Winter 2003

Volume 23, Number 1

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

Newsletter Notes

Raintree Graphics suggested a duotone background for the back page advertisement in the last issue. The ad is reproduced again in this issue without that background so it is easier to read.

For those of you who have not yet entered the computer/internet age (cyberspace) there is now good reason to get into the game. The Newsletter is fully available on the R&LHS internet area on the World Wide Web (a spidery network of small computers around the world connected by phone lines) at our special address of <http://www.rlhs.org> (don’t include the <> signs). Go to almost any library and have someone (kids are very savvy in this) give you a helping hand with this. They will show you how to go to various other places within our site or into other areas of interest, and how to get back.

Computers for just this kind of use are now rather inexpensive and usually include an initial internet service

for a few months. Juno, the service I use, is either a free service (more advertising) or $9.95 a month (don’t pay more). Contact me for details. On the Newsletter side of our website, you will note that the Trading Post and New RR Books sections are updated often. The full issue is available about a month before you receive it via mail.

WebMaster, Adrian Ettlinger, has set up a bulletin board on the Internet where you can read and post messages about the R&LHS and other railroad matters. This is further described inside this issue. As I write this, there is a lively discussion about archiving railroad historical documents. Join in; you are amongst friends! To give Adrian your e-mail address to join, just e-mail him at <aettlinger@worldnet.att.net>.

I’m almost out of feature articles. Again, may I say that this is a great place to see yourself in print. Write about 2000 to 3000 words on any railroad subject and illustrate what you write. That is your assignment! I won’t grade the papers.

Running a shortline railroad has many of the same characteristics as managing any other business. However, shortlines have their own unique challenges.

A few shortlines began a century ago more or less and survive today as independents, usually family owned. Other shortlines were started by shippers in heavy, rail oriented industries such as steel, mining and forest products where logging and lumber railroads evolved into common carriers. Although some shortlines were formed from branchlines of Class I railroads throughout the 20th century, deregulation spawned by the Staggers Act of 1980 prompted a mass of branchline spinoffs that resulted in the creation of many new shortlines. The majority of shortlines today were created in the past 20 years from former branches that are now being operated by shortline holding companies or conglomerates in which diversification has been obtained by ownership of multiple shortlines serving varied industries in different geographic regions. Some shipper owned shortlines have also gone to the conglomerates and a few branchlines are still operated as independent shortlines.

Beyond the basic requirements of rights-of-way, tracks, motive power, railcars, shops, offices, staffing, maintenance of track, structures, signals and equipment, it is difficult to prioritize the remaining challenges of running a shortline railroad. However, the more serious challenges are those from external forces that are often beyond the direct control of management.

The first and most basic challenge for a shortline railroad is that of ensuring a market for its services. A shortline’s

COVER PHOTO: This southbound 85-car train of the Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi Railroad rolls through Spyker, La., at speed on July 10, 2001 on its 52-mile run from Crossett, Ark., to Monroe, La. The AL&M is owned by the Georgia-Pacific Corporation but also serves a variety of non-affiliated customers, including competitors. Peter J. Smykla, Jr., photo, collection S. R. Tedder.

tracks cannot be easily redeployed to other areas to chase new markets. Thus a market for its services must exist or be created along its existing line. The adage, “Build it and they will come,” does not often apply to shortlines. Shipper owned shortlines have the advantage of the shipper’s traffic but in most cases must also be competitive with other modes of transportation. To be successful, other shortlines must develop, maintain and hopefully grow their market share in competition with other modes. The Staggers Act of 1980 created a deregulated environment in which creative managers developed new business and brought back traffic previously lost to trucks.

Maintaining adequate revenue per carload is also a vital challenge for shortlines. In the past, shortlines have been accused, and sometimes rightly so, of receiving a disproportionate share of revenue on shipments. While this may be true when based upon a strict mileage prorate of sharing revenue from through shipments, the allegation overlooks the terminal services that shortlines perform, whether as an originator or a terminator of freight traffic. The shortline typically provides the railcars, switching service to place and pull the car from the customer’s loading docks, weighing (if required), billing and collection of freight charges, distribution of revenues to other roads that handle the shipment, data entry into Train II, the national computerized rail tracking system, and delivery of the shipment to its connecting line for forwarding to the customer at the ultimate destination. Some shortlines even pre-block cars for the connecting line. It was recognition of the shortlines efficiency in providing terminal services and more effective marketing by local management that prompted Class I’s to spin off numerous branchlines to shortline operators. In addition to a market for its services, a reasonable revenue requirement for shipments it handles is necessary for a shortline to survive.

