West Jersey Chapter’s November membership meeting was held in-person at the Audubon Senior Center and virtually via Zoom on Monday, November 25, 2024. WJC Vice President Fred Ciocciola spent five days walking around rail yards and along main lines in Kansas City, Iowa, and Illinois in 1971. The diversity of paint schemes and locomotive models is striking 53 years later. With the exception of Union Pacific, all of the Class 1 railroads he photographed have merged or gone out of business. Most unusual of all, he was able to witness the steam-powered switchers of the Northwestern Steel & Wire Company in Illinois earning their keep more than a decade after most other railroads had fully switched to diesel. You can play a recording of Fred’s presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 44:12.