Listen For The Whistle...NKP 765

Yes, I ran on all those trips, as did Tom Stephens, 765's other engineer in that era. We also had a guest engineer on one trip, Russ Jaite.

I have Trainz 12 simulator, and I bought this payware Nickel Plate freight set and it has a model of 765 in it that looks so realistic, the number can be changed. I also bought the NS Heritage diesels for Trainz from another website. I'm reskinning streamlined coaches into NS and Mid America, and I reskinned a car into the FWRHS tool car that looks the same size, and someone made a water tender for me that's like the ex-L&N Big Emma tender. I'm also building certain routes in Trainz like NS routes, I have a mega route that will go from Bound Brook, NJ to Horseshoe Curve/Gallitzin, as well as Reading to Philadelphia, and Reading and Northern lines north of Reading. I have track laid on some of the route from NJ to Reading, and part of the ex-PRR around Lewistown and Horseshoe Curve, and part of the Reading and Northern lines. I also have a DEM map from Fort Wayne to Bellevue, OH and Columbus, OH south through Portsmouth to Ironton, OH, and a map of West Virginia lines going through Devon, WV.  And Radford, VA through Roanoke to Lynchburg, VA. Those are blank maps with no track or scenery. I'm sorry for my endless questions before.

 

Rich,

Speaking of the 2765 trips in '93, do you recall the 1st Satudary (I believe) NRT where we were down to about 7mph from Gauley up Cotton Hill to MA Cabin?  Do you recall what had us down to such a crawl that day?  I know it's a relatively tough piece of railroad with a VERY heavy passenger train, but I know in years prior and even the next day's trip, 765 marched up through the gorge at 35mph+.

Two words...rail conditions.

 

On Saturday morning a sizable rain storm moved through the area at about 5 am. We were the first train over the railroad after the storm. The rail had a thin film of rust on it, and believe it or not, rust is slippery. There had also been some wind associated with the storm, and there were areas where leaves covered the rails. So the issue that morning was traction, not horsepower.

 

I was running that morning and remember it very well. It was one of the most difficult trips I ever had, due to the slippery rail conditions. When rolling east through the gorge, I would typically be able to work the throttle at 150 - 175 psi in the cylinders to hold our speed at the 40 mph limit on that part of the railroad. On that morning the drivers would slip with only 75 psi in the cylinders! Occasionally they slipped at only 50 pounds in the cylinders...even with the sand on!

 

That was one tough morning!

I remember your comments about dew and leaves on the rail in the "Running that New River Train" video. You had your work cut out for you until the section where the Sun finally shone on the rails.

Nothing to be sorry for, Robert.

 

This thread was started to promote Kelly Lynch's upcoming documentary video about the 765 and the Fort Wayne RR Historical Society. I didn't want to hijack the thread with discussions about past trips and speculation on where she will go next year.

 

There's a chance that the 765 will end up back in eastern PA at some point down the road, but as of right now there are no official plans for that. You'll just have to wait until next year and we see what NS wants to do.

What do you think of the "virtual" 765 in Trainz? I'm trying to make the entire train and several NS routes to run it on. The chuff, bell and whistle sound pretty good. There are 765's in other rail sims, too. But I prefer Trainz 12.

I have not seen the virtual 765. I don't do computer games.

I posted a pic above of the 765 in Trainz. I figured you being older wouldn't have an interest in train sims, you're more into the real thing, but for me, Trainz is a fun way to railroad on the computer, build routes, drive trains over miles of virtual railroads. It's a lot cheaper than model railroading and you can build much bigger layouts on the computer than you could in a room in the house although I have collected model trains of different scales over the years, just haven't run them in years. My HO trains were so finicky, train would stop due to dirty track or wheels or something. In Trainz, you have a list of locomotive drivers (engineers) to select from for each locomotive, and for the 765 model on one of my routes (the NJ/PA one) I selected a driver named Richy to be the engineer of 765! What a coincidence. I don't think you can change the names of the drivers, though, they are preset. I also put the NS Heritage Lehigh Valley and Reading units behind 765, which gives a clue what lines 765 is running on in my Trainz route. I guess you could say I'm recreating a 1988 route but set in the present day with Norfolk Southern equipment. I still have a lot of scenicking to do on the NJ portion just east of Phillipsburg to Bound Brook, NJ. Bound Brook is where the map ends, about a half mile east of the NJT station. All I have is track laid so far on the NJ portion east of Phillipsburg. The other end of the map will be Horseshoe Curve, which is probably as far west as I'll go, as far as the Gallitzin loop.

If you need a pilot conductor, I'm willing and available, Rich.

That said, I'm definitely looking forward to getting a copy of the DVD. Kelly has outdone himself once again...

