REVISION/UPDATE: 0900, 1200, and 1500 Saturday, noon and 3 PM Sunday.

Departure for Pittsburgh and points west currently slated for 0700 Monday morning.

Info from Rich Melvin and Kelly Lynch via TrainOrders.com.

Given the foliage problems, expected crowds, and probable helicopter noise, I'm calling "uncle" and giving up on the Westbound move at the Curve. I expect that the official NS photographer/videographer, representatives of the hobby publications, and some Ft. Wayne Society people will get incredible photos, but the rest of the crowd not so much. I'll settle for either BE tower in Berea, or the huge through-truss bridge in Massillon, OH on Tuesday, depending on which way they go at Alliance.

That's one of the great things about the internet. I love taking pictures but sometimes it's more work fighting crowds to get the picture than it's worth. Lately I'd rather go, watch, and enjoy the event then look at the pictures others have taken, which are probably better than mine anyways.

Emmo,

Well stated, after Monday, I exactly know what you mean......if Rich attempts and makes the assualt on the Curve without dialing up the 8100, it may be worth it just to sit in your car down on the access road, sip some iced tea and listen.....the stack talk that may fill the valley.

Thanks.

Regards,

Randy

I have it on good authority 8100 will be in idle .......

Updated and finalized times:

Trips tomorrow depart at 9AM, 12PM, and 3PM. Trips on Sunday depart at noon and 3PM.

Departure Monday morning is at 6AM -- No longer 7AM.

Track the engine and route online at: http://www.765.org/locate.html and get updates throughout the day at https://twitter.com/nickelplate765

Monday's schedule includes a servicing stop at Altoona and crew change at Cresson. NO estimates are available beyond the times listed here. There will also be no stop at the curve.

Final, of course, until something else may change, but this is pretty certain.

Mr. Lynch,

If you see a guy wearing a black Grand Canyon Brewery t-shirt with the slogan "This Country Was Built On TRAINS and BEER!", he's offering to buy you one of the latter if you're off duty.

See you tomorrow......

For those on Facebook (and maybe even those not):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 791&type=1

Someone please tell Casey that the safety vest goes on the OUTSIDE of those waders! I hope there were not any air boats in the vicinity. Talk about getting mowed over!?!

Note to Casey: This one can be used for those tough-to-get night photos of bridges. (Notice bank of high powered lights!)

AIR BOATS?!?!?

Dude, the Susquehanna is "a mile wide and two feet deep." We saw nothing more menacing all day than a flat boat with one of them "trolling" motors or whatever. Besides which, there were more kayaks and herons/cranes out there than any fishing boats, even.

Besides which, safety in numbers--I was right beside him in MY hi-visibility vest. >;-)

Well, I'm glad Mr. Mitchell got to see 765 running! I got out late, partially not really thinking about going--my wife has been out of work for three years, and we're paying for a house that was supposed to have two paychecks with one--but she says, "This is something you haven't been able to do in years, and it's the first time steam's been there since, what did you say, the 1970s or something?" so we go. Of course, she also says. "I'm hungry, we need something," so there goes more time. Get to the station in Harrisburg, thinking we'll at least see the train come back after the 3:00 trip, but an Amtrak employee there says, "It's come and gone. Left early, came back early, and the trips started from Enola anyway. Saw it on the way to work going over a bridge at (?) Street, though, and they were flying!" Bah!

Consoled myself a little with a visit to the GG1 in the station, and go to visit Island Park. Turns out there is a two foot gauge Crown 4-4-0 in the park (propane fired), and it's running. It's a fairly long loop around the park, and a couple of steep grades, too. The engine sounded pretty square, but the operator made comments about the flues being 12 years old and due for changing; he did say the barrel looked good, and gave credit to treating the boiler water. Track looked halfway solid, but could stand quite a bit of line and surface work, although it's adequate for what's running and the low speeds involved.

Later, trying to find a "facility" and a soda for thirst (I keep trying to tell my wife those sodas are worthless for that), we are driving along the river, and ahead appears a stationary passenger train with a cloud of smoke coming from behind the trees at the head end. It's the 765, below a steep embankment and retaining wall. Darn! I was hoping I could get to speak with the fellows, including Kelly Lynch, but that is not to be. And one of the !!@#$#$%^&*(!!! coal gons is in front of the locomotive; can't see that beautifully restored running gear under her!! Bah!

BUT--what is most fascinating is watching and listening to people who apparently didn't know this event was happening-and they're slowing down to look, pulling off to take photos, calling people on cell phones, sending pictures on cell phones, and asking, "Why is this here? What's going on?" I get to play PR agent for the Fort Wayne crew and NS for an hour. . .

She's here for the 30th anniversary of the formation of Norfolk Southern. . .that diesel behind the steamer is part of that celebration, too, there are 19 others painted for other predecessor roads, including the two main ones, Southern Railway and Norfolk & Western, and many others that went into other predecessors, such as the Interstate and the Virginian Railway. . .Penn Central and Conrail are among the heritage units, who would think Conrail blue would be historic. . .oh, that stands for New York, Chicago and Saint Louis, that's about where that road ran. . .they'll keep an eye on it all night, watching the fire; it's not like your car which you just start up, it's like bringing up a pot to boil, but this pot has about 2,000 gallons in it, it takes a bit longer to get that hot. . .she was built in 1944 by the Lima Machine Works in Lima, Ohio, and she's a very near twin to another locomotive by the same builder for another road, that road being the Pere Marquette, and THAT engine was the pattern used for a locomotive in "The Polar Express," yes, your nephew will dig that if he loves the Polar Express and steam trains as much as you say he does (the inquirer-listener, a young lady, smiles at this). . .the crew is all volunteers who rebuilt this locomotive, and run her, too; they pay dues for the privilege of working, and getting as dirty and as tired as anything for their reward, which is to see this lady run. . .she goes back to Ohio on Monday, and she'll be going up the Horseshoe Curve on the way back. Someone on her crew says they're hoping they can keep that diesel in idle, if they can do that, the sound will be magnificent (this inquirer-listener, an older fellow who remembers the last of steam on the PRR, and shares his memories of the same, smiles at this). . .

It's notable how this event was apparently not overly publicized in the general media--so many of the people I saw didn't know anything about it, including the very steam-oriented operator of the park train on the island in the river ("I heard the whistle, but I thought it was just me hearing things!")--and yet it was amazing to see so many people slowing down or stopping to see this wonderful machine, not working, not in a display, but just standing, and with much of it out of site behind a car of coal. Steam is still a draw, steam is still in our blood, steam is still in our memory--we just need to figure out how to make it pay!

For now, once again, let us thank Norfolk Southern--and hope that maybe this, or some other operation with steam, may be considered worthwhile into the future. . .

I only chased the first trip Saturday into Harrisburg proper, and the "antics" of that sort I saw myself had me so afraid that I was going to see an accident with a gawking driver or pedestrian that I stayed out of Harrisburg for the next two trips. (I have witnessed a couple from back in NS and Blue Mountain & Reading days, including one elderly driver that managed to drive right over a well-known museum curator at a special event at a well-known tourist/heritage line!)

Norfolk Southern posted some really nice photos on their Facebook fan page over the weekend showing 765 on the Rockville Bridge.

I've been meaning to ask- what's up with the bell? It appears to be painted gold rather than polished brass. I don't remember seeing that on previous trips (and I sure don't remember seeing it 30 years ago when I was working for the then-new Norfolk Southern in Bellevue).

I wondered the same thing about the bell but i thought it was painted yellow? I also noticed something different with the Nickel Plate Road lettering on the tender.The bottom of the R in Road had a longer sweeping curve to it wich it didn't have before in other pictures i took years ago when it was at Bellevue.

I could have road behind it on one of the Bellevue,Ohio employee trips on July 21,22 but instead watched it with my wife and followed it to Bucyrus and back on the last 12:00pm run on Sun. My son,daughter,grandson and mother-in-law rode the train and i actually got more of a kick out of seeing the smile on my grandsons face as he waved to us from the coach window as they left Bellevue. I was able to ride behind it several times back in the 1980's and have seen it a few times since. I'll have to say it drew much larger crowds of people this time than what i've ever seen before as people were at almost every crossing between Bellevue and Bucyrus to watch it.

I did get to pass her on my RR run twice when she went south to Portsmouth for the trips in W Va. i had to wait for her at CW in Columbus and passed her after she pulled into Watkins yard. I'm not much of a photographer and didn't realize how hard it was to get a moving train centered in a picture your trying to take.I think i took maybe 6 pictures the day i followed her on July 22nd and gave up,only 2 turned out. You stand there patiently waiting,then the train appears,your fussing with the camera trying to get that perfect shot and within seconds the moment is gone and your left seeing a trail of smoke and then think "gee i didn't even really get to see and enjoy the moment!

I was in and around Harrisburg on Saturday and got three nice shots. Otherwise, I was content to watch and listen.

This morning, I was out in the country west of Duncannon, along the old Middle Division, when the westbound deadhead move passed. It was a great sensory experience, just being there along the Juniata in the pre-dawn half light. Hearing that insistent NKP whistle waking up folks in Duncannon, picking up the exhaust and then the howl of the whistle as it passed, and finally the sound fading as the train continued on its way. I don't have any photographic images, but I have a mental video I'll treasure forever.

Thanks, NS and Fort Wayne folks. You made my day. Heck, you made my week!