Makes Me Wonder What Else Is Out There...

[Firelock76]

...like cool stuff like this!

 Here's a story from the Wilke-Barre PA newspaper about a 1924 Brill trolley car that's been found in a local house!  Just amazing!

https://www.timesleader.com/news/719208/group-aims-to-rescue-restore-wilkes-barres-last-trolley

[seppburgh2]

Thanks for sharing!  

[Miningman]

Well you never really do know. Until definite documentation appears I wouldn't give up on the 'Erie in South Korea' angle. We know there are 2 Baldwin Sharks locked up in a barn unseen and inaccessible. However dreams of a stashed NYC Hudson or a T1 or Q2 in some far flung Pennsy outpost hidden in cut off and inside a tunnel are a pipe dream...but truth is stranger than fiction and ya just never really know.

Dead line ... Sante Fe PA's

[Jones1945]

Miningman

...but truth is stranger than fiction and ya just never really know.

Very true. This post reminds me a story happened in Hong Kong, an ex-British colony until 1997, now one of a Special Administrative Region of China.

Two A W. G. Bagnall 0-4-4PT narrow gauge steam locomotive, sold in the late-1920s, were found and restored from the Philippines in 1995. The locomotive is one of two that formerly ran on the narrow gauge branch line between Fanling and Sha Tau Kok. When that closed, they were used by sugar mills in the Philippines. The other locomotive of the pair was also brought back to Hong Kong and restored. 

After 75 years, reunion and well preserved. 

[Fr.Al]

Those dead Santa Fe PA's wouldn't be in Texas, would they? I seem to remember some dead line west of Houston off of Alternate US Route 90, if I recall. Of course, I've been out of Houston 35 years now.

     I keep hoping someone will go up into Grandpa's attic and find some color movies of Rutland steam and early diesels. Color with sound and no corny music in the background. One can hope...

[Trinity River Bottoms Boomer]

Miss Katy had PAs stored in Waco and Parsons in the 60s before Mr. Barriger traded them in for new power.  Included were the two demo units that had toured Canada on Canadian National.  They were painted in CN's attractive green and gold sans CN lettering.  A pity they didn't get saved.

[Miningman]

Not sure where that picture was taken. Found it on Flickr with a very small description that they were waiting for the scrapper. Perhaps someone here knows where this was. 

[Firelock76]

Getting back to the trolley-in-the-house thing, and I don't mind a subject shift at all, it's always been a fantasy of mine to go to an old neighborhood and have a Superman-like ability to pick up a house, or even a whole block, turn it over, shake it, and see what falls out.

Who knows what kind of goodies are out there waiting to be discovered?

Hey, a cop friend of mine up in New Jersey once got a call to go to an old ladys house and remove a gun she found in the attic.  Turns out it was a 37mm cannon her husband souvenired from World War One! 

One of these cute little things...

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/cannon/m1916-37mm-gun/#jp-carousel-10200

One thing that amazes me is the quality of that photo of the lieutenants with the cannon.  It looks like it was shot yesterday and not 100 years ago!

[Miningman]

Well thats quite a visual there Firelock. Of course everything except something like that cannon would be smashed to pieces! My N scale collection! I've had a shelf collapse with some priceless pieces and that was bad enough, but a SuperFirelock lifting my house off its foundation and shaking it to see what falls out would be the swift end of all of that.

Will insurance cover this? Where's my Krytonite!

PS... how about x-ray vision to see things inside instead? I think they would haul you and Superman off to jail these days. 

[Firelock76]

Relax Miningman, I was just speaking figuratively.  Besides, if any Irish Belleek parian china fell out of those houses and was smashed to bits Lady Firestorm would kill me!  She's a great admirer of the product, the vintage ones anyway.  She wouldn't give two cents for the current line.

[Miningman]

Very good Firelock. A Superman #1 turned up in absolute perfect condition about 4 years ago in an attic stowed away hidden in a chest. That's quite remarkable. I think only 3 known copies at the time, one with government since day one as per regulations. 

 A friend of mine got into a nasty squabble with his wife and she kicked him out. He came to my place, drunk as a skunk, looking for a place to crash and let things cool down. He walked into that shelf, unstable as he was, and I lost some great pieces, all steam. Yeah, I let him stay 

[Jones1945]

Firelock76

 it's always been a fantasy of mine to go to an old neighborhood and have a Superman-like ability to pick up a house, or even a whole block, turn it over, shake it, and see what falls out.

I have a similar fantasy when I was a child. I wish I have the ability to remove all the trees and grasses on the mountains and forests temporary to see if there is any archaeological remain.

It is not hard to imagine that many vintage railroads items are still storing in people's attics or government's storage. Many of these items were probably being destroyed like trash.  I heard a story about a whole bag of black and white photos from a deceased railfan was being thrown into the trash can by his family members.

[Firelock76]

There's a thread over on the "Trains" magazine Forum under "Steam and Preservation"  called "Dave Klepper Alert..."  It's another trolley-in-a-house story, this one's in New Jersey.

Here's a link to the current status of the same...

https://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2018/11/last_trenton_trolley_car_is_salvaged_for_restorati.html

Like I said, you never know what's out there!

