I understand that this engine was "rode hard and put away wet" by the Gettysburg also, with many issues. This lead me also to wonder about the condition of the ex Gettysburg, ex Huntington and Broad Top Mountain 2-8-0 now at the WMSR. I was also curious about how closely the Knox & Kane was scrutinized by the FRA after the Gettysburg incident, since the operators were the same for both. I never really heard much about the conditions there but I would imagine they were not very different than those at Gettysburg.

The E. Francis Baldwin designed B&O station at Oakland, MD is one of my all-time favorites. I'm glad that it's a local museum and apparently not in danger of being lost. Hopefully their efforts to try and obtain a locomotive to display at the station does not harm the long-term survival of the facility. Perhaps trying to find a first-generation Diesel of actual B&O heritage might be a better way to go?

The last years of the Knox & Kane saw their new Chinese Mikado as the primary power. Being new, I imagine it would take a while for poor maintenance to show itself. After the Kinzua Viaduct collapse and an engine house fire, the Chinese Mikado was bought at auction by the Valley Railroad and is in use there now (somewhat modified to resemble a New Haven engine).

Both the Gettysburg and the K&K, for want of a more polite and less libellous way to phrase it, were very much "throwback" operations that showed us in the 1980s and 1990s exactly how the "last days of steam" transpired on small, backcountry American railroads in the 1950s, and elsewhere in the world later.

At one stage or another I rode behind pretty much everything the two railroads used to pull trains, from an ex-WM GP9 and a GE to the 38, 76, 3254, 1278, and Chinese Mikado--and the inside joke is ".... and I lived to tell about it!" Every last train I rode, usually advertised 50-mile round trips to Mt. Holly Springs, smacked of a "dog's breakfast" consist of rattletrap equipment (including the notorious bilevel auto rack open car!), and many spontaneously turned into "mixed trains" as well, picking up freight as long as they were out on the line. If you've ever read "Mixed Train Daily" or "Fiddletown & Copperopolis," you suddenly realized you were right in the midst of that environment, and perhaps quietly prayed the loco wouldn't derail and force you to walk back to town.

I'm not sure whether 38 got sidelined for mechanical problems or was just more fuel-hungry than the 76, but in later Gettysburg days it was just the 76 and then the 1278. The lax boiler care of the Cornells has been commented on and documented elsewhere and won't be discussed here; suffice it to say that 38 is now in better, more respectable hands now--an operator that actually runs steam on trackage close to the loco's old H&BT roots!

I'm not the only one, however, that has long thought that should the stars ever align properly to allow it, 38 deserves a rightful place of honor in the RR Museum of Pa., freeing up one of the PRR 2-8-0s to go elsewhere like Altoona (assuming covered, proper placement and not neglect). 38 would give the Museum a shortline loco for the collection, one with plenty of Pa. history.........

Part of the problem with 38 going to the RRMPA is that once it's in it will likely never see the light of day again in terms of operations. If it has the chance to operate, showing LIVING history, then that's what should be and hopefully can be one day under the care of Mr. Maples and his crew


The 76 and it's sister are locos I've always admired. Don't know why just always did. Would have been good to see it returned to operation. probably would have been a good fit for several tourist roads, if money were no object. Two I could have seen making good use of it would have been the Colebrookdale or the Allentown and Auburn.

H&BT 38 is currently owned by Everett Railroad in Claysburg, PA.

http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=1014

http://www.everettrailroad.com/excursions/equipment/38.aspx

Wesley

I did end up riding the Gettysburg once, probably about 5 years before the boiler incident, and ended up riding in that infamous autorack car. I do remember the 1278 being coupled to that car and being just a few feet from 1278's smokebox, which makes me shudder if I think too much about it. It's hard to imagine that they wouldn't be watched VERY closely at the K & K, after 1278's crown sheet failure. I always just assumed (dangerous, I know) that # 38 was transferred to the K & K to bring steam power to that line.

