Spring 2001

Volume 21 Number 2

A Quarterly Publication of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.



By Russell Tedder


Newsletter Notes

You will notice two things with this issue. The color cover is obvious. It is a ink and colored pencil painting by Mrs. Elsie Voigt, editor of the Southwest Chapter’s El Paso & Southwestern Flyer. It was commissioned for this issue to appear to be the opposite side of the train shown on page 5. See Elsie’s ad in the Trading Post for more of her work.

Your membership dues did not pay for this color cover. The display ad paid for it. In the future, you may contribute any amount for additional color covers ($350 per issue) by sending a check payable to the R&LHS to the Newsletter Editor. Additional display advertising may become available in the future.

Mr. Lawrence R. Duffee advises that many papers from the 1926-29 era and the early 1940s to 1991 of the Potomac Yard office of the RF&P were recently donated to the Alexandria, Virginia, Public Library.

Prof. Bill Wallace raised a question about roundhouses. Were these structures, partially or fully surrounding a turntable, an American institution? They appear in other countries where there was significant American influence, otherwise a shed was used.

 

Mr. Robert R. Lowry and Mr. Eric C. Powell correctly identified the icicle-breaker car (page 6) and Mr. H. Lansing Vail, Jr., further stated that this NYC car was used on the "West Shore Line" at the head of trains with auto rack cars (loaded, mostly southbound) to keep the ice from damaging the automobiles. This car was cut in at the last yard before the tunnels and cut out at the first yard beyond. Mr. John C. La Rue, Jr., sent five photos of similar cars (page 7). Mr. William H. Howes, Jr., provided a photo of a dome passenger car with an icicle-breaker bar to protect the dome itself. The passengers were permitted up there through the tunnels.

"Pick the most profitable aspect of the business and make it more efficient," was the cry of the new wave of managers, not only in railroading, but in all industry. This meant that railroad pickup and delivery branches were doomed unless bought by shortline operators. How do these new operator’s fare? Hear the ins and outs of that business and more at the R&LHS Annual Meeting June first through third in Jacksonville, Florida.

We’ll have a bus tour of the NASA Railroad and FEC’s New Smyrna Shops on Friday and a panel discussion on Florida passenger service, past and future, on Saturday with the shortline panel. Speakers at our dinner, banquet and breakfast are John Hankey, Don Phillips and Richard Hillman. Be sure to come. Register now.


R&LHS Newsletter

Copyright © 2001 R&LHS
Published by The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.

William F. Howes, Jr., President
3454 Cormorant Cove Drive
Jacksonville FL 32223-2790

Editor/Publisher
Clifford J. Vander Yacht
2363 Lourdes Drive West
Jacksonville FL 32210-3410
<CliffVDY@JUNO.COM>

Assistant Editors
Vernon J. Glover 
[invalid
address]

Printer
Raintree Graphics
Jacksonville, FL

R&LHS MEMBER SERVICES

Membership Matters

Membership applications, change of address and other membership status inquiries should be sent to:

 

R&LHS - Membership
William H. Lugg, Jr.
PO Box 292927
Sacramento CA 95829-2927

Trading Post

Society members may use, without charge, the Trading Post section of the quarterly Newsletter and the R&LHS WebSite to advertise items they wish to sell, trade or acquire or to seek information from other readers. This service is intended for personal, not general commercial, use. All items should be sent to Clifford J. Vander Yacht, see address at left.

Locomotive Rosters & Records of Builder’s Construction Numbers

The Society has locomotive rosters for many roads and records of steam locomotive construction numbers for most builders. Copies are available to members at twenty five cents per page ($5.00 minimum) from R&LHS Archives Services, see address below. A list of available rosters may be obtained for $2.00.

Back Issues of Railroad History

 

 Many issues of Railroad History since No. 132 are available at $7.50 per copy. For information on the availability of specific issues and volume discounts, write R&LHS Archives Services, see address below.

Articles from the Bulletin & Railroad History

Copies of back issues of these publications of the Society are available to members at twenty cents per page ($5.00 minimum) from R&LHS Archives Services, see address below.

Research Inquiries

Source materials printed, manuscript and graphic are included in the Society’s Archives. Inquiries concerning these materials should be addressed to R&LHS Archives Services, R&LHS Archives Services, PO Box 600544, Jacksonville, Florida 32260-0544. To help expedite our response, please indicate a daytime telephone number where you can normally be reached.

