Dear Shawn Merrett,

I started working on 3420 in 1985. I know a few of the volunteers that go back to before it came out of the park. I also know that the early days of working on 3420 were filled with a lot of people from different backgrounds including many SP employees. I know a few of the old timers who worked on 3420 including Bill Morris and Austin Chrysler (spelling?). If you could be so kind as to give me your grandfather’s name or nick names I would be happy to see if anyone in the group has any stories.

Robby Peartree

Mr. Peartree:

From Mr. Merritt's posting

(Emphasis added)

kindly,

sc 'doc' lewis

Screen shot of the #1 as she sits today.

I saw 630 saturday, and we paced it at a little over 50mph to Asheville, so the oil fed bearings old up very well, and how hard would it be to convert driver wheels to roller bearings, I know Greg Dodd did it at GSMR on 1702 in 1996 I believe, so how hard and how much would it take?

This has been discussed here before. Let me give you the thumbnail sketch. 1702s conversion was a failure. If/when she returns to service, she will be on plain bearings. The frame jaws on a RB locomotive are larger than on a plain bearing loco, so conversion isn't as easy as one would assume. To try to overcome this, the 1702 used turned down axles and sealed grease bearings. It didn't work, as those bearings are not suited for that application.

Ditto: we have no suitable means of conversion apart from new frames on down, so we might as well build a new locomotive and save a fortune on future overhauls. Roller bearings are not an issue for railroads willing to run mainline steam in any case. Can we please put this to rest once and for all now?

dave

Dear Shawn Merritt

Sorry about the confusion on the name and thank you sc 'doc' lewis for correcting me. I recieved the following response from Chris Stark today
"Yes I knew T S Merritt....if he's still alive he would be in his 90's. and he did some work for us on the 3420,,,he cut the piston rings and some other stuff."
Chris


I hope this helps.

Robby

Chirs just stated that your grandfather's name is on the list of people who put 3420 on display. There is a plaque on the water cooler.

Robby

I am Ron Dawson. I currently live in Tucson, but was in El Paso 40 some odd years. member of the RR & Transportation Museum and the SW Chapter of the R&LHS. I edit the EP&SW Flyer. I was past president of the Paso del Norte Streetcar Preservation Society. Let me clarify a few issues. Both the Insights Museum and the RR Museum lost their places due to the "need" for a baseball stadium. The RR Museum previously had talked the city into letting us use the space where No. 1 is to be able to display artifacts and interpret the railroad history of the area, and particularly to care for No. 1. We did not pay rent. We were there at the will and consent of some city council members. When the city decided they needed the space for a Visitors Center, we had to vacate and put our collection in storage. The Insights moved into the old Alamo School on the southside. Now the EPISD has given permission for the RR Museum to be housed in one wing of that building. Efforts are underway to make it suitable for use and visitors.

Concerning the PCCs, these are ex-San Diego Electric Railway cars, built by the St. Louis Car Company in late 1936 and delivered in April of 1937. By 1940, El Paso was down to just 3 streetcar lines: Fort Bliss, Park, and Cd. Juarez. El Paso Electric had operated streetcars since 1902, but the government, in its not so infinite wisdom, told EP ELectric they could not both sell power and operate a transportation system, so naturally EPE spun off the bus and streetcar division to the infamous National City Lines conglomerate in 1944. El Paso City Lines converted Fort Bliss and Park lines to buses in 1947, but were not able to do that with the Juarez line because the treaty with Mexico specified "street railway". Besides the line was quite profitable. So, in 1950, after San Diego quit streetcars in 1949, El Paso bought 25. Without going into the tumultous history of the line, the cars stopped operating in 1974 and were stored at the Cotton Street barn until 1985 when the then mayor gave orders for them to be scrapped because he wanted to give the carbarn to the Fire Dept for maintenance uses.

The PDNSPS was then organized and at the eleventh hour saved nine of the cars, getting a 30 year lease from the city. Over the years, at Job Corps and other sites, attempts were made to work on the cars, but political and insurance issues often blocked us. These are the only existing air-electric cars outside of a few in museums. Yes, at the end the they looked bad cosmetically, however we brought Karl Johnson out from Muni and he declared them to have sound bodies and eminently restorable.

Fast forward to 2012, when money became available from TXDOT which could only be used for streetcars. San Antonio and Austin lusted after this money, but and El Pasoan was chairman of TXDOT at the time and the money became available if the city could come up with a good plan. Naturally, a string of studies had to be done and transit planners came on board. They called for a five mile line from downtown to the University area and recommended the use of replicas. That is went we got into high gear and met with the powers to be to propose the modernization of the PCCs, i.e. use of the iconic art deco body with modern propulsion systems. We had to make the concession for the use of pantographs instead of poles, but that was doable. We presented to the City Council in open session, and they voted for us, 6-2, much to the consternation of the planners. But they are now on board, construction is under way. Six cars at at Brookville. They will have AC, and be ADA compatible. They will be painted in several of the original color schemes which we helped choose It can be a in-win for the city, efficient transit vehicles in the PCC form.