Today, the Lickey  is crested with ease by most modern diesel electric locomotives.  But in the previous century steam locomotives did not cope well with the grade and a successful run up the Lickey was only assured by the use of a banking locomotive or by double-heading.

800px Heavy Oil Train Running The Lickey

Some modern diesel powered trains still require the assistance of a banking engine to ensure that the train reaches the crest of the Lickey.

The two miles, between Bromsgrove and Blackwell on the railway line have become a train spotting favorite with Britons. The scenic Lickey Incline between Birmingham and Gloucester is not only the steepest sustained adhesion-worked gradient on the British railway system, it is the most visited. It climbs into Birmingham from the south over an area of the exposed Bunter geological formation and passes about a mile and a half away from the Lickey Hills, a well-known royal hunting reserve, once belonging to the Manor of Bromsgrove, now a part of the local Country Park System.

Perhaps a different  more level route could have been taken for this section of the lines righ-of-way. As it turns out, although there are steeper raiway climbs elsewhere, the Lickey has acquired a mystique all of its own. Most notably because of  the bankers that assist in the three and a half mile climb. Each year legendary Brittish steam engines are put into service for tourist excursions over the Lickey right-of-way to “storm” the gradient with or without a banker helper.

To assist trains up the incline and in some cases to provide additional braking, particularly to unfitted freights, the specialised banking engines were kept at Bromsgrove train shed at the foot of the notorious incline.

The first locomotives used as bankers were American made Norris 4-2-0′s. Based in Philidelphia, the Norris Locomotive Works 4-2-0 arrangement was popular with early European railways. In total the railway acquired twenty-six 4-2-0′s . The last nine were built in England, three by Benjamin Hick & Sons and six by Nasmyth, Gaskell & Company. The last one of the 4-2-0′s was removed from service in 1856.

Around 1845 a large 0-6-0ST, the Great Britain, was built in Bromsgrove Works. The first 1377 Class 1F’s, and later the 2441 Class 0-6-0T’s were used as bankers on the route.

In 1919, the Midland Railway built a special banking engine nicknamed Big Bertha, a massive 0-10-0, No 2290, to complement the existing 0-6-0′s.

0-10-0 Big-Bertha Banker Engine

Big Bertha, designed by James Clayton and built by Derby Works generated a tractive effort of some 43,300lbf and weighed in at 107 tons with wheels 1.4m in. The Big Bertha ended its service in 1956 and was replaced by British a Railways Standard Class 9F No. 92079

The railroad line was opened in sections starting with a 31 miles long stretch from the Company workshops at Bromsgrove to Cheltenham in June 1840. Bromsgrove to Cofton Farm opened in September of the same year with Cofton Farm to the Camp Hill, Birmingham terminal station opening in December. The Camp Hill station was  closed when a link was made into the Curzon Street station of the London & Birmingham Railway in August 1841 and to Birmingham New Street from 1854. The B&GR became a part of the Midland Railway in 1846.

Moose Tracks – Glossary Of the Road

Every G-Scaler is the reincarnation of their childhood ambition to be a railroad person whether an engineer, fireman, brakeman or conductor. Perhaps the chuff of steam and the roar of diesel linger long after childhood, reaching out to bring us back to a simpler time when a word or two conveyed a quick capsulated description. The language of the road. It has crept into the American lexicon in bits and pieces and is imbedded in our everyday speech. Many of the terms have fallen into disuse but a true G-Scaler needs them all to describe the action along the right-of-way circling the back yard.

Here then for your use is the twelfth installment of a monthly series taking a look at railroad vernacular. A glossary listing one railroad phrase at a time from A to Z.

This Month – Runt to Soft-Diamond Special

RUNT—Dwarf signal

RUST or STREAK O’ RUST—Railroad

RUST PILE—Old locomotive

RUSTLING THE BUMS—Searching a freight train for hobos. In bygone days it was common practice for trainmen to collect money from freight-riding ‘bos, often at the rate of a dollar a division

SADDLE—First stop of freight car, under the lowest grab iron

SANDHOG—Laborer who works in a caisson tunneling under a river, boring either a railroad tunnel, subway, or highway tunnel

SAP—Same as brake club; also called the staff of ignorance. To set hand brakes is to sap up some binders

SAWBONES—Company doctor

SAW BY—Slow complicated operation whereby one train passes another on a single-track railroad when the other is on a siding too short to hold the entire train. Saw by is applied to any move through switches or through connecting switches that is necessitated by one train passing another

SCAB—Nonunion workman; also car not equipped with automatic air system. (See nonair)

SCIZZOR-BILL—Uncomplimentary term referring to yard or road brakemen and students in train service

SCOOP—Fireman’s shovel. Also the step on front and rear ends of switch engines

SCOOT—Shuttle train

SCRAP PILE—Worn-out locomotive that is still in service

SEAT HOG—Passenger who monopolizes more than one seat in a car or station waiting room while others are standing. Such pests usually spread luggage, packages, or lunch over adjacent seats

SEASHORE—Sand used in sand dome. Also applied to coal that is mixed with sand

SECRET WORKS—Automatic air-brake application. Also the draft timbers and drawbar of a car, when extracted by force. If only the drawbar is pulled out, you say, “We got a lung,” but if the draft timbers comewith it, you say, “We got the whole damn secret works”

