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 Post subject: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:28 am 

Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:22 pm
Posts: 467
Oglebay’s Chance Manufacturing propane-fired train is up for sale. It needs extensive repairs but isn’t missing parts (that we locals know of.) It’s hard to extract information from them and anyone interested is better off calling them directly. The plan is to replace it with a trackless trolley.

If you’re looking for parts for an older C.P. Huntington or wouldn’t mind having one around, this one ran last season and is likely salvageable. I had no luck finding out whether they plan to sell the other, inoperable parts train. Dealing with them can be difficult.

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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2022 11:30 am 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:50 pm
Posts: 216
Location: www.easttroyrr.org
Here is the Zoo website:

https://oglebay.com/good-zoo/


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:43 pm 

Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:22 pm
Posts: 467
Better info in today’s Intelligencer:
Train is a 1977 model. Three-quarters of a mile of track is included. Starting bid at govdeals.com was $17000. Buyer is to remove train and tracks and clean up debris. Auction ends January 17.

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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 2:56 pm 

Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:14 am
Posts: 2
I don't believe this particular CP Huntington is propane powered, I believe it's gasoline-fueled. I agree with you, Becky that it's frustratingly difficult to get any information or details from Oglebay. I see on the auction website that a few questions were posted and answered. I asked a few additional ones several days ago but they've not answered either one yet.

According to the auction site, the park is selling CP Huntington #138, I believe 6 coaches and all the track. Originally Oglebay had 2 trains, both identical and with a full set of coaches. They had Chance CP Huntingtons #138 and #152. They normally kept one parked in the storage garage while the other ran, and at busy times during peak season and for events like "Boo at the Zoo" they ran both. One train could pass while the other remained stationary in either the storage garage, or while parked at the "depot" and loading or unloading passengers. I've seen photos posted to the internet that were taken as recently as 2019 showing #152 in operation, but there's no mention of it in this auction. I'm wondering if they parted out 152 to keep 138 going? What about all the coaches that were in use with 152? If they parted out one of the locomotives, how much spare equipment comes with this auction? Also, I've seen a number of photos going back to the early 2000s showing #138 missing the larger wheels from their locomotive which would've been drive wheels on the actual CP Huntington but are only decorative on the Chance units. I'm wondering how long ago those were removed and if they still have them?

According to the auction site, #138 was in full working condition until recently, but the engine hour meter has been broken for years so they don't know how many hours she has on her. At least the park let people know they were doing this. When they took their pretty spectacular O-Gauge train display out (it was the largest in WV and in service for several years), they basically did it overnight, and from what I understand they gave the donated trains and items back to the owners whom they could locate and they did sell some items, but a lot of pretty spectacular custom work was destroyed via a sledgehammer and tossed in a dumpster.


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:39 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:25 pm
Posts: 2329
Location: The Atlantic Coast Line
Is there a link to the auction site?

Thank you.

Wesley


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:44 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:58 pm
Posts: 1061
Ogleby used to have the largest O Gauge layout in West Virginia, and a fantastic and growing train show. Then they moved the train show to a smaller building, pretty much killing it. Then the train layout (which was more worth the drive and over an hour in traffic, was better to see than the holiday light display.) was torn down and thrown in the garbage without any notice or a chance to buy anything.


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:46 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:01 pm
Posts: 178
wesp wrote:
Is there a link to the auction site?

Thank you.

Wesley


https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1&acctid=21757


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:43 pm 

Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:22 pm
Posts: 467
MikeyMike wrote:
from what I understand they gave the donated trains and items back to the owners whom they could locate and they did sell some items, but a lot of pretty spectacular custom work was destroyed via a sledgehammer and tossed in a dumpster.


If only. They smashed up the steel mill when they knew the family would have come after it, threw away at least one of the brass locomotives on loan...This would have happened years ago if there hadn’t been a huge public outcry. I got roasted for suggesting it was about to happen in spite of FIVE different employees telling me it would. The previous zoo director has been retired. She was going to make a snake room out of the layout space, them somehow arrange for it to go elsewhere so there could be video poker and a small tavern. Pitching the layout didn’t damage the Festival of Lights attendance, but it put a giant dent in the zoo.
They also had a lot of unexplained animal deaths and a lot of zoos were reluctant to loan them animals. I don’t know how that’s going.

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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:48 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:58 pm
Posts: 1061
heard that from several employees that saw first hand items go right in the dumpster. They can have their light display. we haven't gone back in several years.


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:09 am 

Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:14 am
Posts: 2
There's an article in today's Wheeling News Register about Oglebay's decision to get rid of the CP Huntingtons, and why they decided to go with a trackless train rather than new Chance units.

In this article the Good Zoo director says to replace the current system they'd need to buy 2 new trains. That makes sense as they had Chance CP Huntington locomotives #138 and #152 in service for years, and 152 was still running as recently as 2 years ago, but this auction is only for #138 and track. I'd still like to understand if 152 was scrapped and parted out to keep 138 in working service. If so, that means a lot of spares for whomever buys 138 in this auction. Also, what became of the full set of passenger carrying rail cars for 152?

https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/t ... rtunities/


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 1:19 pm 

Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:22 pm
Posts: 467
MikeyMike wrote:
I'd still like to understand if 152 was scrapped and parted out to keep 138 in working service. If so, that means a lot of spares for whomever buys 138 in this auction. Also, what became of the full set of passenger carrying rail cars for 152?/


The “trackless trolley” isn’t what you’d think of as a trolley. It’s a camouflaged tractor with cars behind it. For those who don’t know, the zoo is draped down the side of a very steep hill and the paths are difficult for parents with strollers and those of us who have to use mobility aids, so running a shuttle is not a bad idea. The problem is the sudden “we’re doing this and you WILL like it” mentality, coupled with past official vandalism that makes everyone automatically doubt them.

At least they didn’t just junk everything. We’re supposed to be happy about that. Finding out what they do and don’t have or will or won’t sell may be difficult. I’d think the auction listing would be more specific, but there you go.

ETA: A million dollars for a Chance park train? Hmmmmm.

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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:43 pm 

Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:48 pm
Posts: 181
If they were quoted for the new battery powered CPH, plus the wheelchair accessible coach, that's not surprising, plus I bet they let the track go so that would have had to be redone.


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:58 am 

Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:07 pm
Posts: 705
A friend who was for years involved in operation of the indoor layout states that the discontinuation was a result of worn-out rolling stock coupled with reluctance of park management to bear the costs of repairs or replacement. He further noted that modern day locomotives are not particularly durable relative to their cost and that repair parts were equally expensive when available at all.


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 Post subject: Re: Oglebay Good Zoo train up for sale
PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:21 pm 

Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:29 pm
Posts: 1899
Location: Youngstown, OH
I would tend to agree that modern locomotives may not be as reliable as the ones they replaced, due to the fact that most manufacturers these days cannot help but make their equipment as complicated as possible and usually chock full of electronics.

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