The way things oughta be...

etalcos · June 07, 2012, 10:11:02 PM

SARM was pleased to have one of our passenger cars invited to Spencer as a guest for their Rail Days event this past weekend. As most of you know, we acquired Southern Budd coach #829 from the Bluewater Chapter of the NRHS this past year and have worked hard to improve on the already fine car. In the weeks leading up to the trip we did a steady stream of upgrades including new toilets, replacing windows, repairing window shades, painting the roof and trucks, new heralds and lettering, acid bath, and on and on.

Somewhere after the hard work was done and the car on its way to Spencer we had a few minutes to savor the moment and ponder just what was happeneing. For the first time in roughly 30+ years a Southern Budd coach was out on the Washington to Atlanta main line. Forty plus years for the K&O and East End. Again 30+ years since one has been pulled by an SR passenger motor (6133 was the power at Spencer).

In the Post-War era the Budd coaches were the backbone of the Southern lightweight coach fleet. Granted, there were contributions from ACF and Pullman-Standard, but those two builders combined didn't even contribute half of what Budd did. Incredibly, most of the Southern Budd coaches survived, but sadly most are unrecognizable now, having been heavily rebuilt by VIA Rail in Canada.

So here is our salute to Southern Railway, right at home in the heart of SR territory at Spencer, NC.

Batman · June 08, 2012, 10:25:13 PM

nice , we recently picked up 832 at TVRM.

E.M. Bell · June 09, 2012, 10:34:44 AM

Thats a fine looking car Charlie! The silver sides where always my favorites on the excursion trains (to young to have seen them in real service)...Another fine feather in SARM'S hat, and I am sure it was great seeing it in service behind some REAL "heritage" power

etalcos · June 11, 2012, 10:26:36 PM

Stay tuned, I think its about to get even better.....

GP30Rider · June 23, 2012, 08:50:53 PM

I hate passenger cars.

Badhorse79 · June 23, 2012, 10:37:55 PM

Quote from: GP30Rider on June 23, 2012, 08:50:53 PM
I hate passenger cars.

tell us how ya really feel .....lol

NSMoWandS · June 23, 2012, 10:53:50 PM

With all that hate... it sounds like he is a closet passenger car lover! LOL! Just kidding GP30Rider! Couldn't help myself!

GP30Rider · June 23, 2012, 11:28:35 PM

Never were truer words ever spoken.

csx6900 · June 24, 2012, 07:15:38 AM

Quote from: GP30Rider on June 23, 2012, 08:50:53 PM
I hate passenger cars.

Lol, well that does beg the question: Why?

-Evan

etalcos · June 25, 2012, 08:08:23 AM

He hates them because he has to work on them. He doesn't like working on them when the world is watching him do it. It's a sickness of sorts -- sort'a like seeing a bad accident on the highway you don't want to look, but you just can't help it.

csx6900 · June 25, 2012, 08:44:27 AM

Ah, lol. I getcha.

Thanks!

-Evan

GP30Rider · July 13, 2012, 11:31:52 PM

I hate passenger cars.

etalcos · July 14, 2012, 12:51:59 AM

....and they hate you. Looks like mutual respect to me.

blacksheep · July 14, 2012, 10:19:46 AM

wonder where you got that SR sign by the door? after the merger i asked about finding one but it was too late. the railroad wasn't using them on anything. as fast as everything went NS i bet they trashed a bunch of SR stuff.

etalcos · July 15, 2012, 12:56:37 AM

The Southern passenger heralds are some of GP30Rider's handy work -- they are reproductions made from a couple of the originals he has around. Its possible that those are one more reason he hates passenger cars ;D Perhaps he can tell us more.

GP30Rider · July 15, 2012, 08:59:44 AM

Without going into all the aggravating details, let's just say that everything that is stuck to the side of the 829 is as historically accurate as possible through the use of photos, drawings, and tons of hours worth of reseach and some trial and error thrown in for good measure. The guy that is producing that stuff for me had to start drinking by the time we were finished.

blacksheep · July 15, 2012, 10:12:54 AM

may not make you feel any better about workin on that old car but if it's on the road you must be doin a good job with it. if a man does a good job doin something he hates he ought to be able to do any job needed. tell your boss to give you a raise.

GP30Rider · July 15, 2012, 04:24:00 PM

Quote from: blacksheep on July 15, 2012, 10:12:54 AM
may not make you feel any better about workin on that old car but if it's on the road you must be doin a good job with it. if a man does a good job doin something he hates he ought to be able to do any job needed. tell your boss to give you a raise.

Truth told the "I hate passenger cars" remark is just made so I can hear myself complain. They are a pain in the rear and like steam locomotives there is a very understandable reason why the railroads got rid of them. Most of the time when I am working on passenger cars it is volunteer work for Southern Appalachia Railway Museum or working on equipment owned by my company. Either way it is a love/hate relationship.

E.M. Bell · July 15, 2012, 05:20:41 PM

Love it or hate it, the 829 looked pretty snazzy yesterday crossing over the TN river at Knoxville

I think I have about as many shots of this car now as I do the 630...

Will the set of cars that have been with the 630 go North to join 765 on her upcoming adventures, or will they be using the stuff from Mid-America again?

GP30Rider · July 15, 2012, 05:37:24 PM

I believe NS 28 and 29 are coming out of the train. Not sure of their destination. The 1827 is probably going back to its owner. The rest is going to Chattanooga including the 829.

etalcos · July 15, 2012, 10:18:24 PM

I think the only thing we had here that's going to the 765 group is the gondola with the track hoe in it.

In addition to 630 performing at a high level, we made it through the second weekend in a row with no generator or AC failures. I would guess that part of GP30Rider's tongue-in-cheek "I hate passenger cars" comment has a little someting to do with wanting them to be "right" both in appearance and function. It sure looked like the Central Division folks, their families and guests had real good time. All in all a good weekend.

GP30Rider · July 15, 2012, 10:27:35 PM

Acutally that's not totally true. We had a dead battery on a generator Friday night. If you look at the time stamp from the last "I hate passenger cars" it was while we were replacing it in the rain at 11 o'clock Friday night. That was after a trip to Wal Mart in East Knoxville to get a new battery. Do y'all have any idea how scary Wal Mart is at 11 o'clock on a Friday night??? Good Grief!!!

T. Mahan · August 13, 2012, 09:04:15 PM

Looks fantastic! Brings back memories on riding SR 843 on a Lexington- Chattanooga trip in the 1980s.Was this one of the coaches painted tuscan red in the 90s? If so whats the fate of the rest of the exSR 800 series coaches? One at KRM, the rest at WM scenic with Man O' War? Unrealistic, but would be nice to see some of the ex SR & NW coaches 'come home'

etalcos · August 18, 2012, 01:21:15 AM

The Southern coaches we all remember from NS Steam v1.0 were the 841 through 845. All 5 suffered the indignity (bastardization?) of having their fluting removed and some form of crap siding installed and then dipped in red. I think they were scattered to Western Maryland Scenic, NYS&W and GSMR. From there, one is now at KRM and one is in CSX Biz train service.

Its interesting, there was a Southern 846 which got separated from the others and spent time at Ringling Brothers. It's not much more than a shell now, but it is still fluted. Unfortunately it appears doomed to a date with a scrapper if it hasn't been scrapped already. 846 would be the last passenger car built new for Southern, in 1958 IIRC.

T. Mahan · August 19, 2012, 07:37:54 AM

I remember in '93 the outrage when they all got dipped in red, and the goofy train names applied to their sides. Would be nice to see some of the old NS stuff get re-untied, Man O' War would be awesome to see in SR green again! It looks like the rest of the NS owned stuff from the '94 shut down of steam ended up at WM scenic. It would have been something if NS had worked out some sort of trade to get these old gems back. But I'm sure these other entities would not want to give up these revenue haulers and would ask a premium price. FWIW, about 3 miles from my house is the Commissary (baggage car) car 'North Florida' which is nearly faded to pink!