Al Lowe
During June’s PNR Regional Convention in Tacoma, I signed up for the tour of the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad. I hope you enjoy the video.
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Category: Railroad History
Articles and events relating to railroad history
UP 4014 Big Boy on the Move
Rich Blake / Photos courtesy of Jerry Blake
I just received a report from my contact in SoCal (code name: “Dad”) that the Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 has been moved from its previous resting place at the L.A. County Fairgrounds in Pomona to the UP yard in Colton, CA. This is the first step in the final goal to relocate the locomotive to UP’s Cheyenne shops for complete restoration to full operational status.
If you haven’t been following this, now is the time. They will be hauling this behemoth over CajonPass pretty soon, so there could be some exciting moments for railfans. You can keep up-to-date on this incredible project here.
There is a good “foamer” video on the loco’s movement so far on YouTube.
Notice in the photos the chain drive for the lubricator, removed piston shafts and much of the “fiddly bits” of the valve gear. Some interesting stuff is temporarily mounted on top of the tender. I would guess those external hoses are for brake control bypass.
“Pay Day,” a Santa Fe Switchman Training Film
Rich Blake
This is a great period piece with a fair amount of humor that only makes sense in the 1950s era. It uses the example of a family’s busted TV to teach railroad employees to properly handle cargo during rail car shipping.
But this film should also make model railroad operators think about how you handle your switching operations. Do you back the loco into the string and keep going without stopping to check the couplings? Do you bash into strings and then take off in the other direction without allowing time to connect brake hoses and check couplings? Do you speed over turnouts to get to the runarounds because there is a lot of free track? Do you think about where your brakemen are located or where they must be dropped off or picked up by the engine or caboose? How many times have you backed into a string so soft and easy that only the couplers move as they connect? Or, when you back into a string does everything move an inch? What is “an inch” in your scale?
I’ve seen many cases, including myself, where operators get in a hurry or don’t pay attention that result in rough car handling and/or derailments.
This film illustrates these bad habits in 1:1 scale and emphasizes that we all need to slow down and go easy on the equipment. You never know what precious cargo is in there!
If the video doesn’t appear below, click this link to watch it on YouTube: http://youtu.be/nlzTqPfHrAI
Editor’s Note: Watching this film made me realize just how much things have changed in the past 60 years:
- You had friends over when you got a new TV
- Your wife baked them a cake
- Your wife baked
- He saved his money before buying something
- It was “his” money
- Men stood in line to get paid
- They got something called a “check”
- Multiple people were going to watch a 21″ screen
- The wife and daughter shopped for groceries
- TVs arrived via railroad
- The shop delivered
- She grocery shopped in heels and a dress
- The daughter wore black shoes and white socks
- He wore a coat
- The deliveryman’s handcart has 3” wheels
- TVs were made inChicago
- TVs had tubes. And wires.
- TVs came in wood cabinets
- With doors
- TVs were shipped in boxcars
- There were no forklifts in freighthouses
- Switches were thrown by hand
- Switchstands had kerosene lanterns
- A “fellow’s wife thinks he does his job just right”
- Livestock traveled by rail
- Airplanes had propellers
- Radios were the size of backpacks
- Ice was used for cooling
- Companies made slow-moving movies like this for training
It makes you wonder how different things will be 60 years from now!
– Al Lowe
6th Annual G.O.P.H.E.R.S. Field Trip
By Jim Sabol
June saw the 6th Annual G.O.P.H.E.R.S. (Greater Olympia Prototype History & Engineering Research Society) field trip and picnic. Twenty-five happy modelers, including spouses, neighbors, and grandkids from the 4D Olympia Clinic and the 4D Tacoma Clinic toured the multi-acre grounds of the Jensen Antique Machinery and Artifacts Museum in Graham, Washington.
A sunny day and grilled deluxe Kosher hot dogs served by Jim & Mary Sabol and Paul Vaughn, with desserts and salads by Carol Beghin and others, was followed by an open house at Paul Vaughn’s Sn3 layout and Jim Sabol’s O scale layout. What more could you ask on a warm June day? Model railroading really is fun!
Both Jensens were hospitalized just before the picnic. Modelers passed the hat and collected over a hundred dollars to help with their expenses. Aren’t model railroaders a great bunch?!
Click for larger image
Clamshell Railroad Days July 14–15
by Al Lowe
Saturday-Sunday, July 14-15, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm each day.
Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, Ilwaco,WA
Admission: $5 per person, children under 12 free.
Slide Presentation presented by local historian Harry Bell about the Ilwaco Rail and Navigation Company, which served theLong BeachPeninsulafrom 1889 to 1930.
Bus tours of the old rail lines are offered each day. Historian Mr. Bell along with Nancy Gorshe of the Depot will host these bus tours. The bus tours cost $5 per person and reservations are required.
Kids will have plenty of fun with an expanded Lego train plus the Kids Craft Caboose at the Museum. The Pullman Passenger car Nahcotta will also delight young and old.
Model railroad clubs from Oregon and Washington are participating with the return of the Portland Cascade Z Scale and their fantastic diorama. The Mount Rainer N-Scale Club wowed last year’s visitors with their 34-foot long exhibit and will be returning with new additions this year.
