Throwback Thursday 24 CP RS18 8773 at Hamilton ON in October 1978

CP RS18 #8773, still with it's 5" stripes on the cab face, pauses at Hamilton, ON in October 1978 with a rather unusual consist. Uncredited Kodachrome, author's collection.

Tonight’s Throwback Thursday takes us back to October 1978, at Hamilton, ON. We’re at the classic art-deco TH&B station, located near the downtown core on Hunter Street. Today it is a hub of GO Transit activity, but back on this day in 1978 it played host to a rather unusual train consisting of CP RS18 #8773, a CP steel caboose #434257, an Amtrak sleeper/combination car, and a TH&B heavyweight passenger car. What was this strange train doing at the station? Good question. There was no information on the slide mount, however the sequence of shots from this day shows the train at Toronto Union Station, here at Hamilton, and finally at the TH&B yard in Welland. At Welland, the engine and van were wyed and coupled to the back of an Amtrak train. While the reason for this odd operation may be lost to history, it may have been a director’s special of some sort. The Toronto-Hamilton-Welland routing is interesting, as it the mix of equipment – perhaps a joint effort by the TH&B’s parent companies, CP and Penn Central? Hopefully at least one other railfan was out that day and made notes on this train – this was of course, long before the days of email or facebook, where sharing of railfan information involved actually talking to someone else, in person or over the phone.

Interestingly, except perhaps for the station building, not much from this scene remains today. CP 8773, constructed in 1958 at MLW, was later rebuilt to RS-18u #1827 in 1985 at the company’s Angus shops in Montreal. The unit operated until 1992 when it was destroyed in a wreck at Mile 35.3 of CP’s Sherbrooke subdivision. Retirement followed in 1993, and finally scrapping at Winnipeg, MB in June 1994. Likewise, it’s probable that the CP van, Amtrak sleeper, and the TH&B heavyweight coach have all likely met the same fate. But at least we have this recollection of another one of those oddities that always seem to happen on cloudy days.

‘Til next time,

Cheers,

Peter.

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TBT October 22nd 2015

2004 in Front Royal, VA

Wow do we miss old Blue?  I do and these funky looking GE's.  A C39-8 at Front Royal VA,  Love the "Darth Vader" looking cab.

Crossing the diamond at Front Royal, VA (2004)

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Its October already

Don't know where the month of September went but it's gone until next year.  I did have the Mid-Atlantic RPM meet in the middle of the month and that was a great time.  Modeling has generally taken a back seat to the busyness of life lately.  Coaching another sport starting in the middle of November does not leave a lot of time to do much in the future either.  I'm also beginning to write my first article for a magazine on my layout.  More on this at a later time.  I have had sometime to do a few things but I've been lazy, I'm preferring the recliner to the the work desk in the evenings!  Hopefully I can shake that this month.

Here is a ice machine I picked up from Nick and Nora Designs at the RPM meet.  

And here's one on the layout.  A must fro a crew shelter.

Here a prototype hopper from the VC based on a picture.  The car is based on one from the 30's., (Pic below)

VC prototype hopper

Here's a VC boxcar based on a prototype pic.  The car is close but not totally correct.  I have had the decals custom done.  Let me know if you want to purchase some.

Finally added some logs to my pulpwood car.  The logs are azalea bush twigs.  They are nice to work with because they are mainly straight.  Sorry for the blurry picture.

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Throwback Friday 13 L N SD40 2 3562 and SCL C420 1223 at Corbin KY in October 1976

L&N SD40-2 #3562 and SCL C420 #1223 share a quiet moment at Corbin, KY in October 1976. Uncredited slide from author's collection,

Circumstances conspired against me last night when I started to write this, but nonetheless, here’s a slightly delayed Throwback Thursday. It’s October 1976 and we are deep in Louisville & Nashville Territory at Corbin, Kentucky. Very much a railroad town, Corbin lies a few miles north of the Kentucky-Tennessee border and is home to a large yard facility, closely tied to the areas’ coal mining industry. Home to many local mine runs, and later an important inspection point for unit coal trains, the yards and facilities form the main terminal for the L&N/SBD/CSX’s Cumberland Valley Division.

