A while ago I was looking through the NERAIL album of the CMRR when I spotted something rather peculiar. It appeared to be said in the caption "Davenport 0-4-0 Privately Owned" and it really took my eye for one. I never knew the CMRR had its own steam locomotive not counting the ESRM's own 2-8-0. If any CMRR member could be able to tell me about the engine there might be a slight chance I'd be interested in giving a donation specifically to the engine's restoration. Honestly having such a piece on the property even if non-operable shows just how much potential this company could have if ever formally acknowledged by the county.

Cameron

OK. For those of us who have been in the preservation business for 20-plus years, but still admit that we don't know everything, could you please, please spell out what "CMRR" and "ESRM?" And, NO, I will not google it to find out, dammit!

Sorry for the rant.

Thanks!

CMRR = Catskill Mountain Railroad
ESRM = Empire State Railway Museum

Is the engine still there and "under restoration"? The last photo I can find online was from 2013: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3425616

This engine, former Otto Chemical Co. No. 370, was purchased about 12 years ago by Earl Pardini, former president of the CMRR.

It is slated to be moved to either Phoenicia or an off-rail location for restoration. The engine, now disassembled, is stored at the CMRR's Cornell Street storage facility in Kingston.

EH

Amen, Jim! I, too, was wondering, "Okay, where the heck is this CMRR?" as I am unfamiliar with every local abbreviation for every tourist operation and museum in the country.

Colorado Midland, of course! ;-)

Heck, reminds me of some local fans who were referring to someone backyard 7.5" gauge live steam operation by it's made-up acronym. If you didn't know the guy who'd built it personally, you'd die of old age trying to figure it out as the words the letters represented were very unusual...

Yeah sorry for the lack of in-depth explanation on my part. I had a general feeling that most RYPNers would be familiar with the Catskill Mountain operation more so their abbreviation. Overall it does sound for a good outcome as I'm sure we'd all love to see an operating steamer within New York City limits.
In respect to Hunt as previously noted if you guys ever need a donation for that critter I'd be very happy to lend a small handout. The only question that I'm unsure about is how exactly will you maintain the engine in annual service? I know the railroad doesn't have a shop building let alone a water tower in sight so how will maintenance be conducted assuming that it would be a nightmare for you guys without the proper facilities.

Cameron

No slam, Cameron, but I'd never heard of it in my life (and yes, I've travelled in NY state more than once). I had to look it up online to find out anything for the first time.
I get that these tourist operations can become 'very well known' in the general area, but this is a pretty large country with a lot of small operations within it.

Hi, for about two years in the 1990s, I lived in Atlanta Ga and commuted to the factory in Pougkeepsie NY. I talked my company into saving money by letting me ride Amtrak up and back once a month.

During part of the time I commuted, there was an "movement" to get Fishkill to change their name. Why? They claimed that the town supported killing fish. They did not know history well enough to know that a "kill" in Netherlands Dutch is a stream or creek. The area had started out as New Amsterdam and was later traded to the British for a spice forest on Java.

I love the dutch and german influences from up there. Unfortunately, I never heard of the Catskill Mountain RR.

I recall my high school teacher (1971-2) saying that always spell out the first usage of a name and then place the acronym in parentheses for future use. Has high school school teaching changed so much?

Changing times.

Doug van Veelen (Father was Dutch from Java before the Japanese invaded).

Cameron,

The last time I looked (which was about thirty seconds after I read your second post), The City of New York (emphasis added) has, since the consolidation of 1898, five Boroughs, all coterminous with a specific county. The Boroughs are: Manhattan (New York County);Staten Island (Richmond County); Brooklyn (Kings County); Queens (Queens County); and The Bronx (Bronx County).

New York City (now the Borough of Manhattan) developed the Old Croton Reservoir in Westchester County during the 1840s. This became the property of the City of New York at the time of consolidation.

In 1905 State Legislature created the Board of Water Supply which acquired the property in the Catskills, Ulster County, which includes the Ashokan Reservoir,as an additional water supply for the City.

While the City, through what is now the Bureau of Water Supply, owns the property, it was never annexed by the City.

There has been a City ordinance banning steam locomotives in Manhattan since 1908 and also a State Law banning them throughout the city since 1923.

I too would like to see would like to see an operating steam locomotive in the city but I do not think it is going to happen.

GME

P.S. You might find it very interesting to read up on George B McClellan, the last Mayor of New York City and the third Mayor of the City of New York, along with all of the shenanigans surrounding the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company and the various railroads trying to cross the rivers. It will make much of the history make sense.

Cameron,

When I said "within New York City limits" I didn't literally mean within the city itself but within a relatively good distance from it. Kingston compared to NYC is about a 1:30 hour drive from the city making the Davenport an interesting attraction indeed if Pardini decides to continue the no. 370's restoration. For a 0-4-0 like that it couldn't have found a better home no other than the Catskill Mountain Railroad. I wish their volunteers along with Hunt good luck on the project and actively look forward to seeing some steam excursions in the near future,

Cameron

Catskill Mountain RR has a 7 page long thread detailing it's work reports, situation with Ulster County and the legal issues with its lease. The last post was 11/30...I would have thought general RYPN readers would have been familiar with the CMRR as well...

What an interesting little engine! I'm not sure I've ever seen a wagon-top boiler on a saddletanker before, at least not one built in the 20th century. Was this a standard Davenport design?