SENIORITY GRABBER—Railroad employee who is glad when someone above him dies, gets killed, is fired, or resigns, so he can move up the seniority list to a better job

SEPARATION—The sorting of mail sacks and parcels within the storage car before transferring to trucks

SERVICE APPLICATION —Gradual speed reduction, as contrasted with emergency stop caused by wiping the clock

SETTING UP—Loading a baggage car with mail and parcels according to a prearranged plan to facilitate rapid unloading at various stations along the line

SETUP—Four to six hand trucks placed in formation beside the door of a storage car to facilitate the separation of the mail and parcels being unloaded. Each truck is loaded with matter to be transferred to other trains or to the R.P.O. (Railway Post Office) terminal office

SHACK—Brakeman, occupant of caboose. Shacks master is a conductor SHAKE ‘EM UP-Switching

SHAKING THE TRAIN—Putting on air brakes in emergency

SHANTY—Caboose

SHINER—Brakeman’s or switchman’s lantern

SHINING TIME—Starting time (probably from old Negro spiritual “Rise and Shine”)

SHOO-FLY—Temporary track, usually built around a flooded area, a wreck, or other obstacle; sometimes built merely to facilitate a rerailing

SHORT FLAGGING—Flagman not far enough from his train to protect it. (See drawbar flagging)

SHORT LOADS—Cars consigned to points between division points and set out on sidings at their destinations. Also called shorts

SHORT-TIME CREW—Crew working overtime but not yet affected by the sixteen-hour law. (See dogcatchers)

SHUFFLE THE DECK—Switch cars onto house tracks at every station you pass on your run

SHUNTING BOILER—Switch engine

SIDE-DOOR PULLMAN—Boxcar used by hobos in stealing rides

SKATE—Shoe placed on rail in hump yard to stop cars with defective brakes

SKIN YOUR EYE—Engineer’s warning to man on left side of cab when approaching curve

SKIPPER—Conductor

SKYROCKETS—Red-hot cinders from smokestack

SLAVE DRIVER—Yardmaster. Also any rawhider

SLING MORSE—Work as telegraph operator

SLIPS, CAR OR TRAIN OF—Car or train of bananas

SLOW BOARD—See board

SLUG—Heavy fire in locomotive firebox

SLUGS—A shipment of magazines, catalogues, or automobile-license plates in small mail sacks weighing approximately 100 pounds each

SMART ALECK—Passenger conductor

SMOKE or SMOKE AGENT - Locomotive fireman. Smoker is engine or firebox. Smoking ‘em or running on smoke orders is a dangerous method, now obsolete, of running a train from one station or siding to another without orders from the dispatcher. You moved cautiously, continually watching for the smoke of any train that might be approaching you on the same track

Railroad Switchman

SNAKE—Switchman,Switchman, so named from the large serpentine letter S on membership pins of the Switchman’s Union of North America. Sometimes called reptile or serpent

SNAKEHEAD—A rail that comes loose from the ties and pierces the floor of a car; a fairly common accident with the strap-iron rails of a century ago

SNAP—Push or pull with another engine. Snapper is the engine that does the pulling

SNIPE—Track laborer. His boss is a king snipe

SNOOZER—Pullman sleeping car

SNUFF DIPPERS—Coal-burning engines that burn lignite (which, on the Missouri Pacific at least, is the same color as snuff)

SOAK—Saturated locomotive

SODA JERKER—Locomotive fireman

SOFT BELLIES—Wooden frame cars

SOFT-DIAMOND SPECIAL—Coal train

Next Month – Soft Plug to Thirty

*This Glossary of Railroad Lingo is from Railroad Avenue, by Freeman H. Hubbard, published in 1945,with additional contributions from B. W. Allen BNSF Locomotive Engineer, F. W. Smoter and A. L. Gengler. Most of the jargon is from the Steam Era and early Diesel Era. Many of these slang phrases continue in common use today.

Which ones do you use?

The garden has over 164 running feet of track on its right-of-way, with 11 switches, one crossing , two bridges, several tunnels, two stations and an engine house. All of which  Jeri uses to test and show his hand built models. The track is powered by both analog and LGB digital and is also used to show off steam power too.

Jeri’s latest creation for his garden railway is a hard working 1/32 scale model of rotary snow blower, patterned after the 0-6-6-0 RhB Xrot 9213 that was built in 1910 by the Swiss Bernina railroad.

Rotary Component

Assembled

Blower Parts

Each part of the rotary was hand crafted and assembled in Jeri’s home workshop. The fine detail of his work shows in the exceptional performance of the snow-blower after an early winter snowfall as the model takes care of the snow cover on the garden right-of-way.

Along with keeping busy with the creation his many hand built models, Jeri has been instermental in establishing the SMPD steam enthusiasts club – The Morovian Park Rairoad Company – at Olympia Center – in his home town of Brno.

For full details of Jeri’s rotary snow blower: http://steamer.cz/mod_freza.html

December 2011 Meeting Minutes

The December Meeting and Holiday Party were held on Saturday the 17th at Taltree Station in Valparaiso Indiana. There were 24 members present.
Dave Ransom called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

Everyone was welcomed to the Holiday Party and December Meeting.

