The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

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

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PRR Modeler

Great story. It could be a old time Saturday serial.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

madharry


jrmueller

As noted previously, a great serial in the making. Saturdays are always interesting with the Judge's stories. Jim
Jim Mueller
Superintendent(Retired)
Westchester and Boston Railroad

PaulS

Excellent as always Judge !!
Looking forward to next weeks episode ...
--paul
Modeling the Atlantic & White Mtn Railway

ReadingBob

Two thumbs up Bill!  I'm looking forward to the next installment as well.   ;D
Bob Butts
robertbutts1@att.net

There's a fine line between Hobby and Mental Illness.

Blazeman

 'Bonnie had built a fire, made girts...'

Easy to explain, but funnier this way.  Not picking nits though. 

When the question was asked if the smell would improve once she bathed in the river, was that for Bonnie, or the river itself?

Judge

#831
Saturday Report - 11-14-20

    The Board met promptly at 8:30 a.m.  The CEO announced that construction on the country chapel and cemetery would be on hold until the bottom of the Tahpoe River is painted and readied for water to be poured.  Progress has been interrupted due to continuing efforts to liquidate railroad assets that belonged to our friend, the late Jim Miller.
    We decided to run the Pensacola Zephyr and brought it from the Bottoms where it has been stored and ran it up the Ovalix to the Midlands.  The trip was uneventful.  Those D&RGW F3's really do the job.  After making a video of the train, we ran it up to Summit and changed power to an A-B-A set of CB&Q F2's.  These engines seemed a bit sluggish so we spotted them at the siding and left for lunch at Del Dio's.

                                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm8IfC5KGaU&feature=youtu.be

                                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn-rD2rJWNA&feature=youtu.be


    After lunch, we inspected the suspect diesels and separated the three units to see if any of them were not performing properly.  Being experienced model railroaders, we immediately determined that the train would operate more efficiently if all three engines were set to run in the same direction.  Things worked better after an adjustment was made.

    This week's story is a continuation of the amorous adventures of Shortstack and Boxcar Bonnie.

                                                                                                  Shortstack Finds a Girlfriend Part II   

    Last week we related the romance between Shortstack and Boxcar Bonnie.  We left the loving Couple ensconced in Shortstack's lean-to located on the bank of the Tahope Rive in the Bottoms. 
    Today, we find them discussing their future.  Shotstack managed to keep his job as a brakeman for the Atlantic & Southern Railroad for nearly three months and he was rolling in dough.  In 1950, brakemen sometimes made over $400 a month, depending on overtime, and sometimes over $500 a month if they were in passenger service.  Those weren't bad wages, considering the average engineer made less than $600 a month and a fireman made about $450.  The cost of a new Ford in 1950 started at $1400, and that included a radio.
    Bonnie wanted to move into a dwelling with walls and a kitchen that had an electric stove and a refrigerator with a light in it. 
    The couple decided that Bonnie would have to find a job before they looked for a place to rent so Bonnie headed to Tahope to find work.  She tried talking to the yardmaster at the Tahope roundhouse to see if she could get on there but she was turned down because she had not yet turned 18. 
    There were no openings at Sweaty Betty's Diner so Bonnie decided to try the Trackside Tavern.  She spoke to Clovis Butcher, the bartender, and she was hired as a waitress at $5.00 a day plus tips. 
    Bonnie's shift started at 4:00 p.m. before the bar got crowded, and on her first day a boomer named Gus "Bruiser" Czerwonky wandered into the place for a beer and sausage.  Gus was off the L&N from Tennessee and he was a "big'un" as Bonnie described him later in court. 
    Bonnie sashayed over to Gus' table and took his order for a beer.  When she returned, he engaged her into a conversation about his comings and goings as a boomer on the railroads. 
    Now Bonnie may have only been 17, but she had been around railroaders for several years while she was riding the blinds all over creation.  She knew boomers had only three reasons for "dragging up" and moving on from one road to the other.  First, there was the vindictive official who didn't know beans about railroading.  Second, and this one was a little more heartbreaking, there was the little wife who ran off with some scum of a fireman/engineer/ Fuller Brush salesman.  Third, and this one usually came up after the third beer, there was the girl from Kansas/Tennessee/Kentucky who broke his heart when she off and got married to some railroad official. 
    In Gus' case, it was the first reason.  Gus described the incident as a minor infraction of Rule G that caused him to fail to notice the derail set in the yard at Nashville, which resulted in tying up the yard for six hours before the wrecking crew could clear the main.
    Bonnie was willing to listen to Gus' tale of woe as long as his money held out, so she lingered at his table, acting attentive. 
    About the time Gus ordered his fifth beer, Shortstack entered the joint to check up on Bonnie.  He came over to the table where she was standing just in time to hear Gus ask Bonnie for "a little kiss." 
    Shortstack, who was about half the size of Gus, inquired, "Is this guy bothering you, Sweetie?"  With that, Gus got up into Shortstack's face and threatened to do physical harm to his behind parts.  As Gus drew back his fist to strike the first blow, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned around to see Bruce Bonebreaker wielding a small baseball bat that landed with a thud on Gus' jaw, knocking him to the ground face-up towards the ceiling.  Blood was running out of his mouth where a tooth was missing. 
    Clovis Butcher picked up the telephone and called the police.  Officer Poovey arrived and arrested Bruce for the battery. 
    Bruce hired Marvin Bello as his attorney (Bello never lost a case) and, after Judge Elvin P. Thomas heard testimony from Bonnie, Shortstack, Gus, and Bruce, he ruled "Case dismissed!.  Fair a fight as I've evah seed." 
    As the witnesses left the courthouse, Gus apologized to Bonnie and Shortsack and said, "You know, if I'd seen the blood on the ceiling before I looked at it from the floor, I'd have never ordered a beer there.  Blood on the floor is one thing, but blood on the ceiling - that's a bad place. 
    Gus, by the way, was given a job firing on the ACL. 
    To be continued.

