Bridge Line Historical Society Bulletin Vol. 13, Numbers 7-9, 2003 July-September

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Volume 1

The Timetable

Bridge Line Historical Society
October 25 - Annual Meeting and
Banquet, JeRon’s Restaurant, Ballston
Spa, NY.

Amherst Railway Society
3rd Tue. of month exc. Dec/Feb/Jul/Aug at
Amherst Mass. Regional Jr. H.S.; 413-
436-0242 or amherstrail.org for info.

Boston & Maine RHS
2nd Sat. of month, 3:30 p.m., Boott Mills
Theater, Mogan Center, French St., Low-
ell, MA.

Empire State Passenger Association
bbecker@albanyce.ce for details

Aug 2 - N - 4 p.m. - Union Station, Utica

Oct 4 - Rensselaer, location TBA

Nov 22 - Schenectady, location TBA

Jan 10 - Schenectady, location TBA.

Mar 6 - Schenectady; Annual Meeting.

Fonda Johnstown & Gloversville RHA.
Last Wed. of month, 7 p.m., Gloversville
Library, Gloversville, NY.

Gulf Curve NRHS
Meetings are first Monday of month except
Jul. - Aug., 7:30 p.m., Little Falls Public
Library, Little Falls, NY.

Hudson Valley RRS
2nd Mon. of month,. 7:30 p.m., former
NYC RR station, Hyde Park, NY.

Leatherstocking RHS
3rd Saturday of month, 5:00 p.m, at Mil-
ford, NY C&CV depot. Web: LRHS.com

Southern Tier RRE
2nd Tue. of month, 7:30 p.m., Foundry
Plaza Branch of Broome County Library,
Main St., Binghamton, NY.

Susquehanna Valley RHS
Second Thu. of month ex. Jul. - Aug.,
7:30 p.m., Vestal Library, Vestal, NY.

Utica & Mohawk Valley NRHS
uticarometrains.org
Aug ? - Annual picnic; date and location
TBA.
Sep 12 - Monthly meeting, Zion Lutheran
Church, Burrstone Road, New Hartford,
NY. Program TBA.

Show Time! (other events)
None noted at this time.

CPR Police
If you see dangerous conditions on the
property, or need to contact the D&H
police for legitimate reasons, the number to
call is 800-716-9132, If you have a poten-
tial rail customer, Sales/Marketing can be
reached at 518-383-7287.

CSX Police
In the same way, if you see dangerous
conditions on CSX property, or need to
contact CSX police for legitimate reasons,
the number to call is 800-232-0144.

Statement of Purpose

While the purpose of our Bulletin is as
a historical publication dedicated to the
D&H, we do include material related to
other railroads. Under no circumstances
are D&H news, pictures or articles exclud-
ed ftom the Bulletin to make room for non-
D&H material. Non-D&H items are in-
cluded because (1) many of our readers, in
addition to being D&H fans, are also inter-
ested in other railroads; (2) if an individual
were to subscribe to just one railroad maga-
zine (and we hope it would be this one!),
he or she will appreciate good coverage of
other area railroads; (3) CP/SL&H/D&H
does not exist in a vacuum and must inter-
act with other railroads; and (4) by includ-
ing such material, we hope to increase our
membership (and keep costs low).

If you know of any other group with
rail-oriented or special events you would
like us to mention, have them contact us
with the details, allowing sufficient time for
us to publicize the event. All we ask is
that if we promote and help a group, it
should reasonably do the same for us.
Amazingly, there are groups that won’t do
this!

Bulletin Sales Outlets
The following locations carry the Bulle-
tin for sale to the railfan. community. If
you know of other establishments which
you think would be appropriate places for
Bulletin sales, please have them contact us.

BLHS Bulletin - july 2003

ex Amtrak Albany-Rensselaer station (East
Street, Rensselaer, NY)

t Berkshire Hills Hobby Supply (93 Mai
Street, Canaan, CT) :

«= Central Hobby Supply (102 Walter
Drive, Syracuse, NY)

ux JP’s Trains & Hobbies (277 Troy-Sche-
nectady Road, Latham, NY)

ue Model Railway Station (49: Mohawk
Avenue, Scotia, NY).

te Mohawk Valley’ Railroad (2037 Ham-
burg Street, Schenectady, NY)

es Tucker’s Hobbies (8 Bacon Street,
Warren, MA)

es Upper Hudson River Railroad (depot,
North Creek, NY)

Smart approach
your next trip —

GO PULLMAN

COMFORTABLE, CONVENIENT AND SAFE.

BLHS News and Views
by Barb and Jim Bachorz

August Bulletin

As was the case last year, the August
Bulletin will be a “white flags” issue. It
will be done by President Chris Shepherd,
giving your editor, publisher, and colum-
nists the month off. See you in September.

Annual Banquet

This year’s annual banquet will be held
on Saturday, October 25 at JeRon’s Restau-
rant and Banquet House in Ballston Spa,
New York.

Details will be in the September issue,
along with a reservation flyer.

Albany Main update (from Doug Lezette)
On May 21, 2003, the Canadian Pacific

Railway, doing business as the D&H,

petitioned the Surface Transportation Board

to abandon the Voorheesville Running

Track (also known as Albany Main) be-

tween milepost 1.8 in Albany and milepost

10.9 in Voorheesville. The railroad sup-

ported this request with dozens of docu-

ments in an attempt to prove the abandon-
ment will not adversely affect the environ-
ment or local transportation needs,

The railroad said:

¢ The abandonment would have “no
effects” on local transportation systems,
either rail or highway.

* Public health and safety would be im-
proved through the elimination of all
grade crossings along the line.

Several agencies weighed on the aban-
donment:

° Albany County views the abandonment
as “an opportunity for conversion of
this currently underutilized line into a
viable, alternative transportation or
recreational use.”

© Capital District Regional Planning
Commission said “the 9+ mile corridor
will serve as an excellent recreational
trail...”

© Capital District Transportation Com-
mittee feels the “corridor should be
kept intact as an opportunity exists to
create a seamless recreational trail...”

Support for saving the railroad came
from only one source: Thomas Coates,
chair of the Voorheesville Zoning Board of
Appeals, who suggested the route be pre-
served for future commuter service, noting
that in 1962, D&H train 208 left Albany at
4:15 p.m. and arrived Voorheesville at
4:34 p.m., an 18 minute trip compared to
today’s highway commute of 45 minutes.
He also mentioned the $100 million New
Jersey is spending to restore a 23-mile
commuter line abandoned in the 1980's.

In a public notice published in the
Times-Union on 3/28/03, the D&H noted
that “Appropriate offers of financial assis-
tance to continue rail service can be filed
with the (Surface Transportation) Board.”
No such offers were included in the STB
filing.

However, John Riegel, of Selkirk’s
John W. Riegel and Sons, submitted a
letter indicating, “we are very much inter-
ested in this branch”, Riegel’s Upper
Hudson River Railroad operates a scenic
train over a portion of former D&H
Adirondack Branch from North Creek, NY.

No time frame for the STB’s ruling was
mentioned, but it was clear CP/D&H has
been preparing the case for abandonment
since at least March. By the way, all the
documents listed the filing railroad as the
“Delaware & Hudson Railway, d.b.a.
Canadian Pacific Railway”. Thus, the
D&H name lives on, even if the east end of
Albany Main will not.

Luncheon review (from Robert A. Lowe)

On Saturday, May 31, 58 BLHS mem-
bers and guests, plus eight budding mem-
bers, gathered for our Spring Luncheon at
Brooks Bar-B-Que in Oneonta, NY. We
had a full meal of delicious barbecued
chicken, barbecued ribs, sliced barbecued
roast beef, plus cole slaw, macaroni salad,
and potato salad. The literal topping was a
make-your-own ice cream sundae.

While we were disappointed with the
continuing rain (remember the snow last
year?) and some missed a speaker and/or
program, we all certainly. enjoyed the fel-
lowship around the tables and sharing
experiences about our favorite railroad (and
perhaps others). .

Some souls took advantage of the 2
p.m. train ride on the Cooperstown &
Charlotte Valley Railroad. We made the
afternoon a very pleasant one.

While we tried to get a speaker, we
failed because some confused it with Memo-
rial Day weekend, while others were un-
available. We did not realize that the
building we were using had been newly
outfitted with blinds, which would have
made a slide program possible (and the
lack of which hampered our last slide pro-
gram there). Also, we are thinking of
returning to Brooks’ every two years, since

BLHS Bulletin - July 2003

so many members mentioned how delighted
they are with the location and food.

I’m under the impression that people
who rode the train did not get the discount
mentioned. It was only $1 and I am sorry.
Next time I'll get it in writing...BB

Taking the hook

Readers of this newsletter know we
have a long-standing tradition of annual
April Fool’s articles, all written by various
members as the mood strikes us. Almost
all have run under the byline of Prof. Eno
Lirpa (which is April One spelled back-
ward).

We have run drawings of paint jobs for
lightning-stripe D&H SD70’s, run a won-
derful builder’s diagram of the D&H’s only
Garrett-type locomotive, discovered D&H
steam engines in various places around the
country, described how the D&H designed
the Pennsy’s GG1 electric locomotive,
described how the D&H shipped black
market cannon from Watervliet to Montreal
in pre-WW2 days, discovered the revival of
big steam on a nearby railroad, and even
put Turboliners in places they clearly did
not go (which was the subject of this year’s
special).

The results have been...well, very nice
indeed. We have “hauled in” many fish,
including other newsletter editors, some
glossy paper railroad magazines, at least
one CP/D&H police officer (who grabbed
his camera and headed for Colonie, only to
stop short and pull over with a big grin on
his face), a television station in New Jer-
sey, and reportedly even a couple of CP
Rail headquarters types. And there were,
of course, some members, who we won’t
embarrass by mentioning here.

August publications such as the Utica &
Mohawk Valley NRHS’s Tower Topics
have on occasion happily picked up and
reprinted some of the articles (being careful
to point out they are hoaxes), so their
editors are enjoying the “hook” as much as
we are.

We are delighted to report that this
year’s Eno Lirpa special has roped in a
new crop of railroad newsletters,.some of
which not only picked up the article and

continued on page 4
Train Photography 101

by Ken Freeman

Hello all, I’m back again. I’m sure
someone out there missed me, and I thank
whomever that is.

Truth is, I really haven’t had anything
to write about, and I’m still breaking in my
ew camera bodies and lenses after the
disaster of last fall. Almost everything has
been replaced, again with help from some
careful shopping.

The testing phase has given me a
chance to again work with Kodak’s
T400CN black and white film.. I really do
like this stuff, and I’m looking forward to
the chance to try some enlargements from
the negatives. However, the conversion of
a room in my teeny house to a darkroom is

“taking longer than I anticipated, due to the
accumulation of ‘about 15 years of
“junque” ,

One of the things I like'to do is buy up
black and white negatives of trains, mainly
of engines and rolling stock I’m interested
in doing as models some day. A friend of
mine acquired a collection of negatives last
winter, including a large quantity of D&H,
from a well-known. railfan photographer
from the New York area. I picked up
some really good stuff, all medium format,
of C628’s, a nice shot of. C420 401, and
one shot of a PA. There’s a lot left, but
my wallet was thin at the moment, so I
passed on some other stuff. If anyone is
interested in other D&H negatives, contact
me, and I'll put you in touch with him.

Now, I’m sure some of you are won-
dering what to pay for black and white
negatives. My answer is that it all de-
pends. 35mm negatives tend to be lower in
price than a medium format.

I did a quick survey of eBay this week,
spurred on by a comment last month from
Mad Dog and D&H negatives, and there
were plenty. Some went for a high of
$14.50 for four 35mm’s, including one of
a PA; an RS3 in medium format went for
$8.39. The average was $4.99 for medium
formats, mostly 2% by 2%. So there
doesn’t seem to be any huge feeding fren-

zy, although I do recall seeing a slide of a
tugboat, C&O I think, that went for some-
thing like $125 last fall.

And I now have .one last shocking
announcement. I’ve gone digital! Well,
sort of. A friend of mine told me of an
on-line computer equipment site that had
digital cameras for low bucks.

Interesting name for the company, too:
Computer Geeks (computergeeks.com).
Sounds like a place out Illustrious Pub™
would haunt. Actually, it reminds me a lot
of the old Egghead site that went out of
business a couple years ago. Same sort of
business model, too, specializing in close-
outs, discontinued products, and factory
refurbished items. That’s okay with me, if
the price is right.

The one I bought was a Fuji 1.3 mega-
pixel model, not real high tech or anything,
but it does have a macro setting and a 2x
zoom, so closeups should be possible. I’ve
been looking for something to use so that I
can sell some.of my aforementioned accu-
mulation of junque on eBay.

T’ve only had the camera two days
now, so I’m still on the bottom of the
learning curve. It was a factory re-
furbished unit, came with only an 8 mb
memory stick, but they also sold extra
memory for a decent price. When the dust
had settled, I'd bought the camera and
memory for less than $80. The only blivet
was when I opened the manual. It was
printed in French! But it has a pretty good
on screen menu system, all in English, so
I was able, with the help of a friend, to
muddle through and take my first pictures
with it last night, Works pretty good, so
far. We'll see how the software is this
weekend.

So, that’s it for this month. It’s 9:25
a.m, on Friday, June 6. To all the WWII
vets in the audience, I say thanks for your
efforts. And the rest of you, enjoy the
summer, help support our economy by
buying film, and taking pictures. Just be
careful where you go.

Until next time...

Dreaded publisher's retort: Your friend did
not lead you astray, I’ve known about
Computer Geeks for years; in fact, a good
deal of the computer stuff we purchase
(using CEIF funding) is from Computer
Geeks. Other favorite sites also have
strange names: Package2You, Aberdeen,
HiTech Cafe, Googlegear, and C-Gate...JB

DRI ASH MIS aN HSN MU-Bao-HLK-DAWIMAS-DAE- HES DAIS

BLHS News and Views from page 3

reprinted it as “real”, but also gussied it up
and added comments, giving it unintended
(by us) local color.

BLHS Bulletin - July 2003

Exchange Editor Doug Barron has been
working overtime, writing letters to those
publications we “suckered”, pointed out to
them what should have been obvious: they
were “had”.

So will we do it again next year and
run the chance of embarrassing others?
Yes!!!

Sustaining

Sustaining members for 2003: Matt
Adams; Roy & Jerolyn Allen; Carl Belke;
Ashleigh Chamberlain; Joe & Charlotte
Costello; Wally & Monica Day; William &
Mary Denale; Geoff Dunn; Robert Gang-
wish; Tom & Arleen Gillen; Richard Ham-
bly; Richard Hooker; Art & Sandy Jack-
son; Robert Kardas; Robert Kolankoski;
Bill & Barbara Larkin; Bruce Leemann;
Warren Martin; Bill McColl; Andrew &
Joan McCulloch; Jeese & Sandra Mecker;
Bob & Dora Moore; Tom Moran; Peter
Paulson; Michael Prosch; Walter & Karine
Rich; Ralph & Kimberly Roba; John Foord
Sherman; Ed Small; Edward P. Street;
Upper Hudson River Railroad; H.M. Baird
Voorhis; Steve Wasby; James. Welling;
Tony White; Payson & Linda Wild; Robert
Willett; Jay Winn; and Al Zubal.

Directors/officers/columnists e-addresses:

Barb.Bachorz: editor@bridge-line.org

Jim Bachorz: publisher@bridge-line.org

Doug Barron: dbarron62@aol.com

Gene Corsale: ecorsall@nycap.tr.com

Frank Doherty: francismillie@cs.com

Joe Durham: jdalco@vermontel.net

Ken Freeman: kfreemal @rochester.rr.com

Neil Hunter: neilh@connexus.net.au

Len Kilian: eleskay518@aol.com

Andy Kirk; ask9@earthlink.net

Bill Kozel: madogbill@yahoo.com

Bob Lowe: rlowe@rbscc.org

Tom McEntee: railfan.thomas
@worldnet.att.net

John Milczarek; mrrjudge@aol.com

Bob Moore: dmoore4@rochester.rr.com

Jim Odell: jeodell@earthlink.net

Frank Peragine: fperagine@cs.com

Pete Rankin: prankin132@hotmail.com

Dave Roberts: robertsrs36@yahoo.com

Eric Schadow: u23b_2311@yahoo.com

Gary Schermerhorn: bluemac@
mhonline.net

John Shaw: jashaw@birch.net

Chris Shepherd: ch952@bfn.org

Dick Silber: hocustom@aol.com

Rev. Walter Smith: revwf@northnet.org

Dean Splittgerber: dsplittgerber_railfan
@yahoo.com

Steve Wagner: swagner@law.harvard.edu

David Wallace: emitnikcab@hotmail.com

Scott Whitney: sjwhitney@adelphia.net

Jack Wright: sv_ry@yahoo.com

‘a7 146-0 BA- AS-D- MUS. Dag- T-ALL
7
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by Gary R. Schermerhorn

weekend,

At first, the inclement rainy weather
threatened my plans to get trackside on the
A&S, but as is typical in the Northeast,
weather can suddenly change (usually

More Brooker Hollow blues

This spring I was determined to make
a concentrated effort to revisit and re-shoot
my old haunt on the D&H Albany & Sus-
quehanna Division line between Delanson
(CPF499) and Binghamton (CPF611).

Two consecutive weekends in early
May found me trackside on the D&H. I
had really no idea what to expect on either
venture. Usually I prepare for the worst
case scenario in both weather and timing.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I hit
unexpected gold on both trips!

The first trip was a spontaneous last-
minute decision to head to Delanson. I had
become burned out on CSXT’s River Line
and Setkirk Yard. It was a beautiful late
spring morning in the Helderbergs on
Sunday, May 4, as I cruised south on NY
Route 7.

A possible railroad-oriented squawk
erupted from the scanner sent me diving off
Route 7 to Young’s Road, only to run into
northbound NS intermodal train 168 com-
ing out of CPF503. Incredibly, instead of
the usual same old-same old pair of black
and white NS GE Dash 9 “skulls” were
two blue former Conrail EMD’s, SD60M
6781 and a 5400-series SD50. A real catch
by normal standards. The all-blue 168
continued to storm north through Delanson
and CPF499 towards Mohawk Yard, where
it would drop its Ayer cut at Elnora,
CPF475, before terminating at Kenwood
Yard in Albany.

I decided to wait around, and was re-
warded about 45 minutes later with coun-
terpart southbound NS train 169. Even
more wild was that this train was also led
by blue former Conrail SD601 6753 and NS
SD70M 2507 (in black), Someone pinch

me, I must be dreaming! Better
yet, the 169 was going to meet a
northbound train 413, so I relo-
cated to Gage Road near the
MP500 gantry signals.

A few more warm weather
train watchers appeared as the
413 came into my viewfinder,
Ted by candy red Soo SD60 6056
and CP SD40-2’s 5578-5879-
6001, with a relatively small
Sunday train. Not knowing
when I would catch a Conrail
EMD on point on the 169 again,
I gave chase to Brooker Hollow
Road in East Worcester before
pulling the plug due to other
obligations.

Play it again, Sam!

Impressed with the spring-
time foliage in the Schoharie and
Susquehanna Valleys, I made a
return trip to East Worcester and
its Brooker Hollow Road bridge
to try my luck the following

negatively). It appeared that both the
weather gods and the train gods were going
to be on my side this Saturday, though; I
could see as I rushed down 188 to the East
Worcester exit that the CPF527 (west)
gantry signal was blocked solid red for a
southbound. Either that, or something had
just passed north or south.

Upon arrival at Brooker Hollow Road,
I could see the (east) signal was also
blocked for a northbound. At 0935 hrs, I
heard distinctive Canadian horns as a train
rolled through the town of Worcester;
soon, three sharp “redbird” CP SD’s
roared into view in the gorgeous low light,
led by dual-flag 5662. The daily
Binghamton to Saratoga (with drop offs at
Mohawk) 413 made a dramatic shot with
the white blossoms budding on the foliage
and the Schoharie hills in the background.
The light 34-car 413 squeaked to a halt at
CPF526 and waited a good 50 minutes for
a heavy 98-car Train 252 to come off
Richmondville Summit. The 252 (aka 214,
aka 556) barely squeezed its 6600 ft. train
into the controlled siding to allow the much
lighter 413 to continue northeast for Mo-
hawk. Apparently the CP Dispatcher was
going to hold the 252 at CPF527 for anoth-
er northbound, no doubt the 168, apparent-
ly running early today as well. Not wish-
ing to wait further at my perch on the old
iron bridge, I sped off to flush out the
northbound.

I didn’t have to drive far to find the
next train. By Schenevus, shadowing the

BLHS Bulletin - July 2003

line on Route 7, my trusty Bearcat picked
up the oncoming EOT squeal from the 168.
I manage to make it to the I88 connector
and get out for an overhead bridge shot as
the intermodal NS train roared out of the
deep valley, led by an interesting all-blue
C40-8W with no markings or lettering,
save the numbers on the cab side. Trailing
the bare blue 8466 (I’m guessing a painted-
over former LMS unit) was a more tradi-
tional 9300-series “skull” NS GE Dash 9,
followed by a big train of EMP containers
and stacks, as well as assorted trailers on
flats.

What was nice about being on the
connector was that it allowed me to jump
on 188 and safely chase the 168 north,
bypassing the village of Worcester. Get-
ting off at the East Worcester exit, I was
able to easily (but not too slowly) reach
Brooker Hollow Road ahead of the train,
and get in position for a last motordrive

finally allowed to rumble out of its slumber
and out to the main. Four units powered
today’s big freight, led by dual flag redbird
SD40-2 5656, red/white Soo 6611, CP
“Pacman” 6050, and trailing redbird dual
flag 5995. I was thus able to get that
classic late morning southbound shot off
Brooker Hollow Road, showing a real live
CP/D&H drag coming off Richmondville
Summit for the Susquehanna Valley.

The Saturday morning, with its three
trains and the shots resulting from them,
seems to make up for the pain, frustration
and suffering endured at this same location
last fall. That was a not-so-great ordeal of
no-show delayed trains and evil grinning
“skull” GE Dash 9’s under cold grey loom-
ing skies. I guess once again patience and
persistence are the key goals in this pursuit.

At this time, it certainly doesn’t appear
that there are any worries about CP Rail
GE Dash 9’s taking over motive power
assignments on the D&H. Nevertheless, I
wouldn’t take anything for granted, and
enjoy those big lashups of EMD -2 power
while the traffic is up and the pickings
good,

Back to the chase

Giving chase to the big 252, I noticed
on this particular train a lack of “tagging”
graffiti normally seen on today’s main line
consists. It was a definite stark contrast to
the River Line trains on CSXT, which
often resemble rolling billboards of urban
blight between Selkirk and New Jersey.
Maybe it’s too cold in Canada for effective
spray painting???

A few more notes
A couple more notes. I ran into a
southbound 514 on the Colonie Main with
continued on page 7
by Robert A. Moore

The rules: All members may submit
ads. Ads are due at least two days before
the first Saturday of the month. Your ad
will run for three successive months, or
until you inform this columnist that your ad
has been successful, or that you’ve given
up. And remember, send your ad or notice
to cease to the street address or e-mail ad-
dress below. Do not send Swap Shop ads
to the Publications Office! We will do our
best to honor any’ special requests.

A little business trickling in

It may be that the rainy weather is
keeping folks in their basements and attics
more often this springtime. We have one
new ad and a price reduction in another
this month. Check these ads carefully!

Wanted: HO Athearn passenger cars, NYC
in the 1800 series, built up or kits. John
W. Gamble, 5413 Gilling Road, Richmond,
VA 23234; tel. 804-275-5022.

For sale: D&H A-B-A “Sharks” in O-
gauge, by Williams, mint, boxed (compati-
ble with Lionel/MTH), two motors and
horn. $350 (free UPS S&H). Dick Kuehn-
emund, 3007 Phyllis Dr., Endwell, NY
13760; e-mail: dkuehnem@stny.rr.com
(0603)

For sale: Lionel #38013 D&H Challenger
4-6-6-4 with TMCC (’01 issue), mint, in
sealed box. $795 (free UPS S&H). Dick
Kuehnemund, 3007 Phyllis Dr., Endwell,
NY 113760, e-mail dkuehnem@stny.rr.
com (0603)

For sale: Steam locomotive bell. Brass bell
measures 16 inches diameter at the bottom.
Cast iron cradle is intact. This has been in

my collection for about 30 years and is
now located in Saratoga Springs, NY. If
interested, please contact Richard O. Ai-
chele, tel. 518-581-9623, e-mail

rottoa@inforworks.com for more informa-
(0603

tion.

lave list of pre-war “OO” trains
and parts. Send SASE or e-mail for list.
Dick Kuehnemund, 3007 Phyllis Dr.,
Endwell, NY 13760; e-mail dkuehnem@
(0603)

cars. Con-Cor smooth-side diner #42, IHC
corrugated coach #204 “Lake George”, and
observation “Champlain”. Never used, ‘in
original boxes, $10 each ppd. E-mail:
charlief@sisna.com (0503)

Wanted: GM EMD builder plates from
D&H 801, 802 and 803 SD45 locomotives
with SN’s 32462, 31694 and 31695. Tim
Robinson, telephone 217-442-4908, e-mail
tkatc@advancenet.net (0303)

For sale: Walthers GP15 with dynamic
brake, unpainted. Has Lifelike Proto 2000
flywheel-powered chassis. $40 plus $5
shipping. Craig Fosdick, phone 518-583-
7653; ask for Clarence if Craig not avail-
able.

cars. New Haven coach and combine,
New York Central Pullman cars, all as-
sembled. Jim Hurley, 17 Babbitt Ct.,

Elmsford, NY 10523; tel. 914-592-5399, e-
(0303)

mail jimh721@hotmail.com
Back in production: E5a’s 1111 and 1112
available soon. BLW by Creative Castings
is producing these models with the permis-
sion of David Grover of Bradford Locomo-
tive Works. There is a small run near
completion now. For more information,
call 570-676-9946 or e-mail ruth18426@
yahoo.com (0103)

For sale: Doug Lezette’s book, “D&H
Passenger Trains, the Final Decade”.
Signed copies available on request. 150+
color photos, 72 pg. $24.95 plus $4 S&H;
NYS res, add 7% tax. Check or M.O.
payable to: Final Decade, PO Box 9069,
Schenectady, NY 12309. Book review at
finaldecade.com. Please note there are
less than 100 copies left. (0103)

For sale: 256mb SDRAM DIMM (memory
modules), PC133, 168 pin; by H-P, fits
most PC’s. $27 ea. includes S&H. Jim
Bachorz, 2476 Whitehall Ct., Schenectady,
NY 12309; tel. 518-374-9548; e-mail
jbachorz@hotmail.com (0603)

BLHS Bulletin - July 2003

Welcome to our newest columnist

Please allow me to ad my welcome to
our newest columnist, Frank Peragine.
I’ve not met Frank, but he must be a very
brave man to tackle the topic of technology
related to railroading. As a “techie” my-
self, I’m very much aware that technology
has become pervasive in all aspects of our
world, and moves ever forward at a blind-
ing pace, It is more than a full-time job
trying to keep up with the pace. Go to it,
Frank!

Are you too late?

The July issue of Railroad Model
Craftsman has an extensive and highly
positive review of Doug Lezette’s book,
“D&H Passenger Trains, the Final De-
cade”. I had e-mail from Doug a while
back indicating that his supply of copies of
the book was starting to run low. Doug’s
ad with all the important information is
shown above.

If you have intentions of purchasing a
copy, you had better move out real soon.
You may already be too late.

The book review noted above was
written by Chris D’Amato, one of the
associate editors of the magazine. As part
of the review, Chris relates the story of a
trip he and a friend made from New York
City to Albany on the Adirondack in 1974.
His story is one more shining example of
what a great pleasure it was to be on or
around the D&H in that time frame. I will
not quote his story here, nor will I attempt
to paraphrase it in any way. I will only
give credit where I believe a lot of credit is
due with one of my favorite tag lines:
“Thanks, Bruce”.

And then there was one

There are many model railroaders and
many fine model railroad layouts all across
this country and throughout the rest of the
world, The Rochester, New York area
seems to have a greater-than-average densi-
ty of both. There is one large model rail-
road club in the city which has been in
existence for at least 50 years. There are
also a number of informal “round robin”
groups that travel to one another’s homes
to observe and/or operate the individual’s
layout.

This columnist has been a member of a
small group of this nature for more than
ten years. There are five of us in the
“core” group, and usually one or two
others join us as we move from house to
house. The added members are not neces-
sarily the same folks at each meeting.

Until about five years ago, cach of the
core five had an established, operating
layout. Some of us experimented with
command control before DCC was devel-
oped, while others stayed with standard DC

continued on page 7
The Mail Car

Mail from our favorite
source - our readers!

Super Steel’s Turboliner
from John J. Collins

I rode the newly-rebuilt Turboliner out
of Albany-Rensselaer on May 6, as the
7:55 a.m. southbound. I was in business
class, and it was a terrible trip.

The seat was hard and I could not get
comfortable in it. The reading light —
immovable - was focused in my eyes and
not on my newspaper. But more to the
point, this retired Navy Commander damn
near got seasick from the bouncing and the
rolling. I don’t know how many degrees of
arc we rolled through; it was easily 20
degrees either side of top dead center, for
a 40 degree arc. Snap rolls.

The ride was so bouncy I found myself
inadvertently reaching for a seat belt sever-
al times. A trip to the “head” was a true
E-ticket, as we used to say at Disneyland.
It was a miserable trip. Fortunately, the
4:30 northbound out of NYC Penn Station
was a real train,

I went on to the Amtrak web site and,
since I am one of their “frequent flyers”,
sent them an e-mail about the train. To
their credit, they called me and J had a
long conversation with Customer Relations
about the trip and the equipment. Although
I did not ask for it, they even sent me a
$16 certificate/credit for the- business class
tariff.

Personally, I will do all I-can to avoid
that turboliner in the future. I usually
make my reservations by the Amtrak web
site in advance, but I think T’ll use the
counter in the future to make sure I am
not stuck with a business class toll, if that
is the equipment which rolls - or bounces -
in that day to A-R. If I have to take the
turbo train, I'll stake my life in coach.
Perhaps there will be more things to hold
on to ~ like the poor soul suffering next to
me.
And I don’t think it’s the CSX road
bed. While the R-O-W can always be im-
proved, the “standard” Amtrak equipment
du jour makes the trip in good order. That
turboliner is just too light and with a poorly

engineered undercarriage. And with all the
severe rolling, probably unsafe. I told
Amtrak that. On board personnel con-
firmed my opinions. I did not tell Amtrak
that, however.

And Bob Lowe, thanks for keeping the
twin towers in the column header.

This Just In...
from Jim Bachorz

According to the May 2003 issue of
Trains magazine (page 15): “The Vermont-
er connects St. Albans, Montpelier, Bel-
lows Falls and Bennington with New York
[City] via Springfield, Mass. and Connecti-
cut points. The Ethan Allen links Rutland
with Albany and New York City.”

The last I knew, the Vermonter doesn’t
come within 50 miles of Bennington. But,
of course, the national mags don’t know
that, even if we do.

BRIE AHA DAU E-Dan- MEA AI-PRIE-WAT-DAEE ML DUL HLS

Swap Shop from page 6

control. Most of us had some sort of
relatively serious means of controlling
operation, usually a car card system.

About five years ago, two of us moved
to different homes within the area over a
short period of time. Neither of us has yet
to establish an operating layout. This left
us with only three members of the group
who could host an operating session.
Meetings of the group became less fre-
quent.

During the past couple of years, we
have met quite infrequently, especially if
one of the layouts. was being subject to
major reconstruction or addition. Last fall,
a third member of the core group moved to
a new home and a modular layout moved
with the owner. Now there were two lay-
outs left intact.

Now each time the remaining two
members with layouts called for an operat-
ing night, it became an event not to be
missed! Such an evening took place just a
few weeks ago. We had not operated this
layout in some time, since the owner was
involved in an extensive scenery construc-
tion project. As we arrived we were greet-
ed by a huge expanse of new scenery, and
some very bad news! This layout is housed
in the basement of an older home on a
main thoroughfare in a suburb of Roches-
ter.. Some enterprise is interested in build-
ing a senior living complex on the land
occupied by this and several neighboring
houses. The offer to purchase was not to
be refused. And now there will be one!

On that note, we'll call it quits for this
month. May the force be with you and
yours, your home and your layout.

etn DATE WIS-pSH-HIS-NI-AIS-DaH-ES-DAnL HABA LS

BLHS Bulletin.- July 2003

At the Signal from page 5

CP redbirds 5677-5698 and GP38-2 7307
around 10:40 a.m. on May. 17.’ The 514
had a big train of well over 70 cars as it
rumbled past JA in Waterford, heading for
Kenwood Yard. This and the northbound
515 (which returns north in mid to late
afternoon hours) are fairly dependable day-
light moves on the historic Colonie Main.
Power can be predictable, as the crews tend
to sometimes rotate the same power set be-
tween Saratoga and Kenwood for weeks at
atime. That could be a good thing if they
decided, for example, to rotate back to
back lightning-stripe GP38-2’s (7304-7303)
or a pair of “red barn” SD40-2F’s, etc.

A shocker

T actually shot my first moving daylight
Guilford train in the Capital Region in
about 7 or 8 months, with a recrewéed
EDRJ with ST SD26 621 and ex-CN GP40-
2L 500 on the 10-mile Rotterdam Branch
May 17. I caught it near CPF477, Waite
Road in Crescent, and then followed it
through Glenville and Scotia to Route 5S in
Rotterdam Junction. Daylight activity on
the former B&M Fitchburg Line continues
to be elusive at best, but Mechanicville
continues to be a good place to hedge your
bets in capturing movements, or at least
hearing about it on the airwaves if your
scanner is on,

Member Doug Lezette recently posted
the sad news that CP has petitioned the
STB to abandon the D&H’s Voorheesville
Running Track part of the old Albany
Main, between MP1.8 in Albany and
MPI10.9 in Voorheesville. With the dia-
mond at VO. long gone, and expensive
bridge work due after damage along the
NormansKill, the line has been dormant for
quite some time, with many rumors of a
possible “second coming”. Several'Albany
area agencies are weighing options, and at
least one individual (John Riegel of J.R.
Riegel & Sons, which runs the Upper
Hudson River Railroad over part of the
former D&H Adirondack Branch) express-
ing interest.

This will be an ongoing story, and only
time will tell if we have a future commuter
line or a rails-to-trails bike path from this.
I believe local SU-11 stil] occasionally uses
the Delanson to Voorheesville Industrial
Park segment of the line through Altamont.

Thanks

Finally, thanks again for all the nice
comments and e-mails from readers out
there this spring. I hope everyone has a
safe and profitable sw

‘ban. Te -DAIE Da

N-MALE MS
eS

The Railroad Archaeologist
by Scott J. Whitney

D&H loco for sale

Anyone want to rescue a D&H Alco
$2? Winters Rail Service of Fort Collins,
NY has a bunch of South Buffalo Alco’s
that will be scrapped if nobody wants them.
Among these is unit number 103 (S2,
74346, 11/45), which is former D&H
3010. Now’s your chance to buy a piece

- of the D&H!

Photo info

Last month’s page 11 and 12 photos
from my collection didn’t have captions.
While I can’t provide dates, I can tell you
all that the page 11 shots were taken at
Mechanicville, NY in the: early 1950’s.
The top photo has two RS3’s on the east
leg of the wye, looking generally southeast
from the north side of the roundhouse.
The bottom photo is to the northwest from
the other side off the roundhouse. You can
just see the top of the water tank in the
bottom shot.

On page. 12-bottom, it is most likely
Colonie, taken below the massive coal
dock.

Thomas on the way

_. You folks with small kiddos might want
to contact the Green Mountain’s passenger
department (802-463-3069) and ‘get the
details on the “Day Out With Thomas”
event scheduled over two weekends in July.
Like all Thomas events, it is supposed to
be rather colorful and can inspire budding
rail enthusiasts.

Pass out the cigars, it’s a railroad
The final word has at last

distinguish the former CP and B&M seg-
ments from one another). The original
WACR will become. the Montpelier &
Barre Division.

Now that VRS is in control, work can
begin in earnest to bring in more traffic and
continue with service increases. Plans are
already in the works to entice more busi-
ness to the line and also increase service to
five days per week in each direction. I
think the future’s so bright that I’m going
to need shades.

Harvard vs. Yale

This past weekend I was away on a
passenger special to New London, CT for
the Yale/Harvard hull boat races. VRS has
provided the train for two years now,
reviving an age-old tradition started way
back in the Central Vermont Railway’s
(former owner of the current NECR line)
history.

The past couple of years have been
particularly unusual because of all the new
security details that the schools must go
through because the race course cuts across
part of the property of the U.S, Navy’s
submarine base in Groton, CT. The re-
quirements of such a course are that it be
in a straight line.

There are only two places in New
England where a_straight line run of four
miles can be achieved, the first.being the
Thames. River in New London, and the
second being Lake Winnepesaukee (where
the original Yale/Harvard regattas were
held). .

This year poor Yale fell to Harvard in
all three races, as Yale was out distanced
by Harvard by a long shot. Neither was a
match for the pacing VRS train of locomo-
tive CLP 306 and five GMRC coaches with
over 150 cheering race fans on board.
This year, GMRC’s cab control car 1317
got a rare workout, as it was used for
making the southward moves back to the
start lines of each race and final-return to
New London’s Union Station.

While in the station, it’s always an
interesting sight to see such vintage equip-
ment alongside the new high-tech Acela
trains.

SLAB DS LK-DATE-OLIS-DAH- I-A -LAS-DAHE-1315-DANE DLA DRIES

~ Black Flags

by Gene Corsale

This column’s purpose is to recog-
nize those CP/D&H ‘employees. who
have passed away. , Please write to me
at 8 Outlook Avenue; Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866 if you have information for
or regarding this column.

The BLHS has the sad duty to report
the following D&H employee and/or retiree
death(s):

Elizabeth Marie Hanes.

Mrs. Elizabeth Marie Hanes, 92, for-
merly of Fair Street, Schoharie and Colo-
nie, N.Y., died Thursday, May 8, 2003 at
the Eden Park Nursing Home in Cobleskill
where she had resided since May of 2002.

Mrs. Hanes worked as a telephone
operator. for the D&H Railroad.

Alice M. Murray

Alice M, Murray, 99, of Our Lady of
Hope Residence in Latham, N.Y. where
she resided since 1991, died Friday eve-
ning, May 16, 2003.

She retired in 1966 after 44 years as a
secretary with the D&H Railroad office in
Albany.

Earl A. Rowland

Earl A. Rowland, 82, of Whitney
Road, Colonie, N.Y., died Thursday, May
15, 2003 at the VA Medical Center in
Albany.

He worked for the D&H Railroad in
Oneonta for 10 years and was a member of
the Laborers Union Local -#94 in Albany.

aU AIF A AS DAH-WLIS-DAH-UENS-DAI-HLANS-Da EEDA

come down on the fate of the FIG. 1 Oo

railroad between White River

Junction and Newport, VT. = = aa a

Vermont. Rail System’s DELAWARE BKUDSON ae see

Washington County Railroad

has been selected to be full ° ero tg Oak

time operator of the entire “TENDER: AB Fitesox' GomeR: ALT

‘ A ck Bn Hie, cone 61, UNDA ES etre, ‘SHORE Sov

route. The operation will Bee BNE EHP eB th Fag Sehise Greet or nae Reon bee nal
it - OPE SH TERIOR OF REAR COAL. TS ZF RON To GREEN TACET,

offisially become the Wash Spore BRE AST iboaces MMB gt GENRES” tena

ington. County’s Connecticut Black cay SUA SRBC

River Division. This is com- is tates

prised of the Lyndonville and HIGHHGHTS,

Bradford subdivisions (which ta385.19d

BLHS Bulletin - July 2003

Railroad Tech
by Frank Peragine

More on Pulpwood cars in general

During 2/82 Tony saw D&H
16530, an ex-RDG 52' flatcar, spotted at
the siding by Lutz Feeds and loaded with
three ricks of softwood logs. (A rick is a

w it h logger's term for a stack or bundle of

hemlock being the wood.) The car had six pairs of tall steel

: stakes arranged as noted with chains
being across each pair of stakes across the car.
Spotted on 12/29/82: 14700-

this Sties 65-foot gondola cars in pulpwood

service. 14750 was in Oneonta, fully

loaded with softwood logs. Many cars of

this series have been spotted in this ser-

vice at this location. Logs were 18 feet or longer
(guesstimate), loaded in three piles in a car, not much
higher than the car side. I believe certain restrictions
apply in the loading of wood into gondolas. To go
beyond the top of the car requires stakes, then you
can load to within two feet of the top of the stake; of
(Continued on page 9)

8 BLUHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003
(Continued from page 8)

course, if one was to place blocks under the stakes in
the bottom of the cars, you could get another cord of
wood in the gondola. I believe this loading process
continues today from Oneonta to the Fort Edward
area with hemlock being the wood being transported
north out of this region.

With regard to the 12100-200 class covered
hoppers, some of these cars had lessee stencils on the
cars. Some car nunibers are:

12106 R.T. AGWAY BRATTLEBORO VER-

MONT :

12135 _R.T. AGWAY BRATTLEBORO VER-

MONT
12148 LEASED TO PENN-DIXIE CEMENT

CORP., HOWES CAVE, NEW YORK
12161 W.E.R.T. AGENT D&H RR. TROY NY
12168 R.T. AGWAY BRATTLEBORO VER-

MONT =<

All cars were delivered and lettered in ADM
900 blue. It is important to note these cars were
lined, which makes them available for sugar and talc
as well as cement service. Many cars in that age were
not lined, which restricted the cars from being used in
a multipurpose fashion. These as-built linings were
applied by Pullman Standard in 11/12 of 1967 at But-
ler, PA. They were 3300 cubic foot twin gravity dis-
charge cars with full-length trough roof hatches. As
delivered, they featured white paint, blue modern let-
tering, railroad roman end reporting marks, 1" paint
stencils, typically SW 11-67 (SW was for the paint
brand, Sherwin Williams). (The drawings in this arti-
cle show the lettering area only, enlarged.)

