Hey, Welcome One, Welcome All to my First Legacies…On The Rails post of 2024! I hope You had a blessed year in 2023 and that it brought You Lots of Rail-Fanning opportunities and that 2024 will be even better in every way possible!
So we’re starting off 2024 with the latest in my Today In Railroad History series with several entries borrowed from Wikipedia on railroad events that occured on the date of January 26th. And since one of those involves the Jamestown, Franklin and Clearfield Railroad, I was able to find a related image.
I hope You enjoy this look at January 26th in Railroad History!
So I hope You have a Great Rail-Fanning year in 2024 and continue to follow the Lord Jesus Christ as Your personal Lord & Savior and if You don’t know Him, I invite You to receive Him by Faith today!
And when it comes to trains and everything that is Railroading, Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails!
Welcome Back One And All to Legacies…On The Rails and this third installment of the Railroads In The U.S. Series!
Anytime I am traveling through the City Of North Kansas City, Missouri (which is just moments to the Southeast of my home) and am driving east or west on Mo 210 Highway, I am running parallel to the NKC/Avondale Norfolk Southern rail yard.
I spent a lot of time there in my youth since my Grandmother worked at Loretta’s N&W Cafe aka “The Beanery” when it was still the Norfolk & Western yard. You all have seen lots of my pics and videos from the NS yard here on the blog.
When I do that, if I am not terribly pressed for time, I am looking for anything interesting to take pics or video of.
And, as I was headed home from a Dr appointment on Tuesday 10/3/23, I spotted NS 8101 (an ES44AC) the Central Of Georgia Heritage Unit parked facing east. I wish I would have thought to report it on the Heritage Units website or Facebook pages. It was a Heritage Unit I had not found or photographed before so I pulled over to take a couple shots.
The Central Of Georgia Railway operated from 1895-1963. It started as the Central Railroad And Canal Company in 1893. As a way to attract more capital, the name was changed to the Central Railroad And Banking Company Of Georgia.
It was constructed to join the Macon And Western Railroad at Macon, Georgia in the U.S., and to run to Savannah. This created a link from Chattanooga on the Tennessee River to seaports on the Atlantic Ocean.
It took from 1837 to 1843 to build the railroad from Savannah to the eastern Bank of the Ocmulgee River at Macon. A bridge to the city was not built until 1851, just 10 years before the Civil War.
During the Savannah Campaign of the Civil War from November through December of 1864, Federal Troops pulled up the rails and converted them into “Sherman’s Neckties.”
The Central Of Georgia (no connection to the Georgia Central) was purchased by the Southern Railway in 1963, and subsequently became part of Norfolk Southern in 1982.
I hope You have enjoyed this look at the Central Of Georgia Railroad. But even more than that, I hope You are living each day of Your life for the Lord Jesus Christ and in assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life in Him. If not, I invite You to receive Him by Faith today.
I’ll see You next time here on Legacies…On The Rails, a Fulfill Your Ministry Production!
Welcome Back, One And All To Legacies…On The Rails and Great Rail Sites Volume 4! I will always be on the lookout for Railfan sites that everyone will enjoy and if you know of any, please email me at fulfillyourministry81@yahoo.com .
I am also always looking for guest bloggers. To have the stories of those who have or do work on railroads. Please contact me if you would want your story or those of your family member’s stories shared.
On this day that I posted my 3rd Episode of my Kansas City Area and Missouri Railroads Podcast on Podbean:
We will be checking out another Great Rail Site: Live Trains Channel https://www.livetrains.com/ they are, as you can see above, on You Tube as well.
If you like constant train action, you will definitely enjoy this channel!
It literally has non-stop action.
Freight trains, passenger trains and excursion trains.
Trains from many familiar names: Amtrak, Union Pacific, BNSF, Santa Fe.
Steam Trains, Amusement Park Trains.
Mixed Manifests and Stack Trains.
Lots of Heritage Units.
Lots of Trains on Bridges.
Great sound and scenery.
The site offers a Commonly Asked Questions section and offers an email list you can join
I encourage you to check out the Live Trains Channel today!
I hope that your life is being enriched each day by a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you don’t know Him, my hope and prayer is that you will seek to receive Him by Faith Alone today. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make and the only one that can secure your place in Eternity!
And when it comes to trains and everything that is Railroading, Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails!
Hey, Welcome Back, One And All to Legacies…On The Rails and this 62nd overall post and 3rd in the Today In Railroad History for April 4th, 2023!
