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Post by SSW9389 on May 9, 2009 8:32:19 GMT -5
Hard work is not pretty. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and just get things done. Take for example this photo of yours truly working at the Arkansas Railroad Museum the day after Thanksgiving 2006. Gosh I could have gone shopping or something, but no, here I am over 500 miles from home running a jack hammer! Why? Well the old timers at the Museum had no clue and the real jack hammer crew was going to show up the next day. But Robert McClanahan and Bill McCaskill wanted to see what they could do on their own. That is the kind of people they are. McClanahan supervised and McCaskill was on the old forklift the Museum has. They were taking a layer of concrete, raising it and dropping it to fracture it. The jack hammer was an afterthought as I don't think either of these fine two gentlemen would consider running the thing. Me I didn't care, I've done a little construction here and there. So here I am bustin concrete at the Arkansas Railroad Museum because some new rail needs to be laid to extend the track for additional exhibits. While my guard is down McCaskill grabs up my camera and starts firing off photos of me at work. Yah, it's funny in a way, but it's real hard work too working with a dull bit, a heavy hammer, and a one inch air line from the shop. I'll be glad to see those guys next month, and I hope to get involved in their next project! Ed  |
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Post by SSW9389 on May 16, 2009 19:51:08 GMT -5
This man walking the transfer table at the Arkansas Railroad Museum doesn't say a whole lot. He just gets things done. His name is Robert R. McClanahan and he has been getting things done for a long, long time. He hired out in 1945 as a Cotton Belt relief telegraph operator in his native Mount Pleasant, TEXAS when he was 17 years old. Within six years he was promoted to dispatcher. By 1959 he was Agent at Texarkana. Besides working for the Cotton Belt McClanahan got married and raised a family, and had a career as an officer in the TEXAS Army National Guard. Some of you may know that he helped set a record for cars humped at the then new Colton Yard in 1973. When Robert McClanahan retired in 1988 he was Superintendent of the Cotton Belt with 5,000 people working for him.  |
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Post by thespcaboose on May 25, 2009 2:46:45 GMT -5
Awesome photos!!
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Post by thespcaboose on May 30, 2009 3:41:05 GMT -5
I would like to hear from our new members or those who haven't posted in a while or very much. I think we all have something to share about the Southern Pacific.
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Post by SSW9389 on Jun 25, 2009 3:30:12 GMT -5
I just realized that Christmas is in another six months. Do y'all have your shopping done?
Ed
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Post by espeefoamer on Jun 25, 2009 12:55:28 GMT -5
This forum has been pretty dead lately.I sure hope thigs pick up here real soon.Come on guys,POST SOMETHING!!!  |
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Post by espeelover on Jun 26, 2009 2:17:17 GMT -5
I just realized that Christmas is in another six months. Do y'all have your shopping done? Ed I'm going to have to cancel Christmas this year; or at least scale way back. Things are tough all over. |
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Post by espeelover on Jun 26, 2009 2:47:33 GMT -5
This forum has been pretty dead lately.I sure hope things pick up here real soon. Come on guys, POST SOMETHING!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I won't post any longer. I'm not saying that at all; what I am saying is I just need a break and a change of environment for now. I was hoping some new talent would come on board; it did, it got the same results as I did, or maybe slightly better, but they still have not come back in a while; they may have become discouraged as well.
It's not just here, it seems that everywhere is falling into inactivity (I imagine a future not unlike Starnsville, in Atlas Shrugged, in the not too distant future); I guess its hard to be excited about a hobby when you are worried if you'll have a house or a job by Christmas.
Everybody was screaming how they wanted a change; well, we got one.  |
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Post by SSW9389 on Jul 22, 2009 6:57:55 GMT -5
This is my late friend Terry Kirkland (1945-2002).  Terry is well past caring what we do or don't do on this planet. Terry lived his life in TEXAS. He had a degree in Chemistry from Texas Weslyan University in Fort Worth. And of course when Terry left college he got drafted and went into the Army for a couple of years. And when Terry got out of the Army he went and got a job teaching Chemistry right? No, Terry got a job working for the railroad, first the SCL and then the Cotton Belt, because Terry liked trains, he really did. |
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Post by espeelover on Jul 22, 2009 16:47:24 GMT -5
This is my late friend Terry Kirkland (1945-2002). Terry is well past caring what we do or don't do on this planet. Terry lived his life in TEXAS. He had a degree in Chemistry from Texas Weslyan University in Fort Worth. And of course when Terry left college he got drafted and went into the Army for a couple of years. And when Terry got out of the Army he went and got a job teaching Chemistry right? No, Terry got a job working for the railroad, first the SCL and then the Cotton Belt, because Terry liked trains, he really did. Terry seemed like an okay guy, he had great taste in trains! I see by the calculations he is discussing a crystalline form of Trisodium Phosphate (Na = sodium, P - Phosphorus and O = Oxygen)...was he ever a door to door seller of cleaning products? I sure could have used him to help me with my chemistry homework back in the day! Thanks for sharing... |
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