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THE RAILROADIANA EXPRESSWhat’s The Story?Further Information on theSanta Fe Hot Mineral BathsThe question was posed in the Summer 2014 issue of the Express concerningthe location of this sign on the Santa Fe.A response was received and publishedin the Fall 2014 issue. Brian Moseley hasdone further research and presents thisanswer:I am writing with a “contrary” opinion to that published in the Autumnissue of the Express regarding the SantaFe Mineral Baths sign.After doing some research and consulting with the three leading experts onNM railroad history, the following can bereasonably concluded:1. While not 100%, it is most likelythis sign came from the Las Vegas, NMarea. In the early 1900’s there was anapproximately 10-mile electrified trolley line which ran northeast from LasVegas to the Montezuma Hotel and HotSprings, hence the trolley sign. The HotSprings were featured in SF advertising ofthat period and was a destination of many.2. It is 100% certain the sign hasnothing to do with the Radium Springs/Las Cruces, NM area, as there was nevera trolley line in that area. Radium Springsis never mentioned in the “bible” of NMrailroad history, New Mexico’sRailroads by David F. Myrick.However, there is a lot of infoin there about the Las VegasMontezuma/Hot Springs trolley line.3. There was never a Harvey House in the Las Cruces/Radium Springs area – thatwas just hype. There was a localman who’s last name happenedto be Harvey and he did openand operate a hotel in the area,but it had nothing to do withFred Harvey! The only FredHarvey facility in that area wasa newsstand in Las Cruces.Bottom line is, this signis likely from the Las Vegas,NM area and not Las Cruces/Radium Springs!My special thanks toVernon J. Glover for his help on all ofthis. I also want to thank John B. Moore,Jr. and Joseph Herfeord for their inputand acknowledge New Mexico’s Railroadsby David F. Myrick. Photo Runby: Newly Discovered PatternIt's always a BIG event when a NEW pattern is discovered. This Lehigh Valley Railroad butter pat is most likely the very first patternthe railroad ordered. The railroad was chartered in 1846. In May of 1896 the first run of the Black Diamond passenger train made.The pattern will be known as “LV-4.2 Sayre.” Greenwood Pottery is thought to be the maker of this rare & unique piece. Thanks JimRaffa for sharing.–Rich Luckin 6

VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 2014The Railroadiana Express Train BoardDATELOCATION REMARKSDEC. 13, 2014Columbus, OH(Lausche Building,Ohio Expo Center)56th Buckeye Show, Model Train and Railroad Artifact Show & Sale. 9:00am to 4:00pm For moreinformation: Gordon Hartranft, 58 Creed Circle, Campbell, OH 44405; 330-755-1914 or nlion@aol.comDEC. 20-21, 2014Tampa, FL(State Fairgrounds)12th Tampa Show. Railroad Artifact Show & Sale. For more information: Charles W. Miller, 3106 N.Rochester St., Arlington, VA 22213; 703-536-2954 or rrshows@aol.comJAN. 10-11, 2015Deland, FL(Volusia CountyFairgrounds)50th Florida Rail Fair, Model Train & Railroad Artifact Show & Sale. Friday setup with early admissionTommy Lawrence Show Arena, 3150 New York Ave., Deland, FL. Over 300 tables of model trains, 10operating layouts and some railroadiana. For more information: Charles W. Miller, 3106 No. Rochester St., Arlington, VA 22213: 707-536-2954 or rrshows@aol.comJAN. 17, 2015Norcross, GA(North AtlantaTrade Center)48th Atlanta Model Trains & Railroadiana Show. Atlanta’s oldest and largest model train and railroadiana show. For more information: Charles W. Miller, 3106 No. Rochester St., Arlington, VA 22213:707-536-2954 or rrshows@aol.comFEB. 14, 2015Jacksonville, FL(Prime OsbornCenter)36th Jacksonville Model Train & Railroadiana Show, Prime Osborn Center, 1000 Water, St., Jacksonville, FL. Over 350 Tables of railroadiana and model trains. Friday setup with early admission. Formore information: Charles W. Miller, 3106 No. Rochester St., Arlington, VA 22213: 707-536-2954 orrrshows@aol.comMARCH 14, 2015Stockton, CA(Scottish Rite Masonic Center)Winterail 2015 Railroadiana Show & Sale 9:00am-5:00pm For more information: Cheryl Meeker 209943-0913 or cmeeker@pacbell.netAPRIL 11, 2015Deland, Fl (Volusia51st Floria Ril Fair, Model Train and Railroad Artifact Show & Sale. For more information: Charles W.County Fairgrounds) Miller, 3106 No. Rochester St., Arlington, VA 22213; 707-536-2954 or rrshows@aol.comAPRIL 17-18, 2015Indianapolis, IN(LaQuinta Inns &Suites)34th Annual Crossroads of America Antique Locks, Keys & Restraints Show. La Quinta Inns & Suites,5120 Victory Dr., Indianapolis, IN 45203. For more information: Jeff Irvin, 2524 Big Bear Lane, Indianapolis, IN 46217; 317-882-2336 or j.irvin@sbcglobal.netAPRIL 18, 2015Columbus, OH(Lausche Building,Ohio Expo Center)57th Buckeye Show, Model Train and Railroad ArtifactShow & Sale. For more information: GordonHartranft, 58 Creed Circle, Campbell, OH 44405; 330-755-1914 or nlion@aol.comAPRIL 26, 2015Chicago, IL (Collegeof Du Page, AthleticBldg.)33rd Annual Chicgoland Railroad Collectibles Show. For more information: Joe Mazanek, 847-536-0891or joe.mazanek@gmail.comMAY 23, 2015Albuquerque, NM20th Annual Albuquerque Railroad Collectibles & Model Train Show & Sale: For more information:(Convention Center) Bryan Moseley, P.O. Box6583, Albuquerque, NM 87197; 505-345-0657 or mossman@zianet.comBrief listings for upcoming events, including contact information, may be sent to Wesley Ross at wesleyross@windstream.net. Acceptablesubmissions are limited to announcements for shows, exhibits and auctions principally featuring the display or sale of railroadiana (railroadmemorabilia). The Express will not be responsible for omissions or errors in TRAIN BOARD listings, which are published free of charge. 7

THE RAILROADIANA EXPRESS6The Holiday Season on the RailroadBy Wesley RossPhotos from the collection of Wesley and Shirley Ross, unless otherwise notedThe Holiday Season means manythings to individuals, groups, andcompanies across the world. But for onegroup in particular, the Holiday Seasonmeans an increased workload and anincreased pressure upon employees inorder for the railroads to be successful.The passenger railroads operate moretrains, and some longer ones, to accommodate the rush of passengers traveling home for the Holidays, and somerailroads offer special shopping trains.In addition to this, the railroads have inthe past, and still do, celebrate the seasonin style with special menus for the dining car, Christmas cards for friends andshippers, as well as Holiday messages onitems like ticket envelopes. Other railroads have had special post cards printedto depict how the railroad celebrates theHolidays.Today, some of the freight railroadsoperate special Santa Claus trains and alarge number of the tourist lines operate special trains to celebrate the holidayseason. The granddaddy of Santa Trainsis the CSX Santa Train which began asthe Clinchfield Santa Train 72 years ago.The train is operated by the CSX railroad in conjunction with the Kingsport,TN, Chamber of Commerce. It operatesfrom Shelby Yard, near Shelby, KY, andKingsport, TN, and travels through alongthe route of the old Clinchfield Railroadfrom Elkhorn City, KY, to Kingsport.This year’s train ran on November 22,2014, and the featured guest, in additionto Santa Clause, was 6-time GRAMMYAward winner, Amy Grant (see advertisement in photo 1). The train stopped atvarious small communities in Kentucky,Virginia, and Tennessee and Santa tosses 8 off gifts to the waiting children. In theearly days, the gifts would be tossed offwhile the train was still moving. Todaythe train makes station stops and thegifts are distributed. Also today, there areseveral North Pole Expresses or similartypes of train rides offered by varioustourist lines to celebrate the season.The Canadian National Railroad hasoperated a Santa Train between Kankakee and Gibson City, IL, since 1970.A CN Santa Train Button is shown inphoto 2.The Canadian Pacific Railroad hasoperated a Holiday Train since 1999. Thetrain is billed as North America’s longestrolling fundraiser. CP uses two trains thatare brightly lit with thousands of festivelights to cover more than 6,200 miles oftrack throughout portions of the UnitedStates and Canada. Musicians offer con-

VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 2014421certs from a box car at many locationsalong the route. Over the years, the trainhas raised 9.5 million dollars and received3.3 million pounds of food for food banksand pantries. In 2008, Canadian Pacificproduced a 2-DVD set titled “Sights andSounds from the 2008 Holiday Train”shown in photo 3.A 1939 employee Christmas Cardfrom the Clinchfield Railroad Companywas submitted by David H. Kistner ofKingsport, TN, shown in photo 4. RetiredSoo Line and Canadian Pacific employeeDonald J. Barse from Slinger, WI, submitted two Soo Line Cards, photos 5and 6. The first is a copy of an original oilpainting by Larry Fisher entitled, “TheLast Ride.” The card wasissued in 1976. The secondcard was sent to employeesin 1986.The Delaware andHudson Railway card,shown in photos 7 and 8,was issued for 1973 andhonors the company’s150th anniversary. Thecard was taken from apainting by Manville B.Wakefield and illustratesD&H’s beginning as acanal operation in 1823,when two brothers namedWurts founded the com- 9 3

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VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 201487pany to build a canal from the anthracitecoal fields of northeastern Pennsylvaniato tidewater at Kingston, NY, on theHudson River. In the painting the canalis shown as it appeared at Wurtsburg inSullivan County, NY. D&H entered therailroad market with the StourbridgeLion in 1829, the first locomotive tooperate on any line in North America.The company’s 150 years of operationled to its service in 1973 being knownas “The Bridge Road Linking NewEngland and Eastern Canada with theSouth and West.” The illustration showsD&H’s 700-class diesel-electric locomotives which are General Electric ModelU-33c’s leading a manifest symbol freightacross upstate New York.In the 1970s Louisville railroadartist Frank Smith did a series of paintings for Safetran, a railroad signal company. Among the prints in the series isone that depicts a Burlington Northernfreight exiting a tunnel, shown in photo9. This card depicts three of the roadsthat formed the Burling Northern at thattime. The second unit is the Chicago,Burlington & Quincy paint, while thethird unit is a Great Northern.The second example, photo 10, shows WestsideLumber Company’s Shay Number 12 inaction.The card from the Alaska Railroad, shown in photo 11, was created by“Maiden Alaska.” Jeff Brown submittedthe card in photos 12 and 13 from theBurlington Northern Santa Fe Railroadcommemorating the merger of the two911

THE RAILROADIANA EXPRESS10121413roads in 1995. Photo 14, “Spirit of 1776”is from artwork by R.J. Hurley and showsthe the ALCO PA that pulled the American Freedom Train across the countrybetween 1947 and 1949.The next two examples of railroadChristmas Cards include the Verde Can- 12 yon Railroad (photo 15) and a WhitePass & Yukon Route card (photo 16)from 2002.A Pennsylvania Railroad ticketfolder, shown in photos 17 and 18, demonstrates the interest the railroad had inthe holiday season.

