I could see the possibility of both 765 and 763 pulling coal trains on the OC. As long as Jerry's health remains good, ANYTHING is possible. The 2-8-0 #33 is now operational as well as the #1293. Time will tell what might happen. You can be sure of one thing, I will not miss another steam fest in Ohio!! Too many great memories out there. Now if the 765 did not have to pay to get to the OC................

In an earlier post it asked how the New River trips run w/o steam, they have been running under AMTRAK since 1995 with a 16 car train I believe. This past year we ran a 25 car train and SOLD OUT all 4 trips. I've been working on the trips since 1996 and to my knowledge every trip sells out every year.

Do some of the folks need to be reminded where the FIRST NKP S-class locomotives came from? (hint-- it was NOT Ohio....)

Sorry, couldn't resist....

It will be great to see 763 strutting along the Panhandle, and whistling for the crossing in front of Mr. Varian's house.

Amen!!! PREACH ON, brother Fleming!!! Hallelujah!!!! Testify!!! Praise the LORD!!!
-Zahrt

Why Brother Zahrt, I do believe you may have attended too many revival meetings! While the good folks at Lima produced some mighty fine locomotives, it is true that they were an on line customer of the Nickel Plate. Other railroads which did NOT have one of the three major steam locomotive builders as customers could be a bit more choosy and railroads like the Burlington, the Santa Fe, the Great Northern and the Southern Pacific more often than not chose the Baldwin Locomotive Works. And just in case you have forgotten Mr. Zahrt, that 2-8-2 that you work on out there in the desert and speak so highly of was built by BLW back in 1923. Perhaps you should stay out of those tent revival meetings and spend more time in church!

Amen! And close the book!

Les

"Life is like a mountain railroad.....with an engineer,oh so brave.........."

( you know us Baptists have to have our say......)

Wrong pantheon. Abrahamic religions have no blacksmith / forge related deity. Look further back, Vulcan / Hephaestus and Brighid come to mind.

I got a screen telling me I didn't qualify to read the article from the link, so I am ignorant of particulars, but was there mention of a specific timeline and goal of restoration to displace the 4-8-4 that only needs a bit of bearing work? Could be nothing more than JJ adding to his collection otherwise.

dave

How will Jerry get his new prize home? Are the Berks riding on roller bearings that might allow movement on live rails dead in tow? Or is this another heavy lift as we saw with RDG 2100?

Wesley

While I am always happy to see a piece of railroad equipment go to where it will be taken care of, I am concerned about what this says about the Virginia Museum of Transportation. This past summer they had the roof incident that led to the local press digging into their finances and, at the least, questionable book keeping that led to the director resigning. As an outside observer I wonder what else might be for sale. Note they did not want to trade - they wanted money. I assume the 611 is safe, but what else might go? Is there a serious collection policy in place.


On the plus side, it must be great to be a Nickel Plate Fan! With the possibility of 2 Berks together along with a certain Alco PA and a few geeps kicking around you can certainly represent the entire post-War NKP motive power scene. You also have at least one NKP business car, the Kitchi Gammi Club solarium-lounge, City of Chicago, City of Cleveland, City of Lima, two heavy weight coaches in Cleveland and one lightweight one at the NKP & Mad River. Throw in a through service Lackawanna coach and you could field a NKP passenger train full of paying passengers.

So here are two sorta related items---

1. I wonder what legal paperwork the OC might have in place to guarantee this rather incredible collection doesn't go the way of that of Paulsen Spence?

2. Way back when I was a angry young man and a Steamtown volunteer, I remember speaking with then-Steamtown brass about the Lima Berkshires in various stages of operation/restoration... since #759 was on Steamtown's wish list to operate.

My dumb idea was that Steamtown take the lead in a Lima Berk consortium that would seek economies of scale by sharing patterns, costs of common parts, technical advice, etc... with the goal being that the operable or near-operable ones benefited from this kind of "open source" sharing of knowledge and hardware, while the static displays not only gained that, but didn't lose more parts willy-nilly in the name of making a sister run.

After my audience's heads stopped spinning and their eyeballs fell back into place, I was told that would never work.

I am not angry anymore. I am not young anymore. And that brass ain't at Steamtown anymore. But I still think it is a good dumb idea, no matter who would take the lead.

Rob[/i]

Based on what I know of JJJ's quest to obtain an NKP Berk, I'd say he'll go hammer-and-tongs on it when it finally gets to Ohio. This has been a day long in the making, something akin to me winning the Lottery and finding a Ps4 in a barn in Salisbury on the same day.

Congratulations, Jerry.



It says to me, "We recognize an NKP Berk doesn't fit into our collection." I think it's a smart move.

JAC

Just thought of this... remember a year or so ago there was news that the OC was going to acquire the N&W 4-6-2 from the Worthington museum, but then that fell through?

I wonder if she was to be trade bait for #763? That would have been a nice win for Roanoke.

Rob

John and Les,
Yes - many questions exist about the viability of steam these days. I hope that we can find a way to allow younger people to experience the steam locomotive - nothing replaces the sounds, sights, and smells!
And to JJJ - best of luck!
Airborne All The Way!
Melanie

R.P. Yager is a different guy from R. L. Yarger, though the latter's name has been perpetually mispronounced as the former (but strangely not by any fellow railroaders). The former has been much more active in our field than myself. I think my name is an American corruption of the German word jaeger, which means hunter, but don't really know.

That nonsense aside, Mr. Jacobson and company have a good record at completing projects, so it is much less likely that the 763 will end up like the aborted C&O 2700 and others that have been dismantled and essentially abandoned, with possibly some parts lost in the process.

Actually, if you consider for a few moments, this handily overlaps with the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society's goals and equipment for their "Lake Cities" project to recreate a 1960's NY-Chicago train over EL and NKP. Remember that ELDCPS now has custody of "City of Lima" (which just rolled out of the paint shop in stunning NKP paint); it's very likely that, with just a bit of fudging (depending on just what locos were used on what trains) motive power besides E8s and a PA already exist to make up a true NKP passenger train (didn't they also use RS11's or RSD12's, for example?).

Okay, let's look at the maps. If we were attempting to run a passenger train from Hoboken to Chicago via as much of the EL and NKP as possible, how many preposterous detours would be involved, and how long would it take? Not that we're complaining about a slow pace--all the better to enjoy the scenery............. <:-)