Accompanying the need for a market and revenue is the requirement to extend the shortline’s reach via other railroads. While a few shortlines originate and terminate

most shipments on their own line, most roads’ shipments are interline, meaning that they originate or terminate on other railroads. Therefore, one or more Class I connections are essential for access to the national rail system in order to reach the shortline customer’s sources of raw material and/or markets for its finished products. Two Class I’s, the practical maximum due to mergers and consolidations, provide competitive alternatives for the shortline and its customers. However, in some cases, three connections are also available.

Railcar supply is a major challenge, and one that is often beyond the shortline’s direct control. Before the boom in leasing of boxcars during the past 25 years, most shortlines relied mainly upon their Class I connections for railcar supply. For over a century, railcar supply and demand has rarely been in balance. More often than not it has been in a state of feast or famine with either shortages or surpluses. Occasionally surpluses exceed the line’s storage capacity. Railcar shortages are devastating to shortlines and their customers who often are faced with shutting down production due to lack of available equipment to move their inventory or diverting shipments to highway transportation which is not always a viable alternative.

Even shortlines that obtained their own fleets of railcars in recent decades are often frustrated by the lack of control

of their fleet. In most cases, rules of the Association of American Railroads permit reloading of cars on other roads when needed. While these rules were intended to promote efficiency by eliminating empty backhauls and increasing loaded mileage, it often results in a loss of predictability of return of cars to the owning shortline. Due to this erratic system, a shortline that acquired railcars for loading often finds it difficult to size its fleet to a level that will consistently provide an adequate car supply for its customers. Local railcar shortages are often aggravated by reloading of railcars by connecting lines and/or other roads rather than returning them to their owners in times of national shortages. A good deal of many shortline managers’ time and energy is spent dealing with this problem during shortages. Traffic diverted to trucks during car shortages is often lost permanently due to unreliable rail service. Maintaining an adequate supply of equipment is critical to the success of the shortline.

Another challenge is maintaining a well-qualified and highly-motivated workforce. Most shortlines do not have a sufficient number of employees to develop formal in house training programs for new employees and refresher courses for existing employees. Oftentimes it is more effective to hire inexperienced employees and train them within the road’s own environment instead of hiring experienced employees from larger roads with a different culture. As a rule, shortline wages are very competitive with local industry. By necessity, shortline employees are generally more flexible in their work responsibilities than their Class I counterparts. An attractive benefit, in contrast to Class I employment, is that shortline employees are generally at their home base while off duty.

Although shortlines operate mostly within the same legal and regulatory framework as other businesses, the Railroad Retirement Act, the Railway Labor Act and the Federal Employers Liability Act are three Federal laws that apply to common carrier railroads, both large and small, that are different from regulations of other businesses. Although enacted with good intentions, these laws are challenging to shortlines. The railroads’ highway competitors are not burdened with these laws. Shortline railroads and their customers would be better served by being under laws comparable to those governing competing modes.

The Railroad Retirement Act was passed in the aftermath of Social Security legislation in 1937 when railroad employment was in excess of 2.5 million. Today it provides a supplemental pension over and above the equivalent amount of Social Security coverage by non-railroad businesses. It is ironic that an industry, which now has fewer than 200,000 employees, less than many major corporations, has a separate pension system under the auspices of the Federal Government. While Railroad Retirement provides superior benefits compared to employees covered by Social Security, it is a costly plan for all common carrier railroads, including shortlines.

The Railway Labor Act governs collective bargaining within the railroad and airline industry. It was enacted after the release of railroads from Federal control following World War I. Many, if not most, shortlines are non-union and able to provide attractive working conditions without the intervention of third parties. However, unionized shortlines find the Railway Labor Act is an anachronism designed for conditions of decades ago that make it difficult to obtain labor agreements without a long, drawn out process that often lowers employee morale with a resulting adverse effect on the railroad’s operations and safety. This is not necessarily the fault of either labor or

A number of new shortlines are finding a specialized market by providing common carrier carload service to customers in privately owned industrial parks. New Jersey’s SMS Rail Service uses Baldwin switchers like DS4-4-1000 #1494, to service several major customers, including a Home Depot distribution center, located in the 3000 acre Purland Industrial Park near Bridgeport, NJ. Photo from the collection of M. Bennett.

management but the antiquated and inflexible provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The Act also promotes strict craft lines which conflicts with most shortlines’ flexible workforces.

