(Cross post via Trainorders)

February 26th, 2011 Project #113 ran a fund raiser ($30.00 w/free meal) and slide
show in Minersville, PA. The show was VERY well attended and a lesson worth learning
by others looking for creative ways to bring some funds into their organization.

It was also a great way to get together with friends, old and new alike.

The group's members state that, while not promising a first run in a few weeks, that
they are in fact, only a few weeks worth of work away from that goal. Though they state that the goal is to get her running before finding a place to run, they told me personally that talks are in fact on going with what I could most accurately state as more then one line and less then ten. In other words - they are in discussions with hopes to find a place to run her when she's ready to go but no one location is definitive.

Don't await installation of the boiler sheets to forecast her first trial runs, that will
come afterward when all checks out.

After the event, I had a chance to shoot the big 0-6-0 from a side normally in
shade (all my previous shots had been in the early AM).






Wanna help out?

Donations are most welcome and can be sent to:
Railway Restoration Project 113, 113 East Sunbury Street, Minersville, PA 17954.

/Mitch

Better hurry up and get a jacket on her! She looks cold in that snow and ice! :-)


Seriously, she looks great! Congratulations on what you have done so far, and best wishes for the completed project.

It would be interesting to see it run on the Colebrookdale Branch which, as I understand, the Reading Co. T&HS is attempting to negotiate an agreement to run excursions on in the future.

113 sure looks better than it did sitting in Marshallton De years ago, cold and dead.

Wow - more than one line, and less than 10 - can I assume that those lines are still in PA, preferrably the eastern half of the state?

Will 113 be the most powerful (ie traction effort) 0-6-0 running in the US?

I have avoided speculation on this remark. But I will be the first to sign up for the photo charter if its the WK&S.

May she end up somewhere with vintage freight cars to pull (and throttle time to sell).

Rob

Let me rephrase that...

The group's oft quoted retort to "Where you going to run her" has always been "Our priority is only to first make sure she's fully restored and in good operable condition."

I was happy to confirm my hopes that talks are in fact in process with several different groups /railroads with the obvious hope that when she's ready to run, she'll have a place to run, or, at the least, that negotiations have been on going.

Bernie thought the group might enjoy a photo of CNJ #113 before she arrived in Delaware, and of course, prior to Minersville, PA. Seen here (photographer and date unknown), CNJ #113 is captured posed at Locust Summit, PA while working under ownership of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company - once the world's largest colliery, it stood at the summit of a 2.6 percent grade some 5.9 miles West of Gordon, along Reading's main line route to Shamokin and WIlliamport.

This is based on info from Morning Sun's "Jersey Central Steam in Color" book.



Before anyone asks - she'll be running on Anthracite as the CNJ intended.

/Mitch

To answer some things. According to the 111's class specification sheet from ALCO, her tractive effort is 45,800 lbs, and her weight in operating order is 197,000 lbs. I believe that this comes close to being, if not the heaviest, most powerful 0-6-0 built. Without doing a lot of research, the only engine which comes close is LNE #207 which is still in existence. Someone else will have to give her specific specifications.

Interesting thing, the spec. sheet says that her fuel is "soft coal". Can anyone out there give a reason for that, because that is obviously not so?

Since 113 has a very heavy axle loading and no leading or trailing wheels, she is going to have to be operated where there is very heavy rail. She would probably be a track smasher on the Coalbrookdale branch or the WK&S.

Mitch's answer concerning where she may run was compiled after he talked to Bob Kimmel. Even I have not been a party to any talks and am clueless as to where she could possibly run.

Bernie

Bernie,

You may be aware that there is another ALCO 0-6-0 being rebuilt in KY that was from the Union Railway and the Morehead and North Fork Railroad. It is slowly being rebuilt in Stearns, KY. How does it compare to the 113?

Check it out at www.bsfsry.com

JD Johnson, Morehead and North Fork Railroad Historian

PS I have enjoyed seeing the progress and photos of 113. Great job! to everyone involved.

Here is what I come up after going to the website you mentioned: 113 is about 8 tons heavier. 113 has 23 X 26 cylinders, 14 has 22 X 28, both have 51" drivers. 113's tractive effore is 45,800 lbs, 14's tractive effort is 45,173 lbs. As usual, sources may vary a little.

Bernie

Bernie,

I am not claiming expert knowledge of #113, but the more I look into anthracite road operations the more I realize that soft coal was a major fuel source much earlier than I expected. Apparently, according to sources I have read, the Wootten firebox was adept at not only burning anthracite, but just about any cheap carbon junk one could throw in it. I believe by the time the Reading T-1s were built (keeping the Wootten design from the source locos) the line had turned to burning soft coal as a primary fuel. That was post WWII. I have read accounts from much earlier than the 1940’s that suggests soft coal was a common fuel on a-coal roads.

I have seen other sources that suggest the coal used on anthracite roads varied from location to location… more likely burning anthracite fines and other cheap varities near the mines, and burning bituminous or a mix in areas away from the mines.

It should be noted that all the anthracite roads had locomotives equipped with standard fireboxes as well as wide and semi-wides.

In short, it seems having a Wootten firebox does not equate to it being an anthracite burning locomotive.

Rob

So, what's the word?

Hmmm........I wonder if she is going to stop by when another 0-6-0 comes back into operation. Think about that photo shoot!

There is no word yet!!!!!!!! We are waiting for the compressor to get finished. Other parts are being put on the locomotive. I don't even have a tentative date for another test fire.

Bernie

So the air compressor is all that needs work now? As for a location, has it been considered to test 113 on one of the well known local museums or operations, like Steamtown or the Strasburg Railroad?