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 fifteenth and last 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 Wabash to Zulu

WABASH—To hit cars going into adjacent tracks. (See cornered) Also refers to the officially frowned-upon practice of slowing up for a stop signal at a crossing with another railroad instead of stopping. The engineer would look up and down to make sure everything is safe, then start up again, having saved several minutes by not stopping entirely. Wabash may also mean a heavy fire in the locomotive firebox

WAGON—Railroad car. (English term)

WALK THE DOG—Wheel a freight so fast as to make cars sway from side to side

WALK UP AGAINST THE GUN—Ascend a steep grade with the injector on

WALL STREET NOTCH—Forward corner of reverse lever quadrant in engine cab (more commonly calledcompany notch). Called Wall Street notch because engine pays dividends when heaviness of train requires engine to be worked that way

WASHOUT—Stop signal, waved violently by using both arms and swinging them in downward arc by day, or swinging lamp in wide low semicircle across tracks at night

WATCH YOUR PINS—Be careful around stacks of ties, rails, etc.

WAY CAR—Caboose, or car of local freight

WEARING THE BLUE—Delayed by car inspectors. A blue flag or blue light is placed on cars thus delayed and being worked on

WEARING THE GREEN—Carrying green signals. When trains run in more than one section, all except the last must display two green flags

WEED BENDER—Railroaders’ derisive term for cowboy, other such terms being hay shaker, clover picker, and plow jockey. Commonest term for cowboy is cowpuncher, which is of railroad origin. Cowboys riding stock trains prod the cattle

WEED WEASEL—Company Official Spying on Crews

WESTINGHOUSE— Railway air brake, also called windjammer

WET MULE IN THE FIREBOX—Bad job of firing a locomotive

B&O Drop Bottom Ralston - 1912

WHALE BELLY—Steel car, or type of coal car with drop bottom. Also called sow belly

WHEEL ‘EM—Let a train run without braking. Wheeling means carrying or hauling at good speed; also calledhighballing. You say wheeling the berries when you mean hauling the berry crop at high speed

WHEEL MONKEY—Car inspector

WHEN DO YOU SHINE? —What time were you called for?

WHISKERS—Quite a bit of seniority

WHISTLE OUT A FLAG—Engineer blows one long and three short blasts for the brakeman to protect rear of train

WHITE FEATHER—Plume of steam over safety valves, indicating high boiler pressure in engine

WHITE RIBBONS—White flags (an extra train)

WHITEWASH—Milk

WIDEN ON HER—Open the throttle, increase speed

WIGWAG—A grade-crossing signal

WILLIE—Waybill for loaded car

WIND—Air brakes

WING HER—Set brakes on moving train

WISE GUY—Station agent

WOLF or LONE WOLF—Nonbrotherhood man

WORKING A CAR—Unloading a storage mail car

WORKING MAIL—Mail in sacks and pouches consigned to R.P.O. (Railway Post Office) cars to be “worked” or sorted in transit

WORK WATER—Some old-time engineers preferred to work the water (operate the injector and watch the water glass or gauge cocks). On most roads the fireman now works the water

WRECKING CREW—Relief crew. Derogatory term derived from the difficulty regular men sometimes experience in rearranging a car after it has been used by relief men

WRONG IRON—Main track on which the current of traffic is in the opposite direction

WYE—Tracks running off the main line or lead, forming a letter Y; also section used for turning cars and engines where no turntable is available

X—Empty car

XXX—Same as bad order

YARD—System of tracks  in a rail yard for making up trains or storing cars. (Boomer’s version: “System of rust surrounded by fence and inhabited by a dumb bunch of natives who will not let a train in or out.”) Also called garden and Field. Yard geese are yard switchmen. Y.M. is yardmaster. Yard goat is switching engine

ZOO KEEPER—Gate tender at passenger station

ZULU—Emigrant family with its household goods and farm equipment traveling by rail; sometimes included even livestock crowded into the same boxcar. Zulu can mean only the car, or the car and all its contents. This ethod of travel was not uncommon in homesteading days on Western prairies. Origin of term is obscure. May have some connection with the fact that British homesteaders in Africa fled in overfilled farm wagons before Zulu marauders

This completes the Moose Tracks Glossary from A to Z

*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?

April 2012 Meeting Minutes

The April Meeting was held on Tuesday the 24th at the Samuelson’s Garden Center. There were 21 members and guests present.

Dave Ransom called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM.

