Whenever someone mentions the train show at York, it always reminds me of my time there in August '88. 1361 ran through the streets of town, on the Northern Central, and the Ma & Pa lines.
York has a long railroad history. They were celebrating 150 years of railroad history there in '88. There was some locomotive manufacturing there in the early years, and Billmeyer and Small had a factory there building narrow gauge cars.
It was great to see her run. The sound of that K-4 whistle echoing off the brick buildings was haunting ! I will never forget.
Oh, and she is 100 this month. Built May 1918.
This is what I think of every time someone mentions York !
Have you heard? Rail preservationist Bennett Levin is spearheading a drive to get 1361 up and running again. New boiler, roller bearings, the works.
If Bennett’s involved there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’ll get done.
And I still can’t figure out how a locomotive restored and running in the 80’s was totally FUBAR’d in the 90’s. Boggles the mind…
And don’t you just love the look of a Pennsy K4? No-nonsense, all power, as subtle as a clenched fist! And it’s hard to think of 1361 as a 100 year old locomotive. I think 100 year old locomotive and the first thing that springs to mind is a Civil War era 4-4-0.
Here, let me bring her to life for all to enjoy…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTVjbeRBWWk
- It it really 31 years already? Where’d the time go?
Thank you, Firelock !
great news about 1361. Hope to have her back on the road again. I really enjoyed that clip, and the sound of her whistle.
Locomotive design is a balance, and they got it right with the K-4’s, and that was the secret to their success. It’s a 1914 design, but the free steaming boiler, and factor of adhesion were just right. It’s an American classic!
Railroads through York were the Northern Central, which was Pennsy 'S route from Harrisburg to Baltimore, and on to D.C. The Ma &Pa, and Western Maryland had a presence as well.
Oh, pardon my manners! This one’s for Becky! (Penny Trains)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3pLV9UDEQk
Good ol’ 4070 on the Cuyahoga Valley Line.
I’ll try to keep this topic like my grandmother’s house, “No-one goes away hungry!”
I enjoyed that, Firelock, but what’s for dessert?
Love the USRA era, and loco design. Rode behind NKP 587 and 765 out of Chi town in '93. Got a huge cinder in my eye ! But loved the ride !
For safety regulations the K4 wasn’t permitted to operate on the main line. While being towed back from York on its last trip the main axel bearing were allowed to go dry. The resulting damage destroyed the axel. While attempting to repair this it was found the restoration was half assed. There were major deficiencies in both the boiler and tender. By this time the museum that owns it was out of money. A grant in excess of 1 million was obtained from the state of PA. It was stipulated the work had to be done at Steamtown. There the money was all spent but there was only more disassembly to show for all the money that was spent. As I understand it was returned to Altoona in worse shape than it left. Supposedly a small group of volunteers continues to plug away at reassembly but at this rate it will be years til it’s done.
we caught up with 1361 as she was being towed back to Altoona. They came through Lewistown about 5 mph.
She’s had a rough life, but maybe we’ll meet up again.
30 years exposed to the elements probably didn’t do her any favors, either…
How about one that SHOULD have been saved?
What I miss in today’s railroading world are all the distinctly different personalities, the corporate philosophies of the railroads.I love the Central, they Bought the best, largely from Alco.
Pennsy bucked every trend in railroading, and insisted their way was the best.
Gotta love 'em ! Their quirkiness, and " I did it my way" attitude. They built most of their motive power to very conservative standards that were out of step with the railroad industry as a whole. But, this is what is so fascinating about their story !
And the enormous size of their operation was truly incredible. Yes, I love 'em !
But my short list includes:
Nickel Plate
U.P. and Espee steam
Rio Grande standard and narrow gauge
NYC
Sante Fe.
and, they are each different in the way they ran their railroads !
Thanks for that, Becky! The Dreyfuss Hudson, you’re so right, one SHOULD have been saved, or ANY Hudson should have been saved, and a Niagara as well.
Well, what can you do? The people running the Central were businessmen, not historians. The head-scratcher for me is a decade earlier they were bragging about how great their steamers were. Come the 50’s and they couldn’t get rid of them fast enough.
And thanks for that insight Mr. Banks! You know, back around 1989/1990 I’d heard “whispers” that the 1361 restoration wasn’t as well done as it could have been, but nothing definate and nothing concrete, just “whispers.” And you can’t make an opinion on whispers.
Central’ Hudsons were magnificent! It is a shame to not have saved them. The steam to diesel era is fascinating, with the decisions being made, especially regarding the cost savings to retire the steamers.
All the railroads handled it differently. Some railroads opted to retire all steam immediately, when diesels were available to replace them. Some railroads kept steamers in storage as backup power to cover traffic upswings. A very few tried everything to develope a steam engine that was good enough to match the diesels productivity. Two examples of this: N&W, and the Pennsylvania. This was what all of Pennsy’s experimental engines were about.
Eric Hirsimaki has a great book about this “Black Gold-Black Diamonds”.
Paul
Despite how 1361 ended up, I still have great memories of York. Glad to have seen her in better days, and I hope they get her back together.
A couple more things:
anyone interested in the PRR should go to the museum in Strasburg. Fantastic collection of Pennsylvania stuff !
Toy train museum nearby, which I’ll need to go back and take another look…
We’ve been to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, great place with a super staff!
And The Toy Train Museum down the road? You’ll love it in there! The best way I can describe it is “Christmas morning gone berserk!”
Another fun place in the area is the “Choo-Choo Barn.” It’s a BIG O gauge layout with scenes from the Lancaster County area modeled in great detail. We call it the “Diabolical Choo-Choo Barn.” Why? Well, after you view that superb layout you “get the fever” real bad, and when you exit the display you exit right into a model railroad hobby shop! Don’t ask how much money I spent…
Diabolical indeed!
I love Choo Choo Barn! OMG! The animations ! The circus ! The gold fish in the pond ! Wow!
My only regret is the last time I was there in '08, I wasn’t savvy enough to appreciate some of the trains in the Toy Train Museum.
Must… Go… Baaack…
Don’t forget the Red Caboose Motel !
Or the Strasburg Railroad! [:D]
Yes, yes, all wonderful suggestions. I really like Strasbourg 90, the 2-10-0. And 475, an N&W 4-8-0, like some of O. Winston Link’s great pictures.
They are so hospitable there " go anywhere you like, just be careful".
First time I was there in '88, 1223, the Pennsylvania D-16 4-4-0 was running on the Strasbourg.
I’ve got a thing about pinstripes…
Strasburg PA, it’s railfan heaven, that’s for certain!
That corner of Pennsylvania’s an antiquer’s playground as well. Adamstown, Kutztown, Downingtown, you name it!
And for the bibliophile, there’s Baldwin’s Book Barn in West Chester. Five floors of books in an old dairy barn. You could lock me in there for the rest of my life and I’d never be bored. www.bookbarn.com
And no surprise, the used books that go out the door the quickest are the railbooks, just like every other used book place.
I just love Pennsylvania!