PRR Modeler

Great story Judge. I've made that same mistake with the locos several times :).
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

Zephyrus52246

Great story, Judge.  Zephyrs look great as well.  Of course all Zephyrs do.  Just sayin!   ;D


Jeff

GPdemayo

Enjoyed it Bill.....great looking train in the videos.  :)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

BandOGuy

"Beautiful". Quoted directly from one of my Navy instructor encounters.
Working on my second million. I gave up on the first.

Judge

#836
Saturday Report November 21, 2020

    There is no Saturday Report today.  The A&S CEO and his wife and mother-in-law are down with some sort of bug that is going around.  Hopefully, that is all that it is.  Your reporter will keep you advised.

    There is a story this week.  It is full of drama and suspense. 1939 was a good year for stories from Railroad Magazine and the idea for this story came from one of them. 

                                                                                                     HOT WHEEL ON THE OVALIX

    It was past midnight in November 1950, when the Imperial Hotel at Summit was burglarized.  The night clerk had closed up around 11:00 p.m. after he counted the cash in the cash drawer and entered the amount of $311.73 in the hotel ledger.  He checked the back door, which led out into an alley, to make sure it was locked and turned in for the night. 
    Subsequent investigation revealed that the thieves managed to remove a window in the rear of the structure and make their way into the business office where the locked cash drawer was located.  One of the thieves had a tool of some sort, perhaps a crowbar, and he jimmied the cash drawer open without difficulty.  All of the money that was in the cash drawer was missing, along with a bottle of whiskey the manager always kept in his desk drawer for medicinal purposes.
    Shortly after the burglary, Lou Paul "Wormy" Thrasher and his new partner in crime and related shenanigans, "Bambi" Crookshanks, slipped through the darkness at Summit Yard and climbed into an empty coal hopper.  They carried a bag with them that looked like it belonged to the Imperial Hotel.  They settled down in the bottom of the coal hopper and drank most of the whiskey awaiting the drag engine that was scheduled for 4:00 a.m. 
    We have met Wormy before.  Wormy is a criminal who steals when he is not in custody.  (p. 19 - the Code Talker Caper).  He convinced Maggie Hussy to participate in a scheme to embezzle A&S funds (p.28) and has recently been released from Florida State Prison for theft from the A&S freight station at Piney Woods. (p. 52) 
    Bambi Crookshanks is new to our stories.  Bambi comes from Jackson, Mississippi.  He was employed by the GM&O for a short time but was fired for serious Rule G violations.  Since that time he has wandered from place to place, often finding lodging for the night at the local jail facility.  He received a hardship discharge from the Army on the grounds that keeping him in the Army would be a hardship.
    But I digress.  Back to the burglary of the Imperial Hotel.  It was exactly at 4:00 a.m. when ACL decapod number 8000 coupled onto the cut of coal hoppers in which Wormy and Bambi were hiding and began the trip to Sanlando Yard by way of the Ovalix.  The consist was composed of fifteen hoppers, fourteen of which were loaded, and a caboose.  Wormy and Bambi were in the empty hopper mid-train. 