The final law that uniquely affects railroads is the Federal Employers Liability Act. Unlike workers compensation, a no-fault insurance system for injured employees in other occupations, FELA is a fault-based system that automatically places an injured employee and the railroad in an adversarial position, usually more beneficial to trial lawyers than to the affected employees. There is no cap on jury awards in FELA suits, a fact that often increases insurance premiums to an untenable level and makes the cost of coverage prohibitive.

Following the creation of the Federal Railroad Administration in 1972, regulations governing nearly every facet of railroad operations have been put into effect. Standards have been implemented for track, equipment, signals, rail operations, locomotive engineer training and certification, noise, environment and other railroad activity. While the regulations generally codify and set minimum standards for good operating practices, compliance is often a challenge for shortlines with limited staffs. Class I’s have departments that are specialized in each function while the shortline manager must be knowledgeable of all regulations governing the railroad. Reporting and record keeping are significant challenges, although certain shortlines have been exempted from some of the requirements. Compliance, a goal of every well managed shortline, is a significant challenge, especially as new regulations are added over the years.

A major current challenge is heavy axle loadings. Historically, shortlines have found it necessary to maintain their facilities to a level that would permit handling of freight cars offered in interchange by their Class I connections. At the end of World War II, rail weighing 60-pounds per linear yard was considered quite adequate for shortlines. At the same time, 40-ton, 40-foot boxcars were considered the norm. In subsequent years 50-ton cars replaced the 40-ton cars and by the 1970s 70-ton, 50-foot cars were the standard. Concurrently with increased axle loadings, track was upgraded with 90-pound rail which was considered a good standard for shortlines handling 70-ton cars.

Mergers aren’t just for large railroads. The Huron & Eastern, here rolling grain cars through Ruth, MI, behind GP-9 #101, began as an independent railroad with the 1986 purchase of several former Pere Marquette branch lines in Michigan’s grain rich Thumb. The H&E became part of RailAmerica’s core system when its holding company went public. With the acquisition of Texas based RailTex, RailAmerica is now the nation’s largest shortline operator. Photo from the collection of M. Bennett.

as 25 years ago. The next frontier and challenge for shortlines is the use of remote control, especially in switching operations. Technology has advanced so that remote control is as safe as manned operations, and often safer. Adoption of the new technology is inevitable and forward looking managers will consider embracing this option for increased safety and efficiency in operations.

Shortline railroads provide a valuable service to shippers and communities across the country. Challenges notwithstanding, running a shortline railroad is a rewarding profession. The future belongs to those resourceful and creative shortline managers and employees who adapt to change and meet the challenges thrust upon them.
 

However, as the twentieth century drew to a close, 100-ton cars were superseding 70-ton cars. Today, 125-ton cars are being developed for increased efficiency and the current trend is expected to lead to 125-ton cars becoming the industry norm, or at least the predominating capacity.

[Following 46 years in the shortline railroad industry, Russell Tedder retired in 1997 as President of the Georgia-Pacific shortline railroads.]

The transition from 40-foot 40-ton boxcars on 60-pound rail 50 years ago to 50 and 60–foot or longer cars up to 125-tons capacity requires major infrastructure upgrading for which many or most shortlines lack adequate funding. Minimum rail weight of 115 pounds is expected to be the requirement for shortlines to handle heavy axle loadings. Although upgrading is essential for shortlines to continue participation in the national rail system, it is a major challenge. Fortunately, efforts are underway to provide federal funding at some level to help alleviate this problem. Nonetheless, shortlines will still be challenged to increase the capacity of their track and structures to handle the projected heavier loadings.

