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Originally Posted by John Mills:

If The 765 doesn't go thru Chicago then it looks like it will go thru Danville and Decatur,IL and I should have a good chance of watching it go by.  Is the public discouraged from watching the engine go by?

In all likelihood, going thru Chicago is out of the way mileage wise. I'm sure Rich will have the definitive answer on that.

 

As far as the public being discouraged from watching, the answer is a definite "NO", you are not to be discouraged; however, you are encouraged to always use common sense and abide by their rules when you railfan near any railroad.

 

Do yourself a favor and register with the NS Protect The Line Program and enjoy your railfan opportunities when you can, but most importantly as Safely As You Can.

 

Also, if you have any doubts, and even if you don't, read as much as you can at the Operation Lifesaver website, BEFORE YOU GO RAILFANNING !!!

"The 765 has been in Pittsburgh before ..."

 

Not to mention the four 1993 Amtrak speed trips from Akron to Station Square & back; albeit dressed up as if she were of C&O lineage. Having the pleasure of working those trips I got to know and enjoy what 79mph really was for extended periods behind the Big Berk. We was haulin' some butt on those trips !!!

What was I thinking? How could I have forgotten those trips!

 

When we got set to leave Akron on the first trip of this series, I asked Ken Griffin, the CSX Road Foreman aboard the 765, how fast he wanted me to run, since there was no mention of speed in our orders. He said, "This is a passenger train, ain't it?" "It sure is." I responded. Ken said, "Then let's go."

 

The rest is history.

You can't begin to imagine how jealous I am....
 
Originally Posted by Bob Lyndall:

"The 765 has been in Pittsburgh before ..."

 

Not to mention the four 1993 Amtrak speed trips from Akron to Station Square & back; albeit dressed up as if she were of C&O lineage. Having the pleasure of working those trips I got to know and enjoy what 79mph really was for extended periods behind the Big Berk. We was haulin' some butt on those trips !!!

 

Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:

The 765 has been in Pittsburgh before. We ran trips from Orrville to Pittsburgh on Conrail back about 1982-83 and we ran on the P&LE from Struthers to Station Square in Pittsburgh in 1985 and 86.

 

I have not prepared the crew schedules yet, so I don't know if I'll be running or whether I'll have someone else assigned to run that day.

How many engine crews are there?  From my experience as Conrail Engineman/Fireman WAY BACK WHEN, I presume you have to QUALIFY on the physical characteristics of each DIVISION with a Road Foreman even for these excursions???

Originally Posted by mlavender480:

The steam crew doesn't necessarily have to be qualified as long as the hosting railroad provides a qualified pilot to ride with them.  A good pilot will know the territory well and be able to keep the engineer informed ahead-of-time on what is coming up.

BINGO. Exactly right, Mike. That is how all the big steamers get over the road these days, including the Union Pacific engine.

 

NS will have a crew on the train, plus there will be a company officer on board the 765 as well.

There are no passenger trips out of Cleveland.

 

Here's the updated (and corrected) schedule:

 

July 21-22 Bellevue to Bucyrus, OH (2 trips per day)

 

July 28-29 Toledo, OH
Homestead Yard to Airline Junction (3 trips per day)

 

August 4-5 Williamson, WV

Williamson to Ought One (1st trip each day)

Williamson to Naugatuck (2nd trip each day)

 

August 11-12 - Pittsburgh, PA (2 trips per day)
Conway to CP Bell and turn on the OC Bridge (1st trip each day)

Conway to CP Wood (2nd trip each day)

 

August 18-19 - Harrisburg, PA (2 trips per day)
Enola to CP Capital

 

September 8-9 - St. Louis, MO (2 trips per day)

Berkley to St. Peters, MO

 

We will move over the Cleveland line on a deadhead move, when we deadhead from Conway to Bellevue on Tuesday, August 21. No, I don't know what time we will be through Cleveland.

Ought One is a railroad name and is quite literally in the middle of nowhere in the hills of West Virginia on the WV/KY border. The wye there is on two bridges over the Tug Fork River. There are no roads anywhere near it. Because it is a railroad name, it will not come up in Google Earth or other mapping programs.