In 10/71 the Official Equipment Register
showed 100 cars; 10/72, 99 cars; by 4/73, 95 cars;
this-count remained stable for many years. Tony sus-
pects the five that succumbed to wrecks were 12122,
12156, 12157, 12193 and 12195. At least three of
these cars were repainted by Oneonta in their original
scheme, possibly wreck rebuilds. Out of 95 cars,
seven were stenciled built 12/67. The balance of the
cars spotted were 11/07 (12134, 12146, 12150,
12172, 12174 and 12188).

The next major scheme was silver with blue
lettering featuring railroad roman reporting marks and
the large boxcar style bridge line herald centered on
the car side. At least 16 cars wore a variation of this
paint scheme and one exists with gray instead of sil-
ver:

No. Notes:
12113 PC 11-73
12128 4-75

12130 PC 12-73
12131 PC 12-73
12134 PC 12-73
12141 “PC 12-73

12142 12-73 B
12144 POT 5-76
12145 POT 5-76 A

12146 PC 12-73
12147, PC 12-74

Stencil ptd. out A

12149 2-74
12180 PC 2-74
12184 8-74 A

12191 PC 7-73

12199 PC 6-75

A = stenciled when repainted SUGAR LOADING
ONLY WHEN EMPTY RETURN TO AGENT
B&M RR BOSTON MASS,

B = car was repainted again in 5-79 for talc service.
Also as repainted silver RETURN TO AGENT C&O.
A/C SAGINAW GRAIN SAGINAW MICH

These are not all sugar service cars, although
they appear to be. A check of individual photos be-
fore weathering or restenciling should help sort this
out.

The third paint scheme was typically solid
gray paint with black lettering, used for talc service.
These could be found in two groups, six cars with
boxcar red panels center panel only, seven solid gray
cars and one solid silver, one solid gray (light) with
black railroad roman numeral markings, black gothic
data and black outline shield.

No. Paint Date
12101 GLID 2-78
12105 PC 12-80

Stencil and/or notes:
C; restenciled Gassetts VT
Block reporting marks, no

lease

12106 PC 2-80 C; has typo GCMR should
be GMRC

12111 9-78 restenciled Gassetts; silver
car

12155 PC 5-79 Cc

12158 GLID 2-78 no note of lessee stencil

12166 PC 9-79 Cc

12176 PC 10-79 Cc

Glid = Glidden paint

C= TALC LOADING ONLY; WHEN EMPTY RE-
TURN TO GMRC CHESTER VERMONT

Several were restenciled rather quickly by
11/80 to Gassetts. Some were relined ADM 410 by
Oneonta, others original ADM 900 lining
#2 same as above except boxcar red panel on
(Continued on page 10)

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003 9
(Continued from page 9)
each side, which covers top panel under roof walls
partway and over hatch on top:

No.

12103
12120
12142
12143

Paint Date
0-6-79

PC 4-79
PC 5-79 D
PC 4-79 D
12154 PC5-79D
12187 PC3-79
D=TALC LOADING ONLY WHEN EMPTY RE-
TURN TO AGENT GMRC GASSETTS VERMONT

Stencil and/or notes:
was blue on silver D

By 10-90 equipment register states 13 cars
on the D&H; 51 had gone to B&M. By 4/92 D&H
had 11 cars, B&M one.

What can I say but thanks Tony for your ex-
haustive research into the background of these cars.

Changing gears, Steve Wagner sent us a list
of the newest D&H models available at press time:

Stewart will be offering its HO fishbelly
twin ribbed hopper lettered as D&H 5374, 5611 and
5774. Central Hobby Supply expects to have them in
April or May: The most significant difference be-
tween the models, which are based on a Westen
Maryland prototype, and the D&H cars are that the
D&H cars had separate grabs rather than ladders at
the extreme right of each side.

McKean Models by Sky Line has a new HO
PS1 boxcar with the 8-foot door lettered for the

D&H. This is not the same as the original McKean
kit, which had the double shield herald and billboard
lettering in white on a brownish car. The new kit has
generally similar lettering but with the modern ar-
rangement of data and printed in yellow on a bright
ted boxcar. The typeface of the new lettering only
approximates that on D&H cars, and the roof lacks
supports for a roof walk.

Rail Graphics is selling an Athearn HO 40-
foot boxcar painted yellow and lettered in blue, repre-
senting a car that ran in the 1973 Sesquicentennial
train. It bears the proper number and looks real good.

To say that I am impressed with the quality
responses from our membership is an understatement.
There isa lot of information about the D&H out
there. We need to harness it before CP scraps it. If
you have any photos or slides of rolling stock, motive
power, m-o-w equipment, please get them to me, so
we can use them and present the information to the
membership where it will be greatly appreciated.

I placed an inquiry as to where 35803 went.
Well I pulled out my book on cabooses the other day,
Cabooses of the Northeast, looked under the D&H
and what did I see but 35803 in a BattenKill Railroad
livery. ‘It seems that the caboose didn't stray so far
away from the home rails as we thought! The Bat-
tenKill is a spin off short line that was previously a
D&H subsidiary, Greenwich and Johnsonville.

That's it for now. Keep ‘em on the rails.

BLHS Bulletin May 1993

Search for the Shield: A cataloging of our never-ending search for the
D&H logo
Looking for the heritage
From Fred B. Cupp

Who knows why we railfans develop a special inter-
est in some particular facet of a railroad's overall
spectrum? My interest in the D&H for some time has
been the North Creek branch and the ilmenite opera-
tions at Tahawus/Sanford Lake. Perhaps it

shop (English Model R.R. Supply) let me hear the
rumor that there were a couple of D&H ilmenite cars
in the Newberry yard of the Lycoming Valley RR.
A quick trip back home to grab the camera and I was

on the way. After all, the odds of

is a result of several visits to the area while Tyansco operates finding D&H cars in a yard in central

on vacation trips. (See the North Creek sta-
tion photos posted on the BLHS web site.) a

At any rate, while I have read about the il- repair

general

Pennsylvania are slim enough, but
ilmenite hoppers? Near impossible!
After I arrived at the yard, I

car
facility,

menite operations and kit-bashed nine HO doing almost any drove along the tracks in the rear of a

hoppers to a reasonable likeness of the D&H
hoppers, I had never seen one in 1:1 scale.

major or minor
A chance visit to the local hobby Frepairs.

company called Transco Railway
Products Co. Transco operates a gen-
eral car repair facility, doing almost

(Continued on page 11)

10 BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003
(Continued from page 10)

any major or minor repairs. If the car can limp in on
its own wheels or even on a flatcar, they'll fix it and
sometimes even paint it! First to come into view was
a motley collection of assorted boxcars, PPLX coal
hoppers, and one D&H black gon. Further along, be-
tween the cars, | finally spotted my quarry: a faded
D&H shield on an even more faded yellow car side.

Parking and locking the car, I proceeded on
foot around-the end of the cut of miscellaneous cars,
and found myself staring at a very long line of as-
sorted black or yellow real, actual, ilmenite hop-
pers!!! Cutting to the bottom line, there were the fol-
lowing car numbers: 107, 152, 197, 158, 177, 225,
113, 232, 127, 132, 153, 221, 147, 162, 130, 114,
116, 144, 135, 188, 193, 200, 160, 201, 198, 211,
129, 234, 186, 231, 149, 140, 224, 210, and 166; 35
cars in all.

Naturally I took a number of photos despite
the horribly poor light (5 p.m. and raining). 1 at-
tempted to get shots of each different batch of cars
and each variation in paint scheme, lettering, or
shield style/location. I hereby promise, that if Kodak
can provide decent images, I'll post a number of shots
on the BLHS site.

Incidentally, each car carried a defect card
proclaiming: “Delaware and Hudson Railway Com-
pany - FRA DEFECTIVE CAR MOVING TO
HOME SHOP FOR REPAIRS”.

The card looks to be very old in style of
printing, so maybe CP/SL&H RR is using up old
D&H stationery supplies. Well; home shop it ain't,
but there's one D&H fan that's happy they didn't stop

in Oneonta, which is where they were carded by in-
spectors “Pettinato & Ives”. The destination was in-
deed Transco at Williamsport, PA. Speed restric-
tions: 40 mph, date 11/15/98.

Moral: Even when you no longer live along
the D&H, don't give up! You never know when that
special shield is going to come by, wherever you are.

[Speaking of the shield, oh great procrastinating one,
last week Dean Splittgerber and I spotted two more
D&H shields in Niland, CA. Two very rusty white
D&H covered hoppers, still replete with blue bill-
board lettering and shields, were waiting in the yard
to head south on the SP towards Mexicali. (Or
maybe they had just come from there, as the line of
cars had no power attached) The D&H veterans
appeared to be carrying loads, so it seems they are
still in service and not intended for that great scrap
yard in the southern sky where the PA's rest. The
cars bore Helm reporting marks, but other than that
for all the world they looked as if they were still
working on the D&H. We also had an Elvis spotting
and a solar plant blown to smithereens, but more on
that next month.

Oh yes, before I forget, about that mysteri-
ous project that Bob Moore mentioned, was it the
electronic throttle or the light dimmer project? As
one of Rochester's foremost authorities on electroni-
cally-dim bulbs, Mean Mr. Moore might be interested
in dimming lights on his layout as well...JB]

BLHS Bulletin, April 1999

Box Cars While You Wait: New method of Construction Developed
at Green Island Shop Cuts Production Cost and Reduces Chances for
Injury by Falls or Dropping of Tools or Material

Late in the afternoon of almost any working day, the
visitors to The Delaware and Hudson car shops at
Green Island may see a box car assembled in scarcely
more time than is required to tell about it.

twelve men are required to complete the last steps in
the system in vogue at Green Island for completing
one car every working day.

The sides and roof, which have been com- Beginning with Under this system the car moves systemati-
pletely built as units on either side of the the roof all of Cally through nine successive stations, be-

assembly track, are lifted into position on
the car frame by means of overhead air

secured and the completed car is ready for
the final step on the paint track. Although more men
take part in the work of overhauling a box car, only

the wood-work
hoists. In a few minutes they have been 18 removed

ginning with the dismantling, through to the
final stages of assembling the finished prod-
uct. This is known as the “spot system”, not
unlike the method used at Oneonta for con-
structing triple hopper coal cars, a description of
(Continued on page 12)

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003 11
- of flying rivet heads.

(Continued from page 11)
which appeared in The Bulletin of May 1, 1930.

To begin with, the box cars consigned to the shop for
a general overhaul are taken to the stripping tracks at
the extreme north end of the property where the are
completely dismantled. Beginning with the roof all
of the wood-work is removed, including the cripple
blocks, door. tracks, sheathing, roof. carlines, end
plates, ridge poles, purlines, side plates, side and end
posts, side and end braces, side sills, and nailers. The
material removed is reclaimed, sorted and brought to
the shop to be used on cars being rebuilt.

At station 2, the steel underframe is completely
stripped and the air brake parts are removed. The
complete draft gear is then taken from the ends of the
car, and the rivets on the center and side sills are cut
off with an air chisel. In this operation it is interest-
ing to note a simple device for eliminating the hazard
When the chisel is placed
against the rivet, a short length of air hose, cut diago-
nally across at one end, is placed over the rivet head.
Then the head is cut it lays harmlessly in the hose
instead of flying for some distance with the possibil-
ity of striking and injuring some workman. This
completes the dismantling operation in two steps; the
remaining seyen take place in the process of recon-
struction.

At station number 3, the building up of the car be-
gins. Here the steel underframe is fitted and reamed
for reinforcing the draft gear. Angle bars are riveted
between the side, center, and end sills to strengthen
the car throughout. The steel underframe is then riv-
eted on all sides More than 1400 rivets are ham-
mereéd into place oni each car.

The ends are assembled and placed in position on the
steel underframe at station number 4. With the assis-
tance of a set of steel angle bars placed atop of two
horses, the steel framework for the ends of correctly
gauged and riveted together. The frame is then laid
on a large table, the sheathing is placed in position.
Holes are drilled, and bolts driven through. The as-
sembled end is then painted with a gun, lifted into
place, and secured. The side doors are put together in
the same manner on another table.

Station number 5 sees reinforced underframe scraped
to remove old rut and paint. One man is equipped
with a chisel operated by a device similar to an air

hammer, which hammers the rust loose. H is fol-
lowed by another workman with a revolving steel
brush which dislodges the clinging bits and sweeps
them clear.

The work overhauling and putting the car in first
class order is then taken up by workmen who inspect
the trucks carefully and replace any worn or defective
parts. Through the successive steps already described
the car is moved down through the shop to the final
steps of applying the sides and roof.

At station 7, the sides are completely assembled.
This work is done on:a table slightly larger than the
side of a car. On it the framework is built up and the
side sheathing is nailed in place, At the same time
the other side is being built on the other side off the
shop.

One station further on the roof is put together at the
same time. On. another long table the steel cross
pieces are bolted to the ridge pole and the roofing is
nailed into place, These parts are then ready for ap-
plication to the underframe. With a hoist at either
end, first one side and then the other is lifted into
place and secured. This done, .the roof is likewise
raised into position and the car is ready for movement
to the paint track for the final step in the spot system
of building box cars. Through this system in the final
steps alone twelve men now work formerly divided
among twenty-two men.

It is readily apparent that there are many advantages
to be found in this method of building cars. If every
man does his work on schedule everyone know just
how far the building of the car should have pro-
gressed at any given time during the day. Further-
more the output of the shop is definitely known; one
car is completed daily. An added feature is the distri-
bution of the work over a large space so that one
workman does not interfere with another. A final ad-
vantage of this over the old system is the factor of
safety, By building the sides and roof on the floor the
liability of men falling or dropping their tools on
someone else is almost entirely eliminated. The de-
velopment of this method is but another indication of
the trend toward systematic work with its saving of
time, labor, and materials on the Delaware and Hud-
son.

D&H The Bulletin, August 1930

12 BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003
“Good-Bye Stencil Brush”: Air Operated Spray Guns and Metal
Stencils Supersede Brushes and Fiber Patterns Formerly Used in
Applying Lettering and Number to Freight Cars

In the August 1* issue of The Bulletin a description
was given of the method of boxcar construction de-
veloped at Green Island Car Shops. Although the
various mechanical steps were traced from the first
operation to the completion of the car, space did not
permit describing fully the painting operations as a
part of which a novel system of stenciling was re-
cently introduced.

Under the method employed, the work is done almost
entirely by air-operated spray guns. Formerly it was
the practice to cut stencils out of paper and apply the
required markings with brushes whereas, by the new
method, the use of stencil brushes is almost entirely
eliminated.

Stencils are now made of galvanized sheet iron in-
stead of paper, and indications are that they will last
for some time before requiring renewal. There are
three such substantial stencils used in the

and journal repacking date and station symbol. In
this, slots are provided for rearranging the numerals
and letters. The smallest stencil is the one used for
applying “The D. & H.” monogram.

The work of marking the box cars turned out at Green
Island is in the hands of two men who are compen-
sated on the piecework basis. There is no delay as
each operation moves along smoothly without any
lost motion. What little brush stenciling is done, for
example, the ends of the car, air brake equipment and
markings on the underframe where spraying is not
practicable, is performed by one man while his part-
ner is engaged in applying the monogram and re-
arranging the numerals, etc., in the other stencils, pre-
paratory to the stenciling of the next car.

At the close of each day, the stencils and numbers are
brought to the paint room to be cleaned with turpen-
tine and replaced on the rack. This port-

complete marking of a car. The largest, The stencils and able rack carries several sets of numerals,

which measures six feet four inches by nymbers

four feet six inches, carries the name of

are 2s well as the three stencils previously
described and is placed near the cards to

its owner (The Delaware and Hudson brought to the be stenciled so the paraphernalia is read-
RR. Corp.), number, nominal capacity, paint room to be ily available when needed.

load limit, and light weight of the car.
The lettering, which is not subject to

cleaned with tur-

The spray stenciling system speeds up

change, is cut in the metal, but since each pentine and re- shop operations and insures a uniform
car is numbered differently and the tare placed on the application of the markings which the

weight varies, the numerals must be rear- k.
ranged constantly. rac
The stencil is therefore provided with slotted open-
ings to accommodate the numerals, which are made
of No. 9 gauge zinc, the back of each being rein-
forced with fine wire which keeps it flat and firm.
Through the slotted arrangement, these numerals may
easily be removed and changed.

The next stencil in size is commonly known as the
dimension stencil. It contains, in addition to the car
dimensions, the date the car was built, class of car,

cars are required to carry under the A.R.

A. code of rules. Incidentally, little delay

is experienced waiting for the stenciling
to dry as the white paint used sets up quickly; in fact,
it dries in less than one-half hour after application.

The methods practiced on box cars in the Green Is-
land Shops proved so successful that they have been
extended to Oneonta, where open top equipment re-
ceives general overhauling, with very satisfactory
results.

D&H Bulletin, November 1930

Feil

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003
Oneonta Carmen Again Victors: Completely Rebuild Standard
Tandem Twin Hopper Bottom Gondola of 85,000 Pounds Capacity in
45 (man) Hours and 20 Minutes, In Third Contest

While at Carbondale, Pa., on Thursday, May 21,
nearly a thousand spectators — officials of connect-
ing railroads, and others extending to the north, south
and into the far west, representatives of railway sup-
ply houses and of the interstate Commerce Commis-
sion, newspaper men and writers for mechanical and
technical journals, our own officials and supervisory
officers, and a generous representation of town
folk — looked on with much anxiety and profound
interest, three teams of sixteen men

each vied with one another for champi- Contest was made

onship honors as they rebuilt three
Delaware and Hudson Standard Tan- More

cars of 85,000 pounds capacity, in the runners.
third car building contest to be held on 2
the system.

Oneonta Carmen, victors in the contest

held at their ‘own shops a year ago.. With a total of
forty-five hours and twenty-minutes, were the first to
cotnplete their work; the Saratoga division team,
composed of men from the Colonie and Green shops,
finished second with forty-six hours and twenty-four
minutes; and, the Carbondale team, with forty-eight
hours and thirty-two minutes was third. All time cal-
culations were made on the basis of man-hours. C.E.
Peiffer, master car builder for the Buffalo Rochester
and Pittsburgh; W.G. Knight, mechanical supervisor
for the Bangor and Aroostook; and P. Alquist, master
car builder for the Delaware, Lackawanna and West-

ern, were the judges.

New interest was afforded and the contest was made
more formidable than any of its forerunners, by the
inclusion of the regular steel work which is a part of
the car rebuilding program as applied to’ such cars.
The makeup of each team, therefore, included eight
steel and eight wood workers, although at no time
were more than eight men of either classification at
work. Because of a desire not to “overload” the
teams, the air brake and the painting and
stenciling of the car were left for Car-
bondale employees to complete after the

formidable official contest operations had been con-
dem Twin’ ‘Hopper Bottom Gondola than any of its fore-

by the in-
clusion of the regu-
lar steel work

cluded,

As each such contest is announced the
sphere of prominence which these dem-
onstrations have created for themselves
in the railroad world because of their
highly educational features, is noticeably increased.
The first was held at our Colonie shops, October 31,
1923, and was participated in by five teams of six
men each. It embraced the dismantling and rebuild-
ing of the superstructure, the assembling of trucks
and the assembling and application of draft gear
equipment of a standard Delaware and Hudson Twin
Hopper Gondola car of 85,000 pounds capacity. A
Carbondale team won, its total man hours being 46
hours and.54 minutes. The second was at Oneonta,
May. 8, 1924, at which time the superstructure of a
60,000-pound capacity steel underframe box car was

As the Work was Concluded

Oneonta Colonie Carbondale
Steel work 16 hours. 40 mins. 15 hrs. 36 mins, 22 hrs. 40 mins.
Wood work ‘ 26 hrs. 28 hrs. 8 mins. 23 hrs. 12 min:
Total 42 hrs. 40 mins. 43 hrs. 44 mins. 45 hrs. 52 mins.
Air brake work......... 1 br. 10 mins. Thr. 12 mins. hr. . 5 mins.
Painting and stenciling..... 1 hr. 30 mins. 1 hr. 28 mins. 1 hr. 35 mins.
Finished Time*’ 45 hrs, 20 mins. 46 hrs. 24 mins. 48 hrs. 32 mins,

* Man hours

14 BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003

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(Continued from page 14)
rebuilt and trucks and draft gear assembled, an One-
onta team winning in 52 man hours.

Rivalry among the participating workmen is friendly,
but nevertheless keen. There is always an evidence
of shop pride and an earnest desire to carry back with
them the trophy of the day, the Birkett cup, a silver
memorial to the first Car foreman employed by the
Company. The contests, ostensibly, are planned for
the educational features they may develop. Out-
standing among these is the material layout, indicat-
ing, as it does, efficient and economical shop opera-
tion, the ready accessibility of material stimulating
production and the resultant output reflected in the
earnings of the pieceworkers on which the basis the
work is performed. An example of what was accom-
plished .in this particular contest in the remarkably
short time involved, may be had from a study of the
list of material used in rebuilding a
single unit and which appears else-
where in this issue. This material

home-devised lever dolly bar, used by a Colonie riy-
eter, which permitted him to hold a rivet and buck it
up at the same time. Numerous other kinks and
unique practices, which were wholly permissible,
were noticeable both in the completion of the steel
work as well as that of the wooden superstructure.

Colonie was the first to conclude its steel work, fin-
ishing at 9:57 a.m. Oneonta was second, at 10:05 a.
m. and Carbondale third, at 10:50 a.m. Explanation
of the wide divergence of time particularly as be-
tween that of the Carbondale team and the other two,
is to be found in an agreement made between the
three Divisional Car Foremen prior to the contest,
which permitted them to assign the truck work to ei-
ther their steel crew or to the wood workers. In regu-
lar shop practice, truck repairers: do this work, but
these were omitted from the teams for the same rea-
son as were the air brake men and painters. Carbon-

dale chose to have their steel men also

Differences in practices assemble the trucks and the judgment

was collected and arranged for each 4mong the wood workers of the foreman, Raymond Schuster,
team alongside its allotted space by Were noticed in the man- would have proven its worth but for

Wallace Hickok, chief inspector.

Work commenced promptly with the

blowing of the shop whistle at 8 a.m.

From then on until the last nut was run down on the
prize winning car and the judges had turned it over to
G.W. Ditmore, master car builder, there was only one
interruption in the performance, and that was of ten
minutes following the conclusion of the steel work on
each car, thereby providing time in which to clear the
space around the car so that the wood workers might
progress with their tasks unhampered by litter or
other obstacles.

Almost from the outset, a difference in the method of
approach was noticeable on the part of each team.
The most noticeable variation in the steel work, was
that the teams from Colonie and Oneonta allowed the
center channels to lie flanges down on the horses
upon which they rested, until side castings and rein-
forced channels had been secured, which appeared to
be the best practice. Carbondale workers in consum-
mating this same performance, kept the channels on
edge making it necessary to steady them while the
operations noted were in progress, Another feature of
the steel work attracted considerable attention was a

ner in which they han-
dled their side sills.

difficulties experienced in the perform-
ance of the steel assembling. It was his
idea that he could thus effect a better
equalization of his men, for when cer-
tain of them no longer were needed on the steel work,
they could be used on the trucks. Oneonta and Colo-
nie left the trucks to the wood workers.

Differences in practices among the wood workers
were noticed in the manner in which they handled
their side sills. Colonie, it was agreed, used the best
method, that of allowing the sills to lie flat on horses
until stake pockets had been secured by U bolts, after
which the sills were turned over and nuts run down
by air machine. Portable scaffolding appeared an ad-
vantage to the Oneonta team, over the use of ladders
by their competitors, when bolting side stakes ands
corner bands, securing Wine ladders and other out-
side appliances.

Oneonta finished its wood work first, at 1:30 p.m.;
Colonie was second, at 1:38 p.m. and Carbondale
third, at 1:54 p.m. For better time comparisons the
table on page 16 may prove more helpful.

(Continued on page 16)

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003 15
Time required for assembling of trucks and assem-
bling and application of draft gear is included in the
wood work time of the Oneonta and Colonie teams,
and in the steel work time of the Carbondale team as
follows:

ladies in the divisional car foreman’s office at Car-
bondale, long tables neatly covered with white paper
and otherwise made attractive with cut flowers hav-
ing been especially arranged for the occasion.

Oneonta Colonie Carbondale

Trucks -......0.0 1 hr. 1 hr. 44 mins. 2 hrs, 28 mins.
Draft gears assembled

and applied..... 39 mins. 34 secs. lhr. 4 mins. 54 mins.
The dimensions of this type of car are:
Length inside 36° 0”
Width inside 8 64"
Height inside AS 3
Length over striking castings 3801"
Width overall 10° 4”
Height from rail to top of floor 4 4y
Height from rail to top of car 874"
Height from rail to top of brake shaft 9 1-13/16”
Distance center to center of trucks 27 5%”
Cubical capacity 1542 cu. ft.
Capacity 85,000 Ibs,
Light weight 40,000 Ibs.
Size of journals 5°x9”

At 4 p.m., the same day, the car, No. 40265, com-
pleted by the Oneonta team, was loaded at the Coal-
brook breaker, across the yards from the scene of the
contest, and fifty-five minutes later was en route for
Wakefield, Mass., via the Boston and Maine, in Extra
1219, north.

The guests, as was evidenced by their remarks of-ap-
preciation, were courteously entertained. Each, on
arriving at Shop 26, was given an artificial red flower
as a favor to be worn in a lapel button hole. Immense
bleachers, trimmed in red, white and blue bunting and
with seats protected’ by canvas, ran parallel to the
tracks upon which the cars were being rebuilt,
thereby making it possible for all to watch, at close
range, the progress of the contest from beginning to
end. At noon, a box lunch was served in the wood
mill by the wives of the Car department supervisory
offices on the Pennsylvania division and the young

G.W. Ditmore, master car builder, announced the re-
sults of the contest and congratulated the men upon
the sprit with which they had taken part in it, and then
Colonel J.T. Loree, vice president and general man-
ager, who with his staff, had broken in on an inspec-
tion trip over the system to watch the contest through-
out, spoke of its educational benefits and commended
the men upon the splendid accomplishment they had
wrought in such a short space of time. He thereupon
returned to A.G. Ditmore, divisional car foreman on
the Susquehanna division, the Birkett cup, won a year
ago by men from his shops, but possession of which
had been at stake during the progress of the contest.
In conclusion, he presented twenty-dollar gold pieces
to the members off the winning team, while to those
who comprised the second team, he gave ten-dollar
gold pieces. He announced that another contest
would be held either this fall or next spring,
D&H Bulletin, June 1925

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003

Loading Anthracite In Box Cars: Rocking Device Facilitates
Rapid Level Loading of Closed or Open Top Equipment

Most people are of the opinion that coal when mov-
ing over rail lines, is invariably transported in open-
top cars. At one time this was a fact: however, be-
cause of requests by consignees, located in both Can-
ada and this country, that anthracite be shipped in
closed equipment, a novel system for loading such
consignments has been placed in operation at the
Coal Brook and Olyphant breakers of the Hudson
Coal Company. The reasons for this demand on the
part of anthracite buyers were that there were for-
merly losses in transit due to pilferage and overflow,
also difficulty was encountered in thaw-
ing out and unloading frozen shipments
in open-top equipment. The solution
seemed to lie in the use of sealed box- cradle
cars for such consignments.

lecting the proper size by means of a series of levers.
Before it enters the car, the coal is screened and
washed to remove any dust which may remain after
passing through the breaker.

On an elevated platform, opposite the car door, with
various controls in easy reach for locking the car in,
place, tipping the cradle, starting and stopping the
belt conveyor, opening and closing the feed gates,
and regulating the flow of water, stands the operator.

Once the car is placed on and secured to

Immediately the the table, a procedure which takes less

7 d than a minute, the actual car loading be-
tippe: gins. The anthracite, which flows from

slightly, and as the the loading chutes at high speed, is di-

coal continues to ‘ected into one end of the car. Immedi-

To meet this condition, Ottumwa boxcar
loaders, which now enable two men to
load a car in from five to eight minutes, creased
were installed at the two breakers men- .
tioned above. It has also been found that

stock cars can be used to advantage in transporting
anthracite by boarding them up on the inside to their
load limit.

The track leading through the loader is built on a
slight incline to permit the movement of cars by grav-
ity after they have been placed by yard or mine
crews. When the operator is ready to begin loading,
his helper places a car on the electrically operate steel
cradle. The cradle is built in the form of a segment of
a circle; the car rests on the straight line or cord
formed by the track, and the entire mechanism is
rocked lengthwise by means of gears which engage
teeth on the curved rack underneath.

As soon as the car is placed on the device a lock
bumper, which presses against the car couplers with
such force that the car is automatically centered and
held rigidly on the cradle, is elevated from the pit at
each end. The bumpers are held in position by heavy
steel teeth at the ends of the cradle.

Anthracite is conveyed on a rubber belt, four feet in
width, from the beaker pockets to the point of load-
ing, the operator controlling the flow of coal and se-

run, the pitch is in-

ately the cradle is tipped slightly, and as
the coal continues to run, the pitch is in-
creased until one end is filled to the de-
sired height. This is governed by the
weight capacity of the car, indicated by
the upper limit of the boarding across the ca door.
The cradle is then slowly returned to a horizontal po-
sition, although the loading continues at a reduced
rate to prevent the coal already placed art one end
from flowing back toward the door. The car is then
tipped in the opposite direction and the contents is
“built up” from the center to the other end. The pres-
sure of the entering coal is increased so as to hold the
load in place until the capacity of the car is reached,
whereupon any surplus is made to roll out of the
doors by “rocking” the cradle slightly after its return
to normal position.

After an inspection by the operator to make sure that
the car has been loaded properly, the lock bumpers
are released, and the car is permitted to roll out at the
other end of the breaker.

An additional advantage of this system is found in the
fact by using open-top cars may also be loaded on the
cradle by using it as a stationary platform, and simply
employing ‘a lower chute to direct the coal from the
belt conveyor to the car.

D&H Bulletin April 1931

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003 17
New Box Cars Have Several Novel Features

Normally about 180,000 box cars are loaded annually
on the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, excluding the
anthracite traffic. Of this number from fifty to sixty
per cent are cars of Delaware and Hudson ownership,
depending upon the owned cars available on line. A
large percentage of the cars thus utilized carry such
high class lading as paper and paper products, flour,
feed, grain, etc., which must be transported in first
class equipment. Many, too, are loaded with furni-
ture, refrigerators, ground slate, cement, lime, and
similar commodities for which the provision of suit-
able equipment to protect the contents is equally im-
portant.

All units of car equipment must be considered in their
separate classification, as for example, hopper cars,
box. cars, flat cars etc., the supply, the character of
construction and the capacity of the various classes
being governed, largely, by the nature of the traffic
originated by the owning line.

In the steel construction there are 225 fabricated steel
parts of various shapes, the assembling of which in-
volves the driving of 1937 rivets. These shapes were
fabricated at the steel mills in accordance with Dela-
ware and Hudson drawings and specifications.

Center sills are made up of two 12 inch, 40.3 Ib., A.R.
A. sections with one 4” x 20” top cover plate, while
the side sill consist of 7 inch, 18.8 Ib., A.R.A. sec-
tions. Body Bolsters are composed of 3/8 “ steel, ‘
pressed diaphragms with 3/8” x 22” top, and 4” x
18” bottom, cover plates, while cross bearers have
five 16” diaphragms and 3/8” x 8” top, and 3/8” x 6”
bottom, cover plates with 3” x 3” x 4” stiffener angle
at the top cover plate. Cross tie webs consist of 4”
steel diaphragms.

The wood construction (siding, decking, posts, etc.)
requires the use of 991 bolts. Practically all of the
bolts have specially formed countersunk heads,

Based on our requirements, the box cat The truck is a ‘hus sealing the holes and making them water

of 80,000 Ib. capacity is considered the
ideal unit for merchandise shipments.

tight. The absence of nails and the use of this

decided depar- ty. of bolt head, which is drawn flush with the

While there is ‘a demand, at times, for ture from the wood, minimizes the possibility of damage to
larger cars, box cars are seldom loaded egnyventional ‘ading so often occasioned by protruding nails,
to their full axle capacity due to the A.R.A. type bolts, etc.

light, bulky nature. of the commodities

usually transported, hence the handling

of cars, of increased tare weight, when not necessary,
is not economical,

This year one hundred obsolete care will be retired
and their places taken by new units. The program
calls for the building of one hundred 40-ft., 80,000 Ib.
capacity, single sheathed, steel frame, box cars, the
cubical capacity of which is 3,016 cu. Ft., load limit
91,400 Ibs., tare weight 44,600 lbs.

The cars are being built in the Delaware and Hudson
car shops at Green Island, N.Y., which specialize in
box car work. The construction is carried out on the
progressive, station to station system, the production
schedule having been arranged for one complete car
each day.

The actual assembling and constructing operations,
exclusive of the air brake work, are completed in
eight major steps by a force of twenty mechanics,
thirteen steel car repairers, and seven wood car re-
pairers, who receive compensation on a piece work
basis.

The trucks are a special feature. They were de-
signed and built by the National Malleable and Steel
Castings Company and are known as the National
type “B.” The major objectives sought, and appar-
ently attained in these trucks, are greater flexibility,
better riding qualities, and increased clearance above
the track.

The truck is a decided departure from the conven-
tional A.R.A. type in that the spring plank is entirely
eliminated. The spring arrangement consists of A.R.
A. type “E” truck springs with two in the bolster end
and two underneath in the side frame. The brake
hanger brackets and journal boxes are cast integral
with the side frame. By reason of the incorporated
quick wheel change feature, it is possible for two men
to change a pair of wheels in less that one-half hour.
All the brake rigging is above the beams, conse-
quently there is less liability of a brake beam pulling
off in case of a derailment or accident. Maintenance
is further reduced by the absence of bolts commonly
used in the conventional design truck.

(Continued on page 19)

18 BLUS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003
(Continued from page 18)

Draft attachments used are a complete assembly of
the Miner A-22XB friction draft gear in conjunction -
with the American radial type “D” coupler and verti-
cal key yoke, which is interchangeable with any A.T.
A. standard “D” coupler and cast steel yoke, the cen-
ter sills being slotted to accommodate a horizontal
key. m

In this draft attachment constant bearing areas are
maintained, regardless of angularity, in transmitting
heavy loads from the coupler to the draft gear and
from the draft gear to the center sills through substan-
tial draft lugs. The function of the radial coupler is
such that its-adoption should materially reduce main-
tenance on draft riggings.

Another notable improvement is the style of side door
adopted. The trouble too often experience with door
jamming, and necessitating the use of bars to move
them, usually with destructive results, is entirely
overcome. The type of door on these cars is known
as the Youngstown steel door with Camel bottom
supported, roller lock lift arrangement. It differs con-
siderably from the design of side door commonly
used on box cars, being so constructed that when at
rest the entire weight of the door is shifted from the
rollers to the bottom door track. The door is bottom
hung and operates on rollers which are equipped with
roller bearings. To set the door in motion all that is
necessary is to pull down slightly on the lifting lever
(stenciled “Pull’”) and the door is raised from the
track ant its weight transferred to the rollers. At the
top of the door opening there is a retaining “Z” bar
which is so shaped that when the door is closed it
seals itself in such a manner that no water can enter
the interior of car. An additional feature is the door
lock and wedge-shaped sealing pin. If this type of
door is allowed to remain open, full or part way, it
remains in that position until released, and damage to
the door, posts, guides, etc., is greatly minimized.

Construction of the cars is facilitated by the use of
novel devices. For example, at the truck assembly
station there is a one-ton air motor hoist which travels
on a boom having a 16 ft. radius. In this way the two
men engaged in assembling the trucks are relieved of
the labor of handling the heavy bolsters and side
frames. When the trucks are completed they are ad-
vanced to the point where the center sills are stored.
Here the sills are placed on the trucks by means of a
one-ton Fordson gasoline tractor equipped with a 14
ft. boom. This tractor also carries the cover plate,
side sills, side sill angles, and top side angles from

points of storage to the under frame assembly station.

Draft gear units are compressed in the yokes under air
pressure in a machine specially designed for the pur-
pose. They are then conveyed on a three-wheeled
wagon equipped with an air jack and raised to proper
position at the car. The coupler is then elevated by an
overhead air motor hoist and the installation com-
pleted with but little manual effort.

The steel superstructure and Hutchins channel steel
ends are laid on metal horses, riveted together and
them placed in position on the under frame by means
of overhead air motor hoists. At the last station the. _
Hutchins Universal roof is assembled. The work is
carried on from an overhead platform where various
roof parts are readily accessible. Hence there is no
occasion to use ladders.

In the building of these cars every precaution is taken
to ensure long life of the steel members and the
woodwork by the use of rust and decay preventative
materials. All metal parts are covered with red lead,
while the wood joints are treated with white lead. To
insure cars being absolutely tight all crevices, cracks,
etc., are filled in with a special sealirig cement, for the
application of which a hand pressure gun is em-
ployed. 2

With the exception of truck and paint work, the build-
ing operations are completed under cover. As is the.
case at any plant where piece work is the basis of
compensation, the material layout is a very important
matter. This phase of shop efficiency has been
closely studied and the car parts, so far as possible,
are stored in close proximity to the station where
needed. The distribution is in the hands of two mate-
rial men, also on piece work.

Each car requires two spray coats of paint. The color
of the super structure, excepting the roof, is brown,
while the roof, underframe and trucks are painted
black, The appropriate stenciling and markings are
applied by air-operated spray guns, a system intro-
duced at Green Island last year. Under this arrange-
ment metal stencils are employed, thereby assuring,
uniformity of application. Consequently the use of
brushes is practically dispensed with. The cutting of
paper stencils is no longer required because of the
substitution of the metal stencils which seldom re-
quire renewal.

D&H Bulletin, July 1931

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003 19
How Oneonta Shop Constructs Self-Clearing Hopper Cars: Group
Organization of Force enables 46 Men to Build Three Composite Coal
Cars in Eight Hour Day; Present Program Calls for Total of 2,100
Units

The development of the coal car on The Delaware
and Hudson Lines from the flat bottomed box on
wheels representative of the equipment of the Gravity
Road as early as 1829 and the four wheeled “Jimmy”
car of four and one half ton capacity which was the
first type operated on the “steam” road in “the six-
ties” to the triple hopper, self-clearing, 85,000 Ibs.
Capacity cars now being constructed in our Oneonta
Car Shops, is representative of the progress of rolling
stock on our road.

Self clearing cars have proved so successful that this
type has. been accepted for use on coal carrying roads
in general, dealers building trestles to take advantage
of the benefits that the use of such equipment affords
due to the unloading arrangement by which labor is
reduced to a minimum.

For the particular use to which our equipment is put
the three-door’ design is. considered to be especially
adaptable to our needs and a program for building
twenty-one hundred of these cars in the shops at One-
onta, N.Y., is now underway. Work was begun dur-
ing the latter part of last year on one hundred fifty
cars. In the 1930 budget provision is made for build-
ing six hundred additional.

These units have a nominal carrying capacity of
85,000 Ibs. And the construction of the hoppers is
such that the load is self-clearing once the door lock-
ing device is released. The cars are very substantially
built with a steel underframe and composite super-
structure and replace cars of a like nominal capacity
having twin hoppers.

The trucks are built with cast steel bolsters and cast
steel side frames, the axle journals being 5” x 9” for
which the A.R.A, rules establish an allowable weight
of 136,000 Ibs. (car and contents) on rails. The twin
hopper cars; which these units replace, because of
restricted cubical capacity by some 8,000 lbs.,
whereas by designing a car with three hoppers. the
cubical capacity was increased and the loading objec-
tive attained.

The construction program is carried out on a progres-

sive system by which the building of a car is accom-
plished in ten major steps each of which is carried on
by a group of mechanics specially trained for the op-
eration. Although forty-six men in all are required to
complete the various steps, exclusive of painting, in
the building of each car, under progressive system
only groups of from two to six are engaged in the
same operation at any one time. The completion of
the underframe construction which requires a gang of
11 men is the only exception. Thus the confusion and
lost motion resulting from crowding is avoided. This
is essential as all employed on the work are receiving
compensation ona piece-work basis.

The output schedule calls for building three cars each
eight hour day, the work having been so arranged that
each operation is finished in accordance with this
schedule, and the car advances to the next “station” in
the shop at a fixed time, ‘The work is concentrated on
one track about seven, hundred twenty-five feet long
and, with the exceptions of the truck assembling,
painting and stenciling, is done under cover.

With any plan designed to increase plant production
thoughtful consideration must be given to the mate-
rial layout. Thus the steel shapes used in the body
construction of these cars are neatly arranged in sepa-
rate piles, each pile being identified by a metal tag
bearing the shape number. This arrangement insures
prompt and efficient handling of material as well as
accurate accounting of disbursements. In the ‘con-
struction of each car there are over one hundred of
these steel shapes, the fabrication of which was done
at the steel mills in accordance with D. & H. specifi-
cations and blueprints.

Material deliveries are made to each “station” by trac-
tors and trailers, material enough for one car being
furnished at each delivery. This work is in the hands
of five material men. No delays are experienced as
these men are compensated on.a piece-work basis in
proportion to the earnings of the mechanics, which,
of course, creates an incentive to keep an adequate
supply of material available. The steel center sills are
handled from stock and placed on the trucks by a
gasoline tractor equipped with a boom, preparatory to

(Continued on page 21)

20 BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003
(Continued from page 20)
the assembling of underframe.

A description of the operations, which require the
driving of nearly twenty-eight hundred rivets per car,
follows:

1, Assembling of Trucks. Two men build six trucks
each day, The work involves such details as riveting
for side bearings to bolsters, and brake beam support
brackets to spring planks; assembly and application
of bolsters, side frames, spring planks, truck springs,
etc.; application of journal boxes, journal bearings,
journal wedges, brake levers, bottom connection rods,
safety hangers, brake hanger wear castings, etc.