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VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 2014A number of holiday-themed postcards were submitted by Tom Taylor.These railroad-issued post cards weretaken from Howard Fogg paintingswhich had been commissioned whileJohn Barringer was President of theparticular railroad. The Missouri-KansasTexas Railroad card shown in photo 19was issued as the 100th anniversary in1965. Barringer commissioned Fogg todo a series of images of the Monon Railroad. The Christmas paintings include“Mononland December 24, 1952” inphoto 20, and “Hoosier Holiday Homecoming at Orleans” in photo 21.The relationship between HowardFogg and John Barringer began back in1956, not long after the latter becamePresident of the Pittsburg & Lake ErieRailroad. Barrings suggested to Fogg aseries of paintings that would depict theindustrial empire of the P&LE, particularly the key industries that feed it traffic.The series of paintings were completedseven years later in 1956. Barringer firstpublished copies of the paintings as abook of postcards and later as a bookletentitled: “Along the right-of-way.” Tom20Taylor presents us with the first threepostcards and the next two are fromthe collection of Wes and Shirley Ross.Photo 22 is “Beaver Station and the OhioRiver Bridge-1949.” The next post cardis “Locomotive Shop, McKees Rocks,PA.” (photo 23). This painting depictsChristmas Eve of 1961. The depiction ofProfessional PersonalProperty Appraiser ISA Accredited Extensive collections appraisal experience Specializes in transportation artifacts/ephemera Also making acquisitionsRailRoad ameRicanaBRad S. lomazzibslomazzi@att.net (916) 782-6587 15 the P&LE’s Terminal and Office Building during the Holiday Season is shownin photo 24. The next postcard (25)shows that Christmas Season is arriving at Gateway Yard, and the final postcard (26) shows the Buffalo-PittsburghExpress passing a group of childrenshowing a Merry Christmas Banner.

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THE RAILROADIANA EXPRESSChina Corner:Railroad Hotel China, Part 2by Rich LuckinThere’s something special about walking into a grand hotel, whether it bein America or Europe. A person wonderswho might have strolled through theseplush lobbies in years past, followed bycarts of luggage being pushed by smartlyuniformed bellboys.While some of our grand hotels havebecome only memories of the past, a fewcontinue to welcome guests with thewarmth of their sumptuous lobbies. Oneof these is The Commodore Hotel, nowknown as the Grand Hyatt New York.This Grand Hyatt is currently ownedby the Trump organization which rebuiltand modernized it in 1980. In fact, thesum of 100 million dollars was spent toremove the brick facade and replace itwith a reflective glass skin. Now, let’s goback and trace the hotel’s history.Named after “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, founder of the NewYork Central Railroad, The CommodoreHotel opened its doors on January 28th,1919. The 26-story 2,000 room hotel wasdesigned by architects Warren & Wetmore, co-designers of the adjacent GrandCentral Terminal, displayed in the advertisements numbered 1 and 2, which hadopened only six years earlier in 1913.The Commodore Hotel was leasedby the New York State Realty TerminalCompany, a division of the New YorkCentral Railroad, to the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corporation.At the time, the hotel’s promotionalmaterial (see photo number 3) claimedits lobby to be the “Most Beautiful Lobbyin The World.” The lobby design vaguelyresembled an Italian courtyard.The Commodore was successful fordecades. In June of 1967 The New YorkCentral Railroad, which by then was running the hotel through its Realty Hotelsdivision, upgraded The Commodore witha 3.4 million dollar refurbishment.By the 1970s, and now under PennCentral Transportation Company ownership, the hotel became less successful.In 1976 the Trump organization purchased The Commodore. After its origi-1 20

VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 2014324nal reopening in 1980, the hotel has gonethrough two renovations, one in 1996and another in 2011.Let’s take a look at some of the chinapatterns that were used over the yearsat the hotel. The first one is “NYC-3Commodore.” This copyrighted pattern,shown in photos 4 and 5, features a sailing ship in brown, rust and blue. Theborder is a band of multi-colored scrollsand abstract flowers, against an orangebackground. Buffalo China Companymade all the pieces in this pattern, as thebackstamp in photo 6 shows.The match stand with ashtray inphoto number 7, produced by LenoxChina Company between 1930 and1950, shows “NYC-1.1 Ash Tray Ivory.”It is not backstamped with the hotel’sname, only the manufacturer is indicated.To continue with the subject ofsmoking items, these next two ashtrays,shown in photos 8 and 9, were also usedin the hotel. The ashtray in photo 9(Fiesta-Ware) is green with a silver pinstripe. Fiesta-Ware was, and still is, avery popular type of china made by theHomer Laughlin China Company of 21 6

