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 Post subject: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 3:50 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Was told by user “overmod” to start a thread with this title so I did.


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:28 pm 

Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:56 pm
Posts: 39
It's truly amazing, they pull off a landmark feat that the entire community said was impossible yet here we are as "preservationists" forensically investigating their success as if it was fraudulent.

Who the hell cares???

Jeff

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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:38 pm 

Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:52 am
Posts: 2561
Location: Strasburg, PA
There is a 1 in 365 chance the the 31st just happened to be the day that everything fell into place for lighting the fire. It's possible...

I for one am looking forward to riding behind her!

All Fired Up


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:55 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Kelly Anderson wrote:
There is a 1 in 365 chance the the 31st just happened to be the day that everything fell into place for lighting the fire. It's possible...

I for one am looking forward to riding behind her!

All Fired Up


As am I! She looks better than I imagined she would.


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:33 pm 

Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:21 am
Posts: 595
Location: Yardley, PA (near Phila)
A fair question for a mature audience - and the answer likely depends on the perspective someone who might answer has of this audience - patrons, or simply casual browsers of this site, or worse, "friends of friends who heard...." It's a shame that some questions are best left unasked, sometimes.

Regardless - it was under steam before 2021, something I think we can all appreciate, especially considering the obstacles over the years.

/Mitch


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:01 pm 

Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:29 pm
Posts: 1899
Location: Youngstown, OH
Is this the dumbest thread in RYPN history?

(not speaking as moderator here...)

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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:05 pm 

Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:21 am
Posts: 473
I offer no comment about the timing, but will about the locomotive.

This is really a very rare event in the world of railroad preservation. Why? Because it's a Mallet. Yes, I know that there are other Mallets running elsewhere, and my comment applies to them as well, but a wee bit less than #1309.

A Mallet is a big, powerful engine, built (generally) for low speed drag freight work. That design usually doesn't lend itself to the current era of tourist train operation. There are more wheels, axles, drive boxes, pistons, rods, brake shoes, and a whole lot of telescoping pipes to tend to as opposed to a "plain ol' steam loco".

Yes, I understand that the operating parameters of WMSR are such that this engine "fits the bill", but just commenting that this is a rare occurence. I modern day tourist service, it's unusual to find a train long and heavy enough to warrant the expense.


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:15 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Mark Jordan wrote:
I offer no comment about the timing, but will about the locomotive.

This is really a very rare event in the world of railroad preservation. Why? Because it's a Mallet. Yes, I know that there are other Mallets running elsewhere, and my comment applies to them as well, but a wee bit less than #1309.

A Mallet is a big, powerful engine, built (generally) for low speed drag freight work. That design usually doesn't lend itself to the current era of tourist train operation. There are more wheels, axles, drive boxes, pistons, rods, brake shoes, and a whole lot of telescoping pipes to tend to as opposed to a "plain ol' steam loco".

Yes, I understand that the operating parameters of WMSR are such that this engine "fits the bill", but just commenting that this is a rare occurence. I modern day tourist service, it's unusual to find a train long and heavy enough to warrant the expense.


I agree... looks like a fantastic locomotive.

Is the Skookum a mallet?

There’s the big boy, the two in South Dakota, and the Clover Valley
at Niles Canyon. Am I missing any other mallets?


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:52 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11482
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
Here's a situation not that far away from Cumberland.

Head to the back of the storage barn and you'll find two cars that don't fit the "mission" of the museum/operation.

A group acquired these rare pieces in a last-minute rescue common to this field. The place in question gave them conditional storage: "You have five years to get them out, or they're ours."

I think they're on Year Seven.

I asked the director recently about them.
"We have the right to sell one or both if you have the cash. We're just not advertising them and only the 'right' people know they're even there; [the group] could still come and get them, but they'd owe us covered storage costs. And we're not gonna sell them to just any bozo that walks by."

On the other hand, these cars are so unusual and distinctive that there's almost no "market" for them except to the group that saved them in the first place. So in a sense they're "stuck" where they are, and the new "owners" may have to find a way to put them to use somehow.

So............ maybe "beware of conditional time limits on donations/offers"?


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:20 pm 

Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:06 pm
Posts: 2530
Location: Thomaston & White Plains
In this game, sometimes you just need to set a deadline.

49-1/2 years ago, seatbacks were being put in place inside a CNJ coach in a train that was slowly pulling into a newly-painted station; the ceremonial Governor's Foot Guard band got green paint on their fancy uniforms, because it was still wet. The little steam locomotive had made it's first test run (since 1966) at 11:30 pm the night before. It was Thursday July 29, 1971, at Essex, Conn. at the opening day of the Valley Railroad. Why that day? Because it was 100 years to the day, that the first train operated over that line.

40-1/2 years ago, I recall watching C&O 614 still being reassembled- piston valves being crammed into cylinders, while it was being steamed up in the Hagerstown roundhouse. It had a trip to be on, out of Baltimore, in two days. It made it.

Last day of 2020 was as good a goal as any for 1309. Huge hurdles to overcome, but they did it. There's fine tuning to do, obviously. But it happened.

Give them, all of them: the shop crew, the admins, the publicity team, all of them....give them the credit they are rightly due.

Howard P.

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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:25 pm 

Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:22 pm
Posts: 65
Location: Northwest Indiana
Maybe, So 2020 could end on a good note.


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:59 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:25 pm
Posts: 2329
Location: The Atlantic Coast Line
Quote:
Maybe, So 2020 could end on a good note.

[LIKE BUTTON]


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:03 pm 

Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm
Posts: 2875
I honestly wondered about this. I certainly wouldn't say "why the hurry", as the restoration has been anything but hurried. I didn't get the impression it was done in haste.

But I did wonder if there was any significance to the date chosen? Was she simply ready? Was it a 4 day weekend when lots of the crew could be there? Had they promised a benefactor "She'll steam in 2020?" Was there some other reason?

No intent to be critical of them, just wondering if there was any special meaning to the date?

And, yes, having 2020 go out on a bit of a good note is certainly reason enough and I'm glad they did it.


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:06 pm 

Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:12 am
Posts: 822
Location: cheyenne
Rick Rowlands wrote:
Is this the dumbest thread in RYPN history?

(not speaking as moderator here...)



Its a contender for the Number 1 spot for sure.

Mike P


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 Post subject: Re: “why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31” I
PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:47 pm 

Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2020 5:36 pm
Posts: 95
Kelly Anderson wrote:
There is a 1 in 365 chance the the 31st just happened to be the day that everything fell into place for lighting the fire. It's possible...


To be fair, it would be a 1 in 366 chance because 2020 was a Leap Year! Regardless, I'm of the same opinion as you.


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