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Chasing The Pere Marquette 1225: My First BIG Steam Experience!

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Chasing The Pere Marquette 1225: My First BIG Steam Experience!
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:44 PM
Saturday December 3rd was the day me and a few friends chased the Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire #1225 from Owosso to Cheasning on the Polar Express! Enjoy these shots!


1225 sitting in the Steam Railroading Institute/ Tisby yard.


1225, after moving down the stub end track to load it's passengers, breaths steam and smoke into the extremely cold morning air.


After leaving the yard and running a few miles north, 1225 picks up speed as she aproaches the first crossing we caught her at.


Perhaps my favorite shot I ever took, 1225 tunders by in a cadence of smoke, steam, and power. It helped that there was snow on the ground, it only added to the awesomeness of the chase.


1225 at another crossing.


Notice how once they clear the crossings they stop making all that smoke. They must do it just so us railfans can get nice shots. Thanks 1225 crew.


Shrouded in steam, 1225 simmers at the fair grounds after a sucessful run.


Awesome!


The TSBY 2681, a high hood GP35, followed the train up and would pull it back to Owosso.

More shots can be viewed at http://www.railimages.com/gallery/jonathonleese
What do you think?
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Posted by trainboyH16-44 on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 3:14 PM
Nice pics, Jon! I didn't know you caught a GP35! With ALCo trucks, nonetheless! Good job!

Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296

Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/

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Posted by Noah Hofrichter on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 4:34 PM
Some Awesome shots Jonathon!!! Really that is great. I wish I could only catch a few more steam locomotives around here.

Noah
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Posted by railroadyoshi on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 4:57 PM
That is fantastic!!! Glad the crew gave you a photographer's hand! I'm especially fond of your 4th and 5th pics
Yoshi "Grammar? Whom Cares?" http://yfcorp.googlepages.com-Railfanning
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Posted by conford on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 5:47 PM
Hi Jonathon

What fun to see the 1225 in Winter action. Thank you for posting these.

Here in Portland, we have a weekend coming up where both SP 4449 and SP&S 700 will be in action. I can't believe we will have that much steam action, but I sure enjoy seeing the Pere Marquette engine.

Appreciatively
Peter
conford
Modeling Grand Rapids Michigan, C&O, PRR and NYC operations circa 1958.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:22 PM
GP-35 with Alco trucks? What's the history on that?
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Posted by Train 284 on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:40 PM
Awesome pics!
Matt Cool Espee Forever! Modeling the Modoc Northern Railroad in HO scale Brakeman/Conductor/Fireman on the Yreka Western Railroad Member of Rouge Valley Model RR Club
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:50 PM
[bow] ** FANTASTIC! ** [bow]

Great shots Jonathon, thanx for sharing them, I need to show this to my Michigan friends.
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Posted by ericboone on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 7:27 PM
If you ever get a chance to catch the 1225 on a trip through Mt Pleasant, there is a great shot from an overpass about a mile south of the depot.
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Posted by tmcc man on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 7:45 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by trainboyH16-44

Nice pics, Jon! I didn't know you caught a GP35! With ALCo trucks, nonetheless! Good job!


I did not notice that at first, but I did a double take on it and I was suprised. Great photos though.
Colin from prr.railfan.net
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 7:54 PM
Thanks for the kind words everyone! It was the best weekend of railfanning I ever did and it was my first time seeing a steamer bigger than a 4-4-0 in action.

As for the GP35 with Alco trucks, every TSBY (Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RR) GP35 has them. Infact, except for an NW2, every locomotive TSBY has is a GP35! 7 are ex Ann Arbor low nose units that have Alco trucks and traction motors from the FAs that were used as trade-in credit at EMD. The two remaining high nose 35s (they originally had 4) are ex Southern and I'm unsure as to how they got their Alco trucks.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 7:59 PM
Thought you guys might like to see one of the ex Ann Arbor GP35s. Caught these two sitting in Traverse City, MI with a Lake Central Railtours train.

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Posted by TrainFreak409 on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:04 PM
Great pictures! My favorite photo is the shot with the "Awesome" caption. Good work keeping up with the Polar Express!

Scott - Dispatcher, Norfolk Southern

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Posted by tmcc man on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:07 PM
That is weird how the engines all have ALCo trucks, and traction motors as well.
Colin from prr.railfan.net
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Posted by howmus on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:25 PM
Beautiful, simply beautiful!

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by PennsyHoosier on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:28 PM
WOW! WOW! WOW!

Great pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lawrence, The Pennsy Hoosier
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Posted by selector on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 9:10 PM
Very nice touch with those photos. And the engine seems to be a perennial favourite with the steam crowd...nice lines. Your best shot, in my opinion, is the one entering the crossing. I hope you are good and proud of that one! [tup][tup]
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 7, 2005 2:37 PM
Again guys, many thanks. The 1225 doesn't run that much. Maybe 3 times a year and then the roughly 8 Polar Express runs in January. Glad I could catch her. She was supposed to come to Grand Rapids (my town) last year for the movie premier of the Polar Express, but CSX said no!
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 7, 2005 11:02 PM
Jonathon,

The TSBY #385 picture that you published, is one that I was on, and took pictures of. The only problem is, I can't find my library of RR photos since I moved. They still may be at the storage unit. I may also be able to post it, in it's original colors. I used to live in Howell MI, and the TSBYs track ran right through town. I don't know if they did it with all of the Loco's, but where they could, they kept the same ID Numbers after the repaint.

