My buddy hoovered this up somewhere here in the Tri-Cities (TN/VA).
The whole ORT story is here.
Conrail
From 1986, this 2″ pinback recognizes a campaign to keep Conrail alive, after a takeover attempt by Norfolk-Western. In 1987, Conrail was released by the government to become a private enterprise. As of the late 1990’s, both CSX and Norfolk-Southern share ownership of Conrail.
Clinchfield Fob
I don’t really know how to date this little key fob. It’s made of that plastic material that feels like a gummy bear would. Disclaimer: I enhanced the gold lines a bit. They’ve faded badly.
Reader Railroad
I found two post cards of the Reader Railroad recently. Here’s a link: Reader Railroad
It’s really annoying. I thought I had a handle on the dating of these cards, but, when I told a colleague about it, I realized that I had been totally wrong. The cards were printed by Koppel Kolor (or Color) Cards in Hawthorne, New Jersey. The company’s main building appears to have burned down in the mid 80s.
Update on the dating for these cards: mid-1960s. See comment below courtesy of thedigitalphilatelist
Pullman Diplomat
The Audio-Visual Designs Company did a lot of railroad-related postcards in the latter half of the 20th century. Railroad-line.com states that the company was famous.
St. Joe Route
As of 8/24/19, this was parked on a siding near Memorial Park in Johnson City TN.
Copper Creek Viaduct
The lower bridge was built in the late 1890s by the Virginia & Southwest Virginia rail road (V&SW). That line was absorbed into the Southern Rail Road in 1916, just a year after this card was mailed.
The upper one, the Copper Creek Viaduct (a word the Marx Brothers had fun with in The Cocoanuts) was built by the C.C. & O in 1908. The stated height now is 185′ , measuring from the river below.
You barely read the writing down the length of the viaduct, but I believe it says “crossed this just today” or something to that effect.
The post card itself appears to have been printed in Germany before WWI.
“The Clinchfield Route”
This is looking south at approx. 36.0720N, 82.3987W.
The card was printed by Curt Teich in Chicago. It’s one of the “C” series of post cards issued between 1905 and 1926. The Curt Teich records for this period are scanty and this number isn’t listed anywhere that I can find. Nicely printed, though, and hand colored at the factory before the separations were shot for the print run.
ET&WNC in the Gorge
Following the track of the old ET & WNC Rail Road through Doe River Gorge is a fine hike, except in winter. If there’s been some snow or freezing rain, getting across the derelict bridges can be dangerous.
This card was published by the American News Company of New York, but it was printed in Germany before the start of WWI.
I can’t read the place name on the postmark, and I’ve tried. All I can see if the final “…ONE”.
I hope Dolly got home okay, though.
Coal Mine (somewhere)
This is a Real Photo Post Card. The paper was made by Ansco of Binghamton NY. The trademark is CYKO. That trademark seems to have been discontinued in 1928, when Ansco merged with Agfa.
I acquired this card in East Tennessee from an individual who also didn’t know where it was, but was sold to me on the basis of the railroad stuff in the picture. I figured I could work out where it was. But I’ve had no luck. These places came and went fairly quickly in the early days of commercial coal mining.
CRR Patch
Actual size is 4″ x 2″. It’s not an iron-on. I found this at the 2019 Antique Bottle and Collectibles sale at the Appalachian Fairgrounds. I always find something at that sale.
Trip Pass
T. D. Moore, Jr. was General Manager from 1968 until, according to Goforth’s Building the Clinchfield, he was dismissed for fraud in 1979.
The pass is 5 x 3.25″ and is blank on the reverse.
GSI Hopper Tanks
A line of Washington County (VA) Co-op GSI hopper tanks in Abingdon.
Ballast Regulator, Old
This old ballast regulator, devoid of any nameplates or other information (except that its motor was made by Detroit Diesel), sits just east of the former Greenbrier (sic) Dock near Vansant in Buchanan County VA. The Greenbrier facility closed in 2006. I have been unsuccessful in finding out when it was constructed. In early 2000’s, Greenbrier Dock was loading coal from the Lovers Gap mine, just a few miles away.
Rail Gang
Rail Gang MOW unit parked near Glade Spring in early November, 2018. Nobody home.
Snappy Caboose
West Jefferson NC. Built in 1970. Its history is here. It’s equipped with Barber Bettendorf trucks with leaf springs…for a smoother ride.
I don’t know what this gizmo is. A generator of some sort?
