Ken's New Year's Greeting got me to searching through the files. Here's a company photograph of Redbird, 2010, and what appears to be the Texas Special. The caption states Shrewesbury, July 1951. Happy 2010
Nice photo, Karl. It really emphasizes the gold-outlined-in-white stripes and how superior they were to the later plain yellow stripes (which were still a lot better than what came later). Gordon
Those monuments behind "Count Fleet" visible as she pulls #2 into St Louis' Lindenwood Yard (Laclede Gas Company natural gas holders - i.e., natural gas storage tanks) are in the process of being removed. Nothing is the same any more! Ken
Wow, the last time we were even close to that area, we were hitting Ted Drewes during a visit in August. It was nice to see the monuments still there...about the one part of the area I recognized from old photos. Alas... Best Regards,
Funny that they are tearing them down, now--When it seems we should be conserving, protecting and preserving natural gas! It would seem "natural" to use natural gas for the next generation of autos. You could fill up your car at your home city gas meter. Storing and shipping natural gas wouldn't be any more trouble than doing it with propane. A natural gas bottle for your grill for the next tailgate party... Tom
Note to FriscoMike: Should this be a "sticky" throughout 2010 so we can see Count Fleet and the Texas Special as we log in? Just a suggestion. Some may get tired of it by June, though I doubt it. Gasometers: These were regulators as I understand it, not storage. I am assuming the local gas company (Laclede Gas) has been using a better regulating technology for some time for they have been out of use for what seems like a couple years. Also, they appear vulnerable to some kind of spectacular sabotage. That may be another reason for their replacement and removal.
They serve as both a storage surge for natural gas, and a big flexible void to keep the gas pressure constant. The tank envelope rises and falls with the volume of gas stored in it, and helps always kept the gas main at a constant pressure because of its ability to smooth out pressure surges. Kind of like a water tower. The "problem" is .... the USA has natural gas coming out the wazoo now, because of new discoveries, but mainly from significant new drilling technology. So ..... whatawe do now that gas is plentiful? Let's tear out all of our fixed surge storage! - gas will always be plentiful, right? Just like the railroads. If we have another major conflict like WW2, don't ask the RR's to haul all the stuff and people around like they did back then. Don't have the capacity - we tore it all out! Ken
Yeah, Ken, but wasn't it neat when 911 happened that the Railroads, [ Amtrak] albeit a mere shadow of itself, kept on running! Why can't anyone ever learn? Dan
That's a beautiful picture of 2010. I don't care what anybody says about Santa Fe's warbonnets, Southern Pacific's Daylight PA's, or any other unit, Frisco's E8's in their original scheme are the best looking passenger diesels ever. Period.