Everyone was welcomed to the April Meeting and the IGRS Annual Board Election.

Dave Ransom Reported:

• Thank you to Max and Fran Samuelson for hosting tonight’s meeting and supplying the pizza. Thanks to the other members who brought the other goodies.
• Please keep Dave and Jane Paluchniak in your thoughts and prayers. Dave has reported that he is doing better after the last round of treatments. He will be going in for additional testing in the coming weeks. Dave also reported that he has removed his outdoor layout.
• Mike Hughes, Henry and his son, Corey Gardner, previous members, have returned to the club. Welcome back guys.
• The minutes from the March meeting were sent out by e-mail and posted to the website.
• There were no corrections.

Al Gengler asked how many members read the minutes in the e-mail form or on the website. Approximately 1/3 of the members present raised their hands. Al suggested that perhaps we should consider going back to mailing them out again and asked if there would be an interest in this. Two or three members indicated that maybe that would help.

Dave Ransom asked that if anyone would like a mailed copy to please let a Board Member know and that could be done.

Treasurers Report, Don Hewelett:

• Don Hewlett presented the Treasurer’s Report from the March 31st Statement. Any member may have a copy of the Bank Statement by requesting it from Don Hewlett or any Board Member.
• Don also noted that we had purchased 2,000 new brochures for the coming season.
• We have received one (1) bid for the (2) trestles and tunnel that were originally built for the modular layout. If there is anyone interested in bidding on this please let a Board Member know otherwise the existing bid will be accepted. Immediately after the meeting a Board Member will open up the garage so any members present may take a look at them. If any members that were not present would like to see them they can arrange to see them with a Board Member.

Modification of Membership Dues, Dave Ransom:

• Last year during the October Meeting it was suggested and voted on that the Society should restore the Associate Membership.
• The Board was asked to make a presentation of the wording of this and any associated changes to the Society By-Laws.
• Rex Appel was asked to hand out the proposed changes which have been expanded to include a Student Membership as well as a third level of membership above the existing.
• They are: Gandy Dancer $15 (Student), Brakeman $35 (Associate), Fireman $50 (current family membership and Engineer $75 (New Level).
• Also handed out was a marked up copy of the By-Laws that Phil Bachman had prepared for review of changes. See attached Document.

Al Gengler felt that the bullet points listed were not really a description of what the membership was.

Mike Hughes and Andy Sunderland did not feel that the requirement to work (3) Saturdays was fair or consistent with the By-Laws. It was pointed out that at no time in the history of the IGRS has anyone been forced to work. This could be changed in some fashion to indicate desire to support the IGRS by volunteering to work.

Karen Sarver and Fran Samuelson both countered by asking how do we get anyone to help on Saturdays if we don’t make it some reasonable obligation of membership.

Al Gengler handed out an Associate Membership Description and Proposed By-Law Changes of his own writing to the members present. He did not ask for any discussion.

Al Gengler asked what one got for a $75 membership. The additional $25 was for a Club T-Shirt.

Dave Ransom asked if there were any further comments on the membership levels or should it be tabled until after the elections. There was no clear response from those present so it was tabled.

The discussion on the dues did lead to a constructive conversation on how to attract more members.

As Al Gengler and several others pointed out that the best way to get more folks helping on any IGRS project or the layout is to have more members to draw from. To date our membership level has remained flat.

Others pointed out we need to have more clinics and how to presentations. Again we need folks to volunteer for these things. In the first 3 year of the Society quite a number of them were done but there has been little interest in being a presenter sent. If anyone is interested in doing a demonstration please contact a Board Member. Suggestions made were:

• How to put a kit building together.
• Maintaining and pruning the shrubs and plantings.
• Electrical projects
• Locomotive maintenance
• Also it was suggested that perhaps we could get in guest speakers who are knowledgeable in our hobby. Often though they want larger groups and or a fee to speak. This should be investigated again.

A question asked is why we are not advertising more in local papers. We are submitting Public Relation stories to some of the local area papers. The larger papers advertising rates have been cost prohibitive. We had worked out an arrangement with Valparaiso Hobby to share their ad as well as a similar approach with Samuelsons but in both cases they to felt the advertising rates were too high for the possible return on the investment. The paper table mats were also priced and they to where found to be quite expensive. Certainly it would be wise to price these things again.

Jonathon Creutzburg explained that his Church takes places advertising on their church bulletins. He will bring on in for the Board to look at and consider. Thanks for the suggestion Jonathon.

Corey Gardner, a new member, asked if we had explored some of the “social media” options such as face book and YouTube. Corey also offered to work on some of these possibilities if the club would like that. The offer was accepted. Thank you Corey, please put some things together and present it to any Board Member or other club member for assistance.

Corey also belongs to the Boy Scouts and will discuss with them the possibility of coming out to the Layout to assist. There is also a possibility of the IGRS participating in the Scouts Railroading Merit Badge.

Al Gengler has an article about the IGRS prepared for the June issue of Senior Life. It was originally planned for inclusion in  the May issue but got slid one month.

Outdoor Layout Report, Dave Ransom:

• Remember that this year the operating schedule for the Outdoor Layout will be May thru September.
• The Opening Day will be Saturday May 5 which is the weekend before Mothers Day.

We hope that all the IGRS membership will come out to enjoy our opening day.

Thank you to the following folks for their work on preparing the Outdoor for the new season.

• Jonathon Creutzburg and his dad for removing leaves and debris from the layout.
• Alex Appel for has been pulling weeds.
• Rex Appel and Dave Ransom for installation of the lights on the crossing signal.
  

  Max, Don, Arv & Tom Leveling Track

• Al Gengler, Don Hewlett and Arv Gossman for track and ballast repairs.
• Al Gengler for the many buildings repaired over the off season.
• Dave Casey and Rex Appel for the work on the turntable and roundhouse.
• Thank you Max Samuelson for all of your work on the layout.

If we missed anyone we are sorry and extend our thanks to you as well.

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. This will be a one day trip.
• An information sheet is available on the front table as well as a sign up sheet. Please try to make your decision on participation by the May meeting so the organizers can finalize there plans. www.indylargescaler.org

Special Events for 2012:

• National Train Day is on May 12. The IGRS has no specific activities planned as of this date.
• Thomas and Friends Day at the Outdoor Layout on June 9, 2012.
  

  Thomas & Friends

• Egg Liner day at the Outdoor Layout on June 23, 2012. The ladies of the club, chaired by Barb Ransom, have been working on this thru the winter months. There will be decorative sleeves placed over the egg liners with a variety of themes. Visitors will be asked to vote on their favorite by donation. Activities will be provided for the kids along with providing a healthy snack for adults and kids. They are putting a lot of work and thought into this so it should be a fun day. Plan on supporting them by coming out on that day. Rummor has it that we will see a number of Hobos that day!

Al Gengler has been working on Public Relation Releases for these events. While we missed the print version of Garden Railways Magazine The Eggliner Day program is online on the Garden Railway Website. Thank you Al.

Library Display Program for 2012:

We will again do displays in Public Libraries this year. Dave Ransom and Don Hewlett are the Library Program Committee. The displays will be located as indicated below.

Valparaiso Library Display

• May – South Haven
• June – Portage
• July – Valparaiso
• August – Chesterton
• December – Valparaiso

General Discussion:

2012 National Garden Train Convention Report, George Sarver:

• The convention is scheduled for August 14 thru August 19 2012 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles Illinois.
• Visit the National Convention website for more information: www.2012ngrc.com
• We are supposed to be on the drive by list in the program. As of this time we are still not listed. George will follow up with them. 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.

Board Election:

Three member’s terms are ending. They are Dave Ransom, George Sarver and Rex Appel. Printed Ballots were handed out by Rex Appel and each member was asked to select three (3) names on the Ballot. Rex Appel then collected the ballots and tallied them under the watch eye of Don Hewlett.
The election results in order of votes are:

• Max Samuelson – (12)
• Al Gengler – (9)
• Pat Hook – (8)
• Rex Appel – (7)
• Dave Ransom – (4)
• George Sarver – (2)

Congratulations Max, Al and Pat!

May Meeting:

The May Meeting will be held at the home of Phil and Karen Bachman.

• Sunday May 20th
• Noon to 3:00 PM
• Business Meeting at 1:00 PM

A motion was made by Andy Sunderland to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Mike Hughes. The Meeting was adjourned at 8:30.

Respectfully submitted,

Rex Appel

IGRS Secretary

May 3, 2012

The Isle of Sodor’s famous railway rolling stock featuring Thomas theTank  engine and his friends, Percy, in full green livery, and the powerful Mogul, James the Big Red Engine, will run all day long from 10:00 A.M. untill 4:00 P.M.at the Illiana Railway Society’s outdoor garden on June 9th.

