Everyone loves trains! Stop resisting and let the steel wheels melt your mind.

Centurions of the Hudson

Turntable Discussions

3d-printed-model-trains

Dating back to the 1840s, model railroading has been a hobby that has not only stuck around, but one which has evolved with the times. Railway modeling allows people to construct their own scaled down models of famous, unknown, or even imaginary railroad systems, locomotives, tracks, buildings and streetcars. One of the biggest past-times among model railroad enthusiasts, is reconstructing the beauty of real railroad locales, as well as locations of railroads throughout periods of time in history.

In 2010, the relative worth of $1.00 from 1883 is:

	$22.50	using the Consumer Price Index
	$20.50	using the GDP deflator
	$131.00	using the unskilled wage
	$232.00	using the Production Worker Compensation
	$211.00	using the nominal GDP per capita
	$1,200.00	using the relative share of GDP
Data for consumer bundle only starts in 1900. http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php

• Slavery in the United States was an institution that had a large impact on the economic, political and social fabric of the country. The average price of a slave in 1860 was $800 and the economic magnitude of that price in today's values ranges from $19,000 to $336,000, depending on the index used.

  In that year, there were an estimated four million slaves living in the South and it is estimated that their aggregate market value was over $3 billion then. That corresponds to $10 trillion today (as a share of GDP).

• The Civil War was one of the most devastating events in the history of the United States. It lasted from 1861 to 1865 and has been estimated to have a direct cost of about $6.7 billion valued in 1860 dollars. If this number were evaluated in dollars of today using the GDP deflator it would be $160 billion, less than one-fourth of the current Department of Defense budget. This would be inappropriate, as would be using the wage or income indexes. The only measure that makes sense for an expenditure of this size is to use the share of GDP, as the war impacted the output of the entire country. Thus the relative value of $6.7 billion of 1860 would be $32.7 trillion today, or over 150% of our current GDP.

  The $6.7 billion does not take into account that the war disrupted the economy and had an impact of lower production into the future. Some economic historians have estimated this additional, or indirect cost, to be another $7.3 billion measured in 1860 dollars. This means the cost of the war (as a share of the output of the economy) was nearly $68 trillion as measured in current dollars.