I am very sorry to learn that the locomotive which is the inspiration for my love of steam and my username is going to be permanently "stuffed and mounted". #76/40 was a very well traveled little Baldwin after leaving Mississippi in September of 1967 and arriving at the Penn-Veiw Mountain Railroad near Blairsville PA on September 30th of that year she ran on the double switchback tourist line until the fall of 1974. Trucked into downtown Blairsville to run on the stillborn Blairsville & Indiana she only operated there twice-to meet the Appalachian Wagon Train at the Blairsville Station in 1975 and to meet the Easter Bunny on Easter Sunday 1976. Neither train carried passengers. #76 was the last steam engine to ever operate in Blairsville and the last steam engine to grace any of the 1856 chartered Indiana Branch of the Pennsylvania RR.

She left Blairsville for Gettysburg in July of 1976 a move profiled in the January 1977 Trains Magazine article by my dad "How to Move a Railroad-Lock, Stock Enginehouse and Honeymooners" Her first trip on the Gettysburg was a fan special with Baldwin S-12 diesel #407 (Ex Monongahela RR) to Mount Holly Springs. My dad and I signed waivers and crammed ourselves into the doghouse on #76's tender for the trip. ( Man-you have to really love steam to do that. Brakemen of old, you have my respect!!). #76 suffered failure of the steam pipe leading from the turret to the air pump part way into the trip. #407 was then the power for the train and 76 just sort of simmered along for the ride.

I rode the Gettysburg several times over the years, including a few trips with #38. 38 could handle the longer Mt. Holly Springs trains by itself and from what I remember was a good steamer. She needed running gear and driver tire attention. I'm not totally sure, but I think she was out of service for a time due to too thin tires. When Sloan Cornell started the Knox & Kane not only #38 moved, so did his experienced fireman and mechanic, leaving the Gettysburg operation to Sloan's son, Jimmy. We never rode a Gettysburg steam train during those years after the K&K started.

Anyhow, back to #76. I talked to a member of the first crew a the Steam Train Institute that started to restore 76. He said the boiler was terribly scaled up but appeared to be in good condition. They had ultrasounded some of it. The biggest issue by far was the running gear. The Penn-View Mountain operation had bad track, the Gettysburg had really terrible track in the early years and only slightly better in later years. Everything related to the suspension on 76 is worn out, buggered up or jury rigged. Huge amounts of machined replacement parts were needed. Huge amounts of skilled craftsman time needed. I figure that was the restoration killer. Too bad, as I really wanted to see her steam again.

One final thing- Alan Maples, owner of the Everett RR, owns #38 and had running gear work done to it by the WMSR shop in Ridgley. I believe Mr. Maples still intends to restore the former Huntingdon and Broad Top engine to operation, but he's in no hurry since 2-6-0 #11 is doing a fine job handling the tourist trains. The entire engine is stored, albeit in kit form, at the Everett shop in Claysbug. It is in good hands.

The 1884 Oakland B&O Station Museum received its latest addition Wednesday afternoon - a tender, also known as a coal car.

https://www.facebook.com/garrettnews/vi ... tion=group

Unable to find a "Non-Facebook" press release .....

When will the locomotive be delivered?

One of the comments for the photo page of the Tender Delivery referred to the Locomotive could arrive Friday...

Tim W.

I've never understood why people get so hung up on a locomotive having to be exactly where it ran. If that were the case, we likely wouldn't have:
4449 running today in Portland (where GSs rarely ever went in service)
Any of the Grand Canyon locomotives
-and a whole bunch more.

When I've gone to, say, St Louis and seen all their steam that has no connection to where they ran in service, I don't think, "4460 should be in CA somewhere!" No, instead I am grateful they got saved at all.

I've never understood why people get so hung up on a locomotive having to be exactly where it ran. If that were the case, we likely wouldn't have:

Except it's coming to Oakland, MD .... not Baltimore........

Baltimore is VERY different then the rest of the state. Oakland is closer to West Virginia.

Cosmetic Work Continues... when it isn't raining......

Couple of photos taken Saturday 08 September 2018