Would certainly be good news. Probably my friends simply only got to mills of (from memory) 27",30" and 42" gage. We were working for a 36" gage line at the time so they probably would have mentioned it. Just reinforces my desire to go despite Jesse Helms.

Reckon the running gear is a whacked as the boilers?

I wonder if the future of the intensively operated tourist railroads isn't in modern replicas using newer technologies such as those developed by Porta and Girdlestone for those with staffs and extensive shops, and Pettijean type retrofits for those without.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

> ........... Just speculating:

> Would Pine Creek/NJMT be ready to acquire a
> couple of the surplus Cuban steamers for

We would certainly be interested, as would many others. But I doubt the boilers would ever be useful in New Jersey. I would rather put our efforts into something that is already in the States.

> operation, and then, having enough equipment
> on hand, would they then be willing to let
> the other C&L steamer return home to
> Ireland, along with its rolling stock?

There are many issues to your question. For one, there are a lot of Irish in the USA and we get many who enjoy seeing a little piece of home. I have never been to Ireland and have no immediate plans. Many of our visitors will never get to Ireland so this gives them a chance to see a little piece of Irish history. Several locomotives and pieces of rolling stock still home in Ireland have not done well, one locomotive even being cut up in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The locomotives stored on the border were severely beaten. I feel we have given the Lady a good home for many years, she is stored indoors and we have plans to rebuild her boiler under our R-Stamp program in the near future. As one of only a hand full of 3' gauge 4-4-0s in the USA she will run again along with her train and can serve as an Irish ambassador to the many rail enthusiasts who will never make it to Ireland.

J.R.


http://www.njmt.org
jrmay@njmt.org

I think you are being a little unfair to the NJMT. Yes, there is one Irish train in the collection. However, a mjority of everything else is North American and from homes with 100-200 miles of Allaire.

If you ignore the Lady and her train, you will find...

The PRR business car (shabby outside, WONDERFUL inside)

A group of CNJ boxcars and cabooses

Rare anthracite mining locos and cars (with more that have just "passed through"

An incredible Mack from a NYC harbor terminal (Bush?)

Part of a CNJ steamship engine

A local CNJ depot and a local PRR depot

A wood DL&W caboose

I could go on...

It is no EBT. What is besides EBT? But to define the collection based upon the most foreign piece is very unfair.

Rob

> NJMT is a great home, don't get me
> wrong..... but it's still like operating a
> Maine two-footer in Scotland or running a
> D&RGW 2-8-2 in Florida.


Ahead of the Torch
trains@robertjohndavis.com

I'm pretty sure that if repatriating a used Cuban engine was a financially viable proposition, someone would have already done it (using the Canadians as middlemen). Instead it seems people chose to deal with red China for brand new ones first.

But, hey, I've been wrong before. Does anyone have a marine tow boat and a scrap barge in their collection to go get the stuff for us?

> I think you are being a little unfair to the
> NJMT. Yes, there is one Irish train in the
> collection. However, a majority of everything
> else is North American and from homes with
> 100-200 miles of Allaire.

But to define the collection based upon the most
> foreign piece is very unfair.

*Not intending it as an insult, not meaning to disparage the fine work NJMT does. But, simply put, an Irish train in the middle of a big American collection stands out, and can be considered a distraction from the core collection. If NJMT had a scattering of other foreign stuff, like a Polish 0-8-0T or a South American 2-8-0 (think of all the trolley museums with foreign stuff), then it sounds more rational. As it is, though, the NJMT collection is indeed a hodgepodge of "a little of everything".

The deciding factors, of course, would be whether the current Irish excursion line ever came over to ask for it in the first place. If they did, well, how is their request any different from the Friends of the East Broad Top trying to reclaim the EBT standard gauge 0-6-0 in Indiana, or the RR Museum of Pa. deciding to pursue a NYO&W or P&LE steamer in Cuba?

lner4472@bcpl.net

Let give you an example of this same thing from my museums. We hava a West Coast collection of Ships and boats.

