https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/view-strasburg-rail-road-remotely/
Watch the Paradise cam at 11:40
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/view-strasburg-rail-road-remotely/
Watch the Paradise cam at 11:40
Okay, recap time:
With no real plans for Saturday, I decided to head down to Jim Thorpe and do the touristy deal. So I loaded up the Yaris and headed out into uncertain weather, with the remnants of Laura headed into the Northeast. On my way down, I needed to use a restroom while I was in Scranton, so I got off the thruway and sought out a gas station. Then, I realized I was in Scranton, and Steamtown National Historic Site is in Scranton. So, I decided to swing by and snap a few photos.
Delaware-Lackawanna shares the Scranton yard with Steamtown and they are an Alco haven. I caught C425 #2452 in DL&W paint and C420 #414 in Lehigh Valley "yellow jacket" paint idling in the rain.
Reading T-1 4-8-4 #2124, one of four surviving, has been a cleaned up and looks very nice these days. While #2124 seems unlikely to be operated again, two of her sisters, #2100 and #2102, are both very far along in an operational restoration. And #2101? We don't talk about that one. You can also see a pair of Reading FP7s poking out from behind her.
Canadian Pacific #2317 sitting out in the rain. The big G-3-c Pacific was Steamtown's excursion engine for years but was parked back in 2011 due to her flue time running out. Steamtown is currently focusing their efforts on getting B&M #3713 operational, but then supposedly #2317 is next. Since they did a ton of work to it back in '07, like rebuilding the lead and trailing trucks and the dry pipe and new tires on the drive wheels, so it shouldn't need much more than new flues.
I usually do not pay much mind to Illinois Central engines, but I do think that Consol #790 is exceptionally good looking. Well, except for the goofy sand dome that IC equipped their engines with. The "skylines" of IC engines tend to be very messy.
DL&W #663, a "chicken wire F3", poses on the Scranton turntable. This is one of only 2 operational F3s. Why is it called a "chicken wire F3"? Look closer at the inlets on the side of the body. I have to hand the design to EMD, they really knocked the design out of the park on the F-unit when they created them. Such an iconic look.
Reading #467, an RS-3 owned by the Anthracite Historical Society, is posed in the yard with a short freight train, while a Delaware-Lackawanna RS-3 is parked farther back.
Right now due to the virus, Steamtown is free to enter, but they are not running any trains currently. You also cannot enter most of the buildings. The roundhouse is open to walk through, but its hard to take photos in there. I was there for about 30 minutes and then back on the road.
Arrived in Jim Thorpe and, wow, the traffic and parking is nightmarish, but that place is cool. All the old buildings are awesome and its impressive how they managed to cram a town in a valley with a river.
Found this row of old Chryslers, Studebakers and Packards that all seemed to be in original condition and had not been on the road since the late '70s. Under the tarp on the far left was a Chrysler Airflow.
I walked around, took photos of everything, bought a Strongbow off a dude running a bar out of an alley (and by "bar", I mean folding card table), purchased some blue crab salsa and was just a general tourist. No photos, but Asa Packer's mansion and Harry Packer's mansion are insane.
And then it was down to the old Central Railroad of New Jersey station.
And all aboard the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railroad, operated by Reading & Northern Railroad. Today's motive power was a GP39RN, which is a GP30 that was rebuilt by ATSF, in a vaguely Reading-inspired yellow and green paint scheme.
They run a great operation here. It's $17 for a 70 minute ride along the Lehigh Gorge up to Penn Haven and back. Along the way you see remnants of the old Lehigh Valley and CNJ lines, the current Norfolk Southern line, the first oil pipeline in the world, lots of people rafting/kayaking in the river. And those old clerestory-roof passenger cars have really comfortable seats.
Reading & Northern/Lehigh Gorge also has a steam engine that they run excursions with. They ran her last weekend, and they are running her next weekend (hmmm), but not the weekend I was there, which is just my luck. But she was on display and that is a good-looking engine. It's a light Pacific, one of two owned by the Gulf, Mobile & Northern. She was sold to Paulsen Spence's Louisiana & Eastern and was one of only 4 (out of 40+) engines to escape the scrapping that occurred after Spence's death. Reading & Northern also has Reading T-1 #2102 and is in the process of getting her restored to operation.
I also went and found the remains of the old Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company railroad tunnel/bridge. The bridge is gone and one portal of the tunnel is partially filled in, but you can still walk it.
Then it was back in the Yaris and onwards to Paradise, PA. Along the way I spotted my first Class I Heritage unit, which was Norfolk Southern #1069, a tribute to Virginian Railway. Sadly I could not get a photo of it, but I'll put Norfolk Southern's unveiling photo in place.
I also spotted the Windows XP background in real life
I arrived in Paradise, grabbed Chik-Fil-A for dinner, ran into my parents at the hotel, who had essentially stalked me to figure out where I was staying so that they could watch me the next day and went to sleep.
NickD said:
i lived in Lancaster for 7 years. really miss the beauty of the farmland in the summer there.
cool trip! i need to check out Jim Thorpe sometime, what a cool looking town.
ScottyB said:NickD said:
i lived in Lancaster for 7 years. really miss the beauty of the farmland in the summer there.
cool trip! i need to check out Jim Thorpe sometime, what a cool looking town.
Yeah, Lancaster area is the very definition of bucolic
Okay, main event time. Woke up the next morning, grabbed breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then headed down to the Leaman Ave end of the line where Strasburg interchanges with CSX and we were supposed to board. Check in with the employees and then watched to see what exactly they were doing, as Strasburg wasn't the most forthcoming with information. As we walked up, Strasburg #90 backed down to the end of the line with their Pennsylvania Railroad "bobber" caboose. Watching a 2-10-0 run up and down the line hauling just a bobber was pretty amusing.
Quick refresher, Strasburg #90 is a 1924 Baldwin-built Decapod. It was used by the Great Western Railroad of Colorado as their only 2-10-0 and the largest engine that they owned. Post-retirement they ran it as a company excursion engine, then in the early '60s they sold it to Strasburg. It is also the largest engine in Strasburg's roster, as well as the newest. When I visited Strasburg for the first time, fifteen plus years ago, my father and I took the shop tour and we were the only two on the tour (it was like a Wednesday and the weather was gross) and so the tour guide took us to places the tour normally didn't go and let me get up in the cab of #90 and sit in the engineer's seat.
So, the plan was, you got to run the engine up to just shy of the first grade crossing, then coasted it back to Leaman Place, then ran it up to the crossing again and coasted back a second time. The engineer supervising me, who works for Amtrak during the week and volunteers at Strasburg on weekends, was a super personable guy and a lot of fun to hang out with. The fireman (firewoman) was a super badass lady who I would have married on the spot if it wasn't for the fact that she was already married.
So, what's it like to operate a real steam engine? Well, first of all, the cliche that a steam engine is a living breathing steam engine is completely true. Even at idle, there's a lot of stuff going on, the smell of coal smoke and lubricating oil, gentle hissing from the various steam lines and minor leaks, the whir of the turboalternator, the deep roar of the boiler injector when the fireman is adding water, the thump of the air pumps. Getting in motion is a bit busy. Open the cylinder cocks to blow any water that accumulated at rest, two short blasts of the whistle (and blast is the right term), engage the bell, release the brakes, put the reverser all the way forward (even with a power reverse, you have to just about use both arms, can't imagine what the old-school Johnson bars were like) then grab a few notches of the throttle and wait. It's not like a car, there's a solid delay as the steam travels from the the throttle valve in the dome down to the cylinders. Once it gets rolling, disengage the bell, reach down and yank back the lever to close the cylinder cocks. Speeds on Strasburg is 10mph over switches and 15mph out on the open. Even at 15mph, it feels like you are hauling ass, and there's a lot of clattering from the valve gear and rods and the thud of the exhaust. I can't imagine what it was like to be a NYC engineer doing 100mph with a Hudson. You pull back the reverser a few notches to shorten the cylinder stroke (increasing speed) and also back down the throttle and then basically you are along for the ride at that point. Since we were running light, the fireman wasn't even doing much, she tossed a few scoops in before we left and watched the boiler pressure and water level. While we didn't make the first grade crossing, there was a small farm crossing that I did get to whistle for, and as juvenile as it sounds, that's the best part. Especially because #90 has a Reading 6-chime whistle, which sound amazing.
In reply to NickD :
Wow Nick, just wow. Great description of the whole process, I’m imagining a E36 M3 eating grin to go with it. I’m so happy you got to do this and a lot jealous.
I vividly remember the first time I “answered bells” at maybe 21 years old, 28,000 SHP of steam turbine under my control. I most certainly had a E36 M3 eating grin on my face!
Edited to add: I did not get to blow the ships whistle...
In reply to 11GTCS :
It was a lot of fun. Nevada Northern does full-day programs with their steam engines and diesels. The idea is tempting. Also, didn't get a photo, because I was busy, but as we were backing into Leaman Place for the last time, a brand-new Amtrak Siemens Sprinter ACS-64 electric went busting past at easily 70mph. So you had a 1924 steam engine and a 2020 electric only two tracks apart. If you've never seen an overhead electric at full sprint, that's a sight too. You can see sparks from the pantograph and the catenary makes a weird whip noise as it passes.
How do you stop one of these engines?
Thanks!
amazing experience, thanks for the writeup. i can't imagine the chaos of operating one of those. closest i ever got to starting to get an understanding was that Top Gear episode (The Great Train Race) where they're racing a bike, car, and train across England with Jeremy in the train. even though its obviously a show with a script you can see his strain and exhaustion trying to manage the task along with the crew in that deafening cab.
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Westinghouse air brakes, of course. Air pressure is provided by a steam-driven air compressor.
