Yes, our late great boiler maker Joe Karrel always carried a small tin of Okenpuckey in his bibs as the cure for various steam locomotive "fixes". He never would disclose his supplier but when he passed on he did put in his will the source and had his widow tell Mr. Wes Camp who now carries the secret.

This thread has brought back some fond memories of that program and how pleased Mr. Sterzing & Co. were with the results. The sight of those two engines running next to the lake with that long train must have been grand. Perhaps someone on here has a pic. of that??

Oh, the good 'ole days before the lawyers and bean counters took over!!

Ross Rowland

Well, it's apparently out of production at the moment. but it was available on the web until recently.

http://www.akempucky.com/

Time for some pictures and more questions...

UP #3985 in storage with other big UP steam in 1968. Cheyenne?




Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley #4 on the D&H 150th anniversary trips. I think this is Erie #4, which would make her the car currently used as an art studio in Wortendyke, NJ. Is that correct?




The Steamtown Trustees car is a mystery to me, as is the location of the image. Any ideas? This slide was in with others of the D&H 150th anniversary trips.



D&H #200 a much rebuilt 1893 Wasson car which went to Mexico. Any ideas of what happened to her down there? This image is also from the the D&H 150th anniversary trips.

the trustees car can only be Lacawanna #3 later repainted to its correct colors in Vermont.

Al P.

Hi Al,

I was thinking it was #3 but the windows don't look like they match. Then again, it could be me that can't match them. ;-)

Rob

The "Steamtown Trustees" car is HICO's "Brothers Two". The paint scheme on the car in this photo is the post-1969 Golden Spike HICO car scheme, complete with Bob Lorenz "curlicues" at the car ends.

Howard P.

And that would mean this not from the D&H trips, as she was red, white & blue by then, was she not?

Rob

Sure does look like my heavyweight car which I owned from 1968-1989 and over those years it carried different names and paint schemes from Brothers Two ( for my brother Bob and me) 1968-72, in Tuscan Red with gold leaf lettering, Splendid Spirit in red,white&blue for the AFT ( 1973-76) and Independence for the ACES new age steam project 1980-1989, in Tuscan Red.

I sold it in 1989 to ACF Industries and they have stationed it outside their HQ building near St. Louis ever since and use it as an entertainment center.

Someday I'd love to get her back and out on the road.

I don't recall it ever having the lettering per that photo and am wondering if perhaps that photo has been altered??

Ross Rowland

The shot of the Steamtown trustees car looks like it could be Hudson, NY looking west from the railroad station. I can't be sure of this though.

Steve

Hmmm, the plot thickens. I have the original slide so I know the image has not been altered.

Rob

I Google'd up another picture of the car dated March 1973 apparently on a wedding trip in the Central Mass branch.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billmc6212/6711323263/

After spending too much time on this snowy morning comparing photographs, the "Brothers Two" and the Trustees car are one and the same. Evidence seems to show that just before she was painted as "Splendid Spirit"in 1973 she was relettered for Steamtown by painting out the HICO lettering. All the trim work remained the same from "Brothers Two" to "Trustees Car."

Ross do you remember where the repainting into "Splendid Spirit" took place?

Rob

The shot of RER's "Brothers Two" was taken at D&H's Colonie Shops yard, probably just south (or north) of Building 29, the passenger car shop. Note all the plug-in standby receptacles for keeping passenger cars properly stored. Industrial buildings in the background are part of the Adirondack Steel Castings Co., where many Alco and GE truck frames were made.

I surmise that the car spent some time during late 1972-early 1973 at Steamtown, and was relettered for the "Wedding Train" in March 1973, and then went to Colonie along with Steamtown's #127, before the D&H 150th anniversary trip.

With so much going on back then, and so little being written down, there is plenty of detective work to do 40 years later!

Howard P.

Help!! I must have lent it to Edgar Meade the then Chairman of the Steamtown trustees or someone on the board but darn if I can remember.

It's for sure my car and its for sure before Bob Barbera's involvement at Steamtown so its got to be before it became the Splendid Spirit in 73. I believe it got its Red,White&Blue paint job on our siding in Lebanon, NJ??

Hope Howard P's records can help.

Thanks, Ross Rowland

Eh, maybe. I think Bob Barbera was "in" at Steamtown by early 1973; the B&M "Wedding Trip" in March 73 was said to be a favor for a friend of Bob B's. Edgar T. Mead was out as Exec Director of Steamtown by the end of 1972.

Fred Bailey, where are you??? Fill in the details, please!

Howard P.