[Penny Trains]

I did a quick search on Bing and got a whole load of rusting beauties: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=abandoned+steam+locomotive&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=abandoned+steam+locomo&sc=8-22&sk=&cvid=282B25EFB78445F7A3B64CD4B862E8AF

Some still rest in scrapyards:

[Firelock76]

Shocking link Becky, but it makes me wonder just where those things are.

And whether anyone would notice if one or two went, um, missing...

Now if I could just tow one of those things out of the woods by chaining the pilot beam to the Hyundai....

And Mr. Jones, I had an experience very similar to what you wished for as a child, that is removing all the foliage so you could see what was under it.

Several years ago I was on the New York State Thruway in Rockland County NY.  It was late in the year and all the leaves were down from the trees so I could see what was on the ground in those woods by the highway. I was amazed.

There were all the stone walls from long-abandoned farms that went back to the 18th Century.  Those walls were built from rocks cleared from fields farmed by the early colonists.  It's one thing to read about all the sweat (and sometimes blood) that went into building this country, but to acutally see the evidence of the same was amazing and quite moving.

The lesson I learned was, who are we to critisize the people who lived in those days?  We weren't there.  We know nothing.  Nothing at all. 

[Penny Trains]

I think they're five for a dollar in Russia:

This one's in Hungary:

It would be hard to explore a place like this because I'd be afraid the roof would fall in on me!

Here's something you don't see every day:

 

 

[Deggesty]

"five for a dollar in Russia"--that's plus transportation of course, isn't it?

[Firelock76]

Interesting stuff!

Photo four looks like an actual Russian "Russian" Decapod, as opposed to the American built version.

Photo eight looks like my O gauge layout when I'm changing rolling stock!

Five for a dollar?  Such a deal!  But more than likely you'd have to go pick them up yourself, I doubt they deliver.

[Jones1945]

Penny Trains found the hidden treasures of USSR! 

They are everywhere...

http://www.rottenplaces.de/main/kaiserwagen-kleinbahnwaggon-6134/

 

[Overmod]

Firelock76

Several years ago I was on the New York State Thruway in Rockland County NY. It was late in the year and all the leaves were down from the trees so I could see what was on the ground in those woods. I was amazed. There were all the stone walls from long-abandoned farms that went back to the 18th Century. Those walls were built from rocks cleared from fields farmed by the early colonists. It's one thing to read about all the sweat (and sometimes blood) that went into building this country, but to actually see the evidence of the same was amazing and quite moving.

Likely it's more recent than that.

When I was living at Soldier's Fortune (across the river and up the hill in Garrison), I enjoyed going up to the 'point' and looking out over the woods at the Hudson.  Imagine my surprise to find that in the adult memory of the man who owned the house, all the surrounding area was dairy farms and pasture ... few trees.  There are pictures that show this.

The lesson I learned was, who are we to criticize the people who lived in those days? We weren't there. We know nothing. Nothing at all.

It is more that we've forgotten, and not yet cared to remember.  If we wait too long past the edge of history, we may never have the chance to remember.

[Firelock76]

Wise words, and it really doesn't matter when those farms were abandoned.  I just marvel at those walls, and the idea they were put there by muscle power alone, both man and animal.

No matter, it was a haunting sight any way you look at it.

You know, there's an old saying, "Man fears Time, but Time fears the Pyramids!"

I doubt "time" fears those old stone walls, but maybe it respects them, just a little.

[Jones1945]

Firelock76

And Mr. Jones, I had an experience very similar to what you wished for as a child, that is removing all the foliage so you could see what was under it.

Several years ago I was on the New York State Thruway in Rockland County NY.  It was late in the year and all the leaves were down from the trees so I could see what was on the ground in those woods.  I was amazed.

There were all the stone walls from long-abandoned farms that went back to the 18th Century.  Those walls were built from rocks cleared from fields farmed by the early colonists.  It's one thing to read about all the sweat (and sometimes blood) that went into building this country, but to acutally see the evidence of the same was amazing and quite moving.

The lesson I learned was, who are we to critisize the people who lived in those days?  We weren't there.  We know nothing.  Nothing at all. 

I can understand that overwhelming feeling, Firelock. I don't have much first-hand experience to share but there was an interesting story happened in my city.

When the British government building a reservoir in a remote area like 40 years ago which is surrounded by mountains, abandoned villages and small ports, they build the Dam first to separate the sea and the reservoir area and drained all the salt water out within the area. A 400-year old merchant shipwreck was found at the bottom of the proposed reservoir with a lot of China inside the wreck. I wish I can have the abilities to lower the sea level and explore all the sunken ship and pre ice age cities remains one by one. 

[Firelock76]

Great story Mr. Jones, and I would have loved to have seen that old shipwreck!

I wonder what else was in the wreck besides china?

And what is that thing in the photo you posted that looks like a steam locomotive tender?  Do you know where it is?

And how good is the fishing around that "artificial reef?"