Dave Ransom Reported:

• Thank you to Jim & Barb Melton and Damien & Rita Gabis for hosting tonight’s Holiday Celebration. As always what a great place to come together to celebrate this wonderful holiday season. Everyone had brought such a great variety of delicious food, Thank You all !
• Thanks again to Max & Fran Samuelson for hosting the November meeting.
• Thank you all for the very generous donations made to Toys for Tots on behalf of the members of the IGRS. A nice effort that hopefully provided some Christmas Joy for deserving children. A squeal of happiness on Christmas morning is quite a gift to give. The IGRS has a kind and giving heart.
•  A warm welcome to our new members, Dave and Roz Besterman.
• Rex, Pat and Alex Appel were unable to attend this evening as Alex and his classmates were competing in the State Finals for the “We the People” competition.
• The October Meeting minutes were approved. The minutes were sent to the Membership and posted on the web site the day before the November Meeting. So as to give all members to review the minutes, it was decided to have approval at the December meeting. Thank you to Rex Appel for preparing the minutes and Al Gengler for posting them on the Website.
• The November Meeting minutes were approved as sent to the Membership and posted on the web site. Thank you to Rex Appel for preparing the minutes and Al Gengler for posting them on the Website.

Portable Layout Disposal Update:

• The Portable Layout was listed on E-Bay. There were no bids placed.
• The layout was offered to any IGRS member for $700. There has been one bid on it. The Board will now consider the terms.

Treasurer’s Report, Don Hewlett:

Don Hewlett presented the Treasurer’s Report. The current balance also reflects the recent purchase of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends sets and associated engines and cars. Al Gengler suggested fitting sound systems to the engines. Al will determine costs and the Board will review. Any member may have a copy of the Bank Statement by requesting it from Don Hewlett or any Board Member.

Outdoor Layout Report, Dave Ransom:

• The Indiana Large Scale Railroaders Club Invitation Reminder:
• Remember the 4-Club tour of layouts in the Indianapolis area on July 14th 2012. The IGRS will participate with four other clubs from Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton Ohio area. More details will be provided as we get closer to this date. Our hosts, the ILSR, are asking for a tentative head count for their planning purposes. Please e-mail Dave Ransom or Rex Appel with your tentative plan to attend. As we determine how many are going to go we might consider a vehicle rental. www.indylargescaler.org

Building Committee Report, Phil Bachman:

• We still have buildings that need to be repaired. Please contact Phil Bachman if you would like to take on a repair project this winter.
• Al Gengler continues to clean and fix up building in need of repair. Thank you very much Al for your extra effort.
• George Sarver is building a new fire station for Franville. Thank you very much Chief Sarver!
• During the last meeting it was noted that there was a set of (12) LGB Catenaries on E-Bay. Al Gengler was successful in purchasing them on behalf of the IGRS. Thank you Al.

Special Events for 2012:

• We will be having a Thomas and Friends Day at the Outdoor Layout on June 9, 2012. The Board approved the purchase of a new Bachman Thomas Set, James Set, Percy and a hand car. This will be a great day for the kids. We will have hot dogs and drinks available for a donation of $1.50. We are looking for Thomas DVD’s and music CD’s. If you have any that you could loan to us for a day that would be appreciated. There will be more information as we get closer as well as advertising to let the general public know.
• Another special event day that is being planned is an Egg Liner day. The Ladies of the IGRS will be scheduling and decorating the liners. This committee will be lead by the 1st Lady of the IGRS, Barb Ransom. The date for this has yet to be set. We will also be looking for who has Egg Liners by Aristo-Craft to determine how many can be brought together. Please Let us know if you can participate with an Egg Liner. The ladies will be meeting during our regular Club Meeting to discuss the details.

Taltree Report, Jim Melton:

• Taltree is now closed for the season and the garden and railway are asleep.
• The garden night lights are solar Christmas displays.

2012 National Garden Train Convention Report, George Sarver:

• The convention is scheduled for August 14 thru August 19 2012.
• Visit the National Convention website for more information: www.2012ngrc.com
• The IGRS Outdoor Layout is going to be on the drive by list in the program. We still need to determine the exact level of operations, what times we will be operating and develop a list of who can volunteer to operate trains.

Club Wear Update, George Sarver:

• A new clothing order form is being worked on.
• Shirts are for sale.
• Hats are $20 with a train logo and $16 with the Bull Moose logo.
• Please contact George if you have any questions concerning purchasing shirts or hats. George will provide you with an order form. We have polo’s and t-shirts available.

Website Report, Al Gengler:

• Al continues to solicit advertising to support the web site. Advertising will run approximately 10 cents per day.
•  We are seeing between 120 and 150 hits per day on the site. Not bad!

General Discussion:

•  During the October meeting there was a discussion concerning restoring the “Associate Membership”. The members present were in favor of this and no other members have to date voiced any concern or opposition to this. The Board will present a proposal for this during the March meeting.
• Don’t forget that the IGRS Board has set aside the 3rd Wednesday of every month for the monthly Board Meeting. The location can very. If you would like to sit in please feel free to. The location does vary from month to month so give any Board Member a call if you would like to attend.
• The dismantling of the George Janjecic layout is complete. Removal of the lumber from the basement is the last task.
• As a gift from the Board to all the members a 2012 Calendar was handed out showcasing many of our member layouts and equipment running on the Outdoor. The Board hopes it will bring a smile to your face though the coming year. Thank you Dave Ransom for designing the calendars. Dave and Rex Appel worked together to print and bind them.

