October 2011 Memphis Buff

THE MEMPHIS BUFF

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 9

NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

October 2011

Steamtown Railcamp

By Grayden Mazur

JacksonTennessee Photos Sunday At Kentucky Street

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Memphis Chapter Officers President – Walter Lang

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

walterhlang@yahoo.com

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

After having to cancel the August meeting due to operating hours changes at the White Station Library, we met for September at the Germantown Library. This is going to be our new home! Next month we'll meet at the G'town Library on Tuesday Oct 18 at 7 p.m.; after that we'll be meeting on the 2nd THURSDAY of each month.

This may change from time to time as we can only book the meeting room 4 months in advance. Watch for changes in The Buff.

This month Sam Peregoy presented a talk on train orders and time table operations relating to his experience as a conductor on the ICRR operating in dark territory. A bit of trivia the first known use of a train order type operation was on the Eire RR in 1851.

We talked about the cookout planned for Sunday, Sept 25 at Kentucky St and possibly an Amtrak Trip in Nov. Next month we'll firm up any Amtrak plans. To get a group discount we need at least 10 people and will have to pay in advance.

Plan on attending the next meeting and nice benefit is the temp control in our new meeting room appears to work!

The October program will be Grayden Mazur talking about his experiences at the 2011 NRHS/NPS Railcamp.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: The Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum has signed the lease for the space known as Suite 121 in Memphis' Central Station. A work day has been scheduled for 8:00 AM, Saturday, October 1st. Everyone is invited to come by to help, provide moral support or just to check it out. Details at http://www.mrtm.org/.

Casey Jones' home, Jackson, TN. Terry Redeker photo

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Steamtown Railcamp

by Grayden Mazur

Amtrak, Steamtown, coal mines, and the inside of a locomotive's boiler. Those are just a few of the places that I got to visit during the annual NRHS/NPS Railcamp 2011. Railcamp has to have been the absolute highlight of my entire summer if not my entire life so far! From changing a rail car's brake shoe, to getting to operate a full size locomotive, Railcamp has taught me a valuable lesson on how railroads work, why railroads exist, and how to preserve our past railroad history.

Arron Hutchenson is seen replacing a break shoe on one of Steamtown's Lackawanna coaches.

A group of campers watch Amtrak try to show off by lifting a AEM7 electric locomotive.

The administrative staff and the counselors were absolutely fantastic! It's hard to understand how hard they have worked to make Railcamp possible every year!

Amtrak and the National Park Service really make the Railcamp experience worth while. Amtrak opened up the Wilmington Maintenance Facility and Phil-

With the owner of the live steam engine pushing 90, all of the campers decided to give back by doing some track work on the little 7 1/2 in. gauge track. I am seen here with a cart full of gravel for the track

4 adelphia's 30th Street Station Dispatching Center for us to tour through. We were the first ever group ever privileged enough to view the Philadelphia Dispatching Center.

Amtrak also sent a executive and a engineer to give the group insight on what life is like to work for a railroad. They also explained how to hire on to the railroad, and what kind of jobs could be available.

The Steamtown National Historic Site, run by the National Park Service, opened up their entire facility for our day to day activities. The Steamtown staff taught us valuable lessons on restoration, inspections, hand signals, painting, welding, riveting, and much more.

The highlight of the Camp was getting to run the 7 1/2 in. gauge live steamer owned by a steamtown employee, and getting to operate the NKP 576 GP9 locomotive. A Canadian Pacific Railway Police office expressed the dangers of railroad grade crossings and how to report suspicious activity.

My experiences at Railcamp will stay with me forever, and hopefully help me get a job with a railroad one day. This truly is a wonderful camp, and I hope you would consider making a donation next time you renew your NRHS membership! They get over 85% of their funds from donations from NRHS members and grants.

I am very grateful for the C.P. Huntington Chapter of the NRHS for sponsoring me free of any charges! They are a wonderful group that is full of very nice individuals. I look forward to going back as a counselor in the near future!

ON THE WEB BNSF The BNSF Railroad has launched an exciting new website .It’s called Friends of BNSF and you can visit it at www.friendsofbnsf.com.

This is a members-only site designed for anyone who is interested in BNSF or its predecessor companies.

Membership is free. If you sign up, you’ll gain access to content and features unavailable through our main website at www.bnsf.com – and in many cases, unavailable anywhere else. The site is packed with articles, photos, videos, maps and documents about today’s BNSF and its 162-year history.

Railroad.net A Steamtown employee gives a group of campers directions on how to operate the 7 1/2 in. gauge live steam engine

First launched in 1996 - Railroad.net is one of the oldest and most trusted internet destinations for the railroad enthusiasts. The website boasts one of the top railroad forums in the world with over 11,000 members and 900,000 posts.

5 Memphis Chapter NRHS Visits Jackson, Tennessee On Saturday, August 6th, member of the Memphis Chapter of the NRHS made a day trip to Jackson, TN. Here are some photos from the trip courtesy of Terry Redeker:

Memphis Chapter members in front of the Casey Jones Museum.

West Tennessee U23B in Iselin Yard in Jackson.

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West Tennessee U23B's in Iselin Yard in Jackson.

NC&StL Depot, Jackson, TN

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Sunday At Kentucky Street

by Tom Parker The morning of August 25th dawned overcast and gray, not a good omen for the planned outing to Kentucky Street by the Memphis Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

The day progressed and by noon the sky hadcleared and there appeared not to be any weather related problems to mar the event which was scheduled to begin at two o'clock.

Terry Redeker - Open for business

Railfanning in style We arrived a few minutes early. An empty eastbound BNSF intermodal train was rolling by when we got there and a number of railfans were already in attendance. Terry Redeker, the host of the event, already had everything all set up; a shelter with a NRHS banner, tables and a camp grill for cooking burgers and hot dogs.

There were over thirty people who came out to watch the trains, have a bite to eat and socialize. There were diehard railfans, their wives and children and even a few nieces in the group. A big hit with the kids was the BNSF Police and their fully equipped SUV. It could be said that the number of trains

A (planned) visit by the BNSF Police was a hit with the kids. passing Kentucky Street is about as predictable as the weather. As it turned out, the weather ended up being a big factor in the number of trains we saw. Shortly before 4 o'clock tornado warnings were issued in Earle, AR and a high wind advisory was issued. Two stack train east of Kentucky Street dimmed their headlights to wait until the winds subsided.

With the skies darkening everything was taken down and stowed away shortly after four. But in the two hours we did get to see four or five trains, meet some folks and spend some time together. I'm anxious to do it again. Maybe the weather and trains will co-operate a little more next time.

CABOOSE

Southern Region, wood sheathed caboose GM&O 2849 Note the truss rod underframe David Johnston Photo Meeting Schedule October 18, 2011 (Tues.)

November 10,2011 (Thur.)

December 8, 2011 (Thur.)

New Meeting Location: 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