Today I went to my parent's house to help them with some furniture they were moving.  Onn a bookshelf was an old AHM 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific steam locomotive decorated in a light-green Southern Railway Crescent Limited paint scheme.  This locomotive was given to me over thirty years ago for Christmas (not sure which year) and has survived Hurricane Katrina.  My parents suggested it was time for me to take it home.  This model was manufactured for AHM (Associated Hobby Manufacturers, Inc.) in Italy by Rivarossi.  There may just be a spot for this steam locomotive on my new display case!

My parents also decided to release another locomotive to the Meridian Speedway stable.  There were a few of them "stocked up" in queue for future gifts.  I had a choice and decided it was time to add the Fox Valley Models NS GP60 7140.  This is the one decorated for Operation Lifesaver.  Lok-Sound equipped, this locomotive will look and sound awesome hustling trains across the Speedway!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

​Chris

The Mid- American Issue Number 21 arrived today.  This is the quarterly publication of the Illinois Central Railroad Heritage Association (ICRHA).  Of interest to me, this magazine contains a couple of my photographs in Kirk Reynolds' article "Riding on the City of Grenada"  This article is also illustrated with a number of great images by Terry Redeker.

Then beginning on page 20 is an article written by my father, Michael Palmieri.  "The Illinois Central in Northern Louisiana" is essentially the "The Meridian Speedway in Louisiana" article which was written for the Library on this website.  The ICRHA did a wonderful job printing this article and accompanied it with some excellent photographs by a number of noted photographers. 

Besides my personal bias towards these two articles there is also an excellent article by Paul Jaenicke that takes the reader to the glory days of passenger railroading in St. Louis.  Nikki Burgess also pens a column titled Heritage Lineup.  If you need a fix of Chocolate-and-Orange, this magazine will definitely take care of you!

If you have an interest in the Illinois Central Railroad you might consider checing out the ICRHA website using the button below:

If you are not already a member, you can find instructions on how to join using the membership tab on the ICRHA website. Annual dues for regular membership is $34.  This includes four issues of The Mid-American.  Select back issues are available for sale as well.  

The article about the City of Grenada references the passenger train operated by Iowa Pacific in January of this year.  Blair Kooistra and myself made a trip to photograph this great looking train.  I have uploaded many of the photographs as well as some video clips from this trip to YouTube.  The show is set to the musical accompaniment of Arlo Guthrie's hit song "The City of New Orleans".  The link to this video is below:

Also, the button below will take you to my father's article "The Meridian Speedway in Louisiana" as posted in the library on this website:

Chris

Having been in the works for many years, Russell Tedder's book Forest Rails - Georgia-Pacific's Railroads is now published!  My autographed copy arrived today.

The discipline and persistence exercised by Mr. Tedder to ensure that the project was done properly paid off big time.  The quality of this book is exceptional!

Russell Tedder was a career railroad man, beginning with a job as station agent and dispatcher with the Live Oak Perry and Gulf Railroad in 1951.  He would move on to a number of challenging and rewarding jobs including Vice President and General Manager of the Sabine River and Northern Railroad.  Eventualy his remarkable railroad career earned him the titles Director of Corporate Rail Services and Railroad Center of Excellence, and President of Shortline Railroads at Georgia Pacific Corp.  

​Without doubt Russell Tedder (right) is the authority on all things related to Georgia Pacific's railroad operations.  This first-hand expertise combined with the countless hours of research that he invested in this book make it a valuable resource.  If you have an interest in shortline railroads, forest railroading, Georgia Pacific, or railroad history then this book is a must-have for your library.

The photographs in this book are top-notch!  Russell reached out to a number of noted photographers and selected many excepional examples to illustrate Forest Rails.  A partial list of photographers inclues Louis A. Marre, C W Witbeck, Peter J. Smykla Jr., Steve Glischinski, J. Parker Lamb, Louis R. Saillard, and Lee J. Estes, among many others.   There are even one or two photographs taken by myself.  It is an honor to see my name in such great comapny!

The text delves into the historical and operational details of each of the Georgia Pacific railroad properties.  The research is quite thorough and detail oriented.  The placement of the photogrphs throught the book are well thought out and add greatly to the stories being told.

Particularly pleasing are the quality of the maps as well as the separate section for locomotive rosters. The page layout is tasteful throughout the book...all 464 pages in fact.  White River Publications did a wonderful job with this book.

I am thrilled to have this book in my personal collection!  MSRP is $79.95.  It is quality that is well worth the price.

​Chris

Sort of keeping in line with my "Random Roll" scanning concept, I am currently methodically scanning images in sequential order from a large photo album of images taken by me in 1996.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this group of images taken on February 22, 1996 of Norfolk Southern Yard Job AN-03 using GP38-2 5126 to deliver a cut of cars to the New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB) in the French Quarter.

Railroad activity between the south end of NS Oliver Yard and the NOPB along the river does not occur very frequently.  Adding to this the less-than-safe nature of the neighborhood at the time meant the this was really a little photographed aspect of railroading in the Big Easy!

The set begins with a few shots of the train leaving Oliver Yard at North Rampart Street.  There is a large block of gondolas on the head end.

Most of the images were taken from the trackside dock of the Port of New Orleans Esplanade Avenue Wharf where the train can be seen nosing into the French Quarter before shoving the cars onto the NOPB interchange track.  There is a great shot of the NS 5126 passing the Souther Railway Park sign on a classic light pole.  This is where the NS could spot up to three business cars allowing guests excellent access to the French Quarter and the Louisiana Super Dome.  Dan Akroyd's private car, GM&O 50, can also be seen in its French Quarter home.

The last shot is of the NS 5126 crossing St. Claude Avenue by itself as it returns to NS Oliver Yard after having delivered the cars to the NOPB.  

​Chris

I received a couple of e-mails this week with images from my past.  The first was a picture sent to me by my father.  The image shows my mother, while pregnant with me, taking a movie of the Southern Crescent complete with FIVE E8 locomotives!  Is it any wonder that I would be destined to enjoy trains and make a career of railroading with prenatal experiences like this?  I believe I was fluent in EMD 567B before I was born, let alone before I learned my first word (which I am sure was EMD)!

The second e-mail came from Mike Walsdorf.  He had scanned a slide he had taken on January 3rd, 1997 in New Orleans.  This picture shows three people (Left to Right: Kurt Hampton, Steven Palmieri, and myself) at East City on the NS New Orleans Terminal mainline watching a westbound SP consist roll across town.  This seems like such a LONG time ago!

Thanks Dad and Mike for this random glipmse into my past!

​Chris