The caption of this photos says Detroit and Mackinaw #8 is next in line after the 4-4-0 is restored. There are some other great photos in the set if you scroll through. I've always wanted to get there but have not yet made it. They appear to be a well run organization.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jterry618/3824185502/

Greenfield Village is a wonderful place, and I'm amazed that place doesn't get more attention. The village itself is very interesting, and from a photography aspect, there are some great shots to be had of the railroad.

I made a trip over there on Saturday during Trainfestival, since the weather just wasn't supposed to be good anywhere, and the Friday chase lines on 4449 were insane. It seemed to be the best option, since there was a museum if it was raining, and the railroad/village if it was dry. As it turned out, both the "Torch Lake" #3 (Mason-Bogie 0-6-4) and the "Edison" #1 (4-4-0) were steamed up. The Torch Lake was on the regular train, and for whatever reason, they coupled the Edison onto a few of the freight cars (authentically painted!) and started following the regular train around. Talk about a pleasant surprise, and a BIG Thank You to the Greenfield Village crews!

After conversing with a few people at the Night Photo Session back in Owosso that night, nobody had ever heard of a freight running at Greenfield Village. Greenfield Village was aware of Trainfestival, but the freight run definitely wasn't advertised--and to the best of my knowledge--nobody else showed up that day.

It's hard to believe a place this great gets overshadowed by the railfan populace.
Kevin

I had to be in Detoit last month (during Trainfest, but I did not attend,) and visited the Henry Ford/Greenfield Village...

It is a great site... the displays and interpretation at the roundhouse were really good (for non railfans) We could all learn from the site.

Yeah Kevin, thanks for posting these again so I can see what I missed. Arghhh haha

I am to please--or cause you misery. Take your pick!

Expanding on what Randy said though, Greenfield Village could teach a lesson to many operations on how to present a museum to the public. Think Disney World applied to earth 20th Century Americana. Spotless grounds, meticulous landscaping, plenty of signs and pointers. Basically, a very well maintained museum, that does a very good job of making you feel that you are in an early 1900s village.

Most railroad museums aren't working the same size budget, but first impressions mean a LOT to the casual visitor. Many museums and operations, both rail and otherwise, could learn from Greenfield Village/The Henry Ford.

We decided to run a freight that Saturday to put on a show for overflow visitors from Trainfest in Owosso since we were unable to attend with any of our locomotives. I was the Engineer for the day on the freight, we ran it for about 6 hours. Many people followed us around most of the day. We are glad you all enjoyed seeing it!

Wish you could have ran another six hours Sunday Matthew hah. I always make it a point to stop by the Village when in Mi. You guys do a great job!

Matthew -

Nice train! You might consider running a freight some time in the future and this time advertise that you plan to do so. Maybe add a wooden caboose on the end. You do have one don't you?

Les

The Flickr photo caption says "this 0-8-0 [sic] traveled under its own power in 1979". Traveled from where (if true)?

Actually true. Originally an industrial switcher, it was acquired and privately owned by the head of the Detroit & Mackinac RR, C.A. Pinkerton Jr., between 1969 and 1979. He donated it to the museum, and it operated under its own steam from its storage location (Tawas City?) to Dearborn as part of the donation. The transfer and run was covered in Railfan Magazine back when it happened, I think an issue in late 1979.......

Daaaaaaaaaaaaannnngg, I was at Greenfield Village that Sunday of Train Fest. I had NO idea this little RR existed. I had spent the morning in the Ford Museum (outstanding !!) gawking at the Allegheny and other steam loco's and engines.

One of the volunteers was starting up their big Corliss and as I chatted with him, he told me about the RR in Greenfield Village. I caught some photos of the passenger train, then went back to the roundhouse and spent some time there. Neat little outfit ! I believe the track loop around the village is 3 miles (standard gauge). I was told by the docent, the roundhouse was moved there a few years ago and rebuilt (4 or 5 stall, can't recall). All-in-all, a little hidden gem of a RR ! 2 running steam engines, another 2 under restoration, a newly restored diesel yard goat, and a few other goodies :)

Yes, agree on the rest of the village, very nicely done, I spent the rest of the few hours I had roaming the sawmills, and machine shop area. There's a whole pile of old boilers sitting outside the machine shop. The machine shop is a wonderful place - all belt-driven (line shaft) equipment, all appears in working order. There's lathe setup where people can make little brass candlesticks and see how a lathe works. Very cool !!

Now realize, the Ford Museum and Greenfield Village have a LOT of $$$ to maintain all of this. Contrast that with most struggling RR museums. $$$ talks, obviously.

Mike

The D&M #8 (Baldwin 1914 ex Michigan Alkali #8) was hydro tested last winter and passed. The tender is currently under rebuild awaiting a new deck and some patches in the cistern. In that flickr photo you can see the cistern actually lies behind the tender frame. This project is mostly a wintertime task. Boiler work for DT&I (ex D&LN) 4-4-0 #7 (Baldwin 1897) is the current task on the roundhouse floor.

A couple of questions for the folks from Greenfield Village...

Is the Torch Lake running most of the passenger trains this summer, or does she swap out with the Edison every 31 days? I plan to visit in about a week and a half and was just wondering what I might see running?

Second question... Is it possible to watch the locomotive depart and return to the roundhouse, or does that happen outside of the village's operating hours?

Thanks!

/Kevin

I'm not a volunteer at the museum but I do visit quite a bit.

1) They run both trains at once, both pulling passengers or one pulling passenger cars and the other pulling freight. Pulling freight is more of a spur of the moment idea.

2) The Village closes at 5 pm and if you feel like waiting for the engines to drop off the passenger/freight cars and be filled up with coal and water; you can watch them be driven onto the turntable and put into the roundhouse (although one goes on a little piece of track next to the roundhouse, using the turntable of course!)