James, Percy & Thomas on the "Bull Moose" right-of-way

There will be a full assortment of the Sodor lines passenger coaches and freight bogies too including Annie and Clarabelle, along with the troublesome trucks and other Sodor favorites such as the Tipmouth milk wagon.

For over 65 years, Thomas The Tank Engine & his friends have been keeping children all over the world entertained. Thomas has been puffing up and down the branch lines on Sodor for all these years and to this day is still going strong.

Enjoy this rundown of all the stories from Thomas & Friends’ that have been made up to 2010 and then spend a moment to reminisce about your favorite Thomas stories and memories.

In 1942 the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry, a British clergyman,  began telling his son Christopher about a group of railway engines that lived in a  place called Sodor, an enchanted island that is far far away from England.

Sodor according to the Reverend’s stories is home to some very clever engines and a small blue engine called Thomas. In his books about  Thomas & Friends, Wilbert Awdry’s loveable creations, tells the ongoing story about how these railroad engines livie in harmony with humans. Together the engines and humans run an intricate railway system where new visitors come and go every day of the year.

In 1945 Reverend Awdry published his first children’s story book about these trains with outstanding results. The book called “The Three Railway Engines” told a story about Edward, Gordon and Henry, three tender engines, who had a lot of interrelated railway problems and in the end became very great friends by helping each other out of their assorted troubles.

In 1946 a follow-up book titled “Thomas The Tank Engine” was published which introduced Thomas, a little blue switch engine, to readers. It described how Thomas came to meet Edward, Gordon and James in his travels.

By 1984 the Thomas the Tank books evolved into an animated cartoon series. The show debuted in the fall season on TV screens across the United Kingdom.

Subsequently Thomas & Friends found their way into the hearts of Saturday morning children’s audiences on American television too.

James Is Guarded By A Herd of Bull Moose

For over sixty-five years the Thomas series has been a great success in bringing new railway and human characters into the series along with new Sodor Island locations that appear in each new episodes.

Reverend Awdry’s creation’s, Thomas and all of his friends, are just as much fun for a new generation to watch today as they were for the first British viewers in 1984. Thomas has enchanted millions of children and adults alike all over the world.

Along with all of his assorted friends Thomas is still puffing away as he steams into exciting new Television and big screen movie episodes.

And of course a full day on the “Bull Moose” right-of-way on June 9,2012.  Way to go Thomas!

March 2012 Meeting Minutes

The March Meeting was held on Tuesday the 27th at the Valparaiso Public Library. There were 17 members present.

Dave Ransom called the meeting to order at 7:49 PM.

Everyone was welcomed to the March Meeting and the new 2012 Season.

Dave Ransom Reported:

• Thank you to IGRS Board for hosting tonight’s meeting and providing the great Garden Railway Convention movie to watch.
• Please keep Dave and Jane Paluchniak in your thoughts and prayers. Dave continues to struggle with his health issues and treatments.
  

  Pat Hook

• Pat Hook, a previous member, has returned to the club. Welcome back Pat, we are glad to have you back at the IGRS.
• The minutes from the December meeting were sent out by e-mail and posted to the website.

Al Gengler noted one correction. The sale of the modular was indicated to have had one bid when in fact there were two bids. The correction is noted.

• 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.
• The Modular layout was picked up by Dave Ransom on March 23, 2012.

Outdoor Layout Report by Dave Ransom

• Remember that this year the operating schedule for the Outdoor Layout will be May thru September.
• The Opening Day will be Saturday May 5 which is the weekend before Mothers Day.
• We hope that all the IGRS membership will come out to enjoy our opening day.

Building Committee Report from Phil Bachman

• We have a month to get the layout spruced up and ready for a new season of fun.
• Track and ballast to fix
• Completion of the round house and turntable
• Building final repairs and placement.
• Thank you Al Gengler for the many buildings repaired over the off season.

The Building Committee has still not released the refurbishment or replacement plan that was started last summer. Hopefully this can be completed in the near future.

• Max Samuelson is going to be trying a technique for building roads utilizing asphalt. It was detailed in Garden Railways Magazine some years back. Max thought be might try the first attempt in the Yard and Engine Service area of the Bull Moose Line. We look forward to seeing how that works out. Thank you Max.

