The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

Started by Judge, January 05, 2019, 03:59:09 PM

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jrmueller

Jim Mueller
Superintendent(Retired)
Westchester and Boston Railroad

jimmillho

The Saturday Repot is almost as good as being there.

Jim

Judge

Miller and Mueller - Thank you for your kind comments. 

Judge

#303
JUly 20, 2019 - Fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  Where were you?  The attractive blond on the morning news this morning who was telling us all about it wasn't even born.  Neither were her parents. 

There is no formal Saturday Report today because the A&S CEO is under the weather with a bug that is going around. 

Your reporter did retrieve a re-decodered ACL E7A unit from the shops yesterday as well as the new Central of Georgia SD9.  The E7 had a defective decoder and TCS replaced it gratis with an updated version of WOW Sound.  The update also included one of the TCS new "bass speakers."  it makes a great deal of difference in the quality of the sound and we will probably update more locos with the new speakers.  The downside is that they are a little larger than the regular speakers and will not fit in every loco, including our new SD9.  Speaking of the SD9, some readers may ask how the A&S obtained such a loco in 1950 when EMD did not put them into production until 1954?  The answer is simple.  The C of G obtained the first demonstrator model from EMD in 1950 and used it in conjunction with EMD engineers for testing purposes.   The "on-line models" did not start running off the assembly line until four years later.  Everybody knows that.

This week's story concentrates on some of the "local color" in the City of Tahope, particularly the individuals who frequent the Trackside Tavern, a local beer joint.  We will be meeting Tahope residents of note from time to time, as we develop the saga of the A&S.



                                                                                                              TRACKSIDE TAVERN

    There is a wedge-shaped building located next to the citrus processing plant on the outskirts of Tahope named the Trackside Tavern. 
    In 1950 it was voted the best beer joint in Tahope County, and the competition for that title was fierce.  Not every beer joint was allowed to enter the contest - there were conditions of entry that had to be met.

    First, the joint could only serve beer - no wine, no booze.
    Second, no wives, no girlfriends, no smart-aleck college punks allowed.  MEN ONLY!
    Third, the juke box could only have country music - 78's or the new 45's.
    Fourth, it had to have at least two pool tables with shaded lamps on chains hanging from the ceiling.
    Fifth, outdoor plumbing was allowed, but two extra points were given if indoor plumbing was offered in addition. 
    Sixth, the only lighting allowed was from the lamps over the pool tables, the lights from the beer signs, and a light over the cash register.
    Seventh, the complete food menu could only consist of pickled sausage, pickled eggs, potato chips, and peanuts in shell (roasted or boiled.)

    You can see how the requirements would have narrowed the competition.

    Recently, there was a change in proprietors of the Trackside Tavern, following the trial and conviction of the previous owner.  Our old friend Bruce Bonebreaker returned from Bay County, Florida, where he had worked pulpwood for the St. Joe Paper Company.  (You remember Bruce, he shot and killed Sam Savage outside of Butt's Bar-B-Que and was acquitted of murder. (See the bottom of page eight).  He managed to purchase the joint with a government backed small business loan from Tahope State Bank.  Bruce is a rough neck who is about as mean as they come.  He was born with a tattoo.  Said he inherited it from his mother.

    The regular customer base for the joint is composed mostly of citrus plant workers, pulpwood workers from Piney Woods, and railroaders from the A&S Railroad.

    Sometimes fights break out in the joint and the Tahope City Police Department makes an arrest or two nearly every Friday and Saturday night.

    Bruce claims he has had enough run-ins with the law.  He hung up a sign near the pool tables that says "NO GAMBLIN!  Anybody caught gamblin will be prosuted,"
 
    One of the bartenders who works in the joint is Clovis Butcher, whose father is a fireman on the A&S Railroad.

    One day, as Clovis was tending bar about 3:00 in the afternoon, an old friend from Osceola County came in for a beer and to get reacquainted. 
    "Hello, Clovis," said the newcomer, "Last time I saw you we were both drunk."
    "Believe we were," said Clovis, " we used to go into some really bad places." 
    "Them wuz real dives," said the newcomer.  " I remember one of them places wuz so bad it had blood on the floor."
    "That's nuthin'," said Clovis, "here we got blood on the ceiling!"
    "Be on my way," said the newcomer, "place with blood on the floor don't bother me none, but blood on the ceiling, now that's a tough place."  "Gimme a beer and an egg.  Gonna drink it and git before I have to contribute to the decor."
    Strangers aren't all that welcome at the Trackside Tavern.  The slogan, "A Real Working Man's Bar" plastered on the side of the building means what it says!

                                                                     

    As anyone can see, the Trackside Tavern has been set temporarily in its location pending completion of scenery on the Tahope Branch Line of the A&S.  We will probably revisit this establishment after it is placed permanently.



jimmillho

I think I was in that place in my earlier days. ;D ;D ;D  Back then Tahope was just a sleepy little town.

Jim


deemery

Quote
JUly 20, 2019 - Fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  Where were you?

We were at our summer camp, driving home.  We pulled over at a gas station (Jackson Center, PA) to listen to "one small step." 

dave
Modeling the Northeast in the 1890s - because the little voices told me to

BandOGuy


In port Officer of the Deck.
USS Josephus Daniels (DLG-27) at Destroyer & Submarine Piers, US Naval Base, Norfolk, VA.
Watched the event through a porthole in the Officers Mess.
Why the Navy ever named a ship after the SecNav who removed alcohol from Navy vessels is still beyond me.
Working on my second million. I gave up on the first.

PRR Modeler

Great story Bill. I was 12 and watched the landing at home on the TV.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

ACL1504

UF Political Science class and waiting for baby #2 (son) to arrived. He did, seven days later.

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

GPdemayo

Pegi and I were at our apartment in college watching history on our 12" black and white TV. It was a memorable month as we had just celebrated our 1st anniversary two weeks earlier..... :)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

Oldguy

I had recently reported to my duty station, the USS Truxton DLG(N) 35, in Long Beach.  We didn't have a TV on board and I wasn't into reading the newspaper back then.  So I heard about it second hand.  Actually, the biggest news back then was all about the Tate-LaBianca murders, albeit a month later.  I didn't know it at the time, but I had driven by the Tate murder scene about the time it was occurring.
Bob Dye
Livin large on a pond

ReadingBob

I was 11 at the time and watched it at home.

Methinks asking for a 'lite' beer in the Trackside Tavern would be a serious mistake.   ;D
Bob Butts
robertbutts1@att.net

There's a fine line between Hobby and Mental Illness.

jimmillho

I was working at the time and did not have access to a TV, but I remember watching the Launch out the window from my desk..

Jim

Judge

I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. and awaiting October deployment to Vietnam.   I watched the launch and the landing on my 14" RCA color TV I bought at J. M. Fields. 

Dave K.


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