A couple of weeks back, I watched an installment of "Trains and Locomotives" on RFDTV called "The Rise and Fall of the Morris County Central Railroad", from Hopewell Video Productions.

A sad story, but at the end, it sounded like 2-8-0 #385 and the 0-6-0 (#4039?) might still be around. Does anyone know their current location, condition and status?

Hopewell Productions
brianf425@yahoo.com

> A sad story, but at the end, it sounded like
> 2-8-0 #385 and the 0-6-0 (#4039?) might
> still be around. Does anyone know their
> current location, condition and status?

4039 is back in Whippany at the Whippany Railway Museum. Last I knew 385 was at the Bergen County Vocational- Technical School.

Martyhuck@aol.com

4039 is to be restored it currently needs major firebox repairs +part 230 compliance work. 385 has been moved from Bergen tech to indoor storage some where in N.Jersey

lastrailfan@aol.com

I believe I've seen a photo of the 385 in the Spencer backshop in the late 1940s. Good place to send it back to.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007q0X
ryarger@rypn.org

Happy Holidays All

Brian there were some other engines associated with the Morris County Central that are still around also.

DL&W 2-6-0 #565 was stored online for a time and is now at Steamtown.

An ex CP 4-6-0 at one time owned by O. Winston Link was on the line as well, it is now at a hobby store in Utica.

A small four wheel critter and a small tank engine were also there and should be around somewhere as is an old railbus.

Dave Crosby


bing@epix.net

MCC 385 is stored indoors at the Worthington Corporation plant in Harrison, NJ (within view of the NYC skyline). Supposedly it is owned by Joe Supor, Frank Vopasek and possibly others. The transfer of the engine's ownership was explained to me by an insider which I will refrain from recounting here. There was some talk circulating a few years back that the engine was to go to the New Hope and Ivyland in Pennsylvania, but nothing ever transpired. I would love to see this engine return to Spencer; it would be a rare instance of a class 1 road engine returning to its former home facility--what better interpretation than that?!

Has Spencer ever pursued acquisition of this engine? I know that they are aware of its existence.

> 4039 is to be restored it currently needs
> major firebox repairs +part 230 compliance
> work. 385 has been moved from Bergen tech to
> indoor storage some where in N.Jersey

Has Spencer ever pursued acquisition of this
engine? I know that they are aware of its
existence.

Kurt, It was placed on a list of equipment "to keep an eye on" (incidentally, along with ACL 4-6-0 1031, ACL E3 501 and a SR GP30, which all came to fruition) about 1990.

Prior to its transfer to the vocational school, we made an effort to repatriate the engine, but that was not successful.

Afterwards, with it in the hands of folks doing something with it--the vocational school--we did not make an active effort to go after it. About the same time, SR 542, another Spencer engine, became available, and it came onto the roster. With it in hand, BC&G 4 needing a new firebox and 1925 underway, there was just no money to go after yet another steam engine.

Bob is right. There is a nice David Driscoll photo of it in the Back Shop during overhaul in the book that Duane Galloway and I did on the history of the shop complex. It has always haunted me, because I've never seen the 385. I saw scores of pictures of it on the MCC as a kid growing up, but it was out of service before I reached traveling age.


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

> Happy Holidays All

> Brian there were some other engines
> associated with the Morris County Central
> that are still around also.

> DL&W 2-6-0 #565 was stored online for a
> time and is now at Steamtown.

> An ex CP 4-6-0 at one time owned by O.
> Winston Link was on the line as well, it is
> now at a hobby store in Utica.

> A small four wheel critter and a small tank
> engine were also there and should be around
> somewhere as is an old railbus.

> Dave Crosby

They owned a former NYSW Whitcomb which is now restored as NYS&W 150 at the Whippany Railway Museum. Second critter was a Plymouth now owned by the NYS&W Technical & Historical Society. It's been lettered "NYSW 18" and is used as their shop switcher in Butler, NJ.

I agree with Kurt. It would be great to see the 385 head to Spencer.

Doens't the museum in Monticello(sp?)have a sister to the 385? 401 I think? Would that engine be any easier to get than the 385?

Happy Holiday!

-Alan Levy

alanl759@aol.com

> I agree with Kurt. It would be great to see
> the 385 head to Spencer.

> Doens't the museum in Monticello(sp?)have a
> sister to the 385? 401 I think? Would that
> engine be any easier to get than the 385?

> Happy Holiday!

> -Alan Levy
If the Great Smoky Mountains tourist railroad ever goes all steam and builds the roundhouse and turntables like they say will be coming in the next 10 years than I can think of no better place for 385 and 401 than to be steaming stablemates of Southern 722.The GSMR could be the standard gauge equvilant of the Durango & Silverton or Cumbres & Toltec Scenic with home rails steam.Maybe later the Southern 2-8-0 154 at Knoxville,Tenn and the ex-Smoky Mountain,nee Southern 107 at Pigeon Forge,Tenn could be brought over the mountains.

wink638@aol.com

> If the Great Smoky Mountains tourist
> railroad ever goes all steam and builds the
> roundhouse and turntables like they say will
> be coming in the next 10 years than I can
> think of no better place for 385 and 401
> than to be steaming stablemates of Southern
> 722.The GSMR could be the standard gauge
> equvilant of the Durango & Silverton or
> Cumbres & Toltec Scenic with home rails
> steam.Maybe later the Southern 2-8-0 154 at
> Knoxville,Tenn and the ex-Smoky Mountain,nee
> Southern 107 at Pigeon Forge,Tenn could be
> brought over the mountains.

As nice as they would be to see those engines at GSMR, my guess is that it would never happen. With the grades and curves on that line, those engines wouldn't be able to pull much. Southern used the Ks engines there until the end of steam, but the Ks 2-8-0s are a lot bigger than either 385, 401 or 154.

Kevin

k_gilliam@bellsouth.net

Doens't the museum in Monticello(sp?)have a
> sister to the 385? 401 I think? Would that
> engine be any easier to get than the 385?

> Happy Holiday!

> -Alan Levy

Alan,

The folks at Monticello are taking the long-view on 401... going to the point of building a new boiler for her. I haven't gotten a recent update, but last I heard, they had the steel, a contractor and were in the process of having the courses rolled. So, they're planning on hanging onto her for a while.

Jim



http://nctrans.org
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