A portable jib crane with an air motor hoist was de-
signed to facilitate truck building operations. This
labor saving device was built at Oneonta Car Shop of
second hand and scrap materials and relives the men
of much heavy lifting by hand. Without it additional
help would be required at this station. Briefly, it con-
sists of a boom and an air hoist mounted on a scrap
freight car truck. The boom is se- .

cured to an old engine tire which This labor

plate, stakes, braces and connecting angles, as well as
the setting up of sides, end sills connecting angles
and striking castings. In this connection, four hun-
dred rivets are driven.

4. Completion of Underframe Construction: Eleven
men are employed at this “station”. The work in-
volves the assembling, fitting and riveting of bolster
top cover plate, diagonal braces, center sill top cover
plate, diagonal braces, center plates, striking castings
and connection angles; riveting of side frames to the
underframe, and applying and fitting the bottom sec-
tion of the side hopper sheets. This operation also
includes the application of the brake cylinder and air
reservoir. The work described involves the driving of
eight hundred and fifty rivets.

5. Construction of Ends and Top Section of Slopes:
Three men are engaged in the assembling, fitting and
riveting of the ends, top slope sheets, end sheets, end
bulb angles, corner posts, and end braces. The high
powered hand brake and component parts are also
applied here, the entire operation entailing the driving

._ Of three hundred rivets. An air motor hoist
SAVIN is employed to handle sections of the car

rests on ball bearings in the center of device was built at ends while under construction and to place
the truck. The outer edge of this tire Oneonta Car Shop them in position on the underframe pre-

rests on four roller, side bearings on

which it revolves. A metal box Of second hand and
filled with scrap iron serves to scrap materials

counter balance the weight of the

boom and load when a lift is being made of such
heavy parts as bolsters, wheels, truck side frames,
spring planks, etc. At each end of the truck there is a
pair of rail clamps which are operated by a lever.
These clamps are used to anchor the crane to the rails
when it is in operation. This crane operates immedi-
ately behind the truck undergoing construction and
the boom can be swung with ease to the adjacent ma-
terial track to pick up such parts as may be needed.

2. Preliminary Underframe Construction: The gang
consists of six men and here work of assembling, fit-
ting, and riveting the underframe is begun. This op-
eration involves the assembling of such parts as cen-
ter sill channels, bottom cover plates, bolster webs,
compression bolster plates, crossbearer sections, etc.
Here the draft gears are assembled, raised to position
and applied by means of an air hoist. Three hundred.
forty rivets are driven to complete this work.

3.. Body Side Panels: Four men perform this opera-
tion which involves assembling, fitting and riveting
of the body side frames, top bulb angles, top side

paratory to the next “station” operation.

6. Setting up Ends, Slopes, and Diagonal
Braces Preparatory to Riveting: Here the
ends are fitted to the side frames and underframes, the
body slope sheets, hopper sections and vertical dia-
phragms are reamed and fitted, all being done by. a
crew of five.

7. Riveting of Slopes and Hopper Section: There are
six men employed in the remaining riveting of slopes
and hoppers, in the performance of which operation
six hundred and fifty rivets are driven.

8. Building, Handling and Fitting Doors: Here there
are four men assembling, handling and riveting doors
and slope supports, also applying door locks and cou-
plers, which involves the driving of two hundred
twenty-five rivets.

9. Fitting and Bolting Side Planks: There are three
men engaged in the fitting and application of body
side planks, steel ladders, uncoupling levers and other
safety appliances. The fitting of these side planks is
facilitated by the use of a portable pneumatic hand

(Continued on page 4)

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition—August 2003 ; 2
Interested in railroads — and especially
in the Delaware & Hudson?

Join the Bridge Line Historical Society for D&H and other
rail news, special events, modeling, good times and camaraderie.

The Delaware & Hudson is the U.S.'s oldest continuously-
operated transportation company, and the BLHS was the first
railroad historical group to maintain a home page on the Internet
(bridge-line.org). If you wish to contact President Chris Shep-
herd, e-mail to CH952@bfn.org; for the Publications Office, use
publisher@bridge-line.org.

Articles for the next issue of the Bulletin must be at the
Publications Office (2476 Whitehall Ct., Niskayuna, NY 12309)
by noon the day before the first Saturday of the month (October
2003 issue deadline is August 29). Please submit articles on
diskette or by e-mail if possible. We strongly encourage you to
support your organization by submitting materials for future
issues; only with your help can we move forward and continue to
prosper.

Unless otherwise requested, please send exchange pub-
lications to Doug Barron, BLHS Exchange Editor, 29 Hungerford
Rd., Albany NY 12203-4205.

The BLHS has a provisional charter from the Regents of the
University of the State of New York and has 501(c)3 federal
status as a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization. Its newsletter,
the Bulletin, is sent to its members monthly. Opinions and com-
ments herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the members,
officers, or direotors-of the BLHS. Articles and material may be
freely copied, providing the Bulletin is cited as the source.

Officers and Directors
Chris Shepherd
Jim Bachorz

President

Vice President
Treasurer Pete Rankin 518-399-6568]]"’
Secretary Barb Bachorz, 518-374-9548}
Directors: Gene Corsale, Frank Doherty (Chairman), Bob Hayes,

Len Kilian, Bill Kozel, Tom McEntee, Jim Odell, Dean Splittger-
ber, Jack Wrig!

Our Staff

Barbara Bachorz, Editor Jim Bachorz, Publisher
John Milczarek, Assoc. Editor Gerry Jones, Photo Editor
Columnists _ Barbara Bachorz, Jim Bachorz, Doug Barron, Jim
Corbett, Gene Corsale, Joe Durham, Ken Freeman,
Andy Kirk, Bill Kozel, Bob Lowe, Robert A. Moore,
Frank Peragine, Eric Schadow, Gary Schermerhorn,
Chris Shepherd, Dick Silber, Rev: Walter Smith,
Steve Wagner, David Wallace, Scott Whitney
Barbara Bachorz, Jim Bachorz, Doug Barron, Pete
Rankin, Dave Roberts
Jim Bachorz, Doug Barron, John Bartley, Frank
Doherty, Bob Hayes, Chris Milczarek, John Milczar-
ek, Dave Roberts, Tony Rudmann
Neil Hunter, John Shaw
Eric Schadow, 1990 Upper Gregg Road, Sche-
nectady, NY 12306
BLHS Attic, c/o Joe Durham, 1 Krall Road, Hamp-
ton, NY 12837-9701

This issue was mailed bulk rate (Third Class) at the Albany, NY,
General Mail Facility on Tuesday, July 29, 2003, If you did not
receive this copy in a reasonable time, please file a written complaint
with the U.S. Postal Service.

Circulation
Assembly
Webmasters
Sales

Back issues

BRIDGE LINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Name Telephone ( )

Addr. Age (opt) Spouse name (opt).
Occupation (opt)

City State Zip Employer (opt)

E-mail address

MEMBERSHIP CLASSES (per calendar year; halved from 5/15 to 11/15; after 11/15, dues cover following year as well):

Regular [ ] $22.00 per cal. year**
Family { ] $26.00 per cal. year** Corporate
Sustaining [ ] $50 per cal. year**

D&H / Soo / CP Rail Employee*

[ ] $20.00 per cal. year**
[ ] $50.00 per cal. year**

NOTES: /)* Employee membership is for all present and retired D&H, Soo and CP Rail employees and their Spouses, 2)** All amounts
are in U.S.8. A mandatory Canadian surcharge of $15 covers air mail cost. U.S. First Class postage is $1 O/year extra; there is no postal

surcharge for Sustaining Members.

What areas of interest apply to you?

Are there any talents you possess that might assist the society in its efforts?

Make check/money order payable to Bridge Line Historical Society, Box 13324, Albany, NY 12212

7/20/2003

BLHS Bulletin White Flags Edition - August 2003

BRIDGE LINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

THE BRIDGE LINE |

2003 Annual Banquet

Your Bridge Line Historical Society's Annual Banquet will be held on: Saturday, October
25, 2003 at JeRon’s Restaurant & Banquet House, 17 Low Street, Ballston Spa, New York; the
telephone number is 518-885-1195. Join us for an evening of news, pleasant fellowship, good
times, and great memories.

Directions: 187 (“Northway”) to exit 12; west onto N.Y. Rt. 67 (travel past Curtis Lumber)
to N.Y. Rt. 50 intersection (USA gas station on the left); right onto Rt. 50 north; travel approxi-
mately 1 mile to first four-way traffic light; left at light onto West High Street; first right onto LOW:
Street. JeRon’s is a half block on your left, on the site of the former D&H station.

The event will start with a cash barat 5:00 p.m., followed by a short business meeting: (our
annual meeting, with elections) at 5:45 p.m., and then the ever-popular buffet at 6:15-p.m.* The
buffet items will include rolls and butter, mixed greens, Caesar salad, antipasto salad, ‘chicken
piccatta, seafood newburg over white rice, stuffed shells parmesan, carved roast beef; herb bliss’
potatoes, green beans almondine, vegetable medley, cheesecake with strawberries,:coffee and
tea. The banquet price, $22.00 per person, includes. gratuities.

The after-dinner slide show will be by Jim Odell...A speaker is still in the works, Please
send in only the bottom half of this form; keep.the-top for.directions.

2003 BLHS Annual Banquet Reservation

Dinner feservations a : @ $22.=
_ Name
Address.

Mail the bottom part of this form with your remittance (check or money’ order made payable to
Bridge Line Historical Society) to: :

‘ BLHS Annual Banquet
c/o Pete Rankin, Treasurer
19 Ridgewood Lane
Scotia, NY 12302-4103

Reservations must be réceived by October 15; no telephone reservations will be accepted. No
refunds after October 15. Further information is available from Barbara Bachorz at 518-374-

9548.
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The Timetable

Bridge Line Historical Society
October 25 - Annual Meeting and
Banquet, JeRon’s Restaurant, Ballston
Spa, NY. See the flyer for details.

Amherst Railway Society,
3rd Tue. of month exc. Dec/Feb/Jul/Aug at
Amherst Mass. Regional Jr. H.S.; 413-
436-0242 or amherstrail.org for info.

Boston & Maine RHS
2nd Sat. of month, 3:30 p.m., Boott Mills
Theater, Mogan Center, French St., Low-
ell, MA.

Empire State Passenger Association
bbecker@albanycc.cc for details

Monthly meetings:

” Oct 4 - Rensselaer, location TBA,

Nov 22 - Schenectady, location TBA.

Jan 10 - Schenectady, location TBA.

Mar 6 - Schenectady; location TBA, An-

nual Meeting.

Fonda Johnstown & Gloversville RHA
Last Wed. of month, 7 p.m., Gloversville
Library, Gloversville, NY.

Gulf Curve NRHS
Meetings are first Monday of month except
Jul. - Aug., 7:30 p.m., Little Falls Public
Library, Little Falls, NY.

Hudson Valley RRS
2nd Mon. of month, 7:30 p.m., former
NYC RR station, Hyde Park, NY.

Leatherstocking RHS
3rd Saturday of month, 5:00 p.m. at Mil-
ford, NY C&CV depot. Web: LRHS.com

Southern Tier RRE
2nd Tue. of month, 7:30 p.m., Foundry
Plaza Branch of Broome County Library,
Main St., Binghamton, NY.

» Susquehanna Valley RHS
Second Thu. of month ex. Jul. - Aug.,
7:30 p.m., Vestal Library, Vestal, NY.

STEER IPE

Utica & Mohawk Valley NRHS
uticarometrains.org

Sep 12 - Monthly meeting, Zion Lutheran
Church, Burrstone Road, New Hartford,
NY. Program TBA.

Oct 10 - Monthly meeting, Zion Lutheran
Church, Burrstone Road, New Hartford,
NY. Program TBA. :

Nov 14-- Monthly meeting, Zion Lutheran
Church, Burrstone Road, New Hartford,
NY. Program TBA.

Dec 12 - Annual dinner (bring a dish to
share), Zion Lutheran Church, Burrstone
Road, New Hartford, NY.

Show Time! (other events)
Feb 8 - Annual Train Show, West Spring-
field, MA (the BIG one at the Big E);
BLHS will be on site.

CPR Police
If you see dangerous conditions-on the
property, or need to contact the D&H
police for legitimate reasons, the number to
call is 800-716-9132, If you have a poten-
tial rail customer, Sales/Marketing can be
reached at 518-383-7287.

CSX Police
In the same way, if you see dangerous
conditions on CSX property, or need to
contact CSX police for legitimate reasons,
the number to call is 800-232-0144.

Statement of Purpose

While the purpose of our Bulletin is as
a historical publication dedicated to the
D&H, we do include material related to
other railroads. Under no circumstances
are D&H news, pictures or articles exclud-
ed from the Bulletin to make room for non-
D&H material. Non-D&H items are in-
cluded because (1) many of our readers, in
addition to being D&H fans, are also inter-
ested in other railroads; (2) if an individual
were to subscribe to just one railroad maga-
zine (and we hope it would be this one!),
he or she will appreciate good coverage of
other area railroads; (3) CP/SL&H/D&H
does not exist in a vacuum and must inter-
act with other railroads; and (4) by includ-
ing such material, we hope to increase our
membership. (and keep costs low),

If you know of any other group with
rail-oriented or special events you would
like us to 'mention, have them contact us
with the details, allowing sufficient time for
us to publicize the event. All we ask is
that if we proniote and help a group, it
should reasonably do the same for us.

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Amazingly, there are groups that won’t do
this!

Bulletin Sales Outlets
The following locations carry the Bulle-
tin for sale to the railfan community. If
you know of other establishments which
you think would be appropriate places for
Bulletin sales, please have them contact us.

« Amtrak Albany-Rensselaer station (East
Street, Rensselaer, NY)

se Berkshire Hills Hobby Supply (93 Main
Street, Canaan, CT)

se Central Hobby Supply (102 Walter
Drive, Syracuse, NY)

se JP’s Trains & Hobbies (277 Troy-Sche-
nectady Road, Latham, NY)

t= Mohawk Valley Railroad (2037 Ham-
burg Street, Schenectady, NY)

tr Rensselaer Trains & Hobbies (102 Troy
Road, East Greenbush, NY)

"= Tucker’s Hobbies (8 Bacon Street,
Warren, MA)

i
i
i
|

‘BLHS News and Views
by Barb and Jim Bachorz

Elections

Three Director positions are up for re-
election this year. These are 3-year terms,
as one-third of our Directors are elected
each year. The incumbents are: Bill Kozel,
Dean J. Splittgerber, and Jack Wright.

If you want to run for one of these
positions, or have some member in mind
whom you think would make a good direc-
tor of this organization (and have, of
course, determined he will serve if elect-
ed), contact the Nominating Committee.

Elsie Rankin and Millie Doherty have
agreed to be Co-chairwomen of this year’s
Nominating Committee. Elsie’s telephone
number is 518-399-6568; Millie’s is 518-
438-0186.

Annual

This year’s annual banquet will be held
on Saturday, October 25 at JeRon’s Restau-
rant and Banquet House in Ballston Spa,
New York. See the flyer for details.

Congratulations

The Times Union, in cooperation with
St. Peter’s Health Care Services, is recog-
nizing volunteers’ dedication, sacrifice and
accomplishments with the Jefferson
Awards. Named after Thomas Jefferson,
the third president and a statesman who
drafted the Declaration of Independence,
the awards are sponsored nationally by the
American Institute for Public Service in
Wilmington, Del.

BLHS Director Gene Corsale is one of
the recipients of the Jefferson Award.
Gene was involved in the restoration of the
St. Peter’s War Memorial and the 200-
year-old Gideon Putnam Cemetery. He
also began the “Saratoga County Honor A
Deceased Veteran of the Month” program.
A noted Saratoga Springs rail historian,
Gene is also Operation Lifesaver coordina-
tor for the Ballston Spa school system.

Congratulations, Gene. Keep up the
good work,

CPR sets a restructuring strategy
Canadian Pacific Railway is taking

what it’s calling “additional measures to

increase productivity across its network” to

“improve its economic performance.” The
measures include additional job cuts and
restructuring of its Northeastern U.S. net-
work, operated as the Delaware & Hudson
Railway. CPR will take a special charge of
approximately $152 million after tax in sec-
ond-quarter 2003.

“We are not satisfied with the current
rate of progress toward our long-term
financial objectives”, said CPR President
and CEO Rob Ritchie. “This situation has
been exacerbated by the unexpected rise in
the value of the Canadian dollar added to.
sustained high fuel prices: We are acceler-
ating existing plans and taking additional
steps to improve productivity and address
investments that -aren’t performing to ex-
pectations.” .

CPR will increase to approximately 820
the number of job positions to be eliminat-
ed, from 300 positions announced earlier
this year. It now plans to eliminate 370
positions in 2003, 330 in 2004; and 120 in
2005. CPR “will selectively hire in specif-
ic areas of the business to ensure we can
accommodate growth or changes in traffic
patterns and to provide the required train
service levels.”

CPR will restructure the D&H “to
create a more cost-effective and flexible
railway network, and has begun discussions
with a number of interested parties about
ways to generate higher traffic volumes and
greater earnings”, said Ritchie. It will
write down its investment in its Northeast-
ern U.S. operations by $75 million after
tax “to more accurately reflect the current
fair value of the operations and the impact
of restructuring. We believe our North-
eastern U.S. network has additional earn-
ings potential and we are prepared to take
the measures necessary to make it a suc-
cess.” from Railway Age

L.F. Loree’s granddaughter dies

Marguerite Loree Tubman, “Peggy”,
86, passed away Sunday, May 18, 2003, at
the New York State Veterans’ Home in
Oxford, N.Y.

She was born in Limpsfield, England,
daughter of the late Robert Fresnell Loree
and Alix Ghislaine Loree.

Marguerite grew up in Montclair, N.J.,
attended St. Elizabeth’s Academy and Eden
Hall. In 1937 she graduated from Douglas
College with a degree in English literature.
In 1938 she received a degree from the
Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in New
York City and worked as a secretary at the
Guaranty Trust Company in Manhattan.

In 1945 Marguerite joined the United
States Navy and reached the rank of Lieu-
tenant, working in the Communications
Decoding Department on Staten Island
during World War II.

Our thanks to Walter Rich for this information.

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Sustaining members for 2003: Matt
Adams; Roy & Jerolyn Allen; Carl Belke;
Ashleigh Chamberlain; Joe & Charlotte
Costello; Wally & Monica-Day; William &
Mary Denale; Geoff Dunn; Robert Gang-
wish; Tom & Arleen Gillen; Richard Ham-
bly; Richard Hooker; Art & Sandy Jack-
son; Robert Kardas; Robert Kolankoski;
Bill & Barbara Larkin; Bruce Leemann;
Warren Martin; Bill McColl;. Andrew &
Joan McCulloch; Jeese & Sandra Meeker;
Bob & Dora Moore; Tom Moran; Peter
Paulson; Michael Prosch; Walter & Karine
Rich; Ralph & Kimberly Roba; John Foord
Sherman; Ed Small; Edward P. Street;
Upper Hudson River Railroad; H.M. Baird
Voorhis; Steve Wasby; James Welling;
Tony White; Payson & Linda Wild; Robert
Willett; Jay Winn; and Al Zubal.

Directors/officers/columnists e-addresses:

Barb Bachorz: editor@bridge-line.org

Jim Bachorz: publisher@bridge-line.org,

Doug Barron: dbarron62@aol.com

Gene Corsale: ecorsall@nycap.rr.com.

Frank Doherty: francismillie@cs.com

Joe Durham: jdalco@vermontel net

Neil Hunter: neilh@connexus.net.au

Len Kilian: eleskay518@aol.com

Andy Kirk: ask9@earthlink.net

Bill Kozel: madogbill@yahoo.com

Bob Lowe: rlowe@rbscc.org

Tom McEntee: railfan.thomas
@worldnet.att.net

John Milczarek: mrrjudge@aol.com

Bob Moore: dmoore4@rochester.rr.com

Jim Odell: jeodell@earthlink.net

Frank Peragine: fperagine@cs.com

Pete Rankin: prankin132@hotmail.com

Dave Roberts: robertsrs36@yahoo.com

Eric Schadow: u23b_2311@yahoo.com

Gary Schermerhorn: bluemac@
mhonline.net

John Shaw: jashaw@birch.net

Chris Shepherd: ch952@bfn.org

Dick Silber: hocustom@aol.com

Rev. Walter Smith: revwf@northnet.org

Dean Splittgerber: dsplittgerber_railfan
@yahoo.com

Steve Wagner: swagner@law.harvard.edu

Scott Whitney: sjwhitney@adelphia.net

Jack Wright: sv_ry@yahoo.com

DRI RUS eT AAB DeIL-TL AIS-DAN-MLNS-DAI-WAS-DAIELA- DRILLS

by Robert A. Moore

The rules: All members may submit
ads. Ads are due at least two days before
the first Saturday of the month. Your ad
will run for three successive months, or
until you inform this columnist that your ad
has been successful, or that you’ve given
up! And remember, send your ad or notice
to cease to the street address or e-mail ad-
dress below. Do not send Swap Shop ads
to the Publications Office! We will do our

best to honor any special requests
: st a

After the “summer break”

As you all know, Chris Shepherd pro-
duced his second special issue of the Bulle-
tin, and gave us regular columnists a month
off. In the interim, business at the Swap
Shop has been a bit slow, with only one
new ad showing up over the two-month
period.

Wanted: A copy of Ruth Gardner’s 1990
edition of “D&H Railroad, Champlain
Division Lake George Steamboat Co. Pic-
tures and Timetables, Vol. 4”, published
by the author. Any information on possible
purchase appreciated. Mark Wright, 230
Springloch Road, Silver Spring MD 20904;
tel. 301-622-1914, or e-mail gi.joeguy@
yerizon.net (0903)

Wanted: HO Athearn passenger cars, NYC
in the 1800 series, built up or kits. John
W. Gamble, 5413 Gilling Road, Richmond,
VA 23234; tel. 804-275-5022.

(0703)

For sale: D&H A-B-A “Sharks” in O-
gauge, by Williams, mint, boxed (compati-
ble with Lionel/MTH), two motors and
horn; $350 (free UPS S&H). Dick Kuehn-
emund, 3007 Phyllis Dr., Endwell, NY
13760; e-mail: dkuehnem@stny.rr.com

(0603)

For sale: Steam locomotive bell. Brass bell
measures 16 inches diameter at the bottom.
Cast iron cradle is intact. This has been in
my collection for about 30 years and is
now located in Saratoga Springs, NY. If
interested, contact Richard O. Aichele, tel.
518-581-9623, e-mail rottoa@inforworks.
com for more information. (0603)

For sale: Have list of pre-war “OO” trains
and parts. Send SASE or e-mail for list.
Dick Kuehnemund, 3007 Phyllis Dr.,
Endwell, NY 13760; e-mail dkuehnem@
stny.rr.com (0603)

For sale: -D&H streamline HO passenger
cars. Con-Cor smooth-side diner #42, IHC
corrugated coach #204 “Lake George”, and
observation “Champlain”. Never used, in
original boxes, $10 each ppd. E-mail:
charlief@sisna.com (0503)

For sale: Doug Lezette’s book, “D&H
Passenger Trains, the Final Decade”.
Signed copies available on request. 150+
color photos, 72 pg. $24.95 plus $4 S&H;
NYS res. add 7% tax. Check or M.O.
payable to: Final Decade, PO Box 9069,
Schenectady, NY 12309. Book review at
finaldecade.com. Please note there are
less than 100 copies left. (0103)

For sale: 256mb SDRAM DIMM’s (mem-
ory modules), PC133, 168 pin; by H-P, fits
most PC’s. $27 ea. includes S&H. Jim
Bachorz, 2476 Whitehall Ct., Schenectady,
NY 12309; tel. 518-374-9548; e-mail
jbachorz@hotmail.com (0603)

Are we too late?

Athearn, the long-established manufac-
turer of model railroad products, an-
nounced recently that it will produce high-
quality, ready-to-run models of Chatleng-
ers, the 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement steam
locomotives that were among the last steam
to run on the D&H. The models are to be
produced in HO scale. The July issue of
Model Railroader carried an announcement,
and subscribers to Athearn’s e-mail bulle-
tins received further details on the models
to be produced for specific roads. I am
sure that you will find more details in Steve
Wagner’s column Modeling Matters else-
where in this issue. .

There were two different batches of
models announced, one for early 2004 and
the other for later in 2004. A D&H ver-
sion was not included in their plans.

BLHS Bulletin — September 2003

Earlier this week (this is written on
August 1), I placed a phone call to Athearn
to see if there was any possibility that they
might be persuaded to produce a D&H
version of their Challenger. I indicated *
that I was a member of the BLHS and that
I was certain that there were members of
the society that could provide any and all
technical information they might need to do
an accurate model. I was told to send an
e-mail message and it would be forwarded
to the people in control of those kinds of
decisions.

There it is, loyal readers! What, you
ask? This appears to me to be opportunity
knocking at our keyboards! Keep those e-
cards and letters flowing toward the West
Coast! If you are an HO gauge modeler,
or a D&H fan that would like to have a
display model to represent the steam era of
your favorite road on your mantel, now is
your chance to possibly influence the deci-
sions of a major model manufacturer.

1 will caution you now that the models
will have an MSRP in the $600 range.
Maybe, just maybe, if enough of us express
serious interest to the folks at Athearn, we
can persuade them to do the D&H Chal-
lenger. I would suggest that we not be-
come a pest in their Inbox, but if many
different people make known their wishes
these folks may see enough of a market for
such a product.

The e-mail address I was told to use is
help@athearn.com. If you don’t have ac-
cess to the Internet, send them snail mail at
Athearn, Inc., 19010 Laurel Park Road,
Compton, CA 90220. If you really DO
want to be a pain-in-the-tail, their phone
number is 310-631-3400.

Radio controlled switching

In his July column, Frank Peragine
discussed the remote control of switching
locomotives via radio. He mentioned that
he had not seen information in the media
about this system being used by the rail-
roads in the Northeast.

About six months ago there was some
information passed via the Internet regard-
ing CSX using remote switching at Dewitt
Yard in the Syracuse, NY area, and in one
of the CSX yards in the Buffalo, NY area.
There was also small mention in the local
press when a railroad employee was killed
in each of these. locations within a short
time period last winter. There was no
mention of a possible link between this
relatively new technology application and
the deaths of the two rail employees.

As usual, there has been no follow-up
to these stories, so we do not know if a
cause and effect relationship was ever
established.

continued on page 9

by Gary R. Schermerhorn

Summer of uncertainty

The summer of uncertainty of our
beloved Delaware & Hudson seems to have
descended upon us this 2003. By June, the
first rumors of “restructuring” had begun
to filter out of CP Rail’s head offices of its
eastern network. Terms like “cost effec-
tive” and “flexible” appeared, with the
wish to further generate greater traffic
volume and earnings.

By July, the word “lease” began to ap-
pear, as in CP Rail wanting to lease the
D&H to the highest bidder of “non-first
class” railroads. This could be a move to
save on infrastructure costs, or maybe bust
the current contracted unions in order to
develop a new lean-mean railroad out of
the current subsidiary one.

Some of us may remember the “ghost”,
St. Lawrence & Hudson, which CP Rail
proudly announced when it attempted for
similar reasons to “restructure” its dead in
the water/break-even northeastern rail step-
child. After going a few rounds, it was
decided the “SL&H” was a “money losing
venture”, and the name quietly and quickly
vanished off the company paycheck stubs
and liquidated back into CP Rail, again as
if it never happened. Today, only a few
5600-series SD40-2’s still wear the SL&H
lettering on their carbodies, a reminder of
a “here today gone tomorrow” era.

Latest bidders for the CP/D&H are
non-connecting roads or short line empires:
Rail America, GWI, Reading & Northern.
But, hold your hats; the dreaded “evil NS
empire” even has a large say in the yea or
may part of any restructuring or lease to
come. Even the Fink and Mellon Grinch/
Guilford machinery may be getting in-

volved in a network consolidated
by NS, made of GRS and CP.
But until we hear the official an-
nouncement from the powers that
be, it’s basically just hearsay and
rumors within rumors. But all
this can’t be helping morale for
the men and women working on
the D&H today, with the clouds
of uncertainty filling the skies of
their future with a lot of big un-
knowns.

Time to get trackside

With all this chatter about
leasing, restructuring and buyout,
it has been my experience in the
past with Conrail’s last days, that
you should waste no time getting
trackside - just in case. This
means a beginning or end. of
another era of the D&H as we
know it under CP today. Even if
it turns out to be a hyped-up
blow-off, I can still come away
with some great material.

Two consecutive Saturdays in
a row in mid-July in the dead of summer
found me out along the scenic Albany &
Susquehanna Line, with battered Nikons
armed to the teeth with slide and print film.
Because the northern end of the former
Second Division is closest to my Hudson
River Valley homeland of Hudson NY, I
usually find it the most profitable to cut
through the Catskills into Middleburgh on
Route 145 to 188 at Cobleskill and see what
evolves: From Cobleskill, by 8 a.m. 1 can
usually go either north to Howes Cave or
Central Bridge, or southwest to my beloved
perch at Brooker Hollow Road in East
Worcester, hard by the MP528.2 detector.

On the gorgeous sunny Saturday morn-
ing of July 19, I was perched on Brooker
Hollow Road when those musical Canadian
horns announced northbound train 413 out
of Worcester abound 9:30 a.m. The 413
rounded the curve and charged upgrade
toward CPF527 with an impressive six unit
lashup led by dirty Soo 6610, followed by
MEC/Guilford 381 (in pool service for CP
apparently), Soo 6604, and CP SD’s 5668-
5640-5677 with 62 cars. This freight
would meet the train 252 in the siding.

The 252 would be the surprise train of
the day, and would prove once again on the
D&H that persistence and patience has its
occasional rewards.

While waiting for 252 to launch, I had
the pleasure and honor of meeting two
fellow railfans on the bridge. The first was
a trainmaster for CSXT in New Jersey; the
second was a fellow named Tom (who I
believe posts wonderful sightings and train
numbers on the net of the action on the
A&S and Binghamton). It’s great to be
able to chat with someone and find out the

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

latest info for the future. My hats off to
both gentlemen on this glorious. summer
morning in making the pilgrimage a little
more enjoyable. Tom and I shot the NS
168 train with “skull” GE 8948 plus a
former Conrail C40-8W, still in blue, at
10:14.a.m., as it rattled up the grade for
Richmondville Hill’s summit. Today’s
consist was fairly short n’ sweet.

Now it was time to finally release the
train of the day, the 252. Numerous insta-
bility cumulus clouds now spilled and filled
that once clear blue dome of morning sky.
As a result, the cloud shadow monsters
were in full force as the 252 rumbled out
of its hole and accelerated towards the truss
bridge, with Soo candy apple “red barn”
SD60M 6058, CP SD40-2F barns 9019-
9006, CP “Pacman” 6013, and dirty CP
redbitd 5655 with 60 cars. Wow! This
was the only time I have been able to lens
one of the elusive Soo SD60M’s on point
of a D&H train. To have this Soo lashed
up with two CP barns as well was a real
rare treat.

It was a train well worth a chase, but
the unfortunate cloud machine now generat-
ing over my head as the late morning sun
began its dreaded upward trek towards the
H.A. (high angle) time of the day (roughly
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the summer
months). Tom and I did the usual I88 to
the nearest exit chase scene for the south-
bound 252. By Unadilla, it was apparent
that the H.A. sun was going to get the best
of me, and I pulled the plug to head north,
not wanting the endurance test of driving
all the way to Binghamton at the height of
the heat and traffic and meltdown until the
afternoon sun rolled around. At least not
this time.

Back up at Delanson after devouring a
bag of Doritos “salsa” chips (the best
tasting Doritos on the market, in my opin-
ion; look for the distinctive black bag!) and
some Gatorade Frost (Zhere’s a combo!),
plus a few walks to explore the CPF499
signals, train 169 finally stormed into town
south from Mohawk Yard around 3:15
p-m. Today’s train was a huuuuuuge
monster, with two Dash 9 skulls, the first
being the 9665, with Soo 6605 thrown in
for good measure, A nearly 2-mile train of
EMP containers, J B Hunt trailers, and K-
Liner stacks, seemed to say that NS is
doing very-well as of late with its Ayer
traffic into New England.

Round Two

The next Saturday, I was in much
worse shape due to the wear and tear of a
battling workweek and little sleep the previ-
ous night. An attempt to get an early
morning shot at Colliersville, near Coop-
erstown Junction, with the two parked
M-NR FL9’s along N.Y, Route 7, came up
with zilch, as no early train 413 or 168 was
forthcoming. Dejected, I headed north
once more until I hit train 252 growling
over Richmondville Summit at 11 a.m., led
by an all-red handsome lashup of CP red-
bird 5604, Soo red SD60M 6060 and red-
bird 5676 with 83 cars. I made a quick
hit-and-sun shot at Brooker Hollow Road,
and proceeded to follow the 252 to. Oneon-
ta, where it met the 168 just after noon.

" The 168 had its usual NS skull GE power,
9340-9769 (whiteface scheme).

’ | elected this time to head into Bingo-
town to scratch up that elusive train 413,
which was indeed still in East Binghamton
Yard upon my arrival around 2 p.m. Bing-
hamton was a study of road construction,
traffic, proactive bystanders, sirens and
sweltering heat on that July 26th afternoon.
Train 167 with three CP SD’s was released
to go west on the Tier with 5633-5602-
6073 elephant style.

Next came train 413 with a monster 98-
car, 9,335-ton freight, apparently delayed
by not having an available rested crew until
a noon on-duty time. Power was CP red-
bird 5603 followed by MEC/Guilford 381
(back again), well-flogged Pacmen. 5668-
5666, and: the red SL&H-lettered 5690.
The heavy train 413 would meet the still-
to-arrive train 252 at Phelps Street near
CPF611, then howl and grind and smoke
its way up Belden Hill in a din that
drowned out 90% of the insects and bird
and human sounds over the mountain. The
DS would hold the 413 at Afton for the
169, with NS skull-ships 9296-9053 head-
ing a large cut of red K-Line stacks right
behind the power. By 5:10 p.m., the 413
headed northeast, plagued with telemetry
problems, which forced the crew to reduce

, the train speed to 30 mph.

Unbeknown to me, behind the 413 was

train 165 - a pleasant surprise - with six

, CP SD40-2’s, led by the beat up Pacman

* 5642 leading 6014-5663-5980-5901-5939,
with a 384-axle/87-car train of containers
and mixed freight. Both of these D&H
monsters made a fine sight in the evening’s
hazy sunlight as they headed north over the
A&S. Following them were a few chasers,
including myself, bleary eyed and suffering
from mild heat exhaustion, but determined
to get in a few more frames ‘of those rag-
ged SD’s. Finally the 165 ran around the
slower 413 at Oneonta, and met the waiting
412 at East Worcester at 7:30 p.m. Power
for the 412 was CP 6020-NS skull 9599-
CP SD’s 6018-5605-5675. A grrrrrreat
day on the A&S once more.

CSXT tidbits

Finally, a newspaper clipping was for-
warded to me by fellow columnist Rev.
Walter Smith, concerning an 18-car derail-
ment of CSXT/CN freight Q620 near the
Liberty Street Overpass in Adams, NY
near Syracuse. The June 30 derailment

raised questions on CSXT’S maintenance
practices by local town politicians due to
“speculation” of a break in line (broken rail
in RR lingo), causing the 71-car freight to
go on its ride into the weeds.

On the other end of the stick, there had
been rumors of further cost-cutting in
CSXT, hacking more jobs systemwide in
an effort to prune its system to a better
money-making machine, but at what long
term cost? Currently. the New York (for-
mer Conrail) section of the system (aka
Albany Service Lane) seems to be under-
going a severe. motive power shortage,
causing numerous delays and bad tempers
to flare up. The rolling junkyard going by
my bunker-warehouse facility at Coxsackie
along the. River Line near CP118 has been
quite colorful and interesting to watch.
Every rainbow-schemed leased HCLX,
CEFX, HLCX EMD or GE has made a
showing, along with a dramatic increase in
the use of: four-axle GP40-2, GP38-2 and
B36-7’s on road trains. While it is great
news for the photographers, it is bad news
for the crews stuck in the single track with
a maxed-out tonnage train, with fried wires
and the added problem of smoke pouring
out of the innards of that burned-out former
SD50 of Seaboard System days. New
“dark future” or “bright future” paint
doesn’t magically fix the internal wear and
tear, and shrinking maintenance personnel
won’t fix it.° It just makes it look more
pretty when it poses for seven hours while
the crew awaits the next rescue mission to
arrive, racking up the paycheck hours I
guess. Aah, the life of modern railroading
in corporate America!

The marker

A safe and happy summer to early fall
season to all of the faithful readers. Keep
sending your e-mails and any nice prints or
slides (yes, they can use them) to the Bulle-
tin Publications Office. Cheers!

DeI- OLS DSH LDA HLS-Da-BLS-DAI-BLNS-DAU-AIS-DAILTLS-DAILNLIS

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

by Barbara Bachorz

If you know. some fellow railroad en-
thusiast(s), or D&H, Soo, CP Rail or other
railroad employee or retiree, ete, who:
might Jike:ta look over their own copy of,
ihe Bulletin, please let us know, Just drop
us a note with their name and address; we
will see to it that they. receive the next
issue of the Bulletin as a free sample.

We ask all readers of this publication
to be on the lookout for new members,
‘Only with continued growth will we
teach the critical mass necessary to un-|
dertake even bigger and more ambitious
projects in the future,

“Continuing in the proud: tradition: of|
D&H firsts, your BLHS was the first rail
enthusiast society to have its own home:
page on the Internet, Even the D&H’s
own historical society makes history!

We would like to say “Welcome
aboard!” to the following new members:

Matt Adams, Frederick, MD

Jan Archacki, New York City, NY
George Ellis, Rockville, MD

Robert Legault, Ottawa, ONT

Jack Oliver, Leonia, NJ

Saul Rigberg, Delmar, NY

Andrew Salamon, Jr., Newtown, CT
Michael H. Smith, Williamson, NY
Susan Smith, Duncannon, PA

‘Des nL-E as DANLS-DAH-HLNS-DU-LS-DAU-ELS-DAI BLS DASE

The Mail Car

Mail from our favorite
source - our readers!

The Answer Is Coal
from Robert K. LaPorte

I was sitting in my recliner watching a
VHS tape of myself conducting Tchaikov-
sky’s Second Symphony, when my thoughts
started to drift towards what our curmud-
geon said in his column in the June issue.
Natural gas and tree-huggers aside, no one,
but NO ONE, ever mentioned (not even
our curmudgeon) that coal-fired steam
plants can be built to be very efficient,
emissionswise. They don’t tell the ever-
loving public that!

I have spent my professional life in-
volved with steam and diesel power plants
and their auxiliary equipment, both ashore
and afloat, so I think I know somewhat of
what I speak.

In 1983, I went to Griffiss AFB in
Rome, NY as a mechanical engineer,
representing the Air Force’s interests in
various construction contracts. The largest
job I had there, prior to taking over as
Chief Engineer of the oil-fired steam plant,
was in getting involved in the construction
of a new-from-the-ground-up COAL-fired
steam plant to replace the old oil-fired job.

This was to be state of the art, and I
mean that! -From a hole in the ground, we
built that new steam plant, four boilers and
auxiliary equipment, a bag house, exhaust
gas scrubbers, and treatment plants to re-
move acidic and precipitate waste from the
rain water runoff from the coal pile.

There were emissions monitors and
smoke indicators on top of the two smoke-
stacks, so we knew the state of combustion
in the boilers at all times during operation.
The plant was computer-controlled from the
control room.

I was asked to take over as Chief Engi-
neer in the new plant, which I did; what
the hell, I was in on the building, and I
knew the setup there from one end to the
other. Sure, we had the inevitable start-up
pains, but after running awhile, things
settled in and the operation gradually
smoothed out.

What’s the point? I say, based on that
experience, the coal-fired plants can be
made very environmentally friendly if
properly engineered and operated and
maintained.

When Griffiss AFB closed, the coal
plant was taken over by private interests,
and guess what? They converted it to
natural gas!!! You should see the size of
the natural gas main pipe going into the
plant. When I am in the area, I look at it
and shake my head!

I will say this that you cannot dispute
that coal firing is labor-intensive, especially
with all the emissions clean-up equipment
involved. OK, so the people who would be
working there are out of jobs, maybe on
the public dole. Who knows?

When I looked at those large gas pipes
feeding the old coal plant, the thought went
through my head, “With this and so many
other plants also on natural gas, setting
price problems aside, we have a finite
supply of this stuff, which is also the sole
fuel for most residential and commercial
heating. What happens when demand
ultimately exceeds supply?”

No amount of money will buy this stuff
if there isn’t enough to go around. Coal,
on the other hand, is not used for most
residential and commercial heating, but
mostly for steam generation. Properly
used, it does not pose environmental prob-
Jems, and we have plenty of the stuff avail-
able at reasonable prices. I am sure we
have the technical know-how for dealing
with the higher-sulphur coals.

What the tree-huggers forget is that
both natural gas and coal generate CO2 into
the atmosphere, despite the best coal emis-
sions treatment used. Okay, don’t want to
heat up the atmosphere? You can always
generate with nuclear power, but you don’t
want any coal, oil, gas, or nuke. It’s like
medicine; no matter which you use, it has
side-effects.

Maybe we ought to go back to the stone
ages. But wait, doesn’t wood generate
both CO2 and hot exhaust?

Grrrr!

Questions for the Membership
from Bill Nalevanko

I’m not sure who to direct my questions
to, as I’m not sure if there is a historian
office, so I’ll direct them to the member-
ship.

1. In what year did passenger through
service on the Penn Division end? I have
a 1921 timetable that shows trains 506, 509
and 516 provided service between Wilkes-
Barre and Albany, and was unable to locate
said info in my Shaughnessy bible.

2. Were any of the Penn Division
“name” trains? *

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

3. It is my understanding that commu-
ter passenger service on the Wilkes-
Barre/Carbondale ended in 1952, but I
don’t have a source to quote. Can some-
one provide one?

We need the info for our “On the Right
Track: Lackawanna Valley” publication.
Please e-mail answers to me at okeeusa@
att.net.

