Author: Jim Pearson

New Feature! Rail Flicks By Tommy Johnson

January 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks
Title Illinois Central
Producer Green Frog
Format full screen
Playing Time 2 hrs and 20 minutes  (2 DVD Set)
Purchased From Green Frog
Date Purchased 10/02/09
Price Paid $23.97

This is a very good DVD covering the Illinois Central RR from the 1950s through the 1980s.  It is a two-DVD set and the first DVD is almost entirely devoted to the last days of steam locomotives.  At the end of the first DVD we see the transition to diesels.

The video quality is surprisingly good for the 1950s scenes and we get to see 4-8-2 mountain type locos, 2-8-4 Berkshires, 2-8-2 Mikados (mainstays on the I.C.), and even some 2-10-2’s.

There are several train meets, lots of scenes with steam locos billowing huge clouds of black smoke, and some nice high speed pacing shots of steam locos.

Disc 2 shows trains with diesel locomotives from the 70s and 80s mostly shot in Illinois.  There is a scene showing the City of Miami on its last run before Amtrak took over.

This DVD set is worth the purchase price in my opinion.

 

Dennis Remembered from Afar

January 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Condolences

I was catching up on my railfan surfing tonight and ran across a post on the P&L forum that indicated that Dennis Carnal had passed away.  I quickly pulled up the West KY NRHS website and saw the information about his death in the newsletters.

I first met Dennis though my quest to complete my collection of L&N Employee magazines.  He had posted that he had some for sale and I contacted him and found out that he had several that I needed and I had extras that he needed so we arranged a trade.  Dennis and I arranged to meet at his house on one of my visits to Henderson and traded magazines, traded stories, and discussed the Cardinals vs the Reds.

My primary RR interest is in the tunnels [I’ll spare you the long story why] and Dennis and I hooked up on a couple of different trips over the next couple of years to explore tunnels and sites.  I had permission from the owner of the land where the original tunnel west of Dawson Springs is located to hike in and check it out and Dennis went with me.  On another trip, he hooked me up with one of his friends from Greenville who knew about the buried tunnel on the original O & N alignment near Cleaton.  That day we also checked out the daylighted IC tunnel sites on the P&L at Echols, Rosine, Black Rock, and near Stephensburg-that was a fun day.

Enough rambling, I just thought I’d express my condolences to your group on his loss.  He was very gracious to me and willing to share any information that he could.  He also kept trying to get me to come to one of your meetings, but I was never down on a Monday that you were meeting.

Sincerely,
Butch Adkins, Lexington  KY

 

History of Evansville Henderson & Nashville

January 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rex Easterly

Hello, I thought that you might want to put a link up to this page http://www.railroadkeys.com/history/EHNRR.html If anyone has other items that they want to put pictures of on the page that would be great. I would love to get some photos of the early lines to add if anyone has one.  Thanks, Michael Orange.

FYI: Website and Facebook page for Ozarks Model RR Association.  Thanks to Greg Sullivan for Website update and photos for Open House.   New Website is: omraspringfield.org   Greg took the photos  and created the FB page. Good work, Greg. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ozarks-Model-Railroad-Association/337691496249198?sk=wall. Thanks to Greg for your good work.  Rex Easterly.

 

YouTube Pick: NS Coal Drag

November 27, 2011 Jim Pearson No Comments Matt Gentry, Videos

Well, after 4 years, I finally caught this guy on the move leaving Alcoa/Vectren. He normally doesnt leave til 11:00-12:00 as I can hear it, although faint, from my house, and doesnt return til 2:30-3:00am. Thing is I went down to where it normally sits off Eble/Sharon Rd. and there was another one sitting on the main and not the siding. He was all lit up and ready to move too. Waited for a bit but he didn’t move, so I left. Hope you don’t get motion sick, took the video on my phone 🙂

Thought this would be neat to share with the group as its not common for anything to move on this set of track anymore. I can only assume they started using rail to haul the coal in back in 07-08 due to high cost of fuel and therefore using trucks to bring it in.  (Video by Matt Gentry)

Train derailment in Fulton, Ky

November 27, 2011 Jim Pearson No Comments Jim Futrell, Photo Section

Submitted by James Futrell

These photos were at a train derailment in Fulton, Ky.  The derailment (we know now) started at a broken rail the car derailed and took out some MOW equipment stored on an adjoining track.  As the car continued under the bridge it took out several switches and rail before coming to a stop south of the bridge.  In the preceding morning pictures you can see a group in the lower left corner of one shot assessing the situation before cleanup began.  I’m told that the north bound Amtrak had just cleared this track before train 194 used it going south and derailed.  The amount of work performed between 8 AM and noon is nothing short of amazing.  It looks like chaos but everyone has probably done this many times before and hit the ground running.  The 5 or 6 train backlog was gone by noon.

[imagebrowser id=4]

November 2011, Ricky’s Replies

November 27, 2011 Jim Pearson No Comments Rick Bivins, Ricky's Replies

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! by Ricky Bivins, Chapter President

Let us not forget what we are and should be thankful for as we go about our daily routine.  I know I have much to be thankful for as I am sure you do as well. Last month was a very good meeting. Several members were on hand for Chapter Nominations for Officers for the upcoming 2012 year. At the end of nominations last month, there were no nominations made other than current officers holding their respective office. This month I will once again call for nominations from the floor THREE times for each office. At that point I will ask for a vote for each office. Remember, if someone wants to be an officer…speak up, a member can nominate one’s self as well.

I think everyone enjoyed the DVD presented by Tim Moore as the October program. I for one greatly enjoy the old footage of any railroad. Even if the railroad is not a favorite, the scenes and equipment of the era is always fascinating. One thing I notice time and time again about railroads in the 1920’s through the 1950’s is the rights of way. Most if not every railroad right of way is vastly different than what we see today. For example: Seldom does one see ballast to the top of the ties. Nor is the ballast heaped up the sides of the ties. The rails are “closer to the ground” if you will think of it that way. And the foliage seldom seems to encroach the rights of way. These points stick out to me as I usually look for modeling ideas when viewing a video. I think it is wonderful to have these resources on hand and available to us, which is why I have pushed to establish our archive!

And to that end I would like to inform the Chapter of a new and recent development with our meeting place. I have talked to the City of Madisonville Administration about securing and using the rear most room of our beloved L&N RR Passenger Station. This room is eleven feet by 28 feet in length and is accessible via a locking door from inside the upstairs floor. We will have sole access to this room where in we can archive, research and study materials available to us. HEY…we could even build a model train layout if so inclined! (I ask that very question while meeting with the City Administrator, Mike Franklin.) As the Chapter might expect, I will somewhat spearhead and oversee the “room”. Even if the Chapter does not want to get involved or use the space, I plan to use it. But of course it will be available at any time for Chapter use as well. I will have more on this at the meeting.

I hope to see everyone at the November meeting on Monday November 28th. We will be at the former L&N RR Passenger Train Station on West Arch Street, right behind Madisonville City Hall. Be sure to bring an item for show and tell and a guest.