[Note: Milestone 1 and James L. Larson addresses are no longer valid.]


WATERMELON EXTRA:
Sixteen Hours on a Pair of GE 70-Tonners
By Russell Tedder

From the earliest years, watermelons were an important source of revenue for the South Georgia Railway and the Live Oak, Perry and Gulf Railroad. The two north Florida and south Georgia shortlines made arrangements each year with one of their connecting lines to provide the ventilated "melon" cars, called "vents," in exchange for the outbound loads.

The LOP&G usually divided its business between the Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line at Live Oak, Fla., with one road furnishing empties and receiving loads the first three days of the week and the other road furnishing cars and getting the business the last three days, which worked out to about a 50-50 split. Most of the LOP&G watermelons were handled on the two round trip daily except Sunday mixed trains. On heavy loading days, it was sometimes necessary to run an extra out of Live Oak to Day and Mayo, Fla., the two major loading stations on the line.

The South Georgia always ran watermelon extras during the shipping season since it operated only one daily except Sunday round trip freight train. The loading was spread out at several stations between Adel, Ga., and Greenville, Fla. The originating station for the watermelon extras depended on which connecting line furnished the cars each year. After disposing of most of its "vents" by the 1940s, Southern enjoyed South Georgia’s watermelon business only in occasional years when it furnished refrigerated "reefer" cars.

In 1955, the first season after Southern bought the two roads in 1954, the watermelons off the South Georgia and LOP&G were routed via Southern and loaded in "reefers." The LOP&G continued to haul its melons to the Seaboard at Live Oak that year while the South Georgia operated a watermelon extra between Perry, Fla., and Adel where the cars were delivered to the Southern (Georgia Southern & Florida).

Regular South Georgia operations at that time consisted of Kalamazoo "doodlebug" railcar No. M-100 which ran daily as first class passenger trains No. 2 northbound from Perry to Adel and No. 1 southbound carrying mail, express, and those passengers who were hardy enough to take the little train for the sake of convenience or necessity. Freight trains were run six days a week as extras. The northbound was called at 11:00 a.m. at Perry and usually tied up at Adel about 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. where

 

the crew laid over for its eight hours rest before making the return trip southbound to Perry.

A goodly number of the employees of the South Georgia and LOP&G, both regular and seasonal workers, came from the larger roads, usually the ACL, where they had been fired for various infractions of the rules, such as Rule G (use of alcohol or narcotics on duty) or failure to observe meet orders.

In 1955 I became the young (20 years old) and inexperienced Agent at the joint station of the South Georgia and LOP&G at Perry. I was also responsible for dispatching trains for the two short lines which operated by timetable and train order with both regular and extra trains. Previously, the South Georgia trains had been dispatched by the Agent at Quitman, Ga., and the LOP&G by the Agent at Foley, Fla. I had worked both these stations, particularly Quitman, for varying lengths of time since 1951 when I started out with the railroads.

Ever since the word got out that Southern was going to buy the South Georgia and LOP&G, much of the sandhouse talk had been about the expected transition from a shortline to a mainline (Class I) operation. Imaginations ran wild with speculation that the South Georgia was going to be extended to Tampa with through freights and passenger trains to compete with the ACL’s west coast route. Many employees already envisioned what type of jobs they would have, such as baggagemaster, fireman, and like jobs which had long since vanished from the South Georgia and LOP&G.

In an environment such as this, those employees who had mainline experience talked a lot about their qualifications and how that I should, as the dispatcher, make a trip over the road each six months just like they did on the mainline. Naturally, it didn’t take much to talk me into this, especially since I was beginning to be caught up in the excitement of all the changes, real and imagined, that were taking place.

I decided to make my first voluntary semiannual dispatcher’s road trip on the South Georgia watermelon extra on Saturday, July 3, 1955. Southern had by this time upgraded the track from Perry to Quitman with 85 pound rail which replaced the lighter 56 and 60 pound rail. Although the South Georgia and LOP&G’s GE 70-tonners and Southern’s EMD SW-1s and ALCO S-1s


were still the motive power, the track had been surfaced and lined making it possible to operate at authorized speeds of 30 miles per hour.

