|
|
Home
|
|
News Wire
|
|
LIVE Trains
|
|
Photographs
|
|
Railroads of Whitley Co., IN
|
|
Allen County Public Library
|
|
Links
|
|
Past Issues
|
|
Contact
|
|
|
Quick News
"Railroad Associates of Hammond,Indiana have acquired former Nickel Plate
Road 2-8-2 #624 from the city of Hammond,Indiana. The locomotive, built by
Lima in 1922, has been on display since 1955, and was featured in Ron Ziel's
book, "Twilight of Steam Locomotives", written in the early sixties. As of
now, plans are being made to take the locomotive out of the park where it
currently resides, and find storage so that heavy restoration may take place.
At this point,there is no definite date for return to service."
Reported on Trainorders by a user.
|
|
Editorial
During the period of August 16, 17, and 18 the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's TrainTown
held their annual Open House. Once again, it was a wonderful opportunity to see railroading the way it was. NKP caboose 141 (formerly LE&W)
undergoing restoration is coming along nicely. One end platform is complete and most of one side is redone. Work on the opposite platform is underway.
She's the sole survivor of the LE&W cabooses.
Work was also done on the groups mobile truck/crane. I believe it was rewired and repainted and stands ready to coal 765. The group also completed
some track maintainance this summer as well.
Of course, the majority of the summers labor went into restoration of Nickel Plate Road Berkshire 765. As has been reported before,
she has been completely stripped down and wheels removed. Currently, new flue sheets have been fabricated and flues and tubes are in the process of being replaced. That means that
the ultrasonic testing is also finished. The entire boiler was chalk marked into one-foot squares and each square was tested in two spots to determine
the wall thickness. This allows a working boiler pressure determination to be made. Evidently, things came out fine.
Speaking to one member, I noted that estimations were that 765 would be operable in 2003. I also noted that 2003 wasn't that far off anymore.
This member said that in fact they were ahead of schedule with 765 and that if things continued at the current pace she should be completed by March, 2003!
Well, whether it's March or later in summer, it will be great to see her steam again!
We then discussed operation plans. This member understood plans to include a trip onto the TP&W to haul some freight as a run in next summer.
He also mention what may have been an optimistic wish. He spoke of CSXs celebration of the 175th Anniversary of predecessor B&O.
It seems that CSX has put out an open invitation to mainline steamers to attend the festivities in Baltimore. (I have not verified this at this time.)
Whatever they eventually do, I look forward to seeing the big Berk in action again and plan to show her to some young, new fans that have never seen her steam before.
|
It has been a year since the tragic terrorist attacks on America. Though the loss of life was high, the cowardly terrorists failed miserably
in execution of their plan. Indeed, the potential casualties were tremendous. Yet, if reports are accurate, they failed in targeting the White House,
and more importantly, they failed to factor in the tenacity of Americans as was seen in the passenger revolt of the Pennsylvania plane.
Never did these cowards understand the love of country that we average Americans possess. And why shouldn't we? Have you ever thought of the
diversity of America. Not only in people and lifestyle, but in our land and resources. Want to feed the world? Americas farmlands are rivaled by none
in the world. We have it all. Mountains, big and small, plains and prairies, deserts and lush tropics, wetlands and frigid tundra as well as great forested regions; America has it all.
We are rich in resources as well. America is the embodiment of the worlds peoples and the worlds environs.
We may have been tripped up, but we will never fall. They tried and they have failed. We are patient and we are vigilant. We will succeed.
"They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong."
--Ronald Reagan
In responce to terrorism by Libya (1986).
|
|
Feature
FWRHS TrainTown Open House Highlights
Once again, TrainTown, the public operations arm of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, held its annual Open House.
As in the past, it was a showcase of railroading's past, as well as the groups progress. What follows are images of the
Open House and what they have accomplished. (Read the EDITORIAL for more indepth reporting of future plans.)
 |
To the left, this depicts some of the groups equipment collection including the wreck crane, 100+ year old Wabash caboose,
44-ton diesel, and the 765s cab.
|
 |
Here we see the exposed firebox of locomotive 765. The chalk, one-foot squares were placed
all along the firebox and boiler. These were used during ultrasonic testing, which determines the wall
thickness of the boiler sheeting. This will show weaknesses and determine repairs and the final operating
pressure of the boiler.
|
 |
Visible here is the newly installed front flue sheet. The group removed the original sheet and used it as a template for the fabrication of a new one.
Once the holes were marked, they were bored out and the sheet shaped one specialized tooling at the Ohio Central Railroad shops.
The piece was then test-fit and permanently installed.
|
 |
This is a stack of driver tires that were pounded off the 765s drivers. The drivers have been sent to Tennessee
to be re-trued. New tires will also be fabricated and installed. I believe these old tires can be obtained for private use
from the society. Contact the society for details.
|
 |
This is the track speeder the Society used to give rides. The rides were a "down-and-back" trip on on-site trackage.
This method of rail travel was used by track gangs to get from place to place. What's more, this little booger can
really go. While we never left first gear, we managed a pretty good pace down the track.
|
 |
A real staple of the FWRHS TrainTown Annual Open House are the rides offered in this 100+ year old Wabash caboose.
At only $1.00 per ride, nearly everyone takes this "out-and-back" ride on the Society's trackage. The caboose is fully-restored
down to the cast iron stove that was cast right there in Fort Wayne. Riders can even sit in the cupola which is always coveted seating.
|
 |
Nickel Plate Road caboose 141, the last of the Lake Erie & Western cabooses, is seen here as she undergoes restoration.
The whiter areas are the newly installed siding and framing. She's still less than half complete on the exterior. But you can help
by purchasing materials:
Windows: $50-$75
Paint: $20
Boards: $5
Sand (for sandblasting): $4
Hardware: $2-$8
When finished, she'll be used for rides, too.
|
 |
Built for the Wabash and relegated to switching duties on subsidiary Lake Erie & Fort Wayne, No. 1 was rescued from Sweeney Park in Fort Wayne along with the Wabash caboose.
She's seen cabless here. Plans are for restoration to operation where she'll serve duty pulling the caboose rides and be the primary engine
for the Engineer for an Hour program. Personally, I can't wait to see this little 0-6-0 under steam.
|
 |
This is the cab for LE&FtW No. 1. It was removed and has had new steel sheeting installed. It was also given some new paint to protect it. The interior
is wood clad and some of that has also been installed. Let me assure you that on an Indiana July day the roof of that thing can become very hot!
Especially when you're bucking red-hot rivets! It has been several years, but I remember it well. Interestingly, dimensionally, No. 1s cab is larger than that
of the 765.
|
|
