<P>Does anyone have any current information concerning C&O 2776 in Washington Court House , Ohio? A lot of cosmetic work has been done over the past few years, and all of the mechanical work and inspections that I have heard of have being done have shown the locomotive to be in exceptional condition. Can anyone out there confirm or dispute this statement? How about funds. Has the group been working at raising funds. How about TEA-21?<p>Anyone have some input?<p>Sincerely,<p>Rob Gardner<br>




train@nls.net

<P>Rob,<p>Several key points on 2776 that you should be aware of. Since the engine is inside a park and is not connected to live trackage. For several years now the rumor has been that the City wants it out of the park. Whether true or not, the group working on it has not yet been able to get the engine out to a suitable work area which is really the first step. I've often thought that they should try to move it to an area where it could be displayed and worked on such as a railroad museum or historic railroad. In the area of Washington Courthouse this might be ORM in Columbus (not the best option), Hocking Valley (?), Railway Expo in Covington, or possibly the Whitewater Valley RR in Indiana. The Hocking Valley or the Whitewater have machine shops and the equipment needed to work on an engine (forklifts, cranes, etc.) though neither are really suited to operate an engine like the 2776. MAC Tools is headquartered in Washington Courthouse and may have donated tools to the group some time ago as well. <br>




JKissinger@hotmail.com

<P>The only thing I know about the 2776 was a picture in the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association's (operators of SP&S 700) newsletter when I was a member back around 1990. They had asked for permission from the City of Washington Court House to exchanged their troublesome cracked Worthington feedwater pump with a good one on the 2776. At the time, members of the PRPA did some minor cosmetics on the 2776. They (PRPA) noted how sad the engine looked. I guess that this was before any restoration efforts were made on the 2776. I hope the condition of the 2776 is in fact as good as reported. Might not take a half a million to restore as so many others have lately. How did the MSTRP ever restore the PM 1225 for only $100K? They must have been extremely resourceful. Hope the KRM will eventually run the 2716 again. <br>




hubbard5004@msn.com

<P>In the steam chooch biz, it used to be said that "time and money are interchangeable (almost)". 1225 was restored (and nicely) for $95,000, because it took almost 15 years. For example, 1600 man-hours does not mean 100 guys working for the same 16-hour day.<p>1225 focused on the engine, except when they had to do things like move, and prop up the building's roof, and they have very resourceful people who know how to make the most of what they have, and how to make the right choices about some very tough descisions.<br>

<P>The members of the MSTRP have done a great job with the 1225. I think persistance is the answer. Not many people or organizations can stay together for 15 to 20 years to accomplish and sustain what the MSTRP has done. The Souixland Railroad Historical Society has done a good job of persisting with the restoration of a very worn out Pacific (Great Northern #1355). I believe they started in 1984! I feel sure that they will succeed.<br>




hubbard5004@msn.com

<P>Don't discount the quality of the locomotive proposed for restoration - 1225 was nowhere near as bad as many park hulks out there. Not every steam locomotive lends itself to operating restoration, some are only economically stuffed and mounted. <br>




lathro19@idt.net

<P>One of the reasons we were able to get PM 1225 running on the cheap was that the City of Washington Court House gave us the grates from C&O 2776. (All of the 1225's had gone missing. I'm told that the 2776 group has since obtained replacement grates from a scrapyard -- you never know what you'll find.)<p>During our expedition to Washington Court House in 1975, we observed that any part that had got in the way of the 2776's easy installation in the part had been sliced or wrenched off. Some of the piping and parts were lying under the engine, and the drawbars had been cut in half (not too hard a part to duplicate).<p>The true bill for the early work on PM 1225 will never be known due to lack of records, but it should be pointed out that in the first few thousand miles after it resumed running, it required new superheater elements, new thermic syphons, and new tubes, and the bill was about $25,000 for each of these jobs. Very shortly (in miles terms) the engine will need its drivers turned and its foundation rigging overhauled. So the engine still can not be said to have been thoroughly "restored."<p>But restored or not, it can be seen running during our Engineer-for-an-Hour program in the Owosso yard on the next three weekends.<p>Aarne H. Frobom<br>Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservatin, Inc.<br>P. O. Box 665<br>Owosso, MI 48867-0665<br>




froboma@mdot.state.mi.us