And now for some Good News!

One year ago today the J&L 58 operated under steam for the first time in over 60 years. An amazing accomplishment that all of us are very proud of. Today we are announcing that we have reached an agreement to purchase the two identical sister locomotives in Canada and bring them to Youngstown to be reunited with the 58.

This plan includes restoring one of these locomotives to operating condition and having TWO operational locomotives on the J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad!

Now I know that this is the absolute worst time to launch a fundraising campaign given the current crisis and economic downturn, but we WILL emerge from this crisis and when that happens we will begin promoting this project. Heck, at this time we cannot even go to Canada to inspect them! But we didn't want to wait to make this announcement as we are very excited about this and feel that everyone out there needs something to cheer them up!

So stay safe and wish us luck!

https://fundrazr.com/canadianporters

Congratulations Rick and team members. The first loco looks complete from sitting here in Wi? I see three locos, is the third one too much or are trying not to be greedy? Kidding of course. For all those who say "it can't be done", don't watch this group or your world will implode. Again congrats to you and your team for continuing the "can do and will do" philosophy. Regards, John.

The third locomotive is a 30" gauge Porter and is not for sale.

Thanks for the compliments. Yes we do have a "git r done" attitude around here. We love what we do and each success makes us want to do it again to keep the momentum going.

Rick, sounds like another shirt is in order! Wonderful undertaking and we look forward to the adventure ahead. Your group gets nothing but admiration from your colleagues across the country.

Rick:
Are these two locos also from Jones & Laughlin Steel? If not, are they the same 23" gauge? Why was the odd gauge used?

Do any of the ingot mold cars, or any other rolling stock survive?

Congrats and best of luck with this venture.

Brian (G) Smith

Congratulations, Rick! This is great news.

-Philip Marshall

I'm just curious of how much of which engines have you now acquired. I recall you finding spare wheels, and you mentioned a spare boiler.

Congratulations! Now you have three of the ugliest locomotives ever built. It is just my luck that I realy like ugly locomotives.

Rick,

you could always weld two together back to back and make the worlds heaviest Fairlie Patent engine......
O K, no more suggestions from me......

brian b

Nobody knows why J&L originally used 23" gauge. There was a very early tramway that ran from a nearby coal mine to the plant in the 1850s and it is possible that was built to that gauge and just carried forward on the in plant railroad.

When the 59 was scrapped at Benkart Rigging in the 1990s the boiler, drivers, pistons , heads, piston valves and side rods were saved. We have all of those parts and actually used 59's drivers under 58 since the tires were in much better shape.

Three months later and we still have not been able to get to Canada to inspect these locomotives. However we have been raising money and I think that if the restrictions are lifted by the end of July, we should be able to get the first one here by the end of the year.

This has been another busy year for us with several projects underway simultaneously. In addition to the Porters and the bobber bay window caboose, we have also acquired three German flatcars, built another 120 feet of track, cleared 300 feet of right of way for even more track and have started planning the move of two CSX boxcars to the site for use as enginehouses.

One setback that we experienced was finding a few weeping staybolts on 58's firebox, requiring removal of the cab and saddle tank to repair. When I was doing the restoration/rebuild I paid careful attention to making the cab and tank easily removable with a minimal amount of disruption. To that end it only took about 40 minutes worth of work to get both ready to lift off. Just remove the cylinder cock rod, whistle cord, pressure gauge line, remove the mounting bolts and both are ready to come off. We should have these staybolts replaced and the locomotive back together by August.

Our 2020 season may consist only of private operating days and the Whistle Blow in October. Actually taking a year off gives us time to improve the operation based on what we learned from last year, and when we open in spring of 2021 the visitor experience should be much enhanced and the operation of the railroad streamlined.

Rick -

Concerning the "Canadian" J&L 0-4-0T's, which of the engines are they? I think I saw a photo with number 57 on the side of one of the cabs, but I'm not sure if that is correct. Can you advise which two? Thanks!

Les

One of them is the 57. I do not know what number the other one is as its number is not on the cab. It is not 57, 58, 59 or 62 so that leaves 60 and 61 as candidates.

The two locomotives cross the border tomorrow morning, bound for Youngstown!

They look a lot less battered already. Once they actually get across, they won’t take that long to get to you. Have to agree about the can-do spirit here. Even when something can’t work right now, most members conclude that it isn’t hopeless, just detoured.