SOO LINE 730

Agreed! I have long been itching for a scale model of Soo Line 4-6-2 #2719 !

mark s posted:

Agreed! I have long been itching for a scale model of Soo Line 4-6-2 #2719 !

Same here, but isn't the 2719 a larger Pacific?

Think they are essentially the same.  The diverging numbers are the product of different ownership - - - Wisconsin Central vs. Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault St Marie. Think those were basically accounting paper exercises, after the lines were merged somewhere in the late 19th century. 

But #2719 had an odd-ball feedwater heater on it's pilot deck, giving it a somewhat different, "heavier" appearance.

Turned to Robert Hundman's "Locomotive Cyclopedia Vol 2" which has excellent drawings of #2719, wherein it is noted that the 2719 had a Worthington FWH mounted on the pilot deck. It looks like no other Worthington FWH I have seen !       Anywhere, any locomotive !

Several Soo pacific locomotives had this FWH, the 2719 being the only preserved one I think. According to a roundhouse guy I knew back in the 50s the FWH was an experiment but not considered a success.

I would enjoy an O scale 2-8-0 for our Nostalgia Trip.

Here is our rendition of a Soo 4-6-2 from a B&M engine and a USRA tender. Not accurate but close enough for who it is for.

I also would be all over a Soo Pacific. Growing up in Wisconsin, I saw a few when I was very young while they were still active. I've planned to someday take another Pacific, erase the lettering and add Soo decals to the tender, and do a conversion of some heavyweights to match. 

Ray and the Mrs's - Thank you for the addendum on the weird-o FWH !  Your ex B&M/now Soo Line 4-6-2 is VERY convincing, until a "perfect" Soo Pacific is forthcoming.  Has anyone seen an example of this FWH on any other US locomotive?  And it came relatively late in 2719's career, in the early 1950's, along with it's boxpoke middle driver.

Breezinup's picture gives a glimpse of it. Two other Soo 4-6-2's had them. If anyone just has to know the numbers, I will gladly look them up. Too lazy, now, to light a candle, walk down the curving stone staircase, and trudge through the catacombs, avoiding monks' skulls, to retrieve the necessary book !

The late Tom Houle converted an AHM/ Rivarossi  IHB 0-8-0 into a SOO 2-8-0 documented in Mainline Modeler Jan/ Feb 2005

Colin

Nice looking lady.. Where would this engine  have run?

IL - WI - ND - SD - MN - MI/UP and may have even slipped across the border into Manitoba at Portal, ND !     Probably did not traverse the Soo Line branchline that entered Montana.

Note perhaps of interest:  Gladstone, MI was where the Soo Line congregated some of their remaining steam locomotives in mid to late '50's.  The Dresser, WI - Gladstone line retained it's steam servicing facilities - the strategy was to return steam in a business upsurge only on that line, and move diesels around the rest of the system. Surprisingly, for brief periods of time, Soo steam returned briefly in the summers of 1955 and 1956. The Soo Line was "officially" dieselized in Feb 1955.

Soo Line saved some good looking engines. I wish the Erie and New York Central were as generous.

Paul - Unfortunately both NYC and Erie were going broke - they needed even the few dollars generated from the scrap value of steam locomotives. We were lucky that the Pennsy saved a batch of steam locomotives in the Northumberland, PA roundhouse - even though they were going broke, too !   How broke? Jim Symes testified before Congress in 1958, in the midst of a fairly severe recession in that year, saying, "The cash drawer is empty. Frankly, we (PRR) are scared !"

mark s posted:

Note perhaps of interest:  Gladstone, MI was where the Soo Line congregated some of their remaining steam locomotives in mid to late '50's.  The Dresser, WI - Gladstone line retained it's steam servicing facilities - the strategy was to return steam in a business upsurge only on that line, and move diesels around the rest of the system. Surprisingly, for brief periods of time, Soo steam returned briefly in the summers of 1955 and 1956. The Soo Line was "officially" dieselized in Feb 1955.

I was born and raised about 3 miles from Dresser, which is where I saw the Soo steamers when I was young. There was an engine house there, coal and water towers, a depot, and a wye for turning trains. The depot is still there, and an active rail line still runs by it, used by the Osceola and St. Croix Valley scenic railroad, and the Canadian National, which services a nearby rock quarry. The rail line now ends at Dresser, but the wye is still there and in use.

For those interested, here are some shots of Dresser (which only had a population of about 350) back in the 50s, from a booklet I have. There was a small nearby ski area, and the Soo would run weekend specials from the Twin Cities to bring skiers out. The engine in the photo was one of their 4-8-2s. Also there's a shot of the crowd arriving, and one of the depot area.

There's also a shot from the rock quarry, which is about a mile from Dresser. Back in the 50s they used four little 0-4-0 steamers to haul the rock jennies from the quarry to the nearby crusher building. Occasionally we'd go down and watch the operation. They also had several huge Bucyrus steam (real steam powered) shovels that loaded the cars. Dresser was a hopping little railroad town back then. 

Breezinup:   Thank you for posting the Dresser shots.  Dresser received railfan excursions pulled by #2719 in both 1958 and '59, because the coal and water facilities were still intact. In the late '90's, Dresser was host to Soo Line #'s 1003 and 2719 double headed, for celebrations in Osceola, WI, about 1999,  which culminated in a triple header, with NP 4-6-0 #328, to Marine, MN. I participated in a charter with Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 #2816 in the 2005 vecinity, that ran from Shoreham Yard in Mpls, to Dresser. So yes, a hoppin little railroad town !!

I certainly hope you are a member of the Soo Line Technical and Historical Society! (new members are much desired).    Dresser was covered about 2 years ago in their publication, including the dinkies and the STEAM  shovel !

Addendum:    Soo Line 4-6-2 #730 is a bit smaller then #2719. The respective weights of the two locomotives are 258,000 lbs (730) and 271,000 lbs (2719). So, yes, 2719 is a somewhat larger 4-6-2 !

Glad this thread this came up again. I had another photo I neglected to post earlier of #2917 at Dresser, Wisconsin. This may very well have been from the '58 or '59 excursions you mentioned, Mark, especially given that it's in color. That odd FWH mentioned above can be clearly seen here. I got these photos from a booklet I got at the Minnesota Transportation Museum in St. Paul. (This is a photo of a photo, which occupies the back cover of the booklet.)  (Click on the picture of #2917 to enlarge.)

The above photo was of the 1958 excursion; on the June 1959 excursion, #2719 had white tires.  H23 4-6-2 #2718 handled a similar excursion in 1956.   Thank you, Beezinup, for posting a very nice photo.  Classy ladies, those Soo Pacifics !

Note the coal and water facilities at Dresser, retained for steam locomotives held for any possible upsurge in business, thru 1959. Regular service steam on the Soo Line ended in Feb 1955.