Anyone have advice on a first-time visit to this one?

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

It is a neat operation. If you are interested in photos, you have several good vantage points. When I visited 2 years ago, the first train of the day was parked near the village's gates. You can also get good photos near the old station, and the round house, as well as the train passing near a corn fied by Harvey Firestone's house. In all, the railroad and the village are worth seeing. When I was there, the "Edison" 4-4-0 was running, don't know about the Forney though.

david.wilkins@inisightbb.com

Go in winter and wear a heavy jacket. Skis may help depending on precipitation. Don't forget to visit Marty and TJ while you are up that way.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

> Don't
> forget to visit Marty and TJ while you are
> up that way.

I would second that recommendation. The Huckleberry RR has some scenic locations and the No. 2 is a handsome Baldwin 4-6-0. They have a long enough run that she can get up to speed. Marty Knox and his crew always welcome visitors to the shops. Railfan weekend is August 9 & 10 if you want to see a bit more from a railfan perspective. Work on the 464 is coming along well and there are some interesting items tucked away in the shops, like a D&RGW short caboose and a NPC Kimball passenger car.

Michael Allen

Jim and I have already talked (I'm on vacation myself that week), but the rest of the staff know your coming Jim, so have a ball! With the route were taking (Ludington-Mantiowac-Wisconsin-UP-Back) we might cross each other!

TJ

> I would second that recommendation. The
> Huckleberry RR has some scenic locations and
> the No. 2 is a handsome Baldwin 4-6-0. They
> have a long enough run that she can get up
> to speed. Marty Knox and his crew always
> welcome visitors to the shops. Railfan
> weekend is August 9 & 10 if you want to
> see a bit more from a railfan perspective.
> Work on the 464 is coming along well and
> there are some interesting items tucked away
> in the shops, like a D&RGW short caboose
> and a NPC Kimball passenger car.

> Michael Allen


Port Huron Museum
tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

Never been to the museum but you might tell us something about the new/old roundhouse when you get back. Not many roundhouses being built these days.

Unfortunately, Bob Yarger is staying busy documenting the destruction of most of the remaininb guildings.

Yrf Miles

ted_miles@nps.gov

Jim,

I like to tell people that Greenfield Village is the nation's best but least-known railroad museum. For some reason it never makes it into railfans' lists of things to see, but it's a better railroad museum than most single-purpose railroad museums. (The same is true of Marty's Huckleberry Railroad, noted above.)

Some of the early-20th-century items have been moved out of the Ford Museum (the whole show is now called "The Henry Ford" in the manner of "The Guggenheim" or "The Smithsonian") and into the new roundhouse. This is in the exact shape of an 1880's roundhouse from a Michigan Central predecessor. That includes the fabulous 4-4-2 and the runable Mason Bogie, 4-4-0 semi-replica, and industrial 0-6-0, and a big 4-4-0 under repair. Also some beautiful freight-car restorations. The village train ride is aboard 40-foot box car frames converted to open rider cars. For some reason a wood coach was recently sold off that was the village's only representative piece of passenger equipment.

The Museum contains the 2-6-6-6, Ingersoll-Rand Diesel, replica Rocket and other 19th-century engines. And just about everything else. You could make a hurried tour of the railroad items in both parts of the institution in one day, but you will miss much, although saving a bit on combined admission tickets. Don't miss the Pullman paper wheels under the Munising Railroad business car, nor the tasty restoration of a wood reefer that was surplussed by the Steam Railroading Institute (no capital "The" yet in Owosso, which is still closed to tourists due to construction).

Aarne Frobom
The Steam Railroading Institute
Owosso, MI