Year	British Official Price (British pounds per fine ounce end of year)	U.S. Official Price (U.S. dollars per fine ounce end of year)	New York Market Price (U.S. dollars per fine ounce)	Gold/Silver Price Ratio (ounces of silver per ounce of gold)	London Market Price (British £ [1718-1949] or U.S. $ [1950-Present] per fine ounce)
1863	4.25	20.67	30.02	15.37	£ 4.24
1864	4.25	20.67	42.03	15.37	£ 4.24
1865	4.25	20.67	32.52	15.44	£ 4.24
1866	4.25	20.67	29.13	15.43	£ 4.24
1867	4.25	20.67	28.57	15.57	£ 4.24
1868	4.25	20.67	28.88	15.59	£ 4.24
1869	4.25	20.67	27.49	15.60	£ 4.24
1870	4.25	20.67	23.75	15.57	£ 4.24
1871	4.25	20.67	23.09	15.57	£ 4.24
1872	4.25	20.67	23.24	15.63	£ 4.24
1873	4.25	20.67	23.52	15.93	£ 4.24
1874	4.25	20.67	22.99	16.16	£ 4.24
1875	4.25	20.67	23.75	16.64	£ 4.24
1876	4.25	20.67	23.05	17.75	£ 4.24
1877	4.25	20.67	21.66	17.20	£ 4.24
1878	4.25	20.67	20.84	17.92	£ 4.24
1879	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.39	£ 4.24
1880	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.05	£ 4.24
1881	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.25	£ 4.24
1882	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.20	£ 4.24
1883	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.64	£ 4.24
1884	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.61	£ 4.24
1885	4.25	20.67	20.67	19.41	£ 4.24
1886	4.25	20.67	20.67	20.78	£ 4.24
1887	4.25	20.67	20.67	21.10	£ 4.24
1888	4.25	20.67	20.67	22.00	£ 4.24
1889	4.25	20.67	20.67	22.10	£ 4.24
1890	4.25	20.67	20.67	19.75	£ 4.24
1891	4.25	20.67	20.67	20.92	£ 4.25
1892	4.25	20.67	20.67	23.72	£ 4.25
1893	4.25	20.67	20.67	26.49	£ 4.25
1894	4.25	20.67	20.67	32.56	£ 4.24
1895	4.25	20.67	20.67	31.60	£ 4.24
1896	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.59	£ 4.25
1897	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.20	£ 4.25
1898	4.25	20.67	20.67	35.03	£ 4.25
1899	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.36	£ 4.24
1900	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.33	£ 4.25
1901	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.68	£ 4.25
1902	4.25	20.67	20.67	39.15	£ 4.24
1903	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.10	£ 4.25
1904	4.25	20.67	20.67	35.70	£ 4.25
1905	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.87	£ 4.24
1906	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.54	£ 4.25
1907	4.25	20.67	20.67	31.24	£ 4.25
1908	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.64	£ 4.25
1909	4.25	20.67	20.67	39.74	£ 4.24
1910	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.22	£ 4.24
1911	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.33	£ 4.24
1912	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.62	£ 4.24
1913	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.19	£ 4.24
1914	4.25	20.67	20.67	37.37	£ 4.24
1915	4.25	20.67	20.67	40.48	£ 4.24
1916	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.78	£ 4.24
1917	4.25	20.67	20.67	24.61	£ 4.24
1918	4.25	20.67	20.67	21.00	£ 4.24
1919	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.44	£ 4.50
1920	4.25	20.67	20.67	20.28	£ 5.65
1921	4.25	20.67	20.67	32.76	£ 5.35
1922	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.43	£ 4.67
1923	4.25	20.67	20.67	31.69	£ 4.51
1924	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.80	£ 4.69
1925	4.25	20.67	20.67	29.78	£ 4.27
1926	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.11	£ 4.25
1927	4.25	20.67	20.67	36.47	£ 4.25