[Backshop]

Firelock76

Relax Miningman, I was just speaking figuratively.  Besides, if any Irish Belleek parian china fell out of those houses and was smashed to bits Lady Firestorm would kill me!  She's a great admirer of the product, the vintage ones anyway.  She wouldn't give two cents for the current line.

 

My wife is also a collector of Belleek china.  When we went on our honeymoon in Ireland, we took the bus from Dublin up to Belleek to take the tour.  As we were walking back to the bus stop to return, I asked her "Did you see the sign back there advertising Black Mark Belleek at the corner store?".  She got a look in her eyes and made a u-turn.  She ended up buying a pitcher for a few hundred Euros.  That put an end to her Belleek collecting at antique shops.  Once you've bought a Black Mark IN Belleek, nothing else compares.

[BaltACD]

Jones1945

I can understand that overwhelming feeling, Firelock. I don't have much first-hand experience to share but there was an interesting story happened in my city.

When the British government building a reservoir in a remote area like 40 years ago which is surrounded by mountains, abandoned villages and small ports, they build the Dam first to separate the sea and the reservoir area and drained all the salt water out within the area. A 400-year old merchant shipwreck was found at the bottom of the proposed reservoir with a lot of China inside the wreck. I wish I can have the abilities to lower the sea level and explore all the sunken ship and pre ice age cities remains one by one. 

Recently National Geographic Channel has had a series 'Drain the Oceans' where with the help of modern technologies they go on explain the reasons behind various objects, phenomina and ship wrecks found on the bottom of bodies of water - Oceans, Rivers and Lakes.

[seppburgh2]

From many tens of years ago from memory, remember reading in Trains or RailRoader about some UK steam fans finding a locomotive under a mound of junk metal.  Seem the yard started to pile up the stuff around the steamer and forgot about it as the years went by.  There was a happy ending as the locomotive was salvaged.  Thought it was cool and hope that someday a NYC J would be found in a barn somewhere in upper state NY.  Stranger things have been found.

[Firelock76]

Maybe someone will find a J in an old barn, warehouse, factory siding, whatever.

I don't know how true this is, but I read one of the two surviving NYC "Mohawks" was hidden in a large shed in upstate New York by some backshop workers.  They just couldn't bear the thought of its being scrapped.  By the time it surfaced scrapping it would have been a PR disaster for the NYC, so it was donated to a rail museum.

So maybe, just maybe, there's some other treasures out there, like say a Jersey Central "Pacific" in the Bound Brook area, or that legendary Erie K1 Pacific in a storage shed at the Kia works...

We can only hope, can't we?

[Miningman]

Word from on high requested that a steam locomotive of a certain type would be preserved. Each roundhouse thought it was another roundhouse that was delegated to save the locomotive. Each roundhouse involved had that type of locomotive on hand but all were sent to scrap and none were saved, each assured it was the other that was to do the saving.

Heard this exact same story for the B&O EM-1, NYC J3a and Canadian Pacific original 3000 series Jubilee. Urban myth? Not sure how you can make a large steam locomotive disappear and vanish but that seems to me to be at least an opportunity. 

Probably a bunch of hooey anyway. Probably. Maybe. 

[Jones1945]

BaltACD

Recently National Geographic Channel has had a series 'Drain the Oceans' where with the help of modern technologies they go on explain the reasons behind various objects, phenomina and ship wrecks found on the bottom of bodies of water - Oceans, Rivers and Lakes.

Thanks a lot, Balt. I am gonna check this out! 

[Firelock76]

Backshop

 

Firelock76

Relax Miningman, I was just speaking figuratively.  Besides, if any Irish Belleek parian china fell out of those houses and was smashed to bits Lady Firestorm would kill me!  She's a great admirer of the product, the vintage ones anyway.  She wouldn't give two cents for the current line.

 

 

 

 

My wife is also a collector of Belleek china.  When we went on our honeymoon in Ireland, we took the bus from Dublin up to Belleek to take the tour.  As we were walking back to the bus stop to return, I asked her "Did you see the sign back there advertising Black Mark Belleek at the corner store?".  She got a look in her eyes and made a u-turn.  She ended up buying a pitcher for a few hundred Euros.  That put an end to her Belleek collecting at antique shops.  Once you've bought a Black Mark IN Belleek, nothing else compares.

 

 

Ah Backshop, you've piqued Lady Firestorms interest!  She'd like to know which Black Mark, first, second, or third?  Second, what's the pattern of the pitcher?  Just curious.

By the way, about 20 years ago my parents made a trip to Ireland and visited the Belleek Museum.  Mom looked around the room and said "That's all you've got?  My daughter-in-law's got more Belleek than you do!" 

A little advice for your wife from Lady Firestorm, NEVER pass by an antique shop, you never know what's in there!

Case in point:  Several weeks ago we were in the Fort Meyers FL area and stopped in a place called Gannons Antiques and Art.  We always stop there when visiting.  Anyway, within 15 minutes Lady F found a "Dragonfly Pattern" Beleek trinket box, the only piece in the pattern she didn't have and never expected to find.  Pounced on it and paid only $25 for it.

Hey, she hasn't wound up with a 400+ piece collection for nothing!  Black Mark to Gold Mark too.