The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

Started by Judge, January 05, 2019, 03:59:09 PM

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postalkarl

Hey Tom:

WOW!!!! Bob did A beautiful job on Seckler's cold storage.

Karl

GPdemayo

Quote from: PRR Modeler on May 16, 2020, 06:54:17 PM
Had a great time today. I think Greg was driving that loco like a snowbird. Just saying....


Et tu Webb..... ;)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

Judge

Karl - Bob Butts is not a modeler.  He is an artist!  His work is always beautiful and the A&S is fortunate to have several of his builds.

BandOGuy - My wife (Cindy) went to CVS and purchased an electric hair trimmer (like the ones barbers use that go buzzzzzz).  My hair does not need scissors and Cindy has become my barber.  Should have done that years ago.  My hairstyle reminds me of the haircut I got my first day in military school.  Everyone should join in and end the barbershop conspiracy. 



   

PRR Modeler

Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

Judge

Atlantic & Southern Railroad - Belated Saturday Report for May 30, 2020.

My apologies to all three of my readers for submitting this week's report a day late.  My wife, Cindy, bless her heart, she's as sweet as South Jaw-ja tea, had some other ideas for my Saturday afternoon.

The Board of Directors met on time at 0830 hours.  Much was discussed.  The CEO has found a source for custom decals and we decided that the logo should be a diamond shape with A&S inside it just like the AB&C diamond.  We will also need decals reading "Atlantic & Southern" for boxcars and other rolling stock.  Most railroads have slogans or company sayings on their equipment.  Your reporter was tasked with the responsibility to make recommendations.  At first, cutesy slogans having a reference to swamps were considered, including some character like Pogo, but that idea was scrapped due to the seriousness of the management and staff of the A&S.  Next, the idea of a description of Central Florida was considered.  Since we are both former Gators, a line from the University of Florida's Alma Mater invoking Palm and Pine was discussed.  Later it was decided that referring to a Florida sounding passenger train would be less subtle and The Palmland Route was put on the  agenda next week for further discussion.  Any suggestions would be duly considered.

The post-meeting session was quite exciting.  The C&O H5 2-6-6-2 was given a maiden voyage and the A&LM 4-6-0 was also tested.  The H5 "had a screw loose" on the main crank, but it was a quick fix.  It pulled a string of 28 coal hppers and a caboose without any problem on level track, but needed a helper to climb the Ovalix to Summit.   This engine is not a speedster.  It took over 15 minutes for it to make six 26' rotations up the Ovalix.

The 4-6-0, number 35, is more of a horse than expected.  The mayor of the City of Tahope, the sheriff, and Judge Thomas decided to take a day trip to Sanlando and A&S's only passenger car was coupled to number 35, along with seven freight cars and a brass caboose.  The engine handled this consist with ease and returned in time for the passengers to get a beer and shoot pool at Trackside Tavern.

One disappointment was the videos taken.  For various reasons, including equipment malfunction, the videos will be postponed until next week. 

There is no story this week.  Your reporter has been otherwise occupied and hopes to remedy that situation tomorrow.  However, pics of 1534 and number 35 are attached for your viewing pleasure.

                                                                       

                                                                       
                                   
                                                                       








PRR Modeler

Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

GPdemayo

Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

sdrees

what is the source for custom decals?
Steve Drees
SP RR

ACL1504

"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

madharry


S&S RR

Judge


Thank you for the update, it sounds like all is well in the South.
John Siekirk
Superior & Seattle Railroad

postalkarl

Hey Judge:

Sound good. Betty's is a great kit built it when it first came out.

Karl

Judge

#642
Saturday Report, Atlantic & Southern Railroad, "The Southern Route."  June 6, 2020

Apologies are in order for my late posting of the promised Saturday Report.  My excuse is technological in that the video attached to the report was unavailable until late Saturday evening and I was busy with other things by that time.

The Board of Directors met promptly at 8:30 a.m.  The "slogan" that will be emblazoned on S&S rolling stock at some future time was decided and decals have been ordered for both freight and passenger equipment.  The A&S will be marketed as "The Southern Route."  Suggestions such as "Empire of The Great Swamp" and "The Envy of the World" were rejected as not adequately describing the pike.   

It was a mixed day of railroading.  We started out with a run of the newly acquired H5 2-6-6-2.  The engine was located at Summit and it crawled around that level before heading down the Ovalix for the Midlands.  It takes a good 15 minutes for the trip.  The H5 is a slow hog with only 55-inch drivers so a scale 10-15 mph is about right for it. The fun is watching all those drivers and moving parts and listening to the two steam engines go in and out of sync.  A Southern RR single chime whistle was selected from the over 40 available choices.

Once 1534 managed to arrive at the Midlands level, it slowly rounded the wye at Bedford Forrest and emerged on the mainline.  The A&S official photographer, I. Ken Snappem, was there to video the arrival.  See below.

