Trainweb's Chris Guenzler reports on his tours of several excursion lines and preservation sites as everyday Joe Tourist with photo-heavy travelogues, which usually seem to include a roster shot of EVERYTHING on the line. Among the treats: the New Hope & Ivyland's new open car, MdeM 3028 and CN 1533 (mis-ID'ed as "638"--should that tell you something?); Black River & Western's "baby Mack" loco and Edwards(?) railbus M-55, the cab of Susquehanna Mikado 142, Harris Tower, Williams Grove, a boatload of traction at the Middletown & Hummelstown and a generator trailer with which to power them, and oddball stuff at the RCT&HS in Hamburg:

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/newhopeivy.html

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/blackriver.html

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/delsteam.html

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/harris.html

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/m&h.html

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/reading.html

More to come as he wanders before the NRHS Convention, including the WK&S--keep checking his Trainweb "trips home page" at http://www.trainweb.org/chris/ChrisTrips.html

For those who haven't been to some of these places in a while, these travelogues will give you a quick "snapshot" of things as they are today. For those who work with/for these places, they will give you an unabashed look at your property, good or bad, as "Joe Railfan" or "Joe Public" will see them.

As far as Williams Grove on the Sunday 20th... he should have visited the day before... PRR 0-6-0 643 was running on the 19th for one of the engineer classes were you can buy throttle time and learn to run the locomotive. Still, it looks like he had a good visit and his photos show the progress that the WGHSEA has made recently.

There is now a lot of fresh paint on the buildings and much of the equipment. The former Ma & Pa RR. wooden boxcar was the big project last winter. The "new" caboose is a former PRR steel cabin car acquired from the East Penn RR. It and the former PRR N6b wood caboose are ongoing restoration projects of longtime WGHSEA member Terry Nesbit who has turned their interiors into "rolling museums exhibits" of life aboard a caboose. And yes, they will be getting PRR lettering.

Best of all, the engine shed has been steel-sided and englarged so 643, engine AND tender, now can be under roof.

Our traveling railfan did mis-label WGHSEA's diesel switcher #8 as a Plymouth. It's acually a Whitcomb, 25-ton, ex-Pennsylvania Power & Light.

Williams Grove will be hosting their "Train Days" event on July 17 and 18. Model train vendors and rides behind 643. The big annual Steam Engine Celebration runs August 29 through Labor Day September 6. Lots of steam action (steam tractors, etc) in addition to 643.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

In Mr. Guenzler's photo report on the Middletown & Hummellstown, there is a photo, shown right after CR caboose 21165, which is simply identified as "a caboose". It has an offset cupola with what appears to be horns on the cupola roof. This looks suspiciously like it could be an ex-EJ&E caboose (possibly via the B&LE) that was originally built for the "J" by International Car Company. I checked the M&H website, but the caboose is not listed, so perhaps it is privately owned. Anyway, does anyone know the heritage of this particular caboose?

Thanks.

Les

Hi Les
I know that car well.
We used it two weeks ago as the second car on our (The CRHS's) Ride The Rails for Cancer Event: http://thecrhs.org/events/Ride-the-Rail ... ancer-2010

It's currently privately owned, and I believe it's an ex-B&LE car that recently spent some time at the Western Maryland Scenic.

We just had a few more pics added, including: http://thecrhs.org/Images/RTRFC-2010-11

More added, including most of the NRHS Convention (though it seems EVERY story I've looked at so far has a factual error or typo, though he does correct them when notified politely of the errors):

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/ChrisTrips.html

Ed -

Thanks very much. Seeing this posting and your subsequent posting (with photos) convinces me now that this is definitely an ex-EJ&E caboose. The "J" leased 10 of their cupola cabooses to the Bessemer & Lake Erie (both were U.S. Steel owned railroads) when they became surplus on the EJ&E. With the new rules allowing for caboose removal, some (perhaps all) were returned to the J. The caboose at our museum was originally EJ&E #510 and when we requested a caboose from the railroad, the J sent it to us still in its very faded red B&LE paint and with its B&LE number; 1989. Some of the members decided we needed a "little red caboose" so they repainted it as B&LE #1989, and it has been repainted that way a number of times since. I'd be interested in knowing the number of the caboose at the M&H; either its B&LE number, or its EJ&E number. Thanks.

Les

Les,

If you look closely at the photos from the CRHS event you can make out the old number and reporting marks on the cupola. This caboose was Three Rivers Rambler TRRX 1987. I would assume that is its B&LE number.

Kevin

Kevin -

Thanks! I missed that, so appreciate your pointing it out to me. If this is really B&LE #1987 (and I have no reason to believe now that it isn't), then this is the very first of the offset steel cupola cabooses on the EJ&E roster; number 500. The "J" had 50 of these cabooses numbered 500-549. A number still survive with the very last one preserved at Whiting, Indiana.

Les

Ahh, yeah, that's right, I remember talking with a number of people about it and when you mentioned it I do remember the EJ&E coming up too.

It's frustrating that people always assume cabooses should be red. Ugh.

Everyone knows they should be blue! Ahahahahah

From a message posted by Alexander D. Mitchell IV:

"More added, including most of the NRHS Convention (though it seems EVERY story I've looked at so far has a factual error or typo, though he does correct them when notified politely of the errors):

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/ChrisTrips.html"

and Chris buys tickets, rides every trip that he posts pictures from and posts on almost a daily basis !

I've known him for several years and have never seen him chase....

Bob H