Back in the days when 1225 was on the MSU campus, where precisely was it located (and which way was it pointed)? Also, what would be an easy way to identify this location from Google maps for someone unfamiliar with MSU's campus?

Thanks,
Adam

Adam, I am surprised no one responded to your question. I am not a founder of MSTRP, but somewhere (and there's the rub) I have a photo and article about the 1225 when it was on the MS campus. I'll see if I can find it. I vaguely remember it alongside a stadium.

I'm not a founder either, but visited the locomotive many times as a teenager in the 60's.

The MSU football stadium is on the north side of Shaw Lane. At the southeast corner of the stadium, is the old powerplant with the huge smokestack. There was a rail spur that used to supply coal to the powerplant, coming up from the south. The loco sat on a siding of that spur, I believe, just south of Shaw Lane. In short, it was just southeast of the football stadium, on the south side of Shaw Lane. The locomotive was enclosed in a high, chain-link fence.

(The loco could have been on the north side of the road but I sure think it was on the south side.)

I hope this helps.

Chuck

Looked at Google Earth and came up with the coordinates:
42 degrees, 43 minutes, 31.20 seconds North
84 degrees, 29 minutes, 01.89 seconds West

Chuck

Thanks Chuck!

I plugged those coordinates into TopoZone and turned up an older map with the spur on it.

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.72533&lon=-84.48386&datum=nad83&u=6&layer=DRG&size=m&s=24

I'm not quite a founding member, but the GPS coordinate is reasonably accurate , the locomotive was plinthed about 200 feet further south between the power plant spur and the street, and faced toward the stadium. After the MSU Railroad Club acquired the ex-GTW RPO for a work car, it was parked on the connected rail spur just past the switch indicated on the map. The RPO is now scrapped, but the interior lives on in the Postal Museum across First Street from Union Station in Washington, DC

Photo of a C&O excursion on the power plant spur next to 1225 in June, 1965 from the C&O Historical Society collection:



Steve Zuiderveen

http://www.chessieshop.com/gallery/showphoto.pl?id=40512

In the late 70's, the university pulled up power plant spur; yet the MSU Railroad Club was in the process of becoming the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, and the lease to go to Owosso MI had not happened yet. During that time the locomotive was parked on the vestige of the power plant spur adjacent to Trowbridge Rd. behind the Quality Dairy store, as indicated on this map.

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.71934&lon=-84.49876&s=24&size=m&u=6&datum=nad83&layer=DRG

Steve Zuiderveen