Hobo Jungle

[2railjon]

Tramp, I've never had the inclination to strap TNT to my person, but I've fired a few volleys from a roman candle from my arse before. I just don't recall if I was painted blue at the time or not.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus, I was referring to the French movie where the fellow strips naked, paints himself blue, ties dynamite around his chest and greets his antagonists with a lit cigar. KInd of like 1 and 7 rail Jon. Worked well but then it's a movie.

Hmmmm.... I see. Clearly misunderstood your question. However, to respond now, no, can't say that I have seen the movie or at least I can say that I have no memories of it.

I wonder what it is called? I am somewhat intrigued by the scene.........

[The Dirt]

Quick question. I've been tracking the old trolley lines between Bloomsburg and Danville, and found, in some woods, the ruins of a former powerhouse and two car barns. There is a bazillion bricks lying around as though they knocked down the walls and never cleaned up, including an old boiler still with flues and grates, and an iron-key door lock.

But my question- I know they tried to stay relatively 'on grade', but on rolling into Bloomsburg, it had to negotiate a two-block hill, anything BUT 'grade'. Maybe this worked because they were relatively light, but it's still steel-wheel on steel-rail. Liberal use of sand? A flying head-start? Everybody get out and push?

Help me, you Obi-Wans. You are my only hope.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Pictures would be wondeful (?)

[The Dirt]

SURE, thanks for responding. I know that trolleys in San Fran used cables, (serious lengths and serious grades), but I doubt a two-bit town like Bloomsburg used them. I had never heard of a powered gear, however. Was that a 'drop-down' as-needed arrangement? There was another though gentler grade at the far end of town. I would have thought they would have needed something at both spots.

I'd love to see how a trolley in San Fran 'grabbed' a cable. Man, as a passenger, I'd want to feel dang assured that it was fail-safe!

[The Dirt]

Murph, welcome home! How was York?

You know me. I do have pictures, but they're at home. I'll add them when I can.

[sarge]

Chances are good they didn't need such a thing, since these cars were usually powered on all axles. There is no load tied to the tail, so their ability to climb is pretty unimpaired until they overcome the factor of adhesion. Steel on steel is better than one would think at first.

The interurban line from Frederick Maryland to Hagerstown Maryland climbed the South Mountain ridge on some truly serious grades. As I read it the only really bad time they had was in the fall after a good rain wet the leaves over the track.

Today, one often sees fly-overs on urban light rail systems that are very impressive; even the old South Shore line visible from the expressways around Chicago show some really serious short grades, and they are still steel-on-steel.

Do you have any ideas of the gradient they would have to deal with in Bloomsburg?

Here's a site that might help figure out which line it was and start you on the way to searching the web out a bit more. Sounds like a good guess is the Danville and Bloomsburg Street Railway:
http://www.american-rails.com/pennsylvania-interurbans.html.

I punched in Danville and Bloomsburg Street Railway in my google-searcher and came up with a number of hits, so you might find some interesting nuggets (and answers) there.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I'd love to see how a trolley in San Fran 'grabbed' a cable. Man, as a passenger, I'd want to feel dang assured that it was fail-safe!

Cable cars are not trolleys, and trolley are not cable cars, and in San Fran they have both. There's basically a lever that actuates grabbing the cable through a slot in the road that's continuously running/moving under the road.

Kind of doubt that there was such an arrangement in Bloomburg, but then again cable car systems were not unique to SF.

If you can track one down, there should be a book by Benson Rohrbeck that should serve; he published a series of paperbocks and others on trolleys in PA and these were borken down by regions of the state. There's one on the York county trolleys, Beaver county trolleys, Penssylvania's Oil Region trolleys, etc -- I have the one on Chambersburg's trolleys.

If you can't find the specific PA regional paperback that covers Bloomsburg, maybe you can locate PENNSYLVANIA'S STREET RAILWAYS by Benson W. Rohrbeck ---- that one seems to be the all inclusive state-wide publication.

[The Dirt]

Guys, I got the bug from an article in our local newspaper, who is reprising a series done by a gentleman now deceased, who did a weekly article on local things historical.

I discovered there was a book written about the trolleys entirely of our neighboring couple of towns, called “North Branch Trolleys”, and I found a copy in Oregon via AbeBooks, an old-book clearinghouse on the ‘net. The book is a veritable treasure trove of old pictures and history from this immediate area.
Much thanks for the other info, gentlemen! I'll peruse when I have more time!!
Sarge, that was the exact one. Great call!!

By chance, I brought my camera with me on the way to work, to photograph the old trolley car-barn in Bloomsburg, which amazingly, thankfully, gratefully, is still in existence in Bloomsburg, currently used by a trucking company, who have put on a new steel roof.

The Grovania car-barn/powerhouse in ruins in the woods was halfway between Bloomsburg and Danville, and was there to help boost the power in the line, back in the day. Man, I’d driven by it’s location a million times, and never knew it was there.

Anyway, as I have the book with me also, here’s a picture of the Bloomsburg car-barn in it’s heyday…



…and as I drove by it today…

[AG]

There are not too much grade here in FL, but the trolley (all are restored) run steel on steel
anyway.






AG.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Murph, welcome home! How was York?....

Thank you, Mr. Thoughtful, for asking about York. Frankly, it was fabulous, esp. because I expected to go there and sell nothing. For real. I even told my wife, beforehand, to expect such inactivity. (Her answer was, "What do you care? Go, and have fun. Relax and enjoy." What a gal!) Yet, out of my seven times presenting my craftwork at York, over these few years, this one turned out to be my second-best, for which I am very grateful.

Why did this latest show/meet turn out to be so fortunate for me? Was it because I offered up a few prayers? Likely so. Did the "economy" have an impact? I do not have a single clue. I do not know what made the difference, because as recently as last October's show, it was slow for me. But this one, at exactly 5 min. after the doors opened on Thursday, I was unnundated w/ customers, which was sustained until approx. 5:00pm that day. Between conversing w/ customers, keeping track of who paid for what, packaging purchases up, and re-arranging and re-plenishing inventory, it almost got away from me. Friday was slower; Saturday was quiet but worth it, too. I had traveled to York w/ 48 "Insta-Ramas" and left w/ 19. It was the first time I had more display cases packed into my vehicle for the return home than craftwork. I was really, really, happy, and grateful.
Thank you, again, very much, for asking, Pete.
Murph

[The Dirt]

AG, beautiful pics!!

Judging by the 5th pic, I'd guess you'd like to take a try at driving that trolley.

Me, I'd like to try 'driving' that nice chassis in your last pic!

[E7]

That last unit has some nice curves!

Rich

[MurphOnMillerAve]

There are not too much grade here in FL, but the trolley (all are restored) run steel on steel
anyway.


...AG.

My grandfather was a conductor on one of these, in McKeesport, PA, except that his was orange, w/ black trim, but w/ the same bars across the bottom portion of the windows. He gave me free rides any time i wanted them. I can hear and smell the sights-and-sounds of these photos, Andre. Thanks for posting them!

If a driver of a car had parked along the curb too close to the tracks, everybody would get out of their seats from the curb-side of the trolley and shift to the opposite side, allowing the trolley to tilt enough, usually, to pass by unmolested and continue on its merry way. I loved those days. Still do. That's why this one's on my layout...

[The Dirt]

There is no load tied to the tail, so their ability to climb is pretty unimpaired until they overcome the factor of adhesion. Steel on steel is better than one would think at first.

Sarge, makes sense. Whenever a train jams on the brakes, there's a whole lot of screeching and sparks.

~~~~~~~~~~

Murph, you sold 29!!
Just goes to show that 'quality' will always be in style.