The watermelon extra that year was assigned GE 70-tonners South Georgia 202, usually in the lead, and LOP&G 300 along with a Southern day coach which was used as a caboose. The job ran out of Perry six days a week making a round trip from Perry to Adel and return. Ever since the roads came under common ownership by Brooks-Scanlon in 1946, South Georgia freight trains originated and terminated and tied up their engines on the LOP&G at Perry. The "doodlebug," Nos. 1 and 2, originated and terminated at the old South Georgia station across town.

On this trip, the crew was called for 5:30 p.m. Our train orders were as follows:

Order No. 1-Engine 2004 run extra Perry to Adel and return to Perry not protecting against following extra trains except Extra 202 North. Extra 2004 South wait at Adel until arrival of Extra 202 North. SRT.

Order No. 2-Engine 202 run extra Perry to Adel and return to Perry not protecting against following extra trains except Extra 2004 South. SRT.

The speed limit for freight trains between Perry and Quitman had been increased by bulletin to 30 miles per hour instead of the 20 miles per hour authorized by the timetable.

The 70-tonner consist backed out of the LOP&G engine track and picked up six empty reefers and the coach off the LOP&G house track. After giving the air brake test a lick and a promise, we backed through the old LOP&G-South Georgia transfer track onto the South Georgia mainline. Pulling up and stopping at the LOP&G diamond, our engineer sounded the required two long blasts of the whistle and we were on our way about 6:00 p.m., the foghorn whistle blasting its way over the many street crossings as the little train left town. Soon the self-described hoghead-who, incidentally, was a boomer-had the throttle in the company notch and we were bouncing along at 40 to 45 miles per hour on the recently upgraded track.

All was going well until we rounded a curve and saw a bulldozer trying to cross the track few miles north of town. After "big holing" the train and stopping a safe 200 feet from the dozer, we "pumped ’em" off and continued the trip. Where the railroad paralleled the highway, motorists stopped in amazement as the little train sped along with the 70-tonners approaching their top speed of 55 miles per hour. The rhythmic clickety clack of the wheels turned

 

into a low steady roar that was absorbed into the rumbling and pounding of the exhaust from the Cooper-Bessemer’s six cylinders as they approached their maximum of 1,000 RPMs. The light but speedy consist sounded more like Southern Railway’s Royal Palm than the slow cumbersome freight that had bobbed and weaved its way through the Bermuda grass covered track less than a year before.

No. 1, the southbound first class passenger train with Kalamazoo Railcar M-100 as its consist, was due at Sirmans, a station 18 miles north of Perry, at 6:45 p.m. As the watermelon extra stopped on the mainline in front of Clement’s store, our boomer hogger sounded the prescribed one long and three shorts for the flagman to protect the rear of the train just like the mainline boys did, even though we were relieved by train order from protecting against following extra trains. The crew and I had just enough time to go over and get a soft drink before No. 1 rounded the curve and came into sight. The doodlebug headed into the clear on the house track and stopped across from the country store where a lone passenger detrained while the motorman helper swung down to hand the mail pouch to the waiting postmaster.

Barely on duty for one hour, the watermelon extra headed on its way; crossing the Seaboard diamond at Greenville and running uneventfully to our first revenue stop at Empress, Ga., where the six empty reefers were dropped and sixteen carloads of melons were added to the train. With our first revenue tonnage in tow, we pulled over the ACL overpass and registered our arrival at Quitman, Ga., at 8:30 p.m.

While the crew was switching and picking up watermelon loads, I went inside the depot where Southern’s commercial agent and the government inspectors were rolling dice on the agent’s floor. The agent, who had been fired from the ACL for Rule G violations, was obviously having trouble with his billing that evening, so I pitched in and waybilled the last of the 30 carloads of melons we were picking up.

About 10:30 p.m. we whistled off with a running start to get over Okapilco "Pilco" Hill, the ruling northbound grade named for the creek that was crossed on the south side of the hill. Leaving Quitman, for over a mile north of the ACL overpass, there is a descending grade and curve northward that varies between 1.25 percent and 2.25 percent. This grade was often used by adventurous engineers such as our boomer hogger to gain the momentum needed to make the 2.8 percent ascending grade over Pilco. At other times, when available, a helper engine was engaged. This was the derailment site of another watermelon train, Extra 103 North, ten years earlier on June 19, 1945. According to the ICC accident


report, the Baldwin ten-wheeler was running for Pilco at 35 miles per hour when the engine and first twelve cars of the twenty-car train derailed in the curve. The engineer was injured and the fireman and frontbrakeman were killed.

