BLUEGRASS RAILROADER December 2017 Bluegrass Railroad Club Inc. P.O. Box 1352, Lexington, KY 40588 Web Address: bgrrc.org Volume 45 Editors: Issue #12 45 Years of Railroad Fun Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Editors - Wesley Ross & Richard Rink Wes Ross Richard Rink TRAIN ORDER : #45 12 DATE: DECEMBER 2017 ORDERS: WISHING ALL BLUEGRASS RAILROAD CLUB MEMBERS A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS SEASON CHOCK FULL OF MODEL TRAINS, TRAINS ON GREETING CARDS, TRAIN BOOKS, TRAIN TRIPS, TRAIN VIDEOS AND WIDE-EYED KIDS ENJOYING TRAINS. WE WON'T HAVE A DECEMBER MEETING THIS MONTH. INSTEAD WE WILL BE RUNNING MODEL TRAINS FOR SOUTHERN LIGHTS AT THE HORSE PARK. BRING YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SEE AND PHOTOGRAPH THE LIGHTS AND TRAINS, OR COME OUT TO RUN TRAINS WITH US. EVEN IF YOU DON'T OWN ANY MODEL TRAINS, YOU CAN RUN SOME THAT THE CLUB OWNS, OR RUN LOANERS LEFT OUT THERE BY MEMBERS. YOU CAN EVEN PAY DUES VIA THE DONATION BOX AT OUR SOUTHERN LIGHTS DISPLAY (USE AN ENVELOPE WITH YOUR NAME ON IT). OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON JANUARY 12. MANY THANKS TO THE RAILROADER NEWSLETTER EDITORS, PHOTO AND ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS, MEETING PRESENTERS, BOARD MEMBERS, AND VOLUNTEERS, WHO MAINTAIN, TRANSPORT, ERECT AND DISPLAY OUR MODEL RAILROADS. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT THEIR MANY CONTRIBUTIONS. BGRRC PRESIDENT: Jerry Goerz DECEMBER 2017 Cumbres & Toltec Chama NM October 11, 2013 OUR GRATITUDE TO MEMBERS & FRIENDS HAVING CONTRIBUTED TO THE RAILROADER DURING 2017 A special word of thanks goes to members and friends that have contributed minutes, programs, reports, stories, announcements and photos to the Railroader January through December 2017. Stu Thayer Richard Rink Ryan Chugg Jerry Goerz Michael Rehom Larry Smith Joshua Johnson David Payne Paul Baungartner BLUEGRASS RAILROADER Wes Ross Shelby Jett Bob Larger John Stokes Norm Severin Scott Beckler James Chapman PAGE 1
Bluegrass Railroad Club, Inc General Meeting November 11, 2017 he November Meeting of the T Bluegrass Railroad Club, Inc., was called to order by President Jerry Goerz at 7:30pm, Friday, November 10, 2017, at the Hill N Dale Christian Church. There were 20 members present. The minutes of the October meeting appeared in the Railroader. Josh Johnson made the motion to approve the minutes. The second was made by Stuart Thayer. The motion passed. The Treasurer s Report, was presented by Shelby Jett. This report also appeared in the Railroader. A motion to accept the report was made by Josh Johnson and seconded by Wes Ross. The motion passed. The move-in for Southern Lights was done on November 4 for the majority of the layouts. Final work on the layouts can be performed on Saturday, November 11, and Southern Lights will begin operations on November 17. Bob Larger will check on security for the layouts. Members are to ask for the passes to view Southern Lights from Chris Nentwick weekdays at the main building at Horse Park. Shelby Jett announced that the Club has been asked to participate in the Palisades District Pinewood Derby on March 24, 2018, at the Southland Christian Church. Shelby also announced that he was collecting dues for the coming year. The program for the evening was preparations for the Horse Park Display and was presented primarily by Josh Johnson and Connie Stokes. The motion was made by Shelby Jett and seconded by Josh Johnson to adjourn the meeting at 7:40pm. The motion passed. Respectively Submitted Wesley F. Ross, Secretary IT S TIME TO RENEW YOUR 2018 MEMBERSHIP YES, IT S TIME AGAIN TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN THE BLUEGRASS RAILROAD CLUB. MEMBERSHIP DUES FOR 2018 IS $20, AND CAN BE PAID BY CHECK OR CASH AT THE NEXT GENERAL MEETING, OR BY MAILING A CHECK TO: Shelby Jett P. O. Box 66 Cox's Creek, KY 40013-0066 MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO THE BLUEGRASS RAILROAD CLUB, INC. TO BE ELIGIBLE TO MAKE A MOTION TO NOMINATE A MEMBER, SECOND A MEMBER S NOMINATION, VOTE FOR THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS, BE A CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE, OR HOLD OFFICE IN THE BLUEGRASS RAILROAD CLUB, A MEMBER MUST RENEW