Photos of Morris County Central 385 being hoisted

[SteamFreak]

I thought I'd create a separate thread for my photos of MCC 385 being moved to its original excursion service home, The Whippany Railway Museum in Whippany, NJ.

Whippany Railway Museum Web Site

It was trucked into Cedar Knolls on Monday, February 4th, by J. Supor and Son, the trucking contractor that has owned it since it was removed from Bergen County Vocational School 9 years ago, and who is now donating it after many years of an uncertain fate. It was left overnight in the lot of an unused factory, and then Tuesday morning it was hoisted from the trailer and set on the old factory siding in preparation for it's final tow to the museum in Whippany a few miles away. A small fireless 0-4-0 of unknown origin was also included in the donation, having been acquired by the technical school as well at some point.

There were two reporters covering the move, one from the Star Ledger, and the other from the Daily Record. The articles provide other photos and the history of the loco.

http://www.nj.com/morristown/index.ssf/2008/02/now_heres_a_choochoo.html

The reporter from the Record ducked behind me to get this shot of me taking a picture, viewable here:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery

 

My shots (click to enlarge).

 

They had quite a bit of trouble getting all 8 drivers on the diverging portion of the switch, but the old ground throw is damaged and completely frozen. 

Both locos were left in Cedar Knolls until some decrepit track maintenance equipment stored on the spur could be removed. Hopefully they are at their new museum home by now. 

 

[afboone]

Thanks for the pics.  I couldn't come on Tuesday for the lift.  My two sons and I wanted to see it but school.

Hey do you remember a locomotive up on the Hamburg Turnpike many years ago?  Do you know what happened to it?

 

Thanks.

[SteamFreak]

Are you talking about a loco that was being transported? It doesn't sound familiar. 385 was trucked from its shed in Newfoundland to Bergen County Tech in '89, but that's the only other trucking move I'm aware of.

[Darth Santa Fe]

Cool pictures! It's not often you get to see an entire engine being being moved!

I wonder if a scene like this could be modeled using a broken-down Tyco 2-8-0 or something?

[SteamFreak]

I wonder if a scene like this could be modeled using a broken-down Tyco 2-8-0 or something?

Sure, but you'd have to throw a sheet under it to catch the PowerTorque parts.

[route_rock]

  I have a box set on steam and one of the little stories is about the 385 and all her moves during her tourist career. Is she going to run again?

[SteamFreak]

Unfortunately they only plan to restore her cosmetically. Number 4039 is a lot more likely to be restored to service than 385, since 385 sat outside since it was moved from its shed in Newfoundland in '89. I have several articles from that time, and she looks a lot better in those photos than she does here.

Another thing that annoyed most of us watching the move was that J. Supor didn't use a cradle or beams beneath her, and the rear cable really bent the bottom of the cab where it had to support some of the weight. I'm glad they donated the engine, but it should have been done right.

You can also see that only 2 cables were used to lift the tender, so there's no telling what having those trucks at that angle might have done to the kingpins.

It's a shame because she was a beauty, especially in her Southern Crescent scheme.