SP4449 To Trainfest

The SP4449 will be travelling to trainfest in July, 2009. The website for trainfest is http://www.trainfestival2009.com and for the 4449 is http://www.sp4449.com both are very informative. Trainfest will be held July 23-26, 2009 in Michigan.

Any truth to the rumor that the NRHS wanted it detoured to their convention in Duluth?

MX

mxdata wrote:Any truth to the rumor that the NRHS wanted it detoured to their convention in Duluth?

Yes... however, as reported on Trains.com, the organizers of Train Festival 2009 are shelling out $400K to bring the 4449 east. They asked the NRHS to pony up $25,000 to defray the cost. NRHS says is does not have that kind of coin so, for now, there shall be no Daylight in Duluth.

So the NRHS doesn't see the Daylight.

MX

Here are some possible solutions for the NRHS 4449 situation. Perhaps the NRHS could apply to the Amherst Railway Society for a grant so they can have the 4449 at their convention. Or maybe they could qualify their convention as a "shovel ready project" and get some Federal stimulus money! No I don't mean the 4449, that won't qualify as "shovel ready" since it is an oil burner.

MX

You also have to factor in that there still are RR's that will not allow a steamer on their tracks.

mxdata wrote:Perhaps the NRHS could apply to the Amherst Railway Society

Or the Amherst Railway Society could get the 4449 to come to Boston.

Or maybe the NRHS could claim that their organization is "shovel ready" and therefore should qualify for a stimulus program grant.

MX

Does anyone know what routing Daylight 4449 will take from Chicago, to reach Owosso, Michigan?

Thanks,

Ron

It'll be GTW after Durand, but we just got done debating that one at the office, if Amtrak or GTW from Chicago to Durand.

GTW on the way back will be cool too, but their map to Durand shows it passing along the lake and through KZoo ... so I expect Michigan Central.

http://www.sp4449.com/chicagoarea.png

An update on their website ...
"*UPDATED!* Chicago Union Station - We regret that we are unable to provide a public viewing of the steam locomotive in Chicago. The SP 4449 is too tall and wide to fit inside Chicago Union Station, and we have not been able to find a public area for it to be on display. In the past few days we also learned that a bridge south of Chicago is too narrow for the steam locomotive.

Due to the impassable bridge and in order to make it to Train Festival, on the evening of Saturday July 18th the 4449 will be taken off of the train just prior to its arrival at Union Station to be serviced, refueled and rehydrated. The Amtrak engine will spot the train at Union Station as planned. The 4449 will then move on its own (no train) to Congress Park to take a slower detour route on a different railroad to Michigan City. On the morning of July 19th, the train will depart from CUS at 8 AM, led by Amtrak over the planned route from Chicago to Michigan City to catch up with the SP 4449 for the remainder of the journey to Durand. Stay tuned to our 'tweets' for updates."

So it looks like Michigan City is a good place to find 4449 on Saturday evening / overnight into Sunday AM ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khfHI-6EGVA at Niles, MI


I really wanted to catch it at Michigan City but the time was too unpredictable. Many from Niles showed up expecting a 10:00-10:30am (Eastern Time) passage. It went through at 2:21-2:26pm or so. Yes, five minutes to pass the platform - a very good show put on by the SP4449.

When will the 4449 be returning and what route at what time. Is it going directly back or a little more east. Also when should it be back in Chicago?

http://www.sp4449.com/

Due to the impassable bridge and in order to make it to Train Festival, the SP 4449 will be taken off of the excursion train in Michigan City, IN to take a slower detour route to Chicago. An Amtrak engine will take the excursion train over the planned route to Chicago Union Station. The SP 4449 will then take the excursion train from Chicago to Milwaukee and Minneapolis as planned.

Planned Route and Overnight Stops - It is impossible for us to give a specific time on when we'll pass through a certain town along the way, the GPS and tweets will be of assistance to helping you determine when we'll be passing through. We are departing from Durand at 12 PM and expect to be in Chicago by 8 PM. Note that we depart from Durand at Noon Eastern Time, and arrive to Chicago at 8 PM Central Time.

We'll be traveling from Durand to Chicago via Lansing, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo and Michigan City. From Chicago to Minneapolis via Milwaukee, we will be taking the same route as Amtrak's Empire Builder train. *route subject to change without notice*

Looks like the same way back that it came - although there was a comment about it running GTW through South Bend before TrainFest over in the Metra forum. I'd trust the sp4449 website.

Yes, the 4449 will be returning the same way it came from Chicago. I've heard that the 4449 will be cut off west of Michigan City somewhere, possibly CP 502, where the IHB main branches off the NS (NYC) main in Indiana Harbor. We'll be departing Durand at Noon (11am "Chicago"Central time) I'll be in the NYC 3 so keep an eye out!


Ryan