Next Meetings:

• There are no formal meetings for January and February. In place of these we will have our usual informal Movie Nights.
• January Movie Night will be on Tuesday the 24th at the Valparaiso Library from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. These are posted on the website and announcement sent out as we get closer.
• Tentatively the March Meeting will be held also at the Valparaiso Library.
• If anyone would like to host a meeting please contact Dave Ransom by phone or e-mail.

A motion was made by Andy Sunderland to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Don Hewlett. The Meeting was adjourned at 7:25.

PS:

• A special thank you, from Rex Appel to Phil Bachman, for recording the minutes. Thank you Phil.
• And a few snapshots taken during the IGRS Christmas party

• The annual raffle was held. Everyone walked away with a prize. Thank You to all the members for the large variety of prizes. Thank You also to the IGRS Board for their assistance in the drawing and distribution of the prizes.
• It was decided by the members present to pass on a sing along this year.

A Personal Note from the President:

This society is a great group of people that are willing to pitch in and help out in all of our many endeavors. I also have the great privilege to be working with a board of directors that bring together their knowledge and experience to make this club fun and entertaining.

After all, we are all here to have FUN !

A Merry Christmas

and

Happy Holiday’s to all!

Respectfully submitted,
Rex Appel
IGRS Secretary
January 8, 2012

Jon DeKeles’ Garden Trains LSOL is a many faceted internet magazine dedicated to G-Scale enthusiasts. It is the oldest and most comprehensive magazine of its type, with over fifty online issues a year. It has informative feature articles about large scale products, new railway garden ideas, professionally written, and a full array of subscriber services including a one-on-one information hot line to help subscribers solve garden railway problems.

Garden Trains: Bachmann Log Skidder on Flat Car

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The LSOL magazine includes an individual subscriber blog section as well as a terrific subscriber on-line video presentation section, with daily – almost minute by minute updates. The online magazine also covers all of the major large scale shows, acting as the eyes and ears of its membership on the national and international trends of manufacturing within the industry. The Garden Trains LSOL archives have almost one- hundred thousand photographs of garden railroads and products available for review.

More information on subscriber services: www.largescaleonline.com

Every G-Scaler is the reincarnation of their childhood ambition to be a railroad person whether an engineer, fireman, brakeman or conductor. Perhaps the chuff of steam and the roar of diesel linger long after childhood, reaching out to bring us back to a simpler time when a word or two conveyed a quick capsulated description. The language of the road. It has crept into the American lexicon in bits and pieces and is imbedded in our everyday speech. Many of the terms have fallen into disuse but a true G-Scaler needs them all to describe the action along the right-of-way circling the back yard.

Here then for your use is the eleventh installment of a monthly series taking a look at railroad vernacular. A glossary listing one railroad phrase at a time from A to Z.

This Month – Pound Her to Runner

POUND HER—Work a locomotive to its full capacity

POUNDING THEIR EARS—Sleeping, making hay

PUD—Pick up and delivery service

PULLER—Switch engine hauling cars from one yard to another at the same terminal. Also the operator of an electric truck that transfers baggage and mail around a terminal

PULL FREIGHT—To leave or to give up a job

PULL THE AIR—Set brakes by opening conductor’s valve or angle cock

PULL THE CALF’S TAIL—Yank the whistle cord

PULL THE PIN—Uncouple a car by pulling up the coupling pin. A boomer expression meaning to resign or quit a job

PURE-FOOD LAW—See dogcatchers

PUSHER—Extra engine or engines on rear of train, usually placed there to assist in climbing a grade.  Here’s a set of  SD40E’s assisting a long black snake up an upgrade.

PUSSYFOOTER—Railroad policeman

PUT ‘ER ON—Make a reduction in air in the train’s braking system. Put ‘er all on means apply emergency brake, more commonly described as big-holing her

PUT ON THE NOSEBAG—Eat a meal

QUILL— Railroad Engine steam whistle (term used especially in the South)

QUILLING—Personalized technique of blowing a locomotive whistle, applicable only in the days before the whistles became standardized

RABBIT—A derail; an arrangement for preventing serious wrecks by sidetracking runaway trains, cars, or locomotives on a downgrade. Unlike regular sidetracks, the derail ends relatively abruptly on flat trackless land instead of curving back onto the main line. The term rabbit is applied to this device because of the timidity involved

RACE TRACK—Straight and flat stretch of track upon which an engineer can safely make unusually high speed. Also parallel stretches of track of two competing railroads upon which rival trains race one another (contrary to company rules but much to the delight of enginemen, trainmen, and passengers, and perhaps to the secret delight of some officials)

RAG-WAVER— Flagman (rail)

RAIL—Any railroad employee

RAILFAN—Anyone who makes a hobby of railroading

RAP THE STACK—Give your locomotive a wide-open throttle, make more speed. Rapper is an engineer who works his engine too hard

