For those familiar with the Steaming Tender in Palmer, MA, some might be aware of the Porter on display. Well, this came through yesterday, and it appears there are individuals out there who'll be sprucing the old girl up. This statement was put out on the Steaming Tender's facebook page;

I wonder, but are there any pictures of that porter or a similar engine in service? Better yet, what similarities are there between the Porter in Palmer and some of the other survivors (Like the one on the Valley Railroad for example)?

Hi all
Here is Southern Sand & Gravel , before the fake stack , and Hubbardston, Mass flea market . At Agawam , Mass sitting in a field , with a Rutland Caboose behind her. Slide taken Sept 15th 1990 by me .

Daylight 4449: Can you be a little more specific. Who is heading up this project, assuming responsibility and what is he/they looking to accomplish on this project? Contact info would be a help.

That's the thing Bill, but I haven't had any luck in tracking down contact info for this Scott character... I'm working on finding out the exact plan, and I'll pass along what I learn. I'm also curious whether there is a funding plan, but I do believe that Blake and Robin Lamothe (the current owners) still have many of the components in storage in the Steaming Tender's basement, so not much needs to be found in the means of jewelry.

The only Scott I know of in the steam restoration business would be Scott Lindsay of Steam Operations Corp:

http://www.steamoperations.com/

Regarding the shot in Agawam in the field. The equipment is actually sitting on the former ROW of the Central New England Springfield Branch. Much of the row is still visible in the area and is easily seen from the parallel RT187 when the foliage is gone.

I talked to Scott Lindsay on Monday and he didn't mention anything about this project. I would suspect that this is a local volunteer

I'd also expect that "restoration" means a patch and paint job.

dave

Some news from the front... Looks like I'll be out in Palmer Sunday as the crew, Iron Horse Enterprises, takes that horrid sheet metal stack off. I'll be taking some pictures of the work (I'll be sure to share them here) and helping take the blasted thing off. As for the restoration scope, at the very least it's a full cosmetic job; new jacketing, metal work, greasing the parts, paint, the whole nine yards. But they're doing some tests on the boiler to determine the feasibility of restoring 104 to steam some time down the road. My understanding from the Q&A some time back was that Blake and Robin Lamothe, the owners of the Steaming Tender and 104, want to eventually set up an operation similar to Clark's Trading Post on some property they own nearby... How that will fall is beyond me. Oh, and here's the group's Facebook page. Might be the best way to get in contact...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iron-Hor ... 5133428825

My wife and I had lunch at the Steaming Tender back in 2005, when we were back East visiting her cousins in Newton, Mass. One day during our visit, the cousin announced that we were going out to lunch, "at a place that Bob will enjoy." Not only did we see the relics and have lunch in a wonderful old depot, the local shortline did a bit of switching with some old EMD Geeps. A photo of 104 with its bogus smokestack shows up on our "screensaver" rotation every now and then. There's also a steam tractor on display.

Iron Horse Engineering has successfully pulled that horrid stack off the Porter. Kelly Buffman took some pictures for the project, as I was unable to make the run out due to a nail in my back tire... Damn good work from all involved!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 825&type=1