Steam Saturday: CB&Q 1548 in Cuyahoga Falls

This image was inside a slide box that I purchased at a thrift shop. Former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy No. 1548 is on display at Mack Lowry’s Railways of America in Cuyahoga Falls in September 1965.

The 0-6-0 locomotive was built by Baldwin in December 1912 as a G-3 class steamer.

It was sold in January 1942 to Midland Electric Coal Company of Middle Grove, Illinois. Later it was sold to Galva Iron & Metals of Galva, Illinois.

Lowry acquired the locomotive in 1961 and moved it to Cuyahoga Falls. Today it sits near Quaker Square in Akron where it continues to deteriorate.

Collection of Robert Farkas

Steam Locomotive to Run at Kentucky Festival

The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation said an 0-6-0 steam locomotive will be on hand during the Ravenna Railroad Festival on Sept. 11.

The engine is Lehigh Valley Coal Company No 126 and it will leading short excursions through Kentucky Steam’s property. 

It will be the first event sponsored by the group to feature live steam motive power.

KSHC is currently restoring to operating condition former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716.

No. 126 is owned by the Grammling Family of Indiana and was built by Vulcan in 1931.

The Ravenna festival will feature food, crafts, arts and music. Tickets for the planned excursions will be available to the public beginning at 5 p.m. on Aug. 22, and will start at $5 apiece.

The train rides will have open-air seating and begin at 10 a.m. on Sept. 11.

A limited number of tickets will be available to run No. 126 on Sept. 12.

For more information visit www.kentuckysteam.org.

CNJ Steamer to Run on R&N

A restored Central Railroad of New Jersey steam locomotive will pull an excursion on June 19 on the Reading & Northern in Pennsylvania.

The 0-6-0 No. 113 will face south en route from Minersville to Port Clinton, Pennsylvania, and be turned at the latter so it will face north on the return leg.

The train will have an open gondola behind the locomotive and five open-window coaches.

The event also includes a pig roast upon the return to Minersville.

The 37-mile round excursion is a fundraising event for R&N engineer Chris Bost, who is suffering from a nerve disease and presently undergoing therapy.

For additional information call 570-544-8300 or visit the Project 113 Facebook page.

AOS Offering Hands on Tour on April 30

The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek will offer an expanded tour on April 30 that will enable participants to help with the preparation and firing of a steam locomotive.

The Blue Flag tour will be led by Chief Mechanical Officer Tim Sposato and feature a tour of the roundhouse and collection as well as firing Morehead & North Fork 0-6-0 No. 12.

Tickets are $175 and can be ordered at https://www.showclix.com/event/blue-flag-pass-tour45d8yqzdzzzp4bFE43uLx/listing

The tour will be limited to 25 participants. The ticket price includes a box lunch at the Roundhouse Depot and a special gift. Participants must be at least 18 years of age.

Numerous COVID-19 pandemic procedures will be observed and are detailed at the museum’s website.

AOS Acquires ex-W&LE Steam Locomotive

A former Wheeling & Lake Erie steam locomotive has been shipped by truck to the Age of Steam Roundhouse, which plans to cosmetically restore it

The 0-6-0 was owned by the City of Canton where it sat on static display for 33 years.

In 1991 No. 3960 was moved in anticipation that it would be restored to operating condition by Silver Throttle Engine and Museum.

That didn’t happen and in recent years it has been stored in a disassembled state in Minerva.

During the time that No. 3960 was stored in Canton many of its appliances and parts were stolen.

AOS has some parts that have been stored in boxcars for more than 10 years and it plans to give the 0-6-0 a new cab and replace rusted, lost, and stolen parts.

The 21^st steam locomotive to be acquired by AOS was built by the Wheeling in 1935 at its Brewster shops.

It was part of a class of 20 0-8-0s and 30 0-6-0s locomotives built to a USRA design.

The locomotives 51-inch driving wheels with No. 3960 capable of producing 41,200 pounds of tractive effort and a boiler pressure of 200 pounds.

After the Nickel Plate Road leased the W&LE in late 1949, No. 3960 became NKP 360.

It operated in revenue service for the final time on Oct. 31, 1957. After being cosmetically by the Wheeling, it was put on display in Canton’s Mother Goose Land Park. It was re-lettered to W&LE 3960 in 1973.