    All went well until the train got about halfway down the Ovalix.  It was then that Wormy smelled the smoke of a hot box.  The smell grew stronger and the stowaways realized the hot hub was on the front truck of the hopper in which they were riding.  "Just our luck," said Wormy, " we's a-gonna wreck before we hit the Midlands and we'll be lucky to survive."  "I know," said Bambi, "let's climb over the coal piles  and warn the engineer."  Now Wormy didn't cotton to that idea too much since old 8000 was making 25mph downgrade and since our boys were "in whiskey" those rocking hoppers could cause a man to lose his balance.
    But the smoke smell got stronger and the wheel hub began to glow bright red, so our two burglars started to gingerly climb over the coal piles on their way to the engine.  They climbed into the cab and warned the hog head that he had a hot box.  Uncle Henry O'Leary was running the pig that day and he applied the brakes.  Teh train stopped just in time before the wheel hub broke from the friction. 
    Uncle Henry noticed that Bambi was carrying a bag that looked like a money bag.  He took it from Bambi and noticed it had "Imperial Hotel" stitched on it.   Uncle Henry said, "The ACL owes you boys for saving a wreck that could have cost the railroad a lot of money in wrecking costs, downtime, and repairs.  So I am going to forgive ya for hopping a ride without a ticket.  But it looks like somebody misplaced this here bag of money that belongs to the Imperial Hotel.  Guess I'll turn it over to Officer Poovey when we get to Sanlando and he can return it to its rightful owner.  You boys go on and walk the last mile down the Ovalix and have a nice day."

   

PRR Modeler

Great story Judge. It just goes to show that crime doesn't pay...unless you're a politician.  :o
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

GPdemayo

Sometimes miscreants can't help themselves.....good yarn Bill.  8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

Judge

#839
Saturday Report - November 28, 2020

    Regretfully, there is no Saturday Report for today due to the illness of the Atlantic & Southern's CEO.  Your reporter spoke with the CEO yesterday on the telephone and, while he is having quite a time of it, he appears to be on the mend.  I am told that sometimes it takes weeks to fully recover (or recover as fully as you can) from this dammed pestilence. 
    Your reporter has been sticking around the homefront as much as possible and wearing a mask whenever it is absolutely necessary to be in public.  Actually, your reporter has not had any contact with other human beings, except his wife, Cindy, for two weeks   Both of us were tested last Tuesday and the results were negative.  We have had Thanksgiving with retired judge Charlie Holcomb and his wife, Mary, in Cocoa for the last few years and we declined to even do that this year.
    There are positive things about the virus.  I am only using about one tank of gas every month and eating at home all the time does seem to save some money.

    While there is no Saturday Report today, I have opted to include a report taken from the March 1939, Railroad Magazine evaluating the pros and cons of diesel and steam locomotives.  Remember, in March 1939, Diesel locomotives were just making inroads into the railroads.  General Motors had only been in the Diesel business since 1937and the first FT's made their appearance that month.  Many railroad men thought Diesel locomotives would have limited use, such as switchers, due to their ability to handle cars at slow speeds more efficiently than steam.  Railroad Magazine certainly thought so. 
    This review of the article that appeared in the March 1939 edition of Railroad Magazine has necessarily been abridged.  Statistical information has been omitted as well as information your reporter deemed unnecessary for the context of the report.