HIS/HER MEMBERSHIP BY THE BEGINNING OF THE FEBRUARY GENERAL MEETING. GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS BGRRC: With the club operating five model train layouts at Southern Lights, there will not be a general meeting for December. Members are encouraged to signup for operating layouts throughout December. Unless called for, there will be no board meetings for November and December. General Meeting for January 2017 is scheduled for Friday January 12, 7:30 PM, Fellowship Room, Hill n Dale Christian Church. DIVISION 10, LEXINGTON KY, January Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 7, 2018, 1:30 PM 3:30 PM, Lexington Public Library, Beaumont Branch, 3080 Fieldstone Way, Lexington, KY 40513. BGRRC TREASURER'S REPORT 10/23/2017 through 11/22/2017 Income: Membership Dues $ 330.00 Contribution 30.00 Total Income: $ 360.00 Expenses: Railroader Newsletter $ 12.96 Railroader Newsletter -Postage 8.82 Insurance - Trailers 23.67 Total Expenses: $ 45.45 Net Income: $ 314.55 Respectively submitted Shelby C. Jett Treasurer BLUEGRASS RAILROAD CLUB 2017-2018 BOARD MEMBERS President Jerry Goerz 859-277-6863 Vice President David Payne 859-367-5701 Treasurer Shelby Jett 859-396-1194 Secretary: Wes Ross 859-293-0807 Past President Joshua Johnson 859-539-8211 John Stokes (2018) 859-745-2830 Norm Severin (2018) 859-223-2345 Kelly Chapman (2019) (859) Â 753-5590 Larry Smith (2019) 502-839-8627 Ed Sims (2020) 859-276-3533 Rodney Crick (2020) 812-629-0475 DECEMBER 2017 BLUEGRASS RAILROADER PAGE 2
SNOW IN KENTUCKY Story & Photos by Ryan Chugg Photos taken December 2013 t all started on a late December evening in 2013, I had just I arrived home getting off of work at 9 PM. Getting on to my computer to browse Facebook and listen to some music, up pops a message from a friend saying that he was in Kentucky visiting from Florida. He was staying with another friend that lives in Louisville. He informed me that they were now in the Ashland/ Russell area, planning to go out in the morning looking for trains. Of course, they invited me, and while at first I was reluctant having to operate at Southern Lights the following night, I eventually surrendered to the invitation, in the past never capturing any photos of trains in the Ashland/Russel area. Having caught the railfan bug, I pack my camera and tripod; planning on taking a short nap, getting up at 3 AM, getting an early start to where my friends are staying. In anticipation I m up by 2 AM; pack everything I might need into the cab of my dad's 2005 Ford F-150, driving off toward I-64, which at the time was about a four mile drive from my home. The drive is about one and half hours to the hotel where my friends are staying; our plans for the day to railfan around Ashland/Russel area. Of course, snow is on the ground, it s cold and I have rarely photograph trains in winter weather. I photographed half of what I saw in photos and other half in video. A video is on YouTube under the name of Ryan Chugg; title Railfanning the L&N, Southern, C&O, and N&W today. Of course, between 2-3 PM I have to leave my friends for making my scheduled run at Southern Lights; arriving on time. Alright, enough about me, let s look at my photos for the railroad movements I photographed in the areas Russell/Ashland, KY and Ironton, OH. CSX GE CW44AC's, both in CSX's Version 2 Yellow Nose paint scheme, leads an empty coal train off of the C&O from Columbus onto the C&O from Cincinnati. Location is NJ Cabin. This area is on the east side of US-23, near de Antoine Lane, north of Russell, KY. Tower at NJ Cabin was still standing in December 2013. If it s still standing it is easy to visit from the east side of US-23, near the small towns of Siloam and Frost. This photo was taken in the morning, shortly after 7 or 8. And yes, it was very cold. It appears that the front unit is doing its Alco locomotive imitation responding to the engineer s throttle change. CSX had just replaced all of the old C&O colorlight signals and control points with new signals, equipment and signal bridge. DECEMBER 2017 BLUEGRASS RAILROADER PAGE 3
This small metal compartment has physically replaced the functioning of the two story tower at NJ Cabin. (Below) Our next stop is the east end of Russell Yard. Location for several photos is Russell Depot and nearby two story railroad tower, close to Ferry Street underpass. In its past, this ex. C&O property once supported a hump yard. Two mother-road slug sets, one led by CSX EMD GP40-2 No. 6460 paired with a EMD GP30 carbodied road slug, and CSX EMD GP40-2 No. 6476 paired with a EMD GP35 carbodied road slug. Both are seen sitting side by side working the south end of Russell Yard. CSX No. 2370, a GP35 carbodied road-slug paired with a "Mother" EMD GP40-2 seen here, this pair along with a EMD SD60 and a SD40-2 are rolling back into the east end of Russell Yard. CSX has has an extensive program converting old EMD GP30s, GP35s, GP38s, GP39s and GP40s into road slugs. DECEMBER 2017 BLUEGRASS RAILROADER PAGE 4
This is my favorite photo that I took during my visit to Russell, KY. Here CSX EMD GP40-2 No. 6406 leading it's GP35 carbodied road-slug beneath the signal bridge guarding the east end of Russell Yard. Location is at the edge of Russell Depot standing in front of the adjacent railroad tower. If the weather in this photo looks cold, rest assured, it was very cold. Fortunately, it wasn't snowing. Location is 34 th Street crossing at Catlettsburg, KY. Referred to as Big Sandy Junction, the tracks on the left connect to the Clinchfield line while the tracks on the grade to the right connect with old C&O line into Huntington WV. Where the rails merge is the old C&O line to Russell. The left side signal shows a medium clear (green over red). Photo below, caught on video, is a northbound train approaching the signal bridge shown above. CSX No. 2200, a former EMD GP35, turned into a road slug, and it's "Mother" EMD GP40-2 roll back towards the locomotive facilities at Russell Yard. A still photo from my video shows this EMD GP40-2/Mother Slug set, led by CSX No. 6431, holding a curious object on the coupler, having departed from the local chemical industry in Ashland, KY, moving fast through CSX's Big Sandy Subdivision on its way to Russell Yard. Location is 34th Street crossing. Big Sandy photos and videos were taken in Catlettsburg, near where US-23 and US-60 split off, becoming Louisa Street and Chestnut Street. DECEMBER 2017 BLUEGRASS RAILROADER PAGE 5
As a side note, this C&O Caboose No. 3191 calls the parking lot at Russell Depot its home, where daily it watches CSX trains run by. Photo location is the corner of Vine Alley and Ferry Street, Russell, KY. This second still photo from my video is of a Norfolk Southern GE Dash-9 leading an empty coal train through Ironton, OH north bound on NS's Kenova District to Portsmouth, OH. Location of this photo is Campbell Street. The pillar on the right is for the future Oakley Clark Collins Memorial Bridge being built over the Ohio River. This quartet of locomotives seen at Russell Yard is now running light through Big Sandy Junction heading east for Huntington, WV. Third still photo from my video shows one of my friends capturing his video of a southbound Norfolk Southern EMD SD40-2 leading a short local freight on NS's Kenova District through Ironton, OH. The SD40-2 in this photo has been redesigned and rebuilt by NS, the cab having better crash protection as well as visibility, these units referred to as "Admiral Cabs." Location is the corner Campbell Ave and Adams Street in Ironton. fter I photographed my last train A in Ironton, OH, I said my goodbyes to my friends, and departed for the Horse Park and the Southern Lights for a night operating my own trains. I made it with time to spare. The day allowed me to spend time with friends, railfan on parts of the CSX and NS capturing train action on photos and video. Even though it was a very cold cloudy day with snow on the ground, it still was a fantastic day, capped off with hot chocolate and running trains. I hope you've enjoyed my rendition of "Snow in Kentucky" as another story in my collection, dedicated to Christmas and another Winter Season. I have more photos that I took when living in Kentucky, as well as photos I've taken here in Wisconsin. Until next time, I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Happy New Year. And I hope all goes well with Southern Lights for 2017. Thanks for reading my story, and for looking at my snowy photos. DECEMBER 2017 BLUEGRASS RAILROADER PAGE 6