Monday, July 6, 2026

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


SN 1011    Havens    6-19-39

Friday, July 3, 2026

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!

Thursday, July 2, 2026

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.





Wednesday, July 1, 2026

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-