MyFlyerTrains.org

The General - The Southern Museum - Kennesaw, GA.

I recently visited The Southern Museum at Kennesaw, GA where the steam engine from The Great Locomotive Chase is on display. Click on the above image to see Panoramic Photos of the exhibit.

From Wikipedia - “The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews’ Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army stole a train in an effort to disrupt the vital Western & Atlantic Railroad (W&A), which ran from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were pursued by other locomotives, and the raiders were eventually captured, with some being executed as spies. Some of Andrews’ Raiders became the very first recipients of the Medal of Honor.”

MyFlyerTrains.org welcomes the Suncoast American Flyer Enthusiasts who have uploaded many interesting photos to the photo Albums section of this website. (Click the above photo!)

You can get your free photo album for hosting your own train photos, just by asking. Unlike most photo sites, pictures can be as large and numerous as you care to upload! Click the thumbnail to see the intermediate sized photo, click again to see it full size! To request your free album, email me and remember to include the username and password that you would like to use to access your account.

Chuck

The photo across the top of this page is a panoramic photo I recently took at The Roundhouse Railroad Museum in Savannah, Georgia. The former Central of Georgia Repair Shops (AF 981 Boxcar fame) still stand today, and are under going restoration by the Coastal Heritage Society. To see more photos, including Quicktime VR movies, click here!

I have something brand new for you on MyFlyerTrains.org, I have taken up Panoramic Photography. Now you will be able to see photos of the rail sites that I visit in 360 degree panoramas; it is almost like being there! These photos will be able in 2 formats. The first is just a very wide JPEG / JPG image that will open in any standard browser. To move around the image you will use your browser’s scroll bars or your keyboard’s arrow keys.

The second and more interesting format is Quicktime VR. Your browser will need a Quicktime plug-in in order to view these files. This is the best way to experience these photo’s and you are able to use your mouse and keyboard to move all around in 360 degrees, seeing what is behind you, to the left, etc. I highly recommend that you give this a look. If you don’t have the correct plug-in, it is available for free from the Apple website.

Clicking on the photo below will take you into my new Panoramic photo album which displays 12 images that I took at the Savannah Roundhouse Railroad Museum on the last day of March.

Central of Georgia #223 Consolidation. Photo March 2008

I am excited about this new format and look forward to bringing you Quicktime VR content from various rail sites as I am able to revisit them. I also plan to bring you photos from train shows, where I am permitted to take photos. I hope you enjoy these new photos. As always your comments are greatly appreciated!

Chuck

Union Pacific Big Boy #4012 at Steamtown. Photo Oct 2001

Though it may appear at first glance that #4012 is steaming though the West, it actually sits rusting away at the side of the parking lot at Steamtown. You have to stand next to this engine to begin to appreciate how large it is!

My obsession with Big Boys continues as I wait for Lionel to deliver Union Pacific #4014 to my S gauge layout this fall. It will be way too big for my roundhouse or even my engine house, so it will sit out in the weather, just as #4012 does at Scranton.

You will find many other photos of the Steamtown National Historic Site on page two of the photo Albums on this site.

Chuck

The first day of spring arrived today and a not so young man’s thoughts turned to the upcoming York Train Meet, April 17 to April 19. (I do not expect to be in attendance at the spring York this year. What with the cost of gas, and being that I live in Florida and have plenty of trains, it would seem to be real extravagant to make the trip. But I am thinking that I may travel there this fall anyway!)

If you have never been to York, I can tell you that it is a unique experience. As an S Gauger, you will see more American Flyer in one place than you have ever dreamed of. Though probably less than 10% of the show is actually S Gauge, that still amounts to a huge selection of S Trains. And then there is the Flyernut meeting on Thursday evening, which is a “show and tell” of unusual Gilbert items, where you will be in the company of over 100 like minded S Flyer friends.

Though you do not need to be a TCA member to attend the Flyernut meeting and pre-meet (bandit) shows, membership is required to get into the actual TCA Eastern Division sponsored York Train Meet. (Note that any TCA member attending can sign a non-member in one time.) If you have never been, or even if you have, I highly recommend attending!

Of course, no trip to the York Train Show is complete without a visit to the TCA sponsored NATIONAL TOY TRAIN MUSEUM in nearby Strasburg, PA.

American Flyer Display at The National Toy Train Museum. Nov 2005

Also worth a visit in Strasburg is the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and across the street, the Strasburg Railroad. Further down the road is the Choo Choo Barn hobby shop where you will find the American Flyer upstairs! Finally, maybe a 1/2 mile on the left after the Choo Choo Barn, there is a little Antique Mall where I have in the past found and purchased American Flyer.

For other tips on getting the most out of your York visit, I highly recommend reading Clem’s York Primer. It is the comprehensive guide to attending the York Train Show!

Have fun and I wish I was there! Chuck

So you say that you would like a layout but just don’t have the room. Take a look at the layout displayed by Stumpy Stone at the 2007 S Spree in Columbus, Ohio. This layout was set up on a couple of those fold up tables. The foam base was in two pieces, making something pretty compact and light to transport. The track and switches were S-Helper S-Trax sectional. For those of us who are space challenged this layout illustrates that we can have an impressive layout in even a small apartment. Great work Stumpy!

(To see more photos of this layout, click on “Albums” near the top of this page, and enter the S Spree 2007 Album)

Stumpy Stone’s Portable Layout Display 2007 S Spree.

Another tidbit from the S-List quotes Lionel as having said that the new Lionel Big Boy engine will in fact run on standard 20 inch Flyer radius track. This is great news, but it will still mean that I have to carve up some of my mountains and tunnels to get the engine around my new layout.

It is interesting that apparently one of the things against restoring a prototype Big Boy, is that reportedly the Union Pacific Railroad only has two areas of track today that they could run the engine on, and that they are both pretty close together!

Chuck

Assuming that the Lionel S Big Boy is actually the K-line O-31 engine converted to S gauge (and we don’t yet know this to be the case), this photo gives us an idea what the new Lionel engine might look like on our layouts next to a Gilbert Hudson. I admit I was a little disappointed when the discussion of the new Lionel offering died down on the S-List, as I was really enjoying all the speculation. This engine is simply nothing like anything we have in Flyer now, and I can’t wait to see it! It is a great time to be an S Gauger.

Thanks to Steve Griggs for supplying this great photo!

I couldn’t help but feel sorrow today when I saw multiple auctions for portions of Ward Kimball’s train collection for sale on eBay. (It is sad to see anyone’s trains go after they die.)

I had the extreme privilege to meet Ward at my work in 1981. When I was introduced to him, he seemed to be genuinely happy to meet me, like I was somebody, though compared to him, I was not. Soon after, when I learned of his accomplishments, I was ashamed that I had not known who he was when we met. But it was not until years later, when I resumed my childhood interest in American Flyer, that I found out that in addition to him being a famous animator, Ward was also a avid train collector. (Toy and prototype!)

You would think that there would have been a Ward Kimball Train Museum or something, rather than pages upon pages of eBay auctions. But it kind of brings to mind the question, what will happen to my trains when I am gone? What will happen to yours? If fortune blesses us with normal life spans, will there be anybody left that cares enough about our trains, to buy them on eBay after we have moved on?

I could expand on this theme greatly, but I am left with the thought that I hope that the people fortunate enough to own portions of Ward Kimball’s collection appreciate them and the man who once treasured them. I could ask for no more for my collection when I am done with it.

Chuck