So have you ever watched the show Casing Classic Cars? The tag line is "it's all about the chase". Well this chase was 7 years, yes, 7. It all started in 2009 when Les Beckman sent me a photo of a PRR 2-bay hopper at the trolley museum in Maine. So you know what I am thinking, what is a trolley museum doing with a PRR hopper car. When I made some calls, I found out that the trolley museum was using the car for ballast work, but there was still a sister car in Boston at the MBTA. I was given some contact info and the quest started.
Fast forward several years later and phone call after phone call, then, I get a call in 2014 about the hopper car. I traveled to Boston look at the car, look at a site to load the car out and exchange some basic info with MBTA peps. Well peps get reassigned, Boston is slammed with a bad winter and the uphill battle continues. Finally, I reach the right guy, the hopper is determined obsolete, it is put up for bid and the rest is history.
Frank Tartaglia Railroad Services out of Syracuse, NY hauled the car with their usually precision from Boston to Ringoes this past Thursday. By the way it seemed like every person in the world was on the road during mid-day, it took me 6 hours and the truck 8 to make the trip.
The hopper, H31 built in 1942 as PRR 220838 is is great shape and will require little to restore.
Oh! you can't load it on this track.
Ah! how about this one, Hey! MBTA mixed freight.
Up she goes!
Ready for the trip.
Off she goes in Ringoes.
Whew! feeling more at home than in Bean town.
