Another Milestone reached....

This morning ( Tuesday, October 02, 2018 ) at 11:19 am. Gary Bensman lit the first fire in Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's ex. C&O #1309's firebox. The locomotive still on a shop truck and it's trailing truck was outside the rear of the shop this morning for the fire-up.

Photos later after I download the camera.

Tim Wilson

Is there currently a completion date for the engine?

... when it's done ...... !

Tim W.

A completion date for the locomotive has not been determined. Additional information concerning #1309 will come from Diversified Rail and WMSR as the overhaul/restoration progresses. The project has enjoyed excellent support and for that...we all say "thank you".

Photos taken at Ridgeley, WV - 02 October 2018

Does anyone know if the drivers and boxes are essentially ready to go back under the 1309 yet?

Rob Gardner

Happy to see a milestone reached in this restoration. The 1472 clock starts now.

Was there any support underneath the middle of the boiler? Hard to tell from photos.

Couple more from Tuesday, Oct 02, 2018

Story at Trains, with an additional photo. . .safeties are up, and steam from the whistle, too!

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... -2-no-1309

Congratulations to WMSR and everyone involved on the first successful steam test!


Isn't it the case that the clock starts ticking when the first tube is rolled in, not the first fireup?

Looking at "Smoke01reduced.JPG" and "smoke02reduced.JPG", if you zoom in, it's pretty clear there's no intermediate support. However, speaking as a mechanical engineer, while not ideal, since it's stationary and not seeing regular service like this, it should be just fine.


Amen! Too many times people like to ask "when is going to be done" and the problem that plagues us in trying to answer is there are so many little issues that crop up along the way that it significantly alters the completion date. From a project management perspective, most people don't pad the schedule with enough "fluff" time and $$ to get close to the actual date and cost. Unforeseen, unanticipated problems arise later that couldn't have been planned for because these are not high precision brand new devices.


Don't think so at this very moment, but I'm sure they've got a plan for them. These pics were from almost 2 weeks ago:



1309 will be coming into service lettered for "Western Maryland", not "Chesepeake & Ohio". Eventually, 1309 will be lettered/numbered as Western Maryland #960.

Yes, and this engine demonstrated just how wrong estimated completion dates can be, complete with a highly publicized debut trip that was cancelled.

However... Presumably the operation has some kind of current project timeline, for budgeting and planning purposes. Saying something general would be nice, and you can add qualifiers.

Something like "Based on recent progress, the project hopes to be completed in the Spring of 2020 (random date, no basis in fact), barring any additional major problems."

I don't think folks are looking for July 7, 2020 at 4 PM, but rather "Six months or six years?"

That's as accurate an estimate as you are going to find.

With a project like this, the worst thing you can do is put a completion date on it and then bust your butt trying to meet it. Things that need attention will get the old "that's good enough" treatment or "we'll do it next year". Great way to have a ongoing overhaul in progress. The thing you pass by may well be what stops you in your tracks.
It is down to the bare bones. Do it right.
I keep thinking of the old saying "Not enough time to do it right, but time to do it twice".

Absolutely. No one currently knows what is hiding in the project still yet to be found that can disrupt the current plan. Even large companies suffer from the same issues plaguing projects in all other sorts of industries. I work for a company that makes paint shops for large industrial manufacturers. On a recent project I was working on, all sorts of things popped up that no one anticipated and it pushed the schedule back quite significantly and substantially inflated the budgeted costs. There were a lot of reasons for these issues, but in our case, we have a lot of new/green talent leading projects that doesn't know how to plan for some things and we are relearning some of that as many of the older heads retire. It's a good thing not everyone retires at once!

Congratulations on this latest success.
Forgive my ignorance, and please, I mean nothing negative by the following questions. I am just curious. What is the reason for firing up at this point in the restoration? Or is it simply a case of showing the flag and keeping everyone engaged?
Thank you, and best wishes to all involved with this project.