After picking up 22 cars of melons at Morven, Ga., and four cars of peaches at Barney, Ga., we were on our last lap into Adel with a total of 72 cars. The brace of 70-tonners handled the consist handily over the ruling grade at Pilco as well as Campground, Bry Williams, and other lesser grades. Since the best South Georgia track before rehabilitation was between Quitman and Adel, this was the last stretch to be rebuilt. However, the bridges had already been rebuilt and raised in preparation for the track to be raised to the same level when it was rehabilitated. Looking back from the cab of the 70-tonners, I could see the car numbers on the ends of the reefers as they came over the humped bridges one by one like sheep jumping over a fence.

Southern’s caboose hop from Valdosta, Ga., was waiting at Adel. As soon as the 70-tonners were cut off and in the clear, the two-unit A-B set of EMD F-units coupled to the 72 car consist and doubled it out onto their caboose on the GS&F mainline for the brake test. With a radio highball from the conductor to the engineer, the GS&F watermelon extra headed out for Macon and Atlanta

 

where the following morning the melon cars would be diverted at Inman Yard to specific northern markets.

There was always a rivalry among the South Georgia train crews and this day was no exception. After a hot meal at the local beanery, our conductor checked the Southern bill box to see what watermelon empties were on the GS&F to be moved south and spotted on the return trip. Seeing none, he consulted with the rest of the watermelon extra’s crew about the local extra which had arrived earlier. The local’s power was Southern’s 600 horsepower SW-1 No. 2004 which was coupled to a Southern bay window caboose and tied up next to South Georgia’s Adel depot white the crew took its usual eight hours rest before following the watermelon extra south. Acting upon a strong suggestion from the conductor, the watermelon extra’s crew decided it would be an appropriate trick on the local extra’s crew if their train could be hijacked while they slept. The 70-tonners backed the coach up to the GS&F interchange yard and picked up the 18 car local consist for Perry. All the while the crew enjoyed a great deal of pleasure from anticipating the local crew’s reaction when they returned to duty to discover that their train had disappeared while they rested.

Our southbound 18 car train soon headed through the wye onto the South Georgia mainline on what was


There’s no watermelon cars in this extra southbound train lead by South Georgia 202 and LOP&G 301 between Greenville, FL, and Quitman, GA, this August 12th, 1955, photo by William J. Huse, Jr.

expected to be a straight 77 mile run to Perry, stopping only at Quitman to register. The little GE’s handled their tonnage nicely over the southbound grades to Quitman. From Quitman south the 30 miles per hour speed limit was easily maintained, perhaps too easily, since the engines were not equipped with speedometers. At Milepost 45 the trailing unit, LOP&G 300, developed a hot box which we nursed on into Greenville. The Greenville agent lived across the street from the depot, so about 6:00 a.m. our conductor woke him up and asked him to open the depot and call the General Manager. The General Manager apparently was not too happy about being called early Sunday morning, and on July the 4th at that, to report a hotbox on a locomotive. He strongly suggested, in appropriately colorful language, that the crew could fix the problem on their own.

Before we could jack the engine and rebrass the journal, we heard the growl of Extra 2004 South as its headlight came into view around the curve approaching Greenville with a handful of local cars it had picked up at Quitman. We were in the clear on the mainline between the house track switches so the southbound local extra headed through the house track and passed our crippled train. In the excitement resulting from overtaking their hijacked train, the local crew ran through the south house track switch, completely oblivious to the fact that it had not been lined for their movement.

Finally, the new brass was seated and packed and we were on our last lap to Perry, arriving at Boyd, Fla., in time to clear No. 2 which was due there at 8:47 a.m. Within 15 minutes after our meet with the Kalamazoo M-100, we arrived at Perry in time to run around our train on the South Georgia wye and yard it on the LOP&G. The

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conductor marked off at 9:29 a.m., concluding a 15 hour and 59 minute tour of duty, not an uncommon occurrence in those days of the 16 hour "hog" law. A total of 96 cars (90 loads and 6 empties) were handled on the 154 mile round trip. Needless to say, the rookie dispatcher was much better acquainted with conditions on the road, but definitely in need of a long Sunday nap.

