Paducah Chapter

National Railway Historical Society

November 2013 This month your editor does not have a

railroad related story to print in this your

publication. Normally I write this column

a week before it is sent to the printer.

This month however things did not pan out. Many of you know that I

work at Baptist Health here in Paducah. I

work with a very close knit group of six.

This last week of October our supervisor

was killed in a car accident in TN. This

was a major shock to our department.

Last week was just a blur and the deadline

for the newsletter came sneaking up on

me tonight.

Things should get back on track

for next month.

There is something else that has

weighed heavy on me. I am concerned

about the future of our organization. If

you are considering not renewing your

membership I would encourage you to

renew. Every member is vital to our or-

ganization and I would hate to see mem-

bers leave. I could get on a soap box here

but I won’t.

I will say it like this: Life is too short.

That being said there has been

some concern over officer elections. Offi-

cer elections are coming this Tuesday

night’s meeting (NOV 12th )for the 2014

calendar year.

The Board of directors recom-

mended the current slate of officers. This

does not make this an exclusive group

that must be elected. anyone is allowed

to nominate themselves or others for any

officer position. The body does not have

to elect any nominated person that the BOD nominated. The reason the BOD

comes up with a slate is that the bylaws

state the BOD must provide a slate.

Nominations are accepted from the floor,

If there are no nominations other than the

BOD nominations then the body votes to

keep the current officers in place.

The other reason the same offi-

cers are nominated year after year is that

no one else has had the time or wanted to

step up to the plate and be an officer. If you want to be an officer next year nomi-

nate yourself and we will have a vote. All

current members in attendance can nomi-

nate or vote.

The current slate of officers is

President…........…......Logan Blewett

Vice President…….......John Deming Secretary…..…......Charles Gibbons Historian…........……Jack Johnston

Treasurer..................Glen Pollender Program…....…...….…..Dick Kastas National Director.…..Bob Johnston

Directors…………..……...Dick Kastas, Charles Gibbons, Logan Blewett

A Message from the Museum Volun-

teer Coordinator

To all members, I want to thank you for your

time and effort in making this mu-

seum a wonderful place to learn great

history about the life and builder of

the railroad.

Let’s try to add members to this

happy museum family to make it a

greater place to enjoy history.

Thank you,

James Hartsfield

“"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best

friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to

read. “-Groucho Marx

Owney The mail pouch Pooch

Paducah & Gulf Painting

I received an email inquiring if anyone

knew any information on the artist that

may have painted the picture below.

It appears the artist’s name starts with an

“H” If anyone recognizes the artist le me

know so I can email the information.

If you need a bigger photo email me and I

will send you a copy of it.

Have an interesting story to tell about the

railroad or you adventure on it? Email it to me. We would love to print your story.

Why should I have all the fun, this is your

publication.

PAL: During most of the

month, at various times, there

were four of the SD 70MACs

around the Diesel Shop, 4517,

4518, 4519, and 4520, all let-

tered for Evansville Western

(EVRW)….FAR FROM

HOME-A picture posted on the

internet showed P&L GP40-3/

RoadMate 2103-2108 passing

Florence, Vermont on Septem-

ber 27th with a train of the Ver-

mont Railway. According to

reports, the set was there on a

trial arranged by National Rail-

way Equipment to help gener-

ate business for these mother-

slug rebuilds from the VR, and

also according to (unverified)

reports, the P&L’s lease pay-

ment for the units will be taken

out in paint jobs for the SD 70s

at VMV.

VMV: In addition to the usual

GMTX units (General Ameri-

can Locomotive Leasing is one

of VMV’s best customers)

some in new blue & white

paint and others rusty & fading,

the following are some of the

locomotives sighted during the

month: SD 40 1124 (no road

marks) in primer paint with a

“desert” type air filter on top;

Kiamichi Railroad SD 40s

3377, 3378, and 3380

(Kiamichi is a 261 mile R.R in

SE Ok., SW Ak, and NE TX);

also saw by the Paint Shop one

day, a locomotive in Genesee

& Wyoming (parent of

Kiamichi) paint with no letter-

ing, possibly the 3379; a Port-

land Western SD 40 3369; and

for some time there have been

several FURX green and silver

SD 40s that came off lease

some time back, sitting around.

SMALL WORLD: By acci-

dent, I happened to pick up a

copy of the Henderson (KY)

Business Journal Fall issue,

and read an article entitled “L

& N Bed & Breakfast.” It was

about a popular upscale Bed &

Breakfast in an old two story

brick house next to the CSX

(former L&N) tracks on the ap-

proach of the Ohio River Rail-

road Bridge. I asked my wife,

Ann, “Isn’t that your Aunt

Effie’s house?” It was! Her

Aunt Effie Vaughn had owned

the house many years ago; Ann

had visited there often when

she was young girl, and had

pointed it out to me whenever

we crossed the U.S. 41 Bridge

between Henderson and Evans-

ville. She said you got to where

you didn’t even hear the trains.

MARION (KY) RAIL

PLANT: On October 27th,

WPSD-TV Local Six News ran

a story on a $ 2 million dollar

expansion of the Siemens Rail

Automation Facility in Marion,

which will add 50 new jobs.

The ribbon cutting was at-

tended by Kentucky Governor

Steve Beshear and Kevin Rid-

dett, CEO of Siemens Freight

and Products Segment, Rail

Automation. The plant makes

components for rail electronics.

