What shortline is the locomotive next to?

The Adrian and Blissfield Rail Road (not sure why they separate railroad into two words).

One of the original owners is from Long Island. Who’s official title was Long Island Rail Road. One of their subsidiaries, is the Lapeer Industrial Rail Road (LIRR).

Steve

Ah, the Adrian and Blissfield.... They have a dim view of “railfan” types from what I gathered.

It's unfortunate that so many people post to this forum without checking their facts.

The name "Adrian and Blissfield" comes from the names of two small Michigan towns that are served by the tourist railroad / dinner train portion of their operations.

Per their website, they now own four other short lines including the one from Jackson to Lansing, Mi.

At one time the A&B, had a diesel painted in Lionel that was "sponsored" by that company when that it was owned by the late Dick Kughn.

Note also that the GTW was a minor player in Jackson, particularly when compared to Port Huron, Durand and Battle Creek.

Jackson was a major division point on the NYC -- but very little survived that railroad.

Bob H

Bob H -

For the record, the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum has the 100' turntable that was located in Jackson. Not yet installed at North Judson. Someday.......!

Les

I wouldn't call Adrian a "small" town. When I lived there from 1947-1951 it had a population of more than 14,000. (I went to elementary and junior high there.) I used to see NYC, Wabash, and DT&I steam in and around Adrian, which even had a small roundhouse for the 2-8-0s that ran on the NYC's Monroe Branch. Per Google Maps, in 2014 the building was still there.

Les, I didn't know the Hoosier Valley had the Jackson turntable. I probably saw it in use in 1946 or 47 when my dad took me on a tour of the Jackson shops, etc. courtesy an engineer friend. On that occasion I had my FIRST ride in a steam engine, NYC H-10 2-8-2 2345. My SECOND ride was in GTW 5030 at Bellevue, Michigan in 1951.

Richard - There's kind of an interesting story to how Hoosier Valley acquired the Jackson turntable. One of our members was a truck driver who had a load into Jackson. That customer was right across from the Conrail yards and since the company was unloading his trailer, he wandered over to the yards while he was waiting, to check them out. Going through some high weeds, he came upon the turntable pit. He walked back and found the yard office and asked the guys inside what they used the turntable for. They told him that they no longer had a turntable there in Jackson. He had to walk one of the yard guys out to see it! To the question as to whether HVRM could have it, it was okay with those guys, but he'd have to write to the Conrail general offices. That was done and CR donated the table. Members went over to Jackson to remove it over two weekends. The actual move is another story which, fortunately for me, happened just before I joined the museum!

BTW, I greatly envy your rides in NYC 2345 and GTW 5030.

Les

https://youtu.be/izuLUL07SZk

Just got done watching this video from the Jackson County Historical society. If you skip towards the end it states the locomotive will not move for another 5 years and I’d assume this would be pretty solid evidence as to when the locomotive is leaving.

https://youtu.be/8uLwV8oXLHg

Skip to around 6:10 in the video you’ll see a GTW J3A pacific hauling classic GTW wooden heavyweights if your looking for reference. I believe there is also a shot of one of the Pacifics pulling into Birmingham Michigan station which still stands today.

There was a new news story about the locomotive and the Colebrookdale Railroad here in Pennsylvania yesterday:

https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/co ... 87184.html

They don't mention when it's coming to Pennsylvania, but they say this:


Sounds to me like they want to get started on this thing sooner, but I guess we'll hear more information soon.

Everything I’ve heard has said 1-2 years. That one video is the first I’ve heard of 5+ years before it even moves.

Edit: after doing some research, I believe the person who said that it is not moving for 5 years is confused. The bill of sale states that the payment of $50K can be made over 5 years, but the locomotive can still be moved in the meantime afaik.

Maybe we should start a betting pool to see who can come closest to guess when 1. The loco. moves to Pa., and 2. when she will first pull a revenue passenger train on the Colebrookdale RR.

Chances could be $ 5 each and pot split between questions 1 and 2. Person with date closest to actual happening wins. In case of two or more guesses on same date pot will be split between winners.

Anyone in ??? Ross Rowland

Ross,

Will you accept a friendly amendment to make the pool a 50/50 with Colebrookdale?

Speculation springs eternal,

Wesley