Little could any of us have known the changes that were ahead at that time. Trucks were already making inroads into the watermelon market. Their ability to go directly to the fields and haul direct to the northern markets made tough competition. The railroads were somewhat successful in keeping some of the business on rail by piggyback, but this left shortlines like the South Georgia and LOP&G out of the picture. The railroads had also concluded that the six week harvesting and shipping season was then followed by six months or more of loss and damage claims processing and payment that largely offset any profit they made on the business. There seemed to be a direct relationship between the watermelon markets and the level of freight claims. If the market was good, freight claims were minimal. If the market was poor, then freight claims were many. For all these reasons 1955 was the last year for watermelon extras on the South Georgia. A few carloads were handled the next year or two in regular train service.

The old adage, "the only constant is change itself," was confirmed again.

Editor’s note: Samuel Russell Tedder retired in 1997 as president of the Georgia-Pacific railroads. The article itself tells how and when his career began, etc.



This was used for the short tunnels on the NYC between Poughkeepsie and Harmon, along the Hudson. The photo was taken in 1969 at Beacon Yard. From the collection of Austin McEntee. Thanks to Adrian Ettlinger, our WebMaster, for sending this along.


TOP: This Baltimore and Ohio ice breaker car 1B-11, was photographed by D. H. Hamley at Cumberland, Maryland on May 11th, 1975.

ABOVE: The words on the small panel are, "Ice Breaker Service Only. To be used between Cresson and Altoona." John La Rue, Jr., was at Cresson July 19th, 1975, to take this shot of Pennsylvania #194796.

BELOW: Baltimore and Ohio also had ice breaker bars on their ex-Chessie Dome-Sleeper-Observation cars used on the Capitol Limited and Shenandoah. B&O Photo, W. F. Howes collection.

 

TOP: Western Maryland #301 at Cumberland, Maryland, on July 21, 1966. Photo by John La Rue, Jr.

ABOVE: This photo of Clinchfield #10131 at Erwin, Tennessee, was taken in December of 1970 by O. W. Kimsey, Jr.

BELOW: Delaware and Hudson had this battered gondola #40011 outfitted as an icicle breaker car for use at Oneonta, New York. May 31, 1971, JCLR,Jr.

Five photos John C. La Rue, Jr. collection.


THE MYSTERY OF MISSING MATERIAL
by Stephen Duffell

 

A problem that has bedevilled people wishing to study the history of some of the early locomotive builders in England, is the mysterious disappearance of material in the USA some 100 years ago. The story is presented here in the hope that if some of the documents still exist in the USA, their whereabouts can be discovered.

It began with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Transportation exhibit was but one section of this, and a request was made to an English railway engineer and historian, Clement Stretton, to provide exhibits from the United Kingdom. This he duly did, and some 10 tons of rails and a large quantity of drawings, paperwork and photographs was sent. (A note in the Stretton papers in the Science Museum, London, identifies the recipient as Mr. Willard Smith). At the close of the exhibition, much of the heavy rail exhibits were returned to England, but not all. Some remained in the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago; it is debatable whether they paid for them or just took them on "loan." The Science Museum records indicate that Stretton continued to have material returned to him over the next 10 years. The Field Columbian Museum established a "Museum of the World’s Railway," with J. G. Pangborn (of the Baltimore & Ohio RR) acting as president for a commission to collect material world wide. Pangborn’s name appears in various UK railway journals in the mid-1890s, never in a very complimentary fashion, presumably related to his collecting methods.

In 1904 the whole collection was sent to St. Louis, for the Louisiana Purchase Centennial, with Pangborn supervising the removal, that entailed cutting a hole in the museum wall to get the large exhibits out. At the close of the St. Louis exhibition the exhibits were sent to storage at the old B&O shops at Martinsburg, West Virginia. An old accession book of 1904 indicates that most of the railway books (including old British publications) were returned to the B&O, suggesting they had never been purchased anyway by the Field Museum. The B&O displayed some of the material at their 1927 hundreth anniversary of incorporation at Halesthorp, Maryland. The collection remained in Halesthorp after the exhibition, and in 1935 a hurricane destroyed the buildings. Some material was lost, and the remainder was moved to Bailey’s roundhouse near the Camden Yard in Baltimore. The B&O library was distributed among a number of universities in the early 1940s, no list or even a catalogue being available.

