The Pennyrail Online Edition

The Illinois Senate today voted 59-0 to create the Illinois and Midwest High Speed Rail Commission with the intent of issuing a roadmap for the creation of bullet train lines in Illinois and neighboring states. Under General Assembly rules, such a commission can be created by a vote in just one of the two legislative chambers. No further legislative action is required.  The resolution creating the Commission, Senate Resolution 806, defines the group’s mission as “recommending the best governmental structure for a public-private partnership to design, build, operate, maintain, and finance a high-speed rail system for Illinois and the Midwest.”

The Commission is to be composed of 19 members as follows:10 public members appointed by the Governor; 3 members of the Illinois House of Representatives, 2 appointed by the Speaker of the House and one appointed by the House Minority Leader; 3 members of the Illinois Senate, 2 appointed by the Senate President and one appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; 3 ex-officio members as follows: the Illinois Secretary of Transportation; the Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce Commission; the Executive Director of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority;  Earlier this week, mayors and county officials from across Illinois issued an open letter to fellow elected officials that said, “We urge you to work actively to secure approvals and funding for the planning and implementation of a Chicago-St. Louis 220-mph high speed rail line.

This line would bring our business, research and government capitals within less than 1.5 hours of each other, and open vital new connections to O’Hare Airport.” The letter also was sent to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.  The Midwest High Speed Rail Association proposes to transform the Midwest into one cohesive, compact economic entity with a network of 220-mph bullet trains with Chicago at its heart, including a St. Louis to Chicago line that would serve Edwardsville, Springfield, Decatur, Champaign, Kankakee, the Southland, McCormick Place, Downtown Chicago and O’Hare Airport.

Charter members present at the April meeting are left to right: Wally Watts, Rich Hane, Bob and Jackie McCracken, Keith Kittinger, Rick Bivins, and Denis Carnal.

Charter members gathered for a group photo (right) during the April meeting of the West Kentucky Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in Madisonville, KY.  These members formed the consist of the chapter’s beginnings in 1985, after several had been active in the Owensboro chapter.

Each Charter member was awarded a 25 Year commemorative shirt and pin.  Unfortunately, the cake was devoured before photos could be taken.  It was delicious!

RAILMARK ACQUIRES ORLANDO DINNER TRAIN OPERATION – NEWS RELEASE – (Walled Lake, MI) – April 7, 2010 – Railmark’s RAIL ENTERTAINMENT USA INC. subsidiary announced today that it has acquired the assets and operations of Florida Rail Adventures LLC and commenced operations on March 19th.  Railmark’s iconic Star Clipper Dinner Train®, the first and oldest dinner train in North America, will begin its 26th season in the Orlando Florida market, moving from the Metro-Detroit Michigan market where it has been since 1985.  The Star Clipper Dinner Train made its debut run on August 4, 1984 in Osage Iowa and since that time has entertained over 2,000,000 passengers.  Railmark’s other branded rail entertainment trains such as its family oriented excursion trains, adult entertainment trains and its unique Pullman Palace Bed & Breakfast operation, will relocate to the Eustis, Mount Dora and Tavares Florida area, all lake front communities along the train’s primary route and located just northwest of Orlando.  The Company’s Florida-based operations website is www.orlandotrains.com.

Railmark has named Mr. Neil Bagaus Vice President of Rail Entertainment USA Inc. & General Manager of the Company’s Florida-based retail train operations.  Mr. Bagaus has spent a good majority of his career in retail train operations and Railmark welcomes him as an important part of its management team.

Mr. B. Allen Brown, Railmark President & CEO comments, “We are looking forward to integrating our themed trains into the Orlando Florida market and building upon the successes of our predecessor’s trains, such as the Orlando Magic Express operated on certain home game nights.  Railmark’s experience and expertise will transform this historic railroad into an important rail oriented tourist attraction in the central Florida market.”

In March of this year my wife and I were returning to Madisonville from our trip to Phoenix, Arizona and decided to stay a night at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona. Members Don Clayton and Wallace Henderson had recommended this lovely place to me and I value their judgment because of their vast experience in traveling.

This hotel was built about 1930 and was a stop on the Santa Fe Railroad. Food and lodging were available to travelers using the Santa Fe’s route between Chicago and Los Angeles. The present building replaced one that burned down in the 1920s and is thus, the latest one built. Food was provided by the Fred Harvey Company which worked with the Santa Fe in many of their hotels. The company employed many young women in a hope that this would civilize, not only the hotel, but the surrounding area which was inhabited mostly by males a century ago. These women came to be known as the Harvey Girls and they did help civilize the area and married many of the local men.  Hollywood even made a very good movie called “The Harvey Girls” starring Judy Garland containing a good story and good music showing the life of these hardworking and capable women. It also has some nice shots of Santa Fe steam engines and trains in it.