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. This will be a one day trip. 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. We need to get back to them on this in the near future. Please e-mail Dave Ransom or Rex Appel with your tentative plan to attend. www.indylargescaler.org

Signal Committee Progress:

• The signal lights will be installed during the month of April.

Special Events for 2012

• Thomas and Friends Day at the Outdoor Layout on June 9, 2012.
  

  Lady Bug Eggliner

• Egg Liner day at the Outdoor Layout on June 23, 2012. The ladies of the club, chaired by Barb Ransom, have been working on this thru the winter months. There will be decorative sleeves placed over the egg liners with a variety of themes. Visitors will be asked to vote on their favorite by donation. Activities will be provided for the kids along with providing a healthy snack for adults and kids. They are putting a lot of work and thought into this so it should be a fun day. Plan on supporting them by coming out on that day.

Al Gengler has been working on advertising for these events. While we missed the print version of Garden Railways Magazine we will be online. Also Al is working on getting us in 5 or 6 of the local newspapers and specialty papers. Thank you Al.

Library Program for 2012

• We will again do displays in Public Libraries again this year.
  

  Valparaiso Library Display

  Dave Ransom and Don Hewlett will be setting them up. A special thanks is in order to Don Hewlett for working with all these libraries to put together the schedule. The displays will be located as indicated below.

May – South Haven
June – Portage
July – Valparaiso
August – Chesterton
December – Valparaiso

General Discussion

Taltree Report by Al Gengler:

• Taltree is preparing for their opening day.
• Taltree is advertising for a full time operating Engineer.

2012 National Garden Train Convention Report: George Sarver

• The convention is scheduled for August 14 thru August 19 2012 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles Illinois.
• Visit the National Convention website for more information: www.2012ngrc.com
• We are going to be on the Pre and Post 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

• Hats will be $20 with a train logo and $16 with the Bull Moose logo.

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.

Website Report: Al Gengler

• We continue to receive quite a number of new viewers every week.

Al has slowed down on the number of new additions for the blog.
He will try to add in a few more cartoons for Alex Appel. Thanks Al!

Board Election

• Three member’s terms are ending. They are Dave Ransom, George Sarver and Rex Appel. The Board Election will be during the April Meeting. Announcement will be sent out on this over the coming weeks.
• The following were nominated during the March Meeting:

Max Samuelson – Accepted
Arv Gossman – Declined
Pat Hook – Declined
Rex Appel – Accepted
Dave Ransom – Accepted
George Sarver – Accepted

Associate Membership:

• Al Gengler commented that during the October meeting there was a discussion concerning restoring the “Associate Membership” or something similar. A vote was taken to authorize the Board to make a presentation to the Society for a revision to memberships. A unanimous vote of the (11) members present at that time was taken. The Board was to prepare a presentation for the November Meeting. To date there has been no report from the Board on this. Phil Bachman responded that 3 levels had been defined and the Board had delayed in part based upon the idea of making the change during the 2013 season as some members had already signed up and also that to change it will require amending the By-Laws. The Board will move forward with presenting formally the levels and amendments as quickly as possible.

• 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.

Tentatively the April Meeting will be held also at Samuelsons Garden Center.
If anyone would like to host a meeting please contact Dave Ransom by phone or e-mail.

• A motion was made by Phil Bachman to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Don Hewlett. The Meeting was adjourned at 8:35.

Respectfully submitted,

Rex Appel

IGRS Secretary

April 19, 2012

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 fourteenth 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 Thirty-One Order to Voodoo Barge

THIRTY-ONE ORDER—Train order that must be signed for; the train must stop to pick it up. (See Ninreteen order)

THOUSAND-MILER—Black satin or blue percale shirt worn by railroaders, expected to last 1,000 miles between washings. (The usual basis of a day’s work was about 100 miles, so two shirts could easily last from one pay day to the next)

THREE-BAGGER,  FOUR-BAGGER – Train pushed or pulled by three or more engines. (No doubt originated by a baseball fan)

THROTTLE-JERKER—Railroad Engineer

THROTTLE GOD—Local Engineer

THROW AWAY THE DIAMONDS—Term applied to locomotive fireman missing the firedoor with a shovelful of coal and spilling some

THROW OUT THE ANCHOR—Done for the Day

TIE ‘EM DOWN—Set handbrakes

TIE ON—Couple on. Tie ‘em together is to couple cars

TIER—Pile of mail sacks or parcels occupying the full width at each end of a car

TIMKENIZED—Equipped with Timken roller bearings

Penn And Burlington Stream-liners

TIN LIZARD—Streamlined train

TING-A-LING—Small engine with “tinny” bell

TISSUE—Train order. (See flimsy)

