Hello-

In an earlier posting, I mentioned a third Pere Marquette Railway locomotive besides the two surviving Berkshires (2-8-4's) #1223 & #1225. I have had more than a couple e-mails from those who had little or no idea that another steamer of Pere Marquette heritage existed. This engine is a 36-inch narrow gauge Porter-Bell & Co. product, a 2-4-0 built for P.M. predecessor Port Huron & Northwestern in 1878. As far as I know, she is one of the few Porter-Bell engines left, and is a rare piece of Michigan's railroad heritage.

For those who have a hefty library of old L&RP issues, her early role in the rail preservation movement is briefly mentioned on pg. 57 of issue 25, the March/April 1990 edition. After being sold off by the Flint & Pere Marquette (succesor to PH&NW), she went to different lumber company operations around Michigan, until finally being purchased for a display on the history of the lumber industry in Traverse City, Michigan. She remained there until the 1960's, when she was purchased by the Cedar Point & Lake Erie in Ohio, where she was cosmetically restored but never ran. She was later donated to the Henry Ford Museum, who stored her in off-site facility in Navarre, Ohio.

We at the Port Huron Museum acquired her from the Henry Ford Museum in 1992, and have had her in protective storage at our main museum site since then. Future plans envision a display dedicated to the PH&NW with #1 (also known as the D.B. Harrington, after the president of the PH&NW), as the center piece.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

TJG

Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com

Another Pere Marquette survivor is EMD SW-1 #11, a 1941 La Grange graduate. She spent most of her working life at Sarnia, Ontario before being retired to the B&O Museum where she is maintained in operating condition today. She is one of the oldest operating EMD products anywhere.

kevingillespie@usa.net

For others interested in surviving Pere Marquette structures, rolling stock, and the like, please check out the Pere Marquette Historical Society website at:

www.rust.net/~milhaupt/pmhs/

Fellow P.M.H.S. member Fritz Milhaupt runs what in the author's opinion is one of the most detailed and informative rail history sites on the web.

Thanks,

T.J.G.

Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com

> Another Pere Marquette survivor is EMD SW-1
> #11, a 1941 La Grange graduate. She spent
> most of her working life at Sarnia, Ontario
> before being retired to the B&O Museum
> where she is maintained in operating
> condition today. She is one of the oldest
> operating EMD products anywhere.

Indeed, an engine dear to my heart, as (not in order of importance):

1. she was the first engine I ever worked with on my first day in brakeman training

2. I just got married on her back porch.


eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

> Hello-

> In an earlier posting, I mentioned a third
> Pere Marquette Railway locomotive besides
> the two surviving Berkshires (2-8-4's) #1223
> & #1225. I have had more than a couple
> e-mails from those who had little or no idea
> that another steamer of Pere Marquette
> heritage existed. This engine is a 36-inch
> narrow gauge Porter-Bell & Co. product,
> a 2-4-0 built for P.M. predecessor Port
> Huron & Northwestern in 1878. As far as
> I know, she is one of the few Porter-Bell
> engines left, and is a rare piece of
> Michigan's railroad heritage.

[snip]
> She remained there until the
> 1960's, when she was purchased by the Cedar
> Point & Lake Erie in Ohio, where she was
> cosmetically restored but never ran. She was
> later donated to the Henry Ford Museum, who
> stored her in off-site facility in Navarre,
> Ohio.

Thanks for the compliment on the PMHS site, TJ!

One question that comes to mind is whether the D.B. Harrington was the locomotive that used to be on static display (with a re-trucked wooden caboose of C&O heritage but painted B&O) along the trail through the frontier town at Cedar Point.

-fm

Pere Marquette Historical Society Web Site

> One question that comes to mind is whether
> the D.B. Harrington was the locomotive that
> used to be on static display (with a
> re-trucked wooden caboose of C&O
> heritage but painted B&O) along the
> trail through the frontier town at Cedar
> Point.

> -fm

Fritz-
That I don't know. The only shots we have of her in our museum collection during the Cedar Point period are of her in a shop setting. She looks REALLY gaudy (spell?) in these shots, with antlers on her headlight, balloon stack and a pretty garish version of the CP&LE paint scheme. She has since been painted in a bit more prototypical scheme, but definitely could use a new paint job now, even with her under cover.

