Month: July 2012
Story and Photographs by Chris Dees
The Great Northwest!!! Pine forests, mountain grades of four and five percent, logging railroads… that’s a reason for any railfan to pack for the weekend with the cameras, scanners, and favorite overalls. And if the trip would feature one of those fantastic Shay locomotives tackling steep grades – that would make this trip even better. Well, the weekend before Fourth of July was just such an event for myself – and it was a LOT closer than Oregon, Idaho, or even Washington. How about a 90-minute drive just north of Lafayette?
Whoa!!! What’s this regarding mountain grades and logging locomotives? Everyone knows that northern Indiana is nothing but flat fields of corn. Well the Hesston Steam Museum in Hesston, Indiana, allows even the hardest core steam fan to get his or her fix of that familiar smell of coal smoke. And with short (but steep) grades, the full-size and scale-size trains give passengers a way to experience mountain steam railroading in the Northwest Indiana county of Laporte.
The desire of a few local steam buffs to perpetuate the use of steam power necessitated the purchase of suitable land for an annual reunion in 1956. Twenty two acres was purchased and hundreds of thorn apple trees cleared. A dam was built in Mud Creek to form Duck Lake as a source of water for the engines. The group, then called La Porte County Threshermen, held their first show and reunion in 1957. Traction engines were the main feature and provided most of the power. A sawmill was added in 1959, the electric plant in 1961, and the Browning crane in 1962.
At the suggestion of Bruce Achor, a couple of members purchased a steam locomotive from Elliott Donnelley of Lake Forest, IL in 1964. With Donnelley’s generous financial assistance during 1965-1968, the remainder of the 155 acre site was purchased, and a unique dual gauge (24″/36″) railroad was constructed. The La Porte County Historical Steam Society was chartered as a not-for-profit organization on December 16, 1968, and the original La Porte County Threshermen club was absorbed and dissolved. In 1969, IRS granted recognition as a 501(c)-3 not-for-profit corporation.
Hesston keeps the memory of narrow gauge steam railroads alive. If you’re a steam fan or long to relive your days of youth at your favorite amusement park, you’ll love the sights, sounds and smells as you ride over hills, past lakes, and through farm fields on a two and a half mile journey back in time. You’ll love it!
Thanks to Ricky Bivins phone call I was able to catch Stewart Southern Railway’s #1503 Genset in a northbound CSX feight consist at Hanson, Ky on CSX’s Henderson Subdivision July 5, 2012. Opened in August 2010, the Stewart Southern Short Line Inc. runs 132 kilometres from Stoughton, SK Canada northwest along highway #33 up to Richardson, SK, just south of Regina. The route has stops at Heward, Creelman, Fillmore, Osage, Tyvan, Francis, Sedley and Lajord and Kronau. Companies and elevators as well as producers can take advantage of the access this line provides. It also creates incentive for new business starts in communities along the line.– Photo by Jim Pearson
by Ricky Bivins, Chapter President
It is train time again everyone. The June 2012 meeting was one to remember. The business portion was short, the refreshments were tasty and a surprise was in store for all in attendance. As noted in the minutes, our very Thomas Bryan turned 19 on meeting night last month. He and everyone else were surprised with Cake and Ice Cream and the traditional Happy Birthday chorus. The cake and Ice cream was the best part though! As for the program, Steve Miller, whom also provided refreshments in addition to the unexpected birthday eats, provided the program. At first, Steve was to show the “Work’n on the Railroad” video, however, there were some protests to that so Steve decided to show a 60’s era video of trains in the mid-west area. Steve pre-staged the movie but when we tried to make a show of it, the movie went south and refused to play! So…Steve went back to work…on the railroad. The “Work’n on the Railroad” video was a good too as it turned out.
Friday Night Live, July 6th, 2012 was HOT, and I mean HOT. But, several members were on hand to man the event and all had a great time. Wally Watts and guests were entertaining fair goers from the start. Bill and Joe Thomas (Angela came by a bit latter), were hard at work on the Mobil Garden Railroad. Bill went above and beyond this time. The Two tier layout (one track ABOVE the other….bad pun), was a big, big hit with kids and adults. Oddly, the un-sceniced area of the layout was the kid’s favorite as it was under the top section. I guess kids like to look into the unknown. In this case the unknown was when will the train be back? We have one more night this year, August 10th. It would be great if many more members were to make the final call for Friday Night Live.
Wallace Henderson should have a presentation for us this month. Changes are ongoing in the National Organization. Most will not affect members but the officers will be changing how things are done in accordance with new rules and bylaws. Please take time to listen to what Wallace has to say. He has invested his time and money on our behalf. The very least we can do is “listen”!
Rich Hane will update us on the trip to Mayfield and Paducah. Thomas may have additional trips or information on the proposed trip to Evansville IN.
Is there something YOU, NRHS Member want to do? Make the arrangements and we will go!
As reported elsewhere herein, Keith Kittinger is recovering from surgery and is doing well. Jackie McCracken is recovering from her recent heart issue and is out and about. If you know of others in need of thoughts or prayer…let us know.
OK members, try to make the meeting. We need attendance numbers to rise.
Above are pictures of our team and display at the July 6th, Friday Night Live – We had a blast! Come out and join us August 10, old Courthouse lawn in Downtown Madisonville, Ky!
By Tommy Johnson
| Title | Tehachapi, Union Pacific’s Mojave Sub |
| Producer | 7idea Productions |
| Format | Wide Screen DVD |
| Playing Time | 2 hr 25 min |
| Purchased From | TrainVideoDepot.com |
| Date Purchased | 7/10/2012 |
| Price Paid | $27.95 |
This DVD is the latest addition to my collection and it turned out to be one of my very best railroad videos.
When 7idea Productions puts out a video on a subject, you need to buy a copy, no matter how many videos you might have on the same subject by other producers. When you watch the 7idea Production video you will feel that you are really seeing the subject for the first time. That’s how much better the 7idea Productions videos are compared to the others.
We watch in wide screen splendor as we travel timetable south from Bakersfield, CA, to Mojave, CA, following the Union Pacific’s route through the Tehachapi Mountains. The Tehachapi’s lie between the San Joaquin Valley to the north and the Mojave Desert to the south. The view of the railroad action is virtually unobstructed since these mountains are covered by grass and shrubs with no large trees.
BNSF has trackage rights on this sub and we actually see more BNSF action than UP action.
The grade is 2.2% for much of the climb to the summit of Tehachapi Pass near the town of Tehachapi. The word “Tehachapi” means “hard climb” in some native American language. We encounter two very interesting sections of track on our way to this summit, Caliente Horseshoe and Tehachapi Loop.
The Caliente Horseshoe is a place with some good RR action as trains climb out of Caliente Canyon. We can see portions of the same train going in opposite directions at this location .
The time spent at Tehachapi Loop makes this video worth the price of admission. It is absolutely fascinating to see trains looping over themselves. The head end of the train passes 77 feet above the trailing cars as they go through the tunnel.
This video comes with my highest recommendation. I think any rail fan would enjoy this one.
It’s not too often these days you see a caboose running down the rails at the end of a train. On June 24, 2012 in the afternoon an ex-Conrail Caboose CR 24012 sporting a brand new paint job rolled past the old L&N Railroad Station at Madisonville, Ky as it headed North toward Evansville on CSX’s Henderson Subdivision. – Top Photo by Jim Pearson. Bottom Photo by Chuck Hinrichs, at Caskey, KY.
On June 25. 2012 Jim Pearson videotaped a CP Ethanol train as it headed south through the curve approaching Romney at Nortonville, Ky on CSX’s Henderson Subdivision. This image is a still frame from his video clip which can be viewed here on the Chapter’s website at: http://www.westkentuckynrhs.org/archives/2184 – Photo by Jim Pearson
Beginning top left moving clockwise: The big news this month was the gathering of Norfolk-Southern’s Heritage Fleet of locomotives at North Carolina Transportation Museum, Spencer, NC, just prior to July 4, 2012. This almost-unbelievable shot was taken by NS’s photography team.
Submitted by Andrew Futrell, via Jim Futrell.
Chicago Division – Leithton Subdivision – Joliet Yard Derailment – At1530-04 the BNSF crew, MGALNCNI-04 was yarding their train in Joliet Yard. The crew had shoved the first cut into track JM-08. The crew was instructed to set out the balance of their train into track JM-07, the conductor instead lined the cut into track JM-09 and there was a standing cut of 41 cars tied down in track JM-09. When the cars hit the standing cut of cars they derailed 6 cars. ALAB 9209 on its side, NOKL 827272 upright, UTLX 64952 empty residue upright, ECLX 16288 empty residue upright, PROX 30212 empty residue upright and UTLX 955435 empty residue upright. CN police, Chemtrec and DGO notified. The derailment has the north end of Joliet Yard shut down. Main 1, Main 2 and the run-through track in Joliet are still available to use. The BNSF crew was not protecting the point. The costs are still to be determined. No release of product and no injuries.
Submitted by Chuck Hinrichs
In 1986 the Seaboard System Railroad changed it name to CSX Transportation. Last summer a CSX Transportation Historical Society was formed. The society is just getting started and now is a good time to be in on the ground floor of this group. The society has membership information on it’s web site located at: http://www.trainweb.org/csxths/ The society has a yahoo group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CSXTHS/ and a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CSXTransportationHistoricalSociety The society is having it’s first convention and rail fanning weekend in Covington KY August 3-5. Here is some information on the convention. Please take a look at the society and consider joining.
Friday, August 3 – 12:30 – Meet at Holiday Inn; 1pm – Drive perimeter of Queensgate Yard; 2pm – Visit Greater Cincinnati Railroad Museum; 3:30pm – Tour Progressive Rail Car shop at DeCoursey Yard; 5pm – Drive to various CSX sites in Northern KY; 7pm – Dinner on your own at Frisch’s Big Boy, under CSX Ohio River Bridge.
Saturday, August 4 – 8am – Drive along CSX (ex-L&N) to Paris, KY; 10am – Tour TransKentucky Transportation Inc. (TTI) Yard at Paris (TTI is owned by CSX); 11:30am – Drive along TTI track to Maysville, KY; 1pm – Lunch at Maysville next to Amtrak Station; 2pm – Visit TTI coal loadout at Maysville; 3pm – Follow CSX track (ex-C&O) to Covington, KY; 5pm – Tower at Cincinnati Union Terminal (Pizza).
Sunday, August 5 – 8am – Drive to Worthville, KY, to visit CSX Yard and Carrolton Railroad Yard. (CR is owned by CSX); 11am – follow CSX track back to Covington; Convention ends upon arrival at Covington at 1pm.