You seem to know a lot about the TSBY. Where do you live??? I could see the trains go by, down at the end of my street. (In Howell) Some times there would be as high as six Loco's on one train hauling covered hoppers. They move a lot of hoppers. They're also a great bunch of guys as well.
QUOTE: As for the GP35 with Alco trucks, every TSBY (Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RR) GP35 has them. Infact, except for an NW2, every locomotive TSBY has is a GP35! 7 are ex Ann Arbor low nose units that have Alco trucks and traction motors from the FAs that were used as trade-in credit at EMD.
I concur 100%.

The TSBY would be an excellent choice for a bedroom layout. It's a well run short line.

Later,
Bill North [^]
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 8, 2005 2:32 PM
Bill,

Very cool! The 385 was the first TSBY engine I saw. Actually, I live in Grand Rapids and railfan CSX, but I railfan TSBY a lot when I go up to Traverse City for a week every summer. Very cool railroad, really friendly crews, too!

I agree 100%. The Tisby would be a very cool RR to model. You'd have to modify a bunch of GP35s with Alco trucks, although Athearn just released a new run of RTR GP35s in Ann Arbor and in another road that has Alco trucks.
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 8, 2005 9:31 PM
[/b]Jon:[/b]
QUOTE: I agree 100%. The Tisby would be a very cool RR to model. You'd have to modify a bunch of GP35s with Alco trucks, although Athearn just released a new run of RTR GP35s in Ann Arbor and in another road that has Alco trucks.
I wonder, if we leaned on Athearn, if they would produce a GP35 in TSBY colors, and with ALCO Trucks. It's not that big of a stretch since they're doing Ann Arbor RR already. If you find that they do SOUND OFF cuz I wouldn't mind adding a short line to my plans.

As a point of information, I'm now half the state away due East of Traverse City. About 18 miles East of Grayling. If you're ever in the area, let me know in the CS, and stop in. Duke has, and we even fed him lunch.

Bill North
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:45 PM
Thanks for the invite William! Yeah, I would think Athearn could make one in TSBY colors since they're doing one in Ann Arbor and they have one with Alco trucks.

Another funny thing, Proto 2000 Heritage makes their HO Berkshires in Pere Marquette, but they haven't done one numbered for 1225 or 1223, the other surviving PM berk.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 9:16 PM
Good shots. Making the oncoming thunder shot my desktop background for a few days.

=)
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Posted by fmilhaupt on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 6:27 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy
Another funny thing, Proto 2000 Heritage makes their HO Berkshires in Pere Marquette, but they haven't done one numbered for 1225 or 1223, the other surviving PM berk.


This is because, unfortunately, the way they designed their tooling, none of the combinations work out to make an accurate PM N-1 Berkshire like 1223 or 1225. The way they did it, they can make an accurate N class and N2 class Berkshire.

By the way, the sample PM Berkshire they showed in ads this Fall and the Walthers catalog is supposed to use their N2 body, not the N body they used. Luckily, when it was pointed out to them, they still had time to rearrange things so that the correct number will go on the right body (the N class body and the N2 bodies are different enough that you can tell from eight feet away). The PM Berkshires in the upcoming run, #1235, 1236 and 1239, are all N2s.

Now, if they'd only make replacement driver sets available for those of us who bought their first-run PM Berkshires and ended up with those shiny drivers that seem to run on the driver centers. I'd been planning on buying six, but luckily I only bought two of 'em before I found out about that gaffe. I'd gladly spend some extra money to make them look right (though for the price I paid for them, I really shouldn't have to), if they'd just offer the opportunity. At least they corrected the driver tooling on subsequent runs.

-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.pmhistsoc.org

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 9:02 AM
Awesome pics!
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 11:51 AM
Seein that Berk makes me want to get out my Riv. PM Berk and take it to the club and run a while. Alco AAR trucks on GP35's aren't uncommon. Most of the SOU railway's GP35's were that way because of Alco 1st generation trade ins for the 35's.

Bob DeWoody
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Posted by fmilhaupt on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 12:00 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by modlerbob

Seein that Berk makes me want to get out my Riv. PM Berk and take it to the club and run a while. Alco AAR trucks on GP35's aren't uncommon. Most of the SOU railway's GP35's were that way because of Alco 1st generation trade ins for the 35's.

Bob DeWoody


Similarly, the Soo Line and GM&O had GP30s which rode on Alco trucks from trade-in FAs.

-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.pmhistsoc.org

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 17, 2005 7:13 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by fmilhaupt

QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy
Another funny thing, Proto 2000 Heritage makes their HO Berkshires in Pere Marquette, but they haven't done one numbered for 1225 or 1223, the other surviving PM berk.


This is because, unfortunately, the way they designed their tooling, none of the combinations work out to make an accurate PM N-1 Berkshire like 1223 or 1225. The way they did it, they can make an accurate N class and N2 class Berkshire.

By the way, the sample PM Berkshire they showed in ads this Fall and the Walthers catalog is supposed to use their N2 body, not the N body they used. Luckily, when it was pointed out to them, they still had time to rearrange things so that the correct number will go on the right body (the N class body and the N2 bodies are different enough that you can tell from eight feet away). The PM Berkshires in the upcoming run, #1235, 1236 and 1239, are all N2s.

Now, if they'd only make replacement driver sets available for those of us who bought their first-run PM Berkshires and ended up with those shiny drivers that seem to run on the driver centers. I'd been planning on buying six, but luckily I only bought two of 'em before I found out about that gaffe. I'd gladly spend some extra money to make them look right (though for the price I paid for them, I really shouldn't have to), if they'd just offer the opportunity. At least they corrected the driver tooling on subsequent runs.

Ah, that explains a lot. Thanks!
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Posted by eng22 on Saturday, December 17, 2005 10:31 PM
Love the TISBY



Craig - Annpere MI, a cool place if you like trains and scrapyards
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 18, 2005 11:09 AM
Wow! Nice shots Craig! Do you live near the TSBY?

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