TV Shows?

Matt Brown: Extreme Trains on The History Channel starting November 11, 2008 at 10pm EST


I was up late last night/morning and I came across this show on Fox Reality. It is called Train Wrecks. Here's Fox's website. http://www.foxreality.com/show.php?storyid=1748 The next time this show will be shown is Monday November 3rd @ 6pm but I have also seen these times too. November 3rd @ 3 and 7 pm EST. You might want to check your own cable guide.

This morning my hubby was watching The History Channel and this is what I saw.... http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=373102 It's a new series called Extreme Trains, premier episode: Coal Trains. http://www.history.com/genericContent.do?id=60696. This starts at 10pm EST and right after is Modern Marvels: Bullet Trains.

Future FMRC member. Even though her Grandpa
works for GM !!!




This one has "O Gauge " written
all over her ...

Train-o-Rama

If you did not get to visit us yesterday, October 26, boy did you miss a show!



We had Thomas running on his own track along with locomotives with real sound and steam coming from them.


We also had our SPOOKY haunted house, along with flying witch, up and running. There are two buttons for one to push too! One makes the house howl and the other button makes a skeleton's hand come out from under the train. This is a true favorite for the kids.



You have one more chance, this year, to see us live. Here it is again...
November 30, 2008
10am-4pm
Cost: $3 (12 and under free)

Rails-on-Wheels
Saline Farm Council Grounds
5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.
Saline, MI
http://www.railsonwheels.com

Please join us, we'd love to see you
Lisa

Happy faces from the show today. ( 10-26-08 )

Would you like to see what we are about?

Would you like to see what were about? Would you like to become a member? There are 2 places we are going to be set up before the year is over. All of us at FMRC would love for you to come by and say hi.

Lisa

October 26, 2008
10am-4pm
Cost: $4 (12 and under free with adult)

Redford Model Railroad Club's Train-o-Rama Extra
Costick Community Center
28600 Eleven Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI
(734) 953-2546

November 30, 2008
10am-4pm
Cost: $3 (12 and under free)

Rails-on-Wheels
Saline Farm Council Grounds
5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.
Saline, MI
http://www.railsonwheels.com

C & G Newspaper

I came across this newspaper from Warren Michigan that let's you know of The Michigan Transit Museum fall color trains tours from Oct 13-14, 20-21 and 27-28. The train rides through Clinton Township and Harrison Township.
http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2007/10-10-07/XF-TRAINS.asp

Thank you to Maria Allard, C & G Staff Writer, for the story and The Michigan Transit Museum, I think, for the photo.

Lisa

Doris Day

Because of the Rita Hayworth picture added a few days ago, my father was in his glory. He had that glow in his eye but still said......."if you could find." So I tried and tried to find a picture of his girl and some kind of train. This is the best I could do. It was from the movie It Happened to Jane with Jack Lemmon. Here's a synopsis of the movie.....
http://www.dorisday.net/it_happened_to_jane.html

I have also added a biography of Doris Day from Wikipedia in case your interested.
http://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Day

I did my best Dad!!!
Lisa

Well here it is, A functioning trolley loop.
Thanks to Don Carlson who added the urban
loop to allow a second trolley. A corner of this
loop has been renamed to Eddie's park.
Stay tuned for details...

Bruce..

Mr. Brett Schutzman

It has come to my attention, 10-18-08, I messed up.....and BIG. In August I did a post for Ypsilanti Heritage Festival and added a photo. For what ever reason, and I am not making any excuses, I did not give credit to Mr. Schutzman nor did I put the web address of where I got this photo and for this I am very sorry. I do not know where my mind was and I try every time to give you the websites and all the information.

Mr. Schutzman has a website with many of his photos and I hope you will check them out one day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maproomsystems/

Again I am VERY sorry Mr. Schutzman and please except my apologies!

Lisa

Hubba Hubba
For you old guy's. Rita Hayworth and her
" O GAUGE " Lionel train...

Au Sable and Northwestern Railroad

Two Au Sable and Northwestern trains pass at Russell, Michigan. The town of Russell, which was located in northwest Alcona County, was created by the narrow gauge. The A&NW was a logging road which brought timber from the woods along the Au Sable River Valley to Lake Huron and the AS&NW base location was on the Au Sable River at Potts.

From the book: American Narrow Gauge Railroad from Google Book Search

"The E.J. Potts Salt Lumber Co. formed the AS&NW Railroad for it's private carrier in 1887 for it's operations in Potts, 40 miles up the Au Sable River valley from the adjacent towns of Au Sable and Oscoda at the mouth of the river. The railroad was made a common carrier on July 15, 1889 when it opened it's main line from Potts to connection with the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena at Osocoda with lake steamers at Au Sable. Pott's sold the operation to Henry M. Loud of Au Sable who on July 15, 1891 recognized the rail line as the Au Sable & Northwestern Railroad renamed Potts "McKinley" and undertook extensive expansion of the rail mileage. Even by the standards by the lumber railroads, the fluctuation in this line's mileage reported to the ICC were remarkable. 108 miles in 1891, 74 in 1895, 108 again in 1896, 76.5 in 1898 and 56 in 1904. The railroad provided a single passenger train on the main line and on the principal branches. In 1892 it reported to the Official Guide of the Railways an intention to the main line of 31 miles to Twin Lakes, and a branch of 36 miles from Mckinley to Luzerne. The main line was extended further 3 miles to the terminus of the Michigan Central's Twin Lakes branch at Lewiston in 1894. In 1900 the Luzerne branch was dropped. In 1905 the main branch was cut to Comins, 53 miles from Au Sable, and on January 1, 1906, the railroad discontinued operations and vacated it's charter. Loud had died but his heirs formed H. M. Loud & Sons Co and on December 26, 1907 , received the railroad under a charter for the second Au Sable & Northwestern Railway. Comins replace McKinley as the seat of the lumbering operations, and the name "Hardy" was given to Crooked Lake junction at milepost 43, from which a branch was built east, eventually reaching Beevers (12 miles) in 1911. (the branch lines and mileage reported to Poor's Manuels differ from those shown in the Official Guide.)

A major fire in 1911 at Au Sable-Oscoda wiped out the Loud operation causing the management to lease the railroad to the Detroit & Mackinac effected June 1, 1912, with option to buy. The D&M exercised the option and on May 31, 1914 merged the AS&NW into itself. The D&M converted the line in May 1915. In 1917 the management abandoned the outer half of the Beevers branch beyond Curran. The remainder of the branch and the former AS&NW main line from Au Sable to Comins were abandoned in 1927."

Lionel in Michigan?

A lot of you guys run Lionel trains. I did not growing up, I use HO scale, so the Michigan connection was even more interesting. Have you heard of Richard P. Kughn? As far as I can find he was someone of importance in Michigan, especially the Detroit area. In 1986 Lionel sold the company to him.

"When General Mills spun off its Kenner-Parker division in 1985, Lionel became part of Kenner-Parker. Lionel was sold again in 1986, this time to toy-train collector / real estate developer Richard P. Kughn of Detroit, Michigan." "Richard Kughn was a prolific toy train collector who said that his friends joked that the only thing his collection lacked was the company who made them. Kughn believed that if he moved production to Detroit, it would be possible to improve quality to a level characteristic of the original Lionel Corporation and still maintain profitability."
Check out the rest of the information on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel,_LLC

Mr. Kughn also did an interview, on Lionel, much later in his life. The link here will get you there. http://www.toytrainrevue.com/kughn.htm

Some of you were asking for more "Michigan" train information. I hope I did well.
Lisa