HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Today, as we celebrate our great nation, a special train passes through Hillsdale...

A high-n-wide extra, with a special engine pulling it... The 'other' America unit!

91101 is painted to commemorate the heroism that occurred on that fateful day in history. Ex-5047, the GE B40-8 was a decade old when the planes hit. In the Cumberland shops that day with engine trouble, she was plastered with American flag stickers when she came out. A month later, she went into the paint booth and emerged looking like this. Like her more famous sisters, she has a silver under-frame and, of course, a red, white and blue paint scheme! The rooftop a/c's are a recent addition.

Originally purchased for intermodal freights, the growing weight of those trains eventually worked against the use of four-axle power; now her other B40-8 brethren are in mostly local service. 91101 herself is used on special movements, like this one.

And on a patriotic day, what better car to be in the consist than the Armed Forces car? Actually, the two are usually seen together anyway. And note the Operation Lifesaver gon, a normal member of the Christmas Train; this is what it usually does the other 11 months of the year! 

Those two cars are in support of the movement of this giant Schnabel car, returning back to its upper Midwest base.

AP&W engineering car 30 and HDTX caboose 714 finish off the train. Car 30 was converted from a WWII surplus sleeping car in the late 40's by the Appalachian Railroad into a dynamometer car, to measure the performance of the early post-war diesels it tested; not only is the car still in service, but it still has its Allied full-cushion express trucks, which were banned from interchange service around the time of the car's conversion!

HDTX is the Heavy Duty Transport division of the AP&W, handling many over-sized movements over the railroad. Note the caboose now has a fuel tank (just ahead of the rear truck) and a rooftop a/c unit. Note too, that it has also been through the wheel-painting program!

MIXED LOCAL

On a slow day, a local train pulls in with several loads from several customers...

Rolling in long hood first, SD40 3163 pulls into town, with Bill on the steps. "Officially", this is DCL9, the Johnson Foods local. But a look at the front end shows several loads from Wilson Steel.

Two gondolas are loaded with structural steel sections.

Three tank cars are part of the actual pick-up from Johnson Foods; they brought in vegetable oil.

These two boxcars also came from Johnson Foods; they are loaded with boxed goods.

The final three tank cars are empty corn syrup cars from City Fizz.

The train pulls into the yard. Soon, the switching will begin. Meanwhile, the Gen-Set sitting in the foreground will be at work soon pulling a brand new local for a brand new customer! Stay tuned...

TOWN LIFE PT14, FATHER'S DAY

A Father's Day look around Hillsdale...

A family walks out of the Subway restaurant.While less expensive than the Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q, with three kids, lunch will still be pricey! Then again, on Mother's Day, she was treated to both flowers from Olde English Flower Shop and a new hair-do from Cut and Curl Beauty Shop!

Another man and his granddaughter play on the small lawn of the church after services are over, while the Pastor and his wife watch -and reminisce about their own grandchildren. 

Another man leaves The Mad Hatter with his daughter -and a brand new hat in hand!

Aaron says goodbye to his son and wife -who'll soon be giving him another little boy. Good thing he just got a cost-of-living pay increase!

Another father-daughter combo talks with a pair of maintenance workers. Utility work, on a Sunday? While they both would rather be at home with their families, the two men are also appreciative of the fact that they are getting double-time pay -families cost money!

WESTERN VISITORS

The AP&W has been testing a trio of BNSF ES44C4's. Recently, they made a stop in Hillsdale...

As the employees look on, an engineer explains the difference between the ES44C4's and a regular ES44AC.

6641 is the oldest of the three, and thus has the most grime.

6916 is the newest.

And 6724 is the last unit in the consist. Among the differences between a 'C4 and a regular ES44AC are the dynamic brakes; not only does the 'C4 have two widely spaced openings, but the brake section is built-out on this side of the hood.

These two photos show the left and right sides of the other major difference between a 'C4 and a regular ES44AC; the trucks. The ES44C4 has A-1-A trucks, meaning the center axle is unpowered. A conventional ES44 has all three axles powered, and thus has C-C trucks. Additionally, the extra brake cylinders and rigging, as well as the control box above the truck (engineer's side only, but both trucks) are there for a unique purpose; to partially lift the center axle, allowing more weight on the outside axles for additional traction when starting a heavy train. The idea is to combine the lugging power of AC traction motors with the speed capabilities of a four-axle engine. During the early days of dieselization, many passenger engines were equipped with A-1-A trucks, as the center idler axle helped spread the weight of the engine and allowed good performance and handling at speed; the ES44C4 uses the same basic concept.

PASSING TRAINS PT25 (CONT)

A final look at DBC47...

A look at the three units of a TTX Gunderson Maxi IV stack car -and the graffiti it carries. Like the rest of the cars in the train, the wheel sets have been painted -no more shiny metal wheels!

A spine car carries Schneider trailers. The painted wheels now accent -and blend in with- the heavily weathered car, rather than contrast with it. 

More Schneider trailers on a spine car. Note the contrast between the clean trailers and a very dirty car!