 

The outline of the story above was provided in an article by R. J. Brettschneider (Industrial Railway Record, Vol. 7 (no. 81) 1977-9, pages 379-381), and his enquiries failed to find any evidence of the material at the Field Museum (now of Natural History) nor with the B&O museum. Whilst some Pangborn material had found its way to the Smithsonian, John H. White Jr. found nothing of any merit relating to early English locomotive builders. So the mystery revolves around what exactly was sent to the United States, and what happened to it after the Columbian Exposition?

Firstly, what material was supposed to have been sent? According to the Scientific American of 1897 the following had found a home in the Field Museum in Chicago:

The original books and working drawings of Edward Bury & Company (of Liverpool).
A few books and a large number of original working drawings of the firm Bury, Curtis & Kennedy (successors to Edward Bury, of Liverpool).
Books and drawings of Edward Wilson & Company of Leeds.
Original list and some original drawings of the earliest engines upon the Great Western Railway.
The whole of the books and drawings of Messrs. Slaughter & Company, Bristol.
A number of books and locomotive drawings from the Haigh Foundry, Wigan.
The complete set of drawings of the firm of Rothwell & Company, late of Bolton.
The original drawings, papers and documents of the Forrester & Company of Liverpool.
Working drawings of engines for the North Midland Railway.
Original drawings of some engines designed by Mr. J. E. McConnell.

Some of this material had been provided by Stretton in 1893, but some appears to have been acquired by Pangborn on his trips to England. There is some dispute over whether some of the material was actually sent by Stretton. The books of Bury, Curtis & Kennedy were supposedly sold (not known to whom), when the Company was dissolved in 1851. Stretton states that he purchased some of Bury’s material from his descendants in the early 1890s. Stretton is now regarded as an


unreliable historian, and who as a self-publicist wrote copiously to the UK railway press in the 1890-early 1900s. He would challenge anyone who doubted his word in the most indignant tones, and this has led to difficulties in disentangling fact from fiction. A Science Museum (London) letter of 1903, has Stretton stating that he purchased the Rothwell books in 1892 for the Chicago Exposition.

The possibility was raised by Brettschneider in his article, that Pangborn would have been well aware of the value of the material he so assiduously collected, and that when the Field Museum lost interest in railway material and it was stored by the B&O, he ‘took care of it’. Pangborn died in 1914, and it would be interesting to know what happened to all of his material. One other possibility unearthed by Brettschneider was that some paperwork of the old Field Museum was stored in the cellars of the Soldier Field Stadium, and that a fire had raged there in the early

 

1920s.

So, whilst the likeliest possibility is that these early works books and drawings are lost forever, there always remains an outside chance that some may survive. And if they survive at all, then it will be in the USA. They may be in private collections or stored in some archive. Only Bury and Rothwell sent locomotives to the USA in the 1830s, so interest in these firms amongst US railway historians would be limited, and their true value to English historians unrecognized. If anyone knows of anything old and English relating to early locomotives and languishing in some collection or archive, then please send details to this side of the Atlantic. Their discovery would be most truly welcomed.

Stephen Duffell,
Hillcroft, Ford, Shrewsbury, SY5 9LZ, UK.
<stephen.duffell@syngenta.com>


TRADING POST

Submissions should be made to the Newsletter editor to arrive by July 1, 2001, for inclusion in the next issue. All items subject to available space and editorial decisions as to content. Logos and photographs are allowed if space permits. New Trading Post items are posted every week on our WebSite. <http://www.RLHS.ORG>

SELLING - Southern Pacific equipment. Headlight from cab forward No. 4285, complete with original indicator numbers, electrified. Bell and yoke from Pacific #2400, first in its class in 1907. Bell inscribed with history and engine data in Sacramento Shops. Beautiful sound. Send bids to Anson Perkins, Pacific Coast Chapter, 3062 Lunada Lane, Alamo CA 94507. (925) 820-7145.