North Country News
from Bob Bergevin

Our local paper, the Press-Republican,
Tuns a review of its news from the last 100
years in 25, 50, 75 and 100 year chunks
every week. I have been reading these
things for several months, and I have begun
to marvel at how much of the information
from 100 years ago seems to involve the
railroads in the North Country, and espe-
cially the D&H.

I decided to take it upon myself to clip
some of the gems and send them on to you
for your edification or interest and perhaps
a filler or two for the Bulletin.

A most interesting item that I did not
manage to clip was the announcement that
the narrow gauge line between Plattsburgh
and Lyon Mountain and beyond would be
converted to standard gauge. Lo and be-
hold, after only a couple of months the
item appeared that the work was complete,
and now regular service would begin into
the Adirondacks through Plattsburgh. All
of this 100 years ago.

Another item that also appeared some
time ago was the change in ownership of
the AuSable Chasm and Keeseville Railroad
to D&H ownership. We all know the
history behind this short but busy line that
changed hands 100 years ago.

I wish we could hear more about the
Northern Division, but we don’t all get our
wishes.

Here are a few more:

25 Years Ago - 1978: Although the
City of Plattsburgh was told it would not
have to pay a cent toward the construction
of the new Smith Weed Bridge, a letter
arrived from the state listing Plattsburgh’s
share of the cost at $6,825.

(This was the bridge over the D&H
near City Hall. The railroad came one day
and tore off the roadway over the tracks.
After a small war, NYS agreed to replace
the bridge....Bob B.)

75 Years Ago - 1928: The Delaware
and Hudson Railroad will discontinue the
morning passenger train on the Chateaugay
line and the afternoon train on the AuSable
Forks branch. That means there will be
only one train between Saranac Lake and
Plattsburgh and AuSable Forks and Platts-
burgh each day.

continued on page 10
Railroad Tech

by Frank Peragine

Smart Containers

Last month’s discussion of batteries,
wireless, processors, and electronics got a
little technical. For this month’s column,
I hunted for a rail-related application that
everyone could relate to. The application
was obvious: the smart container.

There are tens of thousands of con-
tainers being shipped around the world
daily, carrying just about any type of cargo
you could imagine. The whole concept of
containerization was a closed box that was
sealed up by the originator and opened at
the destination by the consignee. Low
labor costs, less warehousing, less damage,
less pilferage. All the shipping companies
and railroads had to do was transport the
box from Point A to Point B. Simple, and
good for everyone involved.

Enter, unfortunately, terrorism.

Somewhere between shipper and con-
signee, a container can be broken into or
swapped out and maybe, nasty stuff substi-
tuted for good. So you design a container
(everything holds for trailers, too) that
incorporates a processor and wireless in-
terface to connect the box to the outside
world. Maybe a GPS (Global Positioning
System) receiver to ensure that the con-
tainer is moving from Point A to Point B
like it’s supposed to, without detouring to
Point C, where the bad guys are. You
design the container so that if its seal is
tampered with, the processor would know.
Maybe equip the box with accelerometers
to detect motion, and while you’re at it,
sound detectors. Yes, the box can be
bumped around a little when it is removed.
from the flatcar, but not at 3 a.m. while it
is sitting in the intermodal yard awaiting an
8 a.m. pickup. The power for all this is
provided by those high capacity batteries
that power laptops or digital cameras.

The sky seems to be the limit on the
features such a container would have, and
some of these features are not really that
far off. Quite apart from the terrorism
situation, large shippers are interested, for
example, in maintaining the quality of food
shipments and are willing to pay to main-
tain that quality. A container full of
spoiled food is probably hard to get rid of.
The technology is already in place to do
this type of remote monitoring. I saw
somewhere that a shipper is planning to
monitor the temperature of his containers of
fruit as they make their way across our
country.

The smart container restores everyone’s
faith. If they are made smart enough, the
containers don’t have to be inspected at

each port or border crossing. The comput-
er on each.merely has to be interrogated by
a trackside or roadside scanner, and the
box is on its way again with little need for
human interaction. Clearly there are lots
of details to be worked out, and interna-
tional standards to be written. Since
maintenance of free trade and elimination
of terrorism and theft are issues that just
about everyone supports, there is plenty of
interest out there.

But no matter how smart the container
is made, there will probably be a perpetual
race to keep a few paces ahead of the
hackers, the terrorists, and the hijackers.
However, this is the reality; new computer
viruses, stories of hacking into corporate
computer systems, and credit card and
identity thefts seem to be reported daily in
the media. Truly, computer security may
be the big growth industry for the new
century.

Next time you pass a large container
yard or see a stack train, imagine that all
the containers. you see may be tied into a
wireless LAN (Local Area Network) and
reporting periodically on their status. Not
quite what I think of when I think of a
LAN, but one I’m sure we will see some-
day.

Electro-Motive IntelliTrain Services

Along these same lines, EMD has a
program called IntelliTrain Services,
whereby locomotives out on the road trans-
mit status data to central locations using the
commercial cellular network. Like our
automobiles, locomotives are getting more
and more complicated, and railroads need
help with maintenance. A locomotive shuts
down on the road and the crew can’t find,
let alone fix, the problem. The unit’s on-
board computers are scanned by the EMD.
remote monitoring system. The web article
I read indicated that there might be three
thousand signals on a modern locomotive
that would have to be scanned and then
sorted out to get to the root of a problem,
This sounds like a good number when you
consider sixteen cylinder prime mover,
alternators, rectifiers and maybe inverters,
six traction motors, blowers, control pan-
els, and so on,

By the time the locomotive arrives at
the maintenance center, the central comput-
er has churned through the data and the
repair crews know what to fix and have the
required repair parts and tools on hand.
Easy, and the locomotive is out on the road
again shortly, at least most of the time.
And, everything is put into a database, so
the history of the locomotive can be re-
viewed at any time and trends can be as-
sessed. Maybe other units of the same
model number have had the same type of
trouble, setting up either a blanket fix or a
change in maintenance procedures.

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Of course, everyone has come across a
nasty problem or two in their lives, be it
with the car, the computer or the lawn
mower, and some they were not able to
solve. I sure hope the railroads keep a few
of the old, experienced mechanics around
to help out with the real dogs.

When I worked in the telephone field
some years ago, we had complicated sys-
tems that were 50% hardware and 50%
software. . Sometimes we had transient
failures, which took a few weeks of work
just to resolve whether the problem was
caused by a hardware or software glitch.
Once that was decided, things were usually
pretty straightforward. Every once ina
while, though, we found a problem we
could not solve since we did not have
enough data. Once we put the system back
up and learned more, we eventually learned
what we needed to know to complete the
job.

T’m sure that there are more than a few
multi-million dollar locomotives out there
somewhere with intermittent bugs that the
maintenance crews would like to lose
somewhere, I remember one boss who told
me to toss a circuit board, since it seemed
to be beyond fixing - we just couldn’t find
its problem. I don’t think this would be so
easy with a big locomotive; few bosses are
that understanding.

New center-beam cars for CP

Of interest is the announcement this
month that CP has acquired 700 new cen-
ter-beam flat cars from Greenbrier. Indus-
tries for lumber and other forest product
loading. What’s unique about these cars is
that they are riser-less.

Check out the deck of a prototype car
or the deck of one of the Walthers or Front
Range models on your HO layout. You’ll
see that the top side of the deck has lateral
supports spaced about every four feet and
about three inches high, on which the load
rests. These are the risers. The new cars
don’t have risers, so the deck is flat. It
sounds like someone figured out a way to
leave the risers out and still maintain the
desired floor stiffness. The press release
states that eliminating risers also results in
a lower tare weight, that is, empty car
weight; always important. A nice feature
for the railroad customers is that the ship-
per can now palletize his freight with the
pallet now incorporating the risers, so that
they stay with the load. Loading and un-
loading cars with a forklift has been made
a lot easier, since the risers are always
there. Additionally, the cars can carry a
heavier load than current cars. Looks like
a win-win for everyone.

I checked out an article about center-
beams in the June 1991 Mainline Modeler.
These cars were introduced in the mid-
1980’s and represent a revolution, not

unlike, say, the introduction of enclosed
auto-racks and double stack cars, in win-
ning back rail traffic. With the center-
beam, ‘the shipper does not have to get
involved in bracing the load on a traditional
‘flat car, or get involved with filling boxcars
in prescribed ways so the recipient could
unload them. The center beam and end
bulkheads do it all.

The center beam stiffened the car and
supported the load, providing points to
secure the load to keep it from shifting.
Simultaneously, it eliminated the need for
a heavy underframe on the car. All the
shipper needed was a forklift and, I guess,
an operator who could read the directions
stenciled all over the car about the dangers
of tipping if the car was loaded improperly.
The design produces a lightweight car
capable of hauling heavy loads with little or
no danger of loads shifting in transit that is
also customer-friendly. Center-beam cars
are an example of good engineering that

-has enabled the railroads to expand the
large amount of building products traffic
carried.

Keep on the lookout for these cars;
modelers may be able to do a quick kit-
bash. Get out your No. 17 X-Acto chisel
blades, and prepare to remove. your risers!

Rail fasteners

It’s interesting to look at the tremen-
dous amount of activity in the world of rail
fasteners. You would think that track is,
well, track, and it's been around for so
long, so how many new ideas are left?
The answer seems to be that there are lots
of good ideas out there and lots of demand
for them. Track speeds are increasing for
freight and passenger trains. Freight car
loads are increasing. This was demonstrat-
ed to me the other night when an old
Varney covered hopper wound up in one of
my model freight trains next to an Athearn
Trinity covered hopper. For the prototype,
it is easier and cheaper to operate and
maintain one large car instead of two small-
er ones. Likewise, it is more economical
to put as much traffic over one route.

Additionally, more and more commuter
lines, subways, and light rail systems are
being built. Here the trains are light, but
train frequency is high. Long lifetime and
reliability are important, as is rider com-
fort.

Because of the wide range of applica-
tions, there are many available solutions on
the market. Rail fasteners also make con-
crete ties practical, allowing an additional
cost savings for some of the most heavily
traveled routes, where concrete proves
itself most readily.

The fastener that is seen most often is
the Pandrol e-clip.. This is the paper clip
or pretzel-shaped (come to think of it, the
clip looks like an upside down “e”) fold of

round-bar steel that is so often used on
heavily-trafficked freight routes, but is also
common along Amtrak’s Northeast Corri-
dor, at least south of New York City. The
clip takes the place of both track spikes and
rail anchors, and is aimed at mechanized
construction of new track or rebuilding of
old. The clip presses the rail down onto
the tie plate, keeping the rail in place and
in gauge. The rail is held tight enough by
the spring action of the clip to perform the
rail anchoring function, On conventional
track, anchors are snapped onto the under-
side of the rail and rub against the ties and
ballast to provide the required friction. So
the economy of the fastener is evident: one
part is needed instead of two anchors and
two spikes and only one machine is needed
to install them.

The Pandrol clip is usually machine-
inserted on either wooden or concrete tie
track. On wooden ties, a rolled tie plate is
used, fastened to the tie with any of several
types of fasteners. On conctete ties, the tie
plate is cast right into the tie, and a flexible
pad is used between the rail and the tie,
since the concrete ties aren't as soft and
flexible as the wooden ones. An insulator
between the rail and the clip may be needed
to maintain proper track circuit resistance.

Next time you are at trackside, take a
look at the fastening system used.

ay 1 AEA -DAN A-R-IAE -DAIEIS- DATES
(Swap Shop from page 4)

What is UP?

There has been considerable Internet
discussion recently about legal actions taken
by the corporate entity that is parent to the
Union Pacific Railroad. As you have
followed the results of the many mergers of
class one railroads over the past several
decades, you have seen many “fallen flag”
symbols/emblems fall into disuse and grad-
ually disappear from the public eye.

The management of the UP has now
seen fit to apply to the Registrar of Trade-
marks to reinstate all previous fallen flag
symbols of all rail lines that have been
taken over by UP. Further, the Union
Pacific is now demanding a significant
licensing fee from any model manufacturer
that wants to use any of these symbols on
models or decals. Editor/publisher Robert
L. Hundman put together a very detailed
discussion of this activity; it appears in the
August issue of Mainline Modeler maga-
zine.

Disclaimer!

Let mé remind you, once again, that
the opinions expressed in this column are
those of the author alone, and do not nec-
essarily represent the views of the editor or
publisher of this newsletter, the board of

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

directors or this organization, or any other
person on earth.

I find it difficult to believe what I am
told the management of the Union Pacific
Railroad is doing. Even after Enron, MCI,
Global Crossings, Xerox and the other sto-
ries of blatant personal and corporate greed
have cluttered the media for many years,
this one is such a display of petty greed
that I find it difficult to comprehend. Why
would a major successful corporation see
fit to harass the people who strive to emu-
late it in miniature? No matter how many
hobby manufacturers pony up to their
demands, the amount of money gained
would never even garner even a penny to
their bottom line. A desire to harass is the
only explanation I can. find.

Each of us will have an individual re-
sponse to this situation. Mine will be to
eliminate every bit of evidence of the exis-
tence of the Union Pacific Railroad from
my personal model railroad, save one: I
have coined a new slogan, which will
appear on one large billboard atop the most
prominent freight station on the layout.
The slogan will read, “Be specific, DO
NOT SHIP, Union Pacific!”

‘That’s enough opinion for one column.
Until next month, may the Force be with
you and yours, your home and your layout.

[Dreaded publisher retort; To me, it
sounds like “Uncle Pete's” lawyers have
been working overtime finding ways to
“protect” the name(s) of the Union Pacific
and its predecessors. I seem to recall that
CSX (or maybe it was C&O) did much the
same thing a decade or two ago in regard
to Chessie the cat. In these litigious times,
if you don’t protect your trademarks, you
can indeed lose control of them, as many a
corporation found out when registering
their’ corporate name(s) as Internet do-
mains. Who knows when Big Yellow will
want to resurrect one of those names and
sell it - unencumbered with such baggage
- to a short line?

I would like to think that the fees
charged are intended to offset the costs
incurred in tracking those legal rights. But
then again, some of that would be normal
corporate overhead....JB]

‘Date DAH -AIE LA-DAU-NAS-DAT- OCHS DAH-BAS-DAIT-HLS DAIS

by Joe Durham
The time is now

Tf you want 'to catch- VRS action head-
ing into the sunset (literally), now is the
time’ to be in the Fair Haven, VT and
Hampton, NY area to catch the westbound
array of beautiful (to me) GMRC power

teamed with red engines of VTR.
makes a nicely lit picture these days.
‘The train heads from Rutland to White-
hall almost daily after 7 p.m., usually hav-
ing three to five locomotives and perhaps
25 to, 30 cars, usually tank trains and
OMYA hoppers. When they come back
east after dark, there are a few reasons they
have that extra power on the head end.

Training school" :

An old Army buddy that lives a stone’s
throw from a former D&H crossing in Fair
Haven recently witnessed an extreme bit of
idiocy. . If it weren’t for the inconvenience
to passengers, damage to the engine, and
the. effects it would have on the Ethan Al-
len’s engine crew and the kids’ families,
I’m disgusted enough to say that it is too
bad the carload of kids didn’t get properly
“trained”, Sometimes people just can’t be
trained enough; they can only learn by
experience.

A small car with a bunch of young
apparent smart-alecks inside sat and waited
at the crossing watching the approaching
train. The lights were flashing, warning
bell sounding, and the eastbound train blar-
ing its horn quite properly. All seemed
well while my pal watched the scene until,
at the last possible second, the car purpose-

It all

fully burned out from its standstill,
straight across the ‘tracks in front of
the train. It barely made it. The
laughing and hooting boys sped past
my horrified buddy, who was too
shocked at what he had just seen to get
the plate number. I told him not to
sweat it, since turning them in would-
n’t do any good. If they’re stupid
enough to intentionally play chicken
with trains, they deserve to be skew-
ered. After all, it’s quite apparent that
there’s only one kind of. “training”
they. will ever learn from,

T’m unsympathetic when it comes
to intentionally deadly stupidity. One
of the reasons I no longer drive big
rigs regularly is that I had come to a
point where I actually began to look
forward to running over any idiot that
knowingly pulled right out in front of
me and then slammed on their brakes
without warning. A guy can only take
a certain amount of heart-wrenching
moments and near-collision experienc-
es before he cracks. So many times I
felt like a train; ya just gotta have a
certain amount of room to stop or slow

down. When ignoramuses suddenly invade
your space and pull off death-defying stunts
right in front of you, you can try to avoid
playing tag for only so long until you get
sick from having your heart and stomach in
your mouth too many times. It got to the
point I just didn’t care anymore, and was
actually looking forward to “training”
someoné, I needed a change and grabbed
the opportunity.

One thing I learned in the Army is that
some people just can’t be taught. They.
usually get themselves or others killed. I
saw my share of that. There are two types:
those who you feel sorry for because they
truly tried but were lacking upstairs, and
then there are those that knew better but
flirted with disaster anyway. Hmmm, I
better be careful, because I have been
known to visit the latter category at times!

Hey J.B., I hear you need your com-
puter fixed; I’ll be right over. What are
pals for???

[Pub. retort: Don’t worry, Mr. Wood-
chuck, Like you, I feel sorry for those who
try but are lacking upstairs....JB|

DSL Da 1-H S-DAW-RLS-DAU-MS anus. na- Bs

—————

BLHS Bulletin — September 2003

Mail Car from page 7

100 Years Ago — 1903: One of the
worst accidents ever occurred on the line of
the Delaware and Hudson Railroad near
Putnam. Two trains collided head-on,
killing four men instantly and seriously
injuring two more. Both engines were
demolished and three freight cars smashed.

100 Years Ago — 1903: A work train
on the Chateaugay Railroad ran into a
drove of cows at Stony Knoll near Danne-
mora, the tender of the engine being
thrown from the rail and falling directly
across the track. Fireman Carter, who was
in the engine, was badly injured.

A suggestion: Many years ago in a
Model Railroader magazine, there was an
article about the engine whistle signals used
to communicate with the crew or other
personnel in the area. If only for my
review, perhaps someone could do a short
article. We all know the -grade crossing
warning, and I seem to remember the recall
of the rear flagman on a stop on the main
or. active track as six longs. I heard this
one cold night at South Junction as the
midnight sleeper took on water. My friend
had been dropped there to get on the train,
as he was heading to New York. City and
of course the train did not stop in: Platts-
burgh. He was a D&H employee and
knew the crews. It seems I counted six
longs and he said that was to call the flag-
man (or whoever was covering the rear)
back.

Another suggestion would be an article
describing how the different steam power
was classified, e.g., K63, J95,'R3, etc. I
have never been able to understand those

classifications.

DRIER BAI-DLS bat DUIS-asT NLS HLS: DAN ONS- DAIL HS MAILS

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

11
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BLHS Bulletin — September 2003

C: Not only a Paper Train
That short Roman numeral “C” indi-
cates that this is the one hundredth column
in this series to be published in the Bulle-
tin, Writing them has been a lot of fun; I
hope others have enjoyed reading them.
Richard H. (Dick) George kindly wrote
a very informative response to some ques-
tions about the Delaware & Hudson’s “Pa-
per Train” that I’d posed in the February
2003 issue. It’s worth quoting verbatim.
“T'was a part of the D&H Traffic De-
partment from 1963 through 1981, and I
worked in the Albany headquarters all that
time. ‘A very interesting time, I must say.
“Now, to the Paper Train. The D&H
called the train RW-6 (Rouses Point -
Wilkes-Barre 6). Its northbound counter-
part was WR-1. I’m told that at one time,
many years ago, RW-6 did operate as a
solid paper train, primarily newsprint from
Canadian origins. We did handle some
paper from mills on the BAR in Maine,
when it was routed in connection with the
CP and then, of course, the Napierville Jct.
Railway, the D&H’s Canadian subsidiary
that operated from Rouses Point, NY to
Delson, Quebec, our physical connection
with the Canadian Pacific. Longstanding

agreements permitted NJ freight trains to
operate into St. Luc Yard, the CP’s main
yard for Montreal. Likewise the passenger
trains. operated directly into CP’s Windsor
Station in Montreal.

Open Platform Observations
by Stephen T. Wagner

“D&H freight

RW-6 operated
daily. For many
years the D&H
also operated
another through
freight, RW-2,
and that train

carried the other-
than-paper —car-
loads. Before I
retired from the
D&H at the end
of 1981, RW-6
was satisfactorily handling the available
traffic.

“Traffic volumes out of Canada varied
by the day of the week, season, and other
factors over which there would be little
pattern, so sometimes we had a light train,
One of the Canadian lines might have had
a service or weather interruption and traffic
would be delayed,

“RW-6 handled paper off both the
Canadian National and the Canadian Pacif-
ic. CN interchanged their cars directly to
the D&H at Rouses Point, and the CP
traffic to the D&H via the Napierville Junc-
tion’s through train out of St. Luc Yard in
Montreal. I do not have figures for total
interchange with the Canadian roads, but an
off-the-cuff estimate could be well over
50,000 carloads into the USA from the two
Canadian lines,

“The 40 ft. boxcar to 50 ft. cars transi-
tion must have been gradual. Up until the
mid-1970’s all the cars were furnished by
the Canadian lines, and they had to be
returned promptly under penalty for failure
to do so, No US shipper could load a
Canadian freight car, except to load it back
to or via Canada, In the 1970’s, the D&H
started to furnish some of our 50 ft. box-
cars for Canadian newsprint.

“I’m not familiar with the high-cube
newsprint car. I do know there have been
100-ton newsprint cars, but they were
usually 50 ft. cars, with 100-ton trucks. If
you are talking about high cube cars as
what I call the auto-parts high cube 86 ft.
cars, in my day such cars could not carry
100 tons, and probably not even 100,000
pounds unless they were adapted with
larger size trucks than they normally were
equipped with. High cube cars were de-
signed for lighter loads: auto stampings of
fender or door parts, single steel stampings
in racks. It’s entirely possible that present
day newsprint traffic moves in such cars
equipped with stronger/bigger trucks of one
type or another.”

{Contemporary high cube cars used for
newsprint, as modeled in HO scale by LBF
and Walthers, are extra tall like the 86 ft.
auto parts cars, the 60 ft. cars used for
heavier parts and the 40 ft. cars used for

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

appliances, but they are indeed around 50
ft. long....SW]

“RW-6 was scheduled to depart Rouses
Point at 10 each evening, and was due
Wilkes-Barre at 3 the following afternoon,
with blocks of cars classified for the Penn-
sy, the Lehigh Valley, and the CNJ.

“Everyone on the D&H worked to
make the operation of RW-6 as smooth as
possible to maintain the reputation of our
service. The northbound operation of our
WR-1 was just as hot, as the operating
boys wanted to get the Canadian freight
cars back to the Canadian roads as quickly
as possible to minimize per diem costs each
night. Back in the times before freight car
per diem costs were on a 24-hour basis, if
the car was delivered to a connecting line
before midnight, you did not have to pay
per diem costs for the new day. On many
roads that was a major element in running
fast freight trains.

“The question of ‘how much of a' typi-
cal train’s cargo was other than newsprint’
is a difficult one because of so many vari-
ables in each day’s operation. Certainly
there were days when it was almost 100
percent newsprint, but there were some
days it was much less — newsprint produc-
tion was less, for any number of reasons,
rail service was interrupted for any number
of reasons. D&H participation in the
newsprint traffic was sometimes affected by
any number of reasons beyond our control.
Strikes, newspaper production moved to a
new location where there were not D&H
routes in applicable freight tariffs.

“Commodities that I can recall moving
into the United States over the D&H in
addition to newsprint included wood pulp,
asbestos, aluminum, lumber, the seasonal
movement of Christmas trees, .and a little
pulpwood to paper mills on the D&H.
Propane from western Canadian origins
started to move to D&H points in my later
years. Once in a while, I’m told, we
would have a car of Canadian whiskey.
When that happened, we also had to be
alert for theft.

“Competition for the newsprint tariff
was intense, and continuing all the time,
and the building of the Adirondack North-
way, Interstate 87 in the long run did not
help the D&H, or any railroad for that
matter. I do not know the present situation
as to motor carrier capabilities and service
insofar as newsprint is involved.

“And, while I’m talking about competi-
tion, rail mergers take their toll on other
rail carriers, especially ones similar to the
D&H. We suffered when Penn Central
finally got rolling, and Conrail was an even
worse development for the D&H. And
then came rail deregulation. Some would
declare that, while it had a good side, the
other side of that coin was that it put a
bigger gun in the hands of the larger con-
solidated properties.

Frontier passengers

“Back to international traffic for a
moment — a tidbit of trivia that may be of
interest. Remember that when we rode the
Laurentian or the Montreal Limited and
crossed the border, Customs and Immi-
gration people would come through the
train, check each passenger out and permit
them to enter the new country, while riding
the train. Having those government inspec-
tors come through the cars was at railroad
expense: the extra time the inspectors were
away from the ‘home’ border crossing
posts was a cost factor the railroad compa-
ny had to absorb. We may have agreed to
do it earlier - years ago, that is.

“When Amtrak came along, it decided
not to accept such costs. That is the reason
Amtrak allows so much time at border
crossings, so that inspection personnel can
come, do their job, and get off the train
before it proceeds.”

Many thanks to Dick George for this
great information. I certainly agree with
his comment that “rail traffic is a fasci-
nating subject”.

Freight.train names

Here is some more evidence of the
competitive nature of carrying newsprint
south from Canada. As of 1950, a train
running from Montreal to New London,
CT over the Canadian National and its
Central Vermont subsidiary was officially
named “The Paper Train”. I learned this
from a pamphlet on “Names and Nick-
names of Freight Trains Operated on Rail-
roads in the United States” published by the
Association of American Railroads and
reproduced on rr-fallenflags.org, George
Elwood’s great website.

I don’t know whether the two Paper
Trains seryed newspapers in the same
cities, let alone the same newspapers.

The AAR pamphlet doesn’t have any
entries for the Delaware & Hudson. How-
ever, one of several freights called “The
New Englander” was a Pennsylvania Rail-
road train from Altoona to “Hudson, PA”.
I strongly suspect that it connected with the
D&H at its Hudson Yard via the Wilkes-
Barre Connecting Railroad.

D&H books on the Web

The BLHS website, bridge-line.org, has
a considerably expanded section on books
about the Delaware & Hudson. Notable
are listings of the fine books published in
limited quantities by the railroad itself in
the 1920’s and 1930’s. The site has color
photos of the covers of many of them.
Thanks to webmasters John A. Shaw and
Neil C. Hunter.

Commuter Rail limbo

The new Massachusetts Bay Commuter
Railroad took over from Amtrak as opera-
tor of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority’s Commuter Rail lines on July 1.
Little things were reminding us regular
riders of the impended change even before
the changeover. The latest public timeta-
bles state that “a contractor” operates the
service for the MBTA. Electronic signs at
the stations have been proclaiming that,
“All MBTA trains are running on or near
schedule.” (The “MBTA” designation is
new.) On July 1 conductors and assistant
conductors were wearing new cap badges
and nametags, and a full-color card intro-
ducing the new operator was on every seat.

The new contractor had succeeded by
mid-June in reaching agreements with the
unions representing the workers, but some
employees as well as riders are rather
apprehensive about what may be coming.

Meanwhile, the MBTA’s general man-
ager told the press that if the 25% fare
increase scheduled for early next year isn’t
put into effect, planned improvements on
the Fitchburg Route - restoring the second
track, perhaps? - won’t happen.

The Commonwealth’s Governor, Mitt
Romney, supposedly was going to wait
until September to say whether work will
resume on the restoration of railroad com-
muter service on the Greenbush line. He’d
halted it in February for fiscal reasons.
But in mid-July he announced that there
wouldn’t be enough money available for
that line or for restoring Commuter Rail to
Fall River and New Bedford in the next
several years.

A few days later former Governor (and
presidential candidate, and Amtrak board
member) Mike Dukakis spoke out in favor
of the long-sought “Rail Link” between
Boston’s North and South Station. I’m
quite sure that icebergs will be towed from
Antarctica to Saudi Arabia before that
utopian and quixotic project is built. More
sensibly, a Boston Globe column called for
building a regular trolley line to link the
two stations running on the surface above
the newly buried Central Artery.

Ayer again

I finally got to drive out to Ayer, MA
early on the morning of Saturday, June 21.

Arriving at the T Commuter Rail stop
about 6:35, I discovered that the raw gray
steelwork of the new passenger shelter had
been painted a dark green - and that ten
men and two large machines on big rubber
tires were working on the westbound track.
The white Kawasaki machines were wide
enough that their wheels straddled the rails,
which they could climb over easily. Their
front ends could manipulate at least two
kinds of tools. One was a boom that al-
lowed the machines to lift a section of track

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

(with the rails still attached to the ties) and
set it on a side track. The other was a
bucket that enabled them to remove the
ballast on which the track had rested. I
didn’t stick around long enough to see what
was done after that.

The 7:09 inbound commuter train was
on time and, naturally enough, ran on the
eastbound track, which is unusual.

About 7:21 Springfield Terminal 681,
with six-wheel trucks and a high short
hood, led MEC 501, a wide-nose unit in
Guilford Rail System livery, from the east
into the Hill Yard via the east leg of the
wye. I wondered whether Guilford had
been using the two of them to switch the
Ford unloading facility, which seemed like
a waste of power.

Transformers

When I drove over the rail crossing
near the McDonald’s (and the stone B35
milepost) I spotted a very large transformer
and the heavy-duty flatcar that had carried
it on the spur that normally holds only
covered hopper cars carrying plastic pel-
lets. The flat was KRL 300304, a Kasgro
Red ’n Ready depressed center car with six
four wheel trucks with “National Swing
Motion” cast onto their side frames. It was
marked as being 69 ft. 6 in. long, built in
January 2001. The loading deck was indi-
cated as 30 ft. long; it had a pronounced
camber, ~

The transformer had a Pauwels logo on
its side; gas cylinders attached to it were
stenciled “property of Pauwels Canada”.
I couldn’t find a waybill. The transformer
had already been loaded onto a bright red
low bed trailer that, like a hefty Autocar
truck tractor, two other trailers, two dozers
and a forklift, evidently belonged to Marino
Crane of Middletown, Connecticut. I was
amused to see that in this high tech age
wooden planks and manila rope had been
used to secure the top of the transformer.

T saw a similar use of boards and ropes
on another transformer, perhaps not quite
as huge, on the west side of the Hill Yard.
Unfortunately, the railroad car that had
brought - or, conceivably, was to carry
away - this piece of heavy electric equip-
ment wasn’t there. The transformer rested
on the deck of a trailer that was resting
solidly on the ground. Presumably some
sort of hydraulic system would be used to
raise it for over-the-road transport. The
trailer and truck wore the familiar orange
livery of Hallamore Heavy Haulers.

Interchange
Before my visit to the Hill Yard, I’d
noticed a long string of freight cars on the
siding next to the Stony Brook Branch at
The Willows. I’d often seen auto rack cars
there, but these were freight cars of several
continued on page 15
Lake George’s Railroad Past
by Doug Barron

The photo on page 11 in the July 2003
issue of the Bulletin that was taken at the
Lake George station in 1914 identifies the
boat at the dock as the Horicon. It is
actually Horicon II, as the first one was
retired from service and scrapped in 1911.

An article in the Schenectady Gazette
said the following: “Steamboats had been
on Lake George since 1817, when the
James Caldwell was launched. The Minne-
Ha-Ha, more of a modern steamboat, first
cut through the waves in 1857. William
Dow, current owner of the Lake George
Steamboat Co., said the Horicon II was
232 feet long, and was the largest ship ever
to cruise Lake George. It could carry
1,500 passengers and manage 21 mph.

“Lake George steamboats were owned
by the Delaware & Hudson railroad from
1871 until 1939. Back then, they were
used to transport people to and from their
summer hotels. Folks could also voyage to
Lake George’s northern end, and then catch
a train for Montreal.

“They finally scrapped her in 1939”,
Dow said of the Horicon II, The depres-
sion took away business and then World
War II started up and took the rest of the
business away. Metal became somewhat
valuable, and they took the metal in her
hull and scrapped her.

One of the popular hotels to stay at
Lake George was the Fort William Henry
Hotel, which was near the Lake George
railroad station and owned by the D&H.
The first Fort William Henry Hotel opened
in 1855. In Jim Shaughnessy’s book “Del-
aware & Hudson”, he wrote, “The hotel
overlooked the south end of Lake George at
the village of Caldwell, later renamed Lake
George Village in 1903. The D&H could
provide the traveler with the best and most
splendid accommodations, whether it was
in one of these fine hotels, abroad its fleet
of Lake Steamer or on the high iron.”

The Fort William Henry Hotel burned
in June 1909, and the D&H had it rebuilt.
The new Fort William Henry Hotel opened
in the summer of 1911. Jim Shaughnessy
also wrote, “The Lake George Steamboat
Co., the Fort William Henry Hotel, and the
Bluff Point Land Improvement Co., owner
of the Hotel Champlain, were sold to out-
side interests in 1939. The steamboats
hadn’t been operated in the company’s
service since the depression year of 1932,
although one of the vessels had been on
lease as a floating dance hall called ‘A
Showboat’. The hotel patronage was like-
wise sparse during the lean years, and with

war clouds gathering over Europe future
prospects for the resort business looked
poor.”

Mr. Shaughnessy continued, “The Lake |

George branch was cut back as far as Glens
Falls in 1958 as a result of a drastic decline
in passenger fares and practically no freight
movement to the end of the line on the
shores of the lake.”

Today the former rail line has become
a bike trail. The station, which was built
in 1912, still stands; it has become a bar,
but the long columned platforms are gone,
replaced by a parking lot. The steamboats
still run on the lake, and in the summer of
2003 a new Fort William Henry Hotel was
opened. It is built on the site of the second
hotel, which the D&H had opened in 1911
and torn down in 1969.

The Gazette reported, “Like the hotel it
replaces, this hotel is outfitted with furni-
ture reminiscent of the old Fort William
Henry Hotel.”

AIFOUNS Dass Us-DaN-US-DAH- HLS DAI BAS-DAI-HLNS-DAI-BLIS

Open Platform from page 14

types. And the first one was a center beam
flat loaded with Irving lumber, meaning
that it almost surely came from New
Brunswick and was destined somewhere to
the southwest of us. I wondered whether
the two charcoal gray and orange diesels
Td seen running light earlier had left these
cars for CSX power to pick up and forward
to Worcester and points beyond.

At the Hill Yard I saw a three-unit
lashup in GRS lettering: MEC 504, B&M
330 and MEC 500. They were coupled to
only half a dozen or so cars, but there were
plenty of others they might well have added
to their train before proceeding east and
north. One of those was the first ADM
tank car I’ve seen with the firm’s new leaf
logo; it was ADMX 15553, probably a
UTLX-built Funnel Flow like the Walthers
HO model of a 16,000-gallon car. I also
saw MEC 316, which very likely was
ready to work as the Ayer switcher.

Returning to The Willows about 8:49,
J found CSX CW44AC’s 5120 and 5105
coupled to the freight cars I’d seen earlier.
They wore the “dark future” livery and a
great deal of medium brown dirt on their
lower parts. (I couldn’t tell the original
color of their trucks.) Very shortly they
hauled the train away, It turned out to
have about 76 cars, making it the longest
train I’ve seen in quite a while.

It comprised ttiree center beam flats (all
carrying Irving lumber), five assorted

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

covered hoppers, two CSX gondolas, one
triple hopper still bearing BM reporting
marks, four tank cars without conspicuous
notice of their contents, one UP reefer, and
about 60 boxcars. The boxcars included
numerous blue high-cubes marked LW
(Louisville & Wadleigh), five or so blue
CRLE’s, two pale blue ex-Rock’s, a couple
of Railbox cars, two waffle-side MEC’s in
Guilford’s white, black and orange, several
dark blue CSX cars, a couple of Norfolk
Southern’s, and numerous cars minimally
repainted and marked for GMRC and SLR.

I would have to guess that most of the
boxcars were carrying newsprint and/or
other paper from mills in Maine. The
absence of any tank cars marked for kaolin
service suggests that much of that traffic
may still be routed through the Hoosac
Tunnel to our favorite railroad en route to
the Norfolk Southern in Pennsylvania.

Confirmation

My next brief expedition to Ayer was-
n’t until Saturday, July 19. I arrived at the
station about 6:27 a.m. as MEC 318 and
351 were backing an intermodal train
through the east leg of the wye and into the
Hill Yard.

Twenty minutes later a GP I hadn’t
seen before, LLPX 2037, all blue with
white Operation Lifesaver lettering, hustled
five flatcars loaded with new ties and
trailed by the MBTA’s caboose C-1 west-
ward. The flats were a mixed batch, in-
cluding an olive ex-Army flatcar with 6-
wheel trucks with graffiti-like AMTK re-
porting marks, at least one flat like it but
painted yellow and neatly lettered for the
T, and the T’s yellow ex-piggyback flat.

About 7:09 CSX CW44 5005 and
SD70AC 711 pulled onto the west leg of
the wye from the yard, The inbound com-
muter train arrived at 7:16, about seven
minutes late. Even before it departed, the
CSX units were heading west onto the
eastbound main; they headed east at 7:20.

Thus, four trains in less than an hour.

After quickly investigating the Hill
Yard, I drove to The Willows and found
the two CSX locos parked just east of the
crossing next to the Stony Brook branch
(Guilford’s Freight Main Line to Maine).
At 8:18 B&M 690, MEC 509 and Spring-
field Terminal 209 (with a high short hood)
came south on the branch and stopped near
the CSX units, which almost surely were
going to take the train on to Worcester and
probably points west. Unfortunately, I had
to head off for work at the train store and
couldn’t stay to watch the loco swapping.
But it certainly is an interesting, accessible
and reasonably photogenic locale for the
interchange.

ur -t -E S--DAN-S-DaH-BLIS-DAIL LAB DRIER

15
Local Wayfreight.
A mixed freight of rail items
by Bill Kozel

Froggy the gremlin

Gremlins have attacked my BLHS
computer! I’ve had the feeling that J.B.
launched a remote control device inside the
bowels of my computer. The problem
began right after our publisher asked me to
bring the old and weary computer to the
Bat Cave in exchange for an updated unit
unhindered by numerous virus assaults of
the recent past. I’ve been exceptionally
hesitant to inflict the learning curve torment
upon myself, and the plate before me is
overflowing now. I’m afraid of the un-
known; what will happen when my present
computer contents are transferred? What
absurd problems will spring up to confuse
and baffle what’s left of my computer
challenged brain? The possibilities are end-
less.

My most recent gremlin has begun to
screw up the saving feature of my word
processing program. With nearly every-
thing I do, the computer goes through a
lengthy process that seems like it is saving
an entire’ document from the very first
word. I’ve been through everything in the
settings, and nothing has been changed.
T’ve been through problems in the past, so
Lhave a written record of all settings to use
as a starting point when something gets out
of whack. I’m blaming J.B. because it’s
fun to blame him; after all, he has a target
painted on him!

I believe the real gremlin is something
sent to me in an e-mail that did not need to
be opened to be turned loose, and my
protection did not stop the virus before it
began worming. I had gotten the “system
memory” Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD),
yet I have more than 50% free in every
area and my hard drive is 80% free.

At apparently random intervals, the
little red light on the drive starts flashing
and clicking like a dolphin that had just
spotted a handful of sardines coming his
way. The handy troubleshooting guide says
T have a faulty memory ‘chip, and I agree
with that diagnosis. The problem is that
the sand is running out for writing the next
column, The computer is dragging its feet
and I can’t afford the time to run over to
the Bat Cave and make the computer

change-out with its associated learning
curve that J.B. scoffs at. I have wasted an
entire 12-hour day going over every setting
in this computer to no avail. I dumped
about 120 files onto floppy disks and
trashed another 90 in addition to all the
add-ons that I don’t really use regularly, all
to no avail; can you hear me growling at
this thing? Just kidding, actually, thanks to
pharmaceuticals, I’m handling this problem
in a saintly manner, at least while my wife
is in the house. Send help! I’m being held
prisoner inside this computer!

Voodoo pincushion

How about a status report on the new
computerized, digital video editing system?
I won’t use any of the terminology that
would only confuse everyone, myself in-
cluded. “It’s a laugh a minute” seems to
sum up the progress pretty accurately. An
example: it took me almost two hours to
download one hour’s worth of video, which
I did after thinking I had this aspect figured
out. Oh yeah! Somehow I had only saved
the very first frame of the hour’s worth of
video. OK, valuable lesson, commit that to
memory. Oh wait, I forgot, I don’t have
one of those. Darned if I didn’t do the
same thing the very next day. I have so
many Post-it type notes tagged onto every
possible surface that could hold a note that
I can barely see the four computer and
television screens. I did finally manage to
actually make a file of a segment of video,
but did not name the file, so it disappeared
into the bowels of the hard drive; gone
forever. I did learn a few things; if I
practice with smaller files I simply don’t
lose as much time when I screw up.

There actually has been some progress,
I did manage to save several short clips and
to even add some transitional effects; pretty
neat. Somehow I can’t seem to get the
sound on the video to make itself heard. I
can‘ see it on the screen believe it or not,
but I can’t get it into the speakers. After
three days of study and play, I was able to
get one word to impose itself onto one
frame of video. You might be wondering
what word I chose to play with? You
would never guess “Arf!”, would you?
But what would you expect from a mad
dog?

Fun, fun, fun

I’m beginning to think someone down
in Haiti is sticking pins in a dog doll. The
clothes washer developed a leak that
flushed. water all over the basement twice.
One benefit is that I now have an excep-
tionally clean basement floor. Right after
that, the 3-year-old hot water heater blew
the relief valve after the gasket disintegrat-
ed. This was a valuable experience, as it
graphically shows me the measures I must
incorporate into the planned model railroad

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

that will be constructed right in line with
that very same relief valve. I’ve got that
problem covered...literally.

A sour note

Please note that some of this informa-
tion, by the time you read it, will be about
two months old due to the publication of
the special August issue.

I hate to strike a sour note, but the
truth is out there and it always seems to
sting. Before I dump this whopper in your
lap, please bear in mind that we no longer
kill the bearer of bad tidings.. Right?

