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Hi Folks

 

Here is something to chew on.

 

I am semi-retired. In order to keep from going stir-crazy, I drive a School Bus for one of the local districts not too far from the house. My house is located on the South end of Solebury Twp (PA) near Lahaska, about 2 miles from the New Hope and Ivyland tracks, close enough so I can hear the whistle.

 

The district I drive for sits on either side of the NH&I and most of the routes traverse Street Road in Warminster PA, where there is a grade crossing. The NH&I begins on the north side of the Street Rd crossing and on the south side we have SEPTA.

 

NH&I has several customers in the Warminster and Ivyland area so the practice has been to station a locomotive at Warminster siding to handle switching. Occasionally there are loads for the New Hope end of the line, but this is infrequent at best. The North end is mostly used for a tourist operation. They have 3 steamers all of which are inoperable.

 

Last week I saw a "Pennsylvania NorthEastern" locomotive sitting on the siding where the NH&I engine normally sits. Yesterday the PA-NE engine was spotted in New Hope. I know that the NH&I changed hands a short while back but I have no information about the intention of the new owners. Who are they? Pennsylvania NorthEastern? Are they planning to bring the steamers back on line?

Does anyone have info about this?

 

Thanks

 

John

Original Post

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Not to indulge in nostalgia and all that glop too much, I guess I have been a fan of the NH&I since it was formed. At the time #40 & #1533 were the only 2 steam engines on the property. Others have come and gone. They had a pair of 0-6-0 switchers for a while which have disappeared. The C&O 4-8-4 that Ross Rowland owned made an appearance for a while years ago for an overhaul and then went elsewhere. The NdeM 4-8-4 (ALCO) currently sits in the dead line in a million pieces waiting for what? Scuttlebutt has it that there is some dispute about ownership and nobody is willing to work on it until this is settled. For what its worth I think these really big engines are impractical for a small operation. They like to eat and eat and eat. Their use is restricted, unless you want to do extended mainline crusing in the manner of Nickel Plate 765. As you say #40 (2-8-0) is in the shop for maintenance to the running gear. The 15 year inspection will be due in a few years. #1533 (4-6-0)has been out of action for as long as I can remember. It was heavier than #40 and it was more of a passenger engine and accordingly they ran the pants off it. When I was much much younger I volunteered for NH&I and this engine was still running, It was tricky. I remember a time when the fire was banked after a saturday run, and during the night the blow-off valve at the bottom of the boiler partially opened and all the water drained away. It seemed that all the "little stuff" on the engine needed renewal, including the injectors. A few years ago diesel engines of various configurations would make an appearance on the railroad, cycle through the shop in New Hope, and then disappear. I surmized that they were making a business of doing minor repairs for operators who did not have the time/resources to do repairs themselves. Either that or they were trying to be in the used equipment business. Frankly I hope it can keep going because in its own way it is kind of fun.

 

Originally Posted by Robert K:
#40 is probably down for maintenance and the other two oos indefinitely. They bought a 4-8-4 from Mexico I believe and the other is a CN 4-6-0 that they had since the 60's.

 

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