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R&LHS - Membership
William H. Lugg, Jr.
PO Box 292927
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Anyone may present, with payment, display advertising to the quarterly Newsletter and the R&LHS Website to advertise any railroad oriented items. All advertisements should be sent to Clifford J. Vander Yacht, see address above.

R&LHS Archives Services, see address below. A list of available rosters may be obtained for $2.00.

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So there are many different subjects. But consider writing an article that details just how Diesel locomotives were changed to meet the demands of railroading, including the "who did what" within companies, for instance. In other words, write, then send it in!

The Polar Express, a movie directed by Robert Zemeckis is based on the book of the same name written and gorgeously illustrated by Chris Van Alsburg (Houghton Mifflin 1985). A story about a boy who travels with Santa to the North Pole on a steam powered train. Human actors including Tom Hanks are turned into computer generated creations. A gift is lost and recovered in this charming tale.

Where the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broad Street Station in Philadelphia was fundamentally different from most other big-city stations was this: it was a stub-end terminal in a city that was an intermediate point on most Pennsy through routes. PRR main lines — to New York City, to Harrisburg, to Baltimore and Washington — went around not through what Philadelphians call center city. So to provide its headquarters city with a suitable downtown station, Pennsy built a mile long spur off the main line, at the end of which was located Broad Street Station. Thus Pennsy through trains had to ‘change ends’ there or make a mile long backup move to the main line.

extended further west.) The original Broad Street Station, at Filbert and Broad Streets, included a four-story Gothic head house behind an eight-track elevated train shed and a four-track freight house. The latter opened first, in April 1881, and passenger trains began moving in that December.

In the first summer of operation there were over 100,000 riders a week; by 1886 ridership had doubled. Also increasing were the number of train movements. By the mid-1880s extensive commuter services were being operated—to Trenton, Chestnut Hill, Norristown, Paoli and Lamokin/Wilmington — and the 160-train schedule of the station’s first year had swelled to over 400. In 1889 PRR moved the freight station (and an Adams Express facility) a couple blocks west to extend the platform area and permit the addition of four more platform tracks (for a total of twelve). By then Broad Tower at the station’s throat was handling 1,000 or more movements a day, (including yard engines and deadheads) and it was clear more space would soon be needed.

A major renovation of the 11-year old station was begun in 1892 and the result was the Broad Street Station as most people knew it. This included squeezing in four more platform tracks and building a massive arched train shed. This glass-covered shed was whopping 591 feet long by 306 feet wide. At its peak it rose 100 feet above the tracks. The final touch was extending the station to Market Street to permit the addition of a ten-story office building, with Pennsy’s executive corps among the new occupants. PRR was pleased enough with its rebuilt station to begin calling it, "America’s Grandest Railway Terminal."

As traffic to and through Philadelphia continued to grow PRR continued to make improvements. In 1903 a new two-level station was built at West Philadelphia and extensive track changes were carried out. Since many Jersey City-Washington trains were skipping Broad Street the new station provided lower level platforms to allow them to run through, avoiding interference with Broad Street-bound trains on the station’s upper level. With most of PRR’s east/west passenger fleet plus several hundred weekday suburban trains operating to and from Broad Street, this was an important improvement.

was a plan to convert Broad Street into a through station. Several years later PRR Chief Engineer A.C. Shand recalled this plan in a Philadelphia Inquirer interview.

"We have had a number of plans centering around Broad Street Station. [About 1913] we found…that the station was traffic-saturated and could accommodate no more steam-drawn trains. We planned tunnels beneath Broad Street leading from the North Philadelphia Station … Just as we were preparing to go ahead with construction the electrification of the Main Line to Paoli commenced … and we suddenly found our track congestion relieved." The changeover to owl-faced MP-54 MU equipment had eliminated much of the switching and staging of equipment at Broad Street, thus greatly reducing train movements.

Station in West Philly in 1934 many of the east/west long-haul trains no longer called at Broad Street. By 1943 only the famous Philadelphia-New York Clockers, second-tier long-haul trains and a handful of steam-powered locals used Broad Street.

potential financial return to the railroad of knocking down Broad Street Station and redeveloping its 22 acres of prime, center city real estate. In early 1952 the railroad announced it was going to close Broad Street Station and tear it down. The last regular service was run on Saturday, April 26, 1952 and the following night a formal farewell was held. On that rainy Sunday evening, PRR and city officials appeared in the main concourse to address a crowd estimated at several thousand. An emotional PRR President Walter S. Franklin told the crowd their presence spoke more eloquently of the station’s place in Philadelphia history than any words he could speak.

Orchestra Special was scheduled to operate that night and the train was accorded the honor of making the official ‘last departure’ from Broad Street Station. At 9:57 PM the train edged out of the terminal into a driving rain behind GG1 4800, ‘Old Rivets’, the very first G ever built. The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that, after the special departed and the last of the crowd left, the station’s lights were turned off and the doors locked. After seventy-one years Broad Street Station was officially closed.

Demolition began bright and early the very next morning.

LOCOMOTIVES THAT COULD ATTAIN HIGH speeds were being outshopped by the 1850s, yet trains were limited to relatively low speed operation: 15 miles per hour for freight trains, 25 mph for passenger trains. The limiting factor was the ability to stop the train in an emergency and the elusive solution was not developed until the 1870s when George Westinghouse invented an automatic air brake utilizing a "triple valve."

The triple valve at each car was connected to the trainpipe air line at (T), see drawing 1. It was also connected to the brake cylinder at (C), the auxiliary reservoir at (R), and the atmosphere at (A). A slide valve, mounted within the triple valve, controlled the supply of air to the brake cylinder, which moved its piston rod. The brakes were attached, through linkages, to the piston rod of the brake cylinder.