Shortline railroads, along with their Class I counterparts, have reached maximum efficiency and safety with two-person crews, down from up to five persons as recently

In this February 9, 1999 scene, a southbound Valdosta Railway freight train has just arrived at Clyattville, GA., on its ten mile run from Valdosta, GA. The Valdosta Railway, LP, is owned by Rail Management, Inc., one of several conglomerates that own multiple shortlines today. J. Harlen Wilson photo, collection S. R. Tedder.

THE JOB OF A PASSENGER—TRAIN CONDUCTOR: Education and
Kindness

by Elsie Robertson Voigt

“We are now arriving in RowNOKE, ROWnoke, Vahginyah.” The conductor went through the Pullman repeating “RowNOKE, ROWnoke, Vahginyah,” helping everyone with baggage to be brought forward. He was The Boss of his train on the Norfolk & Western. His voice from the 1930s rings through the decades since.

A passenger-train conductor has many of the skills of a road foreman of engines on a freight division: He is a diplomat, a psychologist, a judge, an alert night worker, a public relations expert, someone who makes instant decisions and is familiar with every mile of track and track restrictions on his railroad and who knows the destinations of all of his passengers. He has to throw track switches when required and is a liaison between the service crew and the operating crew, at all times in contact with the engineer. He has a manifest listing of his rolling stock and their contents and destinations, cars to be set out or picked up. He has to handle couplers, air hoses and head-end power cables. And he has the authority to stop his train and others and give emergency assistance to any passenger, as well as the authority to handle many other situations that may suddenly arise.

Lowering the trapdoor, ready to leave the Roanoke station eastward on the Norfolk Division, the conductor — and I saw the same one several times in the month of August traveling between Cincinnati and Farmville, Virginia — would place the yellow stool so that I could stand with him and look out of the vestibule window as he pointed out the Roanoke Shops and explained them one by one: the boiler shop, the wheel shop, the erecting shop.

By the mid-1930s I was keenly aware that I was looking at the greatest railroad shops in the world. We would be running at about one mile an hour because the engineer knew exactly what was happening in the Pullman far behind — that the conductor was showing off the great Shops to a kid he knew. I always made sure I met the engineer first. It would be easy to make up the time in the wonderful, fast, heavy-Mountain pulling us.

Sitting on the tracks next to where we passed, the conductor would point to the world’s finest locomotive, a 2-6-6-4 made in the Shops. He explained what an articulated could do. Then he would finger several 2-8-8-2 Mallets, homemade and brand new. He taught me how Mallets operated. They were the most impressive things I’d ever seen.

Years later in 1967, 1 received another lesson as to just what a conductor could do. My son, just back from Vietnam, phoned me from the Philadelphia Naval Hospital to bring a seabag he had left at home with things he wanted. I took the Pennsylvania from Chicago with a ticket from a travel agency. When the conductor called out “North Philadelphia,” I knew I must have passed my station and told him where I was headed. The travel agency had screwed up. It took him one second to stop all trains in both directions. The train I needed, going back in the other direction, was ordered to pull up opposite us with no station near, and the conductor took the heavy seabag in one hand and me in the other while we crossed about five tracks. He handed up the seabag to the other conductor and helped me up the steps. I couldn’t thank him enough. That whole incident had taken less than a minute and a half.

At the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, the trains were unloading broken bodies from Vietnam faster than the hospital could cope, and men were lying all over the halls as I dragged the seabag on the way to my son’s ward. The devastation was so terrible that I had to turn my mind to find to some of the kindness in the world I had just received. That conductor who stopped the trains had the coolness and decision of an Army general — in service to the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The vast majority of the present day AC propulsion systems, either light rail, metro or locomotive are essentially the same. They use induction motors, like all your standard AC motors for washing machines, fans, etc. and a variable voltage, variable frequency power supply. The traction motor version is 3 phase rather than single phase as used in homes and light industry. Note: Your 220 volt motors with 3 wires are not 3 phase. An induction motor rotates in step with the frequency of the voltage applied and in relation to the number of poles in the motor. For single phase machines, you have 1800 and 3600 as the “Nominal “ speed of four pole and two pole machines. Actual speed is a bit less due to the mechanical and electrical losses. The difference between the theoretical speed and the actual speed is the slip. When an induction motor is started, the rotor is at zero speed and the magnetic field is rotating at the nominal speed. Thus the slip is 100%. The rotating magnetic field induces fields in the rotor and drags it around until it is rotating as fast as it can under the applied load and losses. The theoretical 1800 rpm motor actually runs at about 1740 rpm or at a slip of about 4%.