RATTLE HER HOCKS—Get speed out of an engine

RATTLER—Freight train

RAWHIDER—Official, or any employee, who is especially hard on men or equipment, or both, with which he works. A rawhider, or slave driver, delights in causing someone to do more than his share of work. Running too fast when picking up a man on the footboard, or making a quick stop just short of him when he is expecting to step on, so that he has to walk back, are two ways it is done; but there are almost as many ways of rawhiding as there are different situations

REAL ESTATE—Poor coal mixed with dirt or slag. When mixed with sand it is called seashore

RED BOARD—Stop signal

REDBALL, BALL OF FIRE—Fast freight train,

REDCAP—Station porter. Term coined about 1900 by George H. Daniels, New York Central publicist

RED EYE—Same as red board; also liquor

RED ONION—Eating house or sleeping quarters for railroad men

REEFER or RIFF—Refrigerator car

REPTILE—See snake

RETAINER—Small valve located near brake wheel for drawing off and holding air on cars. (Retainers often figure prominently in true tales and fiction stories about runaway cars on trains)

RIDIN’ ‘EM HIGH—Traveling on tops of boxcars

RIDIN’ THE RODS—An old-time hobo practice, now virtually obsolete. The hobo would place a board across truss rods under a car and ride on it. This was very dangerous even in pleasant weather, and the possibility was ever present that you might doze, get careless, become too cramped, or lose your nerve-and roll under the wheels

RIDING THE POINT—Riding a locomotive, point referring to shape of pilot

RIGHT-HAND SIDE—Engineer’s side of cab (on nearly all North American roads). Left-hand side is fireman’s side. When a fireman is promoted he is set up to the right-hand side

RINGMASTER—Yardmaster

RIPRAP—Loose pieces of heavy stone or masonry used in some places to protect roadbeds from water erosion

RIP-TRACK—Minor repair track or car-repair department. RIP means repair

RIVET BUSTER—Boilermaker

ROAD HOG—Any large motor vehicle on a highway, especially intercity trailer trucks and busses that cut into railroad freight and passenger revenue

ROOFED—Caught in close clearance

ROOF GARDEN—Mallet-type locomotive or any helper engine on a mountain job. Sometimes called sacred ox

ROUGHNECK—Freight brakeman

RUBBERNECK CAR—Observation car

RULE G—”The use of intoxicants or narcotics is prohibited”—one of twelve general rules in standard code adopted by Association of American Railroads, based upon previous regulations made by individual companies. Countless thousands of railroad men, especially boomers, have been discharged for violation of Rule G; not because of railroads’ objection to liquor itself but because a man under the influence of liquor is not to be trusted in a job involving human lives and property

RUN—The train to which a man is assigned is his run

RUN-AROUND—If it is a man’s turn to work and he is not called, he may claim pay for the work he missed. He has been given the run-around

RUN-IN—A collision; an argument or fight

RUN LIGHT—For an engine to run on the tracks without any cars

RUNNER—Railroad locomotive engineer

Next Month – Runt To Soft Diamond Special

*This Glossary of Railroad Lingo is from Railroad Avenue, by Freeman H. Hubbard, published in 1945,with additional contributions from B. W. Allen BNSF Locomotive Engineer, F. W. Smoter and A. L. Gengler. Most of the jargon is from the Steam Era and early Diesel Era. Many of these slang phrases continue in common use today.

Which ones do you use?

A grandfather I know has a pleasant and still shining memory from his first Christmas in his family’s new home.

He was not quite six years old that Christmas morning, standing in wonder and anticipation at the top of the second-floor staircase. The staircase was enclosed and had a right angle at the bottom, so, as he looked down, he couldn’t see into the rooms below, but only the glow of a wonderfully warm orange light. At the same time, he could hear a hollow roaring sound that had probably awakened him. It made him a bit afraid, but the beautiful glow gave him confidence, and so he started down, one step after another in bare feet and pajamas.

He could smell the sweet balsam of the Christmas tree even before he reached the bottom of the stairs and turned toward the middle room. Even today, the memory is so strong and so good it almost makes him cry out in joy. The room below was full of warm-colored light and full of the Christmas tree. The tree stood on a plywood platform nearly as high as his chin. Round red, green, blue and gold ornaments – they must have been four inches across – reflected the light and made tiny but magically beautiful pictures of the room and everything in it. The platform and tree sat in the bay window, and, as he took one step and then another, making his way slowly as far as he could around the platform, he saw shining glass pine cones, red ceramic bells, an ornament shaped like Santa Claus, pinwheels in tiny circus tents that hung over the glowing Christmas lights so they would spin, and fantastically thin fluted shapes in red, orange, yellow and green blown glass. Silver icicles stirred softly and made the tree shimmer. From its very top a lighted red star shone brightly.

But best of all was the electric train. That was what had caused the roaring noise – the train running round and round beneath the tree on the wooden platform. It was a Lionel, and it had a puffing steam engine up front and a sprightly red caboose at the end. In between was a yellow boxcar with sliding doors, an oil tank car with the same realistic kind of ladders that he saw whenever his mother took him to town past the roundhouse and the railroad tracks, a low-slung gondola car, and a black coal car like the ones he saw all the time moving through town on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. A white sheet covered the foot of the tree, creating snowy mountains that the train had to make its way around. On the flat green surface of the platform, farmers worked beside a hay wagon; girls carried buckets of milk from the barn; cows and pink pigs grazed on the green felt grass. Automobiles and trucks ran along a gravel road on their way to the train station, and a flagman stood at one of the railroad crossings.

