Paducah Chapter

National Railway Historical Society

December 2013

High Tech and the Railroads

We have all heard of the push

for Positive train control or PTC on major

U.S. railroads. This law is a result of a

bad accident on the UP in California,

where a freight train rear ended a com-

puter train, the engineer was busy texting

railfans when he ran a stop signal result-

ing in the accident. PTC is a high-tech

advance for railroads that most feel is

unwarranted. Most are not ready for a full scale rollout and will not meet the 2015

deadline. A technology that railroads have

embraced is the front facing video cam-

eras that can act as event recorders or in

some cases surveillance cameras. Grade

crossing accidents can now be investi-

gated from reviewing the video.

A few years back a derailment caused by

a tornado was caught by the video camera

of the rear unit on a Union Pacific train. We can see the train following along, then

debris flying through the air. The covered

hopper we see starts to lean to one side as

the cars behind it derail and pull it down.

From off in the distance we see a bounc-

ing tank car heading towards the locomo-

tive.

Front facing cameras can also be good

surveillance security footage. Recently

the Evansville Western caught two indi-

viduals stealing train

horns from parked loco-

motives. The forward

facing camera on a

trailing unit caught the two swiping horns form

the unit in front. The

thefts took place in

Evansville IN.

The Vanderburgh Sher-

iff’s dept. placed the

video of the two on

social media sites and

youtube. Because the thieves were active

railfans, the Sheriff received calls from

New Jersey, Idaho and other states identi-

fying the two. Two teens from IL have since con-

fessed to the thefts as well

as thefts in St Louis. The

Evansville Western video

also caught one thief at-

tempting to put back the

horn and leaving a note

apologizing for the theft.

So next time you are wait-

ing at the crossing, remem-

ber you are being recorded by the train. It is a turn-

about from railfans re-

cording trains, the trains are recording

back.

Theft of train horns from Evansville caught on

video October 2013.

Construction equipment fails to clear

a crossing.

On coming train failed to obey signal

Left:

Tornado strikes

UP

Train in Illinois

Tank car Slams

Into engines

after tornado

derailment.

MILE STONE: On November 9,

the Paducah area lost one of its

few remaining former N.C. & St.

L. Ry. Employees, in the passing

of Joseph L. Barnett, 97. Joe first

joined the N.C. after the 1937

flood, walking along the tracks

from the Clark St. crossing to P&I

Junction to sign on at a camp car

as a MOW worker and later

switchman. He also worked for a

time for the I.C. in Memphis as a

switchman, served in Europe in

WW II in a railroad battalion, in-

cluding the Battle of the Bulge,

returned to the N.C. and later

L&N, as a switchman and engine

foreman. In that capacity he

switched thousands of cars on the

team tracks behind the (now)

Railroad Museum and the Freight

House, as well as the line between

Paducah & Bruceton, the river

incline, and the P&I. His interest-

ing railroad career is told in an

oral history CD made by Bill

Wood, and recorded in the mu-

seum in 2007.

MIKE FAVRE: Many of us were

concerned about member, and re-

tired PAL employee, Mike Favre,

in the aftermath of the Brookport

tornado. Mike is O.K. His home is

north of the epicenter line along

Unionville Road, and he was

blessed to be uninjured and re-

ceive little damage. We rejoice for

him.

P&L/EVANSVILLE WEST-

ERN: On November 5th, the Van-

derburgh County Sheriff’s office

announced the solving of the theft

of air horns from two EVWR lo-

comotives. Unfortunately the cul-

prits were two teen-age train fans

from Marion, IL whose special

interest was repair & restoration

of air horns. Not surprisingly for

that age group, tips on social me-

dia were responsible for their dis-

covery….On November 18, an

EVWR coal train derailed nine

cars near Carmi, IL; there were no

injuries.

VMV: At least two more

Kiamichi (Genesee & Wyoming)

SD 40’s have been seen, as well

as SRO 2023, an export locomo-

tive, plus the usual blue & white

GMTX engines.

P&I: Extensive tie replacement

has been going on along the P&I

with 20 or more pieces of CN

MOW equipment on the rails,

most tying up at night on the pass-

ing track along N. 34th St., and

many out-of-state vehicles of

workers parked on the street itself.

CROSSING VIOLATORS: On

November 11th, WPSD-TV local

news ran a story about Illinois

State Police riding a UP locomo-

tive to catch motorists who vio-

lated grade crossing warnings

along Illinois Route 148 and 149

in Franklin County

FILM FESTIVAL SURPRISE:

During the recent week-end Riv-

ers Edge Film Festival at Maiden

Alley Theatre, which features a

wide variety of independent

drama and documentary films, I

was surprised to find one entitled

“Weekend Railroaders,” which

was an hour long documentary

about motor cars or “speeders.” It

gave an interesting history of

these cars, their reincarnation as a

hobby, and clips of a number of

excursions, mainly in Texas and

Oklahoma. As a long time “week-

end” railroader myself, I, of

course, viewed the film and was

able to talk to the director and

producer, Scott Peterson, who

does not actually own a motor car,

but has a father and uncle who do.

IRON TRIANGLE ADVEN-

TURE: Early Halloween morn-

ing, chapter member (and City

Commissioner) Allan Rhodes, Jr.,

and I left Paducah for an 8 hour

drive to Fostoria, OH, to visit the

“Iron Triangle.” There, three main

line railroads, CSX (former

B&O) west to Chicago and east to

Willard, OH; NS (former Nickel

Plate) west to Chicago and east to

Mixing Center & Bellevue; and

CSX north to Toledo and south to

Columbus cross on three double

track diamonds. A generous 100

plus trains pass through each 24

hours. All traffic is controlled by

adjacent “F” Tower, which is off

limits, but because it attracts thou-

sands of rail fans from all over the

country, the city is building a Rail

Fan Park in the north corner of the

triangle, which is almost com-

pleted, and many motels give dis-

counts to train watchers. Our

weather was cloudy, cool and

windy, and Thursday night, rainy.

Bob Johnston

Published monthly by the Paducah Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. Send your news, photos to:

Editor — Charles Gibbons

oldradiorepair@bellsouth.net

President…........…......Logan Blewett Vice President…….......John Deming

Secretary…..…......Charles Gibbons

Historian…........……Jack Johnston

Treasurer..................Glen Pollender

Program…....…...….…..Dick Kastas National Director.…..Bob Johnston

Directors…………..……...Dick Kastas, Charles Gibbons, Logan Blewett

Membership — Charles Gibbons 3409 Central Avenue, Paducah 42001

Roundhouse Notes

Fortunately trains run in all

weather, so we usually sat in the

car, mostly in the west corner

(which was lighted) across the

tracks from the former B&O, then

Amtrak Station, and now CSX

maintenance shop. Thursday

night it seemed trains passed

every ten to fifteen minutes,

sometimes simultaneously. Most

of them were container trains,

(both double and single stacks),

auto carriers, straight tanker trains

of ethanol and petroleum, and

many mixed freights. Finally, at

ten p.m. after a long day, we re-

turned to the motel.

On Friday morning we returned,

again moving between the two

ends of the triangle, and saw 17

trains in less than five hours be-

fore heading home in early after-

noon. Again most of the consists

were similar to the night before,

with an occasional light engine,

and some unit grain trains in cov-

ered hoppers. However, about mid

-morning we saw a straight train

of UP refrigerator cars pulled by

UP power, probably running on

trackage rights. As an old produce

man this excited me, as reefers are

now somewhat of a rarity on most

lines. Most of the power, of

course, was CSX and NS, with a

smattering of UP, CP, BNSF, and

others. A majority of it seemed to

be GE built, and most of the NS

was DC as AC is only now begin-

ning to make inroads on that line.

We were also interested to see a

number of fallen flag freight cars

such as Norfolk & Western, Con-

rail, C&O, Seaboard System,

Family Lines, and even an occa-

sional New York Central.

On the way home we stopped for

supper at LaGrange, just east of

Louisville where the CSX tracks

run down the middle of Main St.

We ventured a few blocks down it

and found a vintage collection in-

cluding an old business car, a ca-

boose with no markings and a

couple of small steam engines,

including a British tank engine

that could be Thomas’s first

cousin. There was also railroad

museum, closed for the evening. It

was a very enjoyable trip, made

simpler because we were not in-

terested in taking pictures, only

watching trains. Similar locations

with amenities for rail fans within

a day’s drive of Paducah include

Rochelle, IL where BNSF & UP

cross; Folkston, GA where several

CSX lines plus Amtrak funnel

into Florida; Galesburg, IL on the

BNSF main line; and, of course,

Homewood, IL on the CN (former

I.C.)

FLASH! As I am preparing to

send this in to Editor Gibbons,

there is a news flash that on Sun-

day morning, 12/1, a Metro North

Commuter train has derailed just

north of New York City with four

dead and dozens injured. It is the

fourth accident/mishap on that

railroad this year. Metro North has

had a number of locomotives re-

built by Progress Rail at Mayfield.

MUSEUM: We had193 visitors

in November compared to 298 in

2012. However last November

included a school group of 109, so

the normal visitation is almost the

same….. John Maxwell com-

pleted the removal of the parti-

tions from the former HO room,

and found that the brick wall was

too soft to hold firing for a new

interior wall, so he and John Dem-

ing (who facilitated the removal

of the old debris at no charge) are

building a new frame wall which

will be insulated. We are indeed

fortunate to have two such tal-

ented and hard-working volun-

teers…. As stated in the Novem-

ber NEWS & VIEWS a stagger-

ing amount of work is planned for

the museum during the January &

February. Hopefully, it will go

smoothly.

GIFT SHOP: If you have not

completed your Christmas shop-

ping by the time you read this,

please consider a gift from our

museum gift shop for your family

or friends, or for Santa to bring

you. Don and Judy will be happy

to discuss and show you their

wide variety of railroad related

items.

CHRISTMAS DINNER & SO-

CIAL: The annual Chapter

Christmas dinner and social will

be held in the private dining room

of Ryan’s Steak House, across

from KY Oaks Mall, on Tuesday,

December 10th, beginning at 6:30.

Please remember to come and

bring a significant other and/or

friend.

Roundhouse Notes

% Charles Gibbons

3409 Central Ave

Paducah KY 42001

Gosh! Its almost time for

the meeting! We sure

don’t want to miss it.

TUESDAY

December 10th

6:30

Ryan’s Steak

House

Paducah

Recently the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s Nickel Plate Steam Engine 765

Appeared in a Spec Ad to promote use of the Engine in productions. The Ad can be seen

at http://fortwaynerailroad.org/ or Youtube.