Ghosts of the past

[fcsflyboy]

I'm starting this thread for all railfans. I'm wanting to start a group called "Ghosts of the Past" where people can share all kinds of photos, stories and what have you of railroad history all across America. I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area and this area alone is FLOODED with all kinds of rail history. anyone know how too start up such a group? As of till then feel free to post pics or tell a story of anything about railroading history from engineer tales down to being a kid and messing around equipment, or post a photo of an old interlocking tower or abandoned equipment!

I'm sure I'm not the only one wanting to hear the stories about these Ghosts of the Past!

 

[Iron Horseman]

I'm starting this thread for all railfans. I'm wanting to start a group called "Ghosts of the Past" where people can share all kinds of photos, stories and what have you of railroad history all across America. I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area and this area alone is FLOODED with all kinds of rail history. anyone know how too start up such a group? As of till then feel free to post pics or tell a story of anything about railroading history from engineer tales down to being a kid and messing around equipment, or post a photo of an old interlocking tower or abandoned equipment!

I'm sure I'm not the only one wanting to hear the stories about these Ghosts of the Past!

This would be a great thread on the Prototype forum. I wonder if the sysadmin can move it over.

 

[Iron Horseman]

The Santa Fe's southern transcontinental mainline cuts through southern Kansas, the Oklahoma & Texas panhandles, and rejoins the northern main in New Mexico. In Kiowa Kansas a branch heads diagonally to the southeast toward Enid OK. Also the Missouri Pacific crosses the main a block south (to the left) of the station.

At one time the proud PA locomotives pulled the San Francisco Chief through this town meeting the mixed local that ran to Enid.

I found the station in the late 1990s. The Santa Fe tried to give it to the city, but they refused. I had the option to purchase it in 2005. Unfortunately (in addition to the asbestos) the 8 1/2 hour drive from my home made it impossible even to get out on the weekends and work on it. I had to pass and in 2006 it was razed. Unlike most Santa Fe stations in small towns that were made from pre-determined standard templates, this one was the only one like it on the whole system. Close to the County Seat floor plan it had a unique wrap around porch and it was stucco. Photos taken day after Thanksgiving 2005.

Back when the station was in use there were 2 station tracks, a passing siding, and the main. For whatever reason the BNSF moved the main over to the track right next to the station. That is even more strange when one looks down the track and can see where the track makes a hard jog over to this close track through town and then jogs back at the other end of town. Hopefully they fixed that when they double tracked it a few years ago.

This train is blasting through town without slowing down a bit. Right at 69 mph.

 

[fcsflyboy]

That's a great story! I've got a good camera and intend on taking many photos soon plus trying too find photos of back in the day of a few places here in Ohio that are rich in B&O, NYC, NKP, N&W. But thanks Iron Horseman for that great post! I can't wait too see what other people have to share!

 

[fcsflyboy]

Sitting as a true ghost of the past, in the long forgotten town of Nova, in the heart of Ohio's farmland, tower "VN" still stands as a proud symbol of the B&O and to this day refuses to fall. Although days are numbered and close to toppling VN was perhaps the most important tower between Willard and Lodi Ohio. Imagine how many EM-1's and Big Six's and what have you VN has seen thundering the rails.

VN only suffers this fate due to local politics providing lack of funding for funds "never" being available to restore her to her former glory. Sadly she stands beyond repair. It's a shame the local historical society couldn't get their act together, at least from the stories I've been told.

On a happier note, although fading away into just a memory and old photographs, VN still lives on for the CSX mainline that stands today on the old B&O would (at the time) not have been possible without the work that VN could perform

 

[Burlington Bob]

I think this could be a great thread and I hope it doesn't get moved. I am too young to remember any steam engines being operated on a regular basis but I do remember a "special" being run in honor of the abandonment of the CB&Q mainline through my hometown in 1962. It was one of the Q's steamers that they kept operating (the smallest one) and maybe a half dozen heavyweight passenger cars. I was in a wheelchair at the time and my dad pushed me to the cut that ran through the middle of our farm. I still recall that train and all the smoke and noise it made. Pretty impressive to a seven year old!

I also got to ride one of the last passenger trains that ran before the abandonment. There's a lot of things that I recall but some of it is a little short on detail, I guess because of my young age at the time. This has made me think of a lot of things from my childhood..............thanks!

 

[PApat]

Ghosts on the LV mainline, north of Jim Thorpe

I've got some photos from a Reading and Northern tour of the old Lehigh Valley main, north of Jim Thorpe. This line is now shared by Reading and Northern and Norfolk Southern.

First up is a picture of the old CNJ station:

DSC_0047 by BillBPA1, on Flickr

Once underway, the RBMN tour takes you north. R&N has a pretty good collection of old cabeese (sp?) off on a siding:

DSC_0095 by BillBPA1, on Flickr

Here is a picture of an old interlocking tower on the west side of the tracks:

DSC_0217 by BillBPA1, on Flickr

And finally, the conductor shared a story of how the Lehigh Valley hired some Italian stone masons to construct some of the retaining walls along the route. You will notice that the stone is all cut and fitted so it doesn't require any mortar to hold the wall in place. These were the same masons hired to repair some of the stonework on the Lehigh Canal.


