THE MEMPHIS BUFF
VOLUME 38, ISSUE 6
NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
June 2012
Ron Williams Ridin' on the City of New Orleans MRTM's “Class One Trainmaster” Program Frisco 1351 Revisited
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Memphis Chapter Officers President – Walter Lang
walterhlang@yahoo.com
Vice President – Bruce Smedley Director – Bill Strong Secretary/Treasurer – Thomas Doherty Program Co-chairman – Carl Lancaster Program Co-chairman – Don Weis Yahoo Group Co-ordinater – Terry Redeker Newsletter Editor – Tom Parker
williambstrong@bellsouth.net TRDoherty@aol.com DBWeis@aol.com tkredeker@hotmail.com tscottparker@gmail.co
May's Meeting The May meeting was held at the Germantown Library on May 10. Next months’ meeting will also be at the Germantown Library on Thursday, June 14. The group observed a moment of silence for Ron Williams a former member that passed away. We went over the planned train trip on the Tenn Central on October 6. Again the chapter will pay for a members ticket and make reservations for any friends, spouse, etc at the group rate of $62. Those tickets must be paid in full when you make your reservation. For members a refundable deposit of $25 dollars is required which will be refunded once you get you ticket. We need 16 people for the group rate. Contact Tom Doherty @754-1674 with any questions. A discussion was held on people volunteering to help at the Trolley museum and progress the museum has made. A video on steam engines was presented.
BIG EVENT The Chapter will sponsor a group trip on Oct 6 for the 216 mile round trip from Nashville to Monterey on the Tennessee Central Super Fall Foliage Trip to standing stone festival. The Chapter will pay the first class fare for members in good standing (paid 2012 dues). You have to make your reservation through Tom Doherty with a refundable $25 deposit. You will get your $25 back when you show up on the 6th. RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY Jul 27. If you wish to take guests with you we will make their reservation at the group rate of $62 at the same time, you must include their fare plus your $25 refundable deposit when making your reservation. Members are responsible for their own transportation to and from Nashville as well as lodging in Nashville. We need a minimum of 16 people to get the group rate. The train boards at 7:30 A.M., depart at 8 A.M. and will return to Nashville between 6 & 7 P.M. Any questions call Tom Doherty @ (901) 754-1674 Mail deposits/reservations to: Tom Doherty 2235 Coachmans Dr Germantown, TN 38138-4111 Make checks payable to NRHS-Memphis Chapter.
Illinois Central Time Table just before Amtrak and subsequent Amtrak Timetable – an obvious cut and paste!
Death of Ron Williams The Memphis Railfan community lost a real friend on May 1st with the death of Ron Williams. Known for his drawings on NC$StL locomotives, which he freely shared with his fellow railfans, he was perhaps better known for his friendly, easy going personality and his knowledge of the Bruceton, TN area and the NC&StL Railroad.
Ron Williams with some of his Trains
“RONALD RICHARD WILLIAMS 71, of Germantown, TN died Tuesday, May 1,2012, at Methodist University Hospital. Ron was a Godly Christian and
YELLOW JACKETS, STRIPES & STRIPERS (circa 1948) Location: Union Station, Memphis, Tennessee Railroad: Nashville,Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Consist: One J3 No.589 4-8-4 DIXIE TYPE backing down Track No.4 to couple to the six car consist of the City of Memphis. Comments: The NC&StL received 20-13 DIXIE TYPES from Schenectady Locomotive Works in 1942 & 1943. These J3's were among the last steam locomotives built in the United States. The first ten (#570-#579) were delivered in 1942 with yellow skirting below the running boards and were immediately named "Yellowjackets." The second ten (#580-#589) were delivered in 1943 without the yellow skirting. The NC's paint shop applied a yellow strip along the running boards. and tender sides, hence the names "stripes and stripers". (Drawing & Caption by Ron Williams)
longtime member of Germantown Baptist Church and the Miller Sunday School Class. Originally from Bruceton, TN Ron graduated from University of Tennessee College of Engineering and Vanderbilt University where he received a Masters of Engineering. Ron was RE. with The Reaves Engineering Firm until his retirement in 2OO9. He was well- known as an avid train enthusiast and toy train collector. He enjoyed sharing his train hobby with others.
He is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Mary; twin brother, Donald Williams ( Sandra) of Jackson, TN; sister, Barbara Lee ( Jerry) of Hardy, AR; daughter, Christine Ramsey ( Brett) of Carmel, IN; son, Scott Williams ( Sabrina) of Cordova, TN. He also leaves 3 loving grandchildren: Maryrose, Caroline, and Grant and a host of family and friends.� - Commercial Appeal, May 3, 2012.
“Ridin' on the City of New Orleans” By Tom Parker (who borrowed liberally from other sources)
Perhaps the most popular train song ever written is “City of New Orleans” by Steve Goodman. A hit for Arlo Guthrie in 1972 on his album “Hobo's Lullaby”, it has remained an all time favorite some forty years later, joining such train songs as the “Chattanooga Choo Choo”(Benny Goodman, 1941) and the “Wabash Cannonball”(Roy Acuff, 1936) as a classic railroad song.
Steve Goodman - Photo by David Gans - licensed under "Creative Commons " Surely the song's popularity was caused, in part by the timing of the release of Guthrie's album in April of 1972, not quite a year after Amtrak began operation of America's passenger trains. Perhaps more significantly it was released just five months after the “City of New Orleans” was discontinued and and replaced with the overnight “Panama Limited” between Chicago and New Orleans on November 17, 1971. I have imagined Steve Goodman aboard the southbound “City of New Orleans” shortly before Amtrak took over, in the observation/lounge car, busily observing and writing, capturing on paper the feeling of a train having “the disappearing railroad blues”. The real story is not that simple. In 1965 Goodman, a native of Chicago, enrolled at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Il. Like a lot of other Chicago area U of I students, he regularly used the Illinois Central to commute between Chicago and Champaign. In 1967, towards the end of his two year off and on career
as a student, he decided to skip class and remained on the “City of New Orleans” until it reached its namesake destination. Shortly afterward, in a club in Chicago's Old Town, he related his adventure to Howard Primer, a high school chum, and was particularly animated when he talked about falling asleep on the return trip. “When he woke up”, as Primer relates Goodman’s story, “it was like he was in a surreal world: The sound of the train, the rhythm of the train, the swaying of the train, looking out the windows at the misty morning on the delta country. And he was talking about ‘Good morning, America.’” The two wrote the first lyrics of the “City of New Orleans” on a napkin that night, including the phrase “don't you know me, I'm your native son”. Some time later, Goodman would add “Good morning America, how are you”. It wasn't until some three years later that the rest of the song came together. Goodman had dropped out of school to pursue his musical career, gotten married and in 1969 was diagnosed with leukemia. In April of 1970, he and his wife boarded the “City of New Orleans” on a chiliy Monday morning to visit her grandmother in a nursing home near Mattoon, Il. “Nancy was sleeping in the seat next to me. I just took out a sketchpad, and I looked out the window and wrote down everything I saw: junkyards, little towns that didn’t even have a sign to say what they were. Just out of Chicago, there was a bunch of old men standing around tin cans, warming themselves and waving. Nancy was still asleep after about an hour and a half, so I went down to the club car and ended up playing cards with a couple of old men.” On that train ride, Goodman wrote two verses to add to the chorus he had written three years earlier. After his return to Chicago he added a third verse describing life inside the train; “pass he paper bag that holds the bottle” and “feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor”, etc. Goodman first recorded the song on March 3, 1970 and was released on his album “Gathering at the Earl of Old Town”. John Denver had a version on his album “Aerie” released on December
4, 1971, just a few weeks after the train was cancelled by Amtrak. Neither version went anywhere. At this point in his life Goodman was eking out a living recording jingles for TV ads (Dial Deodorant and Maybelline Blushing Eye Shadow were two of his accounts) and performing at local Chicago clubs. It was at one of these clubs that as fate would have it, Goodman met Arlo Guthrie. Guthrie was sitting at the bar after doing a show, trying not to be noticed. The club owner approached Guthrie and said he would like him to listen to a “train” song in which might be interested. Guthrie replied angrily that he didn't like train songs, but the club owner assured him he wouldn't be disappointed and introduced Goodman to Guthrie. Guthrie told Goodman to give him the tape, he would listen to it. Goodman replied that he didn't have a tape, but could sing it for him. This angered Guthrie even more, but he agreed with the stipulation that Goodman buy him a beer and finish the song before Arlo finished the beer. Guthrie would later say “one of the finer beers of my life”. Arlo Guthries recording of “City of New Orleans” peaked at number 18 nationally and the rest, as they say, is history. The song has been recorded by at least eighty artists. Darcie Sanders, cofounder of Amazingrace, a cooperative in the Chicago suburb of Evanston that often hosted Goodman in concert, keenly observed that the song “goes beyond classic into something archetypal that hooks into people so deeply that they’re moved, and they join in. . . . It’s the best outsider anthem anyone has ever written for America. We were the native sons and daughters, but maybe America didn’t know us or recognize us. Who has not felt that their life is disappearing? It’s the questioning, the trying to get closer, and yet the train is speeding away, the sense of the lost moment. That’s how a whole generation felt about their relationship with America and themselves as Americans.”
Original Lyrics by Steve Goodman City of New Orleans © Turnpike Tom Music 1970 Riding on the City of New Orleans Illinois Central Monday morning rail Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail All along the southbound odyssey The train pulls out at Kankakee Rolls along past houses, farms and fields Passin' towns that have no names Freight yards full of old black men And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles Chorus Good morning, America, how are you Don't you know me, I'm your native son I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done Dealin' cards with the old men in the club car Penny a point, ain't no one keepin' score Won't you pass the paper bag that holds the bottle Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor And the sons of pullman porters And the sons of engineers Ride their father's magic carpet made of steam Mothers with their babes asleep Are rockin' to the gentle beat And the rhythm of the rails is all they dream Chorus Night time on The City of New Orleans Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee Half way home, and we'll be there by morning Through the Mississippi darkness Rolling down to the sea And all the towns and people seem To fade into a bad dream And the steel rails still ain't heard the news The conductor sings his song again The passengers will please refrain This train's got the disappearing railroad blues Final Chorus Good night, America, how are you Don't you know me, I'm your native son I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done Repeat First Chorus Good morning, America, how are you Don't you know me, I'm your native son I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
ANNOUNCING THE MEMPHIS RAILROAD AND TROLLEY MUSEUM’S CLASS ONE TRAINMASTER 100 PROGRAM
The Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum (a 501C3 Corporation), opened its doors to the public on April 1, 2012. We are housed in the Central Station at 545 South Main Street in the Memphis arts district. During our first month of operation, more than 1000 people have enjoyed our interactive exhibits and conversations with our all-volunteer staff of railroad buffs and historians. We have even had the privilege of several repeat visits! Our plan is to grow our Phase I exhibits on a weekly basis for the near future and eventually move into Phase II of our development, which will entail one of the largest scale model railroads in the U.S. depicting the heyday of Memphis rail operations. Along with that development will be a considerable collection of artifacts and memorabilia all displayed in a 12,000 square foot tunnel which once contained the operations for the Railway Express Agency. Further development plans include the acquisition of actual rolling stock; locomotives and cars. Even in its early stages, the museum has shown that it will positively impact the South Main business development by bringing people to the area from not just the greater metropolitan area but other states and countries as well. It takes funding to grow. We have been the beneficiaries of a $25,000 donation with a
still own the locomotive, the leasing arrangement with the By Tom Parker MTM is less clear. The MRTM is researching the matter to deMichael Jack came across a fly- termine the exact ownership er distributed by the Memphis status. 1351 was mentioned very Tansportation Museum in the early in organizational discusmid 1980's when Frisco 1351 sions of the MRTM. One of the was moved from the Mid-South museums long term objectives Fairgrounds to its present loca- has always been to return 1351 tion in Collierville. to Memphis. The preferred location would be on a reinstalled As outlined in the brochure, track 1 at Central Station, clearly after some thirty one years at the fairgrounds, the city of Mem- visible from Main Street. phis leased the locomotive to Nearly another thirty years have the now defunct MTM (not to be passed since the Memphis confused with the MRTM). While Transportation Museum tried to the City of Memphis seems to bring the “Grand Old Lady”
Save Frisco 1351?
promise for another $25,000 if we can match the first amount. We are offering the opportunity for the first 100 businesses or individuals that donate a tax deductible $250 to become a member of the Class One Trainmasters. Their names will be engraved on a plaque that will be displayed in the museum forever. Donors will also receive 25 passes to the museum to use as they choose. Or they can have 1 family annual pass or 1 individual pass for 2 years. But more importantly, donors will have the honor of being known as the elite few who had a hand in the development of a Memphis attraction that contributes to the success and notoriety of our City. Yes I wish to be a Class One Trainmaster __________________________________ Name or Name of Business __________________________________ Address __________________________________ Phone Email __________________________________ Name to be on Plaque Mail to: David Johnston, Treasurer MRTM 11325 Ole Bob Drive Collierville, TN, 38017
back to life. The Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum's long term goal is to restore her cosmetically if not mechanically and put her on display. The MRTM is a fledgling organization. It's going to take a lot of time, energy, and community support to make dreams like restoring SLSF 1351 come true. But dreams do come true. The MRTM has come a long way in a relatively short time. Hopefully, it's just a beginning.
CABOOSE
IC 3306, Central Station, Tom Smart photo, Phil Gosney collection, from Mike Condren's website: http://condrenrails.com/railroad-pages.html Meeting Schedule June 14, 2012 July 12, 2012 August 2, 2012 September 13, 2012 October 9, 2012 November 13, 2012 December 6, 2012 The September and October meetings will be held at the Germantown Public Library 7-9 pm. 1925 Exeter Road Germantown, TN 38138
Contact the Editor Tom Parker 3012 Wood Thrush Drive Memphis, TN 38134 tscottparker@gmail.com