I hope everyone is having a great start to your week! This is yet another post that involves a situation in Chicago, Illinois. Credit to the North Adams, Massachusetts Museum Of History & Science’s Facebook (and here is their website http://northadamshistory.org/ ) for this posting about how workers from four different Railroads won a $.16 cent an hour raise on April 4th, 1946.
The Boston & Maine was one of them so I’m sharing their Logo from Wikipedia and I’m sharing some videos on the those different Railroads from You Tube as I usually do for your enjoyment and so that my fellow You Tubers get some views, and I hope some Likes and Subscribes.
April 4, 1946: “Railroad Men Win 16-Cent Pay Raise”
“Boston, April 4 (AP) – About 45,800 employees of four New England railroads will benefit under 16-cents-an-hour wage hikes awarded yesterday by two arbitration boards in Chicago, a union spokesman said today.
“A local railroad brotherhood official said the 10,000 other workers who declined to submit their demands to binding arbitration would not be affected.
“The spokesman said that employees of the Boston & Maine, New Haven, Boston & Albany and Maine Central would receive the increases. He said the Canadian Lines, which operate into northern New England do not come under provisions of the award, nor does the Bangor or Aroostook.
“The largest group of workers on the four local roads to receive the boost, retroactive to Jan. 1 are non-operating employees of 15 brotherhoods, the spokesman added. The include maintenance, repair yard workers, signalmen, clerks, crossing watchmen and lampmen.”
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s railroad “Blast From The Past.” I’m trying to be as diligent as possible to keep bringing you more posts as frequently as possible.
And each time I do, it gives me another chance to share with you my desire for you to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Personal Lord & Savior. He is always there for you to come to by Faith, confess and ask forgiveness of your sins and receive His free gift of Salvation and Eternal Life. And Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails!
Thanks so much for joining me again today here on Legacies…On The Rails, a Fulfill Your Ministry Production.
I’m John Losh, and I’ll see you down the line, here…or in Eternity!
Hey, Welcome Back One And All to Legacies…On The Rails and my 61st Post on the site as this 10th Year of the Blog presses on!
The Chicago, Rock Island And Pacific Railroad, aka “The Rock” or The Rock Island Line, was a Class 1 Railroad that had its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois and operated across ten different states beginning on October 10th, 1852.
It has the unfortunate distinction of being the victim of a Jesse James-Cole Younger Robbery near Adair, Iowa on July 21st, 1873. I was recently able to confirm that my wife is a 4th Cousin Twice Removed of Jesse James’ Son-In-Law Henry Lafayette Barr.
There is also a 1920’s Spiritual song “Rock Island Line”named after the railway.
As of the end of 1970, it operated 7, 183 miles of road on 10, 669 miles of track. That year it reported ton miles of freight and 118 million passenger miles.
Sadly, on March 31st, 1980, The Rock Island & Pacific Railway ran its last train after being ordered to liquidate its assets due to Bankruptcy.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this “Today In Railroad History” feature, and that you’ve also enjoyed these videos from my fellow You Tubers. I’ll try to be more consistent with them in the future.
But more importantly, do you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? It’s the most important decision you can make as it’s the only one that will have a permanent positive affect on your eternal destiny.
You see, Genesis Chapter 3 shows us how mankind, through Adam & Eve fell into sin. But Jesus Christ left His throne in Heaven to be born of a Virgin, live a perfect sinless life, while showing us how to selflessly love and serve others. And then gave His life on a cross at a place called Calvary then rose from the dead three days later to offer us forgiveness of our sins and a home in Heaven for Eternity.
Ephesians 2:8, 9 says we cannot earn it. It’s a free gift that we must receive by Faith Alone. We must be Born Again He said in John Chapter 3. That is to receive His gift, turn from our sins and devote our lives to Him and to others through our relationship with Him. Revelation 3:20 says He is standing at the door of the heart asking to be let in.
If You don’t know Him, won’t you change that today?
Thanks for joining me today on Legacies…On The Rails, a Fulfill Your Ministry Production. I’ll see you down the line!
Hey, Welcome Back One And All to Legacies…On The Rails! Thanks for joining me for my 60th Post on the site since it began in 2014 as my 10th Anniversary Year for Legacies…On The Rails continues! My goal for 2023 is to have written at minimum my 100th Post here by year’s end.
As you well know by now, both my Paternal Grandfather John W Losh and his Brother Leonard Losh were both career men on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
(The Following is Credit: Wikipedia)
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy was a Railroad that operated from 1849-1970 over 14 different states and had its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. It was succeeded by the Burlington Northern Railroad that my Cousin George Hess (also a Pastor for 43 years that sadly passed in January) was a Mechanic for.
The CB&Q’s most famous trains were the sleek passenger trains known as the Burlington Zephyrs. They were also the first diesel-electric powered trains in the U.S. The first Zephyr made its inaugural Dawn To Dusk run from Denver, Colorado to Chicago, Illinois on May 26th, 1934. It was put into regular service on November 11th, 1934. There were 15 different Zephyr trains altogether. They were also the first trains to use dome coaches.
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy also had 21 other named passenger trains. There are 28 still existing CB&Q Locomotives either on static display or in use in several different states. I have photographed one in St Louis, Missouri at the Museum of Transportation and two in St Joseph, Missouri. One in Patee Park and the other in the Patee House Museum. I’ve also photographed a few CB&Q coaches. All are included in past postings.
And while I really enjoy speaking of the good things about the CB&Q Railroad, I recently started volunteering at the Clay County, Missouri Archives in Liberty, Missouri. I discovered that they have numerous files on the railroads that have run through Clay County. Some have very little info, some have a lot. One is on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.
This file’s primary piece of information was on a collision between two CB&Q passenger trains near Liberty, Missouri on January 15th, 1915. Not one of “The Q’s” best moments.
I’m going to include pics of the pages of the document for your viewing.
So, there you have it. It’s not pretty, but it was still nice to find the CB&Q file among those at the Clay County Archives.
Hope You enjoyed today’s feature.
As always, my hope and prayer more than anything else is that you are eternally aboard the most important train. The Gospel Train. That you are living daily in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoying the security of a forever home in Heaven.
Thanks for joining me today on Legacies…On The Rails, a Fulfill Your Ministry Production. I’ll see you next time.
Hey, Welcome Back, One And All to Legacies…On The Rails and another review! In this installment, instead of discussing a Railroad Documentary, we’ll be looking at a TV series that debuted six years before I was born but was playing in syndication in my youth so I still got to enjoy it.
It is Petticoat Junction. And while it had a small regular cast, the true star of the show was a steam locomotive called the Hooterville Cannonball. It was an 1897 Sierra #3 train that today is still in operation at the Railtown 1897 State Historical Park in California.
Petticoat Junction ran for 7 Seasons from 9/24/63 to 4/4/70. It was a Filmways Production Produced by Paul Henning. Its predecessor was The Beverly Hillbillies (another favorite show from my youth and there are some crossover episodes.) It also produced a Spinoff called Green Acres.
Many individual episodes and full seasons of Petticoat Junction are available on You Tube under the accounts of : Classic American, GBGP Television, Mister Persuasion and Kevin Allen. Many episodes and full seasons of The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres are also available on You Tube.
My plan was to post some of those videos here as I usually do on the blog. But in going back to get a count of how many blogs I’ve done on here (as it’s the 10th Anniversary of the Legacies…On The Rails blog) I’m noticing many accounts on You Tube that I have shared videos from are no longer active so neither are the videos I shared.
You can find Petticoat Junction video sets on either VHS or DVD on sites like Thrift Books, Walmart and Amazon running anywhere from $6.09 up to $82.99.
The Regular Cast of Petticoat Junction were:
Linda Kaye Henning: Betty Jo Bradley
Bea Benaderet: Kate Bradley
Lori Sanders: Bobbie Jo Bradley
Jeannine Riley: Billie Joe Bradley.
Edgar Buchanan: Uncle Joe Larson
Frank Cady: Sam Drucker
Smiley Burnette: Charley Pratt
Rufe Davis: Floyd Smooth
The premise of the show (that you can tell from the era it initially ran in was during a very Family Friendly time, free of all the highly inappropriate and frankly Godless content of today) was the adventures of Kate Bradley and her family who ran the Shady Rest hotel at the end of a rail line running from the nearby town of Hooterville.
Guests would be brought to and from the hotel by the Hooterville Cannonball train that also offered transportation for Kate and her family anytime they needed to go into Hooterville to go shopping. The train crew were paid by the family in food, as was Sam Drucker who gave them free supplies from the Hooterville General Store.
As always my hope and prayer for you is that a daily relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the central focus of your life. If You have never entered into that relationship, I want to invite you to put aside any doubts or hindrances and receive Him by Faith Alone today. If I can help, you can reach me at fulfillyourministry81@yahoo.com .
And when it comes to Trains and everything that is Railroading, Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails! This is a Fulfill Your Ministry Production.
Hey, Welcome Back to one and all to Legacies…On The Rails! Thanks for joining me again today! I sincerely appreciate all those who read and follow the blog!
As you have no doubt seen by now, I try to bring a lot of diversity to what I post about. Visiting and documenting Rail Museums to static displays of steam locomotives, cabooses, freight cars and passenger coaches. Visiting model railroad layouts. Riding and documenting excursion trains.
Filming live trains in action, including those memorable moments when a steam locomotive like those of Union Pacific have been lovingly brought back to life and they are sent on nationwide tours for all railfans and our families to enjoy.
Another aspect is reviewing commercially produced Railroad Videos, originally on VHS and/or DVD and sharing those that can be found on You Tube with you.
And today’s Special Feature is from the archives of the Doug Jones Travelogs: The Great Canadian Train Ride. Produced in 1993 by Publishers Choice Video (the VHS is one recently given to me by my friend Jeanette Gardner-Littleton. My collection has very few newer videos. Most are classics either given to me by Jeanette, bought in yard or garage sales, thrift or antique stores.
The Great Canadian Train Ride features just over an hour and twenty minutes of the passenger train known as The Canadian. You can definitely tell the film wasn’t produced anytime recently as it’s definitely not in HD or Super HD but I say that in a positive sense as it maintains its classic era quality.
The Canadian took to the rails transporting passengers on a wonderfully scenic journey 2775 miles across Canada from Union Station in Toronto to Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It included two locomotives, standard passenger coaches, as well as dome cars, including one with a bullet shaped lounge.
Later, Via Rail took on the task of refurbishing The Canadian and putting its motive power in the lead.
The You Tube version is divided up into a just over 5 minute preview and a full length version. Others who in modern day have experienced The Canadian have made their own documentaries that I will share a couple of so you can enjoy their work as well.
I hope you get to watch all this material and enjoy them as much as I do!
I also hope that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ continues to be front and center in your life each day and if you have not yet received Him by Faith Alone, I want to invite you to do that today! He loves you enough that he died and rose again for you!
And when it comes to Trains and everything that is Railroading, Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails! I’ll see you next time!
Legacies…On The Rails is a Fulfill Your Ministry Production.
Welcome back to Legacies…On The Rails! Thanks So Much for joining me!
I wanted to take this opportunity to cover the Rail-Fanning opportunities that 2022 brought as a way to start off the Blog for 2023.
By a few months into 2022, I really didn’t believe that I would have a lot to share in this post. But God, knowing my enjoyment of the hobby saw to it that I did.
First, I caught my 365th Legacies On The Rails Fan Video in a past Railfan City of Grandview, Missouri on 3/25/22.
2nd was my 366th Legacies On The Rails Fan Video (in the hunt for 400 since 2008) in a past Railfan City of Parkville, Missouri on 5/21/22.
Third, the Matriarch of the Losh Family unfortunately passed in Willow Springs, Missouri in June so as I was making my way down to my Hotel the Super 8 By Wyndham (which has become my regular choice when I go down) in West Plains, Missouri.
I missed my exit for 7 Highway off US 71 South and the next exit was 15 miles further south but it disappoint as it took me past Appleton City, Missouri which became my 71st Railfan City over 10 states (in the hunt for 100 cities since 2008 and my 367th Legacies On The Rails Fan Video) because I spotted a Depot and a Missouri-Kansas-Texas Caboose so of course, I stopped for pics and a video. As one of my train t-shirts says “I Don’t Always Stop And Look At Trains….Oh, Wait…Yes, I Do!”
Fourth up was the trip over the Independence Day weekend back to Willow Springs, Missouri (again staying at the Super 8 By Wyndham in West Plains 30 minutes north of Willow Springs) where I caught a BNSF/NS Double Stack train parked for over 24 hours (likely do to the recent nationwide rash of crew shortages) westbound at North Diggins, Missouri, another past Railfan City.
I worked from July 5th until Halloween in an underground cold storage cave Smart Warehousing http://www.smartwarehousing.com in Independence, Missouri and there are several times throughout the year that product is brought into or transported from their facility via railcars so a few are always sitting on a siding across the street. So I caught these from Southern Illinois Railcar Industries and Union Pacific.
I also passed by a couple of past Railfan spots on the way to and from Smart Warehousing (and when I worked as Sales Manager for http://www.tronicspay.com from the beginning of February until the end of June before that) which were Shoal Creek, Missouri and the Hunt Midwest Subtropolis in Kansas City, Missouri.
So, when I’d see something sitting there and was in the mood (yes, you read right: sad to have to admit: Me, “MR Legacies On The Rails” some days was either just ready to go home and rest or with the price of fuel of late, did not want to drive anywhere out of my way to do any Railfanning) would stop for some pics or video. But trips out of town with Family or solo were a big help.
The First four are from Sugar Creek, Missouri are from Sugar Creek, Missouri and the Last Four are from the tracks near the Hunt Midwest Subtropolis in Kansas City, Missouri.
Next up was Altoona, Iowa becoming my 72nd Railfan City as my family visited the Adventureland Amusement Park on 7/23/22 and I got pics and video of the Train that takes visitors around the park. I tried to look up history of it but couldn’t really find any.
The next day on 7/24/22 we visited the Merle Hey Mall in a previous Railfan City Des Moines, Iowa where we came across the Central Iowa Garden Railway Club and I took pics and my 369th through 371st Legacies On The Rails Fan Videos.
My 73rd, 74th and 75th Railfan Cities were Claremore on 9/3/22, then Tulsa and Bartlesville, Oklahoma on 9/5/22. I’ll just share the videos from those.
That concludes my Railfan Journey for 2022. This Blog took me a couple days to complete but I’m happy to have shared it with You!
Thanks So Much for joining me today! I hope as always that you know and are following the Lord Jesus Christ as your Personal Lord and Savior but if you do not know Him that you will receive Him by Faith today. His Word proves He loves you and wants a relationship with you. John 3:16, 27. Romans 10:9, 10. Revelation 3:20.
And when it comes to trains and everything that is Railroading, Continue Leaving Legacies…On The Rails! I’ll see you next time!
Legacies…On The Rails is a Fulfill Your Ministry Production.
Welcome Back to Legacies…On The Rails! I know it’s been a while since my last post and unfortunately until the last month or two, Rail-Fanning opportunities for yours truly had been few and far between due to a lack of time.
But thanks to an unfortunate circumstance back in early June that took me to Willow Springs, Missouri for the first time since 2019 but a month earlier than normal (the Losh/Worley Family Reunion is the first weekend in July) for the funeral of the Matriarch of the family, and then the Reunion July 2nd I was able to “get back on track.” Yes, a pun is intended.
On my way down in June I missed my exit for 7 Hwy off 71 Hwy south of Kansas City and ended up going 15 miles further south to the next exit which took me past Appleton City, Missouri where I spotted a Missouri-Kansas-Texas caboose and a Depot building just across the street from a historic library. Appleton City became my 71st Rail-Fanning city since the Train Bug bit me in 2008.
According to Wikipedia Appleton City was originally called Arlington and the latter name was platted in 1870. It is presently named for D.S. Appleton (1824-1890) of the D. Appleton & Company who contributed a $500 Library to the City (likely the one right across the street from the Depot that is the 2nd oldest Library in Missouri.
The Depot is the remnant of the what began as the Tebo & Neosho Railroad that later merged with the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Division of the Missouri Pacific (one of the railroads I have a family connection to) and was the first MKT Depot in Clair County, Missouri.
But on to the actual subject of this Blog which is to begin showcasing my railroad shirts, ball caps, etc.
This T-Shirt shows the Southern Pacific #18 otherwise known as the “Slim Princess” that was built and delivered by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1911. It is an oil-fired 4-6-0 “10 Wheeler” steam locomotive retired from revenue service in 1955.
It has been operated since by the Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad, then the Eastern California Museum and then leased in 2018, 2019 and 2021 by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad https://www.durangotrain.com/ that opened in 1881 and currently operates 45.2 miles of excursion track between the cities of Durango and Silverton in Colorado.
Well, as always, I hope you’ve enjoyed this latest feature here on Legacies On The Rails (a Fulfill Your Ministry Production) but more importantly that you either know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord & Savior and are following Him faithfully each day or if you don’t, that you will take immediate advantage of receiving Him by Faith Alone…In Grace Alone…In Christ Alone today! And when it comes to trains and everything that is railroading, continue leaving Legacies…On The Rails!
And be sure to stay tuned for my next feature here on the blog!
Legacies...On The Rails!!! 