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Originally Posted by bbunge:

It will be fun to hear what visiting whistle ends up on 765 for the trip(s) over the curve.

If I have anything to say about it, the ONLY whistle the 765 will carry for all 3,671 miles of this 2012 schedule is her correct NKP whistle. But I may be overruled on that...

 

Some of those destinations in the previous post for 765 are subject to change. I think one or two of them have been changed already.

Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:
Originally Posted by bbunge:

It will be fun to hear what visiting whistle ends up on 765 for the trip(s) over the curve.

If I have anything to say about it, the ONLY whistle the 765 will carry for all 3,671 miles of this 2012 schedule is her correct NKP whistle. But I may be overruled on that...

 

Some of those destinations in the previous post for 765 are subject to change. I think one or two of them have been changed already.

 

May I nominate that shreaking hooter off the 2789 in North Judson?  I think there were a couple of times where that thing might wake the dead.

Originally Posted by MartyE:

So I guess the my question would be, will the 765 come through Pittsburgh at any point this summer?  One would assume since Pittsburgh is between Indiana and Enola, it's a possibility and if so could you give us a heads up?


I'd say it's pretty likely at some point, especially with the announcement of it running Horseshoe Curve at least once.  You've got it coming from Williamson to Conway, and then back from Harrisburg towards the St. Louis area.  Of course, the inbound COULD be through Roanoke and Hagerstown if us southern folk might be so lucky.

Originally Posted by MartyE:

So I guess the my question would be, will the 765 come through Pittsburgh at any point this summer?  One would assume since Pittsburgh is between Indiana and Enola, it's a possibility and if so could you give us a heads up?

You can't get from Conway Yard to Harrisburg without going through Pittsburgh.

 


 

Originally Posted by 765-TrainFest:

Rich, what is the schedule looking like for the 765 around the Chicago area?

Toledo or St. Louis...that's as close as we get to Chicago.

Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:
Originally Posted by kgdjpubs:
May I nominate that shreaking hooter off the 2789 in North Judson?

NO!


haha.  Had a friend refer to that as the castrated elk whistle.  Don't ask me how they came up with that one, and honestly don't want to know either.

 

For anyone who didn't get a chance to hear it (not sure if it was on 765 more than one day or not), it would go from the mellow C&O hooter and break into this ear-piercing squeal without a moment's hesitation.  Very reminiscent of that thing on Cotton Belt 819 in the 80s, which had a similar quality to it.  As they say, it needed fixin'!

Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:

Marty, that means we start at Enola, run west a mile or two, go across the river, run east a couple miles, turn on a wye and go back to where we started. It's a short trip.

 

Getting into the wye at CP Capital could be interesting. It's on a 16-degree curve (very sharp) on a 2% grade.


If you must keep the trips short, the other options I see would be:

 

1. Originate from Rutherford Yard (HP 108) and run west across the Rockville Bridge to CP Mary and turn on the consist there and return (although once back at Rutherford you would still need some way of turning the engine for the next trip)

 

2. Pull just west of Capital on the Harrisburg Line and shove the train onto the Lurgan Branch around the east leg of the wye at Capital.  Then at least you wouldn't have to fight the sharper leg of the wye up hill......still a sharp curve to negotiate no matter what direction you are traveling (derailed many of 11R in that curve).

 

Of course the BEST option would be to extend the trip to Reading (HP61) and then you could either turn the train at Tulp or Oley.  At least that trip would give her a chance to stretch her legs a bit!

 

One other thought: back in her days on the Nickel Plate, I believe I read that 765 was known as the "Queen of the West End" cause of her reputation as being one of the best running 700s west of Bellevue......maybe after this summer she'll be known as the "Queen of the North End" on Norfolk Southern!

 

Here's to a successful year and looking forward to seeing 765 top the Alleghenies with the throttle to the roof, reverse gear down in the corner, and the pops lifted!

Last edited by Form D

New NS steam program is a mixed bag:

 

Great for chasers and video/photo buffs, but otherwise rider unfriendly. 

 

In NS's defense, insurance liability realities would make it very difficult to run  group-sponsored public excursions.

 

The ticket prices would be out of reach of most families, given present economic circumstances. 

 

Just glad I was able to ride many trips (1974-1994) during the GLORY days of the Southern/NS steam program! 

 

Check out Jim Wrinn's "Steam's Camelot" for a nostalgic remembrance of this wonderful era complete with a plethora of color photographs.

Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:
Originally Posted by Keystone:
This might explain Rich's coy NKP 765 reference to the Horseshoe Curve from a week or two ago.    Looks to be a grand time for many rail fans that either ride or just take pictures along the route.

Just to clarify...these trips are for Norfolk Southern employees and their families. These are not public trips and no tickets will be available to the public.

 

Yes, the 765 will be on Horseshoe Curve later this summer. NS is assisting us in the installation of cab signals so the 765 can lead the train. The NS main line from Cleveland through Pittsburgh, Altoona and on to Harrisburg is all cab signal territory. Without cab signals, the 765 would have to be towed behind a diesel equipped with cab signals.

 

And here's another little detail...NS 8100 (the NKP Heritage Unit) will be tucked in behind the 765's A-Tank on all these moves.

 

Norfolk Southern is obviously very proud of their heritage and the fact that this is their 30th birthday. These trips are a very tangible way of showing that. We (the 765 crew) are very pleased to be a part of this exciting program.

Rich, will you be able to be away from work for all those trips??

Originally Posted by ironlake2:
Rich, will you be able to be away from work for all those trips??

