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Return of the Ghost Train Journal
Our editor,
Arthur Schnabel, passed away unexpectedly in May. Since then, we have been
unable to publish the Ghost Train Journal. A temporary committee has
been formed to allow us to resume publication. The committee is searching
for a responsible chapter member to take over the duties of
editor. A permanent
member is needed in order to guarantee continued timely publication
of the Ghost Train Journal.
Until an editor is found, the journal may be published on an
irregular schedule.
The job
requires basic computer skills and e-mail capability. The journal is currently put
together using a template in Microsoft Word 2000. The editor is mainly
responsible for content.
The assistant editor will take care of style, spelling and
grammar and our publisher will take care of copying, addressing,
stamping and mailing.
Most of the content can be obtained from business
and membership meetings and from working members. The job shouldn’t take more
than three to four hours each month. Anyone interested should
call our president, Mark Granville, at 860-456-3956.
Arthur Schnabel
By Art Hall
I feel
lucky to be a part of one of the many organizations that Art graced
with his participation.
He was always caring, considerate, and helpful. He was a great resource for
information. In April,
several of us were discussing the original location of the Chaplin
Station. The next time
I saw Art, he gave me copies of an old map that shed some light on
the mystery.
Periodically he gave me updates from the Internet regarding
plans or events that will affect our equipment in Northern Vermont.
He
also knew how to use a rake and shovel. Every time I started to
grade an area, he’d jump right in and help. I must admit, though, that I
did test the limits of Art’s good nature. Once, shortly after the
fence around the museum was installed, I locked that gate as I left
thinking that everyone was out. Art has stopped to take a
photograph and was still inside the fence. Several of us had stopped
near Bridge Street to talk.
After a short time, Art came walking up the driveway somewhat
scraped up from crawling under the fence at a low spot in the
ground. We filled the
hole and Art got his own key. I’ll miss his many contributions to
our common goal and most of all, I’ll miss this fine
person.
New Haven Returns to the Shoreline
By Robert
A.LaMay
As we enter
the month of August 2002 Connecticut is experiencing a heat wave
that’s going into its 9th day of temperatures in the mid
90’s. That’s not too high but the dew points are in the low to mid
70’s. Add to this the
normal three ‘H’s’: Hazy, Hot, and Humid. This year it’s having an
impact upon the electrified railroad operations along Connecticut’s
shoreline between New Haven and Stamford, Connecticut. During long periods of high humidity, the overhead
catenary wires from which electric locomotives draw their source of
power sag much lower than usual. Locomotives that stand
taller than the normal electric locomotive sometimes strike these
sagging wires and short out the catenary. This happened a few times
along the section between New Haven and Stamford. During December 2001, Shore Line East started
operating direct service from Old Saybrook to Stamford. With a schedule change on
June 24,2002, a second train
was added to Stamford.
After it was disclosed that certain diesel locomotives were
striking the catenary, a pair of vintage ex-New Haven FL9
locomotives were assigned to the two Stamford trains. The FL9 was built in two
groups (1957 and 1960) specifically for the New Haven Railroad. The unique thing about the
FL9 was it had two separate propulsion systems under one roof. While operating in open
areas it would use the normal diesel electric mode and while
operating in 3rd rail areas and in tunnels, it would use
electric mode drawing power from the 3rd rail similar to
subways. The most recent period when
FL9’s were on the shoreline was in 2000 when Amtrak used a pair on
work trains, then again in 2001 when a protect set would go out as
rescue units to help disabled electric locomotives. Prior to that, four sets of
push pull trainsets were used to assist Shore Line East in
1991. This happened
when Christmas crowds were much larger than expected and more
capacity was needed to meet the demands. The last time FL9’s were
used in regularly scheduled passenger service was during the early
years of the Penn Central era from 1969 into the early 1970’s.I’m
sure once the weather turns cooler the FL9’s will be returned to
their normal duties in Western Connecticut and Southeastern New
York. However, till then let’s appreciate seeing them once again on
home rails, along Connecticut’s beautiful Shoreline between New
Haven and Stamford.
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Urgent!
One of the
consequences of not publishing the Ghost Train Journal since April
is that most of the membership has forgotten that the Zoo Train
Special is scheduled for September 21. It is important that
reservations be made as soon as possible so that we will know if
there will be enough participants to warrant holding the
excursion. Note that
the fare includes admission to the zoo.
Please call
Veronica Trudeau at 401-568-6202 or Mark Granville at 860-456-3956
and leave a message to let us know that you are sending in your
reservation. Be sure to
tell us how many seats you want.
Calendar of Upcoming Events
September
8 -Business
meeting
21 -Zoo
Train Special
22-Membership
Meeting
October
6 -Business
Meeting
20-Membership Meeting, election of
officers
Museum
Calendars
The 2003
museum calendars will be available in a few weeks. Jeff, Ray and Mark have been
working hard to get the calendar drafted and set-up to take to the
printer. They went
through quite a few photographs to select ones with a wide
geographical coverage of Eastern Connecticut railroad
history. Help of the membership is
needed to get the calendars out to stores and other locations where
they can be sold. If
you can’t distribute them but have some places to suggest, please
call Ray Axelrod at 860-228-3197 or Jeff Laverty at
860-429-7961.
Welcome
to the Chapter
We welcome
the following new members who were voted into the chapter at the
July membership meeting:
Gorgon
Cochrane Jr., Foxboro, MA
Ed
Shekleton & Pam McCormick, Willington, CT
Thomas
Nanos, Coventry, CT
Scott
Whittlesey, Windsor, CT
Richard
Deuso, Hope, RI
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