On June 18, an official memorandum
was sent out to all CPR employees. It
stated quite simply that, “CPR is taking a
special charge to cover costs associated
with employee downsizing and restructuring
of some of our assets, including the D&H
railroad.”

CP Rail officials have already previous-
ly stated that they intended to reduce the
company-wide work force by 300 positions,
but the number has been increased to 370
people for 2003. An additional number
will be spread out over the course of two
years (2004 and 2005).

According to a telephone conference
message, Mr. Ritchie does not expect to
see significant changes to overall employees
on the D&H. The D&H is already at a
bare-bones minimum for operations. Any
cut at all, even through attrition/retirement
will put the D&H at reduced ability. I
have seen, in the past 10 years, a doubling
of traffic and train size, judging from my
personal records that I began keeping 11
years ago.

The DRC (Downsizing Review Com-
mittee) will review each proposed “termi-
nation” (in English, that means not through
attrition or retirement of any sort) of non-
union positions.

The railroad cites too many employees
per mile of operation, comparing the D&H
with the vast open mileage of the southern
Canadian frontier, which, as most of us
know, is vastly different in structure.
Apparently a CPR number cruncher cannot
or will not consider such factual differenc-
es. They also cite fuel prices, but our fuel
is considerably less expensive even at these
times, Canadian gasoline is one full U.S.
dollar higher per U.S. gallon than the
Canadian counterpart. Canadian diesel fuel
is priced comparatively higher as well.
The unexpected and sustained increase in
the value of the Canadian dollar is claimed
to be factored into the reasoning. The
wheels are in motion, and it’s too late to
throw the D&H a life preserver. The
situation reminds me of dogs fighting over
a rawhide bone, the D&H being the tough
rawhide bone that just will not die.

The railroad operated a separate supply
chain operation, but they will now absorb
i
i
4
1
i

that business, ending its industry-wide
procurement entity. The changes must be
made to insure long-term financial objec-
tives and hold stock value. While a re-
structuring is feasible, they apparently do
not consider the D&H worthwhile in that
area, so may be looking for a lease to a
“non-Class 1 railway”.

CPR will honor existing collective
bargaining agreements during the restruc-
turing or leasing. They are expecting these
moves to.generate more D&H traffic and to
become a successful business. None of the
D&H employees I have spoken with can
imagine how they could not make a profit
in light of the operations they see.

The man on the ground, up here in the
Clifton Park area, appears to have been
given somewhat different details than those
workers down in Binghamton. The guys
up on this end are extremely unsettled and
downright depressed. The workmen asked
specifically what.their future would be, and
the answer was most distressing. One
fellow I know quite well has already filled
out an application for other employment; he
is an extremely gifted man, so he should
have no difficulty being absorbed by anoth-
er company, but travel will cause prob-
lems. Other men that have no other skills
are going to be in tough shape finding
equal-paying employment in this area.

The rumor mill has it that GTI had bid
$170 million for the D&H. Another rumor
is that NS made an offer of $220 million.
On June 19, Mr. Ritchie indicated that he
wanted to reevaluate CPR’s strategic part-
nerships in the Northeast. A quote from a
friend: “Several times they have had a
golden goose in their hands, only to drop
it. They have no inkling of what they are
doing down here.”

As of late July, the scuttlebutt seems to
point to RailAmerica or Guilford, with NS
retaining first_refusal rights. Most union
employees I have spoken with feel that it is
better to work for an undesirable union
railroad than to work for a non-union com-
pany, Being a unionist, I tend to agree
with that statement, but would consider the
“track record” of a non-union operation
concerning the work conditions and em-
ployee treatment.

Apparently, from my warped perspec-
tive, CPR wants to move all local delivery
service aspects off its rail system by leasing
those operations to non-class 1 railroads,
like the Huron Central in Ontario. As a
side note, I ran my track car over that
system a couple of years ago; I toured the
engine facilities, and they seemed to be a
well-run, colorful operation. CPR seems
to be aimed at running only its main line,
while spinning off the branch lines.

CP Rail claims that its D&H operation
has an operating ratio of 110%, so it is a
vacuum cleaner sucking the life out of its

profit margin. When CPR tested the wa-
ters with the St. Lawrence and Hudson
identity change, it may have noted it was
clearing a profit, so it quietly rolled the
operation back into the “lease everything”
arrangement in order that they would there-
by show a loss. This would be a rotten
way to gain a tax advantage while stepping
on the back of the D&H.

Meanwhile, Canadian National is mak-
ing inroads in the Buffalo area, and would
also love to get its hands on the Montreal
to Albany route; but would CPR consider
that possibility?

Buffalo chips
For several months, CP Rail has had
400 carloads of New York City garbage
standing in the sun in the Clinton/Bailey
Yard in Buffalo, much to the distress of the
local citizens whose olfactory senses are
offended by the most unpleasant odor ema-
nating from the stewing mass of waste in
the heat of summer. One might consider
the 400 carloads as a landfill on wheels.

The first move out was a 120-car train
that had its brake test on July 25, ending
the stalemate that began in February when
problems arose with the destination site in
Lewiston, NY. It seems that Chem-Rail
Logistics was responsible for the waste
delivery, but ran into financial trouble.
Annexus Storage and Cartage Company
owns the containers themselves; CP Rail is
transporting the cars, and CSX owns the
rails. Annexus actually agreed to pay
$300,000 in landfill costs just so it could
get its containers back into service, Can
you imagine what the container cleanup
will be like?

Buffalo-based Express Intermodal Ser-
vice had been responsible for transferring
the containers from rail to truck, but
Chem-Rail was reportedly in arrears
$250,000, so Express Intermodal refused to
step into the bucket of waste with the other
foot, having one foot already mushed in.
The desperate City of Buffalo took respon-
sibility and contracted a national disposal
company to secure removal. The involved
parties agreed to cough up the necessary
funds to cover the expense. Hopefully, the
city government will not be caught with the
other foot stuck in the payment bucket.

Laying down on your job

I was told of a couple of incidents
involving men laying down on railroad
tracks with the usual anticipated results. It
is truly an ill wind that brings these hapless
souls to the railroad, and their deaths haunt
the train crews. I was a steel design fabri-
cator for 33 years at General Electric; no
one ever willingly sacrificed himself or
herself while I was employed there. I'll
never understand the thinking, or lack
thereof, of an individual who decides to

BLHS Bulletin — September 2003

end it all and cause grief to men who are
totally uninvolved in that person’s life. Yet
their useless renouncements of life will
haunt the crew forever.

On July 6, a 36-year-old Plattsburgh
man was killed when he chose to lie down.
on the tracks. A southbound CP Rail
freight ran over the man, directly behind
the Post Office, at 0430 hrs. The coroner
gathered up the pieces for autopsy and
pronounced what was left of the man dead
at 0530.

An incident on July 14 ended on a
somewhat happier note, when a Schenec-
tady man apparently decided that life in a
bottle (or on pharmaceuticals) was just not
worth living, and laid down on the tracks
just north of the Amtrak station at 2015
hrs. Fortunately, the Amtrak northbound
had just pulled out of the station and was
able to make an emergency stop just eight
feet short of oblivion for the incoherent
man, who was promptly whisked away to
a free 10-day sojourn at the Ellis Hospital
mental ward, where he would be given free
drugs, evaluated, then given the “bum’s
rush” to reconsider his plight at his leisure.

Obscure CP coal drags

We're all familiar with 8858's and
8859’s, Mount Toms and Bow coal trains,
but have you heard of the 8869 Glens Falls
coal train? Oh yes, Virginia, there really
is a Glens Falls coal train, symbol 8869,
1 recall the first time I heard it, and “as-
sumed I had misunderstood the symbol.
The Glens Falls Portland Cement facility
has been a regular coal customer, usually
ordering a small cut of something like
seven cars at a time. About a year ago, it
began ordering trainload service of 70 cars;
they were delivered by the weekday Fort
Edward local job in 7-car cuts. The plant
is located between the Hudson River and
Warren Street on the east side of Glens
Falls. On July 31, train 8869 was ordered
at Harrisburg for 0600 hrs, 1830 hrs at
Binghamton, with NS 8716-8853-6740-
9291 for power. 35 cars would be set off
at Fort Edward, with the balance to be
delivered to Whitehall and the power re-
turning to Saratoga.

Detecting the undetectable

BLHS member Gardiner Cross has a
direct line of sight with the CPF503.3
detector, and has always been able to hear
the detector through his scanner, until May.
The detector antenna apparently met with
an untimely end and was replaced with a
smaller unit which will not send the signal
even a short three miles, but does talk to
the train crews adequately.

Churchill or bust

I have been totally out of touch with
recent events in my area. I took an ex-

17
tended 5-week vacation to the Polar Bear
capital of the world, Churchill, Manitoba,
on Hudson’s Bay. My track car was back
on home rails again, as Manitoba was
where the CN had used it from 1976 to
1996, when I bought it at the Transcona
Shops in Winnipeg.

Unfortunately, my track car required a
lot of work to bring a new wheelset into
gauge and correct an alignment problem,
along with a great deal of other deferred
work. The main problem had been the
unrelenting rain and my reluctance to work
outside in the incessant storms. Another
problem was my wife, who complained that
every time she got near the track car, she
came away with gobs of grease and rail-
road grunge. She just doesn’t appreciate
where all that grunge came from; she’s not
sentimental like I am, I guess.

There are a lot of miles involved in
picking up all that grunge, and it cleans up
hard, but I did reluctantly clean up my act
for the Mrs. before departing for frozen
tundra Jand. I used my sandblaster to
surface prep the rusty used wheels and
some rusted door hinges. A side benefit
was that the interior of the track car was
filled with a cloud of sandblasted fine dust,
which helped absorb some of the grease
and grunge. I did spend a couple of hours
cleaning out a load of sunflower seeds that
a mouse had stored in the sandblaster sand
hopper. This made me. wonder; if I scream
bloody murder outside of my house and no
one is around to hear, does it make any
sound? I can’t tell for sure, as my digital
hearing aids go into overload mode and
automatically protect my eardrums after the
sound level reaches 110 decibels.

Our rail adventure consisted of trips to
Lynn Lake, Flin Flon and Churchill, all
starting out from The Pas, Manitoba, which
was an important fur-trading post right up
to recent times, when the bottom fell out of
the fur market, thanks to those with an
anti-fur mindset. (I’ll be writing details of
these trips as I had with the Labrador trip
in recent past.)

The railroad began life as the Hudson
Bay Railroad, and was later assumed by the
Canadian National. The line reverted back
to the Hudson Bay Railroad, and was oper-
ated by U.S.-based Omni-Trak by the time
that CN was finally allowed to dump the
wholly unprofitable but entirely necessary
line. My total mileage for the trip was
1653 miles, but I had some grand opportu-
nities to ride the rails after the track car
trip was finished. Hopefully this will lend
itself to some interesting commentary about
this obscure Alco railroad, its environment,
and the people that make it work.

South of the border

As I am wrapping this up, the media
news is reporting yet another group of

illegal aliens has perished in the confines of
a grain hopper making the fateful Mexican
border crossing. These poor souls have no
hint of warning that such a death awaits
them. They have no television or radio
reports of these absurd frauds that end in
death. Surely they must suspect problems,
but no doubt deem the risk worth the
chance.

On a side note, the HBR (Hudson Bay.
Railroad) employees tell me that they will
no longer send goods into Mexico unless
the receiver of the goods will guarantee
reimbursement for freight car repairs.
Apparently it has become common practice
to totally strip any boxcar of its wood
interior; any metal parts are cut off for
their scrap value. Aluminum cars are
never seen again. Needless to say, this
makes the price of goods delivered incredi-
bly high. Since the business people that
order the goods cannot afford to rebuild the
cars, the loads will not be shipped by rail,
and the Mexicans will come out even short-
er on the end of the stick. I expect that
products will be shipped by Mexican truck-
ing companies that will ferry the goods
over the border from the U.S.

My track car club is running another
trip through the Copper Canyon, and was
going to begin this trip at Presidio, on the
Texas-Mexico border. In the past, trips
had begun in Chihuahua (in Mexico) but it
was thought to be easier and more interest-
ing to cross the border by rail. The Mexi-
can railroad officials would not allow us to
run this section because of the banditos
being especially active and violent around
the border. This is the fourth trip through
the canyon for our club, and this time the
traveling group will have armed railroad
security police every inch of the way to
guarantee safety (“sort of” guarantee, that
is).

The original trip cost was $1200 U.S.;
this fourth adventure will cost an estimated
$6,000 per car (two people per car)! I say
estimated because a common practice has
been for the railroad to raise the trip cost
just after you arrive at the set-on. The
railroad banditos figure that we will pay up
rather than turn around and go back home,
and my guess is that armed bandits would
intercept the group before they left Mexico.
A lot can happen between Chihuahua and
El Paso.

On the trip I made down there in 1996,
the group stayed in El Paso, which is on
the border. It turned out to be a huge
mistake, despite the use of a good quality
motel with assured security. One track car
was damaged in the parking lot in full view
of the security camera. A new Dodge
truck, belonging to a friend from Bears-
ville, NY, was stolen and run over the
border before anyone could even get the El
Paso police into action by phone; it hap-

BLHS Bulletin — September 2003

pens that quickly. Fortunately, his track
car and trailer were not connected to the
truck hitch, or that would have gone over
the border as well. This, we were told,
was a common problem in the border
section of El Paso, and I’m certain it is
such at any crossing point. The Mexican
border guards will not stop a Mexican from
crossing the border with a stolen truck. It
is a common sight down there to see a
vagrant peso-less bum driving a brand new
truck without plates or insurance. Of
course this is totally against Mexican law,
but the law enforcement can be as corrupt
as the thieves, and they can look the other
way.

Mexico is an exotic and wonderful
place to visit. The food is incredibly good
and 999 out of 1000 people are exceptional-
ly friendly; they make- you feel most wel-
come, but that criminal element is out
there, and it’s like playing roulette. On my
trip, I set myself up with a fake wallet
complete with some cash, pictures and
credit cards that were out of date. The real
money I kept in my socks ina baggie, as I
expected they would also steal my shoes.
This.is a really poor country. If only their
standard of living could be raised, surely
that would ease this constant threat of theft
or worse.

A Tarahumara Indian, who was weld-
ing on a bridge, asked me, in his language,
what time-it was. Later, I asked his fore-
man why he couldn’t afford a $2 Timex,
and was told that the bandits will steal
everything you have, regardless of its val-
ue, even your shoes if they think they
might fit. The railroad brings the workers
their lunch by track car, as even that would
be stolen if available.

A curious note: the general Mexican
population scorns the native Tarahumara
Indians with great disgust, and I found
great irony in that fact. Drug dealers have
forced many Indians to raise coca leaves
and marijuana, despite their protests. The
alternative is death for the entire family if
they don’t cooperate. Ahhh!, exotic Mexi-
co, land of enchantment, poverty, cruelty
and terror.

Similarly, I have always felt that the
mooring lines to Manhattan should be cut
and the island set adrift in the Atlantic, but
New York City is a stroll in the park on a
summer day compared to tropical Mexico.
Besides, Mexico has very few fireplugs to
satisfy the maddest of all dogs.

Thanks

A special debt of thanks goes out to the
real railroad guys that provide me with
information, whose names I dare not di-
vulge since CP seems intent on firing em-
ployees at the smallest provocation. And
remember Mad Dog’s Milk-Bone wisdom:

continued on page 19

The Railroad Archaeologist
by Scott J. Whitney

...Finally arrived here in the Northeast,
almost exactly when summer began on the
calendar. How do they do that??

Up until that time, it had been a pretty
miserable spring, with cloudy and humid
weather. There was one particularly bright
spot in that whole time, and that was when
I met two of my friends at Amsterdam,
N.Y., for three days of railfanning the
Water Level Route in that area.

We met up on Sunday, June 15, and
did get to watch the evening parade of
trains. However, Monday was a bit quiet,
as that particular day is one where the CSX
schedules have several intermodal trains
neither arriving nor departing because of it
being so close to the weekend.

All that changed at about 3 a.m. Tues-
day morning, when sleep in the top floor of
‘Amsterdam’s Best Western became a fond
memory when trains began flowing like
water. They seemed to be passing by at a
rate of about one every 15 minutes or less.
At about 8 a.m., the predominantly west-
bound flow slowed to a trickle and stayed
that way the rest of the day until evening,
when it reversed itself. This allowed plen-
ty of time to scope out other action on GRS
and D&H, which was pretty handy, as well
as Amtrak action on both the Chicago line
and D&H.

Oh yes; Mother Nature did cooperate
and bless us with the best four days of
railfan weather you can imagine!! The air
was relatively cool and very dry, which did
lull us into a false sense of security. Ev-
eryone wound up medium-rare as the sun’s
rays proceeded to cook us like so much
beef.

A silk purse from a sow’s ear

On my way out to the promised land of
main line trains (as compared to the paltry
few trains that run up the Connecticut
River valley here in NH), I did have a
stopover at the residence of our favorite.
Bulletin publisher. During my visit, he
managed to bestow upon me a rather im-
pressive pile of computer hardware with
which I could toy.

I believe I have finally figured out what
it is about constructing PC’s that I enjoy so
much. I don’t think I ever got over the
good times I had playing with my Erector
set when I was a kid. In keeping with that,
I took several junk PC’s I had literally
rescued from dumpsters, combined them
with parts from the Pub, and wound up
with an impressive array of working units!
I think I’m actually getting good at this
stuff, and that may be just a bit scary!
There’s just one thing, Jim; believe it or
not, none of those drive slot blanking cov-
ers fit!! I know; you are not surprised in
the least! Still, I thank you very much for
the materials. What’s that I hear you say-
ing? Come and get another load and bring
something bigger to carry it all in?

Meanwhile, back in Vermont

Life goes on, with Vermont Rail Sys-
tem now in charge of running the White
River to Newport line on a permanent
basis. It will take a while to get everything
back into shape, but I believe that in the
long run it will be worth it. Sadly, passen-
ger service out of White River will have to
wait at least another year, as the late take-
over didn’t allow for a proper start-up.
Also a problem is that, unlike other tourist
railroads that have dried up, VRS’s expand-
ing passenger service has left us woefully
short of equipment to cover all areas.

Fate did smile upon us just recently,
when one of these lines that is cutting back
offered us seven of their surplus coaches
just for taking them off their hands. I
couldn’t have been more pleased than the
day that call arrived. Aside from needing
the regular restoration work we have come
to know and love, they are in relatively
decent condition (better than any of the for-
mer CNJ cars we bought in the past), and
should afford us just what we need for
expanded service. Keep an eye on this
one.

Green Lady down

Green Mountain GP9R (one of my
favorites) suffered a main bearing failure in
her prime mover while up on the Connecti-
cut River Division. The unit will be down
for quite a while until it is repaired. Initial
reports say that the crank was overheated
enough to warrant replacing the 645E
engine entirely with a running used one.
(Scott, I thought GP9’s used a 567 prime
mover? Does that have something to do
with the “R” designation? Do you really
have a GP38 in disguise?....JB)

The rumor mill...

...Keeps churning out the same old
“Guilford to be sold to Norfolk Southern”
hype that has gone around for what seems
like forever. A word to the wise: don’t
believe it until you see it!

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

At the same time, word is circulating
that CP may spin off the D&H. Hopes
keep running high that the D&H could
become independent again. While such
rumors are indeed fun to listen too, they
need to be treated as though they mean
nothing, at least until you see it in an offi-
cial press release.

Many do not believe that the D&H
could never be an independent railroad
again, and for this I can only make one
comparison. Nobody ever would have
believed that the Providence and Worcester
could have broken free of the grip of rail-
roads like the New Haven, Penn Central
and Conrail, but indeed that did happen.
Given that, I believe anything is possible.

‘on sna LA De DAN BLK-DAIL--DAI IS Daas
Local Wayfreight from page 18

You'll never walk on water if you don’t get
out of the boat.

Dreaded J.B. retort: Let’s see, Bill; what
did you miss? - Corporate “conspiracy”?
Blind faith in what any worker with a
grudge or gripe tells you? (Admittedly, the
great percentage will tell you the truth, but
a few may play the hate-a-railfan card and
deliberately feed you bad Puppy Chow.)
Slamming of ethnic groups? Paranoia?
Blind faith union allegiance in that a job
should never be modernized? Computer
phobia? You certainly have all those cov-
ered this month.

Speaking of computers, you know I’ve
been patiently waiting with your new com-
puter for over five months now; you still
haven’t taken the insignificant time needed
to bring your old computer for a swap-out.
I thought that surely, somewhere in that
time you could have found a few minutes;
so, take a break from staring at trains with
that deer-in-the-headlight look and mush on
over here. The only learning curve is the
one you encounter as you foul up all the
settings when you attempt to disable the
anti-virus shield and firewall....JB

RIL DLI-NR-BLIS-DAH- NI-MH AB-DARLL-DAIE AES

19
Note:

Scratchbuilding XO Tower

by George Stubbs

see photos of the finished project on page 21

XO tower at Mechanicville, N.Y., has
always fascinated me even though I have
never actually seen it in person. My first
sighting was on the cover of the April 1991
BLHS Bulletin, and I have since considered.
it to be the “Mother of all Interlocking
Towers” and very worthy of being mod-
eled.

During construction of my D&H model
railroad, western division, I contacted
Doug Barron through the BLHS, asking if
he could possibly obtain some basic dimen-
sions of XO for me. He did this and much
more, sending me a set of color photos of
the tower, which have become invaluable.
Then in 2002, a Steve Wagner “Modeling
Matters” column noted that the Mainline
Modeler July 2002 issue had an article plus
scale drawings of XO, which is now being
renovated. This completed my research into
all the necessary design data.

This is not a “how to” article on build-
ing XO, since I believe that most modelers
are quite capable of fabricating this struc-
ture by applying some thought to the pro-
cess. My intent here is to describe the
materials and products that I used, and any
special ways in which I overcame some of
this design’s peculiarities.

The following is a list of the materials
and products that I used (HO scale):

¢ Skeletal structure: 3.5 mm square bass-
wood lengths.

¢ Brick siding: Plastruct #91611 Red
Brick sheeting (*).

¢ External base course: Styrene 2 mm.

¢ Rear wall, upper story: Evergreen
Scale Models #4081 clapboard, .080
spacing.

¢ Windows, upper story (22 required):
Campbell Scale Models #905 (4 per
package)(*)

® Windows, lower story (11 required):
Grandt Line #5193 (8 per package)(*)

* Doors, lower story, side doors (6): Se-
quoia #1020

¢ Doors, lower story, rear and second
story: Grandt Line #5072

¢ Chimney: Scale Structures Ltd. #2178

® Order Board Signal - Targets (2): N.J.
International #525-4122

* Order Board Signal Stem (1):
International #525-4410

NJ.

(*) Indicates modification required

Parts modifications

Brick siding: Although the Plastruct
#91611 brick siding has the prototype’s
brick pattern density, the red color is too
pale. Doug Barron’s color photos show
that the color is a darkish red in average
daylight. I painted this brick sheeting with
a 50-50 mix of Polyscale D&H Avon blue
and Soo Line red. None of the Mainline
Modeler photos are close enough to show
this shade of red.

Windows: The Campbell scale models
#905 (2nd story) is a 3-pane style with a
vertical muntin/glazing bar dividing the
upper half. This must be removed to fit
the 2-pane design style. Additionally, each
corner of the window frame has a decora-
tive trim projection, which requires remov-
al also. The scale window dimensions
compare very favorably to the prototype’s
36 in. x 66 in. dimensions.

The Grandt Line window #5193 is an
11-pane type, so the lower half window
vertical muntin is removed to fit the 10-
pane design. The prototype design for the
lower floor window sets is a 10-pane win-
dow with a 3-pane “transom” window set
above. Scaled down to HO scale, this
entire set has a height of about 25 mm,
The only similar model window that I
could locate for this design, the #5193, is
in itself 25 mm in height. Therefore, I
simulated the transom effect by adding a
horizontal molding strip in the upper 9-pane
complex of the #5193.

Construction suggestions

The eleven second-floor windows on
the front side were mounted as follows.

I added 3.5 mm square vertical posts to
the back side edges of the first floor front
(with an inset from the edges to allow for
sidewall corner match-up). These corner
posts were cut to the total height of the
tower. A square post was mounted hori-
zontally between the two vertical posts,
along the top edge of the first floor front,
and a second horizontal post was installed
at a height on the extended vertical posts.
This allows the Campbell #905 windows to
be inserted and secured between these
horizontal posts. The side windows were

-mounted in the same way after_all_ four

walls were fastened together.

The other construction point worth
discussion is the roof overhang. The un-
derside of this overhang is enclosed and is

‘called a “soffit” in architectural terms.

BLHS Bulletin —- September 2003

The Walthers Cornerstone Series Interlock-
ing Tower Kit #933-3071 depicts this soffit
shape in the instruction sheet, part 23.

I carefully cut a square-cornered letter
“D” shape out of, basswood, with inside
dimensions that just fit down over the
tower shell extended corner posts, and with
outside dimensions of the roof overhang.
Triangular basswood forms shape the roof
slope and support a cardstock sub-roof,
which is covered with the Grandt Line
shingle set.

Roof/ceiling

A sandwich of basswood with white
semi-gloss cardstock on one side (interior
ceiling) and a black emery paper (AR4
220) on the other (roof) forms the remov-
able roof. The non-operational Order
Board signal is fastened to this. roof sand-
wich and acts as a “handle” for roof re-
moval, servicing lighting, etc.

The overhang shingles in the Mainline
Modeler reconstruction photos are colored
a medium green. Doug Barron’s photos
show a very dark shingle color, and the
article confirms this. I painted mine an
engine black wash color. Apparently the
reconstruction contractor has somé leeway
in this regard.

The cement base course surrounding
the bottom of this structure appears to be
mostly a “cement” color in the Mainline
photos, due to excessive weathering. It
was originally painted a flat whitewash
color, as seen in Doug Barron’s photos
taken some years previous. I opted for the
earlier whitewash finish.

Deviations from the prototype
Site: My tower site is flat, but the XO
site per the Mainline Modeler drawings is
sloped toward the right front corner. I
elected not to complicate construction by
attempting to follow this sloping effect.
continued on page 26

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003
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Reminiscing
by Rev. Walter F. Smith

Wildwood in the Rain

As our annual Florida holiday came to
its end, I knew I would have to return to
Wildwood. _CSX had given me a good
show two weeks earlier, so on March 27 I
again braved the construction and Florida
traffic.

This time I did not leave quite so early
in the day, but by 0845 I was in the “rail-
fan parking lot” just off U.S. Route 301.
In a senior moment, I had come without
my scanner, but this kind of railfanning is
pretty straightforward. If anything moved
in Wildwood, I would see it. As I arrived
in town a small white CYDX switcher,
almost certainly an Alco, was working a
crushed stone plant at the end of the yard.
CSX 5947, a B40-8, was the yard switcher.
Florida orange groves must use massive
amounts of western Canadian potash; cars
of Saskatchewan Potash and IMCX (Inter-
national Minerals and Chemicals, probably
from Bone Valley) were everywhere.

At 0930 one of those CSX megamani-
fests came north with the most interesting
power mix of the day: NS 9373 leading,
HLCX 7156 in pale green paint, HLCX
6309 in Burlington Northern livery, and
Union Pacific 9094 taking up the rear,
Among his 141 cars were 73 covered hop-
pers on the point, probably of phosphate,

molten sulfur tanks, mixed
cars, and four Union Pacif-
ic “Chilled Express” reef-
ers.

The yard — switcher
4 continued to drill. Many
of the people who live
R, across the tracks use CSX
as a shortcut to the fast
food joints and stores on
301, and though the prop-
erty is posted, no one
seems to notice. There’s a
rough kind of crossing;
perhaps it once was a
public street, but it’s now
blocked on the east side.
CSX MOW trucks use this,
driving around the block-
ade. I did see one.kid in a hot car dart
across there too.

There is a continual procession of
people on foot. One young mother led her
three-year-old girl directly across the rails
while the switcher bumped cars a hundred
feet away. The child had the sense to be
afraid, and the walk across six or seven
tracks was agonizingly slow. CSX workers
ignore the trespassing; they’ve probably
given up.

Usually I am disgusted by graffiti, but
one CN covered hopper. came close to
being an exception, A child was sitting in
a flowerbed: eating from a honey jar.
There was a-verse-I could not completely
read about “sweet honey” which ended: “In
the dark of night, this freight we smacked.”
Someone should be illustrating children’s
books instead of CN covered hoppers.

Around 1130, the switcher tied up and
the railroad slept. At. 1215 I drove to
Hardee’s and bought a burger. As I fin-
ished it in the shade of the yard trees, a
northbound appeared. This job had another
interesting power lashup: CSX 9521, oddly
not in’ my reference book, UP 2474
(SD60), and CSX 2300, a road slug. He
entered the south power switch into the
yard and proceeded to pick up 17 cars to
add to the 73 he had on arrival.

I flitted up to Wildwood North, where
the controlled siding joins. the single main.
As the freight approached my camera,
lightning was splitting the sky behind him.
In this mixed manifest were 12 more UP
“Chilled Express” reefers;

It began to rain hard as the last cars
passed. Back at “my” parking lot, I read
‘some of a bio of Benjamin Franklin I’ve
been working on, and during a lull in the
downpour heard more whistles to the south.
CSX 8708-8667 rolled past with 25 auto
racks and mixed cars totaling 69.

I had now been in Wildwood five and
a half hours, and again it was pouring. It
was tempting to break it off, but it seemed
that eventually something would have to

BLHS Bulletin ~ September: 2003

run southbound. Driving up to check the
signal at Wildwood North, where 301
passes over CSX, I could see the lights of
a southbound,

In the next 100 minutes there would be
no fewer than four southbound movements.
The train whose lights I had seen had come
up the controlled siding. His lead unit was
EMD demonstrator 4693, an SD70M.
Under the cab window, CSX is stenciled in
small letters. He was trailed by CSX
4683, another SD70M.

This train’s arrival triggered an odd
sequence of events. The southbound signal
for the main was high green, but the train
sat. A truck came from the yard office. 1
expected a new crew, but instead the driver
climbed on CSX 8320 and 8889, which had
been here all day, and fired them up. The
truck disappeared, only to return shortly,
and the driver took a bag of ice into the
8320. The truck again drove away, and in
a few minutes the white CSX Suburban that
is the yard vehicle came with a crew, and
this power went west light. (As I left town
later, I noted he had picked up a cut from
the crushed stone plant.)

When he departed, the two SD70M’s
began to make a pickup. I did not see all
of this freight, but there were 25 cars of
crushed stone behind the power. To the
north, I could see the lights of yet another
southbound. All this took place in a tropi-
cal downpour, and I felt pity for the men
on the ground. We fans might find the
“romance of the rails” considerably damp-
ened in such a gully washer.

After the light power had gone south
the signal had dropped to red, but now high
green shone. The headlights exploded into
another megamanifest with CSX 7844 and
HLCX 7181 and 126 mixed cars. I mused
that, just as 40-foot boxcars were replaced
by 50-footers a couple of decades ago, now
60 footers appear to be the wave of the
future. Some white ATW boxes were sten-
ciled, “for use by the paper industry”.

Behind him, the signal went from red
to yellow, and another light appeared north
of the yard office. CSX 8744-8777 glided
by with 35 automobile loads for the Port of
Tampa and 40 reefers: 37 Tropicana, two
Union Pacific, and one Golden West. By
breakfast the reefers would be crossing the
drawbridge into Bradenton, where we had
visited the previous weekend.

It was now 1715 hours, and the rain
was driving down on the 5 o’clock traffic,
The approaching darkness, my glaucoma,
and an empty stomach all told-me it was
time to leave Wildwood. As I departed
town, the access road to 175 was tied in
knots by X8744 south, which was now
creeping past on a yellow signal.

If you’re in central Florida, plan to
spend a day in Wildwood.

as IGS ASDA BEH-BQH-NWN-DAIELAN- DIB

23
Let’s Talk It Over
by Jim Corbett

Catching up on a few things from past
issues, there was a discussion about re-
routes of the D&H main line (north of Al-
bany) as a possible reason for milepost dis-
crepancies at the junction of the Rutland
Branch in Whitehall. While I can’t say if
such things were the cause of that particu-
lar difference, there were a few such re-
routes over the years.

The earliest I know of was rerouting
the’ main line out of downtown Ballston
Spa; that took place before I was old
enough to be aware of such things, so no
later than the early 1950’s (and possibly
quite a bit earlier), The reroute out of
downtown Saratoga Springs came in the
late 1950’s; in the 1960’s, the primarily-
passenger routing between Mechanicville
and Ballston Spa via Round Lake was aban-
doned, and the main line then ran west
from Mickeyville to today’s “magic trian-
gle”, where the Canadian and Colonie
mains join. ‘There may well have been
more in earlier years; between them, they
probably changed distances quite a bit (the
Ballston Spa reroute would have shortened
the main; the Round Lake abandonment no-
ticeably lengthened it, and the Saratoga
bypass probably lengthened it slightly).

Back in the April issue I asked a ques-
tion about the Interstate Express Philadel-
phia - Binghamton overnight train, and in
the May issue, R.L. Eastwood, Jr. was
kind enough to send in an answer. Now
comes the August Railroad Model Crafts-
man with a long and fascinating article by
William T. Greenberg, Jr. on exactly that
subject. I won’t try to synopsize his arti-
cle, but it does answer many of my ques-
tions. The reason the Lackawanna never

showed a time for the
train at Scranton
turns out to be that
the CNJ-DL&W in-
terchange took place
south of town at
Taylor, where the
Jersey Central _ and
the Lackawanna’s
branch to Northum-
berland paralleled
each other. The CNJ
took Scranton equip-
ment into its Scran-
ton station; the main
train went west on
the DL&W without
ever passing through
downtown. Even
when. the Syracuse
sleeper ran on an
3 earlier train, the in-
ite terchange. was made
a at Taylor, although in
that case a Lackawanna switcher did take
the car downtown to go west on a mainline
Lackawanna train (explaining why that
sleeper did show a Scranton departure time
in the Lackawanna’s schedules).
And as to the original question, where
did the train crew ride when there were no
through coaches and the sleeper didn’t
operate, a rider coach (the article even has
pictures) did the honors. The implication
is that after the Binghamton through coach-
es were dropped (as early as 1948), the
crew rode.the sleeper, using the rider coach
when the sleeper didn’t run and after the
sleeper itself (and therefore passenger
service beyond Wilkes-Barre) was dropped
in 1957. The train continued to run for
head-end traffic (and. passengers at least
between Mauch Chunk/Jim Thorpe and
Wilkes-Barre on the CNJ, and possibly also
on the Reading) until 1963. .
‘The article also describes a short-lived

(for about a year in 1928-29) Washington-'

Syracuse sleeper off the B&O, and Bethle-
hem - Washington through parlor cars and
coaches. Complete with maps, photos and
at least one timetable reproduction, it’s
unlikely a more through study of the train
will ever be published.

All in all, it is an article that should
interest anyone with an interest in off-the-
beaten path passenger operations. (And,
while it was never a D&H train, the article
does remind its readers that the Express did
indeed operate over the D&H, on CNJ
trackage rights between Hudson and Mi-
nooka Jct., Penna. for 11.2 miles, and even
made a stop at the D&H Pittston station
westbound-only.)" Recommended.

Why this article appears in RMC rather
than Railfan & Railroad isn’t entirely clear,
since it’s totally prototype, but, hey, quality
is where you find it.

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Now, on to some newer topics.

Shield searching

I had the chance to do a bit of rail
watching and.riding away from St. Louis
when some family activities took my wife
and Ion a St. Louis - Minnesota - Texas-
St. Louis trip. Unluckily, most of the rail
activity we saw (and we paralleled some
lines, notably the old M-K-T through Okla-
homa, for many miles) was maintenance-
of-way equipment; BNSF had tie replace-
ment going on its Duluth-Staples line near
our camp for most of the week we were
there; though we often see trains in the
Aitkin - Deerwood ~ Brainerd area, this
time there were none to be seen, or even
heard in the night. Plenty of MofW equip-
ment gathered on the Deerwood siding and
spread out each day, though.

It was much the same case along the
UP’s Katy, the ‘old MP/IGN main in Tex-
as, and the former SP Houston - Shreve-
port line. ’Twas the season, I guess; even
more “road work” on the rails than on the
roads. We did see a few moving trains
during our trip, including a 3-way meet on
the UP/SP/MP at Hearne, TX. But despite
eagle-eyed outlooks, the search for the
shield was entirely unsuccessful.

Ah, riding...

The riding part, however, was much
more successful. I took the opportunity to
ride the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit)
lines in the Dallas area, and the Trinity
Railway Express commuter operation from
there to Fort Worth. These, especially the
DART light rail, are-high-class operations,
and the price is unbeatable. A $4.50 day
pass covers all. bus, light rail and rail
(TRE) lines in, Dallas, Fort-Worth and the
surrounding area; half that. will get you a
day riding anything in Dallas, plus the TRE
as far west as West Irving (or, on the other
side, all buses in Fort Worth and the TRE
as far east as Centreport/DFW). Those
Texans seem to be trying very hard indeed
to take cars off the road, and it would seem
successfully: the midday TRE trains I rode
had decent loads, and the light rail trains
were anywhere from half-full to packed.

Our other rail-riding adventure took
place on the Boone & Scenic Valley Rail-
way, which runs out of Boone, IA. This
line runs over the old Fort Dodge Des
Moines & Southern. interurban northwest
out of Boone; the scenic highlight is‘a high
(180 feet) bridge over a side creek at the
top of the descent into the Des Moines
River Valley. Although the road operates
a built-for-them (though somewhat garishly-
painted) Chinese steamer, we elected to
ride the “Dessert Train”. This train fea-
tured F-unit power and two former stream-
liner cars, a diner (closed on this run; the
same equipment set also makes up the
|
|

road’s Dinner Train in the evening) and
open-platform sleeper-lounge-office car, air
conditioning, and a longer run. Snacks,
soda and a tasty dessert are provided as
part of the fun, as well as a meet with the
steam train on the return trip. While speed
wasn’t much, we enjoyed the trip through
farmland, over the high bridge (and the
less-high Des Moines River bridge) and
back up the hill west of the river to the
metropolis of Wolf (which seems to have
somehow misplaced all its buildings),
riding the platform about half the time.
The volunteer crew/guide/interpreters did a
good job, the sweets were excellent, and
the whole venture proved an enjoyable
couple of hours, including a look into the
Towa Railroad Museum, which is the sta-
tion. I even acquired a copy of their em-
ployee timetable. I’m not sure I knew
tourist railroads even had such things. Stop
by if you’re ever out that way.

Back home, I took time to ride St.
Louis’ Metrolink’s newest extension (which
opened while we were on the road), a one-
station extension on the eastern end to the
new Shiloh-Scott station (the “Scott” being
Scott Air Force Base, which there’s rather
more of than there is of Shiloh). The
station has two parking lots, one on the
civilian side and another (presumably for
military personnel only) inside the base; the
station itself is off-base, though only steps
from a main gate.

The trip reminded me of what a trans-
portation buff’s joy.the Metrolink line is,
going over, under and along railroads and
superhighways galore, with the region’s
major airport at one end and a crossing of
the Mississippi River in the middle. On
this day’s travels (a one-way end-to-end
trip takes about an hour and a quarter),
Norfolk Southern provided a 4-unit west-
bound freight (led bya. Conrail blue unit)
out by Shiloh; Amtrak’s (late, as usual)
Texas Eagle ‘crossed overhead in East St.
Louis; a number of tows were noted on the
river, along with UP and BNSF freights
along the Mill Creek Valley in and west of
downtown; and American Airlines’ “retro
jet” (the 757 painted in the original 1950’s
“Astrojet” colors a few years back to
celebrate 40 years of AA jet service) was at
Lambert Field. Fun.

The line also passes many of the area’s
major attractions, including the Arch,
Union Station, Busch Stadium and Savvis
Center arena, and of course uses the Eads
Bridge for the river crossing. The more
scenic side, however, is the Illinois, partic-
ularly east of Fairview Heights station,
where the line uses a creek valley to climb
the bluffs out of the Mississippi valley (out
of the American Bottoms, for those who
remember Lucius Beebe’s frequerit use of
the term in his photographic books, that
being the local term for the flatlands on the

Illinois side of Old Man River), then runs
beyond the metropolitan sprawl and literally
into the cornfields of the Illinois prairie.

On that newest sector, the light-rail line
first parallels, then closely approaches NS’s
ex-Southern line to the east in order to go
under a local highway (which did not have
an overpass when only the SR/NS line
existed). The line clearly deviates to come
alongside NS for this purpose, and then
immediately jumps over it into the Shiloh-
Scott station. I wonder whether NS con-
tributed anything to this grade-crossing
elimination, or just benefited from being in
the right place when the light-rail line was
built?

The trip also provided an opportunity to
compare the Dallas and St. Louis light-rail
systems. There’s no doubt the Dallas
system is fancier, with racier-looking cars
and much more substantial stations. Larg-
er, more protective (and more eye-catch-
ing) platform roofs really stand out in
Dallas; in St. Lou, there is much less
protection from inclement weather. At
least some Dallas stations actually have
enclosed, climate-controlled waiting areas,
of which St. Louis has none. Those areas
also provide schedules not only for con-
necting bus lines, but also for virtually the
whole system; in St. Louis, one would
need to stop at the MetroRide store in
downtown (west of Convention Center
station) as just about the only place to
acquire these items. Both systems provide
smooth, comfortable rail service at a rea-
sonably quick rate of speed, and provide a
wide range of views of their areas. (Dal-
las’ historic counterpart to the Eads Bridge
is probably DART’s use of the “triple
overpass” above Dealey Plaza as the entry
to the north end of Dallas Union Station;
TRE also uses it.)

Operationally, both seem pretty snappy;
one interesting contrast is at terminal sta-
tions, where, at least in my experience,
DART usually has a train ready to leave
about a minute after a terminating train
arrives; Bi-State tends to have the outbound
train leave just before the incoming train’s
arrival. Outside the downtown areas, both
are true rapid-transit lines, with long
stretches between stations that promote
speedy overall times.

