Fantasy steam indeed RME, love the look of that Dreyfuss-ized C1a. I haven't seen anything that cool since Juniatha's postings of her Germanized Pennsy T-1, you know, the one that looked like Darth Vader might have been at the throttle?
Some folks don't care for the Dreyfuss stylings on the Hudsons and that's OK. I think it's one of the best looking streamline jobs, along with the N&W's J's.
My favorite would be CNJ's > 4-6-4T ; a real workhorse that was used between stations where the locos could not be turned. Engine would head train from station 1 to the last station On the line. It would then run to the end of the train and couple up And then run backwards to station #1. There was a big headlight and pilot on the tender.
Nice choice Goodtiming! You know, Steamtown's got a Canadian 4-6-4T that's almost a dead-ringer for the one's the CNJ ran. I wish they'd get that one running, put some CNJ markings on it and use it for local runs in the area.
They've even got CNJ passenger cars to hook up to it.
Firelock76Steamtown's got a Canadian 4-6-4T
They can't do any more than a cosmetic restoration on #47 as far as I've heard. It was bought and operated by F. Nelson Blount around 1959 and became the first steam operation at Steamtown in Bellows Falls VT. However, the 47's maintenance records had been lost in a fire and the ICC determined that the locomotive cannot operate without paperwork. So unless that changes, she'll remain cold as she's been since 1961. But I agree, she's a great loco! Great pics here: http://www.rgusrail.com/pascollection.html#cnx10a47.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Hi Becky! There was a discussion of Steamtown 47 a few months back on the "Trains" Forum and what it amounted to was this.
Steamtown COULD have gotten 47 certified after a complete tear-down and inspection, however in 1961 the then Steamtown organization had plenty of other "papered" locomotives to choose from, so it just wasn't worth the effort.
NOW, however, after a complete restoration getting 47 OK'd to run again wouldn't be an issue, it'd have new papers certifying it.
It'd be interesting to see just how much work would have to be done. Granted 50 years is a long time, but aside from corrosion mechanically there should be very little wear on the machinery. What shape the boiler's in is another story.
Still, others a lot worse off have been brought back to life.
Favorite steam locomotive ?
Asking this question is like asking a rainbow which color to drop from its display!
However, if ONE type has to be named, then...
Penny Trains "Berkshires of the Lima/Nickel Plate Road variety."
"Berkshires of the Lima/Nickel Plate Road variety."
I second this post.
The 'AMC' Berkshires had the best lines, the best looks, the best dress lets say. Sleek, clean, no fuss no muss, git-her-done locos. Efficient, fast, powerful, and luckily as fate would have it... well preserved. Woodwards pencil was very sharp the day he scaled down the T-1.
Drop the light low (C&O) she looks heavy, like a brute! Add a Mars light and flying #boards (NKP) and she looks extremely fast sitting still. Or just plain Jane (PM) right off the factory floor. No matter how ya rivet her together, they are just #1 in my book.
PM Railfan
Firelock76It'd be interesting to see just how much work would have to be done. Granted 50 years is a long time, but aside from corrosion mechanically there should be very little wear on the machinery. What shape the boiler's in is another story. Still, others a lot worse off have been brought back to life.
I have a video of her running in Bellows Falls, it would be awesome for future generations to see and hear that deep whistle she has!
Penny Trains Firelock76 It'd be interesting to see just how much work would have to be done. Granted 50 years is a long time, but aside from corrosion mechanically there should be very little wear on the machinery. What shape the boiler's in is another story. Still, others a lot worse off have been brought back to life. I have a video of her running in Bellows Falls, it would be awesome for future generations to see and hear that deep whistle she has!
Firelock76 It'd be interesting to see just how much work would have to be done. Granted 50 years is a long time, but aside from corrosion mechanically there should be very little wear on the machinery. What shape the boiler's in is another story. Still, others a lot worse off have been brought back to life.
