Category: General Post

by Bill Thomas, editor, The PennyRail

I need your stories!  To show you how simple this is, listen to one of mine…

My first train ride was aboard a work train assigned to do some ditch work on the Hook & Eye line of Family Lines (formerly L&N).  GP40 4010, in the dark Family Lines gray with red and yellow stripes was literally “chocked” with a wooden wedge at the old depot in Ellijay, GA.  Behind it was a matching ex-L&N bay window caboose, and THEN… A JORDAN SPREADER!  I’d never seen such a creature.  While taking some black & white photos on Kodak Tri-X, I met up with the crew, who offered me a ride down the line.  This was 1980, no cell phones, so I’m going rogue! At 17 I felt like being free anyway! 

We pulled out and ran south (backward) for a few miles, then the work began with the big arms of the Jordan spreader doing their thing. 

We gradually worked our way back to the depot, but my thrill of the day, was blowing the horn at the crossings.  We ran along side my 8th grade civics teacher in her car, who waved to me.  She was not surprised to see me in the cab of a locomotive!

I can remember this outing like it was yesterday.  I hope you might have some similar stories to tell.  It’s ok to make it personal, don’t worry about grammar, I’ll take care of that as your editor.  Just start talking! (my apologies if you’ve heard this story before!)

 

 

Circus cars are sound, but heavily altered – Expert cautions passenger car enthusiasts, museums that circus cars were cleaned out for work
By Steve Glischinski | January 20, 2017

ELLENTON, Fla. — At first glance, the announced shutdown of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus would appear to be a boon to railway passenger car preservation. There may suddenly be available a vast fleet of heritage passenger cars that Ringling Bros. maintained in excellent mechanical condition. You won’t find rust and rot in Ringling’s fleet, all of which has been equipped with head-end electrical power.

The problem for museums and preservationists is there is a little if anything left of the original interiors, says Brad Black, a vice president with Virginkar & Associates, Inc., which consults on passenger car and rail transit rolling stock, equipment, and locomotive projects. Black says the cars have been “tunneled out,” with the interiors stripped to empty shells. So the cars bear no resemblance to when they were in their previous service. In fact, Black says, in recent years Ringling has been purchasing old coaches rather than sleeping cars, because there are fewer interior walls to tear out.

Cars were assigned to specific acts. After being stripped, Ringling installed a custom interior, based on the needs of that act. Some acts occupy an entire car, while others would be divided up. Interior furnishings were tailored to the act, and might even contain special areas for equipment the act would need to take along. Typically, acts were on the road for two years, and the car was considered their home. Some cars don’t even have aisles through them, since performers generally did not pass through the cars while on the road.

“They are more like hotel rooms than rail cars,” Black says. “So if a museum is going to preserve it as a Ringling Circus car that would work. But if they are thinking, ‘The car was originally this,’ and they are getting that, not really. They tunneled them completely out.”

The cars could be valuable, Black said, to someone who was building a private train and needed empty “shell” cars. “The underbody equipment is very much up to snuff,” He says. “They are good, mechanically sound shells.”

Cars that might be of particularly use for museums and other organizations, Black says, are the six-wheel-truck former elephant cars, and the power cars, which once were owned by Union Pacific. In particular, Black said, the power cars are in excellent shape, and are “whisper quiet” when running.

Other cars that might be available are the large stock of un-rebuilt cars Ringling kept at its shop in Ellenton. Even if it didn’t have a use for a car, Ringling scoured the country scooping up carbodies for possible future use. When a car wasn’t destined for immediate rebuilding, its trucks were usually quickly rebuilt and put to use, so there are a large number of carbodies stored at the shop without trucks.

Black said the Ringling shutdown came as a shock to members of the Railway Passenger Car Alliance, an organization private railroad equipment owners and operators. Some RPCA members have been providing equipment and parts for Ringling’s cars for several years, and have suddenly lost a major customer.

One fear, Black said, is that Ringling might just scrap its rail cars. Most of its flatcars have reached 50 years old; Ringling was planning a rebuild that now will never come. The company could decide to simply dispose of the car fleet to scrappers, save a handful going to circus related museums.

Early in the 20th century (and before the various “Safety First” campaigns that we still see today),  a dozen railroaders — on average died on the job each day .   On any given day, tens of thousands more were injured or maimed.