TOAD—Derail. (See rabbit)

TOEPATH or TOWPATH—Running board of locomotive or catwalk on top of boxcars, or that part of railroad embankment lying between end of ties and shoulders of fill

TONK—Car repairer

TONNAGE HOUND—Trainmaster or other official who insists upon longer or heavier trains than the crew and motive power can handle efficiently

TOP DRESSER DRAWER—Upper bunk in caboose

TOWER BUFF—Railfan so zealous that he disregards signs such as “Private,” “No Admittance” and “Stay Out” on interlocking towers and other railroad structures

TRAIN LINE—Pipe that carries compressed air to operate air brakes

TRAMPIFIED—The way a boomer looked after being out of work a long time.His clothes were “ragged as a barrel of sauerkraut” and he needed a “dime’s worth of decency” (shave)

TRAVELING CARD—Card given by a railroad Brotherhood to a man in search of employment. Also an empty slip bill

TRAVELING GRUNT—Road foreman of engines, traveling engineer. Sometimes called traveling man

TRICK—Shift, hours of duty

TRIMMER—Engine working in hump yard that goes down into yard and picks out misdirected cars and shoves them to clear. (See yard and hump)

TWO-WHEELER—Two-wheeled hand truck for transferring baggage and mail around in a station

UNCLE SAM—Railway Post Office clerk

UNDER THE TABLE—Just as a man who “can’t take his liquor” is sometimes actually under the table, so, figuratively, is a telegraph operator when messages are being sent to him faster than he can receive

UNDERGROUND HOG—Chief engineer

UNLOAD—Get off train hurriedly

VARNISH—Passenger train. Also called varnished shot, varnished job, varnished boxes, string of varnish, varnished wagons, etc. These nicknames are rarely applied to modern streamliners

VASELINE—Oil

VOODOO BARGE—Updated heavy,slow Freight

Next Month Wabash to Zulu

*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 Eggliners are comming….

The Eggliners are comming….

Eggs-actly on June 23, 2012 there will be a plethora of Eggliners zipping up and down and all around the right-of-ways on the IGRS Bull Moose Outdoor Layout. It’s a summertime Eggs-perance for everyone, and you are invited to participate in the fun. Just bring your Eggliner, along with all of your family and all of your friends to this Egg-citing Egg-scramble.

There will be some special incognito Eggliners in Eggs-otic costume running too. And you’ll be able to vote on your favorite Egg-sample durring this Eggs- travaganza.

So mark your calender for an Eggs-tra special day. The running of the Eggliners is on Eggliner Day, Saturday, June 23rd, 2012.

Beginning at 10:00 AM Eggliners will be running non stop untill 4:00 PM at the Illiana Garden Railway Society’s Bull Moose Line  located at 295 N. State Rd. Valparaiso Indiana.

Eggliners are awesome!

There aren’t any actual locomotives in railroad  history that look anything like Eggliners. They are just something unique that Aristocraft stumbled upon and then decided to put into production.

The New York Centrals Office In Indiana

Of course someone mentioned that the New York Central Beech Road Indiana shop office of their Bridge and Buildings Department  sure looks like the Egg that layed the Eggs.  But Aristocrafts Lewis Polk dismisses the idea.

His story about the birth of Eggliners goes something like this……..

“We stuck two ends of  one of our streamline observation cars together and put a power truck under it one day just for fun and had it sitting around. Then a visitor to the store asked if he could buy one, and we made one up for him. A few months later, somebody else asked about it, so we made another one. That’s how the Eggliner was hatched. Finally I decided it might as well be a product. Despite the howls of protest from the nitpickers and the railroading hobby purist it was an instant success. The silly things are our biggest seller and the nuttier we make them, the more they sell.”

Although Lewis Polk has always claimed that Aristocraft was not in the business of building toys, the Eggliners prove that even the modeling purists of the G-scale industry are not above building a fascinating toy when the public Eggs them on.

To see why Eggliners are such a fun G-scale toy, you’ll have to come out and see how Egg-citing they are for yourself.  Better yet, if you own an Eggliner bring it along and join in the Eggs-treme fun!