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VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 201410Newell, West Virginia.The attractive plate in photo number10 is called “NYC-3.1 Commodore Service.” It was produced by the ShenangoChina Company prior to 1948. The service plate measures 10¾" in diameter. Aturquoise band version was also made forthe hotel. That pattern identification isNYC-3.1a.Mohawk China produced the pieceshown in photo 11. No futher information about this manufacturer could befound but I would assume the companywas located in upstate New York. Theplate looks like a sample to me.11 23

THE RAILROADIANA EXPRESS121314Let’s move to a couple of other railroad owned/operated hotels. The Delaware & Hudson Railway operated twohotels: Hotel Champlain and. Fort William Henry Hotel. Just south of Plattsburgh, the Hotel Champlain, shown inphoto 12, was situated at Bluff Point,high above the picturesque shore of LakeChamplain. The new structure was builtin 1911 after the original building burnedon May 25th, 1910.A six-color crest, displayed in photo 24 13, appears on a china pattern for thishotel. This pattern, “D&H-3a Champlain,” was ordered through china distributor Kniffin & Demarest Company ofNew York City on February 7th, 1911. Itwould have been replacement chinawarefor the newly constructed hotel, built toreplace the one that burned. SyracuseChina produced this pattern and theirrecords indicate the pattern was ordered24 times between 1911 and 1930.A total of thirty-three shapes weremade during this 19 year period. Thebutter pat displayed in photo 14 datesback to April 1912. Syracuse China oftensaved a butter pat as an example of theorder, rather than storing a larger piece.I photographed this butter pat when Ivisited the factory several years ago.On February 7th, 1911 a separateorder was placed for “Empire” shapedservice plates, shown in photo 15. The

VOLUME XLIII, NO. 4 — WINTER 201415order record card states: “Lge crest only,Underglaze decalcomine as approved.”Additional service plates were ordered in1913, 1914 and 1917. Later on, a moreelegant service plate was produced for thehotel. It was decorated with a gold andgreen trim. No photo is available.The last Delaware & Hudson hotelchina I’ll feature is “D&H-3.1 Fort William Henry,” shown in photo 16. It wasordered June 7th, 1911 through the chinadistributor Jones, McDuffee & StrattonCorporation of Boston, Mass. Seventyseven shapes were manufactured over a19 year period. The last order was placedon March 17th, 1930, another SyracuseChina product. Photo 17 shows the serviceplate which was also ordered on February7th, 1911 but as a separate order. The service plates were ordered seven times, withthe last ordered placed on January 26th,1929. The decal sheet for the center crestof the service plate is shown in photo 18.The Fort William Henry Hotelopened in June of 1855 and was located atthe head of Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. OnJune 24th 1909 the hotel was totallydestroyed by fire. A year after the fire, the16 25

THE RAILROADIANA EXPRESS17hotel’s owners, the Delaware & HudsonRailway, committed to rebuilding but asa much smaller hotel that would accommodate 150 guests.The Great Depression saw a significant drop in business and the D&Hwould later sell the hotel. Though therehas been new construction, some of theoriginal parts of the hotel continue toserve guests. Today the hotel is known asFort

member Ed Breen of Marion, IN. The show was well attended by both dealers and buyers. Shirley Ross staffs the RCAI table and answers questions at the Show. -Wesley Ross Shirley Ross discusses the Express magazine with potential member Ed Breen. -Wesley Ross Trade floor at the Phoenix Railroadiana Collectibles Show. -Vic Ryerson