Grassroots Railroad Sports?

Alco-GE-Ingersoll-Rand boxcab oil-electric #90. The engine it's hooked to is Bessemer & Lake Erie 2-8-0 #154, one of two surviving B&LE steam locomotives. It was hard to get a photo of the front.

​​​​​​The Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee roundhouse that Henry Ford had relocated.

The roundhouse isn't just for show. There is a standard-gauge loop that encircles Greenfield Village that a $10 pass let's you rode all day. With three stops, it is useful for shuttling around the park. That being said, I was a little disappointed that, of their three steam locomotives that they operate, the #1 Edison was on duty. It began life as an 1870s Manchester Locomotive Works 0-4-0 that Henry Ford had rebuilt into a 4-4-0 (I can't imagine much was reused) in 1932. The result is an engine that's aesthetically muddled. The pilot wheels are comically tiny, the 2-axle tender looks more European, and the proportions are just strange. 

The engine I really wanted to see was Calumet & Hecla Mining 0-6-4T Torch Lake. It's the oldest operating steam locomotive in the US (built 1873) and the sole surviving Mason Bogie locomotive. It wasn't on duty today though and was pulled into the roundhouse front-first (the smoke jacks are towards the outer walls) and you couldn't go in and walk around it.

Their other operating locomotive is Detroit & Lima Northern 4-4-0 #7, a gorgeous 1897 Baldwin product that was Henry Ford's own personal steam locomotive

Detroit, Toledo & Ironton 4-4-2 #45, formerly of the Michigan Central. This engine has not, and likely never will, operated at Greenfield Village. A tall-drivered Atlantic is ill-suited to operation on their short loop of track

"Detroit & Mackinac" 0-6-0 #8, stashed away on a siding. This was not a D&M locomotive, but was purchased by the D&M in 1970, cleaned it up, and donated it to The Henry Ford in 1979. It did operate under its own power from Tawas to Dearborn, when donated along with a caboose and several freight cars, but that was the last time. Its boiler did get recertified with the state in the '90s to allow it to be used as a stationary boiler to power their steam wrecker crane for demonstrations, but it hasn't even done that in a while.

Someone else's photos of the delightfully bizarre Torch Lake. The Calumet & Hecla had several Mason Bogies on their roster that survived their immediate retirement in favor of more conventional motive power, but all of the others were scrapped during a WWII scrap drive. Torch Lake survived because it wasn't stored in the main engine house, but was instead tucked in a separate shed, and basically was forgotten about.

Detroit & Lima Northern #7

Those Alco boxcabs were the inspiration for the famous (or infamous) Model Die Casting boxcab kits.

Oh, I forgot to post photos of the tail car on the NKP #765 excursion. This was Norfolk & Western #300 Roanoke, which was the office car used by presidents of the Norfolk & Western. NS sold it off in 1987 and it was purchased by a private owner. It was completely overhauled and rewired and updated to Amtrak specs, given a new Nickel Plate-esque livery and the new name of Ocean, and then sat inside, unused, until 2017 when it was sold again. The new owners intend to put it back to the original Norfolk & Western appearance.

This is for Nick.  Saw this little kitten on display near the old Lukens Steel plant in Coatesville, PA:

I was very excited to see this bit of news: Arcade & Attica 2-8-0 #18's running gear has been delivered to the A&A after probably the most thorough dive into it since Alco built the locomotive. The Arcade & Attica, a 15-mile shortline in western NY, was the only railroad in the state of New York that operates a full-size steam locomotive but took the #18 out of service in 2018 for overhaul, only to find out that it was in need of extensive repairs to the boiler, firebox, and running gear. It has fallen off the radar then, and assuming the expensive of steam locomotive overhaul and the fact that the A&A is not exactly flush with cash, I figured that it was one of those projects that would be ongoing for 20-something years. But the running gear overhaul is done and according to those in the know, the boiler work is also quite far along. So here's hoping that in the near future, the sole operating large steam locomotive in NY state is back up and running.

A pan shot of Arcade & Attica #18 when she returned from her '01-'08 overhaul. Note the nose-down stance on the tender with mismatched trucks. The #18 was built by Alco in 1920 for a Cuban sugar mill, then was never actually shipped to Cuba, so it was sold to a quarry. In 1929 it was sold to the Boyne City Railroad in Michigan, and then the Arcade & Attica purchased it in 1962. 

Does the Arcade and Attica still have the 4-6-0 ?

In reply to LS_BC8 :

They still have the 4-6-0, #14, but the last time that it ran was in 1988. The word is that it will likely not run ever again, at least as long as it's at the Arcade & Attica. They kept it running on a shoestring budget over the years, and it was already pretty used up when they got it. It's never been through a modern (post-Gettysburg) FRA certification process, so it would have to be brought in line with that, in addition to all the other work that it needs, and the A&A is not a particularly prosperous line. So, until someone wins the lottery and donates them a couple million, the #14 will stay parked. The good news is, they keep it stored in the engine house, so it's spent most of the past 34 years in out of the elements.

