765 apparently ran on the C.F.&E out of Ft.Wayne on breakin runs today. All I can say is congrats. I saw this engine run from my grandmothers backyard in Northern Kentucky and it was a catalist for me getting into railroading. I hope now that I am old enough to understand her that I might get to see her run this year. Again, congrat and thanks to the 765 crew!

-Joe Williams

Yes, it did run today, from Ft. Wayne to Van Wert, Ohio on the CF&E. So glad to hear it!

What I want to know is, how did they get to the CF&E interchange? It's at least 15 miles from the FWRHS shop in New Haven to the interchange over NS track. Was it towed under steam on NS?

While this isn't from this weekend, I thought I'd share this. Its long been a favorite of mine. I don't know any particulars of it, but I've often wondered whose igloo that is. Found via google image search. I've never seen 765 whole, only her wheels at TVRM. Hope I get the chance soon.

http://cd.textfiles.com/nopv10/023a/nkp_765.gif

God Bless 765, her crew, and her patrons.

Joshua

truely a testimate to gary bensmans quality of work. And I also hear that Scott Lindsay worked miracles with the tired roller bearings. It was great to see her under steam again. Great work to all of those involved!!!

This is great news, now lets hope there is some way to pull off some passenger trips. This would be a minor miracle right about now.

Thank you for your kind words, gentlemen.

I would have to correct rogerdelafield's post regarding who did the work, however. Mr. Bensman and Mr. Lindsay are incredible assets to the steam preservation community, but they did not supervise the rebuild.

For local coverage, check out:

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgaz ... 244168.htm

Regarding Steam Operations and the 765 -

Scott was involved with the reworking of the 765's roller bearing wheelsets including the replacement of the one set of races. He worked very close with Timken to make this happen which required upsizing the rollers on the same set.

The roller bearing housings were also returned to blueprint specification by Lunar Machine Tool in St. Louis under the direction of Scott.

Scott even did a presentation on the roller bearing rework to the Association of Railway Museums when ARM held its annual convention in St. Louis a few years ago. Brian Cave of Timken also participated in the presentation.

Scott also supervised the turning of the wheel centers and crankpins and the installation of the new tires when the wheels were at TVRM.

What a great project this rebuild was. I am also glad to have been a part of it.

Thank you for the clarification. I apologize for my oversight.

When I think of Scott, I specifically thought his Steam Operations Corporation doing the work, and I'd completely forgotten he and others were the ones performing the exacting tasks down at TVRM. One of these days, we'll get a nice long list of names put together...

It's been my concern lately that our regular members are rarely specifically mentioned for their work, and credit often goes only to those who are known prevalently in the field, and more importantly, a lot of the credit given by the public attributes the entire rebuild work to them exclusively, with many forgetting the long, all volunteer hours put in by the crew. (edit: this hasn't happened here, but I get lots of emails telling me to thank Steve Lee for the 765!)

Suffice to say, there is much credit to go around, and there is a part of all of us inside the 765.

Kelly Lynch

I never stated that Gary over saw the rebuild. But, he did have a major hand with most all of the boiler work. Credit where credit is due.