"Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

I remember a b&w "Public Safety" film showing some kids playing around the rail
yard...
 
"Johnny" was walking on the rails when he slipped and knocked himself out... he
was only saved by a "timely" rail employee.
 
I'll have to look up what the name of the film is.. I think it was AAR produced.
 
Gene

On March 8, 2011 at 8:24 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:



> Wet rails are slippery!

> 

> Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

> 

> ----- Reply message -----

> From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Date: Mon, Mar 7, 2011 10:31 pm

> Subject: "Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

> To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> 

> 

> OK, I am ready for the abuse for asking this question but I have to know.

>  

> What is wrong with stepping on a rail as noted in the movie reference?  Is it

> a safety problem or a superstition?

>  

> Thanks for the enlightenment.

>  

> Rick Huddle

> Delaware, OH

> 

> > ----- Original Message -----

> > From:NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

> > To:NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

> > Sent:Thursday, March 03, 2011 8:27 AM

> > Subject:"Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

> > Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with seven of the

> > Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway. We talked about the

> > collision last Wednesday in the NS Roanoke Yard at 12th Street.

> > Destroyed was a former N&W wooden boxcar that was painted in St. Louis

> > to resemble a "Budweiser" billboard beer car. In the affected VMT

> > storage line was one of the very last former Virginian Railway coal

> > hoppers, which seemed to just get a good "shake-down". We talked about

> > this car in the Roanoke Chapter NRHS Board Meeting on Tuesday night, and

> > plans are to try to repair, repaint, and re-stencil it in VGN livery if

> > possible.

> > 

> > Passed around for the Brethren to peruse were the Winter, 2011 NRHS

> > "Bulletin" and the April 2011 "Trains Magazine". The "Bulletin" had a

> > lot of western lines stories and photos as usual, but also featured an

> > article on EMD SW1 switchers. The "Trains" is mostly about streamline

> > high-speed trains.

> > 

> > "Gibby" Davis gave a report on the train show last weekend in Clifton

> > Forge. "It was mostly CSX and I saw little VGN stuff", he said.

> > 

> > For "Show and Tell" I took a recent gift of some Stuart T. Saunders

> > stationery with 4-cent envelopes marked "President, Norfolk and Western

> > Railway Co. Roanoke, Virginia". Raymond East responded when I asked if

> > President Saunders was a "Friend of the Virginian Railway": "I don't

> > think he had any friends at all".

> > 

> > The "Jewel from the Past" is from February 17, 2005: "Today I went to

> > visit VGN Operator Clyde Weatherly at Loyalton Assisted Living, and took

> > a photo of he and I, that I am posting on this site under 'People'.

> > Clyde really enjoyed looking at the new book on the Virginian in Color.

> > He told me about handing up the orders to the ill-fated VGN #800 crew at

> > JK, just minutes before she blew up near Stewartsville. When he was told

> > there was a wreck, he searched every train order, even in the trash can,

> > thinking it was a head-on, and he had messed up the orders. He went to

> > the scene later that night and told me about seeing the carnage". (Note:

> > Clyde passed away several days after this interview).

> > 

> > Last week I had an opportunity to see the new train wreck movie

> > "Unstoppable" starring Denzel Washington. He played a "28 year veteran"

> > engineer who stepped on a rail on his way to his "5,000 HP" SD-40 in the

> > opening scenes. The film is based on an actual CSX incident (which

> > incidentally, I heard they did not make public until AFTER it happened).

> > This movie was nominated for an Academy Award last Sunday for its great

> > SOUND, even though the lead units of the runaway were GEs and their

> > sound in the movie was that of EMDs. We discussed this movie and I

> > challenged the Brethren to go see it, and see if they could find more

> > mistakes in it than I could (21 and counting).

> > 

> > The ebay report this time includes (3) 8X10 VGN cabooses for $22.47 and

> > (9) great VGN slides (duplicates) for $20.65. Those of you who watch

> > ebay, and look for VGN stuff...heads up, I am putting some choice items

> > on soon.

> > 

> > In keeping up with past sessions, our friend Eddie Mooneyham, new NS

> > employee, gave me a current (May 2009) version of the previously mention

> > NW company issued "Glossary of railroad terminology and jargon". He got

> > this book recently at the NS Training Center in McDonough, GA. The

> > Brethren enjoyed trying to figure out what the new words meant and

> > especially how they would have been "exposed" on VGN tracks. Abe: It has

> > "CTC" defined as "Centralized Traffic Control". This new thick 21st

> > Century version of terms has several new ones: "ACRE" is defined as

> > measured along railroad right-of-way 8' 3" wide by one mile. "CUBING"

> > means "on the job training" and a "SANDWICH CAR" is "a super-insulated

> > tank car whose inner tank is supported solely by urethane foam

> > insulation". I challenge you to figure out the following NS terminology

> > and jargon sentence: "The DOG CATCHER and DUTCHMAN passed the KISS AND

> > RIDE and picked up a MUD HOP near the POT SIGNAL for a SKIN LIFT".

> > 

> > Time to pull the pin on this one!

> > 

> > Departing Now from V248,

> > 

> > Skip Salmon

> > 

> > CCCLVII

> > 

> > __._,_.__

> > ________________________________________

> > NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org [mailto:NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org]

> > To change your subscription go to

> > http://list..nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list

> > Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at

> > http://list.nwhs..org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/

> > 



> 


Gene Bowker http://genebowker.com/
The Railroad Examiner - http://railfan.biz