In a propulsion system, the full voltage and frequency cannot be applied at zero speed since the motor would burn out from over current. (It would stall and not rotate at all.) In order to accelerate the motor and rail vehicle, the voltage and frequency are varied in most systems to gradually bring the motor up to the desired speed. This can be anything from almost 0 mph to full speed. This is one advantage of AC: It can be run at any speed continuously. A series DC machine wants to always run at full speed and only by introducing resistance in series with the machine can the speed be kept below the maximum. This means losses as heat which do not exist with current day AC systems. As noted in another message, there is no transition with current day AC systems since the motors are fed by a varying voltage and frequency which are raised as needed to get the desired speed from the machine and all the motors are directly connected to the power source, not in the series or series parallel connections of DC systems. The same concepts are used in all current day variable speed drives such as rolling mills and cement plants. There is also no field shunting to increase speed since there are no fields to shunt. The

 frequency and voltage are raised to increase speed. There is, of course, a limit where the voltage cannot be increased any further and the system runs out of power. This determines the maximum speed of the motors.

Electric braking with AC machines is easily accomplished by changing the slip from positive, i.e.. pulling the rotor around faster and faster, to negative where the rotor is repulsed by the rotating magnetic field. When this occurs, the rotor induces voltage in the stator (stationary fields) which adds to the voltage being supplied by the source. This extra voltage is fed into resistors for dynamic braking, or run backwards through the power electronics and put back into the supply line as regenerative braking. This is another advantage of AC propulsion, the ease of obtaining regeneration.

All of this depends on the recent (20 years) development of power electronics (GTO’s, gate turn off thyristors, and now IGBT’s, insulated gate bipolar transistors, that can handle the voltage and current levels of street cars as well as 6000 Hp. locomotives and the microprocessors to give the orders fast enough and monitor the response to get the fine regulation needed for propulsion systems.

I hope this is not too confusing.

Walter Keevil
Chief Rail Equipment Engineer
Chicago Transit Authority

2003 Annual Meeting

You do not need to register for the convention in order to attend the R&LHS Board meeting on the afternoon of July 3 (Board members only) or the R&LHS annual membership breakfast and meeting on the morning of July 4. There is a charge for the breakfast on July 4. You must register for the convention in order to attend the joint NRHS/R&LHS banquet, receive priority ticketing for any trips or other joint NRHS/R&LHS activities, and obtain our specially discounted tickets for the B&O Museum festivals.

Allegheny Portage RR
by Chris J. Lewie

[Due to a misplacement, these illustrations did not accompany the article about the Allegheny Portage Railroad by Chris J. Lewie. These will help in understanding the significance of the first railroad to conquer the Allegheny summit in Pennsylvania.]

Inclined plane No. 6 of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, at the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. There were ten such planes, five on each side of the mountain. The rise westwardly from Hollidaysburg was 1,398.71 feet, and the descent to Johnstown, 1175.50 feet. These planes were considered one of the great triumphs of civil engineering at the time of their construction in 1834. The Main Line of the Public Works, including the Allegheny Portage Railroad, was purchased from the State of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania R.R. Co. in 1857. The Company abandoned use of these planes the following year when its own line across the mountains was constructed.

STAR SPANGLED RAILS CONVENTION

The joint NRHS/R&LHS convention to be held June 30-July 6, 2003, in Baltimore, Maryland, concurrently with the B&O Railroad Museum’s Fair of the Iron Horse is coming soon. The Fair of the Iron Horse, like B&O Railroad’s 1927 fete, presents railroad history from first horse-drawn railroad cars to powerful present day locomotives as a musical pageant along the historic first mile of railroading in the United States. Locomotives are coming to Baltimore from all over America to participate, including several steam locomotives present at the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse. The festival village of pavilions will feature exhibitions of railroads, technology, travel, collectibles, model and toy trains, entertainment, demonstrations and great food. Convention attendees will be able to purchase a special five-day Fair pass or a one-day ticket to the Fair; both include a grandstand ticket to the locomotive pageant on Friday, July 4th, with the convention group.

