Good evening folks,

Just wanted to pass along a brief update on this never-ending saga. Some good news to report, and some not-so-good news as well.

First the good news.

Erie #833 arrived at SMS yesterday. I want to thank John McCreavy at SMS for sharing this photo of the 833 on SMS rails. The passenger cars should have arrived this afternoon.

Many thanks to everyone at Norfolk Southern who helped make this move happen. There was a lot of interference by parties who were trying like hell to keep the #833 in Port Jervis. Thankfully once the local noise was overcome, the move went off without a hitch. Kudos to everyone involved in bringing it to a successful completion.

As for the not-so-good news, it appears that those voices who blatantly attempted to interfere in interstate commerce with the intent of trying to acquire an E8 for nothing appear to be continuing their actions with a new target in mind, namely an RS3.

Instead of heading to Scranton, the RS3 now appears to be following in the footsteps of the ghosts of 5629. We shall see what happens in the days and weeks ahead.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of "As the turntable turns" ......

Good to see that the #833 and the passenger equipment has found a new storage home at a preservation-minded railroad that has the skills and expertise to treat them as the artifacts that they are. There are a lot of talented folks down there.

I am personally quite pleased with the outcome, as I had feared that any court action by the City or any other entity would have placed the future of this historic equipment in danger. I'm happy to hear that much of it is on the path to permanent preservation, whether by a qualified buyer or by the current owner.

A note regarding the RS3: As the preparations for the new history center get underway in Port Jervis, the first piece of equipment that will need to be moved to the site is Operation Toy Train's operational 18-ton Plymouth locomotive. Having this small locomotive on-site will allow the rest of the equipment to be switched onto the other tracks on the property as it arrives, using the turntable as a giant switch. The Plymouth will fit on the turntable with any piece of equipment shorter than 95' (so, essentially anything that isn't a giant steam locomotive).

On May 13th, Operation Toy Train formally offered (to the City of Port Jervis) the use of this Plymouth to move the otherwise landlocked RS3 onto the turntable and onto the yard lead, allowing its extraction by its owner. The City was supposed to talk to the owner and develop a plan with this offer in mind, but there has been no communication since then, and therefore the Plymouth has not yet been relocated to the yard.

It is unclear from Mr. Strohmeyer's post which entity is holding up the removal of that locomotive, but it is to both Operation Toy Train's and the RS3 owner's mutual benefit to get it off the property. The holdup certainly is not Operation Toy Train; quite the contrary, it is willing to lend assistance in this venture, and has made that known to the City. Even from its initial proposal in June 2020, Operation Toy Train was (and still is) not interested in the RS3 or any of the other privately owned equipment that was on site unless the City insisted upon displaying it as a condition of the property usage agreement for the history center, as there were concerns about space constraints given the planned exhibits and the limited trackage on site. Originally, the City was going to attempt to negotiate a new storage/display deal with the current equipment owner, but that plan appears to have changed in the fall of 2020. Operation Toy Train was not involved in those discussions or any subsequent ones with the equipment owner.

Meanwhile, the whole history center had been essentially put on hold from about August 2020 through the removal of the equipment in April 2021 because the history center's equipment could not be moved in until there was some resolution to the private equipment that blocked access to the turntable. Planning has now resumed in earnest, pending the removal of the RS3 before any other display equipment can be brought in (as it would block the RS3's exit).

For the record (not that my opinion influences the outcome), the planned destination for the RS3 is most fitting from a preservation standpoint. The purchasers have communicated directly with Operation Toy Train to see if there was any assistance that could be rendered. The purchasers were given the same offer as the City regarding the use of Operation Toy Train's Plymouth locomotive to safely remove the locomotive from the yard in Port Jervis on behalf of both the seller and the buyer, as this would expedite the initiation of the history center.

Eric, I might have missed it but what was the disposition of the NYGL 950 diner?

https://www.facebook.com/InlandNorthwes ... u3E25j55Wl
Inland Northwest Rail Museum
7h
"This engine has started the long journey to its final home at the museum. Seen on 4/18 in Cortland, NY. How many of you serious foamers out there can tell us the details on this one?"

Top photo INRM 04/18/2025 in Cortland, NY; second photo Jonah P. on the NY&GL, 2011; third photo Vancouver WA 1969, William O'Neil; bottom, Eugene OR 1968, George Kantola.

Of course there was another mostly intact SP&S FA former LI power car here in Portland that would have been much easier for them to move to Spokane, but last year the group (I wouldn't call them a preservation organization, but rather a train ride and occasional scrap-metal dealer) here in Portland cut it up without asking if anyone else wanted it.

The RS-3, #4085, has also left the property and was moved to Binghamton by NYS&W, with it's eventual destination being the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson.