Hello All,

The following link to photos by Bill Larduskey taken on October 26th during a photo special on the Strasburg arranged by Carl Franz. The links come from a post to trainorders.com by Bill Larduskey at

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,810258

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/89and475atGroffs_0074.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/WasThataHooterWhistle_0118.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/89inField_0149.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/475atParadise_0175.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/SteamMeetUnderCatenary_0212.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/Car10inField_0259.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/475Pumpkin_0294.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/475PumpkinGlint_0310.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/475PumpkinTrainGlint_0320.jpg

http://www.larduskey.com/images/Trains/Strasburg/475GoingAwayGlint_0327.jpg

Note - I intentionally made these links instead of active images so as to conserve bandwidth on the source page.

I'll throw in a couple from October 22 -

http://johnacraft.com/jac/475.jpg

http://johnacraft.com/jac/475glint.jpt (by Jim Gunning)


Many thanks to Linn, Jim, Rick, Kelly, Dave, Steve, Andy, and all the others who worked on this project. You guys put on a great show, and the Strasburg's commitment to preservation is second to none.

JAC

John
I can't get the links to work.
Al

Wow, that engine looks great! Vary timly to post these photos, It will be Ten years to the day tomorrow that Norfolk Southern released a statement saying that 1994 would be the last year they would operate there steam program. A 28 year long tradition was gone in two months, and an entire generation (aka. my generation) would not know what the legendary Southern/Norfolk Southern Steam program was all about. Its good to see that N&W steam is not dead.

-Justin Franz
Go Red Sox

John:

The links don't work.

Scott

http://johnacraft.com/jac/maudnmollie.jpg


http://johnacraft.com/jac/475glint.jpg

Nice! By the way, will the engine be running at Strasburg again in thenext few weeks? It looks like I missed a good charter, but I'd still like to get a couple of shots before Strasburg repaints it back.

The N&W lettering will be there for the foreseeable future.

Last I heard (last Friday) the front end will be changed back to the look 475 had previously. I believe 475 was taken out of service yesterday so that the shop crew could change it back. Schedules have a way of changing, though, so call the office and check with someone. (Or perhaps one of the SRC guys lurking will comment.)

Informal discussions have started on centering 475's headlight next time, and "backdating" Great Western 90.

JAC

Was 475 turned to face East specifically for this event? #89 as well? Looks like it was a well staged event.

Thanks for the pics,

Mark

This was one memorable event! Many thanks are in order.

First, kudos to Carl and his staff for another of his typical action-packed runby-after-runby trips. I've been friends with Carl for a long time, but many others do not realize the amount of work he puts forth to make these trips a success. Also his staff (Bill, Owen, Charles, Peggy, Butch, and "the brushcutters") do a lot to make these events happen. Although this was Carl's first adventure with the Strasburg Railroad, things went very smoothly and a great time was had by all. I'm pretty sure it will not be his last one at Strasburg.

A word of thanks must go to John Craft for thinking up the idea of the repaints (CN 89 last year and now N&W 475) in the first place. Also it should be noted that it was the financial support from his patrons--and in the case of 475, donations from Carl's patrons as well--that funded a major part of the work required.

[side note to JAC: Nice job on NH&I's "Cliffside RR 40"! I shot her on the Sat 10/23 passenger runs and she looked great!]

The biggest thanks must go to Linn Moedinger and the crews of the Strasburg Railroad. From dawn to dusk, everything worked like clockwork thanks to their efforts. Linn went the extra mile to make the trip a success and offered up plenty of good suggestions to get the most out of the day. BTW: he does an excellent job of herding cows! The train and engine crews did a fantastic job. They had 475 and 89 looking and sounding great. They seemed to be having a good time--I'm sure it was a nice break from the regular tourist runs. The fellow running the LO&S motorcar 10 did a great job handling the large crowd and was happy to "talk Mopar" with several onboard Mopar fans--the motorcar's prime mover is a 1972 Chrysler 400. Arrangements were made with the RR Museum of Pa for free access to their yard to see 475 being turned on their turntable. Of course none of this would have been possible without the railroad's excellent--and growing--collection of operable steam era (mostly wooden) freight cars. SRC's BOD should be applauded for approving the acquisition and restoration of these non-revenue (but very historic) pieces of rolling stock. This equipment made the 475 look like it was on the "Virginia Creeper" 75 years ago and likewise for 89 being on some rural branchline somewhere in Canada.

The impromtu nose-to-nose meet between 475 and the Amtrak train was awesome. As soon as the 90 mph passenger train blasted by eastbound, 475 and her mixed train pulled westbound on the ex-PRR mainline track that is now the SRC runaround track. Carl's famous Cass train race was duplicated at the Groff's passing track with 89 and 475 pacing each other, slowly side-by-side. Pretty neat stuff! Many of the runbys had a definite "Link feel" to them--referencing the great photographic style of the late O. Winston Link, where he combined the train with local "scene props" (often highlighting the prop vs. the train). We had amishman Levi with his team of horses greeting the train. Foreground scenes of the "punkin' patch", the graveyard, and some well-placed grazing dairy cows. Lastly a ratty old (I think late 40's era) steel-wheeled IHC tractor found its way into the scene (was that SRC's Jim Rice driving?!?). I think Link would have approved.

The final runby at Esbenshade was "camera-less". Carl ordered his patrons to "sit the last one out" and simply just watch as N&W 475 "topped the hill" with a 10-car freight train in fading light. I like to think that runby was reserved for OWL to enjoy.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

No. 475 will be on this weekend and next weekend. She is also assigned some the first week in November, though I couldn't tell you for sure which week days without looking at the bulletin board.

We're glad you all enjoyed yourselves. For us, it makes all of the knuckle-busting worth it.

I am not aware of any front-end changes on 475, at least for this week-end. She is still wearing the oil-lamp bracket, Golden Glow headlight and "party hat" number boards that you see in the links.

Is the #90 going to be nexted? It would also be cool to see the #31 and the #89 both in CN operating together. #475 looks great! Keep up the good work.

-Eric

475 will be in service for Trains & Troops this upcoming weekend. Does it still have it's centered headlight or was it switched back to it's normal position?