Methinks it's time to bump this thread again; 47 was not the only CN 4-6-4T to escape the torch, the Canadian Railway Museum has 49 on display indoors (cosmetically restored by the looks of her). I wonder what condition she's in compared to 49, but would probably suffer from the same paperwork issues.
And since I am thinking of CN 4-6-4's, anyone travelling through Southern Ontario needs to stop by St. Thomas and have a look at 5700, that thing is absolutely immaculate inside the Elgin County Railway Museum's ex-CASO/MC/NYC shop building. They have the lights working, keep everything oiled and greased and even move her around occasionally with a diesel. I know that picture was taken 25 years ago, but she looks just as good today!
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
I think I've got that same video you do Becky, came in a "steam freak" package for lack of a better term, and you're right, that little locomotive had one BIG voice! I'd love to see it running again. Hey, if I hit one of those big lotteries I'd underwrite it myself. But then, wouldn't we all?
Old Madacy tape "Twilight of Steam". Recently found it and several others on a dvd set at Target. One half of the dvd's has Madacy films, the other half is made up of Tracks Ahead segments.
That's it Becky, the Madacy tape's the one I've got. I'll have to run by the local "Tar-shay" and look for that dvd set, my Madacy tapes are dying by inches. And "Tracks Ahead" as well, I loved that show! Amazing how much good stuff they packed into a half-hour show.
What the heck, they ARE almost 20 years old by now, if they're not there already.
The set is titled "Railways: The Ultimate Railroad Experience" and has a Rio Grande F-Unit on the front of the package. The 5 disc set that has the Madacy stuff is titled "Railway Journeys: The Vanishing Age Of Steam" and includes:
The set with the Tracks Ahead segments is titled "The World's Greatest Railroads". Which is amusing considering it includes many model railroads! I don't recall how much I paid for the set but I'd guess it was around 20 bucks. At 18 hours it's worth the price of admission.
Thanks for that very detailed description Becky, I appreciate and I'm sure others do as well. Time to go on a Target raid.
Eighteen hours? Well that'll sure solve the problem on those nights when there's nothing on, which seems to be most of the time nowadays. Ironic, huh? I've got 300 plus channels on my cable service and nothin's on!
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! Lady Firestorm and I are sitting around with a case of the bloats right now.
I would nominate the four beautiful 4-8-2' s that the Rutland bought from Alco in 1946. I only regret they were long gone when my family moved to Vermont in 1956. I would give second place to the N & W 4-8-0's.
Fr. Al, you may not know this but there's an N&W 4-8-0 very much alive and upon this Earth and living at the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania. #475 is an active member of the SRR's steam fleet.
Unfortunately I can't help with those Rutland 4-8-2's, they're history.
Yes, I did know, I hope to visit the Strasburg one day. Some of the NW 4-8-0's outlasted the Rutland 4-8-2's, though they were built probably 40-50 years earlier.
DM&IR Yellowstone class M-3 and M-4 with 140,000lb tractive effort. Not meant for speed but one of the best drag engines and three of them still in existance and on display.
Eric
For you folks who like Berkshires, and I'll admit there's a lot to like, if you haven't done so already and if your computer has sound slide on over to the "Trains" magazine site, go to the Forum, select "Steam and Preservation," and scroll down to "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good...Berkshire."
Trust me, it will send chills down your spine!
And check out the PM 1225 slideshow another poster's set up. You'll love it!
Well I don't know about anybody else but I'm from Cleveland. I may have been born too late, but the Nickel Plate/Lima legend is alive and well in these parts. In fact, I'm probably violating some kind of "model railroading rule" (valid in Cleveland only) by not owning any O gauge Lima berkshires.
Keep hittin' the train shows Becky, trust me persistance pays off and I'm sure you'll find an O gauge Berk eventually. I've got three, two Williams and at a show last year I scored a Lionel 736. Got good deals on all three, the Williams were less than $200, the Lionel I got for $250.
Like Lou Palumbo says, "Keep searchin!"
Yeah, but for me having fifty bucks in my pocket is a rare moment worth celebrating! You just don't find 736's in that price range!
