Let's stop the escalating back-and-forth right now, everybody. You are all good friends of RyPN, but this conversation is no longer serving any of you or RyPN well. Let's relax and move on to other topics.

This is not directed at anyone specifically but just a general observation on a lot of non profit groups including but not limited to railway preservation. Being a voting member of any organization gives you the right to know what is going on in your group. That board was elected by you and your fellow members to represent your museum/group and its members. By keeping the general population of the group in the dark it perpetuates a lot of problems currently plaguing many outfits in this and other fields of study. I don't need to list names of those groups as anyone who frequents this board should have a pretty good idea of some of the worst culprits of this. The board is the whole organization and if allowed to reign in mediocrity and left unchecked can eventually lead to the destruction of the group from within.

Kevin O

Not at all, and I mean no disrespect to you. It's just that our group is being shown in a bad light for decisions that were not our own. That is a frustrating situation.

You are WELCOME into the FEBT, after all we are the "Freinds", even if we have our moments.

In my personal opinion the car should be at EBT. Glade there are no hard feelings. I will join the FEBT when the time and money allows it. Hopefully sooner then later. So getting back to the EBT. How many hopper cars did the EBT own? Were 6 locomotives the most they had on roster at one time? Generally how long were the coal trains and how often did they run in a day? Two or three a day? why did they never try outside frame locomotives? Does the steam engine in the shop still work and the machinery? Sorry for all the questions but I am trying to compare my operation to the EBT. I think mine is bigger. I know I have 66 miles of mainline plus three branch lines. My roster I know is much bigger. At the time of abandonment locomotives 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 were on roster but the last ten years of operation only the 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 18, and 26 saw service. The 20 and 21 were to large and expensive to operate at the end (2-6-6-2) and so were the 22-24 (my version of K-27). I have a VERY large imagination. The ET&S splits off of the Pennsy at Ryde Pa and heads north.

-How many hopper cars did the EBT own?

As far as steel hopper cars, 279 max at one time, 285 total. Wood hoppers existed up until the 1940's and the steel one started arriving in 1913. I don't have numbers for them.

-Were 6 locomotives the most they had on roster at one time?

1912 and 1920 the roster peaked in number at about 12 each year.

-Generally how long were the coal trains and how often did they run in a day?

16 cars for #12, 18 for #14 and #15 and 22 for #16-#18, plus a caboose or combine.

-Two or three a day?

More like five or more. Depends on what you consider a train, as the same "train" may have had several numbers as it moved about the line. I'm not an expert on the train movements though.

-why did they never try outside frame locomotives?

Don't know. Never showed any interest in it. May have been too heavy for the EBT rail as #16 taxed it to the limit when it arrived in 1916.

-Does the steam engine in the shop still work and the machinery?

No. Shafts are out of alignment and leather belts have dried out. Parts are removed from the engine for safe keepeing and there is no steam to operate it on. All is fiaxable, many years down the road.

Ok so if my railroad ran two trains at around 40-50 cars with the 2-6-6-2 and a K-27 helper I would be moving about the same amount of coal. Seems like I'll have to add a third train to lighten the load. Thanks for the info.

-Eric

Hello all,

Getting back to the original topic of this thread. What are good strategies to follow to slow the deterioration of rail that is abandoned in place (such as on the EBT). I would think that clearing away plants and organic matter periodically would be a good idea to reduce the number of places where moisture can acculmulate. Would this indeed have a significant impact on preserving the rail?

Tom Cornillie

I doubt the rail would be affected much unless it is near the shore. We have early 1900 rail in excellent shape because of it's location, but we also have some from the shore area that is rusted through where it sat on the tie plates. The ties on the other hand would be the worse for wear if they were constantly subjected to high moisture.

Later!
Mr. Ed

In my humble opinion, one ought to deal with vegetation, maintain a presence (i.e., hi-rail or speeder inspections) and fending off encroaching development.

In Council Bluffs, Iowa, there's a former Wabash right-of-way that was abandoned and acquired by the city. The rails were long gone, but the property was mowed regularly over the years. The city announced plans not long ago that they were going to put a trail in, which was followed by residents crying because they built structures on that former Wabash property and didn't want the public walking near the structures. I don't believe this is going to be much of a problem for the installation of the trail, but if one were talking about reastablishing rail service, then you'd have some hurdles.

Gerald W. Kopiasz

Even now, they still have 7 steam locos, 1 is Standard gauge. 6 narrow gauge and 2 Standard gauge steam locos were on hand at the end of freight service in April, 1956; one of the standard gauge engines went to a tourist line in Indiana years later. Not all 6 narrow gauge locos ran at the end of freight service in early April, 1956; at one time recently, 4 were available for tourist service, one of those had not been available for service in April, 1956.According to photos in "Railfan" mag., the last time 2 narrow gauge steam freight trains passed on the line was the last Wednesday of March, 1956. The few "Main Line" trains after that were one at a time, but there must have been some switching, at least with a standard gauge loco. The homemade Brill motor car combine might also have been running at the same time as a freight train, it did make some trips after the end of freight service until the untreated ties decayed. (It also made one trip as far as the new high school near Pogue about 1960 to prove that there was still a railroad where the new driveways were to be built!)

The Western Railway Museum owns 22 miles of right of way that was essentially abandoned in place from the 1960s.

This was 60 pound Interurban rail from about 1912. Our mild California weather did not do much to the rails. But the museum has been replacing ties at a fast rate ever since we bought the rails and hardware.

You cut back the weeds so a speeder can go by and then you go from there.

Ted Miles