LOCKHEED MARTIN SHOW
The Lockheed Martin Recreation Association (LMRA) railroad activity will host its 21 st annual model railroad show on the 11 th and 12 of October 2003 at the recreation association, 3400 Bryant Irvin Road, Fort Worth, TX 76109. Saturday the show will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday they will open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
There will be modular layouts of various scales, over 130 dealer tables and the LMRA Railroad Club’s permanent HO scale layout (about 1200 square feet).
The letter I received also sates the following: Since you are helping us we would like to do something for you. If you plan to attend the show write, call or e-mail me and I will send you two free tickets. In addition, for each admission bought with a coupon with your business name stamped on it we will send you a 15-cent rebate.
I have the discount coupons and I will bring them to the meeting with me.
Robert Bray is the commissioner of the LMRA activity. His home phone is 817 249-4965 and his work phone is 817 777-2022.
His e-mail address is rlbjabray@netzero.net. The admission fee is $6.00 for adults. Children under 10 are free with an adult ticket.
OH NO - POLITICS
PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY - UNMANNED LOCOMOTIVES A DANGER TO PUBLIC SAFETY
I recently receive a flyer from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers which reads as follows:
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) believes and supports the position that this Nation’s railroads could avoid many accidents, safety hazards and operating inefficiencies by continuing to put control of all locomotives in the hands of the most highly trained, skilled and experienced operating craft employee in the rail industry. Further, this Nation’s railroads have not adequately responded to BLE’s many safety concerns, including those associated with remote control.
The BLE is warning communities across the U.S. of the potential dangers associated with Remote-Controlled Train Operations (RCO).
Locomotives are being operated without fully trained, qualified and experienced Locomotive Engineers on board and are being controlled from a remote location by a person who wears a remote control device strapped around their waist. The safety of this device is not proven . (Emphasis theirs.)
Despite a 2-14-2001 Federal railroad Administration Safety Advisory that states, “the FRA has limited data on which to base an objective safety analysis and must therefore proceed prudently,” the railroads have chosen an irresponsible plan to implement RCOs at rail yards around the county and have even tried to expand these operations to the main track.
UP, BNSF, CONTRAIL, CSX, KCS, AND NS are currently implementing RCOs at many of their major switching terminals across the country. Railroads are major transporters of nuclear wastes, hazardous materials and chemicals. These deadly materials will soon be handled by RCO in a neighborhood near you. Since implementing this new program many of these railroads have experienced numerous accidents.
In spite of U.S. Department of Transportation’s warnings about potential terrorist attacks on railroads, this Nation’s largest railroads are moving ahead with plans to remove skilled, fully trained and qualified engineers from some trains. While the airline industry is increasing security by placing trained professionals in airports and on airplanes, this nations railroads are taking engineers off some trains and running those locomotives by remove control. Those locomotives have no one in the operating compartment and have no safety system installed to replace the eyes, ears and experience of a locomotive engineer
Don’t wait until a deadly accident happens in your neighborhood. Take action. Call or write your congressmen and senators today. Let your elected representatives know that you are very concerned about the potential dangers associated with RCOs that are being implemented in and near you neighborhoods. Tell them you want trains in your neighborhood controlled by the most fully trained, qualified and experienced railroad operating craft employee. For Safety’s Sake.OK, this is the editor. The pamphlet then goes on to list all the appropriate congressmen and senators to write. I will bring the pamphlet with me to the meeting.
JONATHAN LUTHER “CASEY” JONES
By Ron Marlow as printed in The Semaphore . The newsletter of the Texas Panhandle Railroad Historical Society, July and August 2003, page 2.
On the last day of April 1900 passenger train No. 1, engine No. 382 collided with the rear of freight train No. 83 at approximately 3:52 A.M. resulting in the death of “Casey” Jones.
Come all you rounders if you want to hear
A story ‘bout a brave engineer,
Casey Jones was the rounders name
‘Twas on the Illinois Central that he won his fameIn death Casey Jones became a legend of the railroading world. There are many who feel that his fame is equal to that of Billy the Kid or the James brothers, certainly not a hero in the true sense of the work.
Casey Jones, he loved a locomotive
Casey Jones, a mighty man was he
Casey Jones run his final locomotive
With the Cannonball Special on the old I.C.Jonathan Luther Jones was born in Kentucky near the small town of Cacce (pronounced “K.C.” and as in “Casey”) and from which his nickname originated. He was an imposing man, nearly six feet, five inches tall with a ready Irish grin and twinkling gray eyes.
Casey pulled into Memphis on Number Four
The engine foreman met him at the roundhouse door;
Said, “Joe Lewis won’t be able to make his run
So you’ll have to cobble out on Number One.”On the anniversary of the collision and the death of Casey the Erie Railroad Magazine (Vol. 24, April 1928, No. 2) interviewed his widow, Janie Jones who was then living in Jackson, TN. Janie Jones, referring to her husband as “John Luther,” related that he had been a good husband and father to their two sons and a daughter.
Casey Jones, mounted the cabin,
Casey Jones, with the orders in his hand
Casey Jones, he mounted the cabin,
Started on his farewell journey to the promised land.“All the railroaders were fond on Casey,” said Janie, “Especially his Negro engine wiper Wallace Saunders, who just about worshiped the ground he walks on.” It was Wallace Saunders who came up with the first words in the song dedicated to the end time of his hero.
They pulled out of Memphis nearly two hours late,
Soon they were speeding at a terrible rate,
And the people knew by the whistle’s moan
That the man at the throttle was Casey Jones.Jones was well known all along the Illinois Central line as a virtuoso with the locomotive whistles. “You see,” his widow explained, “he established sort of a trade mark for himself by his inimitable method of blowing a whistle. It was kind of a long, drawn-out note that he created, beginning softly, then rising, then dying away almost to a whisper. People living between Jackson and Water Valley would turn over in their beds at night and say: ‘There goes Casey Jones’ as he roared by.”
Need more coal there, fireman Sim,
Open that door and heave it in.
Give that shovel all you got
And we’ll reach Canton on the dot“Wallace Saunders’ admiration for Casey was little short of idolatry,” Janie Jones remarked. A few days following the funeral Wallace was going around singing the words he’d put together set to a melody all his own.
On April 30, 1900, that rainy morn
Down in Mississippi near the town of Vaughan,
Sped the Cannonball Special only two minutes late,
Traveling 70 miles an hour when the saw the freight.To be continued. . . .
NATIONAL NARROW GAUGE MEETING
By David Lamberts
It is time for my annual reminder to the membership about the fabulous National Narrow Gauge Meeting this year in Denver, CO. Although these meeting are always fun, this one should be special because of the location. If you only came to the meeting to go to Caboose Hobbies and the Colorado Railroad Museum, the trip would be worth it. Of course, there are hundreds of other activities planed including a huge vendors room, model contests, clinics, layout tours, etc. The setup is similar to our Lone Star convention, but this meeting will be about ten times bigger.
The dates are from September 3 (Wednesday) to September 7 (Saturday). The live auction is Saturday night, so almost everyone actually leaves on Sunday morning.
Please let me know if you want more information. It is a great location and a great experience. As Jack will attest, you definitely don’t have to be a narrow gauge modeler to enjoy this convention.
LUBBOCK MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION
PO BOX 53674
LUBBOCK, TX 79453