1928	4.25	20.67	20.67	35.34	£ 4.25
1929	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.78	£ 4.25
1930	4.25	20.67	20.67	53.74	£ 4.25
1931	4.25	20.67	20.67	71.25	£ 4.63
1932	4.25	20.67	20.67	73.29	£ 5.90
1933	4.25	20.67	24.44	69.83	£ 6.24
1934	4.25	35.00	34.94	72.36	£ 6.88
1935	4.25	35.00	35.00	54.19	£ 7.11
1936	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.09	£ 7.01
1937	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.44	£ 7.04
1938	4.25	35.00	35.00	80.39	£ 7.13
1939	4.25	35.00	35.00	88.84	£ 7.72
1940	4.25	35.00	35.00	99.76	£ 8.40
1941	4.25	35.00	35.00	99.73	£ 8.40
1942	4.25	35.00	35.00	90.57	£ 8.40
1943	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.67	£ 8.40
1944	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.67	£ 8.40
1945	4.25	35.00	35.00	67.40	£ 8.40
1946		35.00	35.00	43.67	£ 8.40
1947		35.00	35.00	48.73	£ 8.40
1948		35.00	35.00	47.07	£ 8.40
1949		35.00	35.00	48.61	£ 8.40
1950		35.00	35.00	47.14	$ 34.71
1951		35.00	35.00	39.12	$ 34.71
1952		35.00	35.00	41.16	$ 34.71
1953		35.00	35.00	41.04	$ 34.71
1954		35.00	35.00	41.01	$ 34.96
1955		35.00	35.00	39.24	$ 35.01
1956		35.00	35.00	38.50	$ 35.00
1957		35.00	35.00	38.50	$ 34.95
1958		35.00	35.00	39.27	$ 35.10
1959		35.00	35.00	38.34	$ 35.09
1960		35.00	35.00	38.27	$ 35.28
1961		35.00	35.00	37.82	$ 35.15
1962		35.00	35.00	32.22	$ 35.10
1963		35.00	35.00	27.34	$ 35.09
1964		35.00	35.00	27.04	$ 35.09
1965		35.00	35.00	27.04	$ 35.13
1966		35.00	35.00	27.04	$ 35.17
1967		35.00	35.00	22.56	$ 35.19
1968		35.00	39.26	18.29	$ 38.69
1969		35.00	41.51	23.16	$ 41.09
1970		35.00	36.41	20.54	$ 35.94
1971		35.00	41.25	26.66	$ 40.80
1972		38.00	58.60	34.75	$ 58.16
1973		42.22	97.81	38.21	$ 97.32
1974		42.22	159.74	33.90	$ 159.26
1975		42.22	161.49	36.51	$ 161.02
1976		42.22	125.32	28.76	$ 124.84
1977		42.22	148.31	32.05	$ 147.71
1978		42.22	193.55	35.80	$ 193.22
1979		42.22	307.50	27.69	$ 306.68
1980		42.22	612.56	29.66	$ 612.56
1981		42.22	459.64	43.65	$ 460.03
1982		42.22	375.91	47.24	$ 375.67
1983		42.22	424.00	37.03	$ 424.35
1984		42.22	360.66	44.26	$ 360.48
1985		42.22	317.66	51.68	$ 317.28
1986		42.22	368.24	67.25	$ 367.51
1987		42.22	447.95	63.84	$ 446.47
1988		42.22	438.31	66.95	$ 437.05
1989		42.22	382.58	69.49	$ 381.43
1990		42.22	384.93	79.78	$ 383.47
1991		42.22	363.29	89.83	$ 362.18
1992		42.22	344.97	87.47	$ 343.73
1993		42.22	360.91	83.85	$ 359.77
1994		42.22	385.42	72.79	$ 384.01
1995		42.22	385.50	74.78	$ 384.16
1996		42.22	389.09	74.89	$ 387.69
1997		42.22	332.39	67.91	$ 331.10
1998		42.22	295.24	53.24	$ 294.16
1999		42.22	279.91	53.26	$ 278.64
2000		42.22	280.10	55.96	$ 279.03
2001		42.22	272.22	61.95	$ 271.04
2002		42.22	311.33	67.32	$ 309.68
2003		42.22	364.80	74.22	$ 363.32
2004		42.22	410.52	61.30	$ 409.17
2005		42.22	446.00	60.70	$ 444.45
2006		42.22	606.00	52.20	$ 603.77
2007		42.22	699.00	51.91	$ 695.39
2008		42.22	874.00	58.17	$ 871.96
2009		42.22	975.00	66.27	$ 972.35
2010		42.22	1,227.00	60.64	$ 1,224.53
2011		42.22	1,572.00	44.75	$ 1,571.52
2012		42.22	1,700.00	53.58	$ 1,668.98
2013		42.22	1,415.00	59.31	$ 1,411.23
2014		42.22	1,269.00	66.38	$ 1,266.40
2015		42.22	1,163.00	73.98	$ 1,160.06
2016		42.22	1,252.00	72.96	$ 1,250.74
2017		42.22	1,260.00	73.76	$ 1,257.12
2018		42.22	1,270.00	80.77	$ 1,268.49
2019		42.22	1,390.00	85.92	$ 1,392.60
2020		42.22	1,770.00	86.14	$ 1,769.64
Note: British official price is only available till 1945.

