Cotton Belt Symposium in Commerce

[SSW9389]

This is from my friend Dr. Jason Lee Davis who is a sponsor of this event.

Hello Railfans,

We are once again pleased to present...

The 2nd (or 3rd) Annual COTTON BELT Symposium: Railroad Legacy and Lore
Saturday, August 16, 2008 | 9:00am-12:30pm

(2nd annual if you don't count the 1st attempt that fell victim to an
ice storm on Nov. 30, 2006. If you were among the small group that
braved the ice to participate in that abbreviated event, you may
consider this the 3rd.)

To be held at the James G. Gee Library on the campus of Texas A&M
University-Commerce, Commerce, Texas.
Located approximately 60 miles northeast of Dallas, and north of
I-30, along SH 50 & SH 11.

This is a free, public event to share, document, preserve, and
celebrate the legacy and experiences of the employees and families
connected to the St. Louis Southwestern Railway in northeast Texas
and system-wide. A special invitation is extended to all former and
current railroad employees and their families to come and share
recollections of their railroad days. Everyone is encouraged to
bring and display historical photos depicting people, places,
equipment, and rail operations. Anyone interested in the railroad
and its history is invited to attend. Please share this information
with anyone who might be interested.

The program features noted authors and historians, Jonathan Gerland,
Dr. Otha Spencer, and Cheryl Westhafer.
Mr. Gerland will discuss the service of the Cotton Belt and
connecting railroads to early logging operations in east Texas.
Dr. Spencer will discuss the social impact of the railroad in the
communities in and around the Commerce area. Dr. Spencer will be
available to sell and sign copies of new book, That Lonesome
Whistle: The History of the Cotton Belt in Commerce, in case you
haven't yet obtained your copy.
Ms. Westhafer will present artifacts from, and discuss the railroad
collection at the Commerce Public Library.
The program will also feature a panel comprised of current and former
railroad employees and family members who will recount various
aspects of railroad life.
Planelists include: James L. Adams, Annie Golightly, Rheba
Icenhower, & Billy W. Reed.
The proceedings will be videotaped for entry into the Gee Library's
Digital Archives.
Cotton Belt and railroad artifacts from the Commerce Public Library
and the Arkansas Railroad Museum's Cotton Belt Rail Historical
Society collection will be on display.
Attendees are invited to bring and display railroad photos and other artifacts.
There will be time allotted in the afternoon for visiting, sharing,
and recording video histories related to railroad experiences.

If you have a Cotton Belt story to share, we invite you to
participate in the Gee Library's Digital Library project by allowing
us to videotape your contribution in the afternoon following the
program. Also, we would appreciate the opportunity to
photograph/copy/duplicate any historic railroad pictures, artifacts,
or memorabilia for inclusion in the Digital Library collection. The
goal of the project is document and preserve records of historical
information and artifacts before they are forgotten, destroyed, or
otherwise lost to the past. For details on the Digital Library
project, contact Dr. James Conrad, Director of Special Collections,
James G. Gee Library: [e-mail] or 903-886-5737.

We are trying to bring together individuals for the purpose of
sharing and documenting railroad history. The event will be
videotaped as a means of historical documentation/preservation.
The focus is on the people, equipment, and operations of the
railroad. This is NOT a "train show" or "swap meet" though some
railroad artifacts/memorabilia will be on display and presenting
authors' books available.
Come and visit with the folks who created a proud legacy for the
SSW/SP railroad.
This event is being hosted by TAMU-Commerce's Department of
Educational Leadership and James Gee Library and the Commerce Public
Library. We are delighted this year to have the additional support
of Humanities Texas. This program is made possible in part with a
grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities There is no admission
fee. Directions, maps, and other information is available on the
symposium website.

faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/jdavis/railroad/symposium/

Hope to see you there.

