Railroad Museum of New England

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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I had previously donated some memorabilia to the museum and I was invited to tour their facility and be ‘reunited’ with the very first locomotive I had worked on.

What a marvelous facility, the volunteers are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and personable. Their workshop is on a par with that of a Class 1 railroad. Check out their website, they have a lot to offer.

http://www.rmne.org/

2

Let me light that up for you.

http://www.rmne.org/

Nice! I’ve gotta get up there one of these days!

3

Thank you. I’m trying to post a picture without success.

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You’re welcome! Can’t help you with the picture posting I’m afraid…

5

[:P]I got lucky

6

I see the picture. You handsome devil you!

I’m talking to the RS-3, I can’t say as much for the guy standing nex to it! [;)]

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[:P]

8

Did you work on it at the museum or earlier?

9

No, I was the fireman on it in 1963. My first railroad assignment. 11:55 P.M. East Class #3

10

In 1963 I was a regular commuter on the New Haven between Boston and New York, every week going to NY in a roomette on the Owl and returning on the Owl after a concert at Lincoln Center, or on the Merchants directly from 101 Park Avenue or if missing the Merchants on the 6pm Bankers Springfield train with across-the-platform to the Patriot at New Haven.

You might have been a fireman on one of those trips.

On one trip I had a meeting on a Sunday at Christ Church Greenwich, and the meeting ran late, and I missed the last mu to GCT to get the Owl. The church secretary called the NH Dispatcher at NH and he agreed to have the train stop at Stamford so I could board.

On another occasion, see the C. B, Fisk Organ website, the organ firm had a special car on a Sunday afternoon Boston - NY train so Boston music lovers could attend the inaugural recital of their organ at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Westerly, R. I. But a freight derailment closed the line between Rt. 128 and Pawtucket, and we detoured via Blackstone and the Framingham Branch and caught only the second half of the concert.

11

Say 243129, did you ever run that RS-3, and if so, what was it like?

12

What were a fireman’s duties in 1963?

13

I might well have been.

The New Haven was very accommodating, the ‘old style’ customer service/relations no longer exists.

14

Yes I did in both freight and passenger service. Not very operator friendly as the ‘F’ end was the long nose forward, poor cab design and typical of ALCO, lots of smoke.

15

‘Apprentice engineer’ , lookout, trouble shooter on multiple unit consists, steam generator operator, learning as you go in all classes of service thereby creating a ready reserve of engineers. A far cry from today’s inadequate hiring, vetting and training procedures. However Arbitration Award 282 eliminated that form of training.

16

Thanks! So I guess you’re an EMD fan?

17

Absolutely![Y]

18

Just shiny things. Oh well.

19

As I recall the railroad Museum is located on the few remaning strectches of the New York and New England Railroad which was a fast main line at one time of the “White Train”

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