NRHS UK Diary This diary gives advance notice of NRHS UK Chapter meetings. Suggestions for meeting venues to any member of the committee, please. OTE: As a partial solution to the colour printing problem, each issue is now posted as a PDF file on the chapter web site. United Kingdom Chapter ewsletter Vol. 16 o. 6 ovember/december 2008 Trans-Atlantic Rails UK Chapter Officers President and ational Director 020-8979-3733, 07860-232284 Email: Jillianclose@aol.com Secretary Ron Keevil Joan Keevil Vice President and ewsletter Editor Tim Bourne 1 St. David's Close, Leverstock Green, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, Herts. HP3 8LU (Fax) 07020-971134 Email: nrhsuk@siam.co.uk Treasurer 020 8470 9007 Email: AndrewBiro@aol.com Membership Secretary and London Meetings Officer 81 Mayow Road, LONDON, SE26 4AA 020 8699 6181 Andrew Biro David Elliot Overseas Liaison John White The Sidings, St Mary s Close, Hamstreet, ASHFORD, Kent, TN26 2DX When writing to any officer, please remember to supply a stamped addressed envelope if you expect a reply. Web Site: http://www.siam.co.uk/nrhsuk/ Trans-Atlantic Rails 12 November/December 2008 From the Editor With this issue I have completed 16 years as editor of Trans- Atlantic Rails, and I believe it is time for a change. I have previously invited potential editors to get in touch, but there has been no response. I have therefore given notice to the committee that I will produce just one more issue, for January/February 2009; after that it s up to you! Tim. In this issue It isn t Rocket Science, BUT... 3 A visit to the Galveston Railroad 6 OTE: All photographs are by the author of the article unless stated otherwise. Trans-Atlantic Rails 1 November/December 2008
ARRIVALS and DEPARTURES This is where we announce rail-related events of possible interest to members visiting the USA. If you hear of something of interest to other members, please tell the Editor. 2009 R I P Dave Collins The committee was very sad to hear of the death at the beginning of November of long-serving member Dave Collins. We offer our condolences to Dave s wife Sue and the family. For many years Dave had organised Chapter meeting in the Reading area, first at the Central Library, then in Twyford, and most recently with the Loddon Vale Model Railway Club in Grazeley. He found us many interesting speakers, and he and Sue always looked after us well. We shall miss him! Tim May NRHS Spring Board Meeting, Norwalk, CT August 10-16 NRHS Annual Convention, Duluth, MN October NRHS Fall Board Meeting, St Louis, MO 2010 June 22-26 NRHS Annual Convention, Scranton PA There is usually a programme of events run in conjunction with the Board Meetings and when we get details we will pass them on. For more details of any of the above, please contact Tim Bourne, or visit the main NRHS web site. RHS Annual Convention 2009 Duluth, Minnesota Steam on the Range 10 16 August, 2009 All the usual convention activities museum visits, steam and diesel excursions, banquet, etc. in an area seldom visited. Trans-Atlantic Rails 2 November/December 2008 Trans-Atlantic Rails 11 November/December 2008
A close up of locomotive #302 BN-SF #2402, a GP30, and #2008, a GP38-2 wait outside of Galveston receive a string of covered hoppers from the Galveston Railroad. The Rocket Train somewhere in Wyoming It isn't Rocket Science, BUT... by David Elliot NASA couldn't get a spacecraft into orbit without them. They are members of the Promontory Chapter of the NRHS, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. This Chapter owns several passenger cars including WARRIOR RIVER which once ran on the Southern Railway. The firm of ATK Thiokol makes the booster rockets for the launch of spacecraft at a factory at Corinne, Utah. Corinne, once a stop on the original Central Pacific line to Promontory, is northwest of Brigham City, which is northwest of Ogden and on a UP line into Idaho. The re usable rockets are taken by special train from Corinne east along the UP main line and end up at Titusville on the Florida East Coast line, whence they are moved on a short US Government line to Kennedy Space Centre for installation on the Space Shuttle or whatever craft is to be launched. After a launch, the rockets boost the craft until their fuel is used up; they are then detached and fall inbf) the Atlantic. They area retrieved and sent back, also by train, to Thiokol to be recharged or scrapped. (Continued on page 4) Trans-Atlantic Rails 10 November/December 2008 Trans-Atlantic Rails 3 November/December 2008
A UP freight overtakes the Rocket Train Rocket Science (Continued from page 3) For some years, members of the Promontory Chapter have provided an escort for the rockets across the continent. Their car WARRIOR RIVER is attached behind the locomotive and in front of the covered cars carrying the rockets. The journey to Titusville can take a week or more. The route is east along the Union Pacific to Kansas City and by a circuitous route to Florida. For an account of the ride I will quote from a letter of December 2005 from Howard Freed of Salt Lake City, who was recently voted National Director of the Promontory Chapter. He wrote: "We take the engineers with the rocket motors for the space shuttle from Northern Utah to Florida. There they are hooked up to the space shuttle and sent off into the sky. In the photos you will see our passenger car right behind the locomotive. This trip was unusual because after delivering the new set we picked up an old set of rocket motors that had been stored at Kemedy and took