How will the locomotive be moved for the restoration? Rail or truck?

Congrats to Kelly and the whole Ft. Wayne crew for thinking big and being willing to take on a heavy lift.

Best wishes for every success. Onward & Upward. Ross Rowland

NYC under steam is certainly great news! It's also a nice addition for the FWHS - alternating between 2 fan favorites should keep them quite busy for years to come. Obvioiusly we will have to wait a few years, but I look forward to seeing her and taking a ride!

Here's a wish for high green all the way to operation! ..........mld

I have somes questions here for FWRHS or Kelly Lynch..... please

What next with 624?? You said (at FWRHS website)the nkp624 would be put on display
Where?? You have already put on hold the Headwaters Junction project no??

There was somes videos on the net saying you check the 2933, at St-Louis, that true??

I read somewhere (not remember where) the tender of 3001 was not the original or was highly modified at the time T&P buy it???

What the plan with L-3b #3042 tender?? What the condition of the tender she was hit hard on the Silver Grove roundhouse fire in 1979??

If 624 does have a cracked boiler, and FWRHS doesnt feel there is a want or need to have it operational - then as a quick suggestion; why not just put it on a plinth by the main depot for the Indiana Rail Experience, slap a few coats of black Rust-Oleum on it, and call it a day?
Making it look better could be an ongoing thing; but anything is better than just having her laying in pieces in some field.

I dont say that mean spiritly; rather I was thinking of how the Reading and Blue Mountain has 225 out on display, or the Black Hills Central has their original locomotive #7. Both are pretty effective ways of catching the eye of families driving by. I can attest to #7 being a rather grand display in just the right lighting.

We've been dealing with repairing cracked boilers since the 1820s - please let's stop considering this as a major problem.

Amen Dave. Not unlike a condemned boiler, so don't give it another thought. Cut out the ugly and section in a new course or partial course. Regards, John.

Forgot to mention "carefully".

Here's a quick comparison between the 624 and 3001. 624 is a 2-8-2 with about 55K in tractive effort and limited to 50 to 60 MPH. She was built in 1922 and does NOT have any roller bearings on the locomotive at all. 3001 was built in 1940 has 84K pounds of TE can run 80 if they ever get the chance to do that again and more importantly is fully roller bearing equipped including the rod bearings. Also there is one NKP locomotive in steam with 765 there isn't any NYC steam anywhere in the USA. 3001 would be a huge draw for anyplace they are able to run her.

With boilers, that's a given. (To anyone who would be, for example, involved in forming and replacing a boiler course...)

I do confess I agree with the idea of reassembling 624 'cosmetically' and preserving its condition until such time as the will and funding for boiler testing and repair become assured. And any substantial work on 624 beyond 'stabilization' should be delayed until 3001, a far more historically significant locomotive as well as a greater marketing draw, has been finished.

This is one of the two defining locomotives of the final, capable NYC Mohawk classes. I confess I'd have preferred the one with 72" drivers... but is it appreciated here just how important 3001 is in the history of both New York Central and steam technology in the United States? (In a way, I might add, that 2933 most certainly isn't...)

Incidentally, I do not believe 3001's rods have roller bearings, or ever did -- certainly not Timken thin-section rods (that turn out to be important when using rod roller bearings...). It would certainly be a fun 'science project' to make up a set that would fit, since the T1 Trust has worked out the details of how to make and apply them effectively. But that would require at the very least rebalancing the drivers, which is not a historical change -- and a large part of the reason 3001 is important is the integrity of her historical 'composition'.

The website is very clear:

Quote:

Our crews have evaluated the 624 for restoration and have found it a suitable candidate for a complete overhaul to operation, though no timeline for one has been established. As of 2023, work on the locomotive is pending the construction or selection of a facility for rehabilitation and a feasibility study for fundraising. A complete overhaul to restoration is estimated to cost upwards of $3 million dollars, though this may not be practical with Nickel Plate Road no. 765 operating already, and a cosmetic restoration may be the most suitable option for the locomotive. The 624 is currently stored off-site at a private facility with rail access.

I saw the same video. It's untrue and not very logical. Why go after a much less modern engine when the best of the two is less than two hours away?



It's 3001's original tender, just modified.



We're taking it with us. Haven't gotten much further than that.




Not out of the question, but moving it once cost over $70,000. Probably safest to have a real plan and funding in place before one does that again. The area around the depot will be redeveloped over the next two years, so no sense in dropping a bunch of heavy locomotives and equipment in the way. Is that the highest and best use of 624? Perhaps not, though I do subscribe to "don't let perfect be the enemy of good."

We have been assembling a chess board and all of the chess pieces over the last few years. You don't play every piece at once. Sometimes you play the pieces you want and others you need and sometimes your hand is forced. Other times you have to make a move many steps ahead of future moves to get where you eventually want to be. A lot of the latter has been happening. None of this is happening by accident.

A wonderful analogy!! And quite in keeping with an organization that is almost certainly the most successful current main line operator in the country.

Now if only Class 1 and other railroad owners with decent track would lose some of their hostility to good passenger and steam operators, and maybe tone down just a bit on the excessive obsession with profits at the cost of and to everything else (including customers, it seems.)

Really, our capitalist system, in particular its large corporate component, is badly dumbed down compared with the past. This is not isolated to railroading, but seems pervasive in an era where most of the stock (often over 75%) is in the hands of "institutional investors," among them hedge funds.

Thanks Kelly for answering my questions and i just see
Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society add on You Tube a Q&A about a lot of questions i now follow your You Tube channel

For 624 i read the text, yes, but just curious about what next about 624

WHATEVER IT TAKES is indeed our motto, as painted on the sides of the tool car, under the name of GLENN E. BRENDEL.

Glenn was our founder and he is the one that envisioned what we could become. Of course we have gone far beyond what we originally dreamed of- namely operating 3 or 4 weekends per year.

Then as now, it is not solely about the hardware or the accident of an outstanding locomotive sitting in a city park. It also requires a capable team of people who know what to do, able to react to changes on the road, and consistently deliver a service and product that is worthy of the railroad companies that we seek to honor. Delivering confidence to the railroad companies that we have, can and will perform the needed tasks safely is essential.