More information about the Long BeachPeninsulaat http://www.funbeach.com.
Railroad Lecture at W.R.V. Museum
Patricia Cosgrove, Director
“PACIFIC NORTHWEST RAILROADING, 1967 TO 2012”
The White River Valley Museum will host a spring open house and railroad lecture on April 6, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors and children, and free to museum members of categories Train Master, Conductor and Engineer. Cost includes museum admission.
Tim Repp, author of Main Streets of the Northwest, covers a small portion of a sequel to his 1989 book. Tim has been photographing railroading in the Northwest since the 1960s. His tour will cover Washington railroading from Class I main lines and branches to logging roads.
Repp’s lecture will place special emphasis on the 1980s when Burlington Northern and Amtrak hit their stride, before the branches were sold off or abandoned. If you’ve ever wondered what those bike trails looked like with trains on them, don’t miss this lecture!
The evening kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with the open house at the White River Valley Museum. The lecture will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Auburn Senior Activity Center across from the museum.
About the White River Valley Museum
The White River Valley Museum is a partnership with the City of Auburn and combines history and culture to create an exciting and educational experience for visitors. Museum collections focus on Puget Sound history, Northwest Indian culture, Japanese immigration and the Northern Pacific Railway. It is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., and is located at 918 H Street SE in Auburn. Regular admission is $2 adults, $1 seniors and children. Admission is free on Wednesdays and the fourth Sunday of the month. For event information, call 253-288-7433 or visit www.wrvmuseum.org.
SP 4449 Crosses Stampede Pass
Photo and Article by Ken Liesse
As part of Cascade Rails 2011 (the National Railroad Historical Society’s annual convention) in Tacoma, WA, the group chartered ex-SP 4449 and train for a trip over Stampede Pass on Saturday, June 25. This was the culmination of a week of various tours and charters to railroads and museums around the Puget Sound area, much like that of an NMRA or PNR convention. Despite leaving Tacoma about 30 minutes late, it appeared that all on board weren’t too bothered with the delay. The train ran up the BNSF Seattle Subdivision to Auburn, where they turned east onto the Stampede Sub for the trip over the pass to Easton.
SP 4449 Pauses in Easton, WA
Once in Easton, the power was cut off the train and run around the wye before rejoining the train for the run back to Tacoma. The train had actually been pulled backwards over the pass on the eastbound leg so that it would be headed the right direction for the westbound run. This also put it in the right direction for the run home to Portland after the convention. The run over the pass started under cloudy skies, but the sun broke through east of the Cascades and remained for the rest of the trip.
It’s not often we get to see mainline steam in these parts, so it was a treat to see 4449 on this run. Several photos and videos of the trip are now online. Google 4449 and see what comes up.
Tacoma Union Station 100th Anniversary May 1st
Al Lowe
George Northcroft, Regional Administrator of the United States General Services Administration Northwest/Arctic Region invites you to the 100th Anniversary Ceremony for Tacoma Union Station, 1717 Pacific Ave, Tacoma on Sunday, May 1st from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. You need to register by April 22. Click Here to register or call Ross Buffington, 253-931-7085.
Panel Discussions in the Washington State History Museum next door will follow from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on:
- Diversity in the City of Destiny: Tacoma’s Untold Cultural History
- History of the railroads and Union Station in Tacoma.
- Efforts to save the station and construct the courthouse and the resulting impact on the revitalization of downtown Tacoma.
A Government Photo ID is required to enter the building. Please arrive early for security.
GNRR History Presentations Scheduled
Jack Hamilton
The Kitsap Regional Library is sponsoring a presentation by Randy Dasho on A History of the Great Northern Railroads. Randy will speak at three locations, on three dates: the Sylvan Way Library Branch in Bremerton at 2:00 PM, Saturday, March 12th; the Port Orchard Library in Port Orchard at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, March 15th; and the Poulsbo Library in Poulsbo at 2:00 PM, Friday, March 18th.
The public is encouraged to attend. There is no charge for admission.
Railroad History Open House and Lecture
Patricia Cosgrove, White River Valley Museum Director
Join the 4th Division’s own Kent Sullivan and the White River Valley Museum for a lecture and slide show about the history of the Northern Pacific Railway’s Tacoma Division on April 1, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The cost is $5 adults, $4 seniors/children and free for museum membership categories Train Master, Conductor and Engineer. The open house is 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the lecture from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Kent will present a tour of the link from Puget Sound to Canada, circa 1955, with a special emphasis on Sedro-Woolley, Darrington, Arlington and Snohomish, as well as rare photos of businesses the railway served. He will also cover action on the NPR’s Sumas Line and connecting branches, and long-time Sumas Agent Lorren Coleman will provide commentary.
During the open house, be sure to check out Wrecked! Misadventures on the Northern Pacific Railway. The exhibit is on display through April 17 and explores pitfalls, pratfalls, hotboxes, split switches, telescoped trains, boiler explosions and derailments on the NPR’s sometimes bumpy journey over the Northwest. You can also climb aboard a 1924 NPR caboose in the museum’s permanent exhibit, “1920s Auburn.”
The next Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association and Museum railroad history lecture is Oct. 1, so mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more information.