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Like Recon1342 said, they use an air brake system. They apply a shoe to the outside edge of the wheel, the surface that contacts the rail. They are weird too. They are normally applied and you use air pressure to release them, so that in the case of an brake line failure, they come to a stop. But they also use air pressure to apply them as well. So you have to be careful, because you can cycle them too many times and then not have any brake. And there is a brake handle for just the locomotive (called independent) and one that operates the whole train (called automatic). For this short jaunt, the engineer was working just the independent brakes (the bobber caboose neither has much weight or much brakes) and he was handling them so that I didn't deplete the reservoir and lose all brakes or lock up the wheels and flat-spot the drivers. I watched him working the independent brake handle and couldn't entirely figure out the control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_air_brake
A better description of the air brake system. Its pretty complex stuff, but its basically run unchanged 1869.
Well, I'm going back to Jim Thorpe this Saturday. I really want to ride behind Reading & Northern #425 (and hear her, because supposedly she is absurdly loud despite being a light Pacific), its not that far of a trip and my father and I have had most of our plans dashed this year. I had to reserve tickets ahead of time because I guess they are selling out fast. I got two tickets for the open air car on Saturday's 1:00PM train. The open air cars are right behind the engine on the run up to Penn Haven, which is all up grade, so we'll really get to hear her work.
In reply to NickD :
I've watched the Acela pass through one of the towns near us at speed, it's impressive for sure.
In reply to 11GTCS :
Actually now that I think about it, it was even funnier because that shiny new Siemens Sprinter was towing Amfleet cars. So you had 2020 electric locomotive towing 1970s passenger cars past a 1920s steam locomotive hooked to a 1910 PRR ND bobber caboose.
In reply to NickD :
That kind of describes Amtrak to a "T" though, doesn't it???
Ever since the Central Pacific first crossed the Sierra Nevada in 1868, the miles of tunnels and snowsheds of Donner Pass have caused trouble for trainmen. As locomotives got larger and more powerful, ventilation became a primary concern, especially after smoke and fumes overcame several train crews. Ever a railroad to tackle problems in their own way, the Southern Pacific came up with an ingenious solution. They simply took an oil-fired articulated locomotive, turned it around, and connected the front of the locomotive to the tender. With the cab in front, the famed SP "Cab Forward" was born. Fuel was delivered to the firebox via piping from the tender, and the fuel section of the tender was cylindrical so that it could be pressurized with air, ensuring fuel flow to the other end. The cab was enclosed, and with the exhaust behind them, the crew was safe and able to function. The resulting 4-8-8-2 cab forwards were some of the most powerful locomotives built, and could be seen on a regular basis attacking the grade over the mountains between California and Nevada.
In reply to Recon1342 :
At one point they looked into restoring the only survivor #4294, back to operation but the size, cost and Union Pacific's attitude towards "foreign" steam engines killed the plan dead. Its frustrating that even though UP bought up Southern Pacific, they will not allow Southern Pacific engines over their rails. The fact that Southern Pacific apparently never heard of a roller bearing also doesn't help Class 1s' view towards SP engines.
In reply to NickD :
Yeah, it's frustrating. I've been to the museum in Sacramento and seen her up close. She'd be a great candidate to bring back to life.
In reply to Recon1342 :
It wouldn't be the first restoration foiled by those obstacles. A guy by the name of Glenn Campbell bought a huge Bessemer & Lake Erie 2-10-4 off the the B&LE, stored it indoors and restored it to operation and then found out that nobody wanted to host the engine due to its sheer size and weight. It was a ready-to-run steam engine that never turned a wheel post-restoration. The building collapsed around it, it sat outside and deteriorated and was vandalized and it was nearly scrapped a year ago before Age Of Steam Roundhouse stepped in and began dismantling it to move to Ohio. They have already stated they have no intentions to return it to operation due to its mass.
Chesapeake & Ohio #614 sits at Clifton Forge, VA, a complete restored operational steam engine (I believe her flue time has expired now) that is basically ready to roll. She's fast, powerful, roller bearing-equipped and ran over CSX rails for years. But due to CSX's attitude towards steam engines, she is parked because CSX will not play ball with Ross Rowland. Rowland has said that if someone were to give her a place to run and pay for new flues (or file for a flue extension from the FRA) he would gladly work with them, but nothing has materialized.
Really, the sweet spot for an excursion engine is a 4-6-0, light Pacific, Consolidation or a light Mikado. Anything smaller than that and your operation has no capacity for growth. Either it can't pull the train (Strasburg ran into this with 0-6-0 #31 and 0-4-0 #1187) or you work it so hard that you beat the hell out of components and need more frequent and thorough overhauls. Too much bigger and you tear up infrastructure or can't find a place to run it and have to try and get a good partnership with a Class I or a regional line. And keep the driver diameter below 73" or so, or you end up with an engine that is only good at flying along at 60mph.
In reply to NickD :
Agreed. Thankfully, we still have some phenomenal branchline and narrow-gauge stuff that is well preserved.
Stumbled across this. I work for the Burlington Northern as a conductor. If anyone has any pressing choo choo questions I'd be happy to be of assistance
Amalgamated Sugar runs a local processing plant that turns sugar beets into various types of sugar. They move enough stuff by rail that they operate their own branchline. They've got one EMD switcher, two GE 44 tonners, and a critter. All four earn their keep.
In reply to Recon1342 :
Whoever runs that loco on 3rd shift would technically be Nights in White Satin.
In reply to NickD :
That Glen Campbell?
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