Stewart Southern Railway Genset

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Jim Pearson, Photo Section

ssr

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

 

July 2012 Ricky’s Replies

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rick Bivins, Ricky's Replies

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.

 

Rail Flicks: Tehachapi, Union Pacific’s Mojave Sub

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson

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.

Caboose!

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Chuck Hinrichs, Jim Pearson, Photo Section

caboose1

caboose2
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.

 

Yard Work

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Andrew Futrell, Photo Section

yardworkSubmitted 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. 

CSX Transportation Historical Society

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Chuck Hinrichs

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.

Deferred Mantainence

June 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Photo Section

deferredOn the Maumee & Western in Defiance, OH – March 15, 2012.  Caught this on the Railpictures website. No, this is not unlevel. No, this is not a derailment. Yes, the right of way needs some work. Here we see a Maumee & Western Railway westbound train stopped briefly to make certain they do not have any cars on the ground. Luckily it was a “false alarm” in the words of a crewman. The train was amazingly able to continue west to the yard and CSX interchange at Defiance, Ohio. The locomotive is M&W affiliate road Connersville & New Castle #5, a former Santa Fe GP7 rebuild. The railroad is a former Wabash line from Toledo, Ohio to Woodburn, Indiana. –  Submitted by Chris Dees

 

Crude by Rail

June 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments News

Crude-by-Rail Transportation is Growing…

In past months, KBT’s Transportation News has reported on the recent increase of crude oil- by- rail transportation in Canada and the United States. Freight rail transportation of crude, in part, stems from opposition to new pipeline projects from Canada down into the U.S.

For instance, Canadian crude oil companies who had previously considered rail transportation as a short-term solution are now thinking of railroads as a long-term alternative, because railroads are ramping up track improvements and track speeds.

“What we are discovering as we open up our destination matrix is that rail can get to markets that pipelines don’t serve now, and really have no intention of serving,” said Tracy Robinson, a Canadian-Pacific Railway Vice President who has helped direct the company’s crude oil ambitions.

Without question, pipelines are still dominant. And there are a raft of new proposals, which would carry a vast amount of Canadian crude oil to the South, to the West and to the East, which raises the question whether trains are just a short-term solution.

And clearly, rail does suffer one important problem: it’s expensive. In rough terms, rail experts believe it costs twice as much to ship crude oil by train, some experts say $5 to $10 more per barrel.  Ouch!

However, some Canadian crude oils are thick and heavy, requiring an expensive thinner called diluent to move the crude by pipeline. When moved by rail, the heavy Canadian crude move undiluted, which evens out the playing field on transportation costs.  And with rail, crude oil companies can rapidly switch markets, since rail networks reach most points of the U.S., including important economic areas such as the Gulf Coast and California that pipelines from Canada barely touch.

We haven’t lost our minds here.  KBT recognizes that massive quantities of crude oil are required to run the U.S. economy. Any massive shipment of crude oil will generally require pipeline connections.  At the same time, it’s a tribute to American ingenuity and the flexibility of America’s amazing transportation network.  Good luck to our friends in the rail industry!

 

Rail Flicks: The Milwaukee Road Volumes I, II, & III Combo DVD

June 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson, Videos

railflicks

Title The Milwaukee Road Volumes I, II, & III Combo DVD
Producer Pentrex
Format Full Screen
Playing Time 2 hr 46 min
Purchased From TrainVideoDepot.com
Date Purchased 8/27/2009
Price Paid $22.96

If you found Gary Ostlund’s presentation at our March meeting interesting, you will like this DVD. Some of the still pictures in his presentation were taken at the same locations covered in this video.

The video was shot during 1972 and 1973 and the action takes place on the electrified portion of the Milwaukee Road in western Montana and the Idaho Panhandle. The eastern end of the electrified rail was Harlowton, MT, and the western end was Avery, ID. There was another section of electrified rail in Washington State but that was not covered in this DVD.

The image quality is surprisingly good considering the technology of the times in the early 1970s. Digital enhancement was used to great effect on this DVD. The narration is very informative.

We see box cabs, steeple cabs, and Little Joe’s in the video and we are treated to some nice shots of RR action at the tunnels and trestles between the St. Paul Pass Tunnel on the ID-MT border and Avery, ID. This section of right of way has been converted into a bike trail, which I have ridden twice. It is a beautiful area.
You will like this one!

June 2012 Ricky’s Replies

June 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rick Bivins, Ricky's Replies

by  Chapter President, Ricky Bivins

Hello again NRHS Member, Welcome aboard the June, 2012 edition of our newsletter. I have several items of interest this month so let us get started.

WOW, what a fun and informative meeting we had in May. We all met in Hopkinsville KY. on May 21st for our regular meeting which was one week earlier than normal to accommodate the Memorial Day Holiday the following Monday. Our Hop’town friends set up a great program for us. We first met at the restored Louisville & Nashville Railroad Passenger Station in downtown Hopkinsville. Then we were treated to a guided tour of the L&N RR Freight Station across the street and across the track from the Passenger Station. Much of this building downstairs has been or is being renovated as living accommodations. While most if not all of the upstairs portion remains unscathed and intact. Moving around the various rooms and stairs, viewing the high ceilings and built in functions of the structure for me was great. I know I grinned a lot as I tried to imagine what it would have been like 75 year ago, working in this building. Many thanks go out to those responsible for our visit and for “saving” the structure. There are a lot of Restored or saved Passenger Stations in our world of Railroading, very few secondary structures such as this remain intact or in use. Great job Hop’town. After the business meeting we had some delightful snacks and then a “one on one” session with William Turner, Hopkinsville’s noted Historian. William gave us an update on the future release of the History of the Cadiz Railroad in a book format. A book that has grown and grown is size and scope. Kudos to William and his co-authors.

Our first Friday Night Live for 2012 in Downtown Madisonville KY went well, very well. We had several members present, Wally Watts was “under steam”, Bill, Liam, and Joe Thomas were a BIG hit with their (Bill’s) Mobil Garden Railroad, not to mention the TV/DVD combo from Bill (First Baptist Church). I stayed on the move, talking to event goers, talking on a WKTG/WFMW radio spot and meeting with Luke Short of SurfKY not to mention taking time out to hear and see my Nephew play drums (actually a trash can!) in the Grace Warehouse Stomp Team concert. I had a hoot people; I would like to see more members next month, which is the only improvement I can think of to make to the event.

The KY 68/80 Highway Bridge in back in service across KY and Barkley Lake’s. This means Rich Hane and Thomas Bryan will be looking into setting a date for our trip to Mayfield and Paducah. Be sure to tell them your thoughts and ideas for this or any trip. Or better yet, arrange a trip!

Wallace Henderson should have the latest news from National.

We have a few openings for program and refreshments available. Step up and take the helm folks.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting so let’s High Ball to Madisonville, Monday June 25th.