Wednesday Snapshot

This will be brief.  I didn't get any pictures of what the others were doing.  But I managed to install one of the new third rail beams on the 319.  I hauled it over to the car on a wagon, and raised it into place using an old car jack.

... which you can see sitting on the fan.  The fan makes it all possible!

One down, one to go!

Simms Collection - Utah Interurbans

The Utah interurbans, of course, are best known for their garish paint schemes which seem to have been inspired by the camouflage on WWI warships, but which were meant to avoid collision with civilian automobiles rather than German torpedoes.  I'll present them here more or less in geographical order, north to south.

UTAH-IDAHO CENTRAL

UIC 503   Logan, Utah

UIC 504   Near Hyrum     6-17-44

UIC 512   6-16-44    Mendon, Utah

UIC 515   Wellsville, Utah     6-16-44

UIC 517

BAMBERGER

Bamberger 323     North of Lagoon    6-18-44

Bamberger 324    North of Lagoon     6-18-44

Bamberger 325   Farmington, Utah    6-18-44

SALT LAKE GARFIELD & WESTERN

SLG&W 503      Salt Lake, Utah

The SLG&W is probably best known for its open trailers, used for the busy excursion traffic to the Saltair pavilion.  Three of them have been saved in poor condition.

 

SALT LAKE & UTAH

SL&U 601-702     Granger

SL&U 608      Curtis, Utah

SL&U 751     at Payson     Sept 1939   (GK)

This car alone of those pictured has been preserved and restored to excellent condition, and is occasionally operated at Rio Vista.

 

In Memoriam John McKelvey

We regret to report that John McKelvey died on July 4th at a VA hospital in Florida.  Also, he was born on July 4th, 1944, which I hadn't known.  Services will be private, for family only.

I remember John from my earliest days at IRM; he was always active in the Steam Dept., also on track and anything else that needed work.  In recent years he concentrated on upholstery, and spent much of his time in the Barn 4 Lean-3 doing work for any project that needed upholstery.  He will certainly be missed.

Simms Collection -- Sacramento Northern

Ted and Jim, we finally get around to presenting the Sacramento Northern.  These pictures are for you!  They were all taken by W. C. Whittaker and have dates and locations (except for the 605) on the backs, which is fortunate because I would have no idea where any of these scenic places might be.

SN 603 and 604   Montclair    2-8-44

SN 605   8-18-43

SN 1006    6-15-40   Valle Vista

SN 1008   Broadway Terrace   2-19-39

SN 1008 and 224     Sacramento
(Note: that's what the print says, but it's actually Oakland)

SN 1011    Havens    6-19-39

July 3rd Abandonment Post-Mortem

In spite of some rather unpleasant weather, the annual CA&E abandonment festival went off pretty well.

The first train out was the wood car train, with 319, 308, and 309.  On each trip we actually needed three cars to handle the crowd of passengers.

And then the steel cars 460 and 431.

To reduce expenses, since we're on the brink of insolvency, we have here two crews in one picture:

(L to R)  Steven Jamrog, Aaron Sucharewski, Drew Beveridge, Will Knogl, and me.  The younger generation all did a great job of running the trains.

At noon, the wood cars unloaded our passengers at Seemann, as we usually do, and then ran extra back to Wheaton.  The passengers were soon picked up by the North Western bilevels, who did an efficient job of rescuing them. 

And since heavy rain was approaching, the wood cars had to rush to get back into the barn before the deluge.  It's not easy changing ends, throwing switches, and doing it all in a hurry!  And it was so hot, I really didn't mind being thrown out of work.

Besides the CA&E cars, of course, there were several other trains operating all day.

If you missed the first day of Independence Day Weekend, there are still two more coming up with different consists each day.  Don't miss it!

Help Wanted

CA&E Abandonment Day is coming up soon, (like tomorrow!!) and we need help.  We will be running a two-car steel train and a three-car wood train, and we need at least one more trainman to help on the wood cars.  Now I know it's been pretty hot the past few days, and if the weather gets too brutal we may decide to abandon the abandonment, rather than risk having people suffer from the heat.  But the trains will still be running in any case.  So we could use one or two trainmen.  You do not need to be rules-qualified.

Simms Collection -- Piedmont & Northern Passenger Cars

As before, numbers in parentheses have been added for reference.  Other captions are taken verbatim from the prints.

(2051)

P&N #2100
Gastonia NC   11/13/43
DO NOT COPY
Vic Wagner

(2100)
Greenville, S.C.
6-17-47
John F. Humiston

(2100)
P&N Tr. 6
Honea Path, S.C.
6-19-47
John F. Humiston

(2101)
Greenwood, S.C.
6-19-47
John F. Humiston

(2101)

(2102 - 5103)

(2104)

(2104)

(2104)

Granville shops
Aug. 8, 1947

P&N #2103-2051
leaving Charlotte N.C. station
May 18, 1950

P&N #2103
Mt. Holly N.C. station
May 18, 1950

#2104
Spartanburg, S.C.

P&N #2101
Greenwood S.C. term.
July 16, 1934

Coming into Charlotte Station
Nov 1941 when on Carolina
maneuvers

S.C. Div.   P&N
194-

Simms Collection -- Piedmont & Northern Locomotives

The Simms collection has a large number of pictures of the Piedmont & Northern, about which I know little and will have to learn.  We'll start with some of their many large electric locomotives, since the line had a substantial freight business.  Most of these prints have little or no information on the back.  Numbers in parentheses have been added for convenience.

River Jct., S.C.
6-16-47
(351 - a freight motor rebuilt from ex-PRR MPB-54 combine 350 following a wreck)

River Jct., S.C.
6-16-47

(351)

(5005 - Baldwin/Westinghouse, 1911)

#5006 ex SL&U
Greenville S.C. Shops
Aug. 3, 1947

(5102 - GE, 1913)

(5104 - 5100 - both GE, 1913)

(5105 - GE, 1913)

(5601 - homebuilt, 1924)

(5601)

(5601)

#5601   now on Northern Division
Greenwood S.C.
Jan. 1941

Lyman, S.C.
6-18-47
(5610 - homebuilt, 1938)

Spartanburg, S.C.
6-17-47
(5611 - GE, 1941)

(5611)

(5611)

5612 Built Nov. 17th 1949
8 568 Westinghouse motors
Motors Ball-Bearing Journals
Weight 252800
Horse Power 3200
Clasp Brakes
16 Brooke Cylinders
This Engine was built at GN [Greenville, SC] Shops

Spartanburg, S.C.
6-18-47