790 spent some time up in Tupper Lake, NY back around 1965 in prep for a passenger running job which never materialzied. There was one event, though, where one of the participants, in a slightly "lubricated" state, decided to take it out for a spin on the main-line in town, and needless to say the New York Central was anything but amused.

What a great story. I've heard quite a few wild stories from the early days of the tourist railroad era. Someone should compile them into a book.

At any rate, it is great to see IC steam again. I was an IC brat almost since birth, and think it is a shame that so few engines were saved from the dead line.

IC 790 has been thru the asbestos abatement contractor and now if being readied for display. Steamtown has hired another contractor to replace some of the sheetmetal on her and she is all dolled up for return to the front of the park. Here is the link to the pics. Scroll down to the bottom. She is a nice looking engine. Looks great sitting in the shop!

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... 6;start=20

I saw this on a tour of the shops last week with the Family.

So, with a locomotive seeing cosmetic work being completed every two months, we can assume it will be about two years before the steam collection has received a repaint

And then it will be time to start again, much like the Brooklyn bridge....always a paint crew working somewhere.

dave

[quote="Dave"]And then it will be time to start again
dave[/quote]

Precisely.

It seems rather incredicle that what is, for better or worse, our "national railroad museum" follows a policy of displaying steam locomotives outdoors, including some of its best examples (in terms of completeness, condition or rarity) like this one.

I'm sure one or two people will be calling for the moderators to lock this thread as soon as I post this, but there's an obvious disconnect between the best practices of indoor storage espoused frequently on RYPN, and Steamtown's "Brooklyn Bridge" regimen (which in practice has usually encompassed periods of painfully-conspicuous deterioration in between paint applications). This is a facility that has a roundhouse. Clearly all the locomotives would not fit into it, but using large segments of the collection essentially as outdoor sculpture in a parking lot hardly seems sustainable in the long run. (Please, let's skip the invitations for me to come to Scranton and grab a paint brush; I do plenty of that at my own museum, and such a level of discourse avoids rather than addresses the fundamental concepts at issue).

To my recollection, "displaying" the collection in this manner as the "end game" at Steamtown, rather than as a temporary expediency, is an idea that dates back to the same era as the infamous proposed turntable stage with modern dancers interpreting the steam age and other half-baked schemes of "consultants." Yet, it seems indisputable that if the intention is to keep a locomotive outdoors for all eternity and hire contractors to cosmetically patch it up every so often, it would be far cheaper in the long run to put up a building.

The question is, does Steamtown even aspire to place its locomotives under cover? (I seem to recall plans announced within the past year or so to build a storage barn for some of the rolling stock, although one could well ask whether this will come too late for most of Steamtown's wooden equipment, or even for that matter if that's what it's intended for.)

Oh c'mon Jeff...there was something SO magical about rounding that curve on Rt 12 and suddenly seeing all those steamers!

Wait a minute, I'm thinking the 60's ;-)

Stephen

I was told by a Ranger that they are going to restore the burn out building, in to a drive in building to store cars and the round cement foundations will also become car barns.

Here's a photo from a page of Facebook.

Yeah OK Reading Man. The part I don't get is that they have many roundhouse tracks, not all are used, and certainly more engines could be place inside. Bring 'em out once and awhile, keep 'em nice!

Joshua

Josh the house is full! All the little guys are stuffed in and some of the pieces being completed now will be in there too.

George, you have to realize that Steamtown is Federal grounds! Just to build something is really an act of Congress. They are historical site and there are historical parts of the DL&W buried and they have to watch where they dig. Buildings would be great but that has to be planned and budgeted thru the higher ups in the NPS. It's not a decision made at Steamtown's level. They can request it and hope they get it. It's not like the museum where you work and the board that is only for that one museum. Steamtown is part of the NPS and there are other park’s managers that are looking to get its projects done. If they were the only thing the NPS had to worry about we would see a different Steamtown. Go to the NPS website they have about 9.2 million dollars in projects they want to get done. That’s nationwide. So you want to help, Stop typing on this website and complaining about the way it’s done and instead, complain to the money folks, your Congressman that is on the NPS committee, and tell them to get more money sent Steamtown’s way. The management at Steamtown has project waiting in the queue, ready for the shovel to start, all they need is the dollars.
Oh Thanks George, once again someone high jacks something good about Steamtown and turns into a negative point.

With all of that Federal Money that they threw at 790, couldn't they at least have painted her correctly?

Well, it seems I'm not completely alone in thinking steam engines look good OUTSIDE in a yard where they can actually be seen, photographed, and most importantly, visualized as if from a scene from the past.

For preservation's sake, indoors is probably best. But then again, so would be the case for never operating an engine out on the line.

The best deal, I think, is to put 'em inside with the provision that they be placed out doors every so often. I think the Illinois Railway Museum does this.

What ever they do, hopefully they will not put the pride and joy of the collection out in the parking lot again! Nothing like driving by sculptures in a parking lot out of their element only to find an empty museum.

/Mitch

Orsonroy

If you have the correct paint scheme, please send it to me as I would like to see it painted correctly. A color photo of the locomotive in regular service is all I need. A clear side view in B&W would be excellent also. Thanks for your help.


Bruce Mowbray
Springville, PA