[Dave F]

Well, I got all the yard work done I was gonna do today, and it was still 50 something, sunny and nice out, so.....

Time for a ten car coal drag. Nice to see the trackwork survived the winter. I chased around with a scotchbrite prior to startup, but the joints were all in good condition.

Yeah....
Runnin' trains.. It's a good thing.

 

[Guest]

That looks Great Dave. what dia curve are you using and are they bachmann hoppers?
Nick

 

[Dave F]

The current system is set up with 8' dia curves, the spring expansion (due to start shortly) will be 10' min dia.

All the Peabody hoppers are Bachmann. (Thank you wife & kids for Xmas). The black Erie two bay hoppers I bought from a guy in my club, I think they are MTH but I wouldn't swear to it.. Whatever they are, I like 'em a lot. And it's hard to argue with the "buy 6 for $149.00 on Bachmann cars" from St Aubin..

 

[Rayman4449]

Yes, looking good Dave.

That first run is always great after being stuck in the house all winter.

The peabody cars do look good. It is so hard to argue with a $25 coal car. They look good, have metal wheels and don't cost an arm and a leg.

Enjoy, it's what it's all about.


Raymond

 

[Dave F]

Thanks Ray, it's always nice to hear from you.

My dad was a lifelong IC/ICG employee. I have very clear memories growing up in Southern Illinois of the ICG coal drags coming out of the Peabody mines near Harrisburg and then heading north up the mainline or the Edgewood cutoff to the Illinois Power plants near Decatur or Champaign, or on to the port of Chicago to be loaded on to colliers and off to who knows where across Lake Michigan.

Endless strings of IC/ICG hoppers, Peabody, Southern, C&NW, L&N... you name it.

You are right, at $25.00 a car, even I can afford to model my memories.. I may order a case of Southern next.

 

[Rayman4449]

Same here Dave.

That is really cool. Was he an employee during the age of steam? What did he do for them?

Were the real Peabody cars yellow?


Raymond

 

[Dave F]

My dad began his career with the IC in the mid 1950's once he got out of the Air Force after his tour in Korea. His degree was in Civil Engineering. He began as a surveyor on a bridge crew and worked his way up to a V.P. position before his death in 1983.

My Grandfather (Dad's dad) was a steam locomotive engineer based in Jackson Tennessee. He pushed just about everything on the roster, but I still have photos of him at the throttle of a few different Mikados and Paducah built Mountains.

My other Grandfather (Mom's dad) was the freight agent at the IC freight house in Springfield Illinois. Spending time with him as a kid, I was able to see just how to load about any kind of car you can thinnk of.

The Peabody Short Line RR hoppers were yellow, and I've seen my fair share. The Peabody Coal Co. hoppers were oxide red.

 

[Rayman4449]

Really cool history. Must be particularly neat to have photos of your grandfather at the controls of real steam locos! But overall to have a much family history in the RR is really neat.


Raymond

 

[wchasr]

Very neat history behind your inspiration for a train!

My inspiration for a coal drag currently comes from the twice daily trains thru my town by CSX on the old Erie line. Some interesting power lashups on those big trains!

I've got a good sized collection of coal hoppers from Bachman, USAT, & Aristo. Gonna be a weird mix of cars but it'll be a long train!

Chas