Just to refresh my memory-what, about 611 and Dismal Swamp, was avoidable? This is an honest question, not a snark.

From some searching, it seems like the 765 is due for it's next 1472 in 2032-33, if they get the full 15 years out of it. So that would give them 8 or 9 years to get the 3001 fixed up and running.

Getting a bit off-topic, but the 2926 situation is somewhat concerning. They fired that engine up back in 2019, so they've used up 6 or 7 years off the boiler ticket and it's run 10 miles, maybe, since then. I also look at the ORHF and have to kind of scratch my head there too. SP 4449 is all dressed up with nowhere to go, and hasn't hauled an excursion in a couple of years now, and yet they're pressing ahead getting SP&S 700 operational as well.

But, FWRHS has the agreement with Indiana Northeastern for the Indiana Rail Experience and that's plenty of room to give a big engine, like an L-3a Mohawk, to operate. Not to mention that they have NYC passenger cars, they're running on ex-NYC tracks, and they now own the ex-NYC depot at Lake Pleasant and use it as the Indiana Rail Experience headquarters.

Frankly, if Kelly Lynch is involved with the operation anywhere, I'd expect both competence and success.

And 3001 is a representative locomotive of a type that will never get old to watch, or ride behind.

In response to John D's question, a number of preventable failures can be culled from the following 4 NTSB Accident Reports (R-87-32, R-87-30-31, R-87-24-29, R-33-37).

The CWR on the Westbound Main Track was laid in winter conditions with insufficient temperature adjustment, and NS failed to maintain an adequate process to impose temperature-related speed restrictions.

The switch at which the derailment had been damaged several weeks earlier by a ballast cleaner with 8 rail brace bolts sheared and not replaced, following which the switch was raised without temperature adjustment.

The Relief Inspector assigned to inspect this trackage had not performed a qualified inspection over a period of 9 YEARS.

Thank you for the details! Very educational.

You would expect them to send a roadmaster out there to confirm it was safe for passengers, but maybe the operation had become so routine that they let things slide.

My recollection is that the first fire up was August 2018 and that the folks in NM started installing tubes in 2926 in January 2015. My very limited understanding is that the 15-year clock begins to toll one year after the first tube goes in, which would be January 2016. By that count, they would have only about six years and three months left. I'd appreciate if someone more well versed in the regulations could correct or confirm. Thank you.

It is interesting with 2926, I think clearly they don't have any options to really run it. It's been "almost done" for like 5+ years or so, but seems the updates are always working on something to "finish it". I feel like if they'd be invited to run on the NMDOT track or BNSF etc it'd have been "finished" years ago. But totally get it, very very few opportunities for big steam to run currently. Just look at 4449, 3751, 261, even 1225, etc. Even the current 765 IRE trips, they must have a max speed of like 20-25. Of course great for them to get to do that, but hardly the same as 2102 running 40+ on the R&N.

Even 2102 is used sparingly these days, nowhere near what 425 would be used in a normal year. 425 would be used on various holiday weekends for the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway trains, special events like the Schuylkill Haven Borough Days trains, numerous Christmas trains out of Reading Outer Station, and most Fall Foliage trips as well. Whereas 2102 runs for less than 10 days per year. Granted, the lack of a turning facility near Outer Station/Port Clinton REALLY hurts things with regards to trips out of those two locations.

The good news is that at least R&N is working on getting the 425 running again. There are photos coming out of Port Clinton undergoing overhaul, so it's not retired like some people were theorizing. I stumbled across a video I took of the 425 a couple years ago, and was really struck with how much I miss that little blue engine.

I believe part of the issue was that they originally installed LeaPTC, the version that piggybacks off of a trailing diesel, then realized that getting a PTC-equipped diesel to trail it could be an issue, so now they're trying to install fully-independent PTC.

"Our newly elected VP, Matt Casford, is working with John Howard to determine the requirements and cost to install a full PTC system on 2926. Although we have the LeapTC system installed, there are difficulties finding host railroads willing to make the required modifications to their locomotives to make the necessary connections. Therefore, we are pursuing this new path."

I apologize for my ignorance-but was this solely a 611 issue? Or was this an issue regardless of whatever traffic went over this line, and 611 just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

And it's official:

" The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society announced Wednesday that it had acquired New York Central L-3a “Mohawk” 3001 and planned to restore the 4-8-2 locomotive to operation for use on its popular Indiana Rail Experience excursions.

The 3001 is the largest surviving NYC steam locomotive and the only member of the L3a class to escape the scrapper’s torch. The locomotive was previously owned by the City of Elkhart, Ind., and has been on display at the National New York Central Museum for decades.

FWRHS owns three other steam locomotives, most notably Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 765, which it has operated since the 1970s. For the last few years, it has managed the Indiana Rail Experience, an excursion operation on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, which has trackage in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Much of that track is former NYC, meaning locomotive 3001 will be right at home. NYC 3001 will also join the fleet of seven Budd streamlined cars built in 1941 for the NYC “Empire State Express” and purchased from Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in 2023.

While FWRHS made the announcement on Wednesday, the effort to acquire the locomotive dates back more than a year. The City of Elkhart approved the sale of 3001 in September 2023. Although the transaction was noted in publicly available documents, it was never widely shared. The deal includes locomotive 3001 and tender, plus an auxiliary tender. In return for the locomotive, the National New York Central Museum will receive a cash donation of $20,000; the City of Elkhart will receive help with creating a strategic plan for the future of the museum and its equipment; and the promise that when restored, FWRHS will do its best to bring 3001 back to Elkhart for a visit (although the deal notes that is entirely dependent on the engine being allowed to operate on Class I rails, specifically Norfolk Southern, which runs past the museum).

“We have been the stewards of the Mohawk for many years,” said Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson in a press release. “Although we have had no shortage of pride and admiration for this historic machine, we lacked the expertise to be able to preserve it in the way it deserves. We are thrilled to be able to announce this partnership and a new life for the Mohawk.”

According to FWRHS, a mechanical evaluation of the locomotive has been performed by FMW Solutions with financial support from former Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman. The group estimates that it will take $4.3 million to restore the locomotive to operation and FWRHS has issued a $100,000 challenge grant with the goal of raising $500,000 by May 3, 2025. Donations can be made online at AmericanLoco.org. FWRHS is also encouraging people to join its pledge list.

“Rather than manage an unknowable ebb and flow of contributions, we encourage backers to join our pledge list,” said FWRHS Executive Director Kelly Lynch. “We are planning pledge drives at the outset to meet our first critical fundraising milestones and to measure the feasibility of fundraising for such a massive project. The effort will not be able to move forward without broad and consistent donor support, which we believe we can forecast from the pledges. As much as this effort may be driven by emotion and history, it has to be driven by data and logic, too.”


“We treat this collaboration and the acquisition of the 3001 with great excitement and seriousness,” Lynch said of the effort to restore the Mohawk. “The locomotive’s future has been uncertain for decades, but with consistent and demonstrated donor support, we believe it can become a major attraction as part of an authentic and immersive experience that will welcome thousands of people from around the world.”

https://railfan.com/new-york-central-4-8-2-mohawk-to-be-restored-to-operation/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFzdvxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQuZ4tzrKAx4zqsIWlXhgpPSkVD4F7zO6xkujq6tzq1qstAuT6soxpCypg_aem_fW1bHibXxC5pelmsS6DGRA

Sounds like a big project that will be splashy, but it's a lot of money. Not to mention the group already has multiple other units that could have been restored first, and probably would be better operating for the stuff they're running on the INER.