While the bigboys at Trainfest were great, I really dug FC 75 and crew... what a great little tanker and a great bunch of people, Steve, Kevin and even John Gramling who did the restoration work with his son.

They had a REAL NICE tri-fold brochure on the engine, a text panel and answered a ton of questions. Shuttling back and forth was great!

NCTM is sending SR GP30 2601 as its representative this year to Great Smoky Mountains Railroad's Railfest in Sept. Besides an info table at the show, the brochure and a text panel, what else would you do to share your engine and operation with the public? Jim

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

> While the bigboys at Trainfest were great, I
> really dug FC 75 and crew... what a great
> little tanker and a great bunch of people,
> Steve, Kevin and even John Gramling who did
> the restoration work with his son.

Of course Jim, its a VULCAN. Live long and prosper.

superheater62@yahoo.com

> NCTM is sending SR GP30 2601 as its
> representative this year to Great Smoky
> Mountains Railroad's Railfest in Sept.
> Besides an info table at the show, the
> brochure and a text panel, what else would
> you do to share your engine and operation
> with the public? Jim

Bring along a spare cylinder sleeve or better yet a piston if you have one. Nothing else conveys the sheer size of railway prime mover cylinders vs. auto and truck engines. The gearheads will really dig it.

Have your crew bring a complete set of railroader's basic clothes and tools. Explain how railroaders have to dress to do the job--lantern, steel toed boots, good watch with second hand, employee timetable. If possible, make it period stuff a la 1965 to go with the era of your GP-30, and evoke the very tail end of standard railroading.


eledbetter@rypn.org

> While the bigboys at Trainfest were great, I
> really dug FC 75 and crew... what a great
> little tanker and a great bunch of people,
> Steve, Kevin and even John Gramling who did
> the restoration work with his son.

> They had a REAL NICE tri-fold brochure on
> the engine, a text panel and answered a ton
> of questions. Shuttling back and forth was
> great!

> NCTM is sending SR GP30 2601 as its
> representative this year to Great Smoky
> Mountains Railroad's Railfest in Sept.
> Besides an info table at the show, the
> brochure and a text panel, what else would
> you do to share your engine and operation
> with the public? Jim

Well, if it was a diesel, I'd throw a large canvas over it and pray that no one noticed it. Or perhaps sponsor a "How many tin cans could be made from this diesel locomotive?" contest?



Steam Locomotive Notes
dougb@sunserver.com

I understand, Doug.. but it is of N.C., is of SR so those things make it bearable.. not to mention a commendable service record in WNC, that included long stints in the Murphy Branch.

It's 2 years younger than I am and already in a museum... says somethiing about the passage of time, doesn't it?! Jim

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

>Jim
If they had a museum for old reporters, you and I both would be featured...
Ron

http://www.svry.com
ronbrin@eoni.com

Live long and prosper?? I thought when steam was involved it was

"Live long and perspire.."


sutterd@hotmail.com

I'm waiting on them to start calling me "pappy" any day now... Jim

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

Al's Rail Photos
acp19809@yahoo.com

> If possible, make it period stuff a la 1965
> to go with the era of your GP-30, and evoke
> the very tail end of standard railroading.

You might swipe the idea of the new Smithsonian transportation exhibit and put the crew's gear and the power assembly in the bed of a 1962 Chevy pickup, with a label reading, "In 1962, if you had something to haul, General Motors would sell you either of these, depending on how MUCH you wanted to haul." People have trouble putting railroad equipment in whatever time line they have in their heads, but they recognize old cars. (One spectator at a demonstration of PM 1225 thought it dated to George Washington's time, so there's a lot of education to be done.)

With regard to your particular engine, the goal should be to answer the question, "Why am I looking at a GP-30?" even if the question is unspoken. Depending on what other equipment is on hand, you might stick it between an F-unit and a modern locomotive and make the point that the GP-30 was the transition between the first round of Diesels and modern ones. (If the 1962 pickup truck is a Corvair rampside, you could point out that some innovative ideas worked better than others.)

Wish I had some ideas for media other than labels, handouts, and actual people. Of these three, the last is by far the best if you have a real engineman to put in those pinstripes and Kromer.

- Aarne Frobom

> You might swipe the idea of the new
> Smithsonian transportation exhibit and put
> the crew's gear and the power assembly in
> the bed of a 1962 Chevy pickup, with a label
> reading, "In 1962, if you had something
> to haul, General Motors would sell you
> either of these, depending on how MUCH you
> wanted to haul." People have trouble
> putting railroad equipment in whatever time
> line they have in their heads, but they
> recognize old cars. (One spectator at a
> demonstration of PM 1225 thought it dated to
> George Washington's time, so there's a lot
> of education to be done.)

> With regard to your particular engine, the
> goal should be to answer the question,
> "Why am I looking at a GP-30?"
> even if the question is unspoken. Depending
> on what other equipment is on hand, you
> might stick it between an F-unit and a
> modern locomotive and make the point that
> the GP-30 was the transition between the
> first round of Diesels and modern ones. (If
> the 1962 pickup truck is a Corvair rampside,
> you could point out that some innovative
> ideas worked better than others.)

> Wish I had some ideas for media other than
> labels, handouts, and actual people. Of
> these three, the last is by far the best if
> you have a real engineman to put in those
> pinstripes and Kromer.

> - Aarne Frobom

Aarne:

Good Points all. I have long desired to get a first generation road unit for our museum to give a comparison to the public of what type locomotive replaced our Kanawha 2-8-4. For instance, "this GP7 (or GP9 or F7 or RS3 or...) replaced the 2789 in service." It would lead to all kinds of other facts that could be presented. But to date, I have not been able to come up with a donated example. BUT, I will continue to try!

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)



midlandblb@cs.com

OK, so we took a few liberties...heck shatner and nimoy are milking it pretty good for priceline so...



superheater62@yahoo.com