The Christmas Train Under The Tree

The grandfather who was once a little boy still smiles when he thinks of his mother and father. The custom in their house was that they would not put up the Christmas tree until after he and his baby sister had gone to bed. He realizes now that his mother and father must have worked through the night on the tree and the platform and the train and the trimming of it all. They probably had just gone to bed when he woke up. And, knowing all that, he knows how much they loved him.

Augeste & Louis Lumiere

The first public exhibition of motion pictures occurred on December 28, 1895 when Auguste and Louis Lumière  exhibited a selection of ten of their single-reel films to a paying audience at a Parisian cafe. The first reel shown was titled  Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat.” It is considered to be the first motion picture in modern history.

Although it was more of  an experiment by the Lumiere brothers to use their cinematographe film projector as entertainment,  it was the first motion picture to show a moving railroad train. Most of the cast in the film were members of the Lumiere family and employees of the Lumiere factory. The short film shows a train arriving at a passenger station, nothing more.

Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-nighter audience fled the cafe in terror, fearing being run over by the approaching train.

Although no one will ever arrive at a definitive answer about who invented cinima (probably because no single person was responsible) Louis Lumiere has one of the strongest claims because he and his brother Auguste invented the cinematographe, a machine that combined the functions of a camera and a projector. Their invention, partented by the Lumiere’s in February 1894, was able to project moving pictures onto a screen for viewing by an audience

In an interesting twist of new technologies, the Lumiere brothers first film was a significant moment that captured forever the affect that the railroad train would have on the world. More than any other technical design or social institution, the railroad train stands for modernity. No competing form of transport, no subsequent technological innovation, no other industry has wrought or facilitated change on the scale that has been brought about by the invention and then the  adoption of the first locomotive steam engine. The Brittish historian, Peter Laslett, once referred to “the world we have lost”— the unimaginably different character of things as they once were before the arrival of the Iron Horse.

Try to think of a world before the railroad lines and the meaning of distance and the demand it imposed 0n a traveler’s time.  It took days, weeks and months to travel any great distance, for example from Paris to Rome. The means employed to do so had changed little in the two millennia before the advent of the railroad, including the limits placed on economic activity and human life by the impossibility of moving food, goods, and people in large numbers or at any speed in excess of ten miles per hour.

Before the railroads broadened the scope of the common man, knowledge, whether cultural, social or political was for the most part localized. In part this was a function of restricted perception.

Imagine how different the world looked to men and women before the coming of the railroad.  Until the 1830′s, few people knew what unfamiliar landscapes, distant towns, or foreign lands looked like because they had no opportunity or reason to visit them. The world before the railroads appeared was very different from what came afterward and from what we know today. The railroads did more than just facilitate travel they changed the way the world was seen and depicted. The mighty steam locomotives on gleaming ribbons of track transformed the very landscape of the world itself.

During the construction of the railroad, wedge  snowplows pushed by locomotives were used to clear the track, but soon they were found to be inadequate. So in 1898, the WP&YR bought steam rotary snowplow #1 from the Cooke Locomotive Works. The rotary plow was able to work in up to ten feet of snow. Its self contained boiler provided the steam to spin the front rotary. Steam rotary engines are not autonomous and have to be pushed by several locomotives, often as many as  three or more  through heavy snow.

After a thirty year retirement rotary snowplow #1 was renovated in 1996 and is now again operational.  In the spring of 2011 at Ptarmigan Point, just north of Fraser, British Columbia, rotary snowplow #1 was used to open the line. Pushed by  consolidation locomotive  #40,  it constituted a 100% steam powered snow removal train.  It continues to be used to clear the line in early spring for the opening of the tourist season.

The first rotary plow was concieved in 1869 by a Toronto, Canada dentist Dr. J.W. Elliot. His perimative design, resembling a a fan mounted on freight car trucks, was never built.

Several other plow ideas also died a similar death. Some were built in prototype form and scrapped, others never were built. These included the Hawley plow, the Marshall plow, the Blake Machine Plow and the Kryger steam snow shovel.

The first successful rotary plow was designed by Canadian Orange
Jull. Jull had a prototype built by the Leslie Brothers, owners of a machine shop
in Ontario Canada.

Edward Leslie With A Model Of the Jull Rotary Snowplow

The rotery was tested during the winter of 1883-84. Edward Leslie was so impressed by the performance of Jull’s  Rotary design  that he convinced his brother John to purchased the
manufacturing rights to the plow and the two went into business of building Leslie
type steam rotaries.

This is the type of plow most people think of when you say rotary. The new rotary was a wheel with two rows of tilting blades which chopped up the snow and drew it into a second rotating fan which in turn threw the snowclear of the right-of-way through an overhead chute. The wheel and fan were driven by a pair of steam cylinders recieving steam from a boiler mounted in the same car body. The plow required a one or more locomotives to push it through the snow.

Between 1885 and 1903 the Leslie Company built 64 plows which including two for exportat several different locomotive works. They then sold the rights to the Rotery Plow to ALCo. From 1905 to 1937 ALCo built 67 plows for use on Americna railroads and another four for export.

