The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

[Judge]

Dave - I'll put that on my list.

[jbvb]

At 260 feet, the Ovalix is quite a lot of Main Line.  Am I right in remembering that through trains traverse each level in between climbing or descending the Ovalix to the next level?

[Jerry]

What a treat the Judge is back!!

Another wonderful story.

Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Glad to see you back in action Bill.

[Rick]

Bill, interesting to read about the history of the RR and the layout.
Thanks for sharing.

[Judge]

Thank all of you for welcoming me back. 

There was an inquiry about the Ovalix.  It is a marvelous bit of construction.  It allows trains to enter and exit on any level without traveling on another level.  This keeps collisions from happening considering the busy traffic on each level.

[elwoodblues]

Thanks for the history lesson and the description of the layout.  I have visited the layout this past summer and I agree that the ovalix is an engineering marvel.  I have never seen a helix done that way before and seeing a long train on the ovalix is a sight to behold.

[Judge]

The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report - October 4, 2025

The Board of Directors met at 0830.  The main discussion was about Tom's newly acquired ability to edit videos.  This is a complicated process that, while time consuming, is worth the effort.  Several weeks ago, we tried to do a video without editing to show a short sequence of three trains at the Sanlando passenger depot.  It wasn't a complete disaster but there were several errors: An o-6-0 switcher kept letting off steam; I forgot to turn off the bell, the steam engine did not pull far enough forward, and we mistakenly took the video while others were present to snicker.
Here is a link to our first effort. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgjpZssI_xs

We ran our ACL 2-10-2, which has the new TCS "Chuffinity" sound for steam locomotives.  While it performed as advertised and the sound is an improvement over other steam decoders, it still needs some tinkering and we will address that next Saturday.

Curt Webb joined us later in the morning and we left for lunch at Del Dio's at 1045 hours.

I decided to spend the next few weeks introducing some of the citizens of Tahope to the new readers.  i selected the newspaper reporter, Charlie Belich, because, although the story is an ole rerun, it is one of my favorites and, after all, it is MY report.
Please forgive my typos.  I'm still relearning the Forum.

Charlie Belich, is the local newspaper reporter, who thinks the Tahope Daily News (a four-page rag mainly devoted to gossip) is as important as the Atlanta Constitution.  (It isn't.)

The Atlantic & Southern Railroad has trackage right over the ACL mainline from Tahope County to Jacksonville.  Tahopians travel there to catch one of many passenger trains heading north and west.  The A&S provides daily passenger service to Jacksonville, which is located at Summit on the A&S.

Jacksonville's Union Station is an imposing structure with mighty columns supporting the front entrance and spacious areas for passenger comfort on the inside.  The station was built during the depression and opened for business prior to WWII.
 
   Inside, there are ticket agents and two restaurants.  One of the restaurants serves mainly hamburgers, hot dogs, and other snack food, while the other is a full-service restaurant specializing in Florida seafood, including shrimp, fish, and some exotic dishes such as alligator tail, turtle soup, and blue crabs.  Most of the seafood comes from the nearby St. Johns River.

   Passengers line up in front of the ticket agent windows to obtain passage to one of the over one dozen trains that board passengers daily. 
The daily arrivals and departures include:

   Atlantic Coast Line
      18   Flamingo – Dixie Limited
      72   The Miamian (North)
      74   Gulf Coast Limited
      76    Havana Special (North)
      80   Cost Line Florida Mail
      91   Florida Special
      94   Southland – Seminole – Dixie Flyer
   Florida East Coast
      29   Daylight Express
      75   Havanah Special (South)
   Seaboard Air Line
      35   Tallahassee Flyer
      37   New Orleans – Florida Limited
      107   Florida Limited
   Southern Railroad
      2   Ponce De Leon
      4   Royal Palm
      8   Kansas City – Florida Special
      24   Skyland Special   

TRAVEL BY PULLMAN[/

It is noon on Monday, a busy time of day, and a passenger is in a line with several others in front of him and several more behind.  The ticket agent is trying to hurry the line along so no one will miss a train.
 
Charlie Belich, a newspaper reporter from the Tahope County Daily News, finally managed to arrive at the ticket window to purchase a ticket to New York on Number 91, the Atlantic Coast Line's Florida Special.  Charlie was new to overnight railroad travel and sought appropriate accommodations for the trip.
 
The ticket agent looked up from his paperwork as Charlie approached his window and obviously in a hurry to get onto the next customer said, "Good morning, sir, how may I help you?"

"I would like to travel to New York City where I will be attending a news conference concerning the latest reports on President Truman's Hawaiian conference with General Douglas McArthur," said the passenger, with some pomposity.  "I will be staying at the Hotel Astor where my paper has reserved a suite for me.  I would like to reserve a Pullman berth for the trip."

The ticket agent, obviously irritated by this unnecessary banter, asked, "For a single passenger?"

"No," Charlie replied.  "I am married, but I am not taking anybody with me.  A single berth will do fine."
 
The ticket agent, obviously annoyed with this wise guy, asked, "Upper or lower?"
 
"What's the difference," Charlie asked?

"A difference of 50 cents," came the answer.  Our prices to New York are $2.50 and $3.00.  You understand of course," explained the agent, "the lower is higher than the upper.  The higher price is for the lower berth.  If you want a lower, you'll have to go higher.  We sell the upper lower than the lower.  It didn't used to be so, but we found out everybody wanted the lower.  In other words, the higher the fewer.

"Why do they all prefer the lower?" the passenger asked.

"On account of its convenience.  Most persons don't like the upper, although it's lower, on account of it being higher and because when you occupy an upper you have to get up to go to bed and then get down when you get up.  I would advise you to take the lower, although it's higher than the upper, for the reason I have stated - that the upper is lower than the lower because it is higher.  You can have the lower if you pay higher, but if you are willing to go higher, it will be lower."

"What if I want a single compartment?" asked the passenger.

The agent ignored the question and handed the passenger a ticket for a lower.  "Have a nice trip," he said.
    

[Vietnam Seabee]

Good one , Bill..that story is like being on a roller coaster..up and down, up and down
terry

[Rick]

Bill, thanks for another interesting report.

That's an impressive list of destinations that are available.

That's exactly how I would have handled that ticket purchaser.

[PRR Modeler]

Great story Bill, but isn't the Southwind missing?

[Jerry]

That was great Bill! And funny! 
Keep them coming.

Jerry

[elwoodblues]

Great story Bill, That is a lot of passenger trains.

[Judge]

Curt -  The timetable I used was from 1938.  The Southwind's predecessor was the Dixie Flyer.  The Chicago to Miami Southwind did not make its maiden run until 1940.

[PRR Modeler]

I stand corrected Bill.