Congratulations a career well served. I was a cop in Miami for thirty-four years and during my final week it was very hard for me to process the fact that it was coming to an end. Memories raced through my mind of all the calls I handled and how each and everyone of them mattered whether good or bad. The scenes of disaster, violence, and mayhem, the scenes of new life, childbirth, survival, and the sounds of the radio and the dispatcher sending me to another call, Rape, Robbery, Sexual Battery, Murder, Suicide and then the dispatcher asking how long before I will be able to clear for another call. It never stopped and after responding to thousands of calls and going sometimes days without any sleep and when I did sleep waking up from a nightmare of some gruesome scene I had been dispatched to I do miss it. On my last day as is the custom when we sign off on the radio the dispatcher will clear the air and by unit number say, "Attention all units, Warrants 110 is retiring after 34 years and we wish him and his family God's Speed and thank him for his service". So my friend enjoy your retirement and cherish all the memories for you have given it your all and nobody can take that away from you.
Your career was well served, too. I often speak to law enforcement officers and thank them for their service to the community. I salute you, sir, for your service to the city of Miami.
LOL! Yeah…I’m a legend in my own mind. 🤣 I’ve heard that my autograph and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee almost any where. 😁 Seriously, thank you for the kind words.
I talked with Jimmy about mods. Amazingly, the only mod done to the aircraft was the installation of an uplock pin for the nose gear. Without that pin, the nose gear would start to come down on high positive G maneuvers.
I remember nkp no 765 came through Dawson Springs Ky on the old Illinois central railroad it’s now Paducah and Louisville nkp 765 came through Dawson Springs Ky in 1992
@@RichMelvin I have a picture of the 765 coming through Princeton kentucky on the Paducah and Louisville on September 19th 1992 I’m going to make a video on that
Thank you Sir for your years of service to this Grand Ole Girl. also for keeping her running and for her preservation. I know the Family was very proud and your Grandsons will never forget this. please enjoy your Retirement you have a lot of story's to tell. stay safe.
Great pilot. Precision low level solo aerobatics in a variety of unique aircraft. Sadly perished in a chaotic sideshow routine with pyrotechnics and a flaming semi truck.
Rich was one of the reasons I got interested in trains. I grew up watching him in steaming up the new river gorge behind the throttle of the 765, back when it was the c&o 2765 for the excursion. I even mimic his style of quilling in train sims, particularly in derail valley where the whistle is quillable. You sir are a legend Rich Melvin!
I appreciate the kind words. I have often said that I'm a legend in my own mind. 🤣 Why...my autograph and a couple of bucks can get you a cup of coffee almost anywhere! Seriously, thanks very much.
What A Great Grandpa! Awesome 😎👍💯% what an amazing career! One Most only dream of You've Lived, what a Legacy, definitely hard to Match. Thank You for involving the boys in You're last run! All in All, You're a Great Man! Enjoy You're Retirement spending it with You're loved ones so Precious! Be well Steam Locamotor Engineer! Love Stephen Santangelo
Awesome video. I was fortunate enough to see one of Franklin's last shows as "Zar" in his Aerostar, in central Texas in the early 1990s (I forget exactly where but it was a bit SW of DFW). It looked just like this video and I was in awe. I hadn't seen such a show in a long time. I was fortunate enough to see both Art Scholl in his Chipmunk and Bob Hoover in both his P-51 and Aero Commander a couple times each back in the mid-70s in California at Point Mugu (where the USN also fired live ordnance in the show, which was also awesome). I definitely put Jimmy Franklin up there with Scholl and Hoover. Especially as the whole "Zar" thing was accompanied with comics and posters and fliers telling the fictional backstory. It came across like something from the opening few scenes of "The Great Race", as if aviation was still in the "Dreamtime" of gods and heroes creating the universe, and then there was the utterly inspirational flying to fulfill the expectations thus raised. I drink to Jimmy Franklin's shade.
Whew, Rich, what a trip. We have travelled the same western route from LA back to MI. Is it easier to pilot a King Air than thread the big pusher through CA traffic? TJ
There was a lot less to do flying the King Air, but those days are over. I do enjoy driving the coach, however. I’ve driven it over 100,000 miles now. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Thank you for sending the link for this one to me, Rich. I'm glad your family and especially your grandsons got to ride with you in the cab for the last run. That will be something they'll remember their whole lives. Thank you for sharing the final run with us.
I've read before that steam engine were torque monsters and that Prony brake demonstration really showed that. I wish it were possible to know how much torque steam locomotive like the 765 could produce. I bet we'd all be blown away by those numbers.
Someone familiar with algebra could figure it out. The formula for HP is (torque X RPM) / 5252. In the 765’s case we know the RPM and the HP, so there’s got to be a way to solve for torque. RPM = approx. 300 HP = approx. 4,500 I am no Algebra expert, but someone who is could solve this to find the torque number.
@@RichMelvin Algebra 😰...oh no. Just kidding -- sort of. I mean I'm not an algebra whiz, but you've provided valuable numbers that maybe I can try to work with. But possibly someone else reading this could take a swing at it too. I appreciate your response and I must say, thank you for including that whole segment on the Prony Brake and its great explanation of how it works. I can't imagine many shows produced these days would have kept with the shot long enough to show all of the steps, let alone any beyond the first step. I wish I could give this show more appreciation than just a single 👍, but I will share it with my father and my friend. Thank you very much, Rich. And, I must also add, the wearing of the microphone and your explanation of how you were running the 765 in Runnin' That New River Train and also in the Pentrex 2765 - A New River Masquerade, were by far the most exciting and impressive scenes in any and all of the many train videos that I've seen. To see and hear an experienced steam locomotive engineer at work real-time on some really challenging runs, will be invaluable for generations to come. Thank you!