AOS Fires Up M&NF 0-6-0 No. 12

The Age of Steam Roundhouse said this week that former Morehead & North Fork 0-6-0 No. 12 was successfully fired-up and operated around the AOS property in Sugarcreek, Ohio, on July 16 and 17.

In a news release, AOS said it was the first derelict steam locomotive to be rebuilt and brought back to life at the AOS shop.

AOS described No. 12 as a sentimental favorite because AOS founder Jerry Joe Jacobson saw this locomotive in regular operation during the early 1960s.

He purchased No. 12 in 2011, and authorized its rebuilding before he died in September 2017.

Formerly Southern Railway 0-6-0 No. 1643 built by Alco Pittsburg in 1905, No. 12 sports the Southern’s usual top-lever steam whistle.

The tender’s cistern and coal bunker are of new construction on top of the original tender frame. The rebuild was done under the direction of Tim Sposato, the AOS chief mechanical officer.

To see photos and a short video of No. 12’s first test runs, visit http://www.ageofsteamroundhouse.com

Summer of Steam Set at SRI in Owosso

The Steam Railroading Institute has set its summer slate of programming that will include a visit by Lehigh Valley Coal Company No. 126.

The 0-6-0ST will offer train rides and hand on the throttle experiences in Owosso, Michigan.

Hands on the Throttle will be offered on June 8, 10, 15, 22 and 23; on July 6; and on Sept. 7 and 9.

Trains rides behind the Vulcan-built locomotive will be offered on all of those dates as well as June 9, July 7 and Sept. 8.

Tickets for the train rides are $8 for coach and $12 for the caboose. The hands on the throttle tickets are $160 for a half-hour of running time. Ticket prices do not include a processing fee.

Tickets are available for purchase at the Visitors Center front desk or by calling 989-399-7589.

Ohio Saddle Tanker Moving to Pennsylvania

A steam locomotive that sat for years on static display in Ohio at the Pickaway County Fairgrounds in Circleville is getting a new home.

The saddletank 0-6-0 built by Alco-Cooke in 1920 will be moved to the Allentown & Auburn Railroad in Pennsylvania.

The 1920 Alco-Cooke engine was offered “free to a good home last year,” when the fair board determined it was not part of its future plans.

Built as No. 106 for Sturm & Dillard, the steamer has been on display at the fairgrounds since 1962.

Sturm & Dillard was a railroad contractor and stone and sand quarry operator and other examples of its locomotives are preserved in Ohio.

No. 106 is expected to move to its new home by truck, albeit with a few features missing, including its headlight, bell and number plate.

The fair offered the locomotive for free to whoever would give it a good home.

A&A manager Mike Bast said the locomotive is in fairly good condition.

It will need to be rebuilt to become operational again. Also slated to join No. 106 in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, on the A&A are a former Washington Terminal Alco RS1 and a Grand Trunk Western baggage car.

Steamtown To Offer Free Admission

As part of the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service, Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania will offer free admission.

The 100th anniversary celebration will take place the week of April 16-24. A dedication ceremony on April 17 at 11 a.m. will feature restored Baldwin 0-6-0 No. 26. The locomotive was returned to steam last December.

Built in 1929, No. 26 served the Jackson Iron & Steel Company. Steamtown acquired the 0-6-0 in January 1990. The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 17.

No. 26 will pull trips of the Scranton Limited between 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on April 17. The fare will be $5 per person.

Steam Trips Set on Hocking Valley in October

Ohio Power Company 0-6-0 No. 3 will pull four excursions on the the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway in October.

The trips will run on Oct. 3, 4, 17 and 18, leaving at noon and 2:30 p.m. each day.

They will be the first steam trips to depart Nelsonville in nearly 20 years.

No. 3 was built by Baldwin in 1920 for Beech Bottom Power Company in Power, West Virginia, to haul coal from mines to a power plant in northwestern West Virginia.

It was later sold to Ohio Power Company. Moved to Nelsonville in 1982, restoration work began about 2001 with volunteers from Ohio, West Virginia and elsewhere gathering on the first Saturday of each month for workdays.

The locomotive was steamed up this past June.