K4 1361 Project Dead?

I found this on the Railroaders Museum's website:

http://www.railroadcity.com/bb/index.php?a=vtopic&t=86


Looks like the 1361 won't be running anytime soon.

For those that don't follow the link,

Scott Cessna of the museum responded this morning and said the project isn't dead, its only dead at the current location.

Sounds like Steamtown has its own things to deal with would be my guess.

The museum needs to get the teapot back here to 'Toon town and get the equipment to work on it themselves. I'd definately volunteer time.

The 1361's best bet is move it to Strasburg. They will fix it!

Ya, but the museum would have to sell it to pay for repairs!

In only stating the obvious, the Strasburg RR shop has the expertise
and ability to rebuild the 1361 in short order. I know a lot of money has been spent but any further money spent with Strasburg involved would be well worth it.

Sorry, I'm not a strasburg fan. I have heard too many dark tales of the Strasburg's evil deeds.... I'd be afraid to send anything there for fear it wouldn't leave.

Amen.

You guys still don't get it. Steamtown NHS is not peforming the 1361 work, all they are doing is providing a roof and a place to work. Steamtown can't wait to get 1361 OUT because of this popular misconception (among other reasons)!

The SD45

NYSW3614 wrote:You guys still don't get it. Steamtown NHS is not peforming the 1361 work, all they are doing is providing a roof and a place to work. Steamtown can't wait to get 1361 OUT because of this popular misconception (among other reasons)!

The SD45

Another major issue is, if the 1361 is ever returned to Altoona in running condition, what provisions will be made to ensure that it is maintained properly? One major breakdown or mechanical failure will probably sideline it indefinitely again....A K4 would have been built at Altoona from the ground up in a matter of days back in steam days. All this money is being poured into a 12 year plus project to rebuild and restore it....but once or if it ever runs again, funding and expertise will need to continue, or it will end up a static piece of display equipment on the Museum grounds after something else fails or breaks....At that rate, it would have been far less costly to simply have done a cosmetic restoration and left it at the curve, or in Altoona.

Ok, Now tell us why it was taken from the curve, restored and was under steam in the 1980's. I rode behined her in York, Pa. How come it's taking so long, when with in a few months it was running then?

Len.

Schuylkill Valley wrote:Ok, Now tell us why it was taken from the curve, restored and was under steam in the 1980's. I rode behined her in York, Pa. How come it's taking so long, when with in a few months it was running then?

Len.

The way I am hearing it is that as different people are put in charge of the project over time, each new person in charge finds something wrong, or overlooked with previous work, and previous work ends up getting redone.

"So why can R&N able to restore 425 and steamtown can't in what 12 years?"


Len, go back and read what NYSW3614 posted. Steamtown HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT beyond providing a place to have the work done.

As to "why", that you need to ask the owners. (NOT Steamtown.)

RS

Because R&N is a private outfit. Same with NS. They repainted and fixed up those Fs in a matter of weeks. The K4 restoration is being done with a lot of public funds. A whole different ballgame. Also, during that 12 year time, the RR museum in Altoona went through some major financial events. Pretty amazing the K4s still exists under their ownership.

As far as the restoration in the 1980s, I heard it was a pretty shoddy rush job, hence some of the troubles with it today.

gp80mac wrote: As far as the restoration in the 1980s, I heard it was a pretty shoddy rush job, hence some of the troubles with it today.

From the following website;

http://www.trainweb.org/horseshoecurve- ... ground.htm

In 1988, while operating a "ferry" move en route back from York, PA, the locomotive suffered a catastrophic failure of a main bearing and drive axle. This resulted in restricted operation of the locomotive on a local basis. In the Fall of 1988 the locomotive was returned to the Conrail Juniata shop for further assessment.

The assessment coincided with a renewed interest in regulating operation of historic steam locomotives on the part of Federal Railroad Administration officials. That interest triggered several years of debate on how the locomotive should be restored to meet the changing regulations. Intensive inspection and testing of the locomotive followed.

By 1992, Museum officials knew that further restoration would be costly - at a minimum $450,000. Fund-raising was undertaken and a major grant was awarded from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission. Armed with the funding, Museum officials began to look for how best to accomplish the work while building credibility.

In 1994 the Museum signed a contract with the University of Scranton and the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton for restoration of the locomotive. The University would provide project management and the Park would provide shop space, equipment and some labor.

In the Spring of 1995 the locomotive was loaded onto several high-capacity flat cars and moved to Scranton where restoration began later that year. A number of dedicated volunteers and two paid staff began working full-time on the restoration. The price had escalated to just under $700,000.