Strasburg has finally wrapped up work on N&W #611 and will be running a few trips this fall. The schedule is:

September 30 – October 2 At-the-Throttle-Experiences

October 7 – October 9 Stationary Cab Tours

November 9 – November 10 Photo Charter directed by Pete Lerro

November 11 – November 13 Excursion Rides

I see that the price of the At-the-Throttle Experience went from $611 last year to $900 this year. I kind of balked at the pricetag last year until Appleseed and a friend convinced me to take the plunge. $900 for a half hour stint would be a bit too much for me. The same $900 gets you a 14-mile stint with a light engine on the Nevada Northern or 3-hours with one of the Gramlings' tank engines.

I will say that if you want to see #611, it might be better to see it sooner, rather than later. I'm not sure how true it is, but I've heard from two separate unrelated sources that the Virginia Museum of Transportation is getting tired of #611 eating them out of house and home without them getting any real use or benefit out of it. I'm not sure of the veracity of those rumors, but they aren't that far out of the realm of possibility. Since 2018, it's been stuck running at either the North Carolina Transportation Museum or Strasburg. 

I will say that I am glad to see that the In-Cab Experience/Take The Throttle trend seems to be taking off this year.

This year the J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad, operators of Jones & Laughlin Steel 0-4-0T #58, started doing the "Steam Locomotive Experience". For $258 you get a six hour fully immersive experience with The Rolling Ingot herself, starting with pulling her out of the enginehouse, cleaning the smokebox and firebox, building the fire, waiting as she builds up pressure, and then having the opportunity to run the locomotive over our track. 

I also saw on Little River Railroad's Facebook page that they do operating experiences with both the 0-4-0T #1 and 4-6-2 #110. I think that both of those would be really fun to operate.

The Gramling family is bringing their Jeddo Coal 0-4-0T to Kentuck Steam Heritage Center for hour-long operating sessions where you get to both fire and drive it. They also tow a caboose behind it, so you can bring up to 10 of your friends and family along for the ride.

After the experiment with it in 2020, it seems to be a new regular occurence with Strasburg Railroad.

IRM and Nevada Northern have offered it for quite a while now.

NickD said:

Strasburg has finally wrapped up work on N&W #611 and will be running a few trips this fall. The schedule is:

October 7 – October 9 Stationary Cab Tours

BMC autocross at Ripken Stadium on October 8.  Just sayin.

Duke said:

NickD said:

Strasburg has finally wrapped up work on N&W #611 and will be running a few trips this fall. The schedule is:

October 7 – October 9 Stationary Cab Tours

BMC autocross at Ripken Stadium on October 8.  Just sayin.

I'm already planning on going down to PA this fall at least once for the last runs of R&N #425, and maybe for one of the weekends where they run #2102 and the F-Units. But I have had the idea of swinging down to one of your events and hitting some combination of New Hope & Ivyland, Wilmington & Western, and/or Black River & Western. I just need to nut-and-bolt the E36 M3 out of the Miata, since it's been some time since I've driven it more than 2-3 hours, and the last time I did the starter tried to fall out.

I sat down last night and was thinking about the various steam locomotives I've ridden behind and decided to make a list, separated by wheel configuration.

0-4-0: "Little River Railroad" #1 (Little River Railroad)

0-4-4: Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington #9 (Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington)

0-6-0: Canadian National #7312 (Strasburg Rail Road), Baldwin Locomotive Works #26 (Steamtown NHS)

4-4-0: Greenfield Village Edison (Greenfield Village)

2-6-0: Bath & Hammondsport #11 (Everett Railroad)

4-6-2: Gulf, Mobile & Northern #425 (Reading & Northern), Little River Railroad #110 (Little River Railroad)

2-8-4: Nickel Plate Road #765 (Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society)

.4-8-4: Norfolk & Western #611 (Strasburg Rail Road)

2-10-0: Great Western of Colorado #90 (Strasburg Rail Road)

I've also seen in operation but not ridden behind, a 4-8-0 and another 4-8-4

A neat interview with a gentleman who worked for the Black River & Western, the Erie-Lackawanna, and D&H in it's independent years, Guilford ownership and CP ownership. Sadly, he had no experience with the Alco PAs or the Baldwin RF-16s, but he has some neat tales of "D&H #302" and MILW #261

An excellent video of R&N #2102's final Iron Horse Ramble of the 2022 season. #2102 will also be running at the Schuykill Haven Borough Days and haul two of the fall foliage trips this year