Two homebuilt, 42 inch gauge Leslie plows were built by Reid Newfoundland Company. Lima-Hamilton built the last four commercially produced steam rotaries, the last commercial Leslie types, in 1950, under license from ALCo.

Michigan Central Rotary

Northern Pacific Rotary

Cumbres & Toltec Rotary

LIRR Rotary

LIRR Rotary

Oregon Short-line Rotary

Canadian National Rotary

Alaskan Rotary

French Dual Rotor Rotary

Five additional home-built Leslie type rotaries, four diesel and one electric were built between 1950 and 1971 the last Leslie type roteries built.

BNSF Diesel Rotary

Over the years Leslie rotary plows were built in US Standard Gauge, 3 foot gauge, narrow 42inch gauge, and several other gauges for export. Of the Leslie type plows, there are 44 left.  Several steam powered rotaries continue  in operation on scenic tourist  railroads but most of the remaining plow  are attractions at various railroad museums. The company founded by the Leslie brothers remains in business to this day.

The November Meeting was held on Tuesday the 22nd at the home of Max & Fran Samuelson in Valparaiso Indiana. There were 17 members present.

Dave Ransom called the meeting to order at 7:07 PM.

Everyone was welcomed to the November Meeting.

Dave Ransom Reported:

•  Thank you to Max & Fran Samuelson for hosting tonight’s meeting. They also provided the delicious salad. The IGRS Board provided the Pizza (AJ’s Pizza), pop and water. Thank you Alex Appel for helping to pick up the pizza and delivering it to Fran’s kitchen.
• Thanks again to Max & Fran Samuelson for hosting the October meeting.
• The Board would like to thank Deane Janjecic and Marcy Janjecic for the $100 donation to the IGRS.
• The October Meeting minutes were sent to the membership & posted on the web-site Monday 11-21, 2011. The approval will be done at the December meeting. Thank you to Rex Appel for preparing the minutes and Al Gengler for posting them on the Website.

Portable Layout Disposal Update:

• As you will recall from last month Valparaiso Hobby was unable to use it after their recent remodel.
• Don Hewlett has prepared a proposal placing a value on the tables, track, switches and transformer which he presented to the board. As described the proposal sets a value of $700 on the layout. Not include in this proposal is the trestles ($500) and the carts ($300).
  

  IGRS Portable Layout Schematic

  The original proposal of a year ago was $3,000 but it did include the carts and some of the buildings.

•  The plan is to offer the Portable Layout to the membership as described above. Dave Ransom will send out an e-mail with more detailed bidding instructions in the next week or two. If there are (2) or more interested parties then there will be a silent one time bid and the layout will go to the highest bidder.

Christmas Party Clarification:

• Last names ending A – H will bring a side salad or dish.
• Last names ending I – Z will bring a desert. Don Hewlett presented the Treasurer’s Report. Any member may have a copy of the Bank Statement by requesting it from Don Hewlett or any Board Member.

Outdoor Layout Report by Dave Ransom:

• Thanks again to all the members who participated on their assigned Saturdays and especially those who responded to members in needing to switch days. We look forward to fun in 2012.
• The Indiana Large Scale Railroaders Club Invitation Update:
• Mark your calendars for the 4-Club tour of layouts in the Indianapolis area on July 14th 2012. The IGRS will participate with four other clubs from Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton Ohio area. More details will be provided as we get closer to this date. Please start thinking about your interest in making this trip as the ILSR has requested a tentative head count for their planning purposes. Please e-mail Dave Ransom or Rex Appel with your tentative plan to attend. As we determine how many are going to go we might consider a vehicle rental. www.indylargescaler.org

Signal Committee Progress:

• The signal pole was set on October 29th with cross bucks, bell and light mounts installed.
•  Some additional work must be done on the lights before they are installed on the mounts.

Building Committee Report Phil Bachman:

• The winterization of the Outdoor Layout was completed on Saturday November 5th. Thank you Al Gengler for arriving early and setting all the buildings on the retaining wall. It made their storage much quicker and probably saved some repairs. Thank you Max Samuelson for the clean up and sweeping in the garage. (Fran Samuelson was a bit surprised to hear that Max had used a broom! Hmmm is the Samuelson garage next?)
•  One table has buildings on it that need repaired. If you are interested in lending a hand with the Building Committee please pick one up. Make sure you e-mail or call Phil Bachman and let him know which building you have and if there is anything you need for the repairs. Al Gengler has already taken (6) buildings home for repair and has almost finished with them. YIKES! Way to go Al!
• We will also be planning one or two repair days over the winter. The Board will work out the details and what supplies will be needed and then schedule the days.
• There are (2) items on e-bay that might interest the Society. The first is set of (12) LGB catenaries that we could use on the trolley line. Due to the age of the existing they are breaking frequently and getting more difficult to repair. Al has made a heroic effort here to keep them in one piece. They are on line for $125. The Board authorized Al to attempt to purchase them if they are still available. Next is a Gas Station like the one we currently have on the layout. It is on line for $149. The Board passed on this. Max mentioned that he has one from his old outdoor and we could consider that. Jonathon Creutzburg mentioned that he had seen a metal one on e-bay that would certainly weather better.
• Al Gengler suggested that a start up plan would be helpful for the 2012 season Outdoor set up. In particular attention to leveling track and ballast in advance of setting any buildings back in place would be very wise. Also with the 2012 National Convention visitations, we want the very best in layout performance.

