LAST CALL! Five days left to order your L. I. Duckling Stock Car!

n2qhvRMLI posted:

Gentle Forum Members,

For those of you who were thinking about ordering a Long Island Duckling stock car from the Railroad Museum of Long Island . . . . . . . .

There are five days left to order!  Orders for this unique, one of a kind O Scale toy railcar must be received by Monday, February 24th.

Please go to the Museum website:   https://rmli.org/toy-trains/collectible-cars/    to click on and download an order form.

For those of you who have ordered a car, THANK YOU!  We exceeded 268 orders today   For those of you who are still thinking about how to get your ducks to market, act today!  Your ducklings and we will thank you!!

Don Fisher, President
Railroad Museum of Long Island

PS - we are in the final phase of artwork acceptance for our next Lionel Collectible Car!  I can't yet divulge our partner until the paperwork is done, but I can give you a Long Island hint . . . . . . . . . "It will be a Sparkling Idea!"

Hi! My order form is in the mail. It may be a day or two late. Is that ok?  I ordered 1 car. Thank you 

Just curious: did the LIRR have such a prototype? (NO criticism intended)  ☺

Tinplate Art posted:

Just curious: did the LIRR have such a prototype? (NO criticism intended)  ☺

In the early 1870’s the first Chinese Peking Ducks in America were imported to New York City.  From that initial stock, a drake and three ducks were bred in Connecticut and found to be a hearty breed for the New World.

The streams and creeks of Eastern Long Island were ideal for providing clean, fresh water for ducklings to grow and thrive.  Thus, in the 1880’s a tremendous enterprise of duck “ranching” began on Long Island.  The succulent Long Island Duckling became the height of fine dining on steamships, railroad dining cars and the restaurants of New York City.  Our Duckling’s fame and tender meat spread across the country and World-wide - as far away as China!

Railroads built specialized stock cars for the transport of poultry.  The cars were similar in design to pig and cow cars but held shelving along the inner perimeter for the placement of cages holding the feathered stock.  A small room or shanty was built inside the car and a caretaker would ride with the fowl, caring for them, providing fresh drinking water and feed as they traveled to market.

In the early years of the industry, the Long Island Duckling traveled alive to market in New York City.  Eventually, a growing demand and improved technology lead to the harvesting of the ducks right at the ranch, their feathers were saved for down and they were dressed and placed in barrels for shipment to market.  Today’s Long Island Duckling is harvested, dressed and flash frozen, packaged and shipped to western markets in modern refrigerator trucks.

This Lionel "Scale O" railcar is reminiscent of the late 19th and early 20th Century type of car that could be used to transport Long Island Ducklings to market in New York City.  The road number, #384, is one of two road numbers assigned to Long Island Rail Road stock cars of the era.  Imagine yourself, an early “duck rancher,” providing succulent Long Island Ducklings to all the passengers on your layout’s “Broadway Limited” and “20^th Century Limited” passenger trains!  You need this car on your pike to get your ducklings to market!!

Good morning all,

DJ'SOGAUGETRAINS, you're doing fine, orders are coming in right up to the final day and we wait a few days after that to make sure all last minute orders have been received.  Thank you for ordering.

ARTHUR, yes, the Long Island Rail Road rostered at least two "stock cars" in the late 1800's to early 1900's.  From the late Bob Emery's "Freight Car Roster:"

CLASS          NUMBER          BUILDER          SERIAL          DATE

          384          Unknown          1880
This is a wood frame stock car, shown in yard check books starting in 1880, retired by 1922.

          1st 3527          Unknown          Unknown
This is a wood frame stock car, listed as unfit for service as of 6/1914.  The full number series of this type of car is unknown.

In day to day use, the Long Island Rail Road might have transported any animal from cows/steers, horses, sheep, goats or fowl such as turkeys, geese, chickens and ducks in these cars.  Prior to ownership of the road by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Long Island owned many types of freight cars that roamed the Eastern United States moving material on and off Long Island.  Once the PRR took over, freight cars became primarily PRR standard models and the older LIRR variety cars were sold, scrapped, or held hostage on Long Island rails.