That was often brought home by the fact that few conventional insurance companies would write policies for railroaders — their jobs were considered too risky.   So railroaders set up their own group insurance plans and mutual benefit associations.

An industrial pension program so that employees could expect to retire (rather than work until they died) was largely a railroad innovation.  The first plans emerged in the early 1880s and led to the creation of the Railroad Retirement Board in 1934, which was the model for the Social Security Act a year later.

Hundred of thousands of railroaders worked in jobs that took them away from their homes and families.  Sometimes they enjoyed networks of boarding houses, railroad YMCA’s, beaneries, and places of entertainment and commercial affection.  At other locations, the away-from-home accommodations could be threadbare or downright inhospitable.

And then, the names.  For everyone from the president on down, official railroad documents generally identified the employees by a sterile two initials and surname,  (J. T. Blow).   Yet no group of industrial workers embraced nicknames more than railroaders.   There was always a few Butches, a Nookie, Boogie, Shotgun, Skeeter, Barney, Screwdriver, Speedy, and all sorts of fellows who, for one reason or another, went by some alternate version of their given names.

All of which speaks to a larger truth.  Despite the hazards and demands, railroaders were proud of their work.   You would hear variations of this theme many times:   “I hate the company but love the work.”  Or, “I can’t believe they pay me to do this.”  – submitted by Gary Ostlund

Credits:  Pix by H. Armstrong Roberts and excerpts from Kalmbach’s 2011 Working on the Railroad

 

Our Chapter Christmas party will be at Steve and Marilyn miller’s home, Saturday, December 3, 1pm, 1420 Billy Goat Hill Rd, Hopkinsville, KY.

 

Yates Center Kansas boasts “more hay shipped from this point then any other town in the United States!

“Buffalo Kansas, more ancient fire arms and implements of war here then anyplace west of Chicago; and, one of the largest brick plants in the west”!

Next is “Neodesha Kansas, the one time home of the Notorious Bender Family” and 3500 other people in 1914. 2486 residents in 2010!  Neodesha was also “the largest oil refinery in the west, using 60,000 barrels crude petroleum per day”!

There are two accounts of the name. One is the Osage Indian meaning “where waters meet” another meaning “muddy waters”!

“Cherokee Indians” tells about the Cherokee Indians being the only Native Americans to have “an alphabet of their own and a printed language “! As well as the only Indian Newspaper ever printed!

I will continue this’s synopsis next month.

If you are interested in reading the book, It is available as an electronic file for purchase via Amazon.

Rick Bivins.    

 

10 Tips for photographing trains by Jim Pearson

While this is by no means a compressive list of ways to photograph trains, these ten tips will help get you started. I hope these will provide you with some inspiration. If you just shoot a photo carelessly you’ll get a careless snapshot. You need to bring something of yourself to photo for it to be successful.

¨ Capture Movement: Railroads are a moving industry. While at times it’s a hurry-up and wait industry, you often will find trains in motion. If you capture that movement in your photo it will add drama to your photographs. To capture movement or motion in your photos you’ll need a slow shutter speed and probably a tripod. Shooting just before sunrise or after sunset will give you the low light you’ll need to capture motion blur.

¨ The Light: Usually the hour just after sunset or sunset are great to photograph in, but great light can be found anytime day or night, but these two hours are considered the best and predictable.

¨ Photograph the cars:  Of course everyone photographs the engines and cabooses, which are loud and often colorful, however, most of the train consists of cars that can be colorful and large. Trains are rolling canvases and many punks and malcontents, and the graffiti they leave behind can often be interesting. Finding creative visuals among the spray paint can be rewarding.

¨ Change your angle: Look for moments where you can photograph trains from different angles. Get high, low and move around when shooting. Look for high vantage points such as overpasses, tunnels and curves. This will add impact to your photos.

¨ Be Contextual: Railroads provide a service for other industries. By capturing the industries, they serve, you tell a much bigger story of what trains are about. While they’re big, they’re actually pretty small compared to the large refineries, plants, etc., that generate the freight.

¨ Photograph the infrastructure: Railroads need rails, signals and a host of other infrastructures in order to operate. You can add interest to your pictures be capturing photos of these things such as switches, bolts, couplers or rails.

¨ Add human interest: People like seeing photos of people so look for opportunities to include them in your pictures. This includes spectators and workers.

