B&O "Tom Thumb" Steaming to Trainfestival 2009

Ron Goldfeder · **Posted:** Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:21 pm

April 1, 2009 – Baltimore, MD) Trainfestival 2009 is proud to announce that the "Tom Thumb" locomotive from the B&O Railroad Museum will be traveling to their event under its own power. This is the second time this has happened, with the first having been its transcontinental trip to Sacramento, CA for a Railfest event in the 1980s. Fans of the locomotive have fond memories of it pounding its way over Sand Patch Grade on the old B&O, and Sherman Hill on the Union Pacific, as the tiny engine made its way west in very, very short stages. A lengthy, detailed schedule will be announced soon. It will be accompanied by a very, very, no extremely slow moving support train for its crew, tools and supplies.

Ron Goldfeder
St. Louis

Gary Gray · **Posted:** Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:33 pm

Ok, After this one it's getting so deep that I'm gonna need a snorkel..................:)

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

Sounds great!

I think they should swing by Cass and pick up a Shay or two. They could doublehead, the speed should be pretty evenly matched.

Oh, one more thing... If they're going to arrive on time, they'd better leave real soon!

WalterS · **Joined:** Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:19 am **Posts:** 116

Bobharbison wrote:

Sounds great!

I think they should swing by Cass and pick up a Shay or two. They could doublehead, the speed should be pretty evenly matched.

Oh, one more thing... If they're going to arrive on time, they'd better leave real soon!

We are having a meeting next week to prepare all five shays to take to Mi. Looks like it will only take about two months to make it to Owosso with a avg speed of 6mph. We will drop by the WMSR on the way to pick up 734 and whatever else we can find. HA

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

> We are having a meeting next week to prepare all five shays to take to Mi.

Now you tell me...

You should have said something last December, and I could have tried to talk the Mt Rainier Scenic into sending the Heisler and Climax so we'd have all three. But it's too late now, we'd never get there in time. Maybe next year... Oh, wait, we'd still need to leave soon...

Ron Goldfeder · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:13 pm

The "inspiration" for the above posting is from the April 1982 issue of the "High Green," then the newsletter of the Chesapeake Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. This classic issue was full of such items, such as the "Tom Thumb" heading west to Sacramento under its own power, a Hudson found in a shed, and fan trips on lines that had been abandoned long ago. I read it in Europe with the Air Force and laughed so hard I cried. The editor, Dana Metcalf, even had an item correctly predicting the name of the about to merge Southern Railway and Norfolk & Western would be Norfolk Southern, and guessed right.