-side burial service for her. I know Dennis had a love for his dogs. Not so much for cats, but deep down I think he took to mine ok.
As Ricky as already stated in his column, Dennis had a remarkable gift for recalling railroad information, especially when it came to locomotives on the L&N.
He always told me I wasn’t a normal minister and I usually questioned him about that statement. As I grew to know and love Dennis as a friend, I guess I figured I kind of knew what he meant in a positive way. I look forward to seeing him again some day and if your theology allows you to believe that, I’m glad. Feel free to join us!
If I can find a free Thursday evening in the near future, I’d like to have Dennis’ friends over to the back yard just to give the Old Goat a roast in memoriam. I’ll be in touch. I think it would do us all good.
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.