FOR SALE - Steamships of the Two Henrys - being an account of the maritime ventures of Henry M. Flagler and Henry

 

Bradley Plant. Profusely illustrated, many details of their railroads ventures as well as maritime. Soft cover. Discount price of $30.00 (regular price $39.95) offered to R&LHS members, allow $3.00 for postage, Florida residents, please add $2.10 sales tax. Ed Mueller, 4734 Empire Avenue, Jacksonville FL 32207-2136.

WANTED - All data & pictures, particularly picture post cards, of private owner "billboard" wood reefers prior to 1935 ICC ruling. Send description or xerox of items and price. All mail answered. John Maye, 1320 W. Lincolnway #G9, Schererville IN 46375. (219) 865-8967 (9:30-8 CT)

WANTED - All issues of Pennsylvania Railroad Mutual Magazine, Pennsylvania News, and The Pennsy. Also seek agent’s lantern with composite green-white globe used for flagging trains, with any of the following lettering: PFtW&C, PCC&StL, or Pennsylvania Lines. Please state prices in first letter. SELLING - Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 2-wheel freight and baggage truck marked with company initials and inventory number, excellent condition,

 

approximately a century old. Bob Hess, 295 Hunters Road, Gore VA 22637-3006.

SELL or TRADE - NYC Interborough Rapid Transit route destination (marker) light, 1903-1908, lenses dated 1905. 100% original, including working socket and wiring, totally restored, and all parts original to lamp. European steam locomotive cab number plate 22x8x½ thick, painted cast metal. Porcelain passenger car number boards black with white serif numbers 24¼x7. Adlake hand lanterns with various Fresnel globe colors. Various marker light lenses and Fresnel globes. WANTED Wax sealers from southern roads, whistles, builder’s plates, etc. Greg Hendricks, 105 Old Course Road, Summerville, SC 29485, (843) 875-5729.

WANTED - Original Howard Fogg paintings, both oil and watercolor. John J. Atherton, 16 Coachlight Dr., Poughkeepsie NY 12603-4241, (845) 471-8152. <JJAAMAPOU@aol.com>

WANTED - Steam, Diesel & Electric builder’s and number plates for my collection. Still looking to fill some gaps and still need a round Lima from a Shay or Rod engine, a CRRofNJ round number plate with name cast around rim, a UP 4-6-6-4 builder’s plate and shield, and any


WM builder’s plates. Will purchase outright or have plates to trade. I will also research and verify plates for other collectors. Ron Muldowney, 52 Dunkard Church Rd., Stockton N.J. 08559-l405. (609) 397-0293 <steamfan@crusoe.net>

WANTED - Information on fatal accident on May 18,1918 on the Wisconsin Valley Line Div. of the CMStP&P. Need engine numbers, crew manifest, dispatcher’s sheet for that day, and any other details. Passenger train ran into freight that had not cleared the Main near Sprague, WI. Engineer Gleiss was the only fatality. Dr. James R. Brown, LFRR&DM, 9208 County Highway II, Sparta WI 54656-6485.

FOR SALE - Complete run of the R&LHS journal. Vols. 1-163 Bound (32 volumes in all including indexes, special bulletins and rosters). Volumes for 1988 - 2000 are unbound. $1500.00 inc. shipping. Betsy Towle, 4621 E. Don Jose Dr., Tucson AZ 85718.

WANTED - Drawings of railroad letter sets (not lettering diagrams) and drumhead/tailend signs. Clifford Vander Yacht, 2363 Lourdes Drive West, Jacksonville FL 32210-3410.

SELLING - Original railroad art. Over 300 engines and trains in charcoal, ink and colored pencil, and watercolor. Affordable prices. Elsie Voigt, HC 74 Box 44, Fort Davis TX 79734-9702. (915) 426-3414.

Railroad Historical Resources
Thomas T. Taber, Administrator
504 S. Main Street
Muncy, Pennsylvania 17756
Fax 570-546-8346
Providing answers and assistance to finding answers on railroad subjects of any kind prior to 1970. No charge.