                                                                                                        Diesel Versus Steam in 1939  (How the Battle is Going After Five Years)

    The article reports that the Diesel/Steam battle really began in 1934 when Burlington's original Zephyr rolled out into the light of day.  The preparations for the battle began in 1925 when Ingersoll-Rand constructed a 300hp switcher for use in the Bronx yard of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.  The loco was ordered because New York City forbade the operation of steam engines due to their smoke.  The Diesel-Electric combination soon included major improvements, such as the lighter two-cycle engine that was simple, cheap to operate, adn three or four times more efficient thermally than the steam locomotive.
    When GM entered the market, road locomotives were envisioned as well as switchers. GM bought the Winton Engine Co., manufacturer of Diesel engines, and were well on their way to success.  However, while railroad men were more than tolerant with Diesel switchers, they were less enthusiastic about internal combustion engines in mainline operations.
    But Diesel-electric power had major advantages:  Diesel-electrics have vastly greater starting power, they do not have to stop for fuel or water so often, and they have no boilers that have to be washed and rebuilt on a regular basis.  Additionally, a number of Diesel-electrics can be coupled together with one crew, much to the annoyance of the Brotherhoods, who were used to separate crews when engines were "double-headed."
    GM started selling new Diesels to the public, using pleasant innovations such as attractive paint schemes, air-conditioned cars, lightweight equipment, and streamliners for passenger service.  The bottom line was enhanced by the Diesel's extremely high ratio of horsepower to train weight, which meant they could run fast on little fuel.
    Meanwhile, steam locomotive manufacturers were building big heavy locomotives for big heavy trains.  Referring to the lightweight trains, one steam designer snorted, "Why, we were doing that forty years ago."  And so they were.  During the 1890s light steamers were pulling light rains at speeds greater on average than the runs in 1939. 
    "Hells bells," complained another manufacturer, "we can make a steamer cheaper to operate, faster running, and just as grotesque looking, and with the same capacity - provided the railroads don't try to hang more cars on her than they would a Diesel of the same capacity."
    But the designers did not follow through, with rare exceptions, and continued to build as usual.
    The main disadvantage of Diesel power was its comparative higher initial cost.  But operating cost savings soon made the initial cost economically advantageous.  Furthermore, GM started renting the engines to the railroads, allowing them to pay for them out of current expenses.  Diesel salesmen said the Diesels would pay for themselves out of the money they saved.  (John Allen hung one of these SOB's from a tree on the Gore and Dephetid.)
     The author of the article states that after five years of noisy attack on the citadel of steam, Diesels can only claim two points of solid superiority.  They are somewhat easier on the rails than steam engines and they do not have to stop as often.  (The author ignores maintenance and labor cost savings, but labor was cheap during the depression and maybe that wasn't such a concern.)  The fact that Diesels can accelerate at a faster rate is somewhat nullified by the fact that a steamer is designed to handle the same train at the same average speed is faster in the higher speed ranges.  Moreover, a steamer with a booster engine is livelier at low speeds than even railroad men are inclined to admit.
    Steam outdoes Diesels on "all other points."  Streamlined steam engines, such as the SP Daylights and Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas, are more attractive to passengers than Diesels (no argument there).  These engines cast $4.63 and $4.34, respectively, per mile to operate, while the Diesel-powered City of San Francisco 14 car streamliner costs $4.19 per mile.  The article touts the fact that the ACL just took possession of 12 modern 4-8-4's that haul as many as 21 standard cars from Richmond to Jacksonville, a distance of 661 miles in 705 minutes. 
     The article closes with the observation that unless the total operating cost of Diesels is drastically reduced, the advantages they possess in passenger service will hardly be sufficient to make them successful.  "The uncontroverted evidence s the record of steam engines in high-speed service does not make ridiculous the conclusion that the Diesel isn't likely to make a clean sweep of passenger trains."  "Perhaps," the author says, " what is most relevant, Diesels provoke speculation as to what would be happening if GM were building steam engines."
    We all know how that worked out. Among other things, a few months later Hitler invaded Poland.

    There will be no Saturday Report next week while Tom is recovering.


   

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