http://mfmalk.zenfolio.com/p47324941

All,
Follow the link above to my pictures from the recent weekend out at Strasburg.
Click on "Slideshow at the top-right of the screen.

For a day the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside was transformed back to the 55-mile Abingdon Branch of the Norfolk & Western, where O. Winston Link captured the last steam railroad in America. A Lerro Productions photo charter, the night before 4-8-0 #475 was converted into #382 “the Virginia Creeper” with the addition of a smoke arrestor, smoke stack grab irons, modified pilot, number boards, graphics repainting, original whistle used on the #382, white running boards, and heavy weathering with soot and ash.

Was it cold out there? Silly question!

Enjoy,
Matthew

Nice stuff Matthew! I wished I made an effort to see if there were any other RYPN folks out there when I was shooting the plow train. We probably talked and stood next to each other shooting some of the photos.

Great shots! They really did a great job with the 475/382 makeover, and staged some amazing scenes with her, and I'm really kicking myself for not making the trip and getting in on this one. Looking at some of those photos it really isn't difficult to imagine that it really is the "Virginia Creeper" on the Abingdon branch, but in some of the other ones, especially those those first couple of pics with 475 and the plow and nothing but a desolate snowscape surrounding them, the setting looks more "Northern Pacific" than "Norfolk & Western"!

Question:

The whistle on the train allegedly came from the real N&W 382. Where does it normally reside, if that can be disclosed? Also, is that 382's original number plate, or a replica?

Richard: The magic of Photoshop, the first two desolate snowscape shots were taken looking uphill in a corn field. On the far side of the hill were the tops of silos and a few trees, which I felt distracted from the look and feel of the photo. Took all about a minute for them to disappear. Since I’m coming clean, the other image I digitally manipulated is #23, which is the night shot of the locomotive at the station with the three men and the truck. On the underside of roof overhang are a few modern day light fixtures, some conduit, and a public address speaker. They were gone in 3 minutes. All the other pictures were only tweaked for color, contrast, and brightness; and cropped accordingly. No tricks with #20, #27, and #31, which were shot through a Lensbaby.

Alexander: Pete Lerro, the organizer of the charter, made the public announcement that the whistle used on Saturday is the actual whistle which was on #382 during the 1950’s when O. Winston Link made his sound recordings. He did mention the gentleman who owns it and was in attendance, but I did not retain his name. The #382 numberplate is a replica and was manufactured for this event.

By clicking on “Home” at the top-left of my webpage it will lead to many other photo galleries, both standard and narrow gauge. Thank you all for taking the time to look at my pictures.
Matthew

382's whistle is the property of a gentleman from the Bristol area, Lee Alley. Lee was a fireman on the Abingdon Branch, and friend and neighbor of engineer Fitzhugh Nichols. Nichols gave the whistle to Lee prior to his death. Lee has since collected a large number of locomotive whistles. He and a couple of his friends have a "whistle rig" (big compressor & tank on a trailer) that they take to various local & rail-related events in the area. I have no knowledge of the original numberplate.

Lee's rig:
http://www.trainweb.org/wnyrhs/whistleblow06.htm