I thought that some might be interested in our experiences at the 2007 Lackawanna Railfest. I was accompanied by my wife, Margaret, who has acquired some railfan enthusiasm from me, and my mother, age 75. Mom is not a railfan, but she enjoys an occasional excursion trip, even long ones. Along with my father (now deceased) she introduced me to this hobby in
1962 on the Reading Rambles, when I was 3 years old.

I did not take notes, and I am writing this from memory on Monday. I hope you will not mind if I misremember some of the details.

We arrived at Steamtown on Saturday at 5:50 AM. It was pleasant to find the gates open early. Immediately an intriguing sight drew our eye, the E-8's idling by the roundhouse with marker lights on. Here was an opportunity for a poor-man's night photo shoot. 3254 was soon rolled onto the turntable in the floodlit dark.

We immediately found out there was a problem with the camera. It would not focus zoomed in. An examination showed something missing from the end of the lens barrel. When we got home we found what was missing: the main objective lens! I don't know how the camera could focus at all, but we managed to get some shots.



I had not been to Steamtown for several years, and we did not remember how to get to the boarding area. After some searching we found someone to direct us over to the pedestrian crossing to the boarding area.

We waited as 3254 and NKP 514 arranged the train and pulled in to the boarding area. Although we did not know it yet, at this point a problem developed. It was about 6:30, the published time for boarding. However, the crew was still making up the train. While a trainman in an orange vest was saying 'No one is to board yet, don't get on, we're not ready for boarding" and similar statements, several over-enthusiastic fans were clambering on board (at a stair with no stool) behind his back. When he turned around and noticed this, he hustled on after them and gave them an angry talking-to, but he let them stay. Then he came back and said to everyone still waiting, "You're only allowed to board where there's a stool." The rest of us interpreted this to mean it was now ok to board at any stair where there was a stool. The crowd headed down a few cars, and we boarded at a step box, where two Steamtown personnel in their green jackets flanked the box. They said nothing as we boarded. In fact none of us should have been boarding, as they were still making up the train! As we sat down, I heard another move and couple being arranged over my scanner.

Boarding was halted and they finished making up the train. Remaining passengers were allowed to board, and our car soon filled up. We were in the 303 combine, the seventh car, followed by the three private cars. At this point, the conductor arrived in our car, practically blowing steam himself. He was upset, rightly so, with the premature unsafe boarding and stated if there were any further transgressions by the passengers, the run-by would be cancelled. The passengers, most of whom had not boarded early, took this well. (My mother chided two of the ones who had boarded early, and they admitted they had been bad boys.) Better crowd control and coordination on the boarding platform is clearly needed.

The train was scheduled to leave at 7:00. At about 7:02 I heard on the scanner a request to please wait, as cars were still arriving in the parking lot. Personally, I did not mind waiting for the latecomers, it was a nice consideration. The train left at about 7:30, with 329 passengers aboard. (I heard the number reported on the radio.) When I asked I was told that there were only six seats unsold, but our car was not full. Either people did not show or the chasers bought tickets.

Our car host, Bill Clark, did a good job of keeping us informed about what was happening with the train, and what we were expected to do. Bill along with Tim O'M. put together a nice pamphlet about the trip, that was mailed out with the tickets. The included map was a nice feature that allowed everyone to see where we were on the route and what was next.

This trip had what was for me an unusual feature: At each grade crossing, there was a Park Service car with a ranger who was chasing the train. I was told he was there to protect several crossings that did not have gates, and to provide EMT services to supplement the EMT on the train.

In the morning 3254 was on the east end of the train, behind the diesels. Going up the grade, it worked hard enough to be heard from the seventh car, several times.

There was a brief stop at Tobyhanna to check bearing temperatures on 3254.

I was seated on the right side of the train, heading east. About the time we passed the grain mill near Pocono Summit, every time the train curved to the left, the next car would emit a shower of orange sparks from near the truck or battery box. I brought this to the attention of one of the volunteers in the baggage section of our car. I was told an inspection would be made at the next stop, but I never saw it happen. This car developed a thump, like a flat wheel, during the trip. I think the sparking developed before we started braking for the descent on the east side of the mountain. I've never seen this before, but I am not a railroader. Should I have been concerned?

We stopped at Cresco to pick up passengers; I believe they had two coaches reserved for them. No one came into our car at that stop.

There was a stop at East Stroudsburg to drop 3254, and then we pulled down into the Water Gap. I believe we stopped at CP Gravel to put one of the DL diesels on the other end. We then pulled back to East Stroudsburg, unloaded at the former station, and the train pulled away. That was at 11:00. We were told departure at East Stroudsburg would be at 12:50 PM, sharp. This became important to us shortly.

The former East Stroudsburg station is now a restaurant called Danbury Station, with a reported capacity of 250. Going down it was visibly empty, but on unloading it quickly filled to capacity. We got the last booth in the bar and invited another couple to join us. While we were waiting, we could watch other, less fortunate passengers entering the Diner and Pizza joints across the street, finding them full, and leaving again. The restaurant was not prepared for this giant surge of customers, but there's really no way they could be. Around 11:45, we were able to order. We were attended by a very nice, but very harried waitress. There was much looking at watches and speculation about whether we would be finishing lunch on the train. Soup was delivered by the waitress around 12:15, and the rest of our food around 12:35. Fortunately we were hungry enough to finish in about 10 minutes. We would have liked to have had a chance to see East Stroudsburg, but maybe another time.

The train arrived back at about 12:40, with 3254 on the front and the private cars relocated to the back. This made our car, 303, the first car.

Fortunately, the train did not leave at 12:50. This left time for photographs at East Stroudsburg. There was an enthusiastic crowd of non-riders looking at the train. The fire department did not start running the hydrant for clean water until about 1:10. and it took some time to clear so 3254 could be topped off. If there was any actual
intention to leave sooner, the fire department would have to have started sooner. Perhaps they were the source of the delay. In any case, I don't think anyone objected leaving a little late.

3254 pulled out of town with an authoritative bark, and it was fun proceeding up the grade, blowing for all the grade crossings. There were a couple slips getting started. After topping out at an estimated 30 mph, we slowed to about 15-20 going up the hill.

Wanting to make up time, the decision was made to do the run-by at Cresco, so that only one stop and unloading would be required. The run-by had originally been planned for Paradise curve. As it turned out, if they had not changed it, I don't think we would have made the location without help.

The run-by at Cresco had very little in the way of crowd control. We were instructed when to cross the tracks to the sunny side, and when to cross back, and that was about it. No formal photo line was set up. One idiot attempted to set up a video camera on the ballast, in the way of most of the photographers and had to be chased back. This was due to
being too close, and not because he was in the way of photography. I asked why so little crowd control was done and was told it was due to "the railroad" changing the location of the run-by.

The run by was fun and exciting, although they couldn't get up much speed because of the grade. They had originally planned to do it without the private cars, but because they were running late, decided not to drop them. This also slowed the engine down some. We really appreciated that they did a run-by, we don't get many any more. The last one I saw was the 2102 in Port Clinton.

Leaving Cresco, we slipped several times getting started. Crossing what I believe was Devil's Hollow Rd, there is an "S" curve left and right. Apparently the curves drastically increase the resistance of the train. Making the crossing halfway through the curves, we slipped four times in quick succession. There were lots chasers at the crossing and I thought
they got a real show from the slips. Directly after the curves we started to slip and recover, slip and recover, each time going slower, until we stopped. The man in front of Margaret said "That's it, we're done." The engineer attempted to drift back, gather slack and get going again, but couldn't make it. After one attempt the conductor told him to set the brakes, and sent for the Diesels.

Many of us in car 303 immediately suggested doubling the hill as consistent with Steamtown's mission to demonstrate railroad operations. The less charitable suggested simply cutting off the three heavyweight private cars and continuing without them. Bill Clark did not think they could get away with leaving the boss (who was in one of the private cars) behind. I don't know if Steamtown should have known in advance that there was too much tonnage to make it over the hill with 3254 alone.

The Diesels arrived after about 15-20 minutes, it was not a long wait. They took us up to Tobyhanna, where they cut off. We were in Tobyhanna at around 4:30 pm. At Tobyhanna there was a crew change and the Fire Dept. topped off 3254 again. I don't know who was on the departing crew, but they looked very tired. I appreciate the hard work they did, giving us a nice ride.

The rest of the trip a was a pleasant run across the Pocono plateau and down into the gorge to Scranton. I believe we arrived back about 6:00 pm.

The next day we arrived at 9:00 am to discover that the trip to Moscow had been cancelled due to the unfortunate derailment. Given that the derailment occurred while putting the train away, I have to wonder if fatigue was a factor. I know the engine crew changed at Tobyhanna, but did the rest of the train crew change? And how much rest had the replacement engine crew had before reporting in Tobyhanna?

We attended a couple tours by Pat McKnight, Steamtown's historian. Pat had a tour of Mattes St. Tower, and the sand drier. We were allowed to enter both structures and look around. It was not obvious to me, but Pat told us that you are allowed to walk up to the tower at any time. The basic restoration of Mattes St. Tower includes a replacement set of stairs to the second floor, a new roof and replacement windows. They also filled in the basement and removed the entrance. This was practical (they did it because vagrants, drug addicts and other unfortunates had been breaking in), but it isn't historical preservation. Hopefully, they will be able to continue the restoration with wainscoting, a simulated electro-pneumatic interlocking machine, desks and related furniture and equipment. Pat is very knowledgeable about the structures at Steamtown and it was a pleasure to attend his tours.

We also toured the cab of the Big Boy, which I had not seen before. The Steamtown Volunteer in the cab talked about the controls and was mostly correct as far as I know, except that he told us that the independent brake was not used except when the engine was running light. I did not contradict him. We were then ushered out directly because it was 3:00 pm and the exhibit was about to close. Their web page, Steamtown's printed hand out, and the display board at the information desk had all said it would be open from 2:00 to 4:00, but someone had decided that it was actually supposed to be from 1:00 to 3:00. A ranger arrived to relieve the volunteers, and made a compromise to accommodate the waiting line by
keeping it open to 3:30. Is there some kind of bureaucratic infighting within Steamtown that could explain this absurd contradiction?

The closing ceremony "A Salute to Steam" at 4:30 was cancelled due to the derailment. 2317 was still available and steaming, so I'm not sure why the cancellation was necessary. The ranger I asked did not know any details about the cancelled ceremony.

One thing I learned in the course of the weekend was to be diplomatic in the way I phrased questions and comments to Steamtown personnel that might be considered critical. I think they have received a lot of possibly unfair criticism in the past and it has made them sensitive. I believe I managed not to offend anyone.

On the train and walking around we met many fellow railfans. I enjoyed speaking with everyone.

We did not have time to see everything at the Railfest that we wanted to see, and I suppose that is a good thing. We did have a very good time, and would love to do it again.

As a coda I'd like to mention our waitress in the Red Lobster in Dickson City, adjacent to Scranton, where we stopped for dinner on Sunday. She asked what we did on our visit to Scranton, and when we told her we went to Steamtown, she thought we meant the mall. We explained about the National Park and the collection of railroad equipment, which she had never heard of. She had lived in Scranton for three years, but she was not aware of the park behind the mall. We also told her about the Electric City trolley. Her son, age 4, loves trains and she will be taking him to the park soon.

Mark Trebing

Hi, Mark:
Thank you for your report. You certainly explained it in a diplomatic manner, and pointed out a few items we need to take care of.

Cancelling the "Salute to Steam" seems appropriate after a weekend where diesels were center stage in every event. I would suggest that NPS needs to take a look at the internet coverage and see what equipment was gathering all the press. They might learn a lot about the modern audience. This event demonstrated that historic diesels can draw a sizeable crowd at Steamtown. The one fully capable steam locomotive didn't get much attention until it fell down on the hill and then was stuck outside the yard by the derailment.

Maybe it is time NPS recognized that early diesels were a part of their "Steam Era Railroading" for several decades. By doing so they could find ways to properly include them in their events rather than making excuses for why they always end up needing to use them. It might generate additional attendance all the time, not just on special event weekends. It would also present a more balanced and truthful view of railroad history. Well, that's just my humble opinion.

MX

Tim,

I hope that one of the messages that gets back to the brass is "do it again!"

One suggestion I might make is to have special short train rides, maybe from the boarding platform up to St. John street and back so the kids get a little fast running and the tunnel. The all day, and even 2.5 hour trips, can be too much for a little one looking for a taste of steam.

The open shop, Mattes Street tower tours, Big Boy cab, etc... were really cool.

And so was another chance for dinner at the Banshee! ;-)

Rob

All day from Scranton to the Water Gap and back? I seem to recall the Erie Lackawanna doing the Water Gap to Scranton very quickly with three SD45s on a van train. Of course that was 35 years ago. Railroading has advanced a lot since then. Or has it?

MX

MX,

Railroading has advanced, but there were things the EL (and other northeastern roads) did 35 years ago, that would make one cringe today. I suspect that the track was in a bit better shape then; faster running on crummier track was also much more common 35 years ago.

The population of the Poconos has exploded since 1972, and once-quiet and rural grade crossings are now busy roads, not all with active (gates and flashers) protection. The trees have grown in and limited visibility at crossings, too.

Add to that the fact that the route is not run regularly for passenger trains, and when one does venture past Moscow, they seem to be rather cautious.

What are the current timetable track speeds for the line in question? Does anyone here have that info?

Howard P.

That's for sure Howard. I am old enough to remember some of that in northeast railroading. The trains ran fast on bad track, and the wrecks were more spectacular!

One neat thing about sections of the old DL&W main is that the superelevation and wide curvature is so noticeable that it is hard to imagine that trains cannot do 70+ on it today. It was a pretty well engineered road (or should I say re-engineered since the big jobs were improvements to the original) but it still had some back-breakers... the curves at Devils Hole being the most cited example.

Were you on the infamous #759/Devils Hole trip? I am sure I read about it one of your books, yes?

Rob

In a shot answer to the speed question...

The maximum speed on the Pocono Main is 40 MPH in locations specified in our timetable. 30 in others (most notable: Scranton to Moscow) and 25 on the winding eastern slope of the Pocono grade. Steamtown operates within a self-imposed 25 MPH speed limit.

Also, the runby location was changed when everyone realized that with the absence of the 2317 as the second engine, the train would not be able to pull out of that location after a dead stop. Which was the case, since thats about where they stalled.

Dave Crosby

Intresting story. I wonder if what you saw on the trip the day before with regard to the sparks, flat wheel, etc. had anything to do with the derailment the following day?

The sparks that led to the flat wheel came from coach 613, 2nd from the 3254, whereas coach 550, 6th from 3254 derailed. I was not on the train, so I can't say what led to what, but the different cars had different outcomes. Both are DL&W Boonton branch coaches.

Were any worthwhile lessons learned from the event that might benefit organizations planning similar projects in the future?

I recently heard that the attendance at the programs in the auditorium on Saturday (held in competition with the fantrip) was extremely disappointing. Would they do it this way again if the opportunity arose or would they organize it differently next time?

Maybe I am missing the point of RYPN but it seems to me learning what works well and what does not work well in organizing a large and expensive event is potentially valuable and useful information.

MX