Many Thanks,
-Jason Lee Davis
event founder & co-host

Fine print: The names and trademarks of Cotton Belt are registered
trademarks of Borg, used under license.


~~~
Jason Lee Davis, Ph.D. KB5YBP Assistant Professor 903-886-5598
Department of Educational Leadership Texas A&M University-Commerce
[e-mail] faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/jdavis/

[SSW9389]

Information about the upcoming 3rd Annual Cotton Belt in Commerce Symposium will be announced on this new website: www.cottonbeltroute.com/

My thanks to Dr. Jason Davis for following through with this over the last four years.

Ed Cooper

[thespcaboose]

Awesome!!

[SSW9389]

Saturday August 8th may seem a long way away, but in actual time it is only a little over six weeks away. I looked over the photos from the past Symposia and note that several of the attendees have passed on. It is sad to see them go and their passing makes the purpose of the Symposium more clear: preservation of historical knowledge. I encourage the people with that Cotton Belt knowledge that are still able to attend this upcoming Symposium and share. And any of you that have not been to one of these events to attend to see what it is all about.

Ed Cooper
Shelbyville, KY

[SSW9389]

The late Terry Kirkland explains a Chemistry problem back during his school days at Texas Weslyan University. Terry gave up all his chemistry knowledge to work for the Cotton Belt, because Terry liked trains. He liked trains from a very early age and continued to like them and photograph them until he left this life. He was scanning some of his photos the day before he died. All we have left of Terry are some memories and a part of his photo collection. On Saturday August 8th at the 3rd Annual Cotton Belt Symposium Terry's digital photos and scans of TEXAS railroad subjects will be presented to the Commerce Public Library. This will include Terry's Cotton Belt and Southern Pacific photos. Some of you may have seen some of Terry's photos over on Richard Percy's page or around the net. Soon these photos will be archived at the Commerce Public Library.

Ed Cooper

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt Conductor Jacob "Jake" Blankenship carries his grip toward the caboose on the Commerce Greenville Dodger. The engineer has his Geep stopped just short of the Pine Street crossing. The Commerce depot is behind the photographer's left shoulder. You can see a few of the cotton wagons in the field at the left of the photo. Hunt County TEXAS is a heavy cotton producing area. Soon the Dodger will depart with its two cars and make short work of the 14 miles over to Greenville the Hunt County seat. Thanks to Terry Kirkland for this early 1970s Cotton Belt photo.

[espeelover]

Elsewhere I stated your buddy Terry had great taste in trains. GP30's have always been one of my all time favorite EMD's, so when I see an aging shot of a SP Geep 30 and an all SSW consist, I have to remove the years on such a treasure; this was just too cool!



Great subject!

[espeelover]

Something else I find snake fascinating are the two Cotton Belt box cars. One is obviously a BCR variant of one sort or another; but the further one back seems to be nearly Tuscan in color; neither of which match the ATSF mineral brown car further down the tracks.

What does this prove? Nada! But it does make having a few shades of "BCR" and variants a bit more necessary in our trains.

Lets keep up with these great contributions; it's the best way to learn and preserve our rich SP/SSW history for those who follow behind us.

[SSW9389]

Dr. Jason Lee Davis just posted this on a number of Yahoo Groups:

Hello Fellow Railfans,

We are pleased to be able to uphold the tradition of presenting.. .

The 3rd (or 4th) Annual COTTON BELT Railroad Symposium
Saturday, August 8, 2009 | 8:19am registration | program beginning at 8:45am.

This year's event will be held in the Traditions Room of the
beautiful NEW Sam Rayburn Student Center on the campus of Texas A&M
University-Commerce , Commerce, Texas.
Located approximately 60 miles northeast of Dallas, and north of
I-30, along SH 50 & SH 11.

This is a free, public, family friendly, event to share, document,
preserve, and celebrate the legacy and experiences of the employees
and families connected to the St. Louis Southwestern Railway in
northeast Texas and system-wide. A special invitation is extended to
all former and current railroad employees and their families to come
and share recollections of their railroad days. Everyone is
encouraged to bring and display historical photos depicting people,
places, equipment, and rail operations. Anyone interested in the
railroad and its history is invited to attend. Please share this
information with anyone who might be interested.

Our keynote presenter this year is noted author, photographer, and
historian, Steve Allen Goen.
Steve is well know throughout the railfan community for his thorough
knowledge of railroad history, outstanding railroad videos, and color
pictorial series including the Cotton Belt Color Pictorial.
We are delighted to have Steve as a participant in the symposium.

The program will also feature presentations by Gayle Gordon, Director
of the Commerce Public Library and Cheryl Westhafer, the Commerce
Public Library's Local History Librarian and curator of the library's
Cotton Belt Railroad Collection.

At least two photo collections will be presented for inclusion in the
Railroad Archives of the Gee Library's Digital Library Project.
If anyone has Cotton Belt photos, we would appreciate the opportunity
to acquired digital copies for inclusion in the Digital Library Collection.
We are excited to play an active role in Commerce's emergence as a
leading site for the preservation of Cotton Belt Railroad history and
a destination of choice for railroad researchers.

Last year's panel discussion brought rave reviews; so, we will again
feature a number of railroad icons in a panel format.
Panelists confirmed thus far include: S. L. "Red" Grimes, Murrel
Hogue, & Lenton R. Moore. Moderated by Harley Davis

Cotton Belt and railroad artifacts from the Commerce Public Library
and the Arkansas Railroad Museum's Cotton Belt Rail Historical
Society collection will be on display. Attendees are also invited to
bring and display railroad photos and other artifacts.

In response to comments and suggestions made by previous symposium
guests, we are including, as one of this year's activities, a
self-guided, driving tour of local of sites of railroad significance.
After a break for lunch, on your own, the tour will begin with the
Railroad Collection Open House at the Commerce Public Library.
Other sites on the tour include:
former Cotton Belt Yard & Roundhouse Grounds
Blacklands Railroad Locomotive display
Railroad Partners, Inc. Motorcar display
old Texas Midland Freight Depot,
and the East Texas Model Railroad Club Layout open house.

If you have a Cotton Belt story to share, we invite you to
participate in the Gee Library's Digital Library project by allowing
us to videotape your oral history contribution. Also, we would
appreciate the opportunity to photograph/copy/ duplicate any historic
railroad pictures, artifacts, or memorabilia for inclusion in the
Digital Library collection. The goal of the project is document and
preserve records of historical information and artifacts before they
are forgotten, destroyed, or otherwise lost to the past. Call or
email if you would like to participate.

Our goal is to bring together individuals for the purpose of sharing
and documenting railroad history. The event will be videotaped as a
means of historical documentation/ preservation and for entry into the
Libraries' Collections and Digital Archives..
The focus is on the people, equipment, infrastructure, and operations
of the railroad. Please note that this is NOT a "train show" or
"swap meet" though some railroad artifacts/memorabil ia will be on
display and presenting authors' books and publications available.

Our local Commerce hotels, Holiday Inn Express and University Inn,
have generously offered discounted lodging rates for Symposium
attendees wishing to take advantage of local accommodations to extend
their stay. See our website linked below for details.

Come and visit with the folks who created a proud legacy for the
SSW/SP railroad.
This event is being hosted by TAMU-Commerce' s Department of
Educational Leadership, the James G. Gee Library, and the Commerce
Public Library.

This program is made possible in part with a grant from Humanities
Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
We are honored and delighted this year to again have the additional
support of Humanities Texas. We couldn't provide this quality of
program with their assistance.

Directions, maps, a printable flyer, lodging details, and lots of
other information may be found on the NEW symposium website:

www.CottonBe ltRoute.com/

Hope to see you there.

Many Thanks,
-Jason Lee Davis
event founder & co-host

Fine print: The names and trademarks of Cotton Belt are registered
trademarks of Borg, used under license. Our thanks to UP
Corporate Relations for their support in honoring the "Fallen Flags."

