Great job to you, Pete lerro and his wife and crew on transforming the 473 into the 382! AND, I was there the whole day and can not recall hearing the drivers slip the whole day. Not even a quarter turn.

As always, Strasburg does a great job!

Mark P
Frederick, MD

Mark,

She slipped a little bit, twice if I recall, during the runby's near the bridge. I agree 100% that the Lerro team and the Strasburg team did a GREAT job,

Rob

...except it's the 475

or did they change it twice? :P

Please forgive my ignorance of it all, but what all had to be done?

I know the spark arrestor was added and the numbers changed, but was there more?

And what was the significance of 382? It was the one in all the O Winston Link photos, right?

Ed, 382, along with 429, (and several others over the years) was one of the regular Abingdon Branch locomotives. 382 was the most photographed in later years. The regularly assigned Abingdon Branch M's were superheated, so they had a bit more "ooomph" on the steep grades than the other members of the class. In addition to the spark arrestor, they had extra plow/mud boards at the bottom of the pilot. Like most locomotives based out of Bristol, they had the running board edges painted either white or silver. (exposure to too much Southern power at the roundhouse ? :) ) Strasburg captured this look beautifully. As was usual with N&W steam, they were subjected to "musical tenders" over the years. I was lucky enough to ride the branch a couple of times right before it's abandonment. Strasburg's line is very reminiscent of the north end of the line in Washington County. All in all, a great job. I wish I'd been there

N&W #382 was the engine made famous in Link's "Green Cove" daytime photo on the Abingdon Branch with the horse and flat cart posed near the shed.

The charter evolved from "Let's do a small charter after the regular runs are done" to "Wouldn't it be cool if...". Pete, having experience and the knack for this kind of thing, put the plan into action rather quickly along with some assistance from Strasburg, a friend at the Bel-Del and the N&W Historical Society. I believe John Craft was contacted third party for assistance with the N&W stencils.

The Society provided schematics for the smoke arrestor which was then custom fabricated using part of a 55 gallon drum along with custom cut and welded sheets of steel. Strasburg fabricated the smoke stack grab irons which were secured with heavy duty magnets. They also added an extra 2nd railing on top of the pilot. Interestingly - the holes were there for the railing though 475 never had one.

Pete made available accomendations and a free ticket for the owner of the original whistle used on the 382 and that was mounted on the engine for the charter.

As mentioned, the psuedo steel lower plate was added to the pilot.

And of course, a cast number plate was obtained along with magnetic patches for the cab and numbers for the headlight glass.

The running boards were taped and painted white and later, a coating of ash, soot and grime was applied to the engine.

To the benefit of the railfan community, a last minute decision was made to repaint the tender back to N&W rather then to use magnetic patches. When 475 is back in service - look for this feature to remain! The rest of the parts are in the vault pending a future charter.

Here's a nice roster shot taken by Dennis Morgan that day:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=314296

/Mitch

Wow, I didn't know they went all out with the grabs, etc...

That is VERY awesome, and a great use of a very historically significant piece.

I'm surprised SRC isn't leaving some of the stuff on (like the white striping).

I'm also very into the fact that it was "weathered" like a model. Very cool stuff guys, my hat's off to everyone involved.