As promised I am offering a narrative of my visit to Steamtown (and the adjacent Electric City Trolley Museum) over the weekend of September 12. The original plan had been to ride the 9/12 Norfolk Southern NKP #765 excursion round-trip from Scranton to Binghamton and to follow up the next day, but that trip sadly was cancelled due to the delayed hand-over from the Canadian Pacific to Norfolk Southern of the former Delaware and Hudson lines south of Schenectady.The photo links below go to pictures I took at Steamtown. Sadly TRAINS site rules seem to prevent their direct upload, although I admit I’m also not too adept at this sort of link/transfer.
The Hunter Harrison management at the CPR demanded a $100,000,000 liability insurance “cover” and the local sponsor, the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Chapter of the NRHS, was forced on only ten days notice to cancel two virtually sold-out departures. As will be seen below, this was a blow not only to the L&WV NRHS, but also to the return of regular steam at Steamtown.
But faced with otherwise non-refundable hotel arrangements I decided to go anyway. I’m glad I did, although the visit left me with a sense that things are not as they might be at Steamtown.
In quick summary, Steamtown remains steamless. No large engines are even near operational status in the Steamtown collection. The little former Baldwin shop switcher 0-6-0 #26 was test fired earlier in the summer. I had hoped Steamtown management would have completed her renovations for the NKP #765 visit, but this was not the case. Rangers advised me that at a minimum work is still needed on the ash-pan, but on Friday afternoon September 11 I could see no sign of anyone working on her in shops. Perhaps they’re waiting for parts, but no one who would talk to me seemed to know and I was unable to get a useable photo.
As you enter the Steamtown site you pass a vast and largely empty parking area, but the drive in is not without visual comfort, as you pass the be