Much of Metrolink is on former rail-
road right-of-way. The old L&N provides
most of the Illinois routing from the river
almost to Belleville; the TRRA Eads Bridge
and tunnel provide the downtown “subway”
and open-air routing as far west as Grand
Avenue; and from there almost to the
University of Missouri-St. Louis stations,
the route is the old Wabash passenger line
to the west. In Dallas, much of the north-
ern end of the Red Line has the look of
old-time rail, and certainly the outer end of
the Blue Line toward and in Garland is

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

former rail, some of it still sharing right-of-
way with the Dallas Garland & North
Eastern short line.

Name wise, it’s all Dallas; I regret to
report that Bi-State Development Agency.
responsible for the transit system in the St.
Louis area, has recently changed the name
it uses for the transit system from “Bi-State
Transit”, which has at least some local
flavor, to the far-more-generic “Metro”.

Financially, a day pass in St. Louis will
set you back four bucks, and is usable on.
all trains and buses, but is only available at
Metrolink stations or the aforementioned
MetroRide Store; in Dallas, the pass, as
mentioned above, is $2.25 for Dallas-only
(or Fort Worth-only), or $4.50 for the
whole Metroplex. While the Metroplex
includes both cities, I feel compelled to say
it’s just one state, and is available on the
buses as well as at light-rail and TRE
stations. Loads on the Missouri side in St.
Louis seemed to be comparable to Dallas at
the same time of day; on the Illinois side,
they were quite a bit lighter, though cer-
tainly there are more traffic generators on
the Missouri side.

And we continue
Finally, back to “catching up”.

A while ago, I promised a list of (with

a bit of cheating) 40 railroads with which

the New York Central had through-car

service. That column actually did get
written, but it ran a bit long, and perhaps
more than a bit confusing. There was to
be an attempt to recast it in a tabular or
spreadsheet type of layout, but that doesn’t
seem to have been entirely successful ei-
ther. So here’s a very skeletal version of
the listing, using common reporting marks,
the route segments on the “foreign” roads,
and a brief idea of where the through ser-
vice came from/went to on the New York

Central. In the list, a “-” separates the

end-points of a route segment, and a “/”

identifies a station in a place where the
through services used more than one. or
used a station other than the New York

Central’s.

So here are the “New York Central 40”

Gemaly 41):

D&H: Albany-Rouses Point/D&H,
Troy-Watervliet, Saratoga-North
Creek, Fort Edward-Lake George (all
from New York City).

2. Nap. SJet.: Rouses Point/D&H-
Montreal/ Windsor (from New York
City).

3. CP: Montreal/Windsor-Quebec, Mon-
treal/Windsor-Ottawa (both from New
York City), Montreal/Windsor-Detroit
(to Chicago), Hamilton-Toronto (from
Buffalo/New York City/Boston/Pitts-
burgh/Cleveland/Cincinnati).

4. NH: — Springfield-New York City
(from Boston/Worcester).

25
13.

21.
22.

23.

24,

. ERIE:

B&M: Boston/North-Troy (to Chi-
cago), Troy-White Creek (from New
York City to Rutland points). (As
we’ve been over before, the inter-
change point for all practical purposes
was North Bennington, but track
ownership changed at White Creek,
essentially the NY-VT state line).
RUT: White Creek-Rouses Point/
RUT (from New York City to Mon-
treal via CN).

CN: .Rouses Point/RUT-Montreal/
Bonaventure (later Central) (from New
York City).

PRR: Canandaigua-Washington (from
Rochester), Philadelphia-Buffalo (to
Toronto), Grand Rapids/Union-Kala-
mazoo/MC (to Chicago).

DL&W: Hoboken-Buffalo/Lackawan-
na via Newark and via Paterson (from
Detroit/Chicago MC).

LV: New York City/Penn-Buffalo/LV
(from: Detroit/Chicago MC).

. RDG: Bethlehem-Philadelphia (from

Detroit/Chicago MC via LV).
Youngstown-Cleveland/Erie
(later C.U.T.) (from Detroit/Chicago/
St. Louis to Pittsburgh), Youngstown-
Chicago/Dearborn from P&LE (from
Pittsburgh).

P&LE: Pittsburgh - Youngstown/
Union (from Detroit/Chicago/St. Lou-
is/Cleveland) and NYC (from Buffa-
lo/Albany/Pittsburgh/Toronto).

B&O: Baltimore/Mount Royal-Pitts-
burgh (from Cleveland Erie-P&LE).

. MONG; Brownsville-Fairmont (from

Pittsburgh P&LE).

TH&B: Welland-Hamilton (from Buf-
falo/New. York _City/Boston/Cleve-
land/Pittsburgh/Philadelphiato Toron-
to).

. D&M: Bay, City-Alpena (from De-

troit).

. DSS&A: | Mackinaw .City-Soo Junc-

tion-Sault Sainte Marie (from Detroit).

. Soo: Sault Sainte Marie-Trout Lake
- (to. Detroit).
.. SOU: Cincinnati-Jacksonville via Val-

dosta and via Jesup. Valdosta-Hamp-
ton (from Detroit/Grand Rapids/Cleve-
land/Buffalo/Chicago to St. Peters-
burg/Miami/Fort Myers).

FEC: Jacksonville-Miami (from De-
troit/Cleveland/Buffalo/Chicago).
SAL: Hampton-Miami, Wildwood-St.
Petersburg, Plant City-Sarasota (di-
rect) (from Detroit/Cleveland/Buffa-
lo/Chicago (Sarasota only from De-
troit)).

L&N: Cincinnati-Atlanta (from De-
troit/Cleveland to Miami/Orlando/
Fort Myers).

C of G: Atlanta-Albany (GA) (from
Detroit/Cleveland to Miami/Orlando/
Fort Myers).

25. ACL: Albany-Jacksonville-Fort My-
ers (from Detroit/Cleveland to Mi-
ami/Orlando/Fort Myers).

26. N&W: Columbus - Norfolk (from
Cleveland).

27. C&O: Cincinnati-Washington (from
Chicago/St. Louis/Mexico City/San
Antonio), Charlottesville-Old Point

(jimcorbett@prodigy.net) and I can email
the original article.

Bridges and remnants

Following up on a question from our
new railroad-tech columnist, Frank Pera-
gine, the MacArthur Bridge here is only
somewhat approaching the century mark.

Comfort (from” Chicago/St. Louis), It opened-in 1917, but did not see truly

Columbus-Ashland from Cleveland to

Clifton Forge).

MP: St. Louis-Texarkana (from New

York City to Fort Worth/Mexico

City/San Antonio/Houston), Long-

view-Laredo (from New York City to

Mexico City, later terminated at San

Antonio), - Palestine-Houston (from

New York City).

29. T&P: Texarkana-Fort Worth (from

New York City).

NdeM: Laredo-Mexico City (from

New York City).

31. SLSF: St. Louis - Oklahoma City
(from New York City, and from New
York City to San Antonio/Dallas/
Waco).

32. MKT: Vinita-San Antonio via Dallas,
Denison-Waco via Fort Worth (from
New York City).

33. C&NW:, Chicago/C&NW - Omaha
(from New York City to Oakland
Pier/Los Angeles).

34. UP: Omaha-Los Angeles (from New
York City, and from New York City
to Oakland Pier).

35. SP: Ogden-Oakland Pier (from New
York City), Tucumcari-Los Angeles
(from New York City).

36. MILW: Chicago/Union-Omaha (from
New York City to Los Angeles).

37. CB&Q: Chicago/Union-Denver (from
New York City to Oakland Pier).

38. D&RGW: Denver-Salt Lake City
(from New York City to Oakland
Pier),

39. WP: Salt Lake City-Oakland Pier

(from New York City),
. CRI&P: Chicago-Tucumcari (from
New York City to Los Angeles).

41. AT&SF: Chicago/Dearborn-Los An-

geles (from New York City).

28.

30.

In some cities the through cars moved
between stations in switcher service.

The “cheats” are using P&LE as both
a through-service to NYC and a participant
in non-NYC-proper through services with
B&O and MONG (and with Erie on the
Pittsburgh-Chicago Dearborn service, but
that’s not a cheat because NYC itself had
thru service with Erie on other routes), and
counting NJ separately from D&H (but NJ
did have its own listing in the Guide).
There could be lots more detail (and di-
gressions), but I didn’t want to leave the
topic hanging; if anyone’s truly a glutton
for detail (or punishment!), drop me a note

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

heavy freight service until relatively recent
decades. Each car crossing it had to pay a
toll to the City of St. Louis, the bridge’s
owner, so much more freight was routed
via the Merchants and (until it and the
tunnel became too small for many cars)
Eads Bridges. TRRA essentially traded the
Eads Bridge for the MacArthur in the run-
up to Metrolink, so no tolls are paid to the
city these days.

However, the Merchants Bridge, which
is upstream, is well over 100 years old,
having opened in 1890, with heavy freight
traffic from that day to this. Eads, the first
St. Louis bridge, is of course even older,
but no longer carries freight traffic and was
heavily rebuilt for Metrolink.

And, to Joe Durham, the vestiges of
track you saw in Richfield Springs, N.Y.
were undoubtedly the former Lackawanna
branch (later Erie Lackawanna and then the
Central New York short line) serving that
town; the UV never came that far north,
and the O&W was further west. The other
line I know of that did serve Richfield
Springs was the Southern New York (One-
onta-Herkimer) interurban, but that was
gone so long ago I’m sure none of its
trackage has survived.

ate I DATE HLH DasS-DANLAAS-DAN-BLIS-DRIE-DANS-DAN IS

XO Tower from page 20

Stairway: The prototype starts at the
front corner of the’ structure. The only
closed riser stairway style that I could find,
in the Central Valley #1602 set, has a
steeper pitch than the prototype; thus, my
bottom step.is set back from the corner. I
alleviated this setback distance somewhat
by lengthening the second floor porch. The
underside of this cement stairway needs to
be enclosed.

An added benefit to building the XO
tower is that the Central Valley “Steps &
Ladders” #1602 set consists of four com-
plete sprue sets of various types of steps
(open and closed), and many different lad-
der styles. There’s more than enough for
the next scratch-building project.

‘BSIEAB-BAI- A DRH-ANIS-DRI-DLIS-DAN HE S-DAN-DLAS-DaI- AS AT-IS
“Good Stuff!

Stories about the railroads
and workers we see every day

edited by Jim Bachorz

Sometimes we run across some won-
derful stories about the railroads around us
and/or their employees. Sometimes they’re
about the D&H, sometimes they are not.
They can be informative, humorous, inter-
esting, or maybe just a good tale. In any
case, they are “good stuff”.

If you have a story to tell, please send
it in to the Publications Office. If you’re
hoarding a clipping about some employees
or the railroad that you found interesting,
please consider loaning it to the Publica-
tions Office. Such “good stuff” has to be
shared!

This month’s “good stuff” items come
to us from that wonderful compendium,
Roy Scrivner’s Midwest Rail Scene Report.

The old boomer

A fellow I used to know was a hobo
back during the depression. He told me
many tales about those days, but my favor-
ite was about how his quick wit kept him
out of jail.

He was-waiting to hop a freight one
day when he realized the train was leaving
early. He started to run across the yard
after it, By the time he got there, the
freight was really rolling, and it was all he
could do to reach it. He made a grab for
the step and misséd, which sent him rolling
top over teakettle down the embankment.

When his head cleared and he started to
get up, he was face to face with a yard
bull. The bull said, “Trying to hop a
freight are you! This’ll get you six months
on the rock pile!” My friend said, “Why
no, officer. I realized that train didn’t
belong here and I was chasing it out of the
yard!” The bull burst out laughing. Then
he said, “Anyone who can think that fast
don’t belong in jail. Get out of here!”

The rest of the story
We've all heard the ballad of Casey
Jones, the “brave engineer”. Now let’s

read “the rest of the story”. Carl Englund,

a Conrail Trainmaster in Rochester, NY,

brings us up to date on Casey Jones. He

managed to salvage the Illinois Central

Railroad file on one J.L. Jones. Here is a

summary of his own work record from the

file:

Suspensions:
10 days, 2/14/1891, collision at Water
Valley Yard

¢ 5 days, 1/17/1893, running a switch at
Carbondale

5 days (date?), running through switch
at Villa Ridge

* 10 days, 12/6/1893, striking a flat car
in a siding
15 days, 1/4/1896, rear end collision at
Toone

* 30 days, 9/3/1896, sectional collision at
Hickory

* 30 days, 5/22/1896, leaving a switch
open at a crossover, resulting in a
collision

* 10 days, 9/22/1897, not recognizing
flagman who was protecting a work
train

In approximately nine years prior to his
final fatal collision, he had been suspended
nine times for.a total of 145 days! It’s
amazing that he was allowed to operate at
all after the first half dozen incidents.
Based on the testimony of all of the em-
ployees present at the scene of the fatal
collision, as well as his prior work record,
one could reasonably conclude that Casey
Jones was solely responsible for the wreck
that claimed his life. Who among us would
have wanted to work with this “brave
engineer”, given his work record?

BRI BL DS Le DATE LIS-Da-BLS-Dat-BLS-DAU-LS-DSI- BLS. DATS

Black Flags

by Gene Corsale

This column’s purpose is to recog-
nize those CP/D&H employees who
have passed away. Please write to me
at 8 Outlook Avenue, Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866 if you have information for
or regarding this column.

The BLHS has the sad duty to report
the following D&H employee and/or retiree
death(s):

Howard C. Cole

Howard C. Cole, 93, of Milford, NY,
died Tuesday, May 27, 2003, at The Mead-
ows.

After graduating from high school,
Howard spent his working career with the

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Delaware and Hudson Railroad. He was a
member of the United Transportation Un-
ion since 1942,

Thomas R. Sylvester

Thomas R. Sylvester, 76, of Viall
Ave., Mechanicville, NY, died Saturday,
July 12, 2003 at his residence.

Tom was a car inspector with the D&H
Railroad in Mechanicville and Saratoga
Yards for 41 years.

Mr. Sylvester was also a long-time
member of the Bridge Line Historical
Society. Our sympathy goes to his family.

William E, Van Zandt

William Edward Van Zandt, 93, of
Loudonville, NY, died Wednesday, June
18, 2003 at the Good Samaritan Healthcare
Center.

Mr. Van Zandt was employed by the
Delaware & Hudson Railroad, starting as a
car clerk and retiring as a car accountant
and supervisor of the initial IBM Machine
Program in 1971 after 44 years of service.

Attention families of railroad retirees

Surviving family members may be
eligible for $2,000 from MetLife.

MetLife Insurance Company has initiat-
ed an Outreach Program +o identify sur-
viving family members of deceased railroad
employees who may be eligible for $2,000
in unclaimed funds.

Surviving family members of retired
railroad employees who died between 1964
and 2001 may be entitled to receive the
$2,000 life insurance benefit.

MetLife has identified the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers as one of twenty
unions that represent eligible railroad work-
ers.

Certain retired employees of participat-
ing railroads may have been covered under
group life insurance policies issued to the
Health and Welfare Plan of the Nation’s
Railroads and the Railway Labor Organiza-
tions. The amount of the coverage is
$2,000 per insured, The intended benefi-
ciary may not have filed a claim for bene-
fits, and thus no claim would have been
processed.

If you believe that you may be eligible
for benefits or have information regarding
individuals who may be eligible, please
contact MetLife’s Railroad Operations
Center at 800-310-7770. Proof of eligi-
bility (including proof of death) will be
necessary to process each claim and Met-
Life will make all claim determinations.
MetLife representatives will answer your
questions and, if appropriate, assist you in
filing a claim.

Potential individual beneficiaries who
contact the toll free MetLife number will
be routed to a dedicated service team that

continued on page 30

27
The Metropolis Monograph
by Robert A. Lowe

On July 28, the Bush Administration
proposed a drastic restructuring of Amtrak,
whereby the federal government would pay
a part of capital costs and the states the
balance plus all operating deficits. The
states would thus decide which services
would bé offered, Coalitions could build
and operate high-speed rail operations.
Most likely, with most states facing severe
budget deficits, long distance trains will
simply wither way. Amtrak would wind up
as a private sector passenger railroad,
independent’ of the federal government.
There would be a 6-year transition. The
NEC would be transferred to state control
and tracks and signals plus control of trains
would be under state supervision. Basical-
ly, Amtrak would be divided into three
entities: an operating company to be con-
tracted by states and consortia of states to
operate trains; a company to. operate the
NEC; and a governmental operation to
retain Amtrak’s name and franchises. Most
feel if this proposal comes to fruition,
Amtrak will be a goner. Amtrak’s board
and officials do not appear to have been
consulted in this proposal. Competition
with Amtrak would be fostered, but who is
seeking such? The feds feel a prototype is
with Cascades service, which has been
heavily subsidized by the states of Oregon
and. Washington. It is encouraged to use
this as a model nationwide. If Amtrak’s
long distance service is shut down, it will
mean a massive loss of jobs. In the Chica-
go area alone, more than 2,000 jobs would
be lost.

There was immediate reaction from the
Senate, where pro-Amtrak forces led by
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), joined
by Sen, Trent Lott (R-MS), Sen. Olympia
Snowe (R-ME), and Sen. Conrad Butts
(MT), rejected the plan, and called for $60

billion over the next six years,
$12 billion for operating and
$48 billion for capital projects.

On July 11, the House
Appropriations committee head-
ed by Rep. Ernest J. Istook, Jr.
(R-OK) had voted only $580
million for Amtrak. This was
later raised to $900 million by
the full House. On June 26,
Amtrak appeared to be given $6
billion over three years,

During the summer, the
massive Track Laying Machine
has been working on the NEC,
lifting up track and scooping
out old ties at the rate of 2,500
ties per day. During this peri-
od, President David Gunn has
been unwilling to cut back
“failing” routes, renegotiate un-
ion wage deals, and partner
with private contractors.

It has been noted that two Amtrak
trains with the greatest number of riders
are the Coast Starlight and Empire Builder.
In addition, the Cascades service from Eu-
gene, OR to Vancouver, BC has been well
patronized.

The Philadelphia Inquirer featured Cut
Bank, Montana, which says it is almost
totally dependent on Amtrak for connec-
tions to the rest of the country. 2,000
persons per year use the “station”.

In May, I wrote about Michigan’s con-
tinuing commitment to Amtrak. It is main-
taining service through September 30,
agreeing to increase its subsidy via.a state
Jaw that mandates $5.7 million to $7.1 mil-
lion. However, ridership this year has
been down 13%,

In mid-June, the Kentucky Cardinal ran
its last run, Louisville-Indianapolis.

Other Amtrak news

On July 8, an Acela train near New
Brunswick, NJ struck a man and service on
the NEC was stopped for an hour.

On July 12, a Baltimore man stole a
bike in Stonington, CT and proceeded to
rob several homes but was arrested at the
Westerly, RI station.

On July 15, an Acela train snagged
catenary near Baltimore, and service on
Amtrak and MARC was stopped for one
hour. Previously, on June 25, Acela train
#2170 stopped for an undetermined reason
in the B&P Tunnel in Baltimore, suspend-
ing all service. On July 16, catenary on
the Hell Gate Line in the Bronx failed,
causing suspension of service between Penn
Station and New Haven.

Finally, on July 29, an Amtrak train
snagged catenary near Woodbridge, NJ,
causing a shutdown of all lines. Amtrak
and NJT service (including the North Jer-
sey Coast Line) was suspended. Only one

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

line was restored to operation for the morn-
ing rush hour.

On July 18, a UP freight crashed head
on with an Amtrak train in Sacramento,
CA; six of nine Amtrak cars derailed. On’
July 15, a Capitol Corridor train to Sacra-
mento hit a tanker truck with 1500 gallons
of bleach near Rodeo, CA.

Amtrak is adding extra cars to the
Maple Leaf in July and August when the
Saratoga Race Track is running.

With reduced fares and five more
trains, ridership on the Springfield Line has
been up 38%.

With more incentives, ridership on the
Texas Eagle was up 37.2% in April, a rise
for the third straight month.

Amtrak has engaged “Julie”, an auto-
mated speech system, to perform reserva-
tions and credit card transactions on its
reservation system.

NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi released
three audits of the Turbotrain high-speed
service that has cost NY State $75 million.
Currently, there is one daily round trip
Turbotrain between Albany and Penn Sta-
tion. There are seven Turbotrains in the
program, and all were to be operating by
1999. Problems stated were Amtrak not
completing $140 million in infrastructure
repairs to-allow higher speeds; DOT mis-
management of the contract and inspection
monitoring of contractor Super Steel; unex-
pected asbestos contamination; and lack of
controls over payments to Super Steel.

Around the nation

A new operation, known as Massachu-
setts Bay Commuter Railroad, took over
the MBTA’s commuter operations around
Boston on July 1. This is a consortium of
Connex, a French firm; Bombardier; and
Altemente Concepts. Prior to initial opera-
tions, contracts were ratified with 14 un-
ions, and 1,500 workers received $1,000
bonuses for signing with the new contrac-
tor, plus 20% increases over five years.
An inventory of the railcar fleet was made,
with immediate repairs made on brake
mechanisms. It appears Amtrak had de-
ferred maintenance and cancelled all vendor
contracts.

9-11 aftermath

Three incidents show the continued
high level of alert. On May 19, Penn
Station in NYC was evacuated, and a suspi-
cious passenger aboard Amtrak train 174
was removed with a “suspicious package”.
The knapsack contained nothing threaten-
ing, but service in the busy hub was halted
three hours around noon.

On June 9, a homeless man with a
grenade tried to rob $20 from a store in
Washington Union Station. On the sub-
ways, on July 2 a suspicious package was
found on the #1 line near Canal Street. All

i
|
;

West Side IRT service was halted and over
100 firefighters responded. The package
reportedly contained cornstarch,

The PATH Exchange Place station in
Jersey City reopened on June 29. This will
allow transfers to ferries. It has been noted
that many of those who had used PATH to
commute to lower Manhattan have had jobs
relocated to the Jersey City area.

It now appears Daniel Libeskind will
provide. overall design guidelines for the
new transportation center at the World
Trade Center. It will include a main transit
hall that will connect PATH with the sub-
ways. However, an experienced archi-
tectural firm will do the detailed archi-
tecturals. The “temporary” PATH WTC
station will feature two 60-foot tall struc-
tures that will support a canopy over the
Church Street entrance; it is expected to
open this fall. It appears some parts of this
temporary structure (i.e. emergency exits
from the electric power station and shed for
electrical and communications equipment)
will encroach on ‘the “bathtub”. As has
been noted, there has been much said by
surviving families and others to maintain
this bathtub as “sacred ground” and not
allow any encroachments.

RFPs have been issued for. alternatives
to link lower Manhattan with JFK Airport
and Jamaica Station, possibly using a new
subway tunnel, subway connections, and
exclusive use of subways. The Port Au-
thority also wants a design for the transpor-
tation hub.

The tunnels at Penn Station remain a
critical problem. $100 million has been
spent to date, with at least $350 million
more needed. Main needs are improved air
circulation and sensors to detect chemical
threats. $591 million in combined federal-
state security funds is coming.

Long Island Rail Road

April ridership was down 9%, and in
May, down 3.6%. On June 7, the LIRR
did transport an estimated 38,000 riders to
Belmont Racetrack and'-back. O-T% in
May was 94,1 and in June 94.9,

It appears LIRR’s overtime is double
that of M-NR and NYCT. This is due to
workers retiring and inefficient work rules.

Engine DM 503 cannot be repaired
until the dispute with builder EMD about
rebuilding is resolved.

A massive new structure is arising at
Jamaica Station. Twenty 3-story window
bays will rise floor: to ceiling, half facing
Jamaica Avenue and the other half facing
the LIRR tracks. The AirTrain terminal is
a seven-story vertical circulation building.
There is also a 2-story control center and
LIRR offices. The centerpiece is a 263-
foot long, 72 ft. arch over the LIRR plat-
forms. This effort will also upgrade down-
town Jamaica.

On July 19, LIRR played a role in the
Hampton Music Festival in Bridgehampton.
This is near the LIRR Montauk Line, and
last year the horns on passing diesels had
been noted. This time, it was agreed to
incorporate the diesel horns into the perfor-
mance, much like cannons in the 1812
Overture. Mark Petering was commis-
sioned to write “Train and Tower for
Chamber Orchestra and Tape”, with two
DE30’s providing a key appearance. The
whole effort was carefully staged, with the
diesels arriving at the proper moment with
horns blasting. Sam Zambuto of LIRR’s
public affairs department masterfully coor-
dinated this; Mr. Zambuto is a valued
contributor to this column.

Metro-North Railroad

May’s O-T% was 98.1 (96.7 west of
Hudson) and in June, 96.9, 96.7 west of
Hudson. Ridership in April was down
0.8%, but in May was up 0.1%.

The Secaucus Transfer should open for
weekend service on September 6.

M-NR is publishing new fares to allow
transfers to Penn Station.

On August 4, express service com-
menced on the Pascack Valley Line, reduc-
ing the trip by 15 minutes.

An easement was provided for a trail
on the Beacon Line.

At Yonkers, landscaping, repointing,
and exterior painting work is continuing on
the historic station.

M-NR took beneficial use of the High-
bridge Maintenance center. This facility
will allow layover servicing of equipment
that had previously been performed in
GCT, but that area must be vacated when
LIRR starts its service to GCT.

All 65 Comet V coaches built by
Alstom should be received by next sum-
mer. Some will start arriving in the fourth
quarter.

$11 million has been budgeted to assess
bridges, tunnels, viaducts, and trackage on
the Port Jervis line, which is now leased to
M-NR.

With continued growth in ridership and
need to maintain reliability as well as state
of good repair, new equipment is arriving.
180 M7’s will arrive by 2004 (three months
behind schedule), with a total of 336 by
2010; two remanufactured diesels (F40’s)
were to be delivered this August; the 65
Comet V coaches by summer 2004; 24
west-of-Hudson coaches will be remanufac-
tured for use east-of-Hudson; and 242 M2’s
are undergoing critical system replacement
at New Haven.

The Harmon Shops are being upgraded.
Phase I was to be completed by the second
quarter of 2003. The Highbridge center
will go into operation to provide layover
servicing; and all AC M-U’s (from the
early 1960’s) will be gone by the end of

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

2003. M-NR is considering bi-levels both
east and west of Hudson. The M4’s and
M6’s, as well as end-door coaches will be
remanufactured.

M-NR is promoting Reliability Cen-
tered Maintenance, which seeks preventive
maintenance rather than “running to fail-
ure” and seeking maximum efficiencies.
The first equipment to enter this program
will be the Shoreliner coaches, which are
less complex than the other equipment.
The diesels will follow. Efforts will be to
raise O-T% to 98 and MDBF to 75,911.

There were 156 options for replacing
the Tappan Zee Bridge. These will be
narrowed to five, with the final one by
2005. It is expected that there will be
some kind of commuter rail service, either
in a tunnel or new bridge.

New Jersey Transit

O-T% in May was 94.1.

On July 14, train 3920 from Trenton to
P.S, had a wheel come off an Arrow III
M-U; this is the 6th such failure. It oc-
curred at the critical Portal Bridge, where
in November 1996 an Amtrak train de-
railed. A wayside hotbox detector noted
overheating, so the train had an emergency
stop in Edison. It appears the conductor
used a “Tempilstik” to see if there was
overheating. Basically, this “high tech”
device is a crayon-shaped stick of special
wax compound. For the stick use, the
melting point is 200 degrees, which indi-
cates a problem. But upon re-enactment of
his moves, it appears the conductor placed
the stick three inches away from the critical
spot. The resulting incident caused two
cars to derail and the busy high line be-
tween Newark and NYC was shut down.
NIT provided refunds of 15% to monthly
pass holders for the disruption.

On July 21, there was a power outage
on Amtrak that shut down operations.

NJT will spend $90 million on final
design and construction of the Newark City
Subway Broad Street extension. This
includes ventilation improvements to the
existing tunnel as well as utility work and
overhead catenary. A $12 million mainte-
nance facility opened in Hoboken to pro-
vide washing, fueling, sanding, light main-
tenance, and storage for layover equipment.

A $4.9 million DEIS will be made for
anew 2-track trans-Hudson tunnel and new
storage yard. 20,000 new parking spaces
are planned.

The Southern NJ Light Rail will feature
original art at 20 stations, with metal sculp-
ture of birds and wildlife.

New uses

There appears to be movement on new
use for the West Side High Line elevated
for 1.6 miles in midtown Manhattan. The
structure has been dormant since 1980 and

29
was threatened with demolition. But large-
ly due to the exhibit and myriad of options
offered at GCT, there is activity to create
the first urban elevated rail trail, at a cost
of $40 to $65 million. While some still
seek to demolish it, it now appears to be an
economic stimulus. NYC has already
committed $15.75 million.

An art deco railroad substation at Dyck-
man Street in Inwood may be changed into
a Dominican Cultural Center.

The last trolley kiosk in Manhattan is at
the foot of the Queensborough Bridge, at
Second Avenue. It was used until April 7,
1957, when the last trolley ran in NYC. ‘It
has been hit by traffic and the city seeks to
demolish it. The other remaining kiosk has
been removed to the Brooklyn Children’s
Museum. The last trolley, 601, built in
1930 by Osgood-Bradley, is now at the
New York Trolley Museum in Kingston.

New York City subways

The New York State Appeals Court has
ruled that the MTA was within its rights to
raisé the fare and tolls in May. Until then,
NYS Comptroller Hevesi maintained that
the MTA could afford a rollback to $1.75.
Until this final move, two lower courts had.
ordered rollbacks. Since the fare increase
in May, ridership has been down 2.1%
weekdays and 4% on weekends. 91.7% of
trips use MetroCard, as tokens are no long-
er sold, 51% use the unlimited MetroCard,
The one-day Fun Pass that went from $4 to
$7 has seén a drop in sales, from 5.1% to
2.5%, Thete has also been a problem with
the single ‘ride paper’ MetroCards; they
have a life of two hours and are easily
damaged. The 2004 budget suggests no
further increase will be needed at this time.

Crime was down 15% through May,
but in June assaults and robberies were up
33%. On July 19, an F train lost a contact
shoe and a fire started in downtown Brook-
lyn; riders got out before the third rail was
shut off. All R46’s are being inspected.

The annual Straphangers Campaign
claims the L (with new equipment) is best
overall train with reliability and good an-
nouncements.’ The #5 (despite new equip-
ment) was rated worst, with frequent
breakdowns. The J/Z was dirtiest; the #4
most crowded; and the #1/9 had the worst
announcements. 23.3% of subway phones
did not have’a dial tone or allow a call to.
be completed.

It appears the subway extension to
LaGuardia Airport favored by former May-
or Giuliani has been shelved, More fa-
vored projects are the Second Avenue
Subway and #7 Line to the West Side.

Scooped seats on the R62 and 62a’s are
16.8 inches wide, fine for some, but not
more corpulent New Yorkers.

The MTA awarded a contract for 180
additional R142 type cars to Kawasaki.

They will be dubbed R142’s and will be
fabricated at Lincoln, NE, with final as-
sembly at Yonkers.

On May 16, the last Westinghouse R36
was retired after nearly 39 years of service.
As more R142’s reach the #4, the R62’s
are going to the #3 run.

50 Redbirds went to reefs off Cape
May, NJ. 600 more “deadbirds” will
follow these, to be deposited in four other
NJ sites. NJ says it pioneered such dump-
ing in 1990, when five PATH K cars were
reefed. But there had been concern about.
asbestos in the floor tiles and walls leaching
into the water. | Environmental studies
minimize this concern; instead the hulks.
will become the bases for artificial reefs for
sea life. So far, close to 1,000 deadbirds
will be reefed: to date, they have been
dumped off Delaware, South Carolina,
Virginia, and Georgia, but NYS has resist-
ed joining in. This whole program (includ-
ing cleaning the hulks) will cost about $16
million, about half it would cost to scrap
them.

Service will be restored on the Manhat-
tan Bridge. The B will take over from the
Diamond Q.on the Brighton Line; the D
will replace the W on the West End Line;
the N will become the Sea Beach Express;
and the W rush-hour filler will run from
Whitehall Street to Astoria.

Industry news

An Alstom audit showed irregularities
in its U.S. rail unit that “significantly un-
derstated” its losses at Hornell, NY, There
have been several investigations.

Bombardier received an order for 298
bi-level coaches from Deutsche Bahn, with
option for 300 more. Its president, Paul
Tellier, has agreed to meet with Amtrak to
resolve problems with the Acela engines.
It is also a part of Metronet rail consortium
that is rebuilding the London subway and
will provide trains, equipment, and mainte-
nance services.

Frankfurt, Germany’s subway is the
latest to use cross border leasing. So far
150 European cities have leased equipment.
Generally the investors are American, but
there will be local control of operations.

There was a_rail strike at the end of
June in South Korea that shut down most
freight trains. :

On June 11, two regional trains collided
head-on in Germany, with six riders killed.

The French Holocaust rail suit was
reinstated in Manhattan Federal Appeals
court (see May and June for background).

P&W U23B 2203 arrived at the Nau-
gatuck Railroad.

On June 12, CSX train Q117 derailed
at East Worcester, Mass.

On June 22, BART began new service
to San Francisco International Airport with
a connection to CalTrans. The 8.7-mile

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

extension with four stations cost $1.5 bil-
lion. Currently Atlanta, Balti-
more/Washington, Chicago Midway and
O’Hare, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Newark,
Philadelphia, Portland, St, Louis, and
Ronald Reagan Washington have direct rail
service. But at the most, 15% of the air
travelers use such, with some as low as
3%, Many feel they don’t want to go to
the city center to then go to the airport.

24 persons were indicted as part of a
theft ring that broke into Conrail trains
going from Croxton Yard to Jersey City
and removed goods, mainly electronic
equipment. The so-called “Conrail Boyz”
were weeded out after a 2-year investiga-
tion.

In closing

Amtrak started its “quiet car”, usually
the first car after the locomotive, on week-
day runs starting January 2001. There are
often feelings of rage by non-cell phone
users. However, some actually confess to
like overhearing conversations. A web
site, cellmanners.com, has been
established. M-NR has been pressured to
provide such service, but has resisted to
date.

Thanks

Thanks this month to Marjorie Anders,
Dan Brucker, George Chiasson, and Sam
Zambuto. ~

If you have ay questions and/or com-
ments about this or any other item in the
Bulletin, please contact either the Publica-
tions Office (2476 Whitehall Court, Niska-
yuna NY 12309) or the author (Robert A.
Lowe, 334 E. 116th St., New York City,
NY 10029; e-mail rlowe@ rbscc.org).

‘BRIA DSI BLS- DAI NLNS-DAN-TLS-Dal-05-DawL- BLS. BLS DAIL HLS

Black Flags from page 27
will begin a process of verifying the rail-
road employees’ eligibility and expediting
the claim adjudication process. The ad-
dress for submitting claims is:
MetLife Railroad Operations Center
P. O. Box 6122
Utica, New York 13504-6122

MetLife’s Outreach Program is the
result of a federal lawsuit brought by the
State of Kansas against MetLife Insurance
Company, filed in February 2002. As a
result of the decision rendered on or about
October 9, 2002, MetLife agreed to initiate
an Outreach Program to handle claims for
railroad retiree survivors who were un-
aware of a $2,000 death benefit covered
under the Railroad Employees National
Health and Welfare Plan.

From the BLE Locomotive Engineer

Newsletter, December 2002; collection

of Bill Lloyd, via Gene Corsale.

‘bag ou-D9t- 1 45-nav s-Dey1s-Dal-ALS-DAI-BLNS-Da. BLS DABEALS
Modeling -
Matters!

by Steve Wagner

This month’s column. has an extraor-
dinary amount of news about Delaware &
Hudson models, partly because of the
summer announcements of new products
for the fall and winter modeling season,
and partly because of last month’s special
issue of the Bulletin. First, here’s some-
thing to get us “in the mood”.

D&H memories

C.F. Colville of Moses Lake, Washing-
ton wrote this letter, printed in the August
issue of Model Railroader:

“Although the cover of the June issue
proclaims ‘WOW’, it wasn’t the Museum
of Science and Industry layout that first
caught my eye. I went straight to page 69
for ‘Big Consolidations’.

“You don’t know how many memories
this story brought back. I was born in
Carbondale, Pa., and grew up with the
sights, sounds, and. smells of the Delaware
& Hudson. I don’t remember much about
the Consolidations.other than that they were
big, but compared to what?:, I remember
the day in 1940 when Dad took Mom and
me to the roundhouse to see the first D&H
Challenger. That locomotive was BIG!

“Today I model a Western road, but
occasionally run a 50-car train of hoppers
that I imagine to be loaded with anthracite
coal. On the point I have a Rivarossi
Challenger painted as D&H class J #1500;
the rear helper is (what else?) a Bachmann
Consolidation representing an E6. In my
mind, when this train leaves the yard it is
headed north those 18 miles to conquer
Ararat Summit (Mount Ararat).”

I’m sure a lot of us modelers - even
those of us who never saw “real” D&H
steam - would like to achieve something
similar.

HO D&H steam?

Athearn announced June 20. that it
would be producing Challenger locomotives
in its Genesis line. They’ll come complete
with DCC and.sound, and therefore, no
doubt, have a hefty price as well, though
not as high as those that brass locomotives
fetch. (On July:17 Athearn anticipated a
price “well under $700”; on July 24 the
Walthers site listed locos with “analog
sound” at $529.98, and with “digital
sound” at $599.98) The first are due next

spring, lettered not just for the Union
Pacific, the first railroad to use the 4-6-6-4
wheel arrangement, but also for the Clinch-
field and Denver & Rio Grande Western.
Each model is supposed to be accurately
detailed for the railroad it’s painted for.
About ten days earlier member Scott
Taylor from the Washington, DC area had
e-mailed me that he is helping Athearn
prepare to make a Delaware & Hudson
version and that the firm needs good draw-
ings, especially of the tender. The letter he
wrote Carl P. Munck, Sr., in hopes of
buying a copy of his book of HO drawings
of D&H steam locos, was returned as
undeliverable. Can anyone help? (Unfor-
tunately, I can’t. I could kick myself for
not having bought that book of Munck’s!)
This is certainly a worthwhile project.
Aside from its lettering, the Rivarossi
“Delaware & Hudson” Challenger differed
from the black Union Pacific engine only in
having a more conventional tender, which
I think had been made for the Nickel Plate
Road Berkshire and, unlike the welded
D&H tender, had a lot of rivet detail.

Lionel HO Challenger

A few weeks after Athearn’s announce-
ment, Lionel stated that it was re-entering
the HO market with a line steam locos,
starting with Challengers in the same three
road names Athearn plans for its first run,
at a list price of nearly $700 each. They’re
supposed to have metal boilers, frames and
tenders. (Assuming that the motor is in the
loco, I don’t see any advantage to casting
the tender in metal, which simply would
add weight to the train instead of on the
drivers.) Trains.com had the announce-
ment July 14.

I hope Lionel’s move doesn’t wreck
Athearn’s plans, including the D&H en-
gine.

HO D&H diesels

In mid-June walthers.com posted four
new Delaware & Hudson locomotives as
forthcoming from Life-Like: Order num-
bers 433-30260 and -30261 will be painted
as D&H RS11’s 5001 and 5002,’ respec-
tively, in the Proto 1000 series. Proto
2000° GP38-2 models 433-30788 and
-30789 will be decorated as D&H 7309 and
7312. All will wear the beloved blue, gray
and yellow lightning stripe livery.

The RS11’s are a new model; they’re
expected by January 31, 2004 and will list
for $85 each. They'll have factory-applied
grab irons. (P1K locos have varied a great
deal in their level of detail. An ad in the
August Model Railroader shows the forth-
coming RS2, and I don’t see any grabs at
all on it.) They’ll also be painted for
Burlington Northern, Norfolk & Western
(black with “script” herald), Northern
Pacific, Pennsylvania, Seaboard and South-

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

ern Pacific (gray and red). I don’t know
yet whether their short hoods will be high
or low, though I suspéct the former.

I wish Life-Like would choose a D&H
road number other than 5001, Atlas has
already produced that particular loco in
both the lightning stripe and the blue dip
schemes (the latter with a yellow nose).

A posting at modelrailroader.com July
2 says the second run of P2K GP38-2’s is
scheduled for release in December. The
locos will list for $130. Besides the D&H,
the other new road names will include
Boston & Maine (204 and 212), BN, Con-
rail, GM&O, Louisville & Nashville, Mis-
souri Pacific and Union Pacific.

Characteristically, as of July 14
lifelikeproducts.com has not so much as
mentioned any of these interesting models.
That web site was supposed to be revised
by July 28.

Reportedly Life-Like’s production runs
of its recent offerings have been substan-
tially smaller than its earlier ones, which
often flooded the market. A word to the
wise, but I have to admit I’m holding off
on ordering these myself in hopes of some
excellent Delaware & Hudson RS3’s from
another highly regarded supplier.

D&H RS3’s on the Web

Many additional color photos of the
Delaware & Hudson’s most characteristic
Alco road switchers were posted at the
society’s site, bridge-line.org, during June.
All wear either lightning stripes or the
“Altschul blue dip” livery; none are in the
original black with yellow stripes. John A.
Shaw and Neil C. Hunter maintain the site
for the BLHS.

Major domes!

On July 14, Walthers announced that it
would be producing its new HO Budd
dome car decorated for the Delaware &
Hudson (932-16481, $34.98 list, expected
in December). Remember that Walthers
passenger cars come ready to run, but with
decals for several car names and/or num-
bers for each road name. (The D&H
leased two of these cars from the Canadian
Pacific for the Adirondack, naming them
“Bluff Point” and “Willsboro Point”. I'll
use a Walthers car for one and plan to
assemble an Athabasca Scale Models kit
with brass parts for the other.)

On June 10 walthers.com had finally
posted a picture of the dome car. It’s
clearly a Via Rail Canada “Skyline” series
car of obvious Canadian Pacific ancestry.
Doug Lezette pointed out to me that the
outermost windows the side of the model
shown in the picture are full height, and
they shouldn’t be, as a look at prototype
photos - in Doug’s book, for instance ~
could have shown those responsible for
designing the product. A week or two later

31
he e-mailed me with the great news that
Walthers had assured him that those win-
dows would be corrected. The first.run of
the HO models, originally announced for
last May, was expected by August 28.