¨ Sometimes less is more: Don’t think you always need trains in your photos! Tracks leading off into the sunrise or sunset make for some great photos. Don’t pass on a good photo just because there’s no train.

¨ Edit Creatively: Try inverting your photos, use creative filters, create multiple exposures and just play around with your software to come up with creative compositions.

¨ Use a different camera: It seems like everyone has a DSLR these days. They become better, cheaper and smarter every year. However, sometimes they’re too clean and bland. Spend $20 and buy a Holga film camera. Buy some camera apps for your phone that provide creative options, such as Hipstamatic, Painteresque or Plastic Bullet, just to name a few.

¨ Remember, you have to be creative. You have to think about what you’re creating and somehow give that a voice. There are really no rules and the camera really makes no difference. There’s only you, the one that does the creating! It the person behind the camera that “Makes’ the photo and that’s you!

 

Opinions and Stories by Bill Thomas, Editor

My middle child, Liam, is fast approaching the date he can take his driving test and have his own driver’s license – on the road!  It reminds me of the day I turned 16!  In the great state of Georgia, you got your learners license at 15, then you could take your driving test upon your 16th birthday or soon thereafter since the GA State Patrol Examiner was in Ellijay only on Wednesdays. 

      Most 16-year-olds made their first trips “alone” to a friend’s house, the Dairy Queen, or other spot where his peers would be impressed.  Not this one!  Nope!  Off to the “new line” I went.  About 30 miles west of my house was L&N’s flat and straight route that replaced the Hook & Eye line in 1916. 

Still full of U-boats and a few Grey/Yellow L&N paint schemes, the Family Lines’ more-level route paralleling US 411 was a great stretch to chase with a new Yashica SLR in a 1974 Pontiac Bonneville.

First was the drive straight to Etowah, TN, division point, yard, and engine facility.  Long I had passed this huge wood-frame station and facility in my parents car (now my car) on the way to Gatlinburg, hoping for glimpses of anything moving.  Now, I could visit as long as I wanted. 

Keep in mind, this was 1979, when most RR workers welcomed you in for a tour if you showed interest.  The tour never materialized, but, crews loved having their pictures made.  After walking around and getting some shots, it was time to head back south.  I caught a couple of freights on the south ready tracks and for the next 60 miles or so, got ahead of them, shot them in pre-determined locations, then repeated the process.

If I can ever find the photo, I’ll scan and post the one that almost got away.  In a foolish attempt to get one last shot on an overpass just south of Chatsworth, GA, I climbed the north side embankment, crossed the RR overpass on foot, turned just in time to catch the southbound in low throttle, gliding downhill, rounding the curve and giving me short blasts as a warning.  I got the shot but probably gave the crew an anxious moment.  By then they’d seen me trackside 3 or 4 times.  They gave me a congratulatory thumbs up as they rolled by.  Sure miss those days.

 

Former WKNRHS member Dr. Fred Ripley stands with his photography exhibit at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  Fred is getting creative in his display venues.

Fred’s work can be seen and purchased at

The Village Bookshop

2424 W. Dublin-Granville Rd.

(Ohio Route 161)

Columbus, OH 43235

Telephone: (614) 889-2674

Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10:00 AM– 9:00 PM; Sun. 11:00 AM–7:00 PM

Dramatic and colorful images of railroading “come to life” in this series of 20 x 30” mounted and framed photographs, all for sale, taken by a life-long observer and interpreter of the railroad scene. A guide sheet available at the bookstore provides detailed information about each photo.

contact the photographer:

Frederick J. Ripley

P.O. Box 21491

Columbus, OH 43221-9998

Telephone: (614) 949-2056

E-mail: fjr68@live.com

 

“A bridge across the Mississippi was necessary to connect the Chicago & Rock Island and the Mississippi & Missouri railroads.   The Mississippi had not yet been spanned, and the immediate reaction to the proposed railroad bridge was that it would be a hazard to navigation.  However, the bridge was built, and it was officially opened on April 21, 1856.  On the evening of May 76 the steamboat Effie Afton,  which usually plied the New Orleans-Louisville run, cleared the open draw span then veered aside, turned around, rammed one of the piers, and suddenly and suspiciously burst into flames.  The case of the bridge soon became one of railroad advocates versus steamboats advocates.   The latter felt that even a single bridge would set an unfortunate precedent and soon there would be bridges every 40 or 50 miles along the length of the river.   The railroad’s case, argued by Abraham Lincoln, went one way then the other in successive courts, but in 1866 the U. S. Supreme Court held for the railroad.   Several other railroads immediately applied to bridge the Mississippi at other locations.”

