To everyone in the community -

I want to publically thank John Gramling, Marty Knox, and host of volunteers from the Steam Railroading Institute for helping us to bring back Flagg Coal #75 to Port Huron this past week/ weekend. To say the experience was enjoyable is an understatement ----- and it once again proved that you do NOT need a 4-8-4 or a "Berk" to give a real, honest to goodness steam experience to a community. You just need STEAM.

From the unloading of the #75 last Thursday afternoon to the reloading VERY early this morning, it went about as close to "without a hitch" as you can get. We thought it would be a rain out; for the most part, the rain held off. We were worried that it wouldn't be covered well ---- we got coverage on both side "of the pond." We pondered if working with CN would cause problems; on the contrary, they made an excellent effort to help us, especially Joe Kingsbury and the local guys here in Port Huron. In addition, CN sent "little Obie" from Chicago, which was the hit of every kid here.

And to top it off --- I'm telling ya --- you haven't lived until you've done salutes between a 1000-foot freighter and an 0-4-0. A truly special moment was when the former Middletown, now American Victory, paced us down the CN's Dunn Paper Lead, with us siganling back anf forth at least for times the whole way. To boot, the entire deck of a 700 - plus foot freighter was crowded with crewmembers cheering us on as we did the same, "pull the cord" arm-gestures exchanged the whole way.

To me, John and Barney Gramling are nothing short of miracle workers --- they have TWICE helped us do what I thought I would NEVER see or experience in my lifetime; steam in my own hometown. A couple hundred kids got to experience steam for the first time, and although a few were overwhelmed a bit, most left with a huge smile and a few smooshed pennies.

This is why I love steam --- thank everyone that helped uss pull this off again. To quote one of my favorite movies "It is so choice --- if you have the means, I highly recommended owning one."

T.J. Gaffney
Port Huron Museum


http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/NEWS01/609230302/1002

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060917/NEWS01/609170317/1002

This is excellent - good event, good publicity, happy people.

Did it work for you financially as well as the intangibles mentioned above?

And, SPAM Sculpture? First you must answer me these questions three.......

dave

Ill post pics of the engine once I develop film. Here are some pics of a couple of the freighters (more on film that will be posted later).




And of course, American Victory. Loved how they kept playing two tones on their horn.



If you notice up on the bridge, they were very curious about what was going on. The guy in the doorway was watching us with binoculars, and another guy was taking pics from inside. Can't see in this one, but there were at leaste four others watching us from inside the wheelhouse.



The chef had some colorful pants on...




One last shot as she heads out into lake Huron.






The film pics are much better. Shot through 2.5 rolls.

BTW, I really wished the Edward Ryerson would come through, but guess we weren't lucky enough. It is the nicest freighter on the great lakes, with really smooth lines, and design.


Havent been lucky enough to catch this ship out on the water yet, except for a couple personal tours I was given as a kid when we caught it in port, so this photo is not mine.....




For a freighter, the crew living quarters are VERY nice. Nice leather furniture, etc. you can easily believe you are on a cruise ship.

Hey Dave, you would have loved it; the Chrysler Building in Spam (the winner) was something to behold.....

We had sponsors who ponied up front costs for the locomotive, but we STILL would have covered our costs with how we did. We definitely anti-upped from last year with the #75 back after a one-year hiatus and with the CN "Little Obie" and more live music and food. While its the 2nd year for the Hobo Fest, we had brought the #75 for the 125th Anniversary Celebration of Electric Light in October, 2004. Doing this event has allowed us to concentrate more on the local rail history, instead of it being a sidebar as in the past.

I would recommend "Little Obie" to any online CN community (I believe there are two; the one we had, based in Chicago, the other out of Montreal). It was a huge hit --- We paced it quite a few times with the #75, racing it too the crossing quite a bit.

Thanks again for the additional photos. Like all events where your working, you see the photographers but don't get the chance to do it much (or at all) yourself.

TJ

The Ryerson has been laid up (until this season) since 1998, so that a big reason you haven't seen her.

I agree, she is one of the nicest ships by design out there -- no one is quite that streamlined, except for her fleet mate, the Wilfred Sykes, which
rarely gets here anymore.

Here is one of her at Port Huron taken by one of our Marine dealers, Jim Hoffman, a few years back:



See? Foamers and Boatnerds can not only get along, we can swap photos!

TJG

Not from port huron, but here is another shot of 75, Did this sketch in photoshop.