KY CROSSING GRANTS:

On October 23rd, Governor

Beshear announced $ 2.2 mil-

lion dollars in grants to help

fund safety improvements in 17

Kentucky counties. There are

105 projects at 99 locations,

including crossing reconstruc-

tion and improved signaling.

77 of the projects are to be car-

ried out by R. J. Corman, 22 by

Trans-Kentucky Transporta-

tion, and six by Paducah &

Louisville Railway. In related

news, on October 11th, P&L

closed the Little Ave intersec-

tion at Brown St. to replace the

rails at the crossing there. Be-

fore the Chester Hack Bridge

was built, it was the only en-

trance into Littleville, and was

often a source of controversy

when freight trains blocked fire

trucks or ambulances.

ST. LOUIS UNION STA-

TION: Many members may

have visited Union Station, ei-

ther the Mall or hotel, or possi-

bly the station itself. This

writer caught trains there sev-

eral times while in the Army in

the 50’s. Amtrak abandoned

Bob Johnston

Published monthly by the Paducah Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. Send your news, photos to:

Editor — Charles Gibbons

oldradiorepair@bellsouth.net

President…........…......Logan Blewett Vice President…….......John Deming

Secretary…..…......Charles Gibbons

Historian…........……Jack Johnston

Treasurer..................Glen Pollender

Program…....…...….…..Dick Kastas National Director.…..Bob Johnston

Directors…………..……...Dick Kastas, Charles Gibbons, Logan Blewett

Membership — Charles Gibbons 3409 Central Avenue, Paducah 42001

Roundhouse Notes

the station in 1971, and in 1985

it reopened as a Mall and hotel

after a $ 140 million renova-

tion. Business thrived for a

time, but then when into a de-

cline again. Now a new owner

is planning a $ 66.3 million

makeover, which will include

updates to the 114 year old

building, including updates to

the retail and office space, and

guest room refurbishment of

the 539 room hotel. A gift shop

and coffee shop will include a

model train display, and actor

John Goodman will narrate a $

1.6 million video display that

will tell the station’s history.

RECORD BREAKING:

Both passenger and freight rail-

roads did well in the 3rd quar-

ter, with Amtrak posting its

10th ridership record in 11 fis-

cal years with patronage up by

1% and revenue up 4.2% to

$2.1 billion…Six of the seven

Class I freight railroads also

did well with UP reporting best

over- all operating ratio of

64.8l; KCS had an 11% in-

crease in operating income

with operating ratio of 67.8;

NS operating revenue was

69.9, three points better than

the previous year, while CSX’s

operating ratio “slipped,” from

70.5 to 71.5 (lower is better

that higher in OR). Canadian

Pacific improved to 65.9, with

rival CN reporting an impres-

sive 59.8. Privately owned

(Warren Buffet) BNSF has not

yet reported. Most of the roads

report declines in coal and

grain revenues, and increases

in chemicals, minerals, general

merchandise and automotive.

BIG BOY UPDATE: As you

read this UP 4014 will be tak-

ing its first move onto panel

tracks at the fairgrounds in

Pomona, CA. Moving parts

will be rechecked to make sure

it is ready to move 5000 ft.

across the parking lot to reach

live tracks to begin its 1200

mile trip to Cheyenne, WY. for

rebuilding into active service.

This move will undoubtedly be

covered in detail by TRAINS

and much other media.

MUSEUM: The computer

showed 184 adults and children

for October; this is almost the

same as 188 last October and

reflects a seasonal decline…..

Mayor Gayle Kaler will read

the story of “Owney, the Mail

Pouch Pooch,” at 1:00 P.M

and 3:00 P.M. on November

9th at the museum, as part of

the Mayor’s Book Club.

Owney was the dog that rode

with postal workers on mail

trains all over the U.S. …Many

changes are underway pres-

ently in the museum and more

will be forth coming during the

winter break. John Maxfield is

tearing out the partitions in the

former model train area and

rewiring there. After discus-

sion, the museum committee

recommended replacing the

carpet in the front portion of

the museum. It is many years

old (no one knows how many)

and any type of cleaning disin-

tegrates it. Alternatives were

considered such as removing

the carpet, scraping the floor,

and painting the concrete, but

this would also be expensive

and time consuming. Since

everything will have to be

moved out for the work, Cura-

tor Amy Blewett has plans to

rearrange displays, including

moving the gift shop. John

Maxfield is also planning pre-

liminary work on installing an

“O: gauge model train layout,

and some equipment has been

purchased. All of this will re-

quire much planning and coor-

dination but it appears it can be

done, and it is believed that it

will make the museum more

attractive and functional.

SAVE THE DATE: Our

chapter annual Christmas Din-

ner will be on the regular meet-

ing date, December 10th ,at 6:30

PM at Ryan’s Steak House.

Come and bring a friend and/or

Significant Other.

Roundhouse Notes

% Charles Gibbons

3409 Central Ave

Paducah KY 42001

Gosh! Its almost time for

the meeting! We sure

don’t want to miss it.

TUESDAY

November 12th

7 PM

MCCRACKEN

COUNTY

LIBRARY

SECOND FLOOR

P&L engines on the Vermont Railway. Photo by Kevin Burkholder as featured on

Railpictures.net