Lunch was at our Italian joint and passed without incident. 

After lunch, we ran the Pennsy K4 and the A&LM ten-wheeler.    A good time was had by everyone except the A&S Director of Maintenance, Will Fixer, who has some minor mechanical repairs to do before the next session.

This week's story is a true story of the adventures of the dedicated personnel who make the A&S the glorious pike it is.

                                                                                            ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR, ON THE A&S

Every railroad has its challenges and its limits.  The Atlantic & Southern Railroad is no exception.  The A&S has the majority of its trackage located in Central Florida, where the land is flat and is no more than a few inches above sea level.  Hills, such as they are, are few and far between.  The challenge crews have negotiating the railroad is climbing (or descending") the Ovalix.  The Ovalix, which is a marvel of engineering, is composed of a total of ten revolutions to raise or lower rail traffic from one of the levels of the railroad to either of the other two.  Each revolution is 26' in length with a constant grade of 1 degree.  A one-degree grade is perfectly acceptable, and rarely obtainable, for a model railroad, but it puts limits on the length of trains pulled by steam locomotives.  That is one reason why the sides of the Ovalix have been flattened.  And that is why the structure is called an Ovalix and not a helix.  Helper service is often needed to pull long trains up the grade.

The A&S has a number of veteran engineers who have years of experience both locally and from as far away as Chicago and California. 

The number one veteran engineer of the A&S rails is Uncle Henry O'Leary, who drifted down to Florida in the '20's before the Florida Boom went bust.  Uncle Henry came from the B&O, where he signed on as a signalman and was on the fireman's extra board before he pulled the pin and headed south.  He fired many a mallet while in service with the B&O, whose practice was to load as many cars as the engine could move and then add a few more. 

Ethan Douglas came from East Texas and wound up on the Espee.  He ran freight over the mountains and high varnish down the coast of California.  The lack of seniority finally got him in the '30's and he migrated from the dust bowl to the lush forests and rivers of Central Florida.

One summer morning Uncle Henry found himself assigned to a coal drag so he caught the local peddler freight from Sanlando to The Bottoms and located his train.  The engine was a newly shopped 2-6-6-2, recently acquired by a very favorable lease from the C&O.  Uncle Henry climbed into the cab, grunted a greeting to the fireman and the head shack, and proudly gripped the throttle to get a "feel" for the engine.  Number 1534 was not as big or as powerful as the 2-8-8-2's on the B&O but she was of proven USRA design and could run a few miles per hour faster than the lower drivered Em1's. 

Uncle Henry tried the air and warned the fireman that there was hard work ahead.  The orders required 1534 to move from The Bottoms to Summit, a long, hard trip in the summer at between 5 and 10 mph.  Firing 1534 up the Ovalix was back-breaking work, even with a recently installed stoker. 

Uncle Henry pulled on the throttle and gave the engine a little steam.  The slack was taken up on the 30-odd coal hoppers coupled to the tender and 1534 started moving with sharp, barking exhaust.  By the time Uncle Henry passed the king switch at the end of the yard and pulled onto the mainline, 1534 was doing 10 mph and the earth vibrated as she passed. 

Soon the big engine came to the Ovalix and began the climb to Summit.  Only engineers with Uncle Henry's experience could handle a heavy drag like the one he was pulling without the front engine slipping. 

Summertime weather in Florida usually finds temperatures in the 90's by 10:00 a.m. and railroad crews were drenched with sweat due to the high humidity.  Smoke, coal dust, and cinders add to the miserable conditions found in the cab of a big freight hog climbing up from The Bottoms to Summit.

After nearly 3 hours of sweat and toil, 1534 finally reached the flatlands of The MIdlands, where the crew stopped for water and beans.  They climbed down from the cab and walked the short distance to Sweaty Betty's Diner for lunch.  Betty's cook, Bo, who is a tall, skinny drink of water, laid on the hamburgers and fries, along with a generous glass of cold sweet tea.  Price per meal, $1.25.  Betty's diner has a pretty extensive menu, but the only thing on it that isn't fried is the iced tea. 

After lunch, the crew mounted the cab and brought the train around Eaton's Curve and over the bridge at Mosquitto Lagoon on the way back to the Ovalix for another three hour battle up the grade to Summit. 

The big mallet arrived at the yardmaster's shack just in time for the crew to go on the law and turn over 1534 to Ethan Douglas and his crew for the trip back down the Ovalix.

Uncle Henry piled into his bed in the bunkhouse and thought to himself, "another day, another dollar, on the A&S."



                                                                                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0hjJvH4zEA&t=8s

GPdemayo

Great looking steamer in the video.....another gem Bill - thanks.  8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

Rollin

That steamer truly sounds excellent, but what I love is the variety in the coal loads, really looks authentic!

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