Wow, can that kid blow! It’s a bird, it’s Superman – no, it’s a train!

If one travels often by rail, one grows used to hearing the juxtaposition of steady tempos and sudden sounds. The longer the journey and the later the hour, the more likely one will be lulled to sleep by the former notes, only to be awoken by sudden screeches or conductors’ announcements. The Lost Line captures this incongruity – sleep, don’t sleep – by lengthening the time in which each tempo is steady, but by varying the sources from track to track (pun intended). As soon as one grows accustomed to a certain pace, one relaxes, until it changes again. ”Vanishing Point” sounds harsh at first, but develops what one would be hard-pressed not to call a melody mid-piece. By the end, it sounds like a jazz solo, a jumble of horns riffing on a theme. Wow, can that kid blow! It’s a bird, it’s Superman – no, it’s a train!

Wow, can that kid blow! It’s a bird, it’s Superman – no, it’s a train!

DALTON'S EVOLUTION

DALTON'S EVOLUTION

Dalton GA was on the north end of the Western & Atlantic RR, just south of Tunnel Hill. By August of 1863 it had become a bustling city due to the defenses being constructed along the W&A to protect this critical supply line for the Army of Tennessee. The following 'movie' of slides gives you an idea of the development, start to near completion, of this section of the layout. It began in November 2003 as tabletops with basic track plan.Also posted is an interview of Brian Kammerer as he is painting the backdrop section along this area. Friends who have had contributed to this section include DC Cebula, Chris Comport, Andy Salcius, Jimmy Judge and of course, Brian Kammerer.

http://western-and-atlantic-rr.blogspot.com/2012/10/daltons-evolution-october-4-2012-dalton.html

http://www.ancienttreearchive.org/#/en/About

http://www.ancienttreearchive.org/#/en/About

Howe Truss over TN River

Howe Truss over the TN River, maybe Chichamauga Creek North. Which body of water is one design element. The bridge is completed, abutments have been placed; now contouring the river landscape.


This section on the W&A is just on the outskirts of Chattanooga. Research indicates that I have 2 options for this body of water. The Tennessee, which...

One of the many questions regarding bridge construction was how did engineers join bridge sections. On one of my senior advisors and construction engineers, Cristopher. While helping me view photos, he saw one of the bridge crossing the TN...

Sole remaining float bridge on the Hudson River

Did a little research on the Howe Truss bridge and remembered that there is such a structure just blocks from me on the Hudson River at pier 66a ( W27th Street).

In the process I found the work of Philip M. Goldstein. He's a historian and collector of railroad memorabilia for the mid-atlantic region.

I'm going to add links to his websites for anyone interested in some great archival photos of the working trains of the maritime past.

Legacy and Lineage

Was surprised and excited to have received an email from the great grand daughter of my avatar Mr. Uriah Stephens. She's looking for any information we may have on Uriah and especially any photo. If anyone reading this has any leads please do leave a comment.
What we do know of Mr. Stephens is that he was the station agent at Kingston station on the fateful day that Andrews strolled confidently up to the station and asked Uriah for the switch key. The General needed to be on a siding to allow the southbound freight to pass through. He gave the story about being a powder train under special order en route to Beauregard and that the regular freight-passenger train would be along presently. Even though many had taken note of the strange train and crew, the raiders were not challenged. Andrews found that the southbound was delayed and the General was to wait, so they ran forward on to the northbound line and then backed on to the easternmost siding. There they waited, nervous and alert, but unmolested. The story continues...

Working with the new blogger features.

An Atlanta Backdrop Panel

Brian painting one of the three Atlanta backdrop panels. This video shows Brian working on the southernmost panel which transitions from the city into 'suburbs'. The top photo is Brian working the second panel showing the Trout House and Masonic Meeting House. You'll notice he is attaching a balcony to give the painting a 2-dimensional look. This technique works especially well when photographing the scene.

Dalton trackwork expansion

A few weeks ago I had Dick Taylor here to help on a few projects. One was to relocate the Dalton turntable 3' north as well as extend the yard, allowing for larger train capacity and easier switching. These photos give you an idea on the expansion as well as some of the point turnouts that are being converted to stubs. These are tricky in that each one, so far, has been spiked different. In order for the smoothest transition from fly rails onto the respective stub rails, the former point turnouts are trimmed to expose the minimal length of full rail. These are then spiked to ensure a gauge and smooth running. If I were to take my time I could probably work out a system. However, the generals are very anxious to have the trains running supplies and troops. They hear the North is preparring for a big push into Georgia this Spring!

Latest video on Blip.tv

Further experiments in Google-land

I'm dabbling with the Goog's free website feature. Want to see how far I can go without having to resort to crunching code.

Check it out here.

http://sites.google.com/site/kingstontelegraph/home?previewAsViewer=1

NMRA Mid-Eastern Region Open House, September 19, 2009

W&A Railroad, North Branch recently participated in the National Model Railroad Association's NE region open house. Here are a few moments, including a short video, from that event. This came on the heels of the October RMC article featuring this modeled version of the Western & Atlantic R.R. The timing was quite good of course, a dual promotion of sorts.



Here is a link to the Garden State Central Model Railroad Club video of this event.


Other video clips can be found by clicking on the Video link in the right column.

W&A Railroad, North Branch recently participated in the National Model Railroad Association's NE region open house. Here are a few moments from that event.



Other clips can be found by clicking on the link to the Western & Atlantic TV Show in the right column.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

In the beginning

First test my new blogger site