Mike, my wish is for 765 to go through Allentown again (it went through before a few times on public excursions in 1988) but I won't start up another lengthy post complaining about it. I'll just wait and see what happens next year. I probably wouldn't even be able to make a long distance train excursion this year anyway, because my mom is in poor health, she has breathing issues and lung issues. Her breathing seemed to decline a bit a few days ago. She needs to be on a breathing machine or portable tank. She needs all the prayer she can get. I live with my mom, as well as my younger brother, and my mom's man friend of 20 years (my father passed away March 8, 1986). I have mild autism and don't drive. My brother doesn't, either. So, I'm dependent on my mom or her man friend to take us to train excursions. And my mom is afraid to let us travel far away by ourselves.

 

There's a very brief clip from one of the dome cars in the Opening video about :40s in that was taken during the deadhead to Lewistown. I believe that's all. Stay tuned for the full DVD as there is sure to be plenty of quality stuff from those trips. FWRHS is lucky to have someone like Kelly running the PR show.

I wanted to see the 765 go through one place and I was fortunate enough to be there when it did.

 

I'll say a prayer for your mom, Robert. You sound like a good and devoted son. 

 

I hope you get your wish to see 765 back in the Allentown area.

I just got my copy yesterday and was wondering if anyone else did?

I was saving it to watch with the grandkids in a day or two.

Oh yeah I got mine.  What a great video...your gonna love it.

I watched the video again today while I was connecting my new system. I figured what better to test the system with than a real steam engine! Last time I watched this video the grandkids kept talking and wouldn't sit through it. I was surprised because they love trains but had too many distractions.

 Anyways, this video is a must get for any new guys who are getting into the hobby and/or someone looking for more info, like me.

 http://fortwaynerailroad.org/giftstore/

 

Suddenly.... , now.... , I have the desire to go get a Berk???? 

  Where's that new catalog??

I know I can find something to run with her for looks .... & for braking only that is!

 

I finally got the DVD this fall and really enjoyed it.  Kelly did a very nice job with it. I would love to see all the material that WASN'T used.  I DO have two small issues though.  First, I thought that the narrator came off a little mushy and his volume seemed too low to me.  His use of the word Berk shire instead of Berkshur got on my nerves too. The other thing that caught my attention was there was quite a bit of discussion of the 767 and showng 765 on display as 767.  The story line then moves on to restoration, and suddenly the engine is 765 with no real explanation.  For the majority of us that KNOW the story, it was no big deal, but I wonder if it didn't leave some people simply confused.

I always enjoy watching the 765 and her crew. Great people and a great locomotive.

I was wondering about that too. Once again I was called out of the room and didn't pause the video. I thought I had missed it and would catch it next time.

 I was listening to Rich's description of the hill (Attica) to see any mention of why they wouldn't come back to Buffalo any time soon. I think he had mentioned something in a post here on the forum and once again, I forgot.

Rich's stories were great, as were Gary Bensman's. I would have liked to heard more of them.  Perhaps Kelly could record more of this material and release it on the FWRHS website and Youtube from time to time, if not actually sell it.  To hear the story from those that are and were actually there and made it all happen is priceless, and we should never miss a chance to share their experiences and perspectives.  We have already lost a few of these people to time, and you can't go back and get their story.  The classic video clips were great from a historical perspective, but the modern video is just mind blowing. I think the sights and sounds raised the hair on the back of my neck a few times.  

Anyway to do a digital download of this movie?  I don't even own a blue ray or dvd player anymore.  Everything I have is digital.  

You can get a BluRay player now for $50. Go for it...

I was asked to post this for Kelly Lynch....

 

- we’re exploring the digital download option. A couple hoops to jump through. We have about 4,000 hours of material and ten hours of interviews. Look for follow ups/sequels/supplemental material to start surfacing in 2015.

- the decision to not include an explanation about 767/765 was conscious — it was in a part that was cut for time and clarity. It’s part of the lore that most folks know and if it causes them to ask it’s something they’ll learn and walk away with.

- agreed on the narrator. He gave a great audition and then didn’t really pan out for the project. We’ll go in a different direction next time.

Well it sounds like Kelly is on top of things (as usual) . Good to hear and I very much look forward to seeing more of the material.  As for the 765/767 thing, I guess that whenever I have had to tell a story, right or wrong I have always tried to take the approach that the listener knows NOTHING about the topic.  Maybe I just worry too much about leaving somebody behind and instead of them becoming MORE curious, they will become LESS. I don't believe I could EVER edit a film, because it would be like pulling teeth to get me to take out ANYTHING.  If I ever did a feature film, it would probably make Gettysburg look like a short story. One of my favorite movie stories is about George Lucas.  The minute he got control of American Graffiti for distribution after it's intial theatre run, he put back EVERY single scene the studio had made him cut out.  My kind of guy.