http://www.tristaterail.org/f3_progress_report.html

I want to celebrate the link above, which takes you to the progress report on turning the ex BAR F3's in Scranton into DL&W-painted units.

Read the report and count the number of individuals working on the project for loco owners ARHS and TriState NRHS. Incredible! It's an army of guys volunteering to do it right.

Incredible and a great testament to these two groups.

Rob

That's awesome! Amazing work guys! Keep up the great work.

The Tri-State crew has done an amazing job with their unit. When the ARHS restored the unit in 1993, the side panels were in good enough shape that we only had to concentrate on the nose, which was a major-league project itself.

As the resident ARHS 'body and fender man' (as Ross Chapin used to call me), I put what seemed like 10 lbs of Bondo on that nose, mostly because I couldn't get much room to work inside the nose to bang out some of the larger dents......

So, those side panels had an extra 20 years to continue rusting, which required an all new set of 10 ga steel panels to replace the 'corrugated' and plymetal versions which still existed. One of the panels was original to the unit, and has been saved by Tri-State for posterity. Their 'trough muck' also had another 20 years to properly season, since the 57 still had the trough covers in place.

We used a POR Corp. body filler on DLW#664 (ex-56, exx-46, exxx-506), but decided to leave some of the creases and other 'historical' imperfections on our unit. For instance, after we sprayed the maroon, I noticed a bunch of small round dents on the engineer's side below the sandbox filler door that weren't noticable when we primed the unit. They were marks left by train crews trying to loosen up the sand with what appeared to be a ball-peen hammer. So, rather than going for the 'showroom fresh' version, we decided to leave them as is, since it helps to tell the story of the unit.

Of course, there are people out there who say the story of the unit would be best told by repainting it back into BAR colors. One day in the future, that might be a reality, but not today.... We've taken great pains not to disturb the BAR number inside the nose door in order to recognize that these are replicas. I also tell that to people who ask if the units are (were) original CNJ-no, we bought them from the BAR and re-engined the 56, since it was a shell in 1986.

If you'd like to show your support, financial donations are always welcome. The paint we used costs about $150/per gallon, and it will take about 10 gallons to complete. (I forget if that included the B-unit also).

Speaking of the B-unit, the ARHS spent $10,000 in Jan. 2009 for two brand-new wheelsets and still need to have them transported and installed. Thanks to the continued financial support of our members, even when progress was slow in the restoration area, we were able to write a check for those wheelsets, along with about $4000 for new batteries for the 56/DLW 664 back in '08.

We're working on a donation page to help re-coup these costs, and should have it up within the next two weeks at http://www.anthraciterailroads.org.

I think I've written enough for now. If you've read the whole post, thanks!!

-Walter
ARHS President

The dedicated and talented members of ARHS and Tri-State RHS have done a tremendous job on their respective F3 restoration and repainting projects. Everyone in both groups should be very proud of what they have accomplished. I also would like to mention that the use of e-mail updates and internet postings by both groups to keep the members and the public advised of the progress on the projects has been a very effective communication effort.

PC

Tom Kelcec, one of the volunteers featured in the referenced website, sent the following YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu3QVldA ... m4MlxwSLX4

Both of the units are getting considerable attention to areas of the bodies that had extensive rust and corosion. After 60 plus years there are several well known points where significant rusting occurs. Various rust treatment coatings have been applied to both units and where needed old rusted sections were removed and new steel welded in place. Unlike in a railroad shop where the steel patch would simply be welded on top our patched have been welded in place and ground smooth so as not to change the original lines of the locomotive.
Compared to the CNJ paint, this DL&W freight scheme is very complicated - five colors (black, yellow, maroon, gray, white) and seven parrallel stripes the length of the unit!
All of this takes a lot of time in hours and days of volunteer labor. At the end of this both groups will have put in hundreds if not thousands of hours of labor of love. It is being tabulated by Steamtown as a matter of record.
Commercial automotive paint is now about $200 per gal with all the additives and about 12 gal is needed for one unit so the cost is significant and the donations are appreciated.
We are all looking forward to taking pride in displaying the finished product. #664 which is the ARHS unit has certainly garnered quite a bit of attention from Steamtown personell as well as the visiting public as she in or near the old back shop area.

Rich Jahn
ARHS project coordinator

You guys are doing a spectacular job with this restoration. Its always great to see these beautiful pieces of art getting the attention they deserve.

It was really interesting to watch the work progress during the day 5/23.

In the morning, the unit shown looked like rainbow sherbet, by the afternoon, you could see the DL&W paint scheme emerging. It will be neat top see these units when complete-the crews were enthusiastic and safety conscious.

Out of curiousity -

When undertaking a project such as this, how does one ensure that the stripes are "level" from front to rear?

Keeping the stripes level can be an interesting problem in the case of an old wooden car body that sags in the middle and sometimes at the ends as well. I measure up or down as needed from the bottom of the body, beltrail, or letterboard every few feet and make a chalk mark on the car side. Then I connect the chalk marks with a straight edge long enough to reach from one mark to the next.

As long as the stripes are parallel with the edge of the car body, all is well even if the lines are not straight. If the stripes are parallel with the rail and the car body is not, then it looks very wrong.

I'm at the wrong computer to show right now, but gray paint was added to the nose today, and the paint peel reveals her new number, DL&W 664.
Here are some from the weekend...


... and a bit earlier in the day, outside.

ARHS F3 #664 progress at of May 27 - painting of cab nearly complete.
Rich

Here are the addresses for the two organizations:

Tri-State Railway Historical Society
Post Office Box 1217
Morristown, NJ 07962-1217

Anthracite Railroads Historical Society
Post Office Box 519
Lansdale, PA 19446

One thing not covered in the story of Tri-State's F3 is the story of where the money to affect repairs came from. In February of this year, members of Tri-State's board met in Hawthorne Station the Volunteer Railroaders Association. An agreement was reached whereby both organizations would work together to operate Easter Bunny train rides on New Jersey Transit. Despite a challenging economy, multiple snow storms and a resulting flood in North Jersey, the volunteers from both organizations persevered, replaced damaged or lost signage and tirelessly marketed their trips. Over the weekend of March 27/28, the combined groups served over 4,300 customers to rave reviews. The proceeds from the trips were then divided. The VRA's portion will go toward the move of the NYS&W Station in Hawthorne, NJ to happen in the coming weeks. As a member of both groups, I can say the collaboration went better than we could have wished for. Thanks to their efforts 2010 looks to be a very good year for rail preservation.

Sincerely,
Charles Smith

Edit: I would be remiss in my duties if I did not mention that more funding is needed to complete both projects as well as ARHS' own F3. Donations are being gratefully accepted by all organizations and are tax-deductible to the fullest amount permitted by law. Likewise, volunteers are always welcome to get their hands dirty. :)