A railroad that wasn’t afraid of mixing it up when it came to motive power, the L&N purchased products from EMD, GE, and Alco, often on the secondhand market. One of many roads that bought EMD’s popular SD40-2, L&N ordered 30 units from EMD on order #74644, with delivery beginning in October 1974. Evidently considering them a fine example of four-axle motive power, L&N acquired a large fleet (if not the largest) of Alco C420’s, amassing units both new and cast off from other railroads. SCL C420 #1223 is an example of the latter. Built in June 1965, the engine was one of 35 C420’s that the SCL rostered, originally wearing road number 121. Retired in April 1982, the engine would go on to become part of the L&N fleet, becoming L&N 1362, continuing the railroad’s penchant for acquiring Alcos second-hand. An interesting visitor at the time of this photo, the unit would likely pass through Corbin many more times while working for its’ second owner.

L&N SD40-2 #3562 would go onto have a rather interesting history itself. Built in October 1974, the unit was approaching its’ second birthday at the time of this photo. A few years later, in 1982, the engine received minor damage to the nose after a washout wreck at Whiteside, TN. Interestingly, the unit emerged from the event with a solid grey short hood, an example of the L&N’s habit of experimenting with nose paint options (solid yellow, solid grey, sawtooth patterns, etc). In the ensuing mergers of the 1980’s, the unit became SBD 3562, to SBD 8190, and subsequently CSX 8190. A renumbering to CSX 2424 and a reconfiguration to a slug “mother” meant a relocation to Rice Yard in Waycross, GA, where recent photos reveal the unit in the current “dark future” paint scheme.

‘Til next time,

Cheers,

Peter.

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October keeps getting better!

If you follow my last post, this month has not been very model railroad friendly.  It's been quite busy due to normal routines but a sickness all month and a dead laptop seemed to put the icing on the cake but no, we have to add the candles too.  My Badger airbrush that I've had for many years is missing and its a crazy story.  I keep my airbrush and brushes to keep it clean, in our mud room.  The mud room is our utility room leading to the garage from the kitchen. A small room that has a large sink and the water heater in it.  I usually keep the airbrush and other items on the water heater (its about 4.5 ft. tall)  and right by the sink.  There is a trash can between the sink and the water heater.  I believe our new kitten got on the water heater and knocked in the trash.  I found items from the water heater on the floor and sink, The worst thing, I took the trash off on Wednesday so if it was in the trash, it's long gone.  So it looks as if a new air brush is in the works unfortunately.

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October is almost over

-As you can probably see, there has not been any posts since early October.  This month has been quite busy.  For most of the month, I've been battling a cold/sinus/allergy pain in the butt.  I'm still suffering from it as I type this.  I just can't seem to shake it.  On top of that, my laptop died about 2 weeks ago.  I finally bought a new one on Thursday.  So instead of just busy, it's busy plus the above.  I have not done anything train related most of the month.  I hope to can get to that a little this weekend.

Next weekend, I'm officially part of the Great Scale Model Train Show staff.  I will be helping out at the show all weekend.  If you don't know about the GSMTS, it's the train show just north of Baltimore, MD.  It's four times a year and this October show is usually the 2nd largest/attended one.  It's easily the largest in the Mid-Atlantic region and the second largest on the east coast behind the Amherst show in Springfield, MA.  Make sure you check it out if you get a chance:

The Great Scale Model Train Show

It's October 29-30 Sat 9-5 & Sun 10-4

Talk to you soon, and hopefully some model train info!

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TBT October 8th 2015

Been a while since I've done one of these so here we go:  From 2009

Believe I finally have the trackage correct for Fredericksburg Flats.  Took me a while to figure out exact industries.

The Virginia Central has had some locomotive changes since 2009 and this pic is not different.  Used the older boxcar scheme on the MP15 and I think it looks good.  

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