Plans are made for other convention events featuring vintage and current day equipment, including traction/transit, various regional tourist railroads, and several mainline excursions with coach and first class accommodations. A night photo session, a series of stationary and roving educational seminars, a banquet with a noted railroad speaker, and a fabulouse Independence Day fireworks show over Baltimore’s Inner Harbor round out a full week’s worth of convention events. Sightseeing tours to some of the area’s non-rail attractions are planned.

Preregistrations were accepted through January 2003. Theywill receive priority for tickets to the convention events. After January 31, 2003, the registration fee is $45. To obtain a registration form, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Star Spangled Rails, PO Box 441668, Ft. Washington MD 20749-1668, or visit <www.starspangledrails.org>. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime railroading celebration!

There will be many volunteer opportunities to make the Convention successful. Volunteers must be a member of the R&LHS or the DC/NRHS. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact <info@dcnrhs.org>.

TRADING POST

Submissions should be made to the Newsletter editor to arrive by April 1,2002, for inclusion in the next issue. All items subject to available space and editorial decisions as to content. Logos and photographs are limited to 7/8 inches high if space permits. New Trading Post items are posted every week on our WebSite.
 <http://www.RLHS.ORG>

SELLING - New book, Santa Fe’s Eastern Oklahoma Railway Company: Book One — The Stillwater District. 200 photos, maps and charts. $49.95 + $3.95 s/h, Hardbound. Written by Joseph A. Cammalleri, 1177 Monte Sereno Drive, Thousand Oaks CA 91360-2408. <jacamma@aol.com>

WANTED - builders side elevation of the EMD locomotive DD-40X that the Union Pacific used during the 1960s. Ed Rock, 2215 Avian Place, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, 904-633-5972 <edrock@mindspring.com>

NEEDED - A list of all narrow gauge railroads built and operated in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. See my list so far on <www.ngrrlines.com>. For other railroads, I would appreciate all names under which the railroad operated and bibliography. Norman F. Clarke, retired Professor and Business Librarian, St. Cloud (MN) State University, 13406 W. Copperstone Dr., Sun City West AZ 85375. <clarkenf@earthlink.net>

WANTED - An original Alco Rogers builders plate for my collection, will pay top $ for an original in excellent condition. Also looking for pre- alco`s / transitionals, and pre 1900 Baldwins. Jerry W. Groves, 5714 Woodbine Drive, Zephyrhills Fl 33543-4475. <jerrygroves@webtv.net>

FOR SALE - SP locomotive headlight in original black paint. Size: L24-W28-H18. Indicator light stencils are 4285. Name plate on top 2x3 shows “NATIONAL

FOR SALE - The Philadelphia and Erie Railway by Rosenberger. Long out of print, it is available again in limited quantity. The original 1975 printing, 748 pages, hardcover with dust jacket. Mint condition. Anyone interested in this company, the PRR or Pennsylvania railroad history in general will be interested in this well researched reference work. Price is $36 and that price includes postage. Dan Allen, PO Box 917, Marlton, NJ 08053-0917. (609) 953 1387. <njsouthrr@aol.com>.

New RR Books

Press releases for new railroad oriented books appear here. They are not paid advertisements and carry no endorsement by the R&LHS. All items subject to available space and editorial decisions as to content. Photographs are limited to 7/8 inches high.

Uncle Sam's Locomotives: The USRA and the Nation's Railroads by Eugene L. Huddleston gives an in depth report of the problems and successes of the US Railroad Administration. The standardization had little effect on the war, but the railroads kept the engines and ordered more. 232 pages, 231 b&w photos, 8 tables, bibl., index. 8½ x 11 clothbound. $49.95. Indiana University Press, 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington IN 47404-3797. (812) 855-8817. Web: iupress.indiana.edu.

How We Got to Coney Island by Brian J. Cudahy is a different kind of story, one about how just getting to the amusements on the far shore of Brooklyn gave birth to the modern transportation network that made modern Brooklyn and New York City possible. 272 pages, b&w photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, index. 6 x 9 clothbound $45.00, paper $25.00. Fordham University Press, University Box L, Bronx NY 10458.