@@espeescotty Thanks for the kind words. I felt that the Prony Brake sequence in this show was very important to the overall story. I'm glad you enjoyed "Runnin' That New River Train" and the Pentrex video. Have you seen this 765 video? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZK5YrXvX0F0.html
@@RichMelvin Thank you for sharing that link. I had not seen that yet. As for the torque equation, if I did it correctly, I think we're looking at in the neighborhood of 78,780 ft. lbs. of torque from the 765. An impressive number for sure, but I don't think implausible given all of the other large numbers late era steam was capable of producing. If anyone out there smarter at this math equation than I am can come up with the proper number, please feel free to let me know, because I would really like to know how much torque a big steam locomotive could produce.
Wow Rich, that was a state of the art linear/nonlinear transition period set up. My first video gear was a 1981 portable RCA VCR in a bag connected to a giant Hitachi shoulder mounted video camera. The video I shot inside had a disturbing blue/green tint due to lack of light and a crummy camera. After spending hours and hours editing from one VCR to another without any time correction or intermediate devices I would dream of a set up like this. Luckily before I had the time or money, nonlinear became available and the rest is history. I do still have my 11 year old Mac that allows me to capture HDV tape from a camcorder easier than my new Mac which does not recognize the legacy camcorders. Take care! Terry Johnson
Hey Rich, when you came to Oregon, you were in my neck of the woods. I'm a native Oregonian. I wish I could have met you when you passed through! I'd be glad to say hello when you make it out to our beautiful state again!
We were in Veneta, Oregon, for some specialized work on the motor home at Source Engineering. If we head out that way again, I'll try and get in touch with you.
This reminds me of my dads first shoulder bag VHS or Betamax tape recorder which was connected to a Titanic size video recorder.. the brand I think was AKAI
My original broadcast quality equipment was set up like that. I had an Ikegami HL-79EAL camera connected to a Sony BVW-35 Betacam deck with a cable about 1-inch in diameter. The days of the one-piece "camcorder" were still pretty far off then.
Absolutely no comparison! That old CMX suite had over a mile of cabling behind those racks to distribute control, communication, audio, sync, and video signals. Today, all I need is a computer and a chip reader.
Engineer Rich Melvin, Goodbye, Ol' Friend. We Will Never Forget You, Rich Melvin. We Love You, Rich Melvin. You've Been Awesome, Rich Melvin. 🚂🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋
I still have one Betacam machine, the D9, and the 3/4” machine for legacy format video transfers, but everything else landed in a dumpster many years ago. Today I do all my video work using Final Cut Pro X on a MAC.
@@RichMelvin Man what a modern day collector wouldn’t do to have that equipment nowadays. It’s also very surreal to think about how far technology has professed in the twenty-ish years that’ve passed since those photographs were taken. I wouldn’t be surprised if that MAC could possibly do the same level work all that equipment did, or failing that, get close to that level.
@@justahillbilly7777 There is absolutely no market and very little collectibility for a bunch of old, antiquated, analog video gear. I tried to sell some of it, and that’s when I realized that it was a lot less hassle to just put it in the dumpster. The Ampex ADO is a good example. I paid $53,000 for it new. When HD video became the norm, it was not worth a dime. All went in the dumpster. Same for the Intergroup 9410 switcher. It’s useless on digital HD video, so it also ended up in the outgoing junk. Final Cut Pro on the MAC can do things in seconds that all that old equipment could not do at all. FAR more capabilities than that room full of equipment.
@@RichMelvin And I just got edumucated. Thanks for the insight and reminder that looks are deceiving Rich. You could probably write multiple books on various topics ranging from the obvious stuff like steam railroading to this lesser known, at least to the majority of folks who know of you, editing stuff with the amount of knowledge you’ve amassed over the years. I’d definitely sit down and read ‘em after purchasing copies.
@@justahillbilly7777 That room full of equipment, and another, earlier suite (visible in the signal segment of “Runnin’ That New River Train”) is what paid for the house, put food on my table, and put my daughter through college. This is how I made my living for many, many years.
Yes…sort of. This was a “transition” suite as I was phasing out the linear tape-based CMX suite and transitioning to computer based, non-linear editing.
12:50 Why are you braking while the regulator/throttle is open? Here in Germany it is common to close the throttle before braking and coming to a stop.
It’s called “Stretch Braking.” It is a technique that allows an engineer to keep all the slack stretched by pulling gently against a light brake application. As the train slows to a stop, there is no slack action back in the train, thus giving the passengers a very smooth, easy stop. There is also a mechanical reason to brake this way. NKP Berkshires were “flatland” locomotives, so they were not equipped with Drifting Valves. Consequently the locomotive must have the throttle open if it’s moving. If I closed the throttle while we were still moving, it would set up a slight vacuum in the cylinders. When the exhaust port opened, oxygen, soot, and cinders from the smoke box could be sucked into the cylinders. At the high temperatures involved, the presence of oxygen could cause the valve oil to flash and burn, thus depriving the cylinders of lube for a few moments. Combine that with the presence of soot and cinders in the cylinder and that quickly becomes a nasty situation.