HO D&H-type coaches, too

Also on June 14 Walthers announced a
brand new car type: a Pullman-Standard
52-seat streamlined coach. The illustration
on the flyer sent to dealers is a photo of a
real: Chesapeake & Ohio car with fluted
Stainless steel only below the window band;
it’s identical to those initially ordered by
the‘C&O but actually delivered to the Den-
ver & Rio Grande, which sold them to the
Delaware & Hudson in 1967. The five
cars ran in the Laurentian but were sold to
a South American railroad before the Adi-
rondack was launched. A curved passage-
way in'the center of each coach produced a
decidedly unusual window arrangement.

Unfortunately, the first run of ‘these
models doesn’t include one in D&H paint
and lettering. For those who can’t wait,
the undecorated model is #932-6760,
$3498 list, expected in October.

The initial paint schemes include both
C&O and‘D&RGW (four-stripe scheme),
as well as Amtrak Phase I, CNW, GN Em-
pire Builder, NYC (postwar two-tone
gray), NP (two-tone green), PRR (late),
Rock Island, Santa Fé, SP and UP.

HO ‘heavyweight coaches coming

° Tn mid-July Branchline Trains an-
nounced that its first proprietaty passenger
car kits, standard coaches based on' New
York:‘Central cars very similar to Delaware
& Hudson cars, should ship in November
or December. That means the first road
names, which logically should include the
NYC but. perhaps not the D&H. See
branchline-trains.com for a photo of a
model decorated for the New Haven.

Tye been waiting for these, plus the
8-1-2 and 10-1-2 sleepers and the postwar
welded’ Railway Express Agency express
reefer kits from the same maker, since they
were: first announced in the fall of 2000.
Judging from Branchline’s own freight car
kits, they ought to-be well worth the wait.

Remember that Branchline products are
available to dealers only through Hobby
Stores Distributing of East Hartford, CT.

Modeling wooden coaches

Noted modeler and passenger service
expert V.S. Roseman has an article in the
June RailModel Journal on modeling vin-
tage rolling stock, using MDC Roundhouse
and Rivarossi cars as starting points. It’s
not as specific about modeling Delaware &
Hudson cars as the pieces Jeff Martin had
in this august publication a few years back,
but Vic was able to include photos of real
and model cars. All of Jeff’s articles are

listed in my D&H modeling bibliography,
available free in electronic form to those
who e-mail swagner@law-harvard.edu and
for.one dollar to those who write me at
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
02138,

Atlas O D&H USRA boxcars

Technical drawings showing the letter-
ing schemes for the next run of O scale
USRA single-sheathed boxcars appeared at
atlaso.com on or about June 22. The real
cars were designed under the auspices of
the United States Railroad Administration
during or just after the first World War.
The Delaware & Hudson had many of these
cars, and now Atlas will be offering its
model painted for the D&H.

The D&H cars will have a plain script
“The D&H” at the. upper left, the tiny
“The Delaware & Hudson R.R.” below the
reporting marks and above the car number,
and no herald at the upper right. The real
cars would have worn this livery from the
1920’s into the 1950's,

Walthers 151-6468 will be the three-rail
version, listing at $49.95; 151-7468 will be
equipped for two-rail, MSRP $52.95.
They’re due in November, in four road
numbers each.

The other new paint schemes are Ches-
apeake & Ohio, Clinchfield:and Michigan
Central; new road numbers will be made in
the Pennsylvania livery Atlas has already
done.

All the technical drawings show wood-
en doors, but the announcement promises
“wood or steel door as per the prototype”.
A photo of D&H 17239 in the “D&H
Color Guide to Freight and Passenger
Equipment” shows wooden doors; it’s
undated, but the car wears the circular
Bridge Line herald that wasn’t used until
1952. The book’s photo of D&H 35465, a
former USRA boxcar converted for hauling
cement and then used to carry sand for the
railroad itself, also shows wooden doors.

USRA boxcars in S

S Helper Service has produced 1/64.
scale models of the same type of “outside
braced” car, but as far as I can tell, the S

scale model hasn’t yet been offered with-

D&H lettering. An undecorated model is
available: Walthers order #641-63, $39.95.
I don’t know of any decals made specifical-
ly for this car, but suitable. lettering can
probably be found in C-D-S dry transfer
sets,

HO U30C’s

On July 1, Atlas announced a new HO
locomotive: General Electric’s U30C. Jim
Odell and doubtless other Delaware &
Hudson modelers have been hoping for this
for years. However, the Atlas models will
all represent Phase III locos, while, accord-

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

ing to a posting at atlasrr.com by Jason
Cook, D&H 701-706 were Phase I (with
carbodies like those of late U28C’s) and
707-712 were Phase II. Another Atlas
forum participant, however, indicated that
the differences between Phase II and Phase
Ill were minor. Perhaps one of our diesel
experts can specify what a hobbyist can do
to make a Phase III model look like a
Phase II.

The Atlas locos will come in two un-
decorated versions (with and without nose
headlight) and painted in two road numbers
and one unnumbered unit for Burlington
Northern, CSX, Louisville & Nashville,
Milwaukee; Norfolk & Western, Rock
Island, and Union Pacific. They’ll have
Adirondack floating bolster trucks with or
without bearing caps according to proto-
type. Units without decoders will list for
$109.95 each, with decoder for $139.95.
The analog and digital units for each rail-
road except the N&W will have different
road numbers... (Presumably the N&W had
only a few U30C’s.) Estimated delivery in
November.

HO D&H caboose

Doug Lezette pointed out to me that the
Southern bay window caboose kit from
Wright Trak is great for representing Dela-
ware & Hudson 35804, which the D&H
bought from the Louisville & Nashville as
a burned-out shell, rebuilt, and put into
service in 1976. (Caboose expert Bob
Chupka guesses that the L&N may have
bought it from the same builder that made
the Southern hacks.)

The kit is basically resin but with many
etched brass parts from Plano, windows
from American Model Builders, a full
interior, and Tichy trucks. See the web
site wrighttrak.com for photos and much
more.

Gary Wright also makes, among other
kits, ones for the long NYC/PC/CR bay
window cabeese.

D&H steel caboose info
Doug Lezétte also relayed the following
rundown of the Delaware & Hudson’s steel
cabeese from Bob Chupka. I’ve added a
few comments -of my own, chiefly about
possibilities for modeling them, mostly in
HO.

The D&H bought its first steel hacks in
1959, making it one of the last major U.S.
railroads to do so. They were the first
group of International Car Co.. extended
vision cupola cabooses, 35710-19, initially
used only on the Pennsylvania Division,
possibly because of state law. (Ironically,
Philip Jotdan’s’ “The Rutland in Color”
indicates that that road’s only two steel ca-
beese, evidently identical to the D&H’s,
were used only in New York State because
of its legal requirements!)
i
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In HO they could be modeled starting
with the Atlas wide vision caboose (full
scale length, unlike Athearn’s, which repli-
cates a rare group of Rock Island cabeese
built on old, shorter frames, or the old
AHM caboose that’s much like Athearn’s)
with changed windows and added ladders
and roof walks (which should be available
from Atlas). The same could be done in O
scale starting with an Atlas O model.

The next steel cabooses were the road’s
first with bay windows instead of cupolas,
35720-27, bought new in 1968. They were
initially painted yellow with blue lettering
and apparently roamed the length of the
main line from the start. The Athearn bay
window caboose is similar in size and
general outline, but it has riveted instead of
welded sides and its windows are different.

In November 1974 two “Northeastern”-
style cabeese with portholes in their ends
were acquired from the Lehigh Valley. LV
95105 and 95108 became D&H 35801 and
35802. Life-Like’s Proto 2000 model is
very good but lacks the portholes. The
Eastern Car Works “flat” styrene kit has
ends with portholes as well as others.

Also in or around 1974 the D&H
bought the caboose that the Lake Cham-
plain & Moriah had built from an ore car;
it became the 35803.

The December 1976 Trains magazine
gives the story of the ex-L&N caboose that
became D&H 35804. As mentioned above,
it was practically identical .to the Southern
one for which Wright Trak has a fine HO
kit,

After the formation of Conrail early in
1976, the D&H acquired two types of ex-
Erie, ex-EL bay windows cabeese, 35805-
35807 (C348-350) and 35808-35817 (C371-
380), as well as the ex-Reading extended
vision cupola cabooses, 35791-35800
(94110-94119) that are perfectly replicated
by the Atlas and Atlas models.

D&H 35728 was an ex-Nickel Plate bay
window car. Bob thinks it was NKP 403;
it appeared on the D&H around April
1977.

Finally, in September 1977 D&H shop-
men in Oneonta built a unique bay window
transfer caboose, the 35729, on a boxcar
underframe.

Nearly all these types have been pro-
duced in HO scale as beautiful - but natu-
rally expensive - brass models,

HO D&H gon & containers

Walthers’ massive July 14 new product
announcement, included 46 ft. USRA steel
gondolas lettered for the Delaware & Hud-
son (paint scheme not specified), plus “bulk
containers” with closed tops also marked
D&H. The “D&H Color Guide” shows
that the gon only approximates our favorite
railroad’s cars: D&H 15950-15969 built in
1942. to carry LCL cement canisters (p.

123) seem to have been a little longer but
with eleven instead of twelve ribs per side
and diffrent ends. The short gons built in
1947, 13625-13699 (pp. 95-96), had only
ten ribs per side, had different ends - of at
least two types, I think - and didn’t have a
fishbelly center sill. The two 52 ft. 6 in.
gons used for containers from the series
Pullman-Standard built in 1951 (pp. 95-98)
are best represénted by Con-Cor’s rework-
ing of the old Revell gon. But the Wal-
thers bulk containers appear to be right on
the money.

A single D&H gon is order #932-7465
at $13.98 list; a limited-run pair with dif-
ferent road numbers is 932-274675, at
$27.98. The D&H LCL bulk containers
are 933-2112 - note the different prefix ~
at $10.98 for three containers. (That’s cer-
tainly not cheap, especially since fully
loading a Con-Cor car will require a dozen
containers, but they’ll save me a lot of
decaling.) They’re all expected in August.

The other new liveries for the gons are
CN, NYC, PRR (the last two being “old”
schemes), P&LE, Reading and Wheeling &
Lake Erie. The other new bulk-containers
are ACL, DL&W, N&W and Reading; the
new open coke containers are EL, Milwau-
kee, Monon and N&W.

HO D&H

Athearn’s six-pack of Delaware &
Hudson offset twin hopper cars lettered in
the 1956 scheme, which were originally
expected late in May, reached Walthers
July 18. They’re Ready-To-Roll with
metal wheels and cast plastic coal loads.
Order #140-91184, $79.98 list.

HO PRR N8&

Bowser is preparing to offer an HO kit
for the Pennsylvania’s final type of “cabin
cart”, making it unnecessary for Pennsy
fans to cut Tyco streamlined cabeese apart
to center the cupola and rearrange the
windows. Unlike earlier Bowser models
this will have separate hand grabs and clear
windows. The price will be significantly
higher, too: $29.95 list. Bowser plans to
have the model ready next winter.

Does anyone know whether any N8’s
ever found their way to the Wilkes-Barre
area, specifically the Pennsy’s Buttonwood
Yard or our favorite railroad’s Hudson
Yard?

Express reefer info

Railroad Prototype Cyclopedia 7 has a
thorough article on express refrigerator
cars, both wood_and. steel, illustrated by
many clear photographs. Several showing
Railroad Express Agency cars after the
Second World War are in color.

The table of “Class BR & BS Express
Refrigerator Cars, circa 1930-1960” ac-
companying the article lists one group of

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Delaware & Hudson cars, 16611-16619,
which were wood-sheathed cars with an
outside length of only 37 ft. 1 in. They
were converted from milk cars 16576-
16594. The “built date” is given.as 1907;
but it’s not clear whether that was when
they were built as milk cars or when they
were changed into express reefers. In any
case, all nine were still officially rostered
in January 1944 but none in January 1951.
I think photos of these cars may have been
published in the June 1987 Mainline Mod-
eler as part of an article on D&H refrigera-
tor cars by John Nehrich.

RPC 7 also has an article on 10,500-
gallon propane tank cars, which are slightly
older and smaller than the models made by
Atlas in N and forthcoming in HO and O
scales. It appears that Fuelane was indeed
an affiliate of Jersey Standard (Esso), as
T’d suspected from the looks of the Atlas
model painted in its livery. Fuelane’s
headquarters was in Liberty, NY, a town
served by the New York, Ontario & West-
ern.

Mather Matters

A beautiful photo of the HO Proto 2000
Mather single sheathed boxcar due from
Life-Like in July finally was published in
the May or June Model Railroading. A
smaller one appeared in the July Railroad
Model Craftsman.

Also on June 12 walthers.com listed
new road names for this model: Fort
Dodge Des Moines and Southern, Muncie
& Western and Tennessee Central. The
first was one of the lowa interurbans that
survived as freight haulers long past the
abandonment of most other electric lines.
The second advertised the product of its
largest shipper, Ball Jars, with a picture on
the doors of its yellow boxcars. I'll want
to build one of these “Timesaver” kits to
replace an old Train Miniature model in the
same livery. The TC, like the D&H, had
no diesels except Alco’s for many years.
(And a D&H mixed train at Lake George
shown in a color photo on a calendar a few
years ago included a steel TC boxcar.)

Progress on HO CP 60 ft. boxcar

I called Bill McKean at LBF Company
in Oregon June 18 to ask about the status
of the promised HO model of Canadian
Pacific’s National Steel Car boxcars with
two plug doors on each side. (At the West
Springfield show early in February, he’d
told me it should be ready by April.) He
said work on the tooling for it had been
delayed but had been resumed; the firm
was now hoping to have it ready for the
Rosemont, IL show in mid-September. He
confirmed that it would be available as a kit
as well as in a No Work Required version.

33
These cars are bright red with the full
Canadian Pacific Railway name and a large
black and white herald including both a
beaver and a maple leaf. LBF made N
scale models of them many months ago.

HO Dominions

Ben Hom forwarded a very informative
and encouraging July 16 announcement
from Don Valentine of New England Rail

Service. Tooling for the body of the first
version. of ‘his 36 ft. Fowler boxcars was
well along and expected to be finished in
another couple of weeks. Expert Canadian
modelers including Stafford Swain had seen
test shots. and were very enthusiastic. The
kit-should .be ready in October ~ some
three months behind schedule, but very
nice. The U.S. list price will be $17.50.

.. The styrene parts NERS has made for
converting Rivarossi 12-1 Pullmans to other
types of cars and an Accurail wood boxcar
to a door-and-a-half type are first class.

Support the Rutland’s heritage

The Rutland Railroad Equipment Trust
is preserving and restoring a 12 in. to the
foot Rutland boxcar, as well. as two flat-
cars, at the Danbury Railroad Museum in
Connecticut. ‘The Remembering the Rut-
land web site, http://users.rcn.com/jimdu4,
lists items being sold to. support these
efforts: several books, .including the Rut-
land in Color book published by. Morning
Sun, four Westerfield HO boxcar kits,
Rutland milk and passenger car decals in
HO, S and 1 in, scales, and two lapel pins.

HO ballast car.

Atlas announced an entirely new model
July 17: a 70-ton Hart Selective Service
ballast car. It looks like an offset hopper
car with.doors that open to the side; they
can: discharge the load. to the ‘sides of the
rails, between them, or both. The real cars
were made by ACF from 1940 to 1953.

The ready-to-run model will feature a
die-cast: metal chassis, side-dump doors that
can .be positioned open or closed, separate
grab irons,. coupler cut levers, air brake
piping. including train line, and a fully
detailed interior. An undecorated car will
list for $14.95. : Decorated cars, MSRP.
$18,95, will come in six road numbers
each for Great Northern, . Louisville &
Nashville, Northern Pacific, Santa Fe, Soo
Line and Union Pacific.. Delivery is esti-
mated. for November.

,, Vm quite sure the Delaware & Hudson
never owned cars of this type. However,
at least for the last dozen years or so. bal-
last-has been delivered to its lines.and some
in Vermont by comparable Canadian Pacif-
ic.cars. .. haven’t found photos, as opposed.
to yideos,.of these cars. They. may well
differ. somewhat from. the ACF-built cars,
since Canadian builders often have their

own designs. But I suspect the Atlas mod-
els will be at least as similar to the CP cars
as the ones I’d planned on “bashing” from
less detailed MDC Roundhouse kits.

Atlas redesigns Precision boxcars

Atlas delayed releasé of its ribbed-sided
ACF Precision Design boxcars in HO and
N scales after hearing some adverse reac-
tion to the smooth-sided versions. Com-.
Plants posted on the firm’s Internet Forum

focused on the roof and the door tracks.
The models are now due in November, at
prices considerably above those announced
in the February catalog. Undecorated cars
will list for $12.95 in N and $17.95 in HO,
decorated ones. for $16.95 and $22.95
respectively. Let’s hope the improvements
are worth it.

Road names will be Chicago & North
Western, Frisco, Illinois Terminal (perhaps
the heaviest hauler of freight among elec-
tric interurban railways), Norfolk Southern
(the original, rather short; railroad), Penn
Central and Rock Island, in two road num-
bets each. The PC cats will be green and

‘the IT. yellow with green lettering ‘and

bright red trucks; the others will be tradi-
tional ‘shades of boxcar red. or brown.

The real cars were built in the late
1960’s and early 1970’s, Photos of them
were published in the September 2002 issue
of RailModel Journal.

HO 36 ft. reefers

On July 2 Atlas announced its first HO
production of the 36 ft. wooden refrigerator
cars-it has already offered in’N and O
scales. They’re based on cars built by
General American for Cudahy. Packing in
1925. That sounds old for many modelers,
but many cars of this old-time length lasted
into the. 1960’s, reportedly bécause of the
spacing of the’ trackside doors” of meat
companies, including some along the New
York Central’s West Side freight line in
Manhattan, Lining up the doors allowed
hooks, on which sides of beef were hung,
to slide along overhead rails in the car and
in the meat company’s building, minimiz-
ing the amount of heavy lifting needed,

The cars will feature separately applied
grab i irons, ladders, stitrup steps and door
hardware, hatches and truss rods per’ the
particular model’s prototype, and doors and
hatches that actually open, plus the superb
painting and lettering that Atlas consistently
delivers. (The only mass produced HO
models of these cars are from MDC’s
Roundhouse line, plus the same ones paint-
ed by Branchline Trains; they don’t match
any of the points just mentioned.)

All but one of the paint schemes for the

first run are for meat‘packers. The excep-

tion is Eagle Beer (from New Orleans) with
a beautiful bird painted in 1934, after the
Repeal of Prohibition but before the out-

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

lawing of billboard advertising on reefers.
The others are Cudahy (each with 1925 let-
tering for a different product), Decker,
Hormel and Selecto (all from the early
1930’s), and Swift’s bright red with white
fascia and lettering adopted around 1950
and used into the 1960’s. The Swift cars
will come in four road numbers, the others
in two. Delivery is estimated for Novem-
ber; no MSRP has yet been set.

New ‘HO sleeping cars

Another new passenger car type an-
nounced by Walthers July 14 is a Pullman-
Standard 10 (roomette) - 5 (double bed-
room) sleeper. Initial liveries will be
Amtrak Phase I, C&O, C&NW, D&RGW
(four-stripe), GN Empire Builder, NYC,
NP (two-tone green), PRR (late), Rock
Island, Santa Fe (dark gray), SP, UP and
undecotated. - Expected in October, $34.98
list. -New paint schemes for the 4-4-2
sleepet are CN (era unspecified), IC, PRR
(“Fleet‘of Modernism”) and Pullman pool
service (two-tone gray, but with the win-
dow part darker, opposite to the NYC’s
postwar livery). Also $34.98, due in Sep-
tember.

And the 6-6-4, based on Illinois Central
cars built in 1942, will be painted for the
Erie - like the car member John Bartley
rode to the Chicago Railroad Fair, as re-
counted in the July issue - IC, MP and
Pullman pool service. ‘Same list price,
expected in November.

Judging from ‘the dealers’ flyer,
Walthers appears to have gotten the IC’s
deep. chocolate brown and vivid orange
right. I saw a sleeper in this classic livery
at Banff, Alberta, in 1964 and have also
seen a photo of one on the PRR in Phila-
delphia.

No sweet Chariot

Unfortunately, the car name decals
supplied with the Walthers 4-4-2 sleeper
don’t include Imperial Chariot, which I'd
wanted to use.’ Since the white decals on
off-white backing paper are very hard to
tead, I'll list the choices offered. The Im-
perial series names are Chamber, Fleet,
Jewel, Manor, State and Valley.. The
Bridge offerings are Bay, Bear Mountain,
George Washington and High, I’ll go for
Bear Mountain Bridge, since, as Gary
Schermethorn’s photos attest, two ex-New
York Central main lines pass under it.

Note that although the Central: could
turn whole trains on a loop track at Grand
Central, in the glory days of Passenger
service it made sure that modern “room”-
type sleepers were NOT tured, so that
riders’ accomrnodations would always face
the scenic Hudson River while the corridor
side faced inland, Can anyone specify
whether this practice also applied to the
Montreal Limitea?
Other Walthers passenger cars

Also announced July 14 were HO Budd
dome cars painted for the Illinois Central
and in VIA Rail Cariada’s “modern”
scheme. They’re due in December at
$39.98. The IC’s attempt to use domes

” was not a success: the Mississippi heat put

far too much of a strain on their air con-
ditioning, and the railroad ended up paint-
ing over the clear glass on top. The Penn-
sylvania’s home-built RS50B steel express
reefers are scheduled for September in
three new paint schemes: 1939, 1943-44
Tuscan red, 1954 Tuscan red with no
Railway Express Agency logo. List $24.98
for a single car, $49.98 for a two-pack.

Improved HO Freightliners

Athearn’s e-mail newsletter has pointed
out that the firm’s Ready-To-Roll Freight-
liner truck “tractors” are considerably
improved over the ones it has been making
in kit form for many years. New features
are an interior, flush fitting windows,
windshield wipers and mud flaps.

Sending an e-mail message to Athearn-
News-On@Lists. Athearn.com will add your
name to Athearn’s e-mail list.

HO single-track truss bridge

Perhaps the most useful of the several
new Cornerstone Series kits announced by
Walthers July 14 is a steel truss bridge
sized to support a single track. List price
$24.98, due in September.

Walthers HO building kits

An HO Cornerstone kit for an ultra-

modern (no older than the 1940’s, perhaps)
water tower was due in August, at $17.98.
I remember my surprise when I first saw
such tanks next to industrial plants beside
the PRR in New Jersey and along the New
York Thruway in the late 1950’s or early
1960's. ;
The Bralick Building, another Corner-
stone kit, represents a four story industrial
structure stripped of its rooftop tank and
recycled for residential or commercial use.
It was also expected in August, MSRP
$39.98. Such a structure isn’t very likely
to use railroad freight service, of course.

Expected in October is a kit in the same
series for Jim’s Repair Shop, a small one
story wooden building, listing at $19.98.

Also scheduled to reach the market in
October is a snap-together Gold Ribbon kit
for the Worthington Hotel, a classic two
story, brick commercial corner building
with fancy cornices and storefront detail;
list price $59.98. A trolley car would look
great running in front of it. Too bad it’s so
pricey.

Tomaso’s Market is a Cornerstone kit
for a three-story brick background building
with a storefront; it’s only 2 1/2 in. deep.
Due in December at $21.98.

N scale Comerstone kits

Walthers will offer an N scale version
of its classic American Hardware Supply,
a four-story concrete and brick industrial
building with a rooftop water tank, in
September at $44.98, The previously
mentioned Bralick Building will appear in
1/160 scale in November. December
should bring the Co-Op Storage Shed, a
one story wooden structure with doors at
the right height for freight cars. It would
look great as part of a creamery; it’ll list
for $17.98.

HO built-up buildings

Walthers should have a new Golden
Valley Freight House, styled to match the
very railroady-looking passenger depot al-
ready offered, to dealers in September.
It'll come in three paint schemes and list
for $29.98. Incidentally, Walthers is ap-
parently considering re-issuing some of its
earlier built-up structures in unpainted kit
form. Hot dog!

Due in November is the Route 66
Motel, featuring a sign with “colorful
dancing lights”. The maker’s choice of
name leaves out all of us who don’t model
places along the famous highway between
Chicago and Los Angeles. It’ll include an
office unit and just two matching cabins for
$79.98 list; an extra cabin will be $19.98.
The cabins have roofs extending over
“carports”; I don’t recall seeing the like at
motels or “courts” in the Northeast.

O built-ups

A similar motel, but with just one
cabin, is due in October at $89.98; an extra
cabin will list for $24.98. Dave’s Super
Service, representing a typical 1950’s gas
station, should arrive in August at $49.98.

More Superior

Early in June athearn.com had draw-
ings of the HO Ready-To-Roll 50 ft. box-
cars with Superior plug doors expected
soon, The Chicago & NorthWestern car
has a very interesting paint job: it replicates
a black, obviously ex-Norfolk & Western
car on which the C&NW simply added a
billboard “C” to the big “NW” initials!

More N TrainMasters

Atlas is producing its N scale Fair-
banks-Morse giant in several new liveries,
including two for the only TrainMaster the
Canadian National ever had. Other new
paint schemes include the Erie-Lackawan-
na’s original black and yellow one, .the
Reading’s yellow and green from the
1960’s or later and the Southern Pacific’s
‘gray with scarlet “bloody nose”. The
Reading livery will be offered on both a
Phase 1B and a Phase 2 body. Models
with DCC decoders will list for $134.95,

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

those without for $99.95. They’re expect-
ed in November.

More N FGE-style boxcars

On June 13 Atlas announced four new
paint schemes for its 50 ft. insulated boxcar
with the double vertical rows of rivets
characteristic of cars built by Fruit Growers
Express, plus new road numbers for many
other liveries. The new paint schemes are
Clinchfield (yellow with black lettering),
New York & Greenwood Lake (cream with
black), Norfolk Southern (the contemporary
behemoth: boxcar red with white) and Nor-
folk & Western (dark blue with white
“hamburger” herald and lettering).

The new numbers are for Burlington
Northern (green), Chicago & NorthWestern
(yellow), Chesapeake & Ohio (yellow with
FGE stripes), Chessie System (WM, yellow
with dark blue), Conrail (boxcar red), CSX
(blue with yellow lettering), Denver & Rio
Grande Western (orange), Erie Lackawanna
(medium blue), Fruit Growers Express
(beige), Norfolk & Western (black), Penn-
sylvania (yellow with FGE stripes), Penn
Central (green), Providence & Worcester
(“red”), Rock Island (blue with white &
black Rock graphics), Seaboard Coast Line
(FGE “Solid Gold”) and Union Pacific
(yellow). The EL cars were assigned, at
least for a while, to serve a breakfast foods
producer in central New York.

Undecorated cars will list for $8.50,
decorated ones for $9.95. They’re estimat-
ed to arrive in November.

Walthers has made kits for this style of
car in HO scale, but the blue of their EL
model didn’t match the color of the real
cars as well as a Details West model that
had only single rows of rivets. I figured
that from any reasonable viewing distance
the color difference would be far more
obvious than the missing rivets.

More Atlas N scale reefers

On June 16 Atlas announced three
limited run wood refrigerator cars: two
with billboard lettering for Phenix Cheese
and one (white with red and blue graphics)
for Atlas Beer. Each will list for $16.95;
they’re due this fall. Atlas O had already
announced cars in these paint schemes.

Atlas O rebuilt hoppers

On or about June 20 Atlas O announced
a new freight car type: 50-ton War Emer-
gency hopper cars rebuilt with steel sides
and slope sheets. (Nearly all the railroads
that helped the government conserve steel
during World War II by building or buying
hoppers with wooden parts replaced the
wood with sheet steel quite promptly.) The
cars will be offered undecorated and paint-
ed red for the Santa Fe and black for the
B&O, C&O, Southern and Wabash, with
four road numbers per road name. Three-

35
rail cars will list for $49.95, two-rail for
$52.95. Delivery is estimated for Novem-
ber.

More HO fire engines

Also expected in pre-assembled form
from Athearn in August were fire trucks
lettered for the Boston, Chicago, Detroit,
San Francisco and Washington, DC fire
departments. A “Volunteer Fire Compa-
ny” pumper from the first run finally
reached me in mid-July. The detailing is
superb. A thorough review in the June
Model Railroad News stated that. the
Athearn model best represents a vehicle
built in 1986 or later but that it can be
backdated to the 1960’s quite easily.

More HO 53 ft. containers

Athearn expected Ready-To-Roll 53 ft.
Jindo containers in August. They were due
singly and in five-packs painted for Alaska
Marine, Crowley, CSX, NACS and Pacer
Stacktrain.

More Walthers HO freight cars

Probably just by coincidence, Walthers
expects new 53 ft. single-unit well cars in
five TTX road numbers (two singles and a
three-pack) in August.

A new car type due in September is
Evans 100-ton 55 ft. cushion coil cars.
These sheet steel carriers will have either
angular or rounded hoods, according to
their road. names; I wish the listing indi-
cated which would have which kind.
Those will be BNSF, Conrail, CSX, EJ&E,
GTW, Indiana Harbor Belt, UP, Santa Fe
and undecorated. They’ll list for 19.98
singly and $39.98 for limited run two-
packs.

October should see two-bay Airslide
covered hoppers decorated for Amaizo,
Clinton Corn Processing, Golden West
Service, IC (gray), Santa Fe and
Soo/GATX, $14.98 each, $29,98 for two-
packs. I loved the Walthers kits for this
type of car and object to paying extra for a
preassembled version.

Also due in October are Union Pacific
CA-1 ‘wood cabooses in two new liveries:
“modern yellow scheme” at $24.98 and
$49.98 for a pair, and “safety white” as a
single car only.

Expected in November are 65 ft. mill
gondolas in new paint jobs with ends ap-
propriate for each. prototype: BN (plain),
CN, C&NW, EJ&E, MKT and Wisconsin
Central, $15.98 for one, $31.98 for a pair.

The three-window wood caboose mod-
eled on a Grand Trunk Western prototype
is due back in December in half a dozen
new liveries: Canadian National, Central
Vermont, Chicago North Shore & Milwau-
kee, Frisco, Katy and Rock Island, at
$19.98 each, $39.98 for a two-pack.

New big HO hopper

All-new from Walthers in November
will be Trinity RD4 coal hoppers, huge
cars built in the 1990’s with five rapid
discharge outlets each, An undecorated car
will list for $16.98. Six-packs will be
decorated for BNSF, C&NW, IESX (Alli-
ant Energy), JHMX (Alabama Power Com-
pany), listing at $79.98. I doubt that any
of these run in the Northeast.

Meanwhile, Athearn is about to offer
Johnstown Bethgons in fifteen road num-
bers each for BN, BNSF and CSX, at.
$99.98 per five-pack. Similar cars have al-
ready been marketed by LBF and Walthers.
That leads to the question of how closely —
if at all - the Bethgons resemble, the Nor-
folk Southern’s “Top Gons”, one of the
most common car types in the unit trains
that serve the Bow, NH, power station.
Given the NS’s close working relationship
with our favorite railroad, I suspect they
often run over the D&H as well.

Prototype kit-bashed locomotives.

Athearn has announced HO CF7_locos,

presumably based on the former Rail Pow-
er Products bodies. The Santa Fe made
these strange-looking road switchers from
old F7 cab units at its Cleburne shops in
Texas. Some ended up working for Am-
trak or short lines. Unfortunately, I think
they were uglier than almost every locomo-
tive they replaced. The powered models
are due in October or November at $79.98,
Athearn will be decorating two each in
Santa Fe pinstripes, Santa Fe war bonnet
(blue and yellow) with rounded cab roof
and war bonnet with angular cab roof, plus
one for Los Angeles Junction.
[I believe more than one CF7, or at least
the first one, possibly the 1100, was not
built on F7-unit’s bones. I remember
seeing it at Cleburne years ago; it looked
like a Baldwin switcher had been used as
the base....JB)

More Athearn mechanical reefers

Expected in September are Ready-To-
Roll HO models of 50 ft. mechanical re-
frigerator cars painted in two numbers each
for Canadian National (silver), New York
Central (yellow and black), Burlington,
BN/BNFE, Pacific Fruit Express and Santa
Fe, listing at $12.98. The first CN and
NYC numbers will be reruns.

More Athearn cabooses

Also listed for September is the firm’s
standard HO caboose (based on a Santa Fe
prototype) in three new paint schemes: red,
with white cupola and with yellow cupola.

And bay window cabéese (modeled on
a Southern Pacific type) ‘decorated for SP
trailer on flatcar servicé, Southern, and
CSX Operation Lifesaver-(a rerun). Final-
ly, wide vision cabooses’ (based on a Rock

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Island class that was shorter in length than
any others of this kind, most readily appar-
ent from the closeness of the side windows
to the ends), painted Chessie red, Chessie
yellow and Frisco blue.

All the cabooses will list for $14.98.

Latest Highball decals

The Finger Lakes Railway is a contem-
porary short line whose locos wear a vari-
ant of New York Central’s black, gray and
white lightning stripe paint scheme. On
July 7 Highball Decals announced an HO
decal that will letter one red 50 ft. double
door boxcat and one yellow single door
car, both: restenciled ex-Milwaukee. F-
215, $6.

Highball’s latest locomotive decal is for
an F-40PH-2 in VIA’s mostly light gray
“Canada” livery: L-174, $6.

Latest Kadee boxcars

As it does every month, Kadee an-
nounced and released three more HO PS-1
boxcars in July. One features a paint
scheme the firm apparently hasn’t done
before: a dark boxcar red 50 ft. double
door Westerh Pacific car built in 1955 with
black and white herald and reporting marks
but no road name, apparently with black
ends and roof, listing at $29.45.

The other two wear liveries Kadee has
done before, but with new road numbers.
A 40 ft, dark boxcar red Akron Canton &
Youngstown built in 1951 has 6 ft. Youngs-
town doors and a circular herald, $27.95.
A 40 ft. oxide red Chicago & North West-
ern car built in 1958 has 8 ft. Youngstown
doors and, a black and white herald,
$28.95.

All three of the cars produced in June
are new road numbers for schemes done
before. The 50 ft. car is a striking Central
of Georgia built in 1956, all black except
for a huge silver “football” and a small
yellow and black herald, list price $31.95.
The two 40 ft. cars are an oxide red Le-
high New England with no road name and
a small “fried egg” herald, $28.95, and a
dark boxcar red Buffalo Creek with black
ends, galvanized roof and the famous flour
bag herald, $29.95.

Not so incidentally, Kadee is rumored
to be working on an entirely different type
of freight car.

PC and P&LE decals

Microscale’s latest offerings include
Penn Central and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
decals in two scales.

“Penn Central boxcars with PC style
reporting marks” is Walthers order #460-
601096 in N scale ($4.50), 460-871096 in
HO ($5.50). “Penn Central boxcar exo-
terica” includes PC heralds with one letter
red and one white, plus some with the red
faded, P&E, PCA and TOC reporting
i
i

marks and Peoria & Eastern road names;
it’s 460-601098 in N ($4.50) and 460-
871098 in HO ($5.50).

“Pittsburgh & Lake Erie hood diesels
1971-1992” has big yellow P&LE initials,
yellow and white numbers, and small yel-
low and black heralds. N scale 460-
601227, $3.50; HO 460-871227, $5.50.
This set could be used in modeling units
that ran over the D&H.

New HO RTR locos

Three Ready-To-Roll GP38-2’s are due
from Athearn in July: Conrail (Spirit of
Conrail: 25 Years of Service), CSX (YN3,
also known as “dark future”) and EMD
Lease. They’ll list for $69.98. Due at the
same time and MSRP are three sets of F7’s
with a powered A and dummy B, equipped
with “glazed” windshields and portholes:
Burlington Northern, GO Transit (metro-
politan Toronto) and Denver & Rio Grande
Western.

“New HO RTR trucks

Also expected by August 1 are sets
consisting of a Freightliner “tractor” and
two 28 ft. trailers: CME, GI Trucking,
Graves Trucking, Lee Way, Motor Cargo
and Transcon, list $19.98.

Finally, at the same time and price,
Ford “C” “tractors” with beverage trailers:
ABC Famous Fine Flavor Extra Pale Dry,
Beverwyck, Black Horse Ale, Dawson
Lager, Holihan’s Pilsner, and Silver State
Lager. Maybe I’m too fond of Genesee
Cream Ale, Michelob and Rolling Rock -
not to mention Clausthaler and Coors Cut-
ter non-alcoholic brews - but I don’t think
I’ve ever heard of even ONE of these
presumably malt-based beverages. Am I
just lacking in sophistication?

Ribs delayed

The HO models of 50 ft. ACF Preci-
sion Design boxcars with ribbed sides that
were shown in the catalog distributed by
Atlas in February and posted on walthers.
com as due in July have been delayed.
Atlas is considering improving the roof,
which drew complaints when it was used
on the smooth-side version of the car.

More Highball decals

Jim Abbott has issued two more former
SGS decals for Canadian rolling stock. F-
211 letters at least two HO Canadian Pacif-
ic maintenance of way vans: a maroon CP
Rail. car and a newer white one with red
lettering; $6. PN-115 is for a single N
scale CP Rail RDC with the red “hockey
mask” design on the ends; $4.

F-207, $6, provides a great deal of HO
lettering for various Central Vermont main-
tenance equipment, ranging from cabooses,
cranes, dump cars, Jordan spreaders, ex-
passenger cars, tank cars to trucks, includ-

ing “yard donkeys”. These all have the
CV “squiggle” adopted in the 1960’s. The
web site, mgdecals.com, has over two
dozen photos of CV work cars and trucks,
nearly all taken in the 1980’s.

Plain Jane tanks in HO and N

On May 30 Atlas announced new runs
of its ACF 23,500 gallon tank cars in both
HO and N scales, The new paint schemes
will all be black “plain Janes”, mostly
repainted in the 1990’s, with white report-
ing marks and data but no heralds or large
company names: ACFX Diamond Sham-
rock, ACFX Union Camp, CERX E.R.
Carpenter Co., CPAX CITGO Petroleum
and PLMX Mobil. New road numbers will
be offered for ACFX GAF Corporation
(gray with red herald), ACFX Amoco
(white with black lettering), ACFX Reilly
Industries (white with blue emblem and
lettering) and ACFX Union Carbide (blue
with white lettering), There will be two
numbers for each paint scheme.

Undecorated HO cars will list for
$18.95, decorated ones for $19.95.
MSRP’s for N scale cars will be $11.95
undecorated and $14.95 decorated. All the
N scale cars will come with Accumate
knuckle couplers. Estimated delivery in
October.

Other new N fishbellies

The other fishbelly twin ribbed hoppers
in new paint schemes due from Atlas in
September (besides the Delaware & Hud-
sons with the tiny road name) are Akron
Canton & Youngstown, Atlantic Coast Line
(black with white dashes near the bottom of
the sides), Norfolk Southern (brown with
white and yellow “pinwheel” herald),
Central R.R. of New Jersey (with initials),
Reading (speed lettering and red “Ameri-
ca’s Largest Anthracite Carrier” panel) and
Western Maryland (speed lettering and
“Serving the World Port of Baltimore”).
The ACL and NS cars will have peaked
ends,

New road numbers will be offered in
“old” paint schemes: ACL (Coast Line
lettering), B&O (big initials), CNJ (Statue
of Liberty), Lehigh Valley, Norfolk &
Western, NS (the old railroad, gray with
black and red initials), Reading (Roman
road name and red panel), WM (speed
lettering) and WM (Fast Freight herald).

Each will list for $13.95, Undecorated
versions of both the peaked-end and the
flat-end car will list for $12.95.

New Atlas O tanks

ACF 11,000 gallon tank cars like those
already made by Atlas in N scale and
forthcoming shortly in HO were posted at
atlaso.com May 27. Paint schemes will be
Gulf Oil (silver, white, orange), Hooker
(orange and black), Pyrofax (black), Ship-

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

pers Car Line (black), Union Tank Car
(black with yellow lettering) and Warren
Petroleum (silver with green “dome” and
black lettering). Undecorated models will
be sold with and without platforms. The
prototypes were built in the late 1940’s and
1950's.

Cars equipped for use ‘on three-rail
track will list for $59.95, two-rail $64.95.
They’re expected in October.

Articulated auto racks in N

On June 2 Atlas announced N scale
models of the articulated auto carriers built
by Thrall in 1997, the same cars already
made by Atlas O. This is the type of car
T’ve seen at Ayer, MA. No news yet of an
HO equivalent.

Road names will be Norfolk Southern,
TTX and Union Pacific, with four road
numbers each. Undecorated models will
list for $29.95, decorated at $39.95. Rob
Pisani of Atlas wrote on the firm’s N scale
forum that the models will go around
curves of 9-3/4 in. radius, though the over-
hang is ugly. ~

N scalers are hoping that Athearn will
soon announce 1/160 scale models of the
more recent — and even bigger - Auto Max
cars it has done in HO.

More Baldwins in N

Atlas announced a new run of VO-1000
switchers May 7. Units with curved step
guards will come in one new road name,
Pennsylvania, plus new road numbers for
Lehigh Valley, Santa Fe, and Southern
Pacific, Locos without step guards will be
made in one new livery, Western Pacific,
and in new road numbers for Burlington,
Great Northern, Milwaukee, New York
Central and Santa Fe. With DCC decoders
they’ll list for $139.95 each, without de-
coders for $104.95. They’re all expected
in September.

Classic SD9’s in N

On May 30 Atlas announced a new run
of improved SD9 road switchers, due in
November. They’ll all have high short
hoods, scale speed motors, low friction
drives, dual brass flywheels, blackened
metal wheels, directional lighting and body
mounted Accumate couplers. In addition to
undecorated units with and without dynamic
brakes, one loco will be painted for Burl-
ington Northern Santa Fe (orange and
green) and two each for Chessie System/
B&O, Great Northern (Big Sky Blue, gray
and white), Norfolk Southern, and Southern
Pacific (gray and scarlet). List price range
$89.95-$94.95.