As you can see, our stock car #384 represents the Long Island stock car that was retired in 1922.  We did take some artistic license placing "Long Island Duck Grower's Association" markings on the car as the actual prototype would have displayed L.I.R.R. or "Long Island Rail Road" markings.  In this case we are celebrating one historic agricultural form with this very unique car. 

Good question ARTHUR, it helps us to tell the rich story of Long Island Rail Roading!

Thank you,
Don

Sparkling idea?  I may have to ponder that sitting on the big "white rock" in my yard.

GENTLEMEN: A sincere THANK YOU for the excellent history of the specialized stock cars and the duckling agriculture on Long Island. ☺

BWANABOB, are you anywhere near Whitestone????  You certainly are warm today sitting on that rock in the springlike sun :-)

TINPLATE ART,  You are most welcome, we really like to add a dash of Long Island history to each of our cars, it makes collecting them special.  Thank you for reading and enjoying!

Don Fisher

Tinplate Art posted:

GENTLEMEN: A sincere THANK YOU for the excellent history of the specialized stock cars and the duckling agriculture on Long Island. ☺

One plus with the demise of the duck farms on L.I. is the elimination of the  smell you experienced when passing by the farm, believe me it was strong.

Hi, Hi, ARTHUR!

Yes, back in the late 50's and early 60's I can remember going into Riverhead from Southold with my parents and looking down at all the ducklings below County Rt 58 as we headed to the traffic circle.  (They had a tunnel right under the road.)  There were two or three duck farms in close proximity to Cty. Rt. 58 and Northville Turnpike and the odor was powerful.

Today, even with modern sewerage technology, if the the air is still and of a certain humidity, you can still get a good whiff of the last operating duck farm on Long Island located in Aquebogue!  It takes me back!! :-)

Don

@n2qhvRMLI posted:

BWANABOB, are you anywhere near Whitestone????  You certainly are warm today sitting on that rock in the springlike sun :-)

TINPLATE ART,  You are most welcome, we really like to add a dash of Long Island history to each of our cars, it makes collecting them special.  Thank you for reading and enjoying!

Don Fisher

Yikes, I never replied to this.

I no longer live on Long Island, Don, but still have a great affinity for the area and of course LI railroad related items.

Looking forward to the Duckling car and to things that may sparkle in the future.  BTW, is that future offering going to go public anytime soon?  Or must Duck delivery happen first?

Cheers!

Living on LI, I worked on a housing development out east that was an old duck farm. Even after soil remediation it still stunk to high heaven.

Any cars left? @n2qhvRMLI

RSJB18, as a matter of fact, we ordered a few extra stock cars just in case there was some late interest in the car.   If you send me an e-mail to: dfisher@rmli.org   I'd be happy to reply with an order form for your convenience.

BWANABOB, hi, hi, the contract with Lionel for the White Rock Beverage boxcar has been signed and we are developing the order form and cover letter for the printer to prepare the offering - to be mailed to our Club Members in December.  Our ad/order form will appear in the January 2021 TCA Headquarters Newsletter and I will post a link here, on the Forum, to our website for order form downloads.

Here is a sneak peek at the 2021 RMLI/Lionel "Made In America" White Rock Products boxcar:

And now for an update from Lionel on the 2020 Long Island Duck Growers Association stock car.

The bad news first: we have been advised that due to the worldwide supply chain disruptions from the COVID pandemic, the models will not be shipped from China until sometime in December.  This is going to delay delivery to everyone until after the New Year.  We apologize for the disappointment, we initially scheduled the production of this stock car for delivery to you in time to run under the Christmas Tree!  I'm sorry we are not going to be able to deliver due to these circumstances beyond everyone's control :-(

But there is good news too:  this morning we received from Lionel the artwork model images of the cars being produced.  It amazes me what detail and precise lettering we can put on our modern car models!  Take a look at these photos, this is going to be a beautiful "scale" car!

The Railroad Museum of Long Island sends a "Tip O' the Hat" to our Team Leader at Lionel, Ms. Lauren Morris and all the people, graphic artists and manufacturing staff, that make these outstanding cars available to us.  THANK YOU!

Also a patient and understanding THANK YOU to all of you who have ordered a Long Island Duck Growers Association stock car from us.  As I think you can see from these photos we will not disappoint you with this car.  Thank you for your support now and into the future.