Special Events for 2012:

•  We will be having a Thomas and Friends Day at the Outdoor Layout on June 9, 2012.
  

  Thomas The Train

  The Board approved the purchase of a new Bachman Thomas Set, James Set, Percy and a hand car. We will have Thomas whistles to give the first groups of children to arrive. The Board will review having hot dogs and drinks available. We may also have a Thomas Theatre so the kids can watch some Thomas DVD’s. Jonathon Creutzburg offered to bring some Thomas DVD’s in his collection. There will be more information as we get closer.

• Another special event day that is being planned is an Egg Liner day. The date for this will also be set shortly. We will also be looking for who has Egg Liners by Aristo-Craft to determine how many can be brought together. Let us know if you can participate with an Egg Liner.
• Note that for the 2012 Outdoor operating season we will be open to the public from May thru September. You will recall that the membership proposed and voted in favor of the change form April thru October. We will all stay warmer. Thanks again for all your help thru the 2011 Season. Over the next 60 days we will be putting together the operating schedule for 2012.

General Discussion

Taltree Report Al Gengler:

• Taltree is now closed for the season other than operations for parties.
• Jim Melton will be working on the DCC system thru the winter.
• Deane Janjecic has been working in the office and enjoying herself.

2012 National Garden Train Convention Report George Sarver:

• The convention is scheduled for August 14 thru August 19 2012.
• Visit the National Convention website for more information: www.2012ngrc.com
•  We are going to be on the drive by list in the program. The IGRS will have to set up hours to run trains at this time. As we get closer to the convention date we will need to ask for volunteers to run the layout for our visitors.

Club Wear Update George Sarver:

• George displayed the new hats.
  

  IGRS Cap With Bull Moose Logo

• Shirts are for sale.
• Hats will be $20 with a train logo and $16 with the Bull Moose logo. Let George know if you are interested in a hat. The hats look good!!
• Please contact George if you have any questions concerning purchasing shirts. George will provide you with an order form. We have polo’s and t-shirts available.
•  A 3 in 1 system is being looked at which would provide for a better all season value. These are convertible depending upon the temperature and needs. More on that as it is available.

 Website Report Al Gengler:

• Please check out the “America’s Great Railroad Stations are Disappearing” posting. It has a link to the Michigan Central Depot. The site has a 360 degree view feature that is fun. It is sad though to see such a grand building falling into ruin.
• From October 11th thru today we have had 19,000 page views. A page view is when an individual page is opened for viewing. The average visitor looks at 4 pages per visit.
• Note the rating system on the blogs. You will see 5 stars. By clicking on the appropriate star you are rating the article or post. This is very helpful in determining what the viewers like.
•  Reminder: Those members who wish to have their photos on the website should make arrangements with the Board for a photo or they may send a photo directly to Al. This is voluntary.

General Discussion:

• Arv Gossman reported that on last Saturday he visited an O-gauge club located at Old Franklin School. They are the High-Rail Modular Train Club. The address is 201 N. Griffith Blvd, Griffith IN 46319. They have decided to permanently locate there. Check out their website at www.thethreerailscale.com for their “Events” schedule. Thanks Arv.
• Al Gengler announced that the Ron Jackson’s Show will be November 26th at St Bridget Parish Center in Hobart. Toys for Tots will be in Woodland Park on December 3rd.
• The B&O Mikado steam locomotive repair is finished and the Board has approved the purchase of the passenger cars to go along with it. Dave Ransom commented on how great the engine sounds and runs on the Outdoor layout.
• During the October meeting there was a discussion concerning restoring the “Associate Membership”. The members present were in favor of this and no other members have to date voiced any concern or opposition to this. The Board will present a proposal for this during the December Holiday Party as typically it has a high membership attendance.
• The IGRS Board has set aside the 3rd Wednesday of every month for the monthly Board Meeting. The location can very. Any member may ask to attend this meeting if they wish to present something to the Board or have particular issues they wish to address. The Board requests that the members let a Board Member know of their wish to attend so that we can request a table of the correct size so you can join us.

Report from the Hosts Max Samuelson:

• As the Samuelson’s hosted last month there will be no report this month. You can check out the October Meeting Minutes for comments from Max.

The December Meeting will be our annual Holiday Party. It will be held at Taltree Depot on December 17th.

• The Party will be from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
• Dinner will be at 6:00 PM
• The Business meeting will be at 7:00 PM.
• Members with last names ending A – H will bring a side/salad and those ending I – Z will bring deserts.
• Each Family is requested to bring one a wrapped train related item for the raffle.
• Each Family is also requested to bring an un-Wrapped Toys for Toys-For Tots.
• Movie Nights will be at the Valparaiso Library in January and February. These will be posted to the website and announcement sent out as we get closer to the dates.
• Tentatively the March Meeting will be held also at the Valparaiso Library.
• If anyone would like to host a meeting please contact Dave Ransom by phone or e-mail.

A motion was made by Max Samuelson to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Arv Gossman. The Meeting was adjourned at 7:52.

Respectfully submitted,
Rex Appel
IGRS Secretary
December 5, 2011