SELLING - Russian Rail Transport, 1836-1917, offers a new, colorful history of Russian railways from their beginning in 1836 until the Bolsheviks took power during WW1. The 274-page book is a translation from the Russian and was written by a consortium of authors from St. Petersburg State Transportation University. Of especial interest is the lengthy section on the building and rebuilding of the Trans-Siberian line. $32.00 USA, $36.00 foreign. Also available is the 118-page biography, Franz Anton von Gerstner, Pioneer Railway Builder, by Mikhail and Margarita Voronin. $28.00 USA, $32.50 foreign. Books shipped postpaid. Checks payable to Languages of Montour. John C. Decker, 112 Ardmoor Avenue, Danville PA 17821. <JDecker@Uplink.net>

 

SEEKING - Original or copy of Burlington Route public timetable from October 1895, Katy Flyer issue. Donald J. Metzler, 1830 Centennial Dr. #103, Louisville CO 80027.

FOR SALE - High quality hard cover reprints of Frank Spearman’s most popular railroad fiction books. 4 titles available. 2 are works of short stories: Held for Orders, and The Nerve of Foley. And 2 are full length novels: The Daughter of a Magnate, and Whispering Smith. All are set in the same Rocky Mountain location. Exciting reading for a reasonable price. $12 each postpaid, or $45 for the set of 4, postpaid. Dan Allen, 147 Atsion Rd., Medford NJ 08055.

SELLING - Chesapeake & Ohio and Pere Marquette fonts. $10.00 each. Available on-line at www.RailFonts.com. Clifford Vander Yacht, 2363 Lourdes Dr. W., Jacksonville FL 32210-3410.


POLING ALONG IN WEST VIRGINIA
Cornelius W. Hauck

For something different in railroading, try pole-roading — a low-cost form of low-speed railroading adapted by lumbering companies occasionally in parts of Michigan or the deep south. Instead of laying down track with iron rails or even strap-iron on timbers, big wood stringers were laid on the ties and the cars and locomotives were equipped with big, double-flanged wheels that looked like oversized pulleys. The “poles” were satisfactory for guiding the train along, and the timbers had to last only as long as the logging operation. The pole road illustrated was operated by one S. Rinard of Cranesville, West Virginia, the site was above Terra Alta, near the Garrett State Forest in Maryland. Motive power was a type A Climax of 13 tons, construction no. 21 of March, 1891. The photo is from the collection of the late Claude T. Stoner of Michigan.


Help Pick a Winner!

Help the R&LHS Awards Committee pick the nominees and the winners for the
Railroad History Book Award and Article Award!

All members in good standing may suggest candidates for consideration by the Awards Committee when nominating authors for the 2001 Railroad History Awards. The R&LHS Awards Panel solicits advice from members in two award categories: the David P. Morgan Article Award, and the George and Constance Hilton Book Award.

Articles must have been published in magazines or journals with cover dates of 1999 and 2000. Enter the complete name of the author, the name of the article, the pages on which it may be found, the exact name of the magazine, and its exact cover date (month and year). (Some journals are hard to find, so please send a photocopy of the article, if you can. This will aid the committee and save some time.)

Books must have been published in 1998, 1999 or  2000. (See publication or copyright date for the book under consideration.) Enter the complete name of the author, the complete book title, complete name of publisher, and copyright or publication date.

The Awards Panel will make the final selection of Nominees for each category. The Panel will take members’ entries very seriously. In this way, the Society’s members can play a key role in the Railroad History Awards.

Fill out and send in this coupon, or photo copy, by June 1, 2001. Only those entries postmarked on or before that date will be tallied for the 2001 awards. Mail to Ed Graham, 316 Innisfree Circle, Daly City, CA 94015-4358. Coupons sent to the wrong address or sent after June 1, 2001, will not be tallied.

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To: R&LHS Awards Panel

For the 1999 David P. Morgan Article Award

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Author’s Full Name

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Complete Title of Article

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Page Number(s) of Article

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Complete Name of Magazine or Journal

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Exact Cover Date: Month/Year or Month/Day/Year

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Publisher’s Editorial Address (from inside magazine)

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Today’s date: ___________________
 

 

 

For the 1999 George and Constance Hilton Book Award

___________________________________________
Author’s Full Name

___________________________________________
Complete Name of Book

___________________________________________
Complete Publisher’s Name

___________________________________________
Copyright Year



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Member’s Name

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Member’s Address

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Member’s City State & ZIP