Stay safe and be healthy,
Don Fisher, President

Railroad Museum of Long Island

The White Rock boxcar is a home run!  Will order as soon as the form appears!  Have a nice Thanksgiving, Don.

Boy that's a really beautiful car!  I can't wait until travel restrictions are lifted so I can visit again... walk the streets of Greenport... eat at the Modern Snackbar...

Jon

I like the zip code of Whitestone, NY (11357) being on the door of the White Rock boxcar.  Nice touch.

Duck car looks great!  another month or so is not a huge deal (IMO), but thanks for the heads-up!

That new car looks pretty sharp too!  I'll be ordering to keep my collection of RMLI complete!

@KOOLjock1 posted:

Boy that's a really beautiful car!  I can't wait until travel restrictions are lifted so I can visit again... walk the streets of Greenport... eat at the Modern Snackbar...

Jon

Your post made me look up another Greenport staple, Claudio's.  Turns out they close for the season this weekend.

Been several years since I've been there, but last time I was, there was an outdoor ride-able train very close by.  I think it was called the Peconic County Miniature Railway (though it may have been closing for good shortly after the day I was there).  That was a neat thing to do before grabbing a meal.

-Dave

Now, that duck car, based on reality, is an interesting car. . Since a little defunct brewery north of me once shipped beer to Baltimore, l wonder if these cars got very, and how far, from home rails?  Probably no record .  I could picture the Hotel de Paris in the mining town of Georgetown, Colo. serving these delicacies, although probably received frozen in a narrow gauge reefer

colorado hirailer,   Hi, hi, I doubt these LIRR stock cars got as far as Colorado.  For the movement of live fowl, probably not beyond the markets in Brooklyn and Queens, NY.  When these cars were used there was no rail connection to the Continental USA, they would have been "floated" across the harbor to New Jersey to go west.

Even when hauling steer, dairy cattle and horses into Long Island, the railroad most probably picked up the animals at auction houses in Brooklyn and Queens.  The livestock would have been brought across the harbor from points west in the cars they were initially loaded into.  Long Island held a very different landscape in the 1800's, all of Queens and Eastern Brooklyn were farms and rural communities.  There was no Long Island Expressway!

Dave 45681 and KOOLjock 1,   Greenport made a pretty good recovery from the COVID lockdown of Spring 2020.  It was a very walkable village all summer.  The Restaurants moved most of their seating into "Parklets" stretching across the sidewalk into protected areas alongside Main and Front Streets.  Our year round population has increased with the movement of New York City folks coming East to get away from the Coronavirus.  Greenport, the end of the LIRR mainline, is very safe and ready for you to visit :-)

The Peconic County Miniature Railroad did close permanently in 2012.  President and CMO of the retired railway, Frank Field, sold 1500' of track and a three car/one loco G-16 train set to the Greenport Rotary Club so they might establish the ride in Greenport's Moores Woods Park.

https://suffolktimes.timesrevi...ewhere-in-greenport/

We're waiting for the New York State DEC to complete their permitting process and hope to break ground on the right of way in 2021.

Thank you for all the kind words about our Duck Growers car and the upcoming White Rock Products boxcar.

Don Fisher,
Railroad Museum of Long Island

Any talk of doing a Grumman boxcar? 

Don, how about a scale reefer for the once upon a time Golden's Pickle Works in Calverton ?

@n2qhvRMLI posted:

.........................................

The Peconic County Miniature Railroad did close permanently in 2012.  President and CMO of the retired railway, Frank Field, sold 1500' of track and a three car/one loco G-16 train set to the Greenport Rotary Club so they might establish the ride in Greenport's Moores Woods Park.......................

Wow.  Time flies... 2012, huh?   Thanks for the link, I had not known of any follow up after the closing.

-Dave

Good evening SWCLARK and Arthur,

Several years ago we approached Northrup-Grumman with a proposal to partner in the development of a toy train car.  The administration at the time had no interest in having their artwork or logo involved in the project.  If there was any chance of creating a new railcar that was going to be it, as we were represented by a gentleman instrumental in partnering Grumman Corp. and Nassau Lionel Operating Engineers, many years ago, in creating their fine collection of Grumman Collectible Cars.