We also have the Eppleton Hall a British paddle tug, the last of her kind in the world, which was brought here to preserve it when the second to last examole was to be cut up.

Some people hate this vessel. But you know I have been in contact with groups like the Maritime Trust and the Paddlewheel Preservation Society and they have never asked for "our tug back".

Is there a railroad museum in Ireland that runs steam? I don't know of any.

Ted Miles

ted_miles@nps.gov

> Some people hate this vessel. But you know I
> have been in contact with groups like the
> Maritime Trust and the Paddlewheel
> Preservation Society and they have never
> asked for "our tug back".

They might think you're a better home. They might think the boat might not survive a journey halfway around the world. It's kind of difficult to load a tugboat onto another vessel, y'know.

> Is there a railroad museum in Ireland that
> runs steam? I don't know of any.

Dear gawd, mate, don't you READ these blankety-blank threads before you reply?!?!?

http://www.grandhoteltralee.com/steam_railway.html For the excursion line operating over the Cavan & Leitrim's original right-of-way.........

If that's inadequate for you, check out the link below for the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, which owns FOUR mainline-capable steam locomotives and a plethora of rolling stock to put behind it!

Now, agreed, there ain't much else in Ireland other than a couple ststic displays and a few narrow-gauge operations like the Tralee & Blennerville, but remember, we're talking an island just a little bigger than West Virginia and a bit smaller than South Carolina.......



RPSI Online
lner4472@bcpl.net

It is
> now leased to FEBT but kept indoors at NJMT
> until they come and get it. Its in
> relatively good shape and sitting on a fancy
> pair of Irish trucks.

This car is one of FEBT's major ongoing restoration efforts. In recent years activity has focused on fabricating from scratch a new set of passenger trucks for the car. Similar trucks from Tweetsie's EBT car were leased, disassembled as templates for duplication, reassembled and returned to Tweetise. Once the replica trucks are completed and under the car, work will turn to finishing the body restoration. After that's done the intention is to return the car to Rockhill Furnace.

eledbetter@rypn.org

Ah, yes...I remember the original Rt. 9 location of the Pine Creek RR near Freehold NJ. I grew up a few miles away and was always begging my dad to take me there. One Saturday(?) morning we happened to stop by early. I was about 10 years of age, so it had to be about 1960...anyway, there was a steam engine warming up outside the engine shed, unattended. My dad lifts me into the cab...points to one of the "thingies" and says without further explanation "pull that". Well, I had been taught to do what I was told, so (not expecting what would happen) I pulled! It was the whistle cord and the steam whistle lets off a shriek! and WOW! was I ever startled! In a matter of a few seconds several of the engine crew ran up and "escorted" me off the engine!!

jvliet@optonline.net

I had wondered what the heritage was of this engine. I had the opportunity to guest engineer at the Agrirama on a few special occasions back in the late '90s. The engine is oil-fired (diesel fuel) and has steam-jam brakes. No brakes on the short 2-car train they typically run. The engine is usually manned by one person, but to me, even as small as it is, safety concerns should require a 2-man crew. There are too many grade crossings (pedestrian and vehicle) and blind curves in the park to feel comfortable with only one crewman.

Although they have a second locomotive, all I have ever seen run is the Porter. The Vulcan seems to have a problem keeping its "new" tender on the rough track. It is also a hand-fired engine, which would pretty much require a second crewman. Anyone know where this engine came from?

Stephen

> Porter-built Number 3 kept its saddletank,
> but had a four wheel tender added. It served
> as power on the Copper Creek RR (these guys
> sure loved this "creek thing"!)--a
> short-lived operation at the old Cowboy City
> western-theme park in NJ. Number 3 went to
> the Leatherstocking Line tourist operation
> at Cooperstown, NY. I believe it next passed
> through the Tweetsie RR shop (finally losing
> its saddletank) and went to the
> International Toy Train Museum in Orlando,
> FL where it operated on a loop of track.
> Finally the nomadic 3 went to its latest
> home at the Agrirama Museum at Tifton, GA.



syfrettinc@bellsouth.net