OK, back to the CPR 1200s....

1201 ran for a number of years in Canada, last about 1990-91, I think. Now back on display at National Museum of Canada at Ottawa.

1238/1286 last operated in 1993 on the C&O, now stored unserviceable in Virginia.

1278 last operated in 1995 at Gettysburg (the notorious incident), sold to Dr. Jacobson and stored unserviceable at Morgan Run, OH since the late 1990s

1293 is owned by Dr. Jacobson and is operational in Ohio.

1246 is in Thomaston, CT, unservicable, owned by RMNE.

Six survive out of 102 built.

Howard P.
MP 6, NAUG

It's pretty remarkable that all of the survivors have seen port steam era action. I have heard they most were low or zero miles after major rebuilds.

Plus the design factor, as exemplified by 1278. 1201 toured the Canadian Pacific in the early 90's and is, indeed, back in storage (indoors) at Ottawa. The curator told me it has a question about the suspension. They do not wish to operate the locomotive until that issue is resolved, if the money should become available for those types of repairs.

I want to see 1278 brought back up. She was a favorite of all those who operated her.

I'm just going to say this to set the record straight. Jerry was never an MD.

Always though an HO scale model of these, plastic, would be a good seller. I'd get at least two.

Joshua

[quote="Richard Glueck"]Plus the design factor, as exemplified by 1278.[/quote]

If I'm not mistaken, the only obvious design feature distinguishing 1278 from the other survivors is the Elesco feedwater heater that was added by Nelson Blount, ironically making the locomotive look "more Canadian" in a not-unattractive way.

Is the resulting "design factor" preferable to the authentic one? Perhaps to some. But whenever the hot-rodded version of a given steam locomotive (other randon examples over the years being the "Southernized" C&O Kanahwa and the "de-Europeanized" S-160 in Tennessee) is presented to a general public that doesn't know any better, it strikes me that railway preservation betrays a peculiar discord with our comparatively self-disciplined counterparts in the preservation of antique cars, boats, airplanes, etc.

(Insert the usual "but it's part of the history of the locomotive" apologias and justifications here.)

G.J.C.

"Plus the design factor, as exemplified by 1278"

i think the design factor was the "explosion" didnt completely destroy the locomotive, i remember reading that it had something to do with the way the crownsheet was installed in the loco that didnt destroy it completely

George, I was referring to the crown sheet, venting downward through the firebox, which was a design feature applied to each of the locomotives. The Elesco water heater was not unattractive, but it never appealed to me, as I tend to prefer locomotives in their original design fabric.

Ross Rowland once responded to a question of mine by stating, he was appalled by the condition of the cab of 1278 after the Gettysburg disaster. A locomotive he had loved to operate, responsive, and modern, was a horror of shortcuts and crud. Here, I paraphrasing. My guess is, she'll be torn down to her individual pipes and gauges, and everything will require detailed cleaning and examination. Now, how a locomotive that Ross ran on the high iron and operated at Steamtown, could be reduced to what it became at Gettysburg, is beyond me. This locomotive still has life in it, and I hope she's fired once more.

I was asked to inspect the Gettysburg property by a prospective buyer shortly after the awful incident with the G-5. I was appalled at the general condition of all the rolling stock on the property and of course by the condition of the steamer.

Many of the in service passenger cars were operating with serious and very obvious air brake defects, most of the paper work was either out of date or knowingly falsified, and the general condition of the G-5 was awful and that's a kind word. In example the scale had completely closed off the water glasses so that an accurate reading of water level in the boiler was impossible. Lord only knows when it had gotten a real boiler wash. It's no wonder it couldn't take the abuse anymore.

At that time I wondered how a property that was supposedly under the watchful eye of the Federal man could have been allowed to get to this point?

I guess we need to be grateful that it led to the new FRA reg's and not a shut-down of the industry.

Unfortunatly the client disregarded our strong advice to not buy the place and eventually sold out at a substantial loss.

At least the engine is now in the hands of someone who cares and has the resources to fix her should the spirit so move him!!

Merry Christmas.

Ross Rowland

I have to agree with Ross. I have always felt the FRA had to share part of the blame for this accident. As had many other prople, I knew how the equipment and railroad were maintained for nearly all the years it operated. When I worked on or rode the steam engines at GETY I would wait until my hosts and friends were out of sight so I would not insult them and inspect the firebox, test the tricocks and water glass, and the injectors or waterpump. I was not going anywhere if I found something wrong. The condition of the equipment was fairly common knowlege and I know for a fact that included FRA inspectors. A couple of them told me so.

Knowing this I think it was the responsibility of the inspector to demand to see all the water spindles and inspect the inside of the boiler each year as best he can. For at least the last 2 years the 1278 ran the waterpump gage did not work. For at least the pervious year and possibly 2, I just do not remember, the lights were powered by a Honda generator riding on the tender behind the coal bunker. Evidently the FRA never bothered to inspect the engine while running or they would have found these defects.

As for the mechanical condition of the 1278, the engine had been run for a lot of years and a lot of miles since its last overhaul, probably on the CPR. The tires were worn hollow and the trailing truck had a flange that was getting near the limit. Perhaps it was both flanges, I am not sure. These tires were also very hollow. There is no way all of these miles were put on 1278 by the Gettysburg. The wear and tear were a product of all who had operated the engine since the last overhaul. A contractor had put in flues a few years before so I would guess that was the last time the boiler was throughly cleaned.

John Bohon

That's a really worrisome statement made by John's posting above. If the Federal guys shared with him that they in fact were aware of the deplorable conditions extant at the Gettysburg RR and allowed those conditions to persist then they were certainly an important piece of the incident.

Another mystery is how the FRA allowed the same operater to continue running a seperate property where I'm told ( I never visited it) the same slip-shod conditions existed???

Oh well, at least he's now gone from the business and out of the whole mess the industry got an improved set of Regs instead of a shutdown so I guess we need to be thankful.

IMHO-Ross Rowland

You know, I used to tell a certain select few chosen folks who knew and understood what I was talking about that the Gettysburg RR in the 1980s was an "absolute time capsule" of the "bad old days" of the 1950's, warts and all, run exactly like a lot of the old short lines that held on to steam right up to the last minute possible--Edgemoor & Manetta, Virginia Blue Ridge, Mississippian, Rockton & Rion, Reader, etc. A few "old hands" who visited the railroad came back to me quietly shaking their heads in disbelief at how accurate I was. Hey, there's a freight car blocking the runaround track? No problem, let's just take it back to town with us on back of the passenger cars. You want the seats fixed? What, you think there's money from the farebox to do that? They want an open car? Just knock out the windows on that old clunker back there, or weld some benches to that double-deck rack flat........

I think the only thing missing from the 1950's were David P. Morgan and Phil Hastings riding along, with other fans in their wake climbing on the back of the tender for the ride..........