I (Chuck Hinrichs) was at Guthrie yesterday afternoon and caught R J Corman/Railpower Genset (Railpower #2406 RP20BD ) in fresh red paint outside the shop building.  R J Corman acquired the assets of Railpower earlier this year and 2406 has been on lease to UP but is now in the RJC fold.
Chuck Hinrichs was at Guthrie and caught R J Corman/Railpower Genset (Railpower #2406 RP20BD ) in fresh red paint outside the shop building. R J Corman acquired the assets of Railpower earlier this year and 2406 has been on lease to UP but is now in the RJC fold. (Photo by Chuck Hinrichs.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Canadian National Railway Co. next week will unveil the three-year, $100 million renovation to its Johnston Yard freight car switching facility in South Memphis. The railroad will commemorate its massive investment of time and money on Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. at the yard, 297 Rivergate Road, off Horn Lake Road.

– Chuck Hinrichs

Long, long ago… Oct. 2, 1960, marked the end of the steam era on the Illinois Central Railroad. On that date 4-8-2 2613 pulled a round trip excursion from Louisville, KY, to Dawson Springs, KY. After the trip, the big Paducah-built 4-8-2 was returned to storage at Paducah. The Kentucky Railway Museum tried to save 2613, but the road was unwilling to donate the locomotive. Instead the IC offered to sell 2613 for its scrap value. The museum didn’t have the cash, and 2613 went to scrap.

thos were the daysIT’S A REAL PLEASURE to have you aboard the Broadway Limited . . . one of the world’s finest trains.  Travel comfort isn’t something that accidentally happens . . . it has to be carefully planned. That’s why modern conveniences and luxury have been built right into all the cars on the Broadway Limited.  And the Broadway has a specially trained staff . . . a staff which makes personal service and passenger comfort its first interest and concern.  Whether you are in a cozy roomette, or a spacious master room, we want you to feel that the Broadway Limited is your home away from home.  Have a pleasant trip.

– submitted by Dr. Fred Ripley

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF RAILFANS ONLY

  • Madisonville Headquarted and Energized Railroad Buffs (MH&E RRB) – Thursday, October 5, Location to be announced.  All are welcome!
  • 42nd Annual Model Train Show – Presented by Cincinnati Division 7-N.M.R.A., Saturday October 24th, 2009 12:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M., Sunday October 25th, 2009    11:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.  Lakota West High School at 8940 Union Centre Blvd. in West Chester, OH. 45069 – Free Parking! – Model trains in all scales – Operation Layouts and displays – Retail sales – Hourly Door Prizes! – FREE-Engine checkup and  How To” classes-Admission – Adults $6.00 – Children under 12 FREE – Scouts in Uniform FREE – Table rentals and layout space-Roy Hord at 513-777-5337 or rhord@fuse.net.
  • MH&E Railfan Meeting – Monday, November 9, at home of Bill and Angela Thomas, 1025 Lakewood Drive, Madisonville, KY.  Everyone welcome.  BYOS.  Campfire provided.  Will meet in garage in case of poor weather.
  • Clayton – Watts Open House – Saturday, November 7, 2009, pm.  750 Wilson Drive, Madisonville, KY.

A glimpse into Dr. Fred Ripley’s Pennsylvania Layout

layout1At the 4-track interlocking at Smithville, OH (MP 129.5 from Pittsburgh on PRR’s Pittsburgh-Chicago main line), we see two scenes, taken two years apart.   In April 1958, coming out of the sunrise and facing the camera, is the westbound New York-Chicago “Admiral”, a maid-of-all-work schedule with significant head-end traffic as well as coaches, a diner, and sleepers, right on schedule at 7:48 AM.   A pair of E-8’s (which the PRR calls EP-22’s) is the power.

layout2

About to meet No. 51 is eastbound CS-6, a Chicago to Conway freight, running slightly behind schedule & powered by two FM “Erie-Builts” (FF-20’s to the PRR).

2009 Annual Meeting plans finalized!

WHEN: Saturday, November 21, 2009.

WHERE: Whistle Stop Restaurant (former IC freighthouse), 701 Main Street, Mendota, Illinois (just south of Amtrak station and Mendota Union Depot Museum)

PRICING: $25 per person for entire event. Includes entrance to swap session, dinner, and evening show.
$2 for those attending only the swap
$5 table fee for vendors

SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: ICRHA 2009 Annual Meeting, c/o Mike Hogan, 15408 Pine Drive, Oak Forest, IL 60452-1623.

Birth of a Rail Fan

If there was one thing in this world that my uncle, Roy, loved more than anything else, it was the passing of the Illinois Central freight trains and coal trains in front of the house where he lived with my grandmother and my aunt.  No matter what he was doing, when he heard a train approaching, he would run to the front of the house, take out the handkerchief that he always carried in his hip pocket, and wave it back and forth over his head as the engine passed and again when the caboose came by.  (In those days every train had a caboose.)  The engineers would always reward Roy’s waves with waves of their own and with some nice long blasts of the train whistle, which would cause him to squeal with laughter.

When trains passed after dark but before everyone had gone to bed, Roy would turn the front porch light on and off repeatedly, and the engineer would always sound the train whistle.

Roy was my mother’s brother, and he had Down’s syndrome.  He could not live independently, so he lived with my grandmother and my divorced aunt in a little country house on a one acre lot in rural western Kentucky.  There was a set of IC RR tracks that passed within one hundred feet of the front of the house, so close that passing trains would shake the old house and rattle the windows.

Roy had the mind of a ten year old child, and he had a child-like innocence about him.   He loved everyone and was quick to forgive whenever someone teased him; Roy never held a grudge against anyone in his life.  If all of us could love and forgive others the way Roy did, the world would sure be a better place.

Roy was the “man of the house,” and he chopped kindling, brought in coal from the coal shed, and started a fire in the cooking stove every morning.  There was no running water in the old house, and one of Roy’s chores was to draw water from the well just outside the back door.  He also kept the yard mowed and the weeds cut during the summers.  Roy took great pride in performing all of his chores, and my grandmother and aunt depended on him.

I spent entire summers at my grandmother’s house in 1957, 1958, and 1959, when I was eight, nine, and ten years old, and I shared Roy’s love for those trains, especially when the steam locomotives, which were in the process of being phased out, were still in use.

One day a minor miracle occurred.  The train, which had been going back and forth doing some switching of coal cars at the tipple about an eighth of a mile down the tracks, stopped dead still in front of my grandmother’s house, and the engineer climbed down from the cab of the locomotive, motioning for Roy to come to him.  He then handed Roy a railroad lantern!  Needless to say, that lantern was Roy’s prize possession for the rest of his life.

Roy died at age 51 in January of 1976, and the railroad men sent flowers to the funeral home for him.  I know that they must have missed his enthusiastic greetings as they passed that house.

Sadly, the old house has been torn down, and even the railroad tracks have been taken up.  That little one acre paradise of my childhood summers is gone forever, but it lives on in my memories and always will.

by President, Rich Hane

We had a great time at the meeting in September with a fine feast provided by Jim and Thomas Bryan and an interesting program by Wally Watts on how the Southern Pacific handled the snow problem in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Those folks really had to work hard to keep the trains rolling through sometimes dozens of feet of snow and snow slides.  An interesting sidebar was the group standing outside the 1929 train depot watching the International Space Station go by overhead with the smell of fresh fish cooking on the grill. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Many of us had a great time at the annual Crofton picnic the following Saturday and our thanks to Chuck Hinrichs for spearheading this fun event.  Many trains came by at speed which is always exciting and the weather was great.

During the upcoming October meeting we will be having the first call for nominations for the Chapter’s officers.  This is an annual event and I encourage everyone to consider offering their name for any of the offices.  We are a very friendly group and welcome the participation of all our members in helping to run the Chapter.  We presently have a vacancy for the office of Vice-President that I wish you would consider. We always consider all offices open so don’t be shy about running for an office, no one will be upset if we have two or more people’s name in the hat. It is always a good sign for any group to have interested members offering their help.  We will have a second call for nominations and the election at the November meeting.

I am sincerely looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at the next meeting on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 7 pm at The Center (the old L&N Railroad Depot) in beautiful downtown Madisonville.