When I lived in Cedar Rapids and Marion, IA, I bought the very same Bearcat scanner I have now (only a few years ago I bought a better antenna for it). In CR/Marion, I most often listened to the CNW channels. At Christmas, there was at least one CNW guy working Beverly Yard I believe who’d play Jingle Bells on the keypad of his radio (radio telephone?). I thought that was cool when I’d be in my condo’s basement on a Friday night working on my model railroad (often after a dinner of ribs & ale at the Irish Democrat with those fantastic potato skins they make).
I also listened-in on the Chicago Central and later the Illinois Central after they bought back the CCP. On several occasions, I heard the CC and IC crews referring-to “the Milwaukee main”, meaning of course the industrial lead that used to be the MILW’s east-west main that the CC & IC operated from the Cedar Rapids - Manchester branch into Marion, and ending just east of the scrap yard (as Brian and I have lamented before, the Marion stretch is gone forever now, and only the MILW up to Blairs Ferry Rd. remains [:(]).
The references to “the Milwaukee main” were very nostalgic, and I did hear a CNW man referring-to the “Rock Island yard”, meaning the ex-ROCK yard over by Quaker Oats where the IANR originates their northbound jobs (BTW I always liked the IANR’s original pale yellow & teal colors best).
Do other people hear “nostalgic” references to fallen flags on the radio?
At Fremont, NE, the BNSF (at one time C B & Q) crossing is called the “Q” by UP people. The UP dispatcher controls it and BNSF trains have to call for a signal. They almost always just say BN instead of BNSF.
At Council Bluffs, intermodal trains set out cars on the “Rock Island Eastbound.” Instructions often include “Go down the RI Westbound and set out on the RI Eastbound.” These tracks are remnants of the RI’s connection to the UP. The former westbound is still a thru track but the eastbound is now just a short siding off the westbound.
On the north side of Des Moines Highland yard where the Fort Dodge and des Moines cmae into town and one of the main lines is still refered to as the Fort Dodge line. And in Marshalltown track number 105 is still refered to as the M&STL main line Larry
Is Highland Yard near the place they used to call “Reddy” in Des Moines? The reason I ask is in the b&w photo book “Chicago Great Western - Iowa In The Merger Decade”, they show a large interchange called “Reddy” where the FtDDM&S, CGW, ROCK, CB&Q and I think one or two others (MILW?) intersected in Des Moines. I’ve been trying to figure-out where that place is around that city.
Been thru reddy many times when I was working both out of short line and hull ave yards I was assigned a number of times to job 84 out of hull ave and we went across reddy to the former CGW yard at bell ave to work a couple of industires on the south side we also use to work the NS/BNSF yard along se18th street in south Des Moines Larry
Early 1913, when radio was still in it’s infancy, it was unknown if radio transmissions could be sent to a fast moving object. Guglielmo Marconi wished to expand the use of the radio to include vehicles that moved on land as well as water and test the possibility of transmitting telegraphic signals to moving trains along the Lackawanna Railroad system in the Northeast United States. Two cities- Binghamton, NY and Scranton, PA were chosen as the two tower sites to be built by the Lackawanna Railroad using Marconi’s construction and design in early 1913. Each tower site consisted of two towers linked together with 4 aerial wires. Radio telegraph equipment was placed within the railroad stations and comprised of a 2 KW 500 cycle quenching transmitter made by the Marconi Company.
On November 27th 1913, the first “official” wireless transmission was transmitted from Scranton, PA towards the train traveling to Binghamton, NY at 60 miles per hour. In all, 350 words representing several pieces of news were clearly picked up by the operator aboard the train.
The last remaining Marconi Tower is located in downtown Binghamton, New York at Lewis Street near the old Lackawanna Train Station (recently renamed Station Square).
The second Binghamton Marconi tower, that was located near the Chenango Street viaduct, was dismantled in January 1925. The other two towers at the Scranton, PA tower site have long been taken down