I'm not sure...I'll have to ask the boss.

 


 

Originally Posted by Tyler Martin:
I was kinda wondering along those lines too...will the Ft. Wayne crew get to operate the locomotive with a pilot on these trips, or will Bob Saxtan run on these?

Fort Wayne engineers will run the 765. Bob may join us for a trip or two. I hope he does...I haven't seen him for many years.

Having several young children, I will find it difficult to be at Horseshoe Curve in Altoona (2-1/2 hours drive) at a specific time.  Odds are, I will miss the one minute window that the 765 will actually be on the curve.  DAMHIK.

 

However, I live close to Pittsburgh.  So my question is similar to MartyE's.  Will there/Is there a map which very clearly shows the route(s) the 765 will be taking?  I have no idea where these yards are that you gentlemen are referring to, and no idea where the tracks are laid.  It would be a lot easier to know where to plan on going to watch the run-by if I had a map clearly showing the tracks, not just roads.

 

The trips from Conway Yard [ adjoins Conway, PA ] will run "west" [ geographically north ] to CP Wood, which adjoins the town of Homewood -- NOT the Homewood section of Pittsburgh, thank heavens.  Homewood is just north of Beaver Falls on Rt 18, and immediately adjoins the Turnpike interchange.  So from Conway the trains will pass "through" [ = next to ] Freedom, Rochester, New Brighton, and Beaver Falls, eg PA routes 65 and 18.

    From Rochester to Homewood is uphill;  speaking generally, the gradient increases:  it's 0.39 % at New Brighton to 0.95 at Homewood.  The train will probably run on the 'westward' track because of the track layout of the wye at Homewood, at least in the outbound direction, and I'm guessing back also.

    I would suggest you reconnaissance the area beforehand;  I can't think of a map that would be that helpful.

    Hope that helps.

 

Have fun -- but don't trespass.

 

Best regards, SZ

 

 Edited to add:  The 'westward track' mentioned above is the one [ of the four ]nearest the road between Freedom and New Brighton.  It seems like the logical* choice -- but we're talking about a railroad here, and NS to boot, so logic doesn't apply.  Where they load / unload at Conway is a factor, too.

 

   *Based on the track / turnout layouts at Rochester and Wood.  There used to be a restriction that you couldn't go from 1 [ the 'eastward' track ] to the wye at Wood, which would suggest at least one direction would have to be on #2, the 'westward' track.  I seem to recall that when Conrail turned excursions there they went west on the west, and crossed over to go east on the east.  But that's from memory.

Last edited by Steinzeit
Originally Posted by springoflife:

Having several young children, I will find it difficult to be at Horseshoe Curve in Altoona (2-1/2 hours drive) at a specific time.  Odds are, I will miss the one minute window that the 765 will actually be on the curve.  DAMHIK.

 

However, I live close to Pittsburgh.  So my question is similar to MartyE's.  Will there/Is there a map which very clearly shows the route(s) the 765 will be taking?  I have no idea where these yards are that you gentlemen are referring to, and no idea where the tracks are laid.  It would be a lot easier to know where to plan on going to watch the run-by if I had a map clearly showing the tracks, not just roads.

 


Steinzeit gave the general stuff.  Pull up yahoomaps or Bing maps for the track layout.  Both show the tracks if you zoom in enough, or you can go to the aerial photos part for a better view.  That said, nothing beats a bit of on-the-ground reconnaissance work.

 

Have fun,

Kevin

Originally Posted by R Nelson:

Ahh, the chance to photograph the 765 westbound out of Elkhorn Tunnel on the Pokey!  Or even around the Huger Tunnels at Superior!  Cool.......

 

unless the schedule changes or they route 765 down through Bluefield to Roanoke and up to Hagerstown on the way to PA, they aren't going to get that far down the Pokey.  Current stuff doesn't have them coming any closer than Matewan.

It's too bad the Amtrak station in Norfolk isn't ready yet, I'd like to see some more steam come down this way.

 

Here's a photo I found of where the new Amtrak station is being built:

 

http://stavely.org/ryan/files/.../Norfolk_Station.png

 

The red icon at the top is where our light rail train "The Tide" stops and the green icon on the right is where the new Amtrak station is being built.

 

Last word on The Tide was that ridership has exceeded all expectations since they started less than 1 year ago.

Originally Posted by Steamer:

NS Steam Program rider unfriendly...yeah...

Say what? I guess it all depends on your definition of what "rider unfriendly" is.

 

These trips are being run for NS employees and their families. These folks are NOT railfans. They enjoy trains and railroading, but they are not fans. An all-day train ride would not be a very enjoyable experience for this audience. And, if only a single trip per day was run, there is no way that NS could provide enough seats so that everyone who wanted to ride could go on the train. For example, there are over 1,000 engineers working out of Conway Yard alone! That doesn't even count the car knockers, diesel shop mechanics, the MOW people, signal department, etc.

 

By running multiple short trips, the ride is an interesting 2-hour experience where Daddy (or Mommy) can show the family where he/she works. More people have the chance to ride because we can fill the train at least twice.

 

Say it again...100 times...maybe it will sink in. These are not railfan trips. These are not Railfan trips. These are not railfan trips. These are not Railfan trips. These are not railfan trips. These are not Railfan trips. These are not railfan trips. These are not Railfan trips. These are not railfan trips. These are not Railfan trips.

 

Get the idea?

 

 

Oh...one more thing...I also know where the 765 is going in Illinois. We're just passin' through...on the way to Missouri.

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