them, along with another set of engineers, back to Utah. These were built before the Columbia disaster and are now too old to use for manned space flight. They will be test fired in Utah, to see how they stand up to long-term storage. (Continued on page 5) Postscript A close up of locomotive #301 It s a good job Chuck went when he did. Hurricane Ike hit Galveston and Houston in September 2008, and our relatives in Houston tell us it was the worst they ve experienced. Our niece and her family were without power for a couple of weeks, and my sister-in-law had a tree blown down across her roof. The storm surge did not reach quite as high as feared, but those parts of Galveston island without sea defences fared badly. The NY Times reported The authorities said that it might be a month before water and power were restored to some parts of the island and that the wastewater treatment plant was in bad shape. Only emergency personnel were being allowed onto the island, they said.. The Galveston Railroad Museum, an excellent facility that we visited a few years ago, issued the following statement: The Galveston Railroad Museum sustained devastating flood waters from Hurricane Ike. The flood waters inundated the Museum from 4 1/2 ft. to 11 ft. depending on the elevation of the location. The Museum is closed indefinitely. The Galveston Railroad is mainly along the northern coast, in the same area as the Museum; I wonder how well it survived? Tim Trans-Atlantic Rails 4 November/December 2008 Trans-Atlantic Rails 9 November/December 2008
Rocket Science (Continued from page 4) The trip was a very slow one; we sat in the Kansas City yards for two days, and for two more in Florida. We took a new route that runs through Mississippi and Alabama. We used to run through New Orleans, but since hurricane Katrina devastated that whole area, we now run north of it. One of the problems with this new route was the track which across Alabama was a little rough. It has previously been used only by a local freight railroad and the speeds allowed were between 5 and. 9 mph. As you can guess we took some time to cross. THe best part about it was that I was able to ride up in the locomotive with the engineer. It was a very nice view from up there. We have a lady in the car who cooks for us, and the food was very good. This was a great trip to take - I will probably do it once a year." These special cars hold the rockets. A close up of locomotive #305 Galveston (Continued from page 7) The GVSR locomotive fleet consists of six engines, #301, #302, #304 and #305 all EMD SW1001 of 1000 hp, #223 an EMD SW1200 of 1200 hp, and #771 an EMD NW2 of 1200 hp. The GVSR owns no freight cars that are used in common carrier service. The GVSR rail facility is in reality one large freight yard with spurs leading off to industrial sites and wharves. While part of the railroad lies in the open allowing public access much of the GVSR hides behind gates and fences guarding the port. Due to the fences I was limited in the pictures I could take during my two hour visit, a visit that started inside of a fog bank. A passenger car owned by Promontory Chapter at Salt Lake City. Trans-Atlantic Rails 8 November/December 2008 Trans-Atlantic Rails 5 November/December 2008
Galveston (Continued from page 6) The GVSR was chartered as the Galveston Wharves Railway in 1900. The railroad was owned by the City of Galveston and began operations just before the 1900 Galveston Hurricane destroyed the city. In 1987 the Galveston Wharves Railway was leased to Rail Management Corporation and renamed Galveston Railroad. In 2005 Rail Management Corporation was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Locomotives #771, #233, and #304 are seen working the grain elevators, the photo was taken using a telephoto lens. The fin seen above the covered hoppers is the funnel of the cruise ship Ecstasy. A VISIT TO THE GALVESTO RAILROAD By Charles H Bogart March 2008 found Mary Ann and me in Galveston, Texas to attend a history conference. We stayed over a few days to do some rail fanning and visit some nearby historical sites. Among the sites visited was the Galveston Railroad Museum, which had incredible collection of railroad cars and locomotives jammed into a small yard on the water front, and the Galveston Railroad (GVSR). Unfortunately the salt air was staying ahead of the museum s volunteers in keeping the preserved rolling stock in pristine condition. The GVSR consists of 43.3 miles of yard track within the City of Galveston. The GVSR is classified by the Federal Railroad Administration as a Class III Terminal Switching Railroad and the GVSR switches yearly some 50,000 freight cars. The GVSR primary customer is the Port of Galveston but it also serves a number of industries and warehouses located in the dock area. The Port of Galveston is located on the inland side of Galveston Island and handles containers, dry and liquid bulk, break bulk, RO/RO, and refrigerated goods. Locomotives #302, #305, and #301 having pulled up in front of the yard shop for new orders (Continued on page 8) Galveston is a sub port of Houston, Texas, though at one time the relationship was just the opposite. The City of Galveston and its port are located on Galveston Island. The island is connected to the mainland by a highway bridge and a rail bridge. Rail service at the port is provided by the GVSR. The port s rail link to the outside world is BN-SF and Union Pacific. (Continued on page 7) Trans-Atlantic Rails 6 November/December 2008 Trans-Atlantic Rails 7 November/December 2008