In History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, eminent railroad historian Maury Klein provides a fascinating look at the L&N's responsibility in creating the Southern metropolises we know today. The book covers the L&N's role in establishing travel, manufacturing, industry, and businesses to develop whereever the company laid down rails. Updated for the last 30 years. 572 pages, b&w photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, index, 6 x 9, clothbound $45.00. The University Press of Kentucky, 663 S. Limestone St., Lexington KY 45508-4008.

TRADING POST Extra

Baldwin Locomotive Works’ erecting card number 74 was drawn for a 4-4-0, class 8-16 C, and the same card was used for a considerable number of engines of this class. This card shows the front window on the engineer’s side of the cab as an odd shape; vertical sides with the top and bottom being 180 degree arcs. This drawing is unusual as it seems to indicate that the depiction was a window, showing multiple concentric lines, with a cross member at the middle. If we are to believe the Class sheet it may have been for Camden, Gloucester and Mount Ephraim, 8-16 C I listed as delivered June 1974. Can any member verify that this engine was built with the curious and probably quite expensive window, and the identity of any others that may have had cabs of this style? Wayne Lincoln, 1871 Park Drive, Los Angeles CA 90026.

Midwest Railroader and Locomotive Roster Journal: Publication rights for sale, along with inventory of 1,000 copies of 94 issues published between 1957 and 1974, including cumulative index. All offers will be considered. Clayton Hallmark, 610 NW Lyman Rd. #310, Topeka KS 66608, (785) 357-7824
.<clayhallmark@earthlink.net>.

Newly-restored Santa Fe RPO car #74 (Pullman, 1927) had its inaugural run and 75th “birthday” on November 23, 2002, on a special excursion from Campo, California, to Tecate, Mexico, sponsored by the San Diego Railroad Museum. Sacks of mail were caught “on the fly” from a mail crane installed at the Campo depot. The RPO catcher arm was artfully wielded by retired RPO clerk Herbert G. Kehr, who purchased the car for the Museum a dozen years ago, and helped fund its restoration. It took nearly ten years to lovingly restore the car. This effort was spearheaded by Museum restoration superintendent (and R&LHS member) Ted Komweibel. Photos of the car and its historic run may be seen on the Museum’s web site: <www.sdrm.org>.

Two different souvenir cachets were created for the inaugural run. One design features a photo of mail being caught on the fly; the second features a line drawing of an RPO car. For each design, there is a choice of five stamps from the classic locomotives series: Daylight; Hiawatha; Super Chief; Congressional; and 20th Century Limited. Each cachet is canceled with a unique and authentic RPO cancellation specially created by the USPS for this event. Cachets may be ordered from the San Diego Railroad Museum, 1050 Kettner Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101. Cost is $3.24 for one, $5.39 for two cachets. Specify your choices; order one or all ten. Please include a LSAE. Proceeds support future restoration projects.

The R&LHS Internet Forum
by Adrian Ettlinger

R&LHS is starting up an E-mail mailing list to pass news to members via that medium. If you have E-mail, and are not on the list, and would like to be, please send your E-mail address to the webmaster,
<aettlinger@worldnet.att.net>. There is also a list to which members can post messages to be sent to the other members on the list. This is for R&LHS members only, and you cannot join up on your own; the webmaster must either add you directly or invite you. We are expecting this to become an exciting new way to participate in R&LHS activity.

The Internet Discussion Group which was started in December, 2002, began to be actively used on December 13. Through January 1, a total of 129 messages had been posted by participants. While many of these were queries or comments about the group itself, a total of 68 can be said to be substantive about railroad, research, or technical questions. Signs are good that this is going to become a very useful resource for those members who wish to participate. So far, most inquiries have received helpful replies from knowledgeable people.

It is planned and hoped that in the future, one of the fruits of this endeavor will be the creation of a major on-line research database to be added to our website through the cooperative efforts of the membership. This was, in fact, the major initial purpose for which it was established. Such a feature, when added to the website, will be accessible on a “members only” basis. Another thought is the possible creation of some Internet-based “Special Interest Groups”, from among the membership. One such group, currently in the discussion stage, would relate to Preservation.

There are approximately 650 subscribers to the list at present. If you wish to subscribe, send your request to <aettlinger@worldnet.att.net> the “group owner.” This facility is not open to the general public, and you can join only if added or invited by the “owner.” The mailing list is managed as a “Yahoo Group.”