Merry Christmas 2021 & Happy New Year 2022!

 From me to you - Merry Christmas & have a Happy New Year!

PRR's Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from 1947.

Good ol' 2021!

With life throwing some curve balls this year (like my health issues & then my Father passing away right after Thanksgiving), I kinda held-off selling some of my excess railroad & model railroad items.

Now this year's coming to a close & I've promised myself to put things up for sale.

Even though I said back in February 2021, that I'll have a link to the list, I'll repeat it in December 2021 - I'll have a list out soon, so stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving 2021!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The photo is a PRR advertisement from 1946 entitled, "Vacation begins when you step aboard the train!"

PRR's "Vacation begins when you step aboard the train!" from 1948.

PRR Track Charts

 Just wanted to show some PRR track charts of the Cambridge Secondary Track:

This is the section from Cambridge, MD to Linkwood, MD.

This is the section from East New Market, MD to Williamsburg, MD.

This is the section between Federalsburg, MD & Oak Grove, DE.

This is the section from Oak Grove, DE to Seaford, DE.

One interesting take-away from the maps is that the ruling grade for the entire line can be found in & out of Federalsburg (right around the Block Limit Sign "FED").

M-m-m Good Soup...best I ever tasted...it's Phillips Declicious!

Phillips Delicious Soup Advertisement with George Rector (1937).

This is a Phillips Delicious Soup advertisement from 1937 with George Rector. George (1878 - November 26, 1947) was a restaurateur, raconteur, and food authority, who wrote several cookbooks in the 1920s and 1930s. He had several articles in the Saturday Evening Post and also had a column that was published in 22 newspapers across the United States. He appeared on the radio on the Columbia Broadcasting System's (CBS's) “Dine with George Rector” and also played himself in at least one movie: “Every Day's a Holiday” (1937) with actress Mae West (wikipedia).

Cambridge Station Combo

I wanted to combine all of the shots I have on file of the Cambridge, MD station into one post (so it doesn't have to be searched throughout this blog).

This is a 1908 postcard of the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Cambridge, MD station (facing west), Rudy Wilson collection.

U.S. Doughboys boarding a train at the Cambridge, MD depot (facing northeast) during WWI (Emerson Harrington Archives collection)

Cambridge, MD station (facing southwest) on June 10, 1965 by John P. Stroup from the Trackside on the PRR Delmarva Lines 1965-1967 (Morning Sun book).

Cambridge, MD station (facing northwest) in 2011 by the late Ed Sharpe.

PRR Cambridge, MD (facing southeast) on March 26, 2013 station by William T. Miller.

Cambridge, MD (facing southwest) in July 2014 by James E. Reaves.

DuPont Nylon Plant

Announced in December 1938, and opened on November 1, 1939 (production would begin December 12, 1939), the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company opened its Seaford, DE plant to produce Nylon. This was after Dr. Wallace Hume Carothers (1896-1937) first produced Nylon at the DuPont Experimental Station (in Wilmington, DE) in 1935.

The plant would focus production of nylon for parachutes and B-29 bomber tires during World War II, but after the war, the plant's production changed to DuPont's textile fiber program. DuPont's “Fiber X”, would be produced here in 1948 (later to be introduced as Dacron). In the mid-1980s, DuPont began downsizing at the plant and by 2003, sold its synthetic fiber division (now known as Invista), to Koch Industries, Inc. Invista still owns the plant, but rail service has been non-existent since 2003.

The first photo shows the building the DuPont plant in 1938-1939 by an unknown photographer (Jim Bowden collection).

The second undated shot is simply labelled the “DuPont Nylon Plant” by an unknown photographer (the Delaware Public Archives collection). Note the SHPX tank car in the foreground.

The last undated shot is through the stairs inside the DuPont plant, facing Woodland Road by an unknown photographer (Jim Bowden collection).