Paducah Chapter
National Railway Historical Society
September 2013
Thomas Edison and the
Railroad Thomas Edison, when you
hear that name you think of the
light bulb and the phonograph. Did
you know that he also made contri-
butions to railroads. Thomas Edi-
son ran his first test of the electric
railway in Menlo Park, NJ, on
May 13, 1880. This was located on
his vast laboratory property.
The track was about a third
of a mile in length, There were
three cars: a flat freight-car, an
open awning-car, and a box-car
called the "Pullman," with which
Edison illustrated a system of elec-
tromagnetic braking.
Edison reportedly moved away
from this rail in 1881 after local
officials and businessmen per-
suaded him to build a longer road
at Menlo Park, equipped with
more powerful locomotives that
could demonstrate the feasibility
of putting electric railroads in
other regions.
A year later, work was completed
and two locomotives, one for
freight and the other for passenger
service, were on the electric rail-
way.
Railroads played an important part
in Edison’s life. Edison sold candy
and newspapers on trains. His
Deafness later in life was attrib-
uted to a railroad worker picking
him up by the ears to help him
board a moving train.
Edison obtained the exclusive
right to sell newspapers on the
railroad. He found four assistants
and started up his own newspaper,
the Grand Trunk Herald, which he
sold with his other papers.
Edison later became a telegraph
operator. IN looking for ways to
improve things he came up with
device
that
would
automati-
cally an-
swer his
station
call on the
telegraph.
Working
nights he
would get
tired and want to sleep. The fore-
man would send a call out to see if
the agents were sleeping. Edison’s
device would pick up the call for
his station and send a reply that he
was there. One night this backfired
and caused him to fail to stop a
train, he was released from duty as
an operator.
Edison’s love of trains stayed with
him until his death. Just months
before he passed away, Lacka-
wanna Railroad inaugurated subur-
ban DC-based electric train service
from Hoboken to Montclair, Do-
ver, and Gladstone in New Jersey.
Edison was at the throttle of the
first electric multiple-unit train to
depart Lackawanna Terminal in
Hoboken in September 1930, driv-
ing the train the first mile through
Hoboken yard on its way to South
Orange. This Month’s Program
will feature some rare footage of
trains shot by Edison in the
1890’s /Early 20th Century.
Right: Edison’s Electric railway at his
Menlo Park NJ laboratory.
Photo Dept of Interior Edison National Historic site.
Above: Edison as a teenager during
his years working as a telegraph
operator.
RICK CORMAN PASSES: R. J.
“Rick” Corman died on August
23rd, at his home in Nicholasville,
KY at age 58. Corman was a na-
tionally known railroader who par-
layed a backhoe rented while he
was a high school student, into a
company with $ 300 million dol-
lars in annual revenue and $ 50
million in annual profits and in-
cluded short lines, construction
and derailment services, material
sales, two dinner trains, a genset
company, a Chinese steam engine,
and much more. Diagnosed with
multiple myeloma in 2001 and
given three years to live, he beat
those odds by nine years, staying
active until almost the end. Some
members of the Paducah Chapter,
NRHS, may remember traveling as
a group to Bardstown several years
ago to ride his “My Old Kentucky
Dinner Train,” and, ironically, on
August 14th, days before his death,
a second dinner train began service
from Lexington to Versailles,
originating from behind Rupp
Arena. In addition to his successful
business career, profiled in For-
tune Magazine, Corman was noted
for his philanthropies to his com-
munity and employees, and his
penchant for his specifying the
color red for everything represent-
ing his compny from locomotives
and cars, to his helicopter, dump
trucks, and even his cap and
blazer. His rerail company was in
Southeast Missouri, earlier this
year, working on the UP-BNSF
wreck.
P&L: P&L’s bad luck in the Lou-
isville area surfaced again on Au-
gust 15th when an 88 car coal train
derailed 15 cars in Hardin County
near Vine Grove. There were no
injuries and no hazardous materi-
als involved. The line was cleared
the next day by R.J. Corman (see
above).On August 23, WPSD Lo-
cal 6, announced that a 28 car train
of debris consisting of low level
radioactive waste from demolition
of the C-340 Metals Plant at the
Paducah site was safely delivered
to a commercial waste disposal
facility 80 miles west of Salt Lake
City. The exact date and the route
to Utah from the P&L was not an-
nounced. On August 25tt, the Padu-
cah SUN ran a story speculating
on the effect of the Panama Canal
expansion on Paducah and possi-
bly the P&L. The expansion to be
completed in 2016 will enable
large container ships to reach the
port of Mobile and thus move the
containers by barge up the Tom-
bigbee waterway to Paducah. The
Paducah Port Authority has in-
stalled a new 48 ton crane that
would make possible the unload-
ing of cargo to the P&L if there
was a demand. In spite of all the
locomotives P&L has with their
handsome new paint scheme, the
photo of the city job in the above
news article was of an old GP-40
in faded blue.
VMV: CORRECTION: In last
month’s NEWS & VIEWS I short-
changed VMV on their Safety and
Health Award announcement.
They actually worked 500,000
hours without injury. Otherwise
not much of interest known to me
to report about VMV for August.
BOYS ON THE MOVE: Union
Pacific has announced that their
decision to restore a Big Boy into
operating condition was made two
years ago, and they settled on 4014
which is on static display in
Pomona, CA, because the dry cli-
mate there has maintained its
boiler barrel in very good condi-
tion; also the air brake system is in
mostly good condition, making the
1200 mile tow to Cheyenne easier.
The move from the fairgrounds to
a live Metro line will be across a
parking lot on panel track. The
move across country will be en-
tirely in daylight via Las Vegas
and Salt Lake City and then on to
UP’s transcontinental at Ogden.
There will be stops along the way
for public display. The Southern
California Chapter of the Railway
& Locomotive Historical Society
will receive an operating SD-40 in
new paint (former MP), and a for-
mer Rock Island bay window ca-
boose in return for 4014, plus the
proceeds of an excursion in South-
ern California after it is restored.
Meanwhile, sister 4018 has been
moved from its previous location
in Dallas to its new location at the
Museum of American Railroad in
Frisco, near Irving. The museum’s
collection, which was also moved
from Dallas, includes a Frisco 4-8-
0 and 2-10-0, and a UP DD40X
“Centennial.” All moved via Dal-
las, Garland & Northeastern, Trin-
ity Railway Express, and BNSF in
“hospital trains.”
AMTRAK TRIP: On August
17th, seven other men and I jour-
neyed to Chicago by Amtrak to see
the Cardinals play the Cubs at
Bob Johnston
Published monthly by the Paducah Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. Send your news, photos to:
Editor — Charles Gibbons
President…........…......Logan Blewett Vice President…….......John Deming
Secretary…..…......Charles Gibbons
Historian…........……Jack Johnston
Treasurer..................Glen Pollender
Program…....…...….…..Dick Kastas National Director.…..Bob Johnston
Directors…………..……...Dick Kastas, Charles Gibbons, Logan Blewett
Membership — Charles Gibbons 3409 Central Avenue, Paducah 42001
Roundhouse Notes
iconic Wrigley Field. We left Car-
bondale at 7:30 on #391, the Sa-
luki, arriving Chicago on time at
1:00 p.m. After a false start and
over a mile of walking, we found
the “Red Line” subway/El to the
ball park. After the game we took
cabs back to Union Station and
caught #59, the City of New Or-
leans at 8:00 p.m., arriving Car-
bondale on time at 1:21 a.m. for
the drive back to Paducah. We
planned to eat dinner on the diner,
but forgot they serve the sleeping
car passengers first, so we did not
get served until almost 10:00. Be-
cause of the late hour, the menu
was limited but the food was O.K.
It was a long but satisfying
day……..Amtrak is again setting
records. In August they announced
that July was the best month in the
company’s 42 year history with a
4.2% increase to more than 2.9
million passengers, an all- time
record for one month.
FREIGHT TRAFFIC MIXED:
The Association of American Rail-
roads reports lower carload traffic
for July, but higher intermodal,
which, in fact, set a new record.
Traffic was up significantly in
many commodities, especially pe-
troleum and petroleum products,
but down in two major groups,
coal and grain.
RAILCAMP: The NRHS’s popu-
lar RailCamp program which gives
hands on railroad experience to
high school age participants will
return in 2014. The program was
suspended this year because of un-
expected difficulties in arranging
university housing for attendees.
These difficulties have been solved
and both RailCamp East in Stras-
burg, PA, and RailCamp North-
west operating out of Seattle, WA
will resume. If you know of a high
school student with a real interest
in railroads, perhaps our chapter
should consider sponsoring them
next year.
R.R. HELP WANTED: Paducah
SUN Classified want ads in the
August 24th, and other editions ad-
vertised for Track Foremen experi-
enced in supervising track con-
struction, FRA regulations, and
other MOW items; and also for
Operators of railroad construction
machinery such as Tampers, Bal-
last Plows, Tie Inserters, and High
Rail equipment. Salary is
“commensurate with experience.”
Those interested could apply to
Box BB578 or Box BB579 c/o The
Paducah Sun, P.O. Box 2300, Pa-
ducah, KY 42002.
MUSEUM: Although the atten-
dance book at the museum was
somewhat jumbled in August, I
counted 347 visitors. We also have
a computer count, but is difficult
for the computer to pick up those
from the “American Queen,” and
other groups who do not pay indi-
vidually. This was down from 557
in August of 2012. However, we
had five scheduled boats that
month and only two this month.
On the September 1, 2013, Chan-
nel Six 10:00 p.m. NEWS, there
was a somewhat confusing story
about the Paducah Model Train
Club leaving the railroad museum
as of that week-end. This has been
in process for a number of weeks.
The Model Train Club has been
offered the use of a large building
off of South 28th St., owned by
Bobby Abell. Since they will have
more room and this will enable
them to work on their layout
whenever they want with no obli-
gation to be there at specific times
for visitors, they have decided to
take the offer and plan to begin
dismantling the layout at the mu-
seum this month. Although admit-
tedly, there has been friction at
times between their organization
and the Paducah Chapter NRHS,
during their years at the museum,
this seemed to be resolved at a
joint meeting held earlier this year.
Despite some reports, i.e. rumors,
the Railroad Museum DID NOT
ask them to leave. This was their
decision, based on the above offer.
For the record, this will be at least
their fifth location. They have pre-
viously been at the old Off Price
Mall on the South Beltline, a
building in Noble Park, and the
Executive Inn, before coming to
the railroad museum, and at one
time an off- shoot of their group
was at a hobby shop on North 13th
St. We appreciate all of their hard
work and their contribution to our
success during the years they have
been a part of the museum and
wish them well in their new ven-
ture.
DON’T FORGET member John
Rogers’s program on September
26th on the History of the IC/ICG
Paducah Shops, which he will pre-
sent at Upstairs at the Library at
7:00 p.m. that day.
Roundhouse Notes
% Charles Gibbons
3409 Central Ave
Paducah KY 42001
Gosh! Its almost time for
the meeting! We sure
don’t want to miss it.
TUESDAY
Sept 10th
7 PM
MCCRACKEN
COUNTY
LIBRARY
SECOND FLOOR
Edison in his New Jersey Labs