~~~
4th Annual Cotton Belt Railroad Symposium - Aug 8, '09 -
www.CottonBe ltRoute.com/
~~~
Jason Lee Davis, Ph.D. KB5YBP Associate Professor 903-886-5598
Department of Educational Leadership Texas A&M University-Commerce
Jason_Davis@ tamu-commerce. edu www.JDavis. us/

[espeefoamer]

Where is the Cotton Belt heritage unit?

[SSW9389]

This is the poster Dr. Jason Davis had made up for the Symposium hanging in the front door of the Commerce Public Library. I did not realize it until Saturday morning when I got a closer look at the poster that Red Standefer is in the background of the poster. According to the late Chuck Harris it shows Red at the controls of an L1 Northern.

[SSW9389]

Here is a clearer view of the photo of Red Standefer. He called it "Hand on the Reverser" The photo was likely taken by his son Harold Ross Standefer in Commerce. The L1s came through Commerce on trains #17 and #43 to Fort Worth and #18 and #42 from Fort Worth. The photo here is shown as a potential book cover for Red's biography which is with an editor in TEXAS as I write this. Red Standefer was a #1 Cotton Belt Engineer for a little less than 2 years on the Southern Division of the Cotton Belt. He gave up 50 years of seniority when he retired in 1967.

[SSW9389]

The 4th Annual Cotton Belt Railroad Symposium will be conducted October 9, 2010. The event will be preceeded by a Show-and Tell event on Friday night October 8th. Hope to see you there. Details are on Dr. Jason Davis' website:
faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/jdavis/railroad/symposium/

Ed

[thespcaboose]

Thanks for the great information. Keep us posted on the updates as they happen.

[SSW9389]

Dr. Jason Davis just posted this:

Hello Fellow Railfans,

We are pleased to uphold the tradition of presenting...

The 4th (or 5th) Annual COTTON BELT Railroad Symposium
Friday-Saturday, October 8-9, 2010
Conference Room A | Sam Rayburn Student Center
Texas A&M University-Commerce | Commerce, Texas

Friday 5:30pm-8:00pm - Pre-symposium "Show & Tell" Presentation
sessions | 5:00pm set-up & visit
Saturday 8:45am-3:00pm - Symposium | 8:19am registration

Directions, maps, lodging details, luncheon RSVP form, and lots of
other information may be found on the Symposium website:

www.CottonBeltRoute.com/

This program is made possible in part with a grant from Humanities
Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
We are honored and delighted this year to again have the additional
support of Humanities Texas.

Hope to see you there.

Many Thanks,
-Jason Lee Davis
event founder & co-host

Fine print: The names and trademarks of Cotton Belt are registered
trademarks of Borg, used under license. Our thanks to UP
Corporate Relations for their support in honoring the "Fallen Flags."

~~~
Jason Lee Davis, Ph.D. KB5YBP 903-886-5598 903-886-5507 FAX
Associate Professor & Coordinator, Educational Technology Program
Department of Educational Leadership | Texas A&M University-Commerce
[e-mail] [e-mail] www.JDavis.us/
~~~
www.CottonBeltRoute.com/ Preserving the History of the St.L.S-W. RY.
4th Annual Cotton Belt Railroad Symposium - October 8-9, 2010 - TAMU-Commerce