Ah me girl, I'll tell you what. Assuming you don't do this already whenever you see a garage sale or a thrift store pull over and have a look. You never know, do you?
I haven't gotten that lucky myself, with any of the stuff I chase after, but somebody has to!
I'll tell you, it's amazing just how close those Williams Berks are to the original Lionel. Not under the skin, mind you, but on the exterior, almost mirror images.
Since the subject has shifted somewhat to model railroading, how many model railroaders who model the post-steam era have a heart for their favorite steam locomotive and operate it on a fan trip on their layout? Remember, you're in the hobby to enjoy it and not take any trash off no nitpickers. If they don't like what they see your on duty railroad policeman can "politely" invite them to get off of railroad property and not come back!*
Before anyone says, "well, I'd like to operate my favorite steam engine on my layout but it was scrapped." So what, if there's a model of it on the market, run it anyway just for the memories. Isn't that what the World's Greatest Hobby is all about in the first place?
* How many modelers have figures and/or vehicles of railroad police on their layouts? An example: A night scene would show a railroad bull arresting some crooks who were caught breaking into a box car on a team track.
TRBB, I run anything I like on my O gauge layout. It's based on the Erie's Northern Branch in New Jersey, but on any day you might see anything from the Erie to the CNJ, sometimes the RF&P, the N&W, or the ACL.
Anyone asks, I call it "The Lost Locomotive Line!"
I used to run excursion trains all the time when I had a layout big enough to handle more than 2 coaches behind the tender. I have several MTH starter sets with both streamlined and heavyweight cars plus a few lonely cars. So all I ever worried about was matching the tail car to the loco and having the baggage car to act as the crew/tool car at the head. In between, anything goes!
Of course to do excursion trains properly you should have at least one Union Pacific dome car!
SP black and deskirted GS-4´s, T&P I-1a´s, T&P M-1´s in Eagle paint and SP SP-1´s are what I can call my favorite steamers. I have some more that I like very much, but these four types are definetly on top.
I posted above, three choices.
I would like to add the Rock Island K67B 2-8-2. I just think they were really neat workaday engines. They worked nearly to the end of Rock Island steam.
John
P.S. Regarding model railroading, and with a nod to Howard Zane, I am phasing out diesels. If Bowser gets the reservations to make ATSF F-9's in blue and yellow warbonnet, I will get them and keep them because that is a paint scheme I always wanted on an F unit. However other diesels are vanishing from my layout completely, and I will always stay with steam from now on. For rolling stock, I basically pretend that steam's last season lasted ten years more.
That's interesting PRR, I'm kind of doing the reverse. My last aquisitions have been diesels, although my layout is "steam-theme" and always will be.
The diesels? A Williams Atlantic Coast Line F3 set, with matching passenger cars, just 'cause they look cool, and a Lionel (circa 1989) Susquehanna RS-3. I needed a Suzie-Q locomotive to keep the North Jersey theme but can't find a Susquehanna steamer anywhere, nor can I find O scale decals to redress a steam tender. That RS-3 looks pretty cool too.
The last Susquehanna steamer I saw was an MTH Russian Decapod, Premiere Grade, way cool, but at $899 it was just too much for the wallet.
Well, we all have our spending priorities. Till I got done purchasing a Williams diesel and set of passenger cars, in O, I could buy a decent HO brass steamer, and for me personally, that is just what I do. To each his own.
Ironically, I just sold an Atlantic Coast Line passenger train my son wasn't using much anymore, and I netted about $400 for 4 mint Rapido lightweight coaches and a BLI purple and silver E-7A, after all the fees, etc. The money went into an HO Rock Island K67B brass steamer.
I have very few freight cars left, lol, but I'd sell them all again to buy the steamer. At this point I don't need many freight cars; I just enjoy playing with the engines and find it relaxing (most newer brass doesn't run very fast at all, either, so one can almost fall asleep after a stressful workday just watching them run).
Whenever I get a new steam engine, I tend to read all that I can about it...but I don't keep many books either. I own 5 train books total, currently.
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