Large Scale Online is offering free shipping on the USA Flag Eggliner. Go to:

 http://www.myeggliner.com

Mark Your Calander

Eggliner Day
is
June 23, 2012

Running of the Eggliners 10:00AM to 4:00PM

The Illiana Garden Railway Society’s Bull Moose Line

295 N. State Rd. 2 Valparaiso, Indiana

For more Eggs-plicit  information call 219-462-6105 

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 thirteenth 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 Soft Plug  to Thirty

SOFT PLUG—Fusible plug in crown sheet of locomotive that is supposed to drop when water gets below top of sheet

SOLID CAR—A completely filled storage car containing sixty feet of mail and parcels, equal to a 100 per cent load

SOLID TRACK—Track full of cars

SPAR—Pole used to shove cars into the clear when switching. (See stake)

SPEED GAUGER—Locomotive engineer

SPEEDER—Same as pop car

SPEEDY—Callboy

SPIKE A TORCH—Throw a fusee

SPOT—To place a car in a designated position. Also sleep, rest, or lunch period on company time. On the spotmeans an opportunity for railroad men to “chew the rag” or swap experiences. Unlike the same underworld term, on the spot has no sinister implication in railroad slang

SPOTBOARD—Guide used by section men in surfacing or ballasting track in order to obtain an even bed.

SPOTTER—Spy, company man assigned to snoop around and check on employees

SQUEEZERS—Car-retarding system used in some railroad yards

SQUIRRELING—Climbing a car

STACK O’ RUST—A locomotive that has seen better days

STAKE—Pole used in dangerous and now rare method of switching. A cut of cars was shoved by a stake attached to the car immediately in front of the engine. This method was supposed to be superior to the ordinary method of “batting them out” because there was less wear and tear on drawbars and less damage to freight; but the human casualties that resulted gave more than one yard the nickname “slaughterhouse.” Another meaning of stake is the money a boomer saved on a job so he could resign and continue eating regularly while looking for another job

STAKE DRIVER—Any engineering-department man

STALL—Space inside a mail or baggage car containing mail or parcels consigned to a certain destination and separated from other shipments by removable steel posts

STARGAZER—Brakeman who fails to see signals

STARVATION DIET—See board

STEM—Track or right-of-way

STEM-WINDER—Climax type of geared locomotive.

STICK—Staff used on certain stretches of track to control the block. It is carried by engine crews from one station to another. Now rare

STIFF BUGGY—Specially designed four-wheel truck used for transferring coffins and rough boxes inside a station

STINGER—Brakeman. Derived from initial B(ee) of Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, or perhaps from some brakemen’s habit of arousing hobos by applying a brake club to the soles of their shoes

STINK BUGGY—Bus

STINKER—Hotbox

STIRRUP—First step of freight car, under the lowest grab iron

STOCK PEN—Yard office

STOCKHOLDER—Any employee who is always looking out for the company’s interests

STOPPER PULLER—Member of the crew that follows the engine in switching

STORAGE CAR—Baggage car or (in rush periods) Railway Express car containing a mixed shipment of parcels and mail sacks consigned to a certain terminal for sorting and rerouting to various destinations via other trains

STRAW BOSS—Foreman of small gang or acting foreman

STRAW-HAT BOYS—Railroad men who work only in pleasant weather

STRAWBERRY PATCH—Rear end of caboose by night; also railroad yard studded with red lights

STRETCH ‘EM OUT—Take out slack in couplings and drawbars of train

STRING—Several cars coupled together; also a telegraph wire

STRUGGLE FOR LIFE—Existence in railroad boardinghouse

STUDE TALLOW—Student fireman

STUDENT—Learner in either telegraph, train, or engine service; an apprentice

SUCK IT BY—Make a flying switch

SUGAR—Sand

SUPER—Superintendent

SWELLHEAD—Conductor or locomotive engineer

SWING A BUG—Make a good job of braking. (See bug)

SWING MAN—Same as middle man

SWITCH LIST—Bill of fare at railroad eating house

SWITCH MONKEY—Switchman

TAIL OVER HER BACK—Engine with full head of steam, with plume resembling a squirrel’s tail from her safety valve

TAKE THE RUBBER OUT OF THEM—Disconnect the air hoses on a train

TAKING YOUR MINUTES—Stopping for lunch

TALLOWPOT—Locomotive fireman, so called from melted tallow used to lubricate valves and shine the engine

TANK—Locomotive tender. Tanker is tank car used in hauling oil, water, milk, chemicals or some other liquid