This is a satellite view of "Ought One." If you zoom out on that map, you'll see what I mean about it being in the middle of nowhere.




Berkley, MO is near the St. Louis airport and St. Peters is NW of St. Louis.
Last edited by Rich Melvin
Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:
Ought One is a railroad name and is quite literally in the middle of nowhere in the hills of West Virginia on the WV/KY border. The wye there is on two bridges over the Tug Fork River. There are no roads anywhere near it. Because it is a railroad name, it will not come up in Google Earth or other mapping programs.




Devon is the "city" that will come closest to appearing on most maps.  In more specific terms of location, go a few miles below Matewan and Delorme on the inaccessible section of track heading to Iaeger and you'll find Devon/Ought One.

 

Speaking of the Pokey run, any ideas as to when the 765 might be doing the ferry move?  Sure would be cool to catch it at Kenova again, but going over the C&O tracks instead of going down them.

Rich We'll look for you on the old Wabash Main into town just across the big muddy.  It will be a real treat to see the locomotive up on the elevated TRRA trackage coming across the river.

 

Glad to see yinz here. We get to see the Cheyenne Crew from time to time out here...FEF 844 was here this year... challenger in 2010.

 

The 1990 NRHS convention had 4 heavies here 1218, 819, 844, 1522 all in great weather.

Originally Posted by Unseenthings:
Ok Rich, tvrm is selling their deadhead moves, ball is in your court

Not really. The Fort Wayne RR Historical Society has been contracted by Norfolk Southern Corp. to provide motive power and a train set for EMPLOYEE appreciation trips, i.e. NOT for the public. Don't see how the "765 group" could "sell tickets to the public" on an NS contracted train.

 

Remember, the "765 operation" is NOT the 21st Century Steam Program!

Let me clarify this, because I can see where it could be confusing.

 

The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Inc., owner/operators of Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765, have been contracted by Norfolk Southern to run a series of Employee Appreciation Specials in 2012. These trains are in celebration of Norfolk Southern's 30th birthday. Norfolk Southern was formed via a merger of the Norfolk & Western Railroad and the Southern Railway on June 1, 1982.

 

These Employee Appreciation Specials are not part of the 21st Century Steam Program. That program is a series of steam trains for the public. TVRM has handled the 21st Century  trains in the past and will continue to do so this year.

 

Next year the 765 may have an opportunity to participate in the 21st Century Steam Program and run some public trips on Norfolk Southern as part of that program. However, at this time there are no such plans in place for 2012.

Well the date for the trips out of Bellevue is not goin to work Rich i live about 2 miles east of the yard with the old Nickel Plate 200 yard behind my house and would luv to come out and see the 765 but the problem seems to be I'm getting married on the 21st so if you could maybe convince my fiance to push the wedding back a week or so I'd be very thankful I tried to do this yesterday and just got a look when mentioned not even a word outta her mouth jeesh she acts like shes been plannin it for the last 14 months or sumthin.

Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:

There are no passenger trips out of Cleveland.

 

Here's the updated (and corrected) schedule:

 

 

August 11-12 - Pittsburgh, PA (2 trips per day)
Conway to CP Bell and turn on the OC Bridge (1st trip each day)

Conway to CP Wood (2nd trip each day)

Made my reservation for the first trip on August 11. It will be pretty cool to ride a steam train up to BELL. Never would've thought I'd see a steam locomotive, let alone 765, on a piece of territory I'm qualified on..... pretty excited!

A big THANK YOU to Norfolk Southern and the affiliate organizations it is working with for throwing one heck of a 30th Birthday Party. The Operation of 765, 630 and the creation of the heritage painted locomotives are one classy way to celebrate.

 

Can any information on ferry move dates (apart from the Horseshoe Curve info already known) be made public? Also can the scheduled times of the weekend employee runs be made public?

 

Those of us who who work in 24/7 jobs and weekends would love to know. With enough advance notice for job and shift tweeking, schedule manipulation is a wonderful thing!

 

Waiting to get more images like this one. Taken on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in 2010 before going to work!

 

Steve Heister

 

 

Heister 765 portage path

 

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  • Heister 765 portage path: 765 at Portage Path
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