TJ

Port Huron Museum

peremarquette@hotmail.com

Is the train you are talking about have a yellow caboose? From all I remember there was a caboose with a pale yellow paint job. It was on a weed covered siding which I didn't know where it went nor how far it traveled. I think this siding is now gone or the caboose is just missing. I don't remember a locomotive being there. I'd sure like to see a pic of the gaudy loco when it resided @ CP.

c8salmon@wmich.edu

> Is the train you are talking about have a
> yellow caboose? From all I remember there
> was a caboose with a pale yellow paint job.
> It was on a weed covered siding which I
> didn't know where it went nor how far it
> traveled. I think this siding is now gone or
> the caboose is just missing. I don't
> remember a locomotive being there. I'd sure
> like to see a pic of the gaudy loco when it
> resided @ CP.

The last time I was at CP (three? years ago), the yellow caboose had been pulled back to just west of the shop.

There used to be a diagonal track which ran from just west of the shop and NW-ward across the Frontier Trail to connect back to the main loop at the skeleton town. On the NW side of where it crossed the Frontier Trail, there was a freight shed-type shelter and a locomotive and the aforementioned caboose. Both used to be open to walk through.

I think that the last time I was there, there was a velocipede sitting on the skeleton town end of what remained of that track.

-fm

> The last time I was at CP (three? years
> ago), the yellow caboose had been pulled
> back to just west of the shop.

> There used to be a diagonal track which ran
> from just west of the shop and NW-ward
> across the Frontier Trail to connect back to
> the main loop at the skeleton town. On the
> NW side of where it crossed the Frontier
> Trail, there was a freight shed-type shelter
> and a locomotive and the aforementioned
> caboose. Both used to be open to walk
> through.

> I think that the last time I was there,
> there was a velocipede sitting on the
> skeleton town end of what remained of that
> track.

> -fm

Is this the same caboose that the La Porte County Historical Steam Society bought from CP along with several open air passenger cars several years ago? I remember seeing the caboose at CP back around 1986 when I was there but can't remember the specifics of what it looked like. The caboose the steam society bought was a bobber style that was lettered for CP's railroad.


LaPorte Steam Society
davelecount@juno.com

> Is this the same caboose that the La Porte
> County Historical Steam Society bought from
> CP along with several open air passenger
> cars several years ago? I remember seeing
> the caboose at CP back around 1986 when I
> was there but can't remember the specifics
> of what it looked like. The caboose the
> steam society bought was a bobber style that
> was lettered for CP's railroad.

Nope- the one I'm thinking of had two conventional narrow gauge trucks underneath it, and I'm fairly certain that I saw it at CP more recently than 1986.

-fm

> Nope- the one I'm thinking of had two
> conventional narrow gauge trucks underneath
> it, and I'm fairly certain that I saw it at
> CP more recently than 1986.

> -fm

Yes we purchased this cab from CP. Cedar Point was given the caboose by the late Mr. Gorge Roost a stock holder and rail fan who held 51% of CP's stock. You can thank him for live steam operating there. His will said that the park could not sell any of the equipment he donated to the park for at least 10 years after his death. Thankfully they decided to sell it and two coaches that Mr. Roost given them after only 8 years. The caboose is now stored inside awaiting restoration.

It is a C&O cab. and has been re-gauged to 3' gauge and has D&RGW truck under it. Our web site does not have a photo of it sorry.

CP had 3 of these cabooses and they still have one left. I don't know where the other one is now. Ours is painted box car red. The interior is in great shape!

If you guys are around our museum I would love to show it to you.

Ted Rita
Manager Flying Dutchman Railroad.
Hesston Steam Museum



http://www.hesston.org
trita3361@yahoo.com

> Yes we purchased this cab from CP. Cedar
> Point was given the caboose by the late Mr.
> Gorge Roost a stock holder and rail fan who
> held 51% of CP's stock. You can thank him
> for live steam operating there. His will
> said that the park could not sell any of the
> equipment he donated to the park for at
> least 10 years after his death. Thankfully
> they decided to sell it and two coaches that
> Mr. Roost given them after only 8 years. The
> caboose is now stored inside awaiting
> restoration.

> It is a C&O cab. and has been re-gauged
> to 3' gauge and has D&RGW truck under
> it. Our web site does not have a photo of it
> sorry.

> CP had 3 of these cabooses and they still
> have one left. I don't know where the other
> one is now. Ours is painted box car red. The
> interior is in great shape!

> If you guys are around our museum I would
> love to show it to you.

> Ted Rita
> Manager Flying Dutchman Railroad.
> Hesston Steam Museum

Hmmm... 'didn't know they had three of them. The one I was thinking of was yellow when last I saw it.

I'm glad that the one you got has ended up in such a good home!

-fm