No, but it'll be done right.

As for the queue, it's all about priorities and of course, money talks.

There's no rush or perhaps even need for #972 to be restored.

/Mitch

I still just can't see how we've gone from rusting hulk, and no mention of updates or work being done, to steaming the engine up later this year...

That would be my first suspicion, especially with all the money poured into this thing to get us to where it is (in pieces/no work visible in a long time). The days of a project getting life all the sudden and an engine steaming a year later ended a while ago. Anybody attempting to bring a steamer back to operation would be wise to examine the risks of shoe-stringing steam. (Gettysburg anyone?) Remember Water to steam is 1:16000 expansion ratio, as some have said: Big Bang, No Theory. Pressurized steam is among the most dangerous tools man uses in railroading.



In today's liability environment, I would rather hire Strasburg or an equal (If Strasburg is busy) to do work of the scope of 1361. With the amount of money involved (wasted?) thus far, it needs to be fixed and fixed right. Strasburg is one of the best contract shops around and knows how to both save the historic fabric, yet make it safe for use. (See RGS #20)

.

Don't be so quick to assume.
The problems with the "standard" PRR Belpaire firebox design, as applied on 1361 and other PRR steamers, have already been rehashed here. It may be that the only way to "do it right" will be to COMPLETELY replace the entire firebox with a similar, but redesigned, one with more stays and thicker metal. Then you run into the extremely valid philosophical question: Is Altoona running a museum or a tourist attraction? Are you "preserving the history and craftsmanship of the legendary Altoona Shops" or not?

An associate of mine shot me a personal message off-channel in relation to this, and I paraphrase: "If I were Strasburg, I'd demand 100% up front on my estimate before even allowing it to show up!" (And I'm not sure whether he's being snarky about Altoona's track record or Strasburg's level of business of late--replica, RGS 20, their own locos, the threat of LIRR 39.....)

You are right of course Kelly; I think a better way to word what I meant would be that we don't always remember the dangers of steam, while we are used to how to handle things such as gasoline. The lack of knowledge in handling, and respect for what something is capable of, is a major contributor to lack of safety.

Well, in all fairness, there were horrible boiler explosions every now and then, even when it was still the primary means to get anything moving.
Anything gasoline powered generally doesn't fail so catastrophically as a crown sheet failure...

"I still just can't see how we've gone from rusting hulk, and no mention of updates or work being done, to steaming the engine up later this year..."

I can see how. It's because the folks who are working to restore this locomotive have taken such an unregulated verbal beating from some people who post on this forum, and others on a daily (or regular) basis, that they now simply wish to accomplish their work in private. That way they are assured of no criticism which hurts their effort.

I wish them the best, and hope they succeed.

Perhaps one day, they will be talking about why RyPN failed...

Brian Hebert

Glad I'm not the only one who notices the date issue on the article.

Because it is. Literally. That's where the term comes from. You think Apple or Adobe created it?

You see, back in the olden days, when people bought and read these daily or weekly publications called "newspapers," people would literally CUT an article like this out of the physical page if they wanted to save it or send it to someone else. Then they would either write the date, and maybe the page number and newspaper name, in some available space on the piece of paper, or they would CUT AND PASTE, meaning cut out the date, page number, and newspaper name from the top of the page and then paste or glue it either to the top of the "clipping" or on the back.

Seriously, there used to be service companies that did nothing but accumulate newspapers and search them for articles relevant to a particular subject or company and send clippings of these articles to their paying customers. This is how a company such as the Pennsylvania RR, Standard Oil, a university, etc. 1) kept tabs on how it was being reported on publicly, and 2) accumulated an archive or history.

Only in the modern era, and only to those people with no experience whatsoever with physical newspapers, is the appearance of this clipping even the least bit questionable. I would be perfectly happy to question either the 1361 news itself or whether the proposed schedule will happen, but nothing about the image of the clipping fails the "smell test" of this researcher who quite literally grew up in a newspaper office and is typing this at one of the roll-top desks from said office.

I heard that 1361's first trip will be to pull the inaugural train for the Greenbrier Express. It will then return to PA, and yank a locomotive out of a quarry to be readied for restoration. :-)

Actually, the term comes from newspaper composing rooms. Text would come off varying types of machine which would create the text of a story in one, long simgle column. Composing room people would cut the excess white paper away, run the backs of the paper through a machine which placed a layer of hot beeswax. Then, they'd cut the text into sections, laying it down into the pre-determined section left for the story by the copy editor. There was a real art to being able to cut words out of the middle of stories so the hole could be filled just right and have the story make sense. Cutting comas into periods, things like that, were where the composing room staff really earned their keep. Many such rooms would have large sections of text stuck behind the large boards they worked on, so they could cut out individual letters if they needed them quickly.
You could look at a newspaper if you did this for a living, and tell where the hand edits had been done. the reading public probably never noticed.
I did that exact job for 4 years. It was common for it to be manually done much later in history than you'd expect. The paper I worked for didn't go to computer generated text until the late 90s, I'm told.

I've gotten the impression that Salone enjoys a profit. Perhaps watching the success of 765 in the Altoona area over the past couple of years has perhaps encouraged them, to this work. I can certainly understand why they would do any work quietly. Of course that doesn't deal with the reality of working with NS and building up a proven program, from cars to operations, etc..

Bob

In today's liability environment, I would rather hire Strasburg or an equal (If Strasburg is busy) to do work of the scope of 1361. With the amount of money involved (wasted?) thus far, it needs to be fixed and fixed right. Strasburg is one of the best contract shops around and knows how to both save the historic fabric, yet make it safe for use. (See RGS #20)[/quote]

agreed. with the disaster the 1361 restoration has become, get it done, done right, and done safe. I'd donate quicker if it ws at Strausburg.

For those doubting the date of the article, information can be found on the Railroders Memorial Museum web page. "Now, here in 2013, the K4 #1361 is ready to finish its remarkable and historic journey back to Altoona and the Railroaders Museum. The new Harry Bennett Memorial Roundhouse will become its home, and final construction, repair and re-assembly to operating status will take place in 2013 here at the roundhouse. A team of museum employees as well as outside specialists will be undertaking the completion of the locomotive back to operating status."