New Member Introduction

Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by Gabriel G., Sep 18, 2020.

  1. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Hello all,

    As you can probably tell from the title of this thread, I am a new member. I've been lurking on Frisco.org for a while now, but I finally decided to bite the bullet and create an account here. A bit of background on myself:

    • I am 28 and I recently graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in history. Aside from trains and railroading, my main interests are history and political science. I am currently working and hoping to save up money so I can attend graduate school in the future.
    • While I myself am not from Frisco territory, my mother's family has roots in Tennessee and Oklahoma, though they moved out to California after the Dust Bowl hit.
    • I began railfanning with my father as a child in Seattle and continued railfanning with him until I went off to college.
    • I consider myself an "industry enthusiast" rather than an enthusiast of any one particular railroad or era. However, I've always had a soft spot for the Frisco.
    Well, that just about covers it. If anyone's got questions for me or just wants to chit-chat, feel free to comment below.

    Gabriel G.
     
  2. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Gabriel, by all means, Welcome Aboard. I hope you find our forum interesting, enjoyable and entertaining.
     
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  3. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Thank you, Keith. I've already learned so much about the Frisco from lurking here and look forward to learning more as a full member.
     
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  4. rjthomas909

    rjthomas909 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Welcome Gabriel!
     
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  5. skyraider

    skyraider Member

    Welcome to the forum, Gabriel.

    Paul Moore
     
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  6. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Thanks for the warm welcome. :)
     
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  7. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Welcome Gabriel.
    We are glad to have you here. Some knowledgeable folks, that are friendly too.
    Have fun and enjoy.
     
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  8. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Welcome Gabriel.

    Joe
     
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  9. Welcome aboard Gabriel. I see you are in Athens. I am just north of Columbus in Delaware.
     
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  10. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Thank you, Tom. Your YouTube channel was one of the things that inspired me to create an account here. Likewise, thank you, Joe.

    Small world, isn't it? I've heard Delaware's a good town for watching trains, what with it being the confluence of the former C&O, NYC and PRR/N&W mains to Columbus.
     
  11. Yes it is.


    Delaware doesn’t have as much now days but just north in Marion you can see 40-80 a day
     
  12. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Marion's a good place to watch trains. Even though the Erie's gone, you've still got the C&O, PRR/N&W and the Big Four. Also, isn't there a big intermodal yard located in Marion?
     
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  13. Intermodal closed but they get lots of auto racks for car storage. CSX has small yard. NS has real small yard. But 9 diamonds in town. Lots of trains.
     
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  14. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Oh, right. I forgot CSX built a new intermodal facility in North Baltimore. Still, it's pretty impressive how much train traffic Marion has for a city of its size.
     
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  15. Phred

    Phred Member

    Welcome to the group.

    My youngest son is a history major and got an assistant-ship (don't know it this is the correct term) at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. They gave him a small stipend that was enough for him to live on (he had an apartment 1 block from campus, with UP tracks running behind it), and he didn't have to pay tuition. He had to grade papers and teach the occasional class in return. He is now teaching Junior College in Cedar Rapids Iowa, trying to get the same deal for a PhD. This might be worth looking into if you wish to continue your education and not have to pay a small fortune to get it.
     
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  16. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks for the intro, Gabriel. Industry or shippers in general is your railroading raison d’être...and if you are an industry enthusiast and haven't discovered the joy of old waybill research yet...
     
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  17. I worked for the Marion Power Shovel Co. for 23 years - spent plenty of time there! The heavy through train traffic and huge number of grade crossings made Marion cross town travel an adventure in "blocked crossing" avoidance! The Erie yard was right across Center St. from the main office building of the shovel company. I found a maintenance print that showed all of the railway internal to the original works buildings - and hung it on the wall in my office for a while. I lost track of it during a move - also had a number of pictures of the little tank locos used throughout the plant with tiny flat cars - no forklifts in the early days. I knew a fellow in plant maintenance and he once told me how many miles of track were in the plants (a lot) - and we still had two diesel locomotives in service in 1974. Many of the parts and weldments that got moved around were over 50 tons - so even after the locos were gone - we used the original flats to move them on rails through the building complex, pushed by the forklifts.
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2020
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  18. Gabriel G.

    Gabriel G. Member

    Thank you for the advice, Phred. My parents work in academia and they gave me similar pointers. However, any application to graduate school is indefinitely delayed until this pandemic is over or is at least contained. :( Oh well. More time for me to study the GRE, I guess.

    Chris, I am all too familiar with the joys of waybill research. :LOL: Recently, I've become interested in less-than-carload freight and carload freight operations in general. I've been trawling the web for scans of old merchandise schedules and routing guides. In addition to the Frisco guides I've found here, I've found schedules from the Santa Fe, MoPac, Cotton Belt, Erie, Nickel Plate, Lackawanna and a host of other lines. It's crazy what sort of routings were available back then.

    Wow, really? Power shovels and draglines are another interest of mine. I've got a framed picture of a Marion 8750 hanging on my bedroom wall. :X3:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 26, 2020
  19. I went to work for Marion in Jan 1974 in the R&D engineering group. Eventually I became the company mechanical specialist - and as the company shrunk to minimum size, a field engineer for the western US and Canada. Bucyrus bought out Marion in 1997 and basically closed the place. CAT has now bought out Bucyrus - and the 8750's now look a little weird in faded yellow! I chose to end that career when BE took over and went to work for Xtek in Cinncy.
     
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  20. H R the landscaping company now using one of the old buildings has some pics like that in their office also.
     
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