Ky. Museum to Buy Parts from Indiana Museum

Railroad museums in Kentucky and Indiana have reached an agreement over the sale of boiler tