Hot Off the Presses - First 765 Trips Announced!!

bigjim4life · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:27 pm

http://fortwaynerailroad.org/21st-centu ... e/#content

21st Century Steam Spring Schedule with the 765 04 February 2013 Events, Featured, News

NORFOLK, VA – The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS), in partnership with Norfolk Southern Corporation, will host 21st Century Steam excursion trips in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the Spring of 2013.

Ticket reservations may be made by calling (260) 267-5765 or writing tickets@fwrhs.org. Information on online ticket ordering, departure locations and passenger car consists will be available soon. First class and coach amenities will be offered on all trips.

This year steam locomotive no. 765 will return to Horeshoe Curve, offering the first public passenger trips behind a steam locomotive since the 1970s, and operate public trips on the former Nickel Plate Road between Rocky River and Bellevue, Ohio. An expanded operating schedule and additional information regarding no. 765 will be released later in 2013. Get news and information as its released by signing for our online newsletter here.

Norfolk Southern employees will be able to request tickets for the employee appreciation trips soon through the ERC.

May 12

Rocky River, Ohio, to Bellevue, Ohio.

May 25, 26 and 27

Lewistown, Pennsylvania to Horseshoe Curve, Pennsylvania

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:03 pm

And of course the FWRHS website is crashing.....

FULL details, including pending 630 trips in March:

http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/ ... _2013.html

Quote:

NORFOLK, VA. - The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) and the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS), in partnership with Norfolk Southern Corporation, will host 21st Century Steam excursion trips in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in the Spring of 2013.

Schedules, prices, and ticketing information are available at www.tvrail.com for TVRM-hosted trips and fortwaynerailroad.org for FWRHS-sponsored trips. Norfolk Southern employees will be able to request tickets for the employee appreciation trips soon through the ERC.

March 9: Bristol, Va., to Radford, Va. Host: TVRM. Steam locomotive SOU 630.
March 10: Bristol, Va., to Bulls Gap, Tenn. Host: TVRM. Steam locomotive SOU 630.
March 16: Roanoke, Va., to Radford, Va. (morning), and Roanoke to Lynchburg, Va. (afternoon). Host: TVRM. Steam locomotive SOU 630. Combination public and NS employee appreciation trips.
April 13: Spencer, N.C., to Barber, N.C. Host: TVRM. Steam locomotive SOU 630. Combination public and NS employee appreciation trip.
April 20 and 21: Asheville, N.C., to Old Fort, N.C. Host: TVRM. Steam locomotive SOU 630. April 20 is combination public and NS employee appreciation trip.
May 12: Rocky River, Ohio, to Bellevue, Ohio. Host: FWRHS. Steam locomotive NKP 765.
May 25, 26 and 27: Lewistown, Pa., to Horseshoe Curve, Pa. Host: FWRHS. Steam locomotive NKP 765.

bigjim4life · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:23 pm

And just my luck, the Old Fort and Horseshoe Curve trips are on work weekends for me. Bugger.

Dave · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:19 pm

For those of you who were too young to ride the old program trips, this is a lot like many of them. Some of the best news I've heard lately.

dave

JasonA · **Joined:** Sun Apr 04, 2010 12:15 pm **Posts:** 44

Quote:

I haven't seen anything in print where it says the Horseshoe Curve trips will be public yet.

They are.

bigjim4life · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:43 pm

From the original post:

This year steam locomotive no. 765 will return to Horeshoe Curve, offering the first public passenger trips behind a steam locomotive since the 1970s

Randy Musselman · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:23 pm

Hello,

There does not appear to be a wye at Lewistown. Is the turntable still there and if so they may use it? (Assuming the 765 fits on it....)

That would be good!

Regards,

Randy Musselman

Steve Heister · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:01 pm

A friend of mine who is a PRR historian and modeller I just had this discussion. The turntable there is 115 ft. It once turned PRR's Mountains (4-8-2) that had the long haul tenders. He says the table is still in service. I am sure NS and Fort Wayne would not have chosen this as a starting point if there wasn't a way to turn the 765.

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:08 pm

Did somebody mention an "A" or "J"? I'd call this about 358 degrees of a full circle. N.S. deserves so much credit for their support of steam on the modern railroad!

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:45 am

Jeff Lisowski wrote:

Turntable is there, looks like the lead is pretty worn and possibly not in use. I've never been there, but by looking at the gondola near the table, I don't think the 765 would fit.

The turntable, depending on which reliable source you listen to, is 110 or 115 feet--just long enough for a NKP Berkshire at 101', but just barely long enough for the PRR M1 with a "long haul" tender (107'). Obviously, if they're committing to operating the 765 from there, that turntable can be made to operate, and it was kept at least moderately serviceable for the occasional need to turn a "unload from this side" boxcar in recent years. Oddly, I think it's in a section of the yard now controlled by the Juniata Valley RR--part of the same family of railroads to which the Nittany & Bald Eagle, host of PRR 1361 a generation ago, belongs.

FormD1282 · **Joined:** Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:07 am **Posts:** 17

Just because the trips originate from Lewistown does not mean the 765 has to be turned and serviced there.

There are plenty of wyes and secure places to service and store the train just east of there in Harrisbug / Enola. I'm thinking this is probably the more likely scenario.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:13 am

FormD1282 wrote:

There are plenty of wyes and secure places to service and store the train just east of there in Harrisbug / Enola. I'm thinking this is probably the more likely scenario.

Not denying that this is a possibility. However, it's about 55 miles from Lewistown to Enola/Rockville, and I don't remember any rear-end observations or first-class cars on the rear of last year's trains. I'm not seeing any reason to turn a whole train (and, basically, add a crew to each day's expenses) when there's a "perfectly serviceable" turntable (and, more importantly for NS, parking space, assuming they can use the property over at the adjacent and probably still abandoned fiber plant) available at Lewistown Junction. (This assumes, as above, that the turntable still functions reliably.) I seem to recall that Lewistown Yard also had some hydrants, a modern excuse for a "sand tower," etc. and plenty of roadside track.... so, yeah, maybe not as "secure" as Enola Yard, but perfectly acceptable for "servicing a train" by "High Iron/261/4449" standards....

PaulWWoodring · **Posted:** Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:28 pm

NS is a Fortune 500 corporation. If they want a turntable to work for these trips, it will work.

FormD1282 · **Joined:** Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:07 am **Posts:** 17

According to Rich Melvin, 765 will deadhead to and from Harrisburg each day.

JimBoylan · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 1:23 am

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

I don't remember any rear-end observations or first-class cars on the rear of last year's trains. I'm not seeing any reason to turn a whole train.

The ticket order form says that Dover Harbor, a non observation car, will be on the rear.