DSC_0220 by BillBPA1, on Flickr

If you are in Eastern Pennsylvania, I would encourage you to take a day and purchase tickets for the tour. For an extra fee, R&N does offer rides in the cab with the engineer. There are several SD50's used for the tours.

I hope you enjoyed this short trip!

 

[Iron Horseman]

Sadly she stands beyond repair.

I hope they save the turnout levers if nothing else. That would make an interesting exhibit in a museum.

 

[Roger Hensley]

Here are two shots of Gridley Tower in Anderson Indiana. The first is from the 40s. The second one was taken in the early 70s.

 

[fcsflyboy]

It'd be really nice to see more towers in such great condition as this one!

 

[derfatdutchman]

Here's a couple ghosts from Wyoming Avenue, Scranton PA.

If the building looks a little familiar, it should as I believe it served as the protoype for Walthers Water Street Freight Termial.

Here is a close up of the cast iorn sign thats on the left of the photo, hard to believe its still there.

Finally there is a crossing tower at the end of the lot, the crossing is still used by the Delaware-Lackawanna.

 

[montanan]

The Hiawatha Trail

The Hiawatha Trail is a bicycle trail that runs on the old Milwaukee Road right of way out of Avery, Idaho to Haugen, MT. The catenary and rails are going, but the bridges and tunnels still exist and are used by cyclist. I can remember riding in the cab of a Milwaukee Litte Joe when I was a kid over this route. Absolutely breath taking.

 

[montanan]

The route of the Hiawatha Trail and more pictures.

 

[montanan]

More ghosts

The first is Milwaukee Road # E-70, a Litte Joe, now on display in Deer Lodge, MT, which was a major division point on the Milwaukee. The next two pictures are of box cab E57B and 3800 in Harlowtown, MT, the starting point of the Milwaukee Roads electrified division. The little X3800 was used to move locomotives in and out of the roundhouse via the turntable in Deer Lodge MT, and was actually powered by an extention cord. The last is a Milwaukee Caboose on display in Three Forks, MT.

 

[Iron Horseman]

Hmmm, no new posts for over 24 hours, so I'll do another.

The famous hanging bridge of the Arkansas River built by the Canon City San Juan Railroad during the infamous battle of the Royal Gorge between the Santa Fe & Rio Grand Railroads, opened the gate into the Arkansas Valley of Central Colorado. The Rio Grande Western mainline followed the river up the valley requiring many bridges and tunnels. It first serviced Marshal Pass with the D&RG with the narrow gauge closed in the 1955 and then the D&RGW Tennessee Pass with the standard gauge which closed in 1996.

In 2006 I was doing an article on the Monarch Branch and followed the tracks up through Texas Creek to Salida (where the Monarch branched from the main). Unfortunately I lost count of the tunnels so I don't know which one this is. The Blazer looks very small in the tunnel big enough for double stacks to go through.d If one looks closely at the top of the bridge the Rio Grande speed lettering logo can be seen.

P.S. I had written permission to be on RR property. Do not attempt to duplicate these actions.

 

[fcsflyboy]

I gotta say there are some great posts! Unfortunately all the shots I've taken are with my Canon EOS and the pics are too "big" to be uploaded too this site :/ anyone know how to reduce the file size?

 

[Iron Horseman]

I gotta say there are some great posts! Unfortunately all the shots I've taken are with my Canon EOS and the pics are too "big" to be uploaded too this site :/ anyone know how to reduce the file size?

That is one of the cameras I use. I simple pop them into Microsoft Paint do a "save as" to a different filename (usually with a "small" on the end of the name) and a file type and extension of .jpg, then use the re-size option to make them smaller, and save.

If you make a mistake and re-size them to too small or not quite small enough, do an "undo" and try another size. Don't just re-size again because then the photo looses fidelity.

I suppose I should also say that I do not upload them to "this site" I post them on my own site and just link to them.

 

[fcsflyboy]

That is one of the cameras I use. I simple pop them into Microsoft Paint do a "save as" to a different filename (usually with a "small" on the end of the name) and a file type and extension of .jpg, then use the re-size option to make them smaller, and save.

If you make a mistake and re-size them to too small or not quite small enough, do an "undo" and try another size. Don't just re-size again because then the photo looses fidelity.

I suppose I should also say that I do not upload them to "this site" I post them on my own site and just link to them.

I'd like to make Ghosts of the Past it's own website and "organization" But thanks for the tip I'll give it a shot!

 

[otiscnj]

Love the St. Paul Pass photos, as well as the CO photos. The Hiawatha trail is on my bucket list.

 

[fcsflyboy]

In my home town of Wellington Ohio, just a short hike away takes you to the old L&WV. the Lorain and West Virginia RR was back in the day a major line often used by NKP. If these rails could talk about the mighty Berks that these rail supported as they thundered across the Ohio country side.

The first photo shows literally a shot "Into the Past" as I call it. The line is still "in use", track 2 is used for storage of a pullman car, a gas electric (RR unknown for no paint remaining on loco) and an old Lake Shore Electric RWY (not sure what it is). Sadly the Lorain and WV RR has pushed away new members and by new I mean young members and the locmotives and cars are sitting rotting away simply because when you're 22 years old with no credentials no one wants to have anything to do with you. Sad shame for I'd love to be a part of this local history.