January 2013 Buff

THE MEMPHIS BUFF

VOLUME 40, ISSUE 1

NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

January 2013

A Tidbit of Railroad History (from 10 years ago) The Last ATCS Article (for a while)

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Memphis Chapter Officers President – Walter Lang

walterhlang@yahoo.com

Vice President – Bruce Smedley Director – Bill Strong Secretary/Treasurer – Thomas Doherty Program Chairman – Yahoo Group Co-ordinater – Terry Redeker Newsletter Editor – Tom Parker

williambstrong@bellsouth.net TRDoherty@aol.com tkredeker@hotmail.com tscottparker@gmail.com

Last Month's Meeting Last month's meeting was “Show & Tell”. Here's a little of what we saw:

Sam Peregoy's vintage Lionel trains

Bruce Smedley's Empire State Express poster.

Walter Lang's HO European Turbo Train.

Cover: As seen from the roof of Central Station - CN Job RJY30 navigates CN Junction on the way to the BNSF. Tom Parker photo

3 As I began this month's issue, I noticed that this begins the fortieth year of the “Buff�. I decide to check the archives and found this article from the January-February 2003 Memphis Buff.

Editor

A TIDBIT OF RAILROAD HISTORY

By Jack Daniel On January 6, 1953, the last steam engine in regular service made its last trip on the NC&StL. That was on passenger train No. 6 between Bruceton, TN and Union City, TN. The crew operating that train had come from Nashville to Bruceton on a diesel powered train.

For a time, the crew on No. 6 from Nashville would leave the diesel powered train and board the steam powered, which by then had layed over at Bruceton the night before, then continue on to Union City as No. 106. With the changing of crews at Bruceton, the train from Nashville continued to Memphis as No. 106.

Prior to sometime in 1951, a crew would come from Paducah, KY on a steam powered train and at Bruceton that crew would exit that train and board the train having come from Nashville.

This info was provided by Mark Womack of Chattanooga and a friend of mine. Mark worked for the NC&StL as an agent-operator and assistant trainmaster.

The Last ATCS Article (for a while)

by Tom Parker

Mark Loewe applies final adjustments to the ATCS program setup as Terry Cox verifies that everything is working inside the server.

As advertised, the Memphis UP BNSF ATCS server went on line the evening of November 30, 2013. The service actually went online even before Mark Loewe arrived to to turn on the server ato Central Station. Mark picked up the radio signals with a server installed in his truck as he drove into town. His server transmitted the information to the internet and the display at the museum came to life even before he arrived.

Mark's truck bristles with antennas.

Interesting rear window.

The Memphis ATCS Monitor will monitor the movement of UP and BNSF trains through the Memphis area. Coverage on the

BNSF extends from North Turrell and North Madlock, Arkansas to Tennessee Yard. UP coverage extends from Wynne and Presley Junction, Arkansas to Tower 17.

In addition to ATCS Monitor, a scanner radio was attached to the server which scans the main frequencies of all Memphis Class I railroads. This feed can be accessed on a computer or mobile device with internet capability at radiofrequency.com. The exact link to the feed is: radioreference.com/apps/audio/ ?feedId=12896 . The museum just upgraded the ATCS Monitor PC and it is now capable of handling both ATCS Monitoir and the live radio feed.

but good does it do you when your railfanning down at Kentucky Street?

ATCS Monitor is a Windows based program. It only works on computers running windows. There are no applications for smart phones or other devices not running windows. A popular option is to use a program such as Team Viewer (teamviewer.com)or Pocket Cloud (wyse.com/products/software/m obility/PocketCloud). Start ATCS Monitor on you home computer and connect to it using one of the above or similar applications.

(12/30/12) The files for the Memphis area have just been uploaded to the Yahoo ATCS Monitor Group. They are located at: Files > Data Files > BNSF > Springfield Div > Memphis Terminal.

The files won't do you any good without the ATCS Monitor program. General information about ATCS Monitor can be found at atcsmon.com. The program itself is available at the Yahoo ATCS Group: finance.groups.yahoo.com/grou p/ATCS_Monitor/. Membership in the group is required to download the progam, but the process is simple.

OK, youve got ATCS Monitor installed on your PC, you've installed the Memphis files. It's kind of interesting watching the traffic moving on the screen ,

ATCS Monitor on a PC and a tablet using TeamViewer

ATCS Monitor on a smartphone using Pocket Cloud Even without mobile access, ATCS monitor can prove to be a useful tool for railfans.

Twice within a week ATCS Monitor alerted me to activity that I would have otherwise been unaware.

The first occurred on Friday, December 21st when I was down at the museum. I noticed activity on the track running through Central Station on the monitor screen. Knowing that no trains were due at 2:30 in the afternoon, I raced upstairs to see what was on the track.

Traveling north were three CN high railer trucks, one pulling a flat car and crane.

The second occurance was on December 27th. I was slated to go down to the musem to help clean up after installation of new carpet.

Before I left home, I noticed a lot of track in the vicinity of CN Junction was colored blue on ATCS Monitor. Blue indicates that the track is under the control of Maintenace of Way, Signal Department, etc. Radio conversations indicated that BNSF Special Agents and a Superintendent were in the vicinity. I surmised a drerailment or similiar event had occurred.

When I got downtown I found Main Street blocked by police cars north and south of the railroad overpass and a saw equipment unloading a coal hopper just east of the overpass. I circled around the area for a time and finally pulled into the drivway of a police impound lot just south of the derailment. A tow truck driver opened up the gate an allowed me to get close to the derailment where I got a number of pretty good pictures.

CABOOSE

The first caboose featured on the “Caboose” page wasn't a caboose at all. It was the “Dresden Trolley” (From the January-February 2003 Buff) Meeting Schedule January 10, 2013 February 14, 2013 March 14, 2013 April 11, 2013 May 9. 2013 June13 2013 July 11, 2013 August 8, 2013 September 12., 2013 October 10, 2013 November 14, 2013 December 12, 2013 (All 2013 meetings will be on the 2nd Thursday of the month and all except the April & November meetings (TBA) will be at the Germantown Library) Germantown Public Library 7-9 pm.

1925 Exeter Road Germantown, TN 38138

Contact the Editor Tom Parker 3012 Wood Thrush Drive Memphis, TN 38134 tscottparker@gmail.com