The hotel was designed by a lady architect, Mary Coulter, who worked on many projects for the Santa Fe and many of these are still standing such as the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon. The Southwest architecture is quite well done. There are several gardens and the grounds are very comfortable and provide a good place to rest.  There are as many as 140 trains a day going by and the hotel even provides comfortable rocking chairs trackside to observe the action. There is an adjoining Amtrak station where trains such as the Southwest Chief stop. Winslow has a small rail yard and is a crew change point on the modern BNSF Railway which provides a nice opportunity for train watching as the trains stop for a few minutes before continuing their journey.

There are many things to see here such as the intimate gardens, a museum of modern art, the surrounding city with it’s historical buildings, and an excellent restaurant in the Hotel. The Turquoise Room has hosted many famous people over the years and they have a great photographic collection on the walls showing some of them such as Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, and Harry Truman to name a few. The guest rooms are named for these travelers and we stayed in the Carol Lombard room overlooking the tracks. She was an actress and was married to Clark Gable and died in an airplane crash near Las Vegas in 1942 while on a War Bond tour for the Nation’s war effort.

There are two old passenger cars parked next to the Amtrak station that have been preserved and converted into permanent residences. One is pictured here and is a beautiful Pennsylvania Railroad car that is used by a local doctor as his residence. It has four nice bedrooms in it and you can even see the satellite dish mounted on the end of the car for television.

If you are looking for a nice place to stay in Northern Arizona with a lot of history, good food, nice rooms, lots of trains, gardens, art, and is right on Historic Route 66 you might wish to try out La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona.

I really enjoyed last month’s meeting, and the chance to meet some of you! I’m looking forward to being a part of your chapter, and learning more about your railroad interests and sharing some of mine.

I’m a professional musician and music teacher- I perform recitals, chamber music, and in numerous orchestras on the violin and viola. I’ve taught extensively at the college level, as well as privately. I’m very pleased to currently offer instruction in the Madisonville area.

I’ve been fascinated with trains as long as I can remember. Growing up in Columbus, OH, in the 1970’s & 1980’s, the “railroads of my youth” were Penn Central/Conrail, Chessie System/CSX, and Norfolk & Western/NS. No doubt geographic placement played an important role, but equally important in establishing my long-time favorites were the vintage shots I studied as a kid in books from my dad’s library, and old Trains issues. Although I’m partial to most of the classic eastern roads of yore, such as the NKP, WAB, C&O, and the B&O, the PRR had become my railroad of choice by the time I was about 10, and has never been challenged since!

Going to college and grad school in the upper Midwest (MN & IA) gave me the opportunity to see first hand some the classic western roads- two particular favorites are the AT&SF & CB&Q. The latter of course had long been BN by the time I saw it, but I have several thousand shots of classic AT&SF red-&-silver and blue-&-yellow power. Living in KY has expanded things in additional directions- my favorite railroading in our state is NS’s CNO&TP “Rathole” through the KY and TN mountains.

I started photographing trains in 1976, at age 8, with a Kodak Instamatic, and still have several thousand of these stored away. Serious work, in terms of good equipment, began in 1988 with a 35-mm camera and Kodachrome slides, which has been my medium ever since (although I switched to Fuji slide film several years ago). I particularly favor scenic action photography, and an overriding goal has been to combine modern operations with the traditional elements (signals, towers, as well as the flavor of different geographic areas) of classic American railroading. I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 slides, and counting! I’ve had photos published in various railroad calendars, and have had articles and photos published in Trains, Railfan & Railroad, The Railroad Photographer, and Pacific Rail News. I currently have two exhibitions of my work on display in the Murray, KY, area. I’ve given numerous slide programs for railroad groups, and will look forward to that opportunity at our chapter.

I enjoy modeling the PRR in HO scale, replicating an eastern OH setting on the Pittsburgh-Chicago mainline at the end of what I view as the classic era, 1957-1961. That is the ideal way for me to combine physical territory that I know very well with a railroad, trains, and equipment that I wish I had seen firsthand.

Thanks for your nice “welcome”, and I’m looking forward to the next meeting!

