Forestry & Rail Transport Field Trip – 21 April 2012 – Ritter Park

Plans are continuing for the Saturday field trip to Huntington’s Ritter Park.  A goal for the day are:

• learn (or to refresh for the 2011 returnees) the water quality protocol;
• document the diversity of trees in Ritter Park
• estimate the board feet in example trees.

This is an all day outing at the park.  Lunch will be provided.

Specific information (time, meeting place, etc) will be announced on this blog as April 21 approaches.

For this session you will need the following items:

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab (fully charged);
2. Vernier LabQuest (fully charged) units will be provided for teachers who were not in the 2011 session
3. All Vernier probes
4. Tape measure (to determine DBH)
5. Tree identification guides

Wear comfortable shoes and bring a change of shoes and socks in case you get wet (you will get wet).  Please dress with the unpredictable April weather in mind.  This trip will take place rain or shine.

The 1913 Guyandotte Bridge Disaster

On January 1, 1913, the C & O No. 99 fell into the Guyandotte River when the bridge collapsed.  Seven were killed in the wreck.  This poem, later a song, was written about the disaster.

THE GUYANDOTTE BRIDGE DISASTER

It was New Year’s morning, Nineteen hundred and thirteen,

Engine eight hundred and twenty went down with fire and steam.

It was on this sad morning at about eleven o’clock,

The C & O Bridge at Guyandotte began to tremble and rock.

When the train reached Guyandotte the engineer was there,

Ed Webber was his name, he had dark and wavy hair.

He pulled his engine to the bridge, but the flagman he was there.

He held out the red as if to say, “You may cross here if you dare.”

Ed sat in his cab window so peaceful and so fair,

He did not know that on the bridge that death awaited him there.

Fireman Cook walked across the bridge and stopped on the other side,

He did not know that Webber was taking his last ride.

Rufe Medders was the bridge forman, a kind good-hearted man.

He stood there giving orders and signals with his hands.

His crew was working on the bridge, but this I think you know,

A-working for their families and for the C & O.

Brakeman Williams gave the signal and the engine started on,

But when she hit the trestle, he that Webber was gone.

The bridge trembled for a moment, and then went tumbling down,

They heard the engine crash below with a sad and mournful sound.

Conductor Love looked across the bridge, then turned and bowed his head,

He knew that faithful Webber was numbered with the dead.

Thirteen men were on the bridge, and when the bridge went down,

Six of them were rescued, while seven of them were drowned.

Ed Webber was the engineer, a brave and faithful man,

He went down with his engine, with the throttle in his hand.

  His body was recovered and placed beneath the sod,

We trust that he is resting with our Savior and our God.

Ed Weber left a loving wife and eight little children dear,

May God protect and comfort them while they remain down here.

Were those men religious?  This I do not know,

But when our Savior calls us, we surely have to go.

God bless their families, their dear old mothers too,

God bless their brothers and sisters, as they journey onward through.

Now all of us that see this song, be good and be true,

For God has said in his own words, that death will visit you.

There is a reprint of an article describing the wreck in the Cabell County Archives.

Graduate Credit for Forestry & Rail Transport Project

As you are aware, participation in the WV Forestry & Rail Transport Project can get you three hours of graduate credit at Marshall University.

The form that I brought to class on March 15 had an incorrect tuition.  The correct rate is $210 for the three graduate hour class.

The updated form is available HERE.

DRAFT Itinerary for Summer 2012 Trip

The itinerary for the July 2012 trip to locations of interest for the West Virginia Forestry and Rail Transport Project is under development.

A draft of the trip itinerary is available for your review.  This draft itinerary is under development and is subject to change as plans continue to develop.

If you click on the LINK to access the draft itinerary, it will open in Dropbox.  If you wish to click the "Download" option, you can bring the document in as a Word file and can click the links to potential visit sites for the summer trip.

Jim Casto talks Collins P. Huntington

Local historian, James Casto, talks to our group about the C&O Railroad and the origins of Huntington as a city.

Steve Talks "Board Feet"

Forest and Rail Classroom Session 1 from Huntington High School on Vimeo.

Forest Product Samples

Rex Dillinger wanted everyone to have some examples of forest products so he went to his workshop the other night and cut everyone samples of:

• Oriented Strand Board (OSB)
• Construction plywood
• Finish grade veneer

He prepared classroom sets of each of the materials so you can use them in your classes to teach forest products.
These materials will be distributed at our March 15 class meeting.
Give Rex a big THANK YOU when you see him.

Mystery solved!

At the first timber class, Rex Dillinger questioned how anyone could have 12 paces equal 66 feet. After some reading, I have determined that for this purpose, a “pace” is considered two steps, left/right. While to most of us, that would seem like 24 paces, for forestry purposes, a pace is two steps.
Perhaps, the best method to pace off 66 feet would be to measure a known distance of 66 feet then to have each of us pace it off and determine our INDIVIDUAL methods of estimating the distance by pacing.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention Rex!

Here is the definition of a pace, according to the “source of all knowledge” (Wikipedia)