Drawing 2 on the next page shows the relative positions of the components when the brakes were released and the auxiliary reservoir (R) was charged or charging. In the latter instance, if the air pressure in the auxiliary reservoir(s) has fallen below the supply pressure (generated by the air pump at the locomotive), the piston of the triple valve was forced to its extreme left by the pressure imbalance. In that position, the feed port that spanned the piston thickness was open to each side of the piston and supply air was furnished to the reservoir until the air line (T) and the auxiliary reservoir was in balance with the same pressure on either side.

established communication between the brake cylinder (C) and atmosphere and allowed the brake cylinder pressure to "unload." The release spring within the brake cylinder retracted the brake cylinder piston and the brake shoes that were connected to it through the various rods and levers.

One other feature was provided for early installations was a three-way cutout cock that insured compatibility with existing cars equipped with straight brakes. It permitted an automatic brake to be used in a consist with straight brakes, but not in the automatic mode.

The resized journal will be increased from 8,640 square inches to 10,560 square inches, or the equivalent of 196 pages at the current size. The entire 128-page issue is to be in color (currently at 80%), with a heavier 80-pound silk paper and a cardboard mailer (similar to "priority mail") for an estimated cost of $6,000 more per issue (RRH #190 cost $26,506.28 for our 2439 members).

generates ad revenues and has a contract sale.

The RRH report stated, "… the R&LHS will gain $11,000 in added revenues in 2004 from RRH sales." Also, "The amount allotted for RRH from the current Friends campaign is $11,000."

SELLING - Russian Rail Transport, 1836-1917, colorful history of Russian railways beginning in 1836 until the Bolsheviks took power during WW1. $32.00 USA, $36.00 foreign. Also available is the 118-page biography, Franz Anton von Gerstner, Pioneer Railway Builder, by Mikhail and Margarita Voronin. $28.00 USA, $32.50 foreign. Checks payable to Languages of Montour. John C. Decker, 112 Ardmoor Avenue, Danville PA 17821.
<JDecker@Uplink.net>

WANTED - Original Howard Fogg train paintings, both oil and watercolor. John Atherton, 16 Coachlight Drive, Poughkeepsie NY 12603-4241. (845) 471-8152.
<JJAAMAPOU@aol.com >

FOR SALE - RR Stories/mag. Jan. 1933 - Jan. 1979 (inclusive). 502 total issues - mostly VF/Better. All complete with covers. $1400.00 + shipping. (219) 865-8967 (9:30-8CT) Ask for John. John Maye, 1320 W. Lincoln Highway G14, Schererville IN 46375-1559.

FOR SALE - Otto Kuhler etching, watercolored and signed in pencil by the artist, of "The General Western & Atlantic Railroad" on heavy paper 14.5" by 17" Can fax a reduced copy for viewing. No phone calls please. Robert E. Warren 928 Mission Terrace, Camarillo, CA 93010-1265. <mrwanrew@aol.com >

WANTED - Clear 2½ x 4¼ black & white negatives of Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha RR 4-6-2, E-3, #600-602 steam locomotives. Elwood G. Mateer, Jr., 7324 Three Chopt Rd, Richmond VA 2326-26-3753.

WANTED - Photo by Norris Young of Tuckerton/SNJ #5 which appeared in Model Railroader Cyclopedia Vol. 1, by Kalmbach. Gerald Blaney, 99 Ellerton Road, Dagenham Essex, RM9 4HR UK
 <gerald_blaney@fsmail.net>

FOR SALE - My latest book, Prairie Railroad Town, the history of the Rock Island’s large shops at Horton, Kansas, 1886-1946, with 140 never-before published photos, including many by talented local photographer Jules Bourquin. For a review, see July 2004 Trains. Special R&LHS price of $29 postpaid for softcover, $54 hardcover. I. E. Quastler, Box 14591, Portland OR 97293.

Mason Steam Locomotives by Arthur W. Wallace brings the complete Mason locomotive story to light. "Melodies, cast and wrought in metal" was often attributed to Mason’s superb locomotive workmanship. 13 chapters, 200 photos, 1879 catalog, biblio., index. Hardbound, 192 pages, 8½ x 11, $52.95 (7.75% for IL res.), $5 s/h. Heimburger House Publishing Company, 7236 West Madison Street, Forest Park IL 60130.

In New Haven Railroad - Dining on the Shore Line Route, Marc Frattasio tells the story of this famous passenger railroad’s equally famous food and beverage service operation, the only service of its kind in America that ever turned a profit in the modern era. 112 pages, 170 illustrations, 215 authentic New Haven Railroad recipes, 8½ x 11, soft cover. $20.95 plus $5.00 shipping (US). TLC Publishing Inc., 1387 Winding Creek Road, Lynchburg VA 24503-3776. (434) 385-4076.

presents McGinnis’ experimental high speed passenger trains, the corporate image by his wife Lucille, the station design program, the New York City commuter revolt, the hurricanes and floods, the financial problems, and much more. 256 pages, over 500 color and black & white illustrations, 8½ x 11, hard cover. $39.95 plus $6.95 shipping (US). International shipping $12.95. White River Productions Inc., 24632 Anchor Avenue, Bucklin MO 64631. (877) 787-2467.

Burlington Zephyrs Photo Archive: America’s Distinctive Trains by John Kelly. Facing fewer passengers, Burlington President Ralph Budd lured passengers with the Zephyr with its sleek lines which began the styling revolution. Softbound, 128 pgs., 10¼ x 8½, 122 B&W photos. $29.95 +$4.95 s/h. Iconografix Dept. PR, PO Box 446, Hudson WI 54106. (800) 289-3504.