Wooden hacks
The latest HO kit offerings from Spar-
row’s Point Division of Bethlehem Car
continued on page 38

37
Traction Action
Top 10 largest rail fleets

MTA New York City Transit . . . 6,348
Ainttak 2 wxke wey oy eae 2,188
Chicago Transit Authority ..... 1,218

Mass. Bay Transportation Authority 1,054
1,037

New Jersey Transit ....

MTA Long Island Railroad .
MTA Metro-North Railroad .
Metra Commuter Rail :
Washington Metro. Area Trans, Auth. 892
S.E. Penna. Transportation Auth. . . 869

Railcar fleet mix...In 2003, rail properties
operated 13,779 (67%) heavy railcars,
4,041 (20%) commuter cars, 1,535 (7%)
LRV’s, 1,124 (5%) locomotives and 171
(1%) vehicles in the “other” category.

Chicago Transit selects Maximum manage-
ment tools... The Chicago Transit Authority
(CTA), per a $5:5 million contract, select-
ed ‘Maximus transportation management
tools to manage operations and maintenance
activities for CTA’s fleet and rail assets.

Vollmer designs $80 million N.Y. project
..-Construction is underway in Queens,
N.Y., for the final phase of the rehabilita-
tion of a two-station subway complex,
designed by Vollmer Associates. The $80
million project, which also includes con-
struction of a new New York City Depart-
ment of Transportation/Triboro Bus Inter-
modal Facility, is scheduled for completion
by 2006.

US&S receives $5.5 million signal contract
...-Union Switch & Signal Inc. was awarded
a $5.5 million contract to design, supply,
install and test’ a new relay-based signal
system for New York City Transit’s Coro-
na Yard. The contract, slated for comple-
tion in 2005, includes the provision of
relay-based interlocking equipment and
code system push buttons.

Urbitran Group consults for N.Y. rail
project... The Urbitran Group was awarded
a $2.7 million, two-year contract to provide
consulting services for parking expansion,
development, station access studies, new

by Dick Silber
stations and long-term development for
New York’s MTA Metro-North Railroad.

With an optional renewal, the contract’s
total value is $5 million.

Bombardier receives $71 million French
rail order...Bombardier Transportation
received an additional order for 14 high-
capacity trains from French National Rail-
ways valued at about $49 million. Delivery
of the three-car trains is scheduled for 2006
to 2007.

g-I-Da L-ATLS-DAIT-DLS-DAN.ALIS-DAIL-LAUS-D ES. Dea TLS

H YOU'RE SHIPPING

WHENEVER

SPECIFY

__. SAFE... SWIFT... SURE

Modeling Matters! from page 37

Works are for “Northeastern” type caboos-
es with wooden instead of steel siding, as
used by the Reading and by the Lehigh &
Hudson River (the latter also available with
“plywood” sides). They’re to be used with
Life-Like’s Proto 2000 Northeastern ca-
boose. An ad in the. June Railroad Model
Craftsman gives photos and details.

American Model Builders is producing
a standard Norfolk & Western wood ca-
boose with slightly offset cupola. This is
the first caboose Laser-Kit in which all
parts are laser-cut wood. Most if not all of
the others, including a new Great Northern
wood caboose, have used Athearn plastic
underbodies.

Other new Kadee boxcars

Besides the new D&H boxcar, Kadee’s
offerings in May are a 40 ft. oxide red
Milwaukee Road.car as built in 1955 with
black ends and roof and “Route of the
Hiawathas”, listing at $28.95, and a 50 ft.
dark boxcar red Missouri Pacific with one

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

9 ft. Pullman-Standard door per side,
MSRP $27.95. Both are paint ‘schemes
Kadee did earlier with different car num-
bers.

Let there be lighthouse

Precision Lasercraft (the maker of the
Saratoga Springs coal yard kits) is selling
an HO craftsman diorama kit for the Cape
Neddick Light Station, including a cast
foam base representing the rock on which
the real buildings stand in York, Maine.
I’ve seen the picturesque scene many times.
$159.95 plus $7 shipping, from 32 Beek-
man Drive, Agawam, MA 01001.

CASCO and Moosehead decals

Jim Abbott’s. Highball Decals posted
four new sets of decals at mgdecals.com
May 25.

Three are for Canada Starch (CASCO)
corn syrup. tank cars that closely resemble
the Walthers HO 16,000 gallon model. F-
212 letters two HO cars with CCLX re-
porting marks, $6; FO-212 does one O
scale car in the same livery, $10, F-213
($12) is for-two HO cars with PROX re-
porting marks and PROCOR name as well
as the CASCO herald.

F-214 ($6) letters three Belfast &
Moosehead Lake SIECO “50 ft.” pulpwood
cars identical to the Walthers HO model.
The B&ML leased ten new cars of this type
in 1974, Their color was. like the Great
Northern’s Big Sky Blue. Unfortunately,
the Maine short. line, mostly known for
hauling chicken feed, kept the cars for only
a couple of years. Also unfortunately, the
undecorated version of the model car,
#932-5780, was out of stock at Walthers
May 29, though more were. expected.

Atlas fixes a problem

Atlas Model Railroad Company an-
nounced May 29 that some of the HO
GP38 and GP40 locos in the most recent
run have experienced problems with their
gear cases. GP38’s in this batch came
undecorated and decorated for Bangor &
Aroostook, Southern (high nose), CP Rail,
Chessie and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. The
GP40’s were undecorated and painted for
Chicago & NorthWestern, Denver & Rio
Grande Western, Milwaukee, and Norfolk
Southern (high nose).

To obtain the replacement ‘gear cases
free of charge, modelers should send the
original of an end flap of the box(es) of
their loco(s), or a copy of it, to Atlas, 378
Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ-07205.

And ore

Walthers reported the first of Stewart’s
new HO Pennsylvania G39 ore cars (undec-
orated, data only, PRR) in stock May 29.

‘DULL. OLN 1s. San -BLNS-ATL-DLUS-DAILOLIS-DBIE-BLIS DAIL
|

Amtrak Isn’t Going Anywhere

by George Will

WASHINGTON - David Gunn, 65 and
a glutton for punishment, left retirement to
run Amtrak. His office is in magnificently
restored Union Station, a relic of something
Gunn knows is gone forever - the era of
glamorous railroading. He explains his
challenge by taking a visitor on a walk
back to the 1930’s.

He walks to the end of Union Station’s
passenger platform, looking north up the
Washington-New York City-Boston corri-
dor.

Almost everything that strikes the eye,
Gunn says, from the transformers to the
poles holding overhead electric power
wires, was here in the 1930’s, if not 1910.
The foundations of more than 9,800 poles
in the corridor are, Gunn says, “in trou-
ble”.

Deferred maintenance cannot forever be
deferred for this railroad that two years ago
mortgaged part of Penn Station in Manhat-
tan to meet $300 million in expenses.
Gunn’s predecessor then said he was “abso-
lutely confident” that Amtrak would reach
“operational self-sufficiency by the con-
gressionally-mandated deadline in 2003”.

“Fanciful” is Gunn’s dismissal of the
idea that Amtrak can end its deficit. Fanci-
ful, too, is the idea that the government
will quit subsidizing Amtrak operations in
the Northeast Corridor. Without subsidies,
those operations would end for 1.1 million
passengers a month, who would be put into
the corridor’s already congested highways
and air space.

Furthermore, it is fanciful to think
Congress will subsidize the Northeast
Corridor without legislative logrolling to
guarantee continuing subsidies of. long-
distance trains (routes of at least 500 miles)
beyond the corridor, where five-sixths of
Americans live. Trains like the Sunset
Limited, which is not always crowded on
its runs from Orlando to Los Angeles via
New Orleans. Or the Texas Eagle, which,
according to the Wall Street Journal, lost
$38.4 million in 2001 ($1.70 for every $1
of revenue) on its 33-hour runs - meander-
ings actually; it averages 39 miles an hour
between Chicago and San Antonio.

Amtrak accounts for only three-tenths
of one percent of intercity travel. Do at
least Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor oper-
ations make money? There are two an-
swers: Don’t be daft. And: Yes, if you
disregard sufficient expenses. The same is
true of the 12 daily trains that carry
200,000 passengers a month - up 25
percent over last year - in the San Diego-
Los Angeles-Santa Barbara corridor. But
by performing valuable services in congest-

ed regions, these services may help force
the government to quit pretending that self-
sufficiency is just over the horizon, and to
decide what kind of intercity rail service it
wants to pay for.

Gunn’s goals are minimal: “stability”
of the physical condition of plants and
equipment and of the operating deficit. His
candor is unprecedented: He says that for
the next five years Amtrak will need subsi-
dies declining only from $1.8 billion to
$1.5 billion a year. That includes $4.5
billion of capital spending and, more de-
pressing, $3.5 billion of operating subsi-
dies.

“The marketplace”, he says, “has been
completely distorted by government invest-
ment.” Government provides billions of
dollars for traffic control and runways for
airlines, highways for cars and trucks and
buses. Manhattan, the nation’s priciest real
estate, is covered with streets that drivers
do not pay the full cost of.

Perhaps Amtrak, or at least its North-
east Corridor operations, could be made
into a private train-operating company, with
federal and state governments responsible
for infrastructure, as they are for airports
and highways. Certainly Amtrak’s finan-
cial distress should produce labor conces-
sions, in pay and work rules, similar to
those that bankruptcy proceedings have
wrung from airline unions.

But Gunn, who has experience with
five metropolitan transit systems (in To-
ronto, Boston, New York City, Philadel-
phia and Washington) knows that America
is big and mostly thinly populated, and that
rail passenger service makes sense for short
runs in densely populated areas. Nowhere
in America are there the conditions that
make Japan’s high-speed trains profitable:
dense population, negligible air service and
very high gas prices to discourage driving.
In 2000, Americans took 665 million plane
trips and 22.5 million Amtrak trips.

Geography sets strict parameters of
passenger rail productivity. An airliner,
Gunn notes, can make two Chicago-to-Los
Angeles round trips in a day; a train takes
45 hours to go one way. Thirty-two years
and more than $40 billion in subsidies (in
today’s dollars) after Amtrak was cobbled
together from the remnants of various
passenger rail systems, a nationwide poll
shows 71 percent public support for subsi-
dizing Amtrak at current or increased
levels. © Support for Amtrak is strong
among all regions, ages, education levels
and income groups.

Amtrak - -long-distance trains, legis-
lative logrolling and all - should be counted

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

as a cost of democracy. It is here to stay,
like true love, only more so.

George Will is a nationally syndicated
columnist; reprinted from the Albany Times
Union.

DeRSL-DAvbOLS-DATE-NLIS-DAH-BLIS-DAUL-DLIS-DAI-BLIS-DAUEAI DRI ALIS

In Helper Service
(our additional volunteers)

On the railroad, helpers are those en-
gines used to assist a train over a stiff
grade, such as Richmondville Hill. In the
Bulletin, we apply the term to those highly
valued BLHS members and in the railroad
community who assist us by providing
news items, information, photos, clippings,
articles, technical assistance, etc. A heavy
freight needs a little help at times; so do
we. And, just like the railroad crews, we
appreciate the help.

If you have any questions about items
in this issue, please contact the Publications
Office or contact our columnists directly.
We are always willing to discuss your
interests and concerns, and we try to make
ourselves as available as possible given the
constraints in our lives.

In addition to our regular staff of con-
tributors (see back cover), special thanks
this month to: friends at CP/D&H; Bill
Bergevin; Robert K. LaPorte; Doug Le-
zette; Bill McColl; Bill Nalevanko; Walter
Rich; Jim Shaughnessy; George Stubbs;
and Mike Vaiuso.

AF DAIF LA DAIE HLS-Da-LS-DAU-M-P-BLS-DA-L-DAILS

39
The Receiving Yard
by Doug Barron

River dredging to add traffic to D&H...
Some current and former D&H lines could
be handling the tons of material to be
dredged from the Hudson River. The
Environmental . Protection Agency has
released a list of 24 sites with both rail and
river access that could host a de-watering
site; Two facilities will be needed to re-
move water from polluted soil taken from
the river between Fort Edward and Troy.

The site selection and public input
process will whittle the list down to the two
final locations. Wherever the de-watering
plants end up, they will generate a large
amount of rail traffic. The contaminated
soil will be moved in covered gondolas to
a. disposal site out of the area.

The list ‘of potential sites includes al-
most every community along the river from
Foit Edward to- Coeymans, just south of
Albany... Each ‘site requires rail service.
They: include West River Road in Moreau
(D&H), the site of the long-gone Georgia-
Pacific mill-in Thomson (Batten Kill Rail-
road, former Greenwich & Johnsonville),
Green Island (D&H), Troy (CSX/D&H),
and. Rensselaer (CSX).

Some of these locations would use out-
of-service rail lines, like the west end of
the .Battenkill RR and the D&H’s Green
Island Branch, which has been: out of ser-
vice for several years. The entire list is
posted at epa.gov/hudson.

from Doug Lezette

Work. on Stourbridge Lion...The Wayne
County Historical Society is making signifi-
cant..progress toward making the 1933
D&H-built replica of the Stourbridge Lion
to run under its own power. A Pennsylva-
nia state boiler inspector specializing in
antique boilers visited the WCHS museum
in May for a first hand look at the Lion,
Visual inspection revealed nothing a
would prevent operation.

The consensus was that the Lion ap-
peared to be in good shape with no serious
deterioration from its years in the museum.
A few components would have to be in-
stalled. These inspections are routine, but
those affecting the boiler require a certified
engineer or technician.

Wayne County Historical Society newsletter

Albany County...will try to buy the 9-mile
railroad corridor that runs from Albany to
Voorheesville, NY in the hopes of turning
it into a hiking and biking trail. CP Rail’s
application to abandon 9.14 miles of track
was approved on July 8 by the Surface
Transportation Board,

The abandonment was to be effective
July 16, but this was extended to January
2004 while the county and railroad negoti-
ate over the line’s future use, Turning the
rail line into a recreational area is a three-
step process. Once the property is pur-
chased, it has to be redeveloped. Then, the
county will need to create and fund an
ongoing maintenance plan for the trail.
The county is looking for funding for each
of those steps, The total Gost is.not yet
known. Altamont Enterprise

Albany mayor wants former D&H HQ
building for -retail...Albany Mayor Jerry
Jennings has his eye on the SUNY Plaza
for a potential new retail shopping center to
bolster downtown. The area is in front of
the former Delaware & Hudson Railway
building at the foot of State Street. When
SUNY moved its central administration into
the D&H building, then-Chancellor Ernest
Boyer envisioned a lively plaza with galler-
ies, cafes and shops in the building’s ar-
cade. The SUNY Board of Trustees’ fear
of competing with downtown merchants ap-
pears to have killed Boyer’s plan.

Speaking to a breakfast meeting, Jenn-
ings said downtown needs shopping op-
tions, and the historic SUNY headquarters
~ built in 1916 as headquarters to the Dela-
ware & Hudson Railroad - could deliver it.
The state university system, which has had
its headquarters on Broadway since 1977,
said it has no plans to move.

William Kennedy’s book, “O Albany”,
says about the building: “The State Univer-
sity refurbished and occupied for its central
administrative offices the former Delaware
and Hudson Railroad building, commonly
called the Plaza building, which had been
in a severe decline. It is a majestic struc-
ture that is a copy of the Clothmakers’
Guild Hall in Ypres, Belgium. It was
designed by Albany’s greatest 20th century
architect, Marcus T. Reynolds, and brought
about by Albany Republican boss Billy
Barnes, in conjunction with the D&H,
before and during World War I. It is a gift
of beauty to the city, and when completed
in 1916 gave great impetus to cleaning up
Albany’s abominable waterfront.”

In recent years, the city has been trying
to strengthen ties to the waterfront, while
boosting retail downtown. Jennings has
said a retail mall there. could help both
efforts. Albany Times Union, “O Albany”

Work on Saratoga station...The $5.9 mil-
lion project to renovate and expand the

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

Saratoga, NY railroad station is unlikely to
be done before the end of this year. That
means rail travelers will continue to pass
through a temporary station erected for the
duration of construction, and race fans
taking advantage of special Amtrak weck-
end discounts will need to catch a bus in
Rensselaer for the final leg of their trip to
tnake it to the race track by post time.
While the work on the station isn’t late,
the progress of work has not put it ahead of
schedule either. Track work necessary to
bring the trains closer to the new station
isn’t scheduled to start until September. A
spokesman for CP Rail said the rails would
be reconfigured to permit trains to pull up
next to the station. Now, passengers somé-
times have to walk across two sets of tracks
to reach their trains or the station. The
track work will take a couple of weeks
once it is started. Albany Times Union

CPR track work to affect two Amtrak New
York trains,..Due to planned track work on
Canadian Pacific’s Delaware & Hudson,
Amtrak will make schedule adjustments to
its Adirondack and Ethan Allen Express on
eight days in late August and September.

The Adirondack, trains 68 and 69, will
not operate between Schenectady, N.Y.
and Montreal on August: 21. and 27 and
September 10 and 17. Service between
New York City and Albany/Rensselaer will
continue without disruption,

As an alternate route, travelers destined
for. Montreal from New York City: and
points south may take the Vermonter, train
56, and connecting motor. coach 8056. out
of St. Albans, VT. Travelers en route to
New York City from Montreal may use
motor coach 8055 'to St. Albans and the
southbound Vermonter, train 55. Alternate
transportation is not available for .passen-
gers north of Albany/Rensselaer to interme-
diate points on the affected dates.

The schedule of the Ethan Allen Ex-
press, a. New York City-Rutland, VT,
train, will be similarly adjusted. The
northbound train, 291, will operate only
from New York City to Albany/Rensselaer
on August 26-27 and September 9-10, and
train 294 southbound on August 27-28 and
September 10-11 only from Albany/Rensse-
laer to New York City. In this case, alter-
nate bus transportation will be provided
between Albany/Rensselaer and Rutland,
although mobility-impaired space will not
be available. Amtrak

State Comptroller audits criticizes Turbo-
train project...The joint New York State-
Amtrak project to put high-speed trains on
the Albany to New York City route is $21
million over budget, beset with manage-
ment problems, and behind schedule, said
three audit reports issued by state Comp-
troller Alan Hevesi and released in’ June.
Amtrak is now running one of the Turbo-
liners from the Rensselaer rail station to
Pennsylvania Station in New York City
daily. -Rohr Industries built them in 1976.

“The Empire Corridor is a vital part of
our state’s transportation system, and the
link between New York City and Albany is
one of the most heavily traveled Amtrak
routes in the nation”, Hevesi said in a
written statement. “I am concerned that
today, five years and $51.5 million after
the Turboliner modernization project was
commenced, just two of the seven trains
included in the project are in sevice.”

Hevesi’s auditors found that significant
weaknesses in the DOT management of the
project and a lack of experience by the
DOT and SuperSteel, which was doing the
work, ‘contributed to the delay in overhaul-
ing the five-car train sets.

Dave Stanbury, plant manager at Sup-
erSteel, said that Hevesi’s reports are
dated. While there where ‘delays in reman-
ufactiring the Turboliners, SuperSteel is
now finishing the train sets with no prob-
lems. Albany Business Review

Museums...In honor of the 180th anniver-
sary of the D&H and the 150th anniversary
of the New York Central, the Albany
Institute of History & Art has put together
an exhibit, “All Board!’ Models, Memora-
bilia and Memories of Railroads” from the
institute’s collection.

‘The exhibit, which opened on June 26,
features a wide array of models, objects,
advertising art and documents related to the
two major railroads of upstate New York.
It tells some of the stories of how railroads
revolutionized the life and economy of the
Capital Region; and with it, the nation.

The Institute is at 125 Washington
Avenue; Albany, NY. The hours are Wed-
Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.
Admission is $7 adult, $5 senior/student,
$3 age 6-12. There is free parking in the
lot behind the Institute. The exhibit will
run until November 2, 2003.

If you’re in the Capital District area,
you really should check out ‘this great
exhibit. Delmar Spotlight

Additional locomotives for CP Rail... CP
will soon take delivéry of 35 new CW44-
AC locomotives from General Electric in
Erie, Pa. They will be numbered 9750-84
inclusive. The current delivery-timing plan
is to deliver 24 units the first week of
September 2003, with the remainder by the
end of September. Railpace

Accidents claim three lives...On June 17 at
Palatine Bridge, NY an 8-year-old boy was
killed and his 10-year-old brother was
seriously injured when a CSX freight train
hit the back of the pickup truck in which
the boys were riding. The train was head-

ed east from Chicago with 94 cars, doing
about 35-40 mph. The truck was struck at
a private grade crossing where there are no
gates or lights. Preliminary investigation
suggests the driver of the truck froze while
attempting to cross the tracks.

On July 5, a CP Rail freight train killed
a Plattsburgh man who was lying on the
tracks. His death appears to be an acci-
dent, said Plattsburgh police. They were
unsure why or how long the man had been
‘on the tracks.

On July 7, a CSX train killed a teenage
boy from Saugerties as he walked along the
tracks. The train was heading south from
Selkirk Yard to Newark, NJ.

A spokesman for CSX said hundreds of
such accidents occur around the country
every year. He cautioned people to stay
clear of tracks and never to assume a train
will see them in time to avoid a collision.
The crewmembers will be given counseling
and the option of changing routes.

Schenectady Gazette, Albany Times Union

Back in time... The Schenectady Gazette of
June 9, 1949 reported: The American
Locomotive Co. recalled 368 workers who
had been laid off the week before. Sche-
nectady’s locomotive manufacturer had laid
off a total of about 2,500 employees, part
of a “slowdown-layoff” squabble.

The company accused the workers of
the production slowdown; members of
Local 2054, United Steelworkers, had been
working without a contract since May 31,
1949. The union was asking for a $150
monthly pension, and also a wage increase,
aunion shop, a guaranteed work week, and
improved hospitalization and health insur-
ance benefits.

But the situation was improving: Alco
had recalled 1,000 employees on June 8.

Schenectady Gazette

SX lays off workers...Of the 143 man-
agement jobs CSX cut across the country
during July, three were from the Selkirk
facility. The company offered severance
packages and job search services. This
latest round of layoffs is part of 900 job
cutbacks at CSX. Albany Times Union

CSX to test New York City intermodal
market...CSX plans to test the New York
City intermodal market by operating a one-
day per week piggyback train to the Har-
lem River Yard in the South Bronx. Hast-
bound train Q162 will originate at CSX’s
Bedford Park facility in Chicago, IL. This
“hot” eastbound is petishable traffic inter-
changed from the BNSF.

Westbound train Q163 will depart Oak
Point, NY and terminate at Selkirk, NY,
where it will connect to train’L117.

Conrail Technical Society

BLHS Bulletin — September 2003

24 indicted in ring that looted trains...New
Jersey officials announced the indictment of
24 people who they say were part of a theft
ring that plundered millions of dollars in
goods from freight trains over the past
decade. According to the 38-count indict-
ment, members of the group, which called
itself the “Conrail Boyz”, would leap onto
the slow-moving trains coming into and out
of Croxton terminal in Jersey City, and use
bolt cutters to break into cargo containers
full of electronics, clothing, cigarettes and
other items. They would throw boxes of
goods off the trains to accomplices, who
would load them into trucks and ferry them
away, according to investigators.

The indictments grew out of a two-year
investigation during which NJ law enforce-
ment authorities and the Norfolk Southern
Railroad police followed the group’s activi-
ties from theft to resale of the items. In
the process, investigators developed a
picture of a “sophisticated cartel” involved
in money laundering.

A spokesman for Norfolk Southern said
the rail freight operations had been plagued
by thefts from rail cars, which must move
as slow as 20 miles per hour in the region’s
freight yards, New York Times

Coffee break... A CSX engineer blocked six
crossings in Kingston, NY recently while
he went to a Dunkin Donuts shop. Appar-
ently there’s no law against parking a train
and blocking traffic to get coffee, so CSX
Corp. won’t be fined for tying up traffic in
June when one of its freights made the un-
scheduled stop.

However, the Kingston mayor is ready
to blow his stack. “I find it incomprehen-
sible that to block six different intersections
so an employee can go have coffee, putting
residents of the community and emergency
workers at risk, that there isn’t a federal
Jaw against it”, said Mayor James Sottile,
continuing, “I find it absurd.”

The coffee break was exposed by city
Fire Chief Richard Salzmann, who after
getting stuck at one of the crossings went to
the same Dunkin Donuts shop.’ There he
saw a CSX employee carrying a tray of
coffee cups back to the locomotive. Once
the employee got on board, the train started
up again.

CSX officials later apologized and said
the employee would be disciplined.

Schenectady Gazette

Derailments...On June 20 a CSX freight
train derailed in the’ Village of Blasdell,
NY, and sent 39 cars off the tracks. No
injuries were reported, and luckily, the cars
contained no toxic chemicals. About 200
gallons of diesel fuel were spilled from
train Q351-20. The derailment was in the
vicinity of CP5, where the Buffalo Line
ties into Seneca Yard.

Al
Westbound Amtrak train 49 was de-
toured via NS from Buffalo, NY to Erie,
PA and the reverse was done for eastbound
Amtrak 48. Some CSX trains used a con-
nector at Bayview, 3 miles west of the
derailment, where they backed the train up
the connector and proceeded to the Norfolk
Southern yard at Tifft Street in Buffalo.

On the same day in Commerce, CA, 28
freight cars from a Union Pacific. train
derailed in an area east of Los Angeles.
The cars destroyed two homes and spilled
lumber all over a neighborhood; thirteen
people were treated for minor injuries.

The National Transportation Safety
Board is investigating the accidents.

Conrail Technical Society, Albany ‘Times Union

New G.E. locomotive orders...GE Trans-
portation Systems will fill about 500 orders
for new locomotives in 2003. That’s good
news for a company that has seen its loco-
motive production slide through an industry
downturn that began in late 1999. Since
peaking at 911 orders in 1999, locomotive
orders fell to about 750 in 2000, 500 in
2001, and 470 in 2002. GE had a recent
order by an unnamed company for 100 new
locomotives. The latest round of orders
could signal that the railroad industry is
primed for a rebound.

In early June, the first of 51 new
CW44AC’s for BNSF began heading west
via CSX. The order is for BNSF units
5603-53. CSX train Q351 has been ferry-
ing new BNSF locomotives from the Gen-
eral Electric plant in Erie, PA to Willard,
Ohio. The locomotives then work west to
the BNSF at Chicago, IL on CSX train
Q381. Conrail Technical Society

GE Transportation...Five of GE Trans-
portation Systems’ new Evolution Series
EPA Tier 2-compliant locomotives have
been testing on Union Pacific in side-by-
side comparisons with standard locomo-
tives, The AC4500CTE units, which are
equipped with GE’s new 12-cylinder
GEVO-12 prime-mover, as of late June had
logged 65,000 miles “without a single road
failure”, GETS CEO Charlene Begley told
Railway Age. Thirty AC4500CTEs are
scheduled to be tested by Burlington North-
ern and Santa Fe beginning in the fourth
quarter, Like EMD’s new SD70ACe,
production units will be ready for delivery
beginning January 2005, when EPA Tier 2
regulations take effect. Railway Age

New life for an obscure locomotive...In
1993-94, Morrison-Knudsen showcased six
new MKS5000C 5,000-hp locomotives to
compete with EMD and GE. After nearly
ten years, the units were sold to the Utah
Railway Co. shortly before it became a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Genesee &
Wyoming. They were primarily operated

in helper service on Union Pacific’s Soldier
Summit Mountain outside of Helper, UT.

The locomotives are undergoing a
transformation, with their prime movers
and other major systems converted into
what is now a more standard version of a
typical U.S. 6-axle locomotive. “The
transformation” , says UniRail LLC Manag-
ing Director David L. Powell, “involved
removing the original, as-built Caterpillar
Model 3612 V12 engines and Kato alterna-
tors, and replacing them with remanufac-
tured EMD 3600-hp, 16-645F3B diesel
engines and AR11 alternators, as well as
stock EMD version air compressors, equip-
ment rack, radiators, etc., all removed and
rebuilt from former EMD SDSO units.”

The newly modified locomotives re-
ceive a new imodel designation. Utah
Railway reclassified them as MKS0-3’s
(M-K builder, EMD 50-series propulsion
components, Dash-3 microprocessor tech-
nology). Aside from fitting in the new
engine, the cab and carbody configuration
as well as the traction motors and trucks
are remaining the same as the previous
MKS5000C model without change. The
dynamic braking grids were not altered
from the original design.

The MKS0-3’s modified carbody con-
figuration looks very similar to the way it
did before alteration, except it now has an
SD50 rear hood in place of the old hood.
The old and new sections of the hood

tinue to the rear end of the platform. The
transition between the old and new carbody
hoods was accomplished by welding in a
custom-made steel transition piece approxi-
mately twelve inches wide.to accommodate
the slightly different carbody widths,

In early June, the first MK50-3, 5005,
was nearing completion at MPI Boise,
having just been repainted into G&W col-
ors. All six are scheduled to be completed
and on the Utah Railway again by 4th
quarter 2003.. Railway Age

STB...More than 60 short line and regional
railroads are asking the Surface Transporta-
tion Board to consider a simplified proce-
dure to facilitate sale and preservation of
low-density branch lines that otherwise
would be abandoned. The proposal, ac-
cording to the law firm filing with the STB
on behalf of the railroads, “would substan-
tially reduce the workload for smaller
carriers and the STB, while reducing the
filing fee for abandonments” and “would
give shippers and communities on a line a
timely opportunity to act to preserve it.
Under current regulations, such lines typi-
cally languish for years.” Railway Age

CSX, NS seek ownership of Conrail sub-

sidiaries...CSX, Norfolk Southern, and
Conrail Shared Assets jointly petitioned the

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003 «

Surface Transportation Board last month to
acquire direct ownership by CSX and NS
of two Conrail. subsidiaries they currently
manage and operate.

Under operating agreements approved
by the STB in 1998, CSX and NS have
continued to manage and operate New York
Central Lines LLC (NYC) and’ Pennsylva-
nia Lines LLG (PRR) respectively, both
Conrail subsidiaries. The petition, if ap-
proved by the STB, would effectively
Teplace the existing agreement and allocate
direct ownership to CSX and NS of their
respective lines; The transaction is subject
to STB approval and an Internal Revenue
Service ruling:that would qualify it as a
non-taxable disposition.

The NYC fines operated by CSX in-
clude those running from New York/New
Jersey through Albany and Buffalo to East
St. Louis, and from Albany to Boston.

The PRR lines operated by NS include
those running from New York/New Jersey
and Philadelphia through Pittsburgh, and
Cleveland to Chicago. Railway Age

MARC obtaining METRA gallery coach-
es,,.MARC is obtaining 16 Pullman Stan-
dard gallery bi-level commuter coaches,
built in 1970 for CRI&P and C&NW line
service. They will be sent to MARC di-
rectly from METRA revenue service.
MARC plans to use the cars, trans-
ferred via a federal transit program, on its
Brunswick Line as “backfill cars”, while its
1991 and 1993 Sumitomo cars get a 10-
year overhaul. MARC will be making
minor adjustments to the cars for HEP,
window system, and safety signage. No
repainting is planned. These cars are not
the 19 former C&NW bi-levels obtained
from VRE, which entered service after
lengthy refurbishing delays. Railpace

Union Pacific to 1,500 rat-
ed boxcars...Union Pacific will increase its
order of -64-foot refrigerated boxcars to
1,500 from the 500 units previously or-
dered. The cars built by Trinity Industries
will be used ‘as part of Union Pacific’s
“Express Lane” perishables service.

This service, which is operated jointly
with CSX, provides guaranteed service
from the Pacific Northwest and California
to a number of cities in the Midwest and on
the East Coast. Originally begun in April
2000, this service has grown steadily, with
a number of new destinations added during
the last two years.

Trinity Rail and UP developed the new
units jointly. They hold up to 40% more
product than a conventional refrigerated
railcar. These units will provide safe and
reliable shipment of temperature-sensitive
and valuable food products for'a variety of
customers. Union Pacific

continued on page 43

a
Media in Review
this month by Steve Wagner

Magazines

Railroad Model Craftsman’s July issue
has a deservedly appreciative review of
Doug Lezette’s “Delaware & Hudson Pas-
senger Trains: The Final Decade”. Chris
D’ Amato begins his review with a wonder-
ful reminiscence of his introduction, as an
teenaged railfan from New Jersey, to the
D&H back in the days when the railroad
welcomed its friends to its Colonie Shops.

July Railpace has three photos by Jim
Shaughnessy. One is a portrait of Green
Mountain 405, an Alco RS1 still working
fifty years after it was built, thanks in part
to the efforts of columnist Scott Whitney.
The others show a Turboliner restored to
service after work by Super Steel, a west-
bound Lake Shore Limited departing Alba-
ny-Rensselaer on a revised schedule.

The photo of a BattenKill RS3 with
cattle in the June Railpace was by Jim
Shaughnessy, not Gary Schermerhorn as I
reported. Gary’s shot on the same page
showed a CSX grain train running in the
street in his hometown, Hudson, NY.

August’s Railfan and Railroad includes
an article on “Riding the Acadian Rail-
way”, by Richard W. Luckin, based on a
trip in 2002 that began in special cars
added to the Adirondack between New
York City and Montreal. Tacked on at the
end is the news of the tour operator’s June
announcement that it wouldn’t be running
trains this year.

The October R&R will commemorate a
cover story on New York State as an Alco
Empire some twenty years ago with a
feature on Schenectady-built locos still in
use in New York and neighboring states.

“Grand Trunk Western In Color, Vol-
ume I: Steam & Green, 1941-1961”, by
Jerry A. Pinkepank, is due from Morning
Sun Books. I think the GTW’s Northerns
were probably the most handsome stream-
lined steam locomotives ever built, and I’m
very partial to the olive and black passen-
ger livery used by the GTW and its parent,
the Canadian National, in the 1950’s.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to ride the
International between Toronto and Chicago
until steam was long gone and the cars had
been repainted off-white and black with
red-orange squiggles. But the rides were
certainly enjoyable: the sleepers were
comfortable, the coaches uncrowded, the
diner a treat and the “torpedo tube” geeps
that pulled the train interesting. List price
of the book is $59.95, but ordering directly
from the publisher before September 1 gets
a price of $46 plus $3.50 postage ($7
outside the US); New Jersey residents must
add $2.76 tax. See morningsunbooks.com
for more details.

The other book forthcoming from MSB
that tempts me mightily is “Pennsylvania
Trolleys, Volume IV: The Forties”, And
the more I look at “Rutland In Color” the
more I like it.

‘DAI DIS BAHBL-D8H LIS-DAIL-MLAS-DaHL-BLIS-DaIL- SRS PAIE MA DAIL ALIS

Receiving Yard from page 42
CN ends talk to acquire ON Rail...CN
announced it has terminated negotiations to
acquire ON Rail because of the Ontario
government’s demands for public sector-
like job guarantees for employees of the
provincially owned railway. CN had en-
tered exclusive negotiations to acquire ON
Rail in October 2002. The vast majority of
shippers in the region had backed CN’s
acquisition plan. Canadian National

Security funding sought for Pennsylvania
Station, .. Upgrading of anti-terrorist securi-
ty in the century-old tunnels of Pennsylva-
nia Station needs much more money to
complete, said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-
NY) after a tour of the facilities. Schumer
said $77 million of an original $100 million
allocated for the project has been spent,
and another $350 million will be required.

Schumer said the money has been used
for sensors to detect chemical, biological
and radioactive threats and explosives,
intrusion alarms and an extensive television
monitoring system covering all entrances at
the sprawling station, which is owned by
Amtrak and also serves New Jersey Transit
and the Long Island RR.

The further improvements would in-
clude three major air ventilation systems, a
fire standpipe network, and escape routes
in the tunnels, some of which are two to
three miles long.

Sen. Schumer said the Bush administra-
tion has been “very good to New York” in
providing funds for security, recognizing
that Penn Station is an important rail hub,
operating 850 trains serving half a million
passengers a day. Schenectady Gavette

Clogged Chicago rail system...Railroad
executives and public officials agreed to a
$1.5 billion plan to remake Chicago’s
extensive rail system by modernizing track

BLHS Bulletin - September 2003

connections, expanding railroad routes and
separating tracks and roads. The plan is
designed to overcome bottlenecks that for
years have slowed freight and passengers
through the nation’s largest rail hub. More
than 1,200 trains a day, including commu-
ter trains, Amtrak trains, and freight trains,
use the system.

Six major freight railroads (UP, BNSF,
CSX, NS, CN, and CP) will contribute
more than $210 million for the improve-
ments. The rest of the money will come
from city, state and federal sources.

Reaching an agreement has been a
priority for Chicago Mayor Richard M.
Daley, who has long wanted to clean up
what he terms unsightly, overgrown rail-
road rights of way, graffiti on railroad
bridges, and stop trains idling in neighbor-
hoods. The rail system in Chicago also has
become prone to breakdowns in the wake
of snowstorms and other disruptions.
Railroads have tried to improve their oper-
ations and communications, but they lack
the capital for a massive reconfiguration of
the Chicago rail hub. The railroads are
trying to operate 21st Century trains on
1880's infrastructure.

It’s often said that it takes two days to
move a railcar from Los Angeles to Chica-
go, and it takes another two days to get
through Chicago. Each day, about 37,500
rail freight cars move through the area.
Railroads have found it faster to unload
some shipments in Chicago and transfer
them by truck through city streets to other
railroads, rather than keep them over the
rails through Chicago. Some 3,500 daily
truck trips are made between rail yards so
cargo may continue onward by train.
Nearly 2,000 at-grade railroad crossings
add to the headaches; predictions are that
train traffic will jump 80% in 20 years.

Wall Street Journal via 470 Club’s The 470

B&O RR Museum asks for federal funds...
The B&O Railroad Museum is asking the
federal government for one million dollars
to help it recover from a roof collapse
earlier this year. About half of the round-
house roof of the museum caved in during
the severe snowstorm that hit Maryland
back in February. It damaged vintage
railroad cars and engines.

Museum officials say insurance will
cover the cost of fixing the roof, but it
won’t pay to repair all of the exhibits. The
federal money would come from the Na-
tional Park Service’s Save America’s Trea-
sures program. ‘It has set aside $30 million
this year for restoring sites and collections
that are considered national icons. The
most an organization can ask for is $1
million. The museum is closed now, and
officials say it probably won’t re-open
before early 2004. Railpace

BAAD IL AS-DAN-HAS- DIC BEIS-DAN-ALUS-DAIEMLS DALES

43
Interested in railroads — and especially
in the Delaware & Hudson?

Join the Bridge Line Historical Society for D&H and other
rail news, special events, modeling, good. times and camara-
derie.

The Delaware & Hudson is the U.S.’s oldest continuously-
operated transportation company, and the BLHS was the first
railroad historical group to maintain a home page on the
Internet (bridge-line.org). If you wish to contact President
Chris Shepherd, e-mail to CH952@bfn. org; for the Publications
Office, use publisher@bridge-line.org.

Articles for the next issue of the Bulletin must be at the
Publications -Office (2476 Whitehall Ct., Niskayuna, NY
12309) by noon the day before the first Saturday of the month
(October 2003 issue deadline is September 5). Please submit
articles on diskette or by e-mail if possible. We strongly en-
courage you to support your organization by submitting mater-
ials for future issues; only with your help can we move forward
and continue to prosper.

Unless otherwise requested, please send exchange pub-
lications to Doug Barron, BLHS Exchange Editor, 29 Hunger-
ford Rd., Albany NY 12203-4205.

The BLHS has a provisional charter from the Regents of the
University of the State of New York and has 501(c)3 federal
status as a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization. Its newslet-
ter, the Bulletin, is sent to its members monthly. Opinions and
comments herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the
members, officers, or directors of the BLHS. Articles and
material may be freely copied providing the Bulletin is cited as
the source, .

Officers and Directors

President Chris Shepherd (unlisted) °
Vice President Jim Bachorz 518-374-9548
Treasurer Pete Rankin 518-399-6568
Secretary Barb Bachorz 518-374-9548

Directors: Gene Corsale, Frank Doherty (Chairman), Bob
Hayes, Len Kilian, Bill Kozel, Tom McEntee, Jim Odell, Dean
Splittgerber, Jack Wright

Our Staff

Barbara Bachorz, Editor Jim Bachorz, Publisher

John Milczarek, Assoc. Editor Gerry Jones, Photo Editor

Columnists | Barbara Bachorz, Jim Bachorz, Doug-Barron, Jim
Corbett, Gene Corsale, Joe Durham, Ken Free-
man, Bill Kozel, Bob Lowe, Robert A. Moore,
Frank Peragine, Eric Schadow, Gary Schermer-
horn, Chris. Shepherd, Dick Silber, Rev. Walter
Smith, Steve Wagner, David Wallace, Scott Whit-
ney

Circulation Barbara Bachorz, Jim Bachorz, Doug Barron, Pete

Rankin, Dave Roberts

Jim Bachorz, Doug Barron, John Bartley, Frank

Doherty, Bob Hayes, John Milczarek, Dave Rob-

erts, Tony Rudmann, Bill Sullivan

Neil Hunter, John Shaw

Eric Schadow, 1990 Upper Gregg Road, Sche-

nectady, NY 12306

BLHS Attic, c/o Joe Durham, 1 Krall Road,

Hampton, NY 12837-9701

This issue was mailed bulk rate (Third Class) at the Albany,

NY, General Mail Facility on Tuesday, August 19, 2003. If you

did not receive this copy in 4 reasonable time, please file a written

complaint with the U.S. Postal Service.

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MEMBERSHIP CLASSES (per calendar year; halved from 5/15 to 11/15; after 11/15, dues cover following year as well):

Regular [L ] $22.00 per cal. year**
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NOTES: 1)* Employee membership is for all present and retired D&H, Soo and CP Rail employees and their spouses. 2)** All amounts
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BLHS Bulletin ~ September 2003

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Collection

Bridge Line Historical Society Collection, 1870-2025

Collection ID	mss129
Total components	928
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Last indexed	2026-02-21

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Bridge Line Historical Society Bulletin Vol. 13, Numbers 7-9, 2003 July-September

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