I doubt creation of a "Golden Pickle Works" car will ever come up in committee discussions again.  In 2006 we talked about creating a car for the eightieth anniversary of the disaster.  We decided it might be a harbinger of sadness and bad memories for family and friends of people who had died in the "Friday the 13th," August 1926 train wreck.  We also thought it was inappropriate to capitalize on such a low point in LIRR history as a fundraiser for the Museum.

Good questions gentlemen, thank you,
Don Fisher

Railroad Museum of Long Island

My grandmother was to be at a funeral in East Marion that day.  She boarded the LIRR in Wantagh, and traveled west to Jamaica to board the Shelter Island Express.  Her train was late, and she missed her connection.  I think of that story every time I drive across the Hamilton Fish bridge in Newburgh.

Jon

(Oh, and I’d definitely buy a Golden’s Pickle O Gauge pickle car)

Speaking of Claudio’s in Greenport, here is a picture taken from their front porch in the late 20’s or early 30’s.  The fishing trawler with the dories just forward of the tall stacked tug is the Tormentor, and belonged to my great grandfather who is standing just to the left on the pier.

Catch was shipped west to the Fulton Fish Market on the LIRR.

Jon

@KOOLjock1 posted:

Speaking of Claudio’s in Greenport, here is a picture taken from their front porch in the late 20’s or early 30’s.  The fishing trawler with the dories just forward of the tall stacked tug is the Tormentor, and belonged to my great grandfather who is standing just to the left on the pier.

Catch was shipped west to the Fulton Fish Market on the LIRR.

Jon

That is very cool!

Bob

I would approach Northrop Grumman again about a branded car.  Upper management has changed since you last tried, (as well as the logo).  Plus Covid knocked down the big logo rollout which happened early 2020.  They might be more amenable to a car now.

Claudio's was my favorite North Fork hangout.

I was a Mitchell’s fan.  But now I’m dating myself!

Jon

Gentle Forum Members,

And RMLI Club Car Members . . . . . . . . GREAT NEWS this afternoon from LIONEL LLC at Concord, NC!  Our SKU #20-01260 Long Island Duck Growers Association stockcars are crossing the Continental United States en route to North Carolina.  THE DUCKS ARE OFF THE BOAT!

Just a short time is remaining until your stockcar of QUACKERS will be ready to run around your barn yard, uh - I mean train yard!!  :-)

Thank you all for your understanding and patience,
Don Fisher

Railroad Museum of Long Island

Just don't send us Duck Boats Don 😂😂🦆🦆🦆

OK all you Duck Farmers out there!  Your Ducklings are on the way!  All Lionel/RMLI SKU 20-01260 Long Island Duck Growers Association stockcars have left Riverhead this afternoon and are on their way to you via USPS Priority Mail!  Keep an eye out for your Postal Worker!

Our efficient Museum Crew labeling and rendering the stockcars into the Post Office's rolling tubs.

L to R: the L.I. Duck Growers Association stockcar, L.I. Farm Bureau Twin Trailers on Flatcar delivering vegetables and the Sidor's North Fork Potato Chip boxcar.   Our L.I. "Agricultural Set" as produced to date.

Thank you to everyone who ordered this beautiful Lionel O Scale car, thank you for your support and continuing interest in our Collectible Cars!

Don Fisher, President
Railroad Museum of Long Island

Like to hear the Donald (Duck's) review of the car.  Wonder if he will say:  IT IS NOT SCALE!

However, scale or not, nice looking car.

Quack , Quack

Neither is this one 😂😂😂😂

Don, any USPS tracking number available, the way things are now with the Post Office it may be needed ?

Hi, Hi, Arthur!

We make our Priority labels through the USPS Stamps.com web portal so there is a tracking number assigned to each label.  I have to query our Vice President and see if he can retrieve the tracking number for a specific address.  I'll see him in the morning - he handles that part of the committee work.

Send me an e-mail to:  dfisher@rmli.org  with your name and address and I'll give it to him to check on.

Don

Just received my car.

RSJB18, OUTSTANDING!  Less than 24 hours - our door to yours!!  The USPS keeping it real :-)

I hope you enjoy your car!

Don

Yes- but considering I could have driven to Riverhead in about an hour and picked it up.....

Hi, Hi, RSJB18!!    :-)  :-)  :-)