Last weekend, Ohio Central steam locomotive #1293 ran trips for the Byesville Scenic Railway between Byesville and Derwent, OH. The trips were operated push-pull with BSRY's GE 80-ton diesel #306.

The train ran four trips on both Saturday and Sunday, and most trips seemed to be relatively well attended. A photo album of the runs, shot by rail photographer Tom Swisher, can be found at:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=16700

(Note that those yellow C&O marker lamps are uh... not usual 1293 standard equipment.)

1293 was apparently the first steam locomotive through town since the 1950's, and many of the local folks came out to share a story and have a look. In all the nuts and bolts we get into here at RYPN, I sometimes forget the gratifying emotional effect a steam locomotive has on the public.

Speaking personally, I found the folks at BSRY to be extremely friendly and welcoming, and very professional. They obviously want their fledgling tourist operation to succeed. The presentation given in the coaches about the history of coal mining in the area and daily life of a miner was fantastic, and very interesting. Many of the people giving these talks are ex-miners themselves, adding a better touch of realism to the whole thing.

I hope that an event similar to this past weekend can happen again soon.

Tim Botti

Hey Tim,
Thanks for the update! It does my soul good to see 1293 out strutting her stuff. She looks GREAT!!! Wish I could say the same for the crew...
-Zahrt

Ouch!

Thanks Chris, I'll have you know I did warn the photographer about the effects my ugly mug could have on his camera, he elected to take the picture anyway!