Fred Harvey Postcards, Pt. 2
On the back: San Francisco Chief En Route in California. Santa Fe’s San Francisco Chief parallels a picturesque route through the San Joaquin Valley of California
On the back: A Santa Fe Streamliner. With its streamlined powerful 6.000 H.P. Diesel-electric engine, a Santa Fe transcontinental train is an impressive sight as it climbs the ramparts of Cajon Pass in California.
Fred Harvey Postcards, Pt. 1
Fred Harvey is closely tied to the history of the Santa Fe (old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe) railroad. He made a sweetheart of a deal.
These cards are from the 1950s.
On the back: (each card has the “Fred Harvey Hotels – Shops – Restaurants” mark) Santa Fe Streamliner in Cajon Pass. Cajon Pass at the summit of the Coast Range is the Santa Fe’s Gateway to Southern California. In the descent, tracks drop 2700 feet in 25 miles
On the back: Leaving Santa Fe Bridge over Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Iowa
On the back: Dining Car of the Santa Fe’s El Capitan. Passengers relax leisurely for a luxurious Fred Harvey meal in the dining car of the Santa Fe’s streamlined transcontinental El Capitan.
Rotary Dump
They’re demolishing Moss #3, but it’s still a photo target-rich area. This is the control room for the rotary dump…TV, microwave, refrigerator. Anything to make the job easier…
This is the dump structure.
Looking through the rotary dump. My buddy standing there for scale.
Mine Railway, Retired
These were all pulled out of a small-scale commercial coal mine in Kentucky, about a mile from Line Fork. We had talked with the owners and were shown the location of the mine, now closed. These rails and mine cars had been used in the mine. The sheep were merely bystanders.
Tazewell VA Train Station
This 1928 structure is slated for renovation. It replaced a wooden station that dated to 1888.
Two Cabooses
When I took these pictures in Appalachia VA, the cabooses were just 2,200 feet from each other, but, boy, are they different. Cast your baby blues on these:
The top one, nattily repainted, is on display in a small park. It was built, according to the ID plate, in 1948. It’s at 36.8998N, 82.78841W
The lower one, rough and ready, was still in the yard. It’s a 1976 unit.
There’s a definitive book on N&W cabooses for sale from the NW Historical Society, but it’s $50.
French Broad River
Well, guess what we found in Corbin KY. The Southern CNO&TP sleeper, French Broad River.
It’s had a rough life since 1950 or so, but it’s now safely, more or less, sitting on a cut section of track to the right of the old depot on, of course, Depot Street. Here’s a look at the end of the car as shown above.
Conneaut O.
Conneaut OH is up on Lake Erie and in 1914, when this card was mailed, it had at least five railroads passing through it. One was an electric commuter line, others were freight.
I bought this card as soon as I saw it. It’s a typical Curt Teich day-to-night scene, but it’s nicely composed. Other than that, it just evokes a time long gone.
Plattsburgh Barracks has an interesting history, check it out here.
Locomotives and Trains
Not a particularly rare poster (it folds out to a one-sided 22″ x 32″ size) and one that has been slightly damaged on one panel (I’m rather good at finding stuff that is “slightly damaged”) by being in contact with some sort of acidic paper. It features 29 black-and-white photos of Southern history from 1830 (even one of a geezery-looking Nicholas W. Darrell) through the mid 50s. Notice there’s no ZIP Code shown.
So, find yourself one of these and “paste these pictures in your railroad scrapbook”.
Mo’ Rowe
Mary Jayne took this photo. Go, MJ!
Old Fort Loops
This postcard, a victim of some greasy-fingered sort, was printed between 1908 and 1928, according to the Curt Teich dating number. The “Old Fort Loops”, a site to see on Google Earth, are a series of railroad sinuosities around what is now Round Knob Lodge in western North Carolina (35 39 10.64N 82 14 39.23W). By the time this photo was taken, that train would have been bearing Southern livery (in the mid- to late-1800s, it was the Western North Carolina Railroad). The “17 Points” means that the line could be viewed from 17 places at one time, or something like that.
All I could verify from web-based research was that the Southern Post Card Company did exist, but little else.
Two More Mary Jayne’s
Note that Mary Jayne Rowe herself took the photo. Also note that this photo shows a moire pattern. Screens at work.
Two Loco Postcards
Oh, I have more…
Railway Post Office
Even mended with tape (not my doing), this is a fine picture, taken by the American Car and Foundry Company in 1923. Brand new car for Southern Railway.
I would guess that this is the crew that guarded and processed the mail on the car, getting ready to load up. That’s a lot of security!
Railway post offices were mostly gone by 1962 and completely gone by 1977.
Blogging the Railroad Tunnels 