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dsmith
USA
2 Posts |
 Posted - 03/16/2007 : 05:53:42
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| I hope this will be a place we can all use to stay in touch and share rememberances of JD. |
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Allen
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2007 : 19:28:25
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Yes, indeedy..
JD Tower was a wonderful place - my railroad home for six and one-half years..
In the end, it was my requested duty to be its very last operator & close the place for all time..
A vast storehouse of memories are extant about the place - and how in due time it truly became a Clubhouse for so many members of the railfan community.. I could write a book about that..
So enjoy this forum & rekindle its many memories.
Cheers,
ALLEN BROUGHAM
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Wade
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2007 : 09:54:16
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Thanks for setting up this forum and the website, Don. It will be great to re-connect with some of the other folks who used to frequent JD when friendly CSX operator Brougham "worked" there  |
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SD80MACKing
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 09:26:05
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I just stumbled upon this today net surfing. I work at CSX and know both Wade and Allen. I spent many a trackside hour driving an auto parts delivery truck in the JD vacinity. I attended at least one of the slide shows which is where I think I met Wade (I can't remember). I also somehow inherited a few stacks of train sheets from the basement after the fire. When I get a chance, I'll scan in a few of the JD slides I have that are presentable. I had just started to shoot slides in '91 so I don't have a whole lot but what I have is fairly interesting. Of course it all was interesting looking back on it. JD was a special place for many of us. I still say JD Tower when I call the signal as I do at QN. I still see Allen up at Brunswick now and then but it has been a few months since I last saw him. We don't stop there much on my run anymore. Great to see some of the old photos. Looking forward to more...
Al Moran
Al Moran,
The SD80MACKing |
Edited by - SD80MACKing on 04/04/2007 09:27:32 |
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Admin
7 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2007 : 06:48:37
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Hey Al,
Thanks for checking in. Send me what you can and I will post it.
That corner must look weird without the tower there.
Best,
Don
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Wade
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 13:32:12
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Al,
We definitely did meet at JD in the very early 90's. I can't remember if it was at a slide show or just a "regular" afternoon at the tower. I spent a lot of time there before CSX closed the place. |
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Joe
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 14:05:42
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I never did make it to JD tower but I was lucky enough to meet Allen At HX tower back in the 1970's. I was in highschool at the time and used to ride my bike down to HX and enjoy Allen's company. Found this forum and discovered what became of Allen.
READING 2101 |
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Steve
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2008 : 20:44:02
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I long for the good 'ol days when there were lots of towers to see and visit and the operators were cool. Sadly, there are very few towers left to see, even fewer still manned and of those - the operators are not friendly to railfans in these post 9-11 days.
My friends and I used to visit all of the local DC area towers; QN in DC, Penn Central's Annacostia and Virginia Ave towers, QB (?) and CX in Baltimore (with REAL armstrong levers!) HX in suburban Baltimore town of Halethorpe. As a kid we even took the train to Baltimore and walked up to NA (North Avenue) where the B&O crossed the Penn Central at grade.
The operators were cool for the most part, we were allowed inside QN, Annacostia, CX, JD, and HX.
Regretably, a few years ago we visited one of the last standing and operating towers in Brunswick, MD. The operator basically told us to get off RR property before he called the police. So much for railfan appreciation. |
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jpec
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2008 : 22:41:55
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| Steve, another friend and I spent a lot of time at JD in our teens...the last time I visited JD was in '86 and took pictures of a few passing trains that summer day. Being around there in the '70's we got to see the last days of the F-units and a lot of different road power in the early days of the Chessie System. I was stationed at the Riverdale firehouse for a time in the early '90's when you could see Conrail, NS, and other foreign road units when the freights bound for Pot Yard and beyond got kicked off the NE Corridor. I never thought to go visit the tower; just one of those things you think will never go away. A few years back when I was railfanning with my son, we went looking for the ghost of JD but it had overgrown so much you'd never know it was ever there. Sometimes when we fan at Riverdale, I swear I can look west down the tracks and still see it there standing guard... |
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osjd
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2008 : 16:47:01
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I am very happy and grateful that Don has gotten this site going. It's nice to see JD getting a posthumous breath of life. It's a shame some jerk torched it before it could be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
It's really nice to see the photos others have taken over the years. They bring back memories that I had forgotten and answer some questions I have had about how the track was configured before its present arrangement.
I spent countless hours in and around JD during my teens from 1972 to 1978, particularly from 1975 to 1977 when I hung out there almost daily on 2nd trick after delivering The Washington Star in the adjacent neighborhood in Edmonston. The strongarms that I'd seen a few years earlier on a chance visit to JD on 1st trick with my father were gone, having been replaced by the small panel on the desk. Steve Reed, Mike Smith and Mike Maser were working 2nd trick most of the time back then.
Steve, Jeff and I all had HO layouts at home, but there was no substitute for being involved in the real thing. Steve and I typed up numerous train orders, strung them on the order poles in preparation for their delivery, helped to line up movements, etc. One time I goofed causing 131 to get a stop and proceed at Riverdale (oops). Needless to say the conductor was not amused!
I was present when AFT East came by in November of 1974 before getting its finished paint job. I was fortunate to have a camera with me and got a shot of it as it passed JD on its westward journey. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to compose the shoy so that JD was included. I was also present for the passing of the Chessie Steam Special. The sound of its whistle was truly moving.
I took many photos back then, most at or near JD, as well as some at CX, HX, QN, "Annacoti", HB, F interlocking and Virginia Ave. tower (x-PRR) Unfortunately I don't have access to most of them at this time since I am temporarily out of the area and they are in storage. I do have some of them on this computer and an older one here. I will try to send them to Don this week so he can post them.
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Steve
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2008 : 22:11:35
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Photos on the way! I have basically been wearing out my scanner sending a whole bunch of tower shots to Don to post on the site. He promises to have them up soon and I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone once they have a chance to look them over.
For Fred, I still have a number of shots of various derailments we visited over the years, including the classic "Conductor Fred and his train" with you sitting on the back of a derailed caboose. If Don is interested, I'll send them to you guys. |
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Admin
7 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2008 : 14:13:02
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Steve,
I am working on the updates as I write this note. Please send those other pics too and I will get them up. I can't wait to see derailment pics of JD.
In my 32 years of railfanning I have never photographed or witnessed a derailment.
Don
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Welcome to the forum!