Credits:    Cartoon from Railfan & Railroad Magazine, March 2009,   quoted paragraph  from the: “Historical Guide to North American Railroads” by Kalmbach

 

¨ HO estate for sale. Charles Ellis lost his brother recently. Mr. Ellis had started collecting and operating HO in the 1980’s. Most of his collection is from the 80’s and early 90’s., and the family wants to liquidate this part of his estate. If you are interested contact Mr. Charles (Chip) Ellis at 270 886-3357 (Pennyrile Door & Glass) or pennyriledoorandglass@gmail.com .

¨ If you have items you’d like to buy, sell, or trade, send descriptions and pictures to me, your editor, billtrainthomas@gmail.com.

 

 

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.

By Ricky Bivins

Our Friend Bill Heaton recently won awards for his O Scale modeling efforts while attending the O Scale meet in Indianapolis. Bill took “Best of Show” and First Place both in Steam Locomotive category. Congratulations Bill, well done.

Our Friend in Texas, Phil Randall reports seeing new GE Locomotives rolling out of the Fort Worth plant, An ALCo PA is being restored at the Museum of American Railroading and a new switch (turnout) with “jump frog capability” has been installed there as well.

The annual Clayton/Watts Open House was held on November 7, 2015 and was well attended with 19 people present. Food, Friends and Trains makes this a fun evening. Special Thanks to homeowner Don Clayton for his hospitality.

Keith Kittinger seems to be enjoying his retirement from CSX. I find it really neat in that he has pay stubs from: L&N RR, Family Lines, Seaboard Systems and CSX….congratulations Keith.

Keith and I are starting a “Round Robin Group” to enjoy model trains as “group therapy” so to speak. We plan to schedule regular “meetings” at member’s homes to help and encourage each other’s model railroads. Ask me for details if interested.

Well, glad to be back in the loop again. I would like to thank Steve Miller for stepping up in my absence and conducting the meeting last month. The only problem I have is picking up from where I stopped in May. I did receive a report from Blair that our organization had agreed to have the Christmas party on Monday, December 7, 2015 at Brothers Barbeque in Madisonville. I have stopped by the restaurant to make the reservation and Monday the 7th was already taken. So, I had to pick another date. The new reservation is for Tuesday the 8th.  If the membership decides to hold the party on a different date, other then the 8th, we can change. We will have to move our meeting time to 6:00 because Brothers closes at 8:00 in the evening.

I don’t know how far we got on the club membership cards in the last meeting but it is something we need to work on. If you have your NRHS membership number please bring it with you on the 17th. I think Ricky has been trying to get the membership numbers from national without some success on their part. Some how we will get this project finished by the time we start a new year. It is hard to believe that we are talking about a new year approaching rapidly and we still have two major issues to address by November. One is liability insurance and the other is the review of the NRHS Bylaws. We can handle the insurance in the next meeting and set up a committee for the bylaws.

We still have lots of room on the wall of the waiting room of the depot for train artwork. If you have a picture that could be placed on display is the station please brings it to the meeting on Monday. All the artwork is on loan by you, to our chapter and you can take your pictures home anytime.

Remember for the next meeting we need “Show & Tell” items along with raffle material. We need to thank Bill Thomas for the refreshments and Jim Pearson for the excellent program in the last meeting. This month’s refreshments and program will be sponsored by Tom Johnson.

 

Bill Farrell, President

Western Kentucky Chapter/NRHS

Greetings, fellow Chapter members.

We had a great time at our May Chapter meeting and a big thanks goes out to our Hopkinsville members who hosted it.   Thanks for the good job in grilling hamburgers and hotdogs for us, Bill!  They hit the spot.

Chuck Hinrichs entertained us by telling us how he got to be a rail fan and how he combined his love of trains with his passion for photography.  Good job, Chuck!

Matt reports that we do not have an idea for our discussion at the upcoming meeting.  Why are you guys not submitting ideas?  Hopefully, someone will come up with one before the Pennyrail is published.

We’ll see you Monday night June 16^th at 7:00 PM at the depot.

 

Your Prez

Tom Johnson