I read the comment as referring to once-upon-a-time scheduled operation out of Temple.

GME

Touche

So from a post back in March, it was stated that the roundhouse might be complete in about another month and that the initial reassembly of 1361 would soon commence. Any newsworthy updates?

Rob Gardner

Visited the Railroaders Museum yesterday. Nice collection, with active work. On assembling the signal bridge off the Curve. Position lights are on the grounds, ready to hang. 1361 is in the roundhouse, sans boiler, but being assembled by NS shop volunteers. This is minor work that can be handled prior to the installation of the overhead crane. Nice collection, but as with every museum, except possibly Strasburg, most pieces need some friends to come in with paint rollers and rust remediation tools. This would be an excellent group volunteer effort, if cleared with the management. Also indoor museum is a positive experience. Instead of bashing the Railroaders Museum and the stymied K4s project, a nice shot of volunteerism would improve the grounds immensely. Considering the state of construction, I give it three stars of a possible five, and growing.
Photos of 1361 not possible, but tender is in Altoona Pipe Supply yard, along with other heavy steel supplies. Feral pussycats all have no tails!

Being assembled by Norfolk Southern shop volunteers? Any photos?

Interesting bit about NS volunteers. Did any of the NS Steam shop folks make it to Juniata? Well when 611 rolls out of Spencer, ship 1361 there. Pretty capable team will have just finished...

Understand, I was told the volunteers are doing just as much work as is possible without a crane and boiler on hand. Greater restoration is expected after the crane is mounted to facilitate the kind of lifting a locomotive requires.
I was told everything except the boiler and tender were inside the "old" building.

The city of Altoona has yet to issue an occupancy permit for the roundhouse because of the lack of lighting and floor. So, if their are people in there working on museum projects, they are doing it "illegally".

The parts are in the older building, complete with floor. I believe they are within the law.
The locomotive will be moved tot he new building once it's complete.

From Richard's report I assume it's being put back together frame on wheels now then add the boiler back at a future date? Another 13, 1385 is getting it's running gear redone sans boiler. With fabricated frames how effective is it to do running gear work without the rigidity the boiler tube offers? (Course the boiler doesn't offer too much stability btx the piston castings and the firebox which is I presume where most of the twisting and bending of fabricated frames happens.) Anyhow good to hear about reassembly - they just need to get it back together and leave the possibility of steaming it for a future date.

Over at railpictures.net, Dennis Livesey has posted an October 08, 2011 photograph of 1361's boiler inside of the East Broad Top's shop:

PRR #1361's Boiler atop EBT flatcar inside of East Broad Top Railroad's Shop on October 8, 2011

What the 21st Century regards as a "Proper" mainline engine is one with a diesel or two cut in behind the tender. Given the fact that this thing could essentially be the world's largest "Thomas the Tank Engine", and still draw a crowd, it doesn't seems to matter how large it is. There's going to be a diesel in the consist anyway, and the K's pulled some pretty big consists over "The Curve" in their day, granted often double headed.

So you have the 1361 make enough smoke and noise to satisfy the passengers and the engineer in the trailing unit has to take more of the load than he would with 261 or 759. Is that really a deal breaker?

I think 1361 would make a fine mainline steam excursion of 21st steam program. the thing that concerns me is that it's not that strong like the 261 or 765. they did hauled heavy passenger trains in their day but they often double head especially on the curve and hills. back in 1987-88 1361 i don't think it traveled all that far probably because she didn't operated for that long. i believe that her trains were like from three cars to like what ten cars the most. today the trains would be longer like thirteen to fifthteen and that's a lot of tonnage for a steamer like the 1361. i think she would do well on flat land than hills if go unassisted. i would love to hear that Pennsylvanian whistle blow. i don't know everything about the k4s but i would like to learn more

If we accept that the "Mark 2" mainline excursion model of the Chessie/UP/NS/614 era--big steam, no diesel helpers except over the worst grades or for turning, 20-ish cars, and high-stepping running--is now dead, and that moving forward from 2014 the best we can hope for is any steamer decorating the front of what is a de facto diesel-hauled excursion of medium speed and length, then PRR 1361 is perfectly at home with the likes of SR 630 and 722, CP 2816, Clinchfield 1, etc.

And if so, we're certainly wasting our time with such "overkill" as N&W 611, Milwaukee 261, UP 844, and above all UP 4014.......

My hope is that after the passage of time the digits one, three, six, one will cease to stir up such a ruckus. Hopefully once the locomotive is in one place again and being reassembled, much of the bad taste will be washed away. The strategy may very well be to fully restore this venerable machine to operation. This locomotive was in some regards in the wrong place at the wrong time at least thus far. I say this less because of the variant work and money boo boos, but because so much changed from 1987 to 1994. Things in 1987 may have looked great to restore this machine, but the main line back bone in its territory went through tremendous upheaval. NS got out of steam then got the majority of the PRR in the sale of Conrail. Then add the FRA changes and you have a horrible setting against which to restore a steam loco to operation. That so many folks and so much money got burned by the restoration is not surprising. With the money burned up and no experts lining up to put humpty back together things have seemed bleak. I have some level of hope however because to get 1361 back together, protected, and possibly operating requires a place to house her (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=36733), people interested in turning wrenches – I’ve read of volunteers including NS employees working to reassemble it, and lastly a place to run. That last part is a timing thing. Right now NS is ok with limited ventures of steam on its rails. As long as NS is open to low risk limited steam on it system this venerable locomotive has a good chance to run again.
I get the sense that the first restoration, and the subsequent attempt to rehabilitate her boiler, was a classic example of horse and cart inversion. The gobs of money spent with no finished result simply amplify an upside down strategy*. So for those that want to operate a steam locomotive you have to have a home base, capital infrastructure, intellectual infrastructure, labor, a place to run or cooperative partner, and of course money. The money needs to be scaled to the preceding items in the list. For poor 1361, IMO the money so far outpaced the other elements that disaster struck with lots of zeros in the costs. This loco is not alone 722, and C of G 509 being examples of wrenches turned that maybe shouldn’t have been turned – yet.
*Please understand I’m not referring to what had to be done to make it operational . It was pulled off the curve too many years ahead of the RRM of PA oops I mean Altoona - edited(well that's its home base).