TEAKETTLE—See kettle

TEASE THE BRUTE—Follow the engine

TELLTALES—Any device that serves as a warning. Specifically the row of strips hanging down a short distance in front of a tunnel or low bridge to inform trainmen who are riding car tops that they’d better duck

TEMPLE OF KNOWLEGE—Term for caboose

TERMINAL—Railway Post Office unit, usually at or near the railroad station, where mail is removed from sacks, sorted, and forwarded to its ultimate destination

TERMINAL LOAD—A shipment of mail consigned to a certain R.P.O. terminal office for sorting and reshipment in other sacks

THE BISCUITS HANG HIGH—There’s a scarcity of food handouts in that locality

THIRTY—Telegraphic term for “that’s all-no more”

Next Month Thirty-one Order to Voodoo Barge

*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?

Tom Miller's Denver & Rio Grande Depot

Tom decided to approach the F-scale layout like live theater, scene by scene. Very realistic scenery and true to life structures would be built to have the trains, as the focal points, move through the sets just like in real life.

Following several years of planning and five years of work that Tom called “near obsession,” the result was a 45 x 90 foot layout with 700 feet of track built inside a 4,000 square foot replica of an 1890 railroad depot.

The landscape  surroundings of the layout are exceptional in every detail. Within the framework of  Toms F7 theater everything is functional adding to the realism of the diorama. The scenery, the buildings, the area scene sounds and the 24 hour variable lighting all bring an unbelievable realism to the railways stage. Of course the 1:20.32 steam trains which are authentically scaled down to the last detail are the stars of his theatrical railway show.

Number 59 Makes A Stop At The Argo Mine

Built on several levels the railroad right-of-way meanders through Tom’s dream theater layout where stunning detailed scenery sets are visible from almost every position on the walkway of the theater. Others built for his own enjoyment of minute details, such as the fully furnished Chama Depot with food on the plates of the Gibson’s Diner patrons, are not.

The Turntable & Roundhouse

The swithching center console features a fully functional turntable and adjoining roundhouse that portay carefully adapted miniatures of the ones once seen on the  railroad lines cutting through the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico of the past.

F/Fn3 Scale (1:20.32 –or– 15mm=1 foot) Gauge: 1.75” (45mm)

Sometimes referred to as F scale, Fn3 accurately models North American 3 foot gauge railroad trains using the same 45mm track used by G scale for modeling standard gauge. Like G scale, Fn3 is primarily an outdoor garden railway scale. However Tom Miller has given the scale an exemplary piece of  railroad theater inside the replica depot on his farm.

Walt Working On Lily Belle

In this 1951 vintage rairoading cartoon Donald discovers that a towering tree in his yard is out of scale, much too big for his precisely constructed model railroad and village. He digs the tree up and moves it on a flatcar. When Chip ‘n’ Dale return from gathering nuts, they mistake a scale tree on Donald’s layout for theirs. Then they see their tree moving, and the action begins. Chased by Donald, the two chipmunks take refuge inside a model house. Donald surprised to see that they are in scale-just the right size lets chip ‘n’ Dale remain in the house but decides to have some fun with them. He uses artificial snow to simulate a blizzard. When Dale emerges in heavy winter clothing, Donald shines a heat lamp on him. The chipmunks retaliate and they steam away on the model train. The full size tree flies off the flatcar, lands upright on the track, and then the train plows through it. When Donald catches up with the two ready for battle, they point to the rectangular opening and say, “Giant Redwood, see?” Donald accepts that and harmony prevails as the story ends.

Usually, in most of the Chip ‘n’ Dale cartoons Donald winds up on the short end of the story.

One strange locomotive irregularity takes place early in this cartoon. When Donald stops his model train at a wooden water tower he flips back the sand dome, lowers the spout, and takes on water. Of course, that would be impossible, because of steam pressure in the boiler but it allows Donald to remain seated on the tender.

Although, it’s hard to imagine how Walt, a stickler for accuracy, would have let that happen.

To be accurate, Donald would have to pull the locomotive past the water tower, get off, open the hatch on the rear of the tender, then lower the water tower spout to take on water. All of that action would have had to be animated. The odd scene may have been a shortcut by Jack Hanna the cartoons director to keep the story moving and to keep production costs down.

The illustrated story covering the first part of this cartoon was published in 1950 as a Little Golden Book: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck’s TOY TRAIN, by Western Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin.