Mostly about my backyard chickens. (Boring, I know), but there are a lot of us out here. Mine are only kept as pampered pets. I could eat a neighbor's chicken, but not MINE. There may be a comment on current events only if I get riled up enough. And there will always be a cartoon or a joke to cheer us. I promise to try my very best to respond to comments. Now I have to figure out how this blogger thingy works....
1957 - When The Saints Come Marching In / Gone Is My Love (Cindy 3005)
1958 - Someone / Moonlight (Impala 501/Seeco 6008)
1962 - Christmas plea / Dream girl (Dynamic sound 578/9)
1961 - Wrap your troubles in dreams / I can't give you anything but love (Lavere 186)
N/A - Too Young (Acappela)
N/A - Pigeon Prance (Acappela)
N/A - Angel Of Love (Unreleased)
N/A - Newly Weds (Unreleased)
N/A - Wedding Bells (Unreleased)
Biography :
Hey,
North Side is famous for its singers. In the fifties, a group of guys
from the Shadeland Avenue neighborhood discovered they made a pretty
good sound together and became the Dynamics.They were George Winesburgh
(lead), Jimmy Shoup (first tenor), Earl Viney (second tenor), Dick Johns
(baritone), and Donny Fuchs (bass).
They released their first wax on the George Goldner/Jay Michael's
Cindy label in 1957, "When The Saints Come Marching In" b/w "Gone Is My
Love." The flip got a lot of air time locally. Looking to break out of
the Pittsburgh market, they approached Brighton Height's George Bodnar,
who organized area hops, managed West View Park's Danceland , and was
the founder of a then-new local label, Impala Records.
Bodnar was impressed with the act, and took them to Nashville to tape
two songs at the Bradley Film and Recording Studios. On May 4, 1958,
the Dynamics had a tape of "Someone" penned by Dick Johns and
"Moonlight," written by Donnie Fuchs.
It was reissued as Seeco 6008; they even sold European rights to the
song. But we all know how the industry worked then - Seeco didn't push
the record, and the Pittsburgh connection didn't receive a red penny for
the work.
Winesburgh and Viney split, and Ron Barnett and Dick Spracier
replaced them. But the new Dynamics didn't have much more luck than the
originals.
They released a couple of more singles - "Wrap Your
Troubles In Dreams" b/w "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" on Laverve
Records in 1961, and "Christmas Plea' b/w "Dream Girl" for Jules
Kruspar's Dynamic Sound Records in 1962.
Neither took off, and the group faded into the mists of musical
history. One problem was that no one took proper care of the business
end for them. Another drawback was the group's name itself - it was
estimated that up to a dozen groups went under the Dynamics tag during
the fifties and sixties, and it's hard to break from the pack without a
strong brand. Source: http://oldmonmusic.blogspot.com/2010/07/dynamics.html
Pere Marquette 1225 is a 2-8-4 (Berkshire) steam locomotive built for Pere Marquette Railway (PM) by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio.
1225 is one of two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 locomotives, the
other being 1223 which is on display at the Tri-Cities Historical
Society near ex-GTW coaling tower, in Grand Haven, MI. Nickel Plate 765
(operated by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Inc) is also a
Lima built Berkshire very similar in appearance and specifications to
the Pere Marquette engines.
The Pere Marquette Railroad used 1225 in regular service from the
locomotive's construction in 1941 until the railroad merged into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947; it remained in use on C&O's Michigan lines until 1951. Slated for scrapping, 1225 was acquired by Michigan State University in 1957 and placed on static display.
In 1971, work began to restore 1225 to operation, an effort that
culminated in its first excursion run in 1988. The locomotive, listed on
the National Register of Historic Places, is now used on excursion trains over the former Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway, now Great Lakes Central Railroad.
History
The locomotive was built in 1941 by Lima Locomotive Works for Pere Marquette Railway
(PM). PM ordered this type of locomotive in three batches from Lima:
class N in 1937 (PM road numbers 1201–1215), class N-1 in 1941 (numbers
1216–1227) and class N-2 in 1944 (numbers 1228–1239). 1225 cost $200,000
to build in 1941 ($3,217,647 in current dollars). The build was
complete on the December 6, 1941 and delivered to the Pere Marquette
The locomotives remained on the roster through the PM's merger into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O) in 1947; class N locomotives were renumbered to 2685–2699,
class N-1 to 2650–2661, and class N-2 to 2670–2681. Part of the merger
agreement, however, included the stipulation that locomotives that were
acquired and fully paid for by PM would remain painted for PM after the
merger. Although all the Berkshires received new numbers, only class N
engines were repainted into standard C&O livery and renumbered. The
majority of the class N locomotives were scrapped between 1954 and 1957,
but class N-1s 1223 and 1225 were both preserved.
For the first part of its service life, 1225 was used to shuttle
steel and wartime freight between Detroit, Saginaw, Flint and northern
Indiana steel mills.
Retirement and restoration
Retired from service in 1951, 1225 was sent to scrap, in New Buffalo, Michigan.
In 1955, Michigan State University Trustee, Forest Akers was asked by
C&O Chairman Cyrus Eaton if the University would be interested in
having a steam locomotive (Eaton did not want to scrap the engines but
was having a hard time finding places that would accept them) so that
engineering students would have a piece of real equipment to study.
Forest Akers thought it a good idea and proposed the idea to University
President John Hannah. John Hannah accepted the gift of the locomotive.
When he told the Dean of the College of Engineering about the gift, the
Dean said that Engineering was not interested in an obsolete locomotive.
John Hannah then called up Dr. Rollin Baker, director of the MSU Museum
and told him that he was getting a locomotive. The C&O then
instructed the yardmaster at New Buffalo to send an engine to the
Wyoming Shops for a cosmetic restoration
and repainting with the name Chesapeake and Ohio on the side. The 1225
was the last engine in the line, i.e. easiest to get out. It had nothing
to do with the number representing Christmas Day.
Baker received the gift of the locomotive in 1957 when it was brought to campus. The locomotive remained on static display near Spartan Stadium on the Michigan State campus in East Lansing, Michigan
for a decade. While on display, a child by the name of Chris Van
Allsburg used to stop by the locomotive on football weekends, on his way
to the game with his father. He later stated that the engine was the
inspiration for the story, Polar Express.
During the time that Akers was alive, till 1966, money was allocated
to paint and display the engine. In 1969, a group of MSU students formed
the Michigan State University Railroad Club as a railfan group. Steve
Reeves, a student and part-time employee of the Museum, whose
responsibility was to display the engine on football weekends, sent out a
notice in the State News that the Railroad Club would be meeting. Those
early meetings did not discuss the restoration of the engine. Instead,
they were slide shows of engines various members had seen on trips
across the US, most of which were diesels. In 1970, at the suggestion of
Randy Paquette, the club investigated the possibility of restoring the
locomotive to running condition and started on that goal in 1971, with
Baker's permission. Baker later stated that he thought having students
be occupied with restoring a locomotive was far more in keeping with his
idea of the image the university should be presenting than campus
protests. Dr. Breslin, the university vice president, was not so sure.
After the club started removing the sheet metal and exposing a rusty
boiler, Breslin sent Baker to the engine with two messages. The first
was the instruction to paint the engine. (The university needs to look
good, even when it is being worked on). The second message was the day
the students stop working on the engine is the day the torches come out.
The locomotive was safe as long as the students kept working on it. To
emphasize, he had the hopper car next to the engine cut up the next
week.
The students fired up the boiler in 1975 and blew the 1225's whistle
for the first time in two decades. The MSU Railroad Club had looked to
engine 1223
at the State Fair grounds for parts. The Michigan Railroad Club, then
custodians of that engine, objected, so needed parts were fabricated. As
of 2007, 1223 is preserved in a lakeside park in Grand Haven, Michigan.
In 1977, Dr. Edgar Hardin became the University Interim President.
Chuck Julian, as President of the MSU Railroad Club went to his
reception and made an appointment to see him. Hardin was asked about the
engine's future. The Railroad Club had fired the engine and it was
nearing operability. Hardin said that the University was not interested
in running a locomotive and if it was, it would be run by all university
employees. He said that if the Railroad Club wanted to run the engine,
it should form a 501c3 corporation and then he would give the club the
engine.
In that meeting, Dr. Hardin told Chuck Julian that the University was
closing the Shaw Lane Power Plant and planned to pull up the tracks. If
the Club wanted to be able to get the engine off the display track and
onto the mainline, it needed to move it soon. Dr. Hardin gave the MSURRC
permission to connect the display track to the siding and move the
engine over to a part of the track near the police station, with the
provision that the club provide a bond, remove the fence, stairs and all
of its belongings from the display site, then tear up the track we put
down along with the display track. The Club also had to repair the
sidewalk that it needed to go through after it was done and generally
cleanup the site.
Colin Williams, of Williams Brothers Asphalt Paving Co. of Ionia,
Michigan provided the Club with a surety bond, a dump truck, a front end
loader and a bulldozer plus operators to run the equipment which was
used to build the grade. Club members then tore up the track next to the
engine and laid it down behind the engine. The engine was then rolled
down the tracks. Chuck Julian, Dave Jones, an equipment operator from
Williams Brothers and a group of Hmong refugees who volunteered their
time, then spent the next three days with the Williams Brothers
equipment restoring the site, including casting a new concrete sidewalk.
Williams Brothers sent a grader from Ionia to fine grade the site after
we were done with the bulk cleanup, including loading debris into the
dump truck and hauling it to Ionia.
Dr. Hardin said that if the Club could find another place on campus
that was suitable, it could move the engine to it. He assigned Ted
Simmons and the head of the Landscape Arts Department the task of
working with Chuck Julian to find a place. They visited several places.
Ted Simmons was not willing to give up a siding at Power Plant 65 for
the engine. The Club would need to build one if it wanted one. The Club
would not be able to build a cheap structure. If the Club or later the
Trust wanted a structure, it would need to be built by contractors after
the university approved the design.
This set Club members to looking for a new site. Several were looked
at. At the time, the Ann Arbor Railroad had gone bankrupt and the State
of Michigan became the owner of its assets. Hank Londo spoke to his
state representative and arranged for the new MSTRP to lease the Owosso
engine shop. The engine and all of its equipment was then moved there.
This was a great place to move because the engine shop had a lot of
equipment that would be useful in restoring the engine.
The MSU Railroad Club and supporters of "Project 1225" formed the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation
in 1978. Chuck Julian, the then president of the MSU Railroad Club,
became the Trust's first President. Soon after, the MSTRP was given
ownership of the 1225 by Michigan State University. The MSTRP moved 1225
to the former Ann Arbor Railroad shops complex in Owosso in 1983.
The 1225 moved under its own power in November 1985 for the first
time since its retirement in 1951. The first excursion service occurred
in 1988 on a trip between Owosso and Chesaning.
In August 1991, 1225 along with NKP 765 pulled a 31 car excursion train
during the National Railway Historical Society's annual convention in Huntington, West Virginia.
As of 2007, 1225 operates excursion trains over the Great Lakes Central Railroad
(formally Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway) several times per year,
including operations that leave Owosso and going to locations such as
Alma, Clare, Mt. Pleasant, and Cadillac, Michigan. Since 2004, 1225 has
hauled winter weekend excursions between Thanksgiving and the middle of
December, due to copyright issues, as the "North Pole Express."
PM 1225 attended the Train Festival 2009 in Owosso, Michigan
from July 23-26 as part of a fundraiser to raise money for 1225's
upcoming 2010-2013 FRA overhaul. The national event showcased hundreds
of train related items, events, and themes from around the country and
some parts of the world. The 1225 was not able to haul any excursions
during the Festival due to 5 of its flues failing, which occurred on
July 24th. The 1225 was on display during the rest of festival for
people to visit the engine, chat with the crew, take photos, and explore
the cab. On October 7, 2008, it was announced that NKP 765 would once
again join the 1225 at Train Festival, marking the first time the two
Berk's have met each other since 1991. The famous Southern Pacific 4449
Daylight locomotive also attended the festival as one of the many
attending engines along with the 1225 and 765. 1225 and 765 met up twice
more that year, with a photo fright in August and an excursion in
October.
The flue failing was later repeated on December 5th of that year, so
in January 2010, 1225 went down for its required 15 year inspection it
was found that the firebox sheets had deteriorated to the point of
needing replacement. That program was currently underway largely through
small and large donations of funds and labor by the organizations
supporters. 1225 was back in service by late November 2013. On October
20, 2013, 1225 was fired up for its first movements under its own power
in 4 years.
Polar Express
1225's blueprints were the prototype for the locomotive image, and its sounds were used in the 2004 film The Polar Express. The film was based on the Caldecott Medal winning book of the same name. The children's book was written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and as a child attended every home football
game at Michigan State, next to which this engine was on static
display. He recalls playing on this engine many times as a child saying,
"I remember that train on campus,...I can't believe it's the same
train! I climbed on that train. I actually stood on it." Appropriately enough, the locomotive's road number is the date of Christmas, 12/25.
After two days of rain, it finally stopped yesterday. It was still cloudy, windy and chilly and I wore my winter jacket and gloves.
The pen and the run were muddy, poopie messes. I had to shovel three loads like this.
Wet hay is very heavy, by the way....
After it was all cleaned out and fresh hay put down, Shirley was the first one to go
back in. She does not like to get her feet wet. The rest of the gang stayed under the deck.
Hubby got the tractor out to cart away the poop bin ( it did not smell very nice). Even Sophia did not want to go in it!
Soon the others walked back to the pen. I guess it was still to wet for them out in the yard.
Or maybe they noticed the treat feeder was full...
By the time I finished, the sun finally came out - I hope it stays dry for a few days, at least!
My Dad used to save them from where ever he traveled to and kept them in small albums.
I have no idea what happened to them; perhaps he gave them to another collector. But they sure
were fun to look at!