The Largest Railroading Event in America is Coming to Michigan in 2009
Owosso, Mi- (8/8/08) – Coming July 24-26, 2009, the sounds of steam whistles, the clicky-clack of steel wheels on rails, the smell of coal smoke and excitement of children of all ages will take over the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan. This quaint American Town is located in the central region of Michigan just outside of Lansing. All the charm of Owosso will welcome tens of thousands of visitors from all over North America and other regions of the world to TrainFestival 2009. The theme of the weekend will be Trains, Trains, Trains!

During the weekend of July 24-27, 2009, visitors to the museum will experience a great event. Steam and Diesel Locomotives from around the country will be on display for visitors to tour the cabs, take photos, watch demonstrations and much more. Huge model train layouts will be on display including a massive all-Lego model train. Railroad vendors from around the globe will have unique items for purchase that you won’t find any where else. Families will be able to take an all day excursion to Alma, MI, or shorter one-hour train ride behind various vintage locomotives. For the thrill seeking visitor, you will even be able to pull the throttle and blow the whistle on one of these steam locomotives.

Railroad equipment is currently being arranged. As soon as a final list of equipment attending the event and a schedule is finalized, it will be posted on the event website at www.trainfestival2009.com. The website will be interactive including a web blog, forums, video and much more.

For more information contact: Steam Railroading Institute, 405 South Washington Street, Owosso, MI 48867, (989) 725-9464

A company that offered luxurious rail tours aboard refurbished vintage cars and was a major charter customer of Amtrak has shut down.

GrandLuxe Rail Journeys Inc. ceased operations last week. “We are financially unable to continue operations,” the company said in an Aug. 26 note to people booked for upcoming tours. It said it did not know whether people would get their money back. It is unclear what caused the move. Phone calls Wednesday to GrandLuxe headquarters in Evergreen, Colo., were greeted by a message saying the mailbox was full.

Bob Whitley, president of the U.S. Tour Operators Association, said other luxury-tourism companies do not appear to be suffering, despite a soft tourism market overall. “The only area doing really well is the luxury side,” he said. “It’s less affected by the economy and the weak dollar.” GrandLuxe was not an association member.

For Amtrak, the closure of GrandLuxe, known as American Orient Express before it came under new ownership in 2006, means the loss of several million dollars in annual revenue, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said.

GrandLuxe relied on Amtrak to pull its train on various scenic routes. The national passenger railroad provided locomotives and engine crews for the trips, which lasted seven to 10 days and cost upward of $4,000. Amtrak did not provide onboard staff or marketing for those tours, Mr. Black said.

Last year, the companies attempted a closer partnership, announcing that GrandLuxe cars — including spacious sleepers, dining rooms and lounge areas — would be attached to certain regularly scheduled Amtrak trains during the holiday season. The idea was to offer a shorter, less expensive option with the same five-course meals and other luxury amenities as GrandLuxe’s usual tours. Amtrak helped market the service, dubbed GrandLuxe Limited, through its loyalty program, Guest Rewards.

However, the service, originally planned for three routes, was scaled back to just one train, the California Zephyr, between Chicago and Emeryville, Calif. The partnership wasn’t renewed this year.

It is unclear what will become of the company’s 1940s and 1950s passenger cars.

PRESS RELEASE INFORMATION FROM THE KENTUCKY COAL ASSOCIATION

A coal company in Ohio County is now open for business, again. Friday 14 News got a rare look inside a working coal mine. Ohio County leaders celebrated the start of mining for Armstrong Coal in what some say is a silver lining in hard economic times. Jobs are coming in, as tons of coal is going out. Kenny Allen, the Vice President of Operations for Armstrong Coal said, “This facility is going to provide a good living for a lot of families here in our community. We’re proud of that.” That couldn’t make county leaders more excited. “This is going to mean so much to the budget of Ohio County , whenever they start really processing the coal and we start getting some of this return back as coal severance dollars. We’re going to be able to do things that we’ve never been able to do here in Ohio County ,” said  Ohio County Judge Executive David Jones.

Armstrong Coal has over 250 employees already with more to come. The company hopes to have as many as 900. With over 50 percent of the electricity in the United States generated by coal, Hord Armstrong is banking on business to be good. “I think we will be part of an increased Renaissance in the production of coal and ultimately there will be a day when coal produces natural gas and liquid fuels as well,” said Armstrong. With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon and America ‘s dependence on oil a daily debate, look no further than Kentucky .

“We’re a energy based economy,” Allen said. “We have enough coal to run this country 300 years. We can become much more energy independent if we take care of all this coal, here at home.”