Re: [CBQ] Burning Up The Ballast At Altona

["Louis Zadnichek via groups.io" <LZadnichek=aol.com@groups.io>]

October 29, 2020

Doug - Full disclosure here.... Many years ago in my, some would say, largely misspent youth, I was a daily newspaper copy editor and feature reporter.  I was trained on the AP style book.  It "stuck."  The State of Washington will always be Washington State to me!

Actually, I'm a little surprised that the discussion on this interesting image is revolving around a particular point of grammar. I thought Group members might be tossing around where the shipment (if indeed apples from Washington State) was interchanged to the Q from either the NP or GN.  If apples, it almost had to been at Billings, MT.

"Why" Billings?  Well, the express shipment couldn't have been interchanged in St. Paul, MN, to the Q because that would've meant the train was then routed south to Savanna, IL, and on to Chicago over the C&I.  Altona is west of Mendota, IL, where the Mendota-Savanna sub joins the Aurora-Galesburg main line, so no way the apples came out of Savanna and down the "Horn" instead of over the C&I.

Of course, this is all pure speculation on my part, but if any other "routing specialists" in our Group have other opinions, I'd enjoy hearing them.. Another thing about the reefers themselves, they all look uniform meaning they were part of some large private refrigerator company's fleet. Plus, it looks to be a good size train needing a 4-6-2 passenger locomotive for sufficient speed and power.

Also, remember this was way back in the day of arch bar trucks and friction journal bearings.  So, the head end brakeman had good reason to be peering back at this train for hot boxes or other mechanical problems.  By the time the train arrived at its destination, the high speed movement would've slung much of the car oil out of the journal boxes.

Whether apples or some other valuable and perishable freight, this was a very special movement and quite likely had rights over all other trains including passenger.  No doubt that the superintendents of the various divisions that the train rolled over were all in their dispatchers' offices checking on its safe and fast passage over their tracks - Louis 

Louis Zadnichek II

Fairhope, AL

-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas Hosler <dehosler40@gmail.com>
To: CBQ@groups.io
Sent: Wed, Oct 28, 2020 11:51 pm
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Burning Up The Ballast At Altona

That is something I, a Midwesterner, have noticed.  

I would add to your reason that the word “Washington" can refer to either the state of Washington or to the nation’s capitol city.  My added reason is that most of us do not talk about the state of Washington much at all.  We are much more likely to refer to cities in Washington such as Seattle than to the state itself.   But we talk a lot about the nation’s capitol.  So for shortness we drop the “D.C.” from that “Washington.”   Hence a confusion would arise if we used “Washington” to refer to the state.  In Wausau, Wisconsin if I told someone, “I am headed to Washington,” the assumption would be I am headed to the nation’s capitol.        

However I personally never say “Washington state.”  I am not sure why.  I find other ways of making it clear I am not talking about Washington, D.C.  Hey, maybe I am feeling your pain!  Is it because over the years I have been to your state a number of times and like it very much?  I suppose that is possible.  

Doug Hosler

Wausau, Wisconsin

On Oct 28, 2016, at 9:32 PM, Doug Ramsay <drramsay@comcast.net> wrote:

I know this is a little off the subject, but why is it when someone from out side of the Northwest refers to it as Washington State, such as mentioned about our states apple crop. If you look at any map or even our state flag it is just Washington. You never hear someone say Iowa State or Illinois State, so why do we have to put the word state after Washington. As someone who works in the newspaper business, I am aware of the Associated Press style that many in the media use, refers to it as state to differentiate from the city on the east coast, but that city is Washington D.C. which is what all maps and everything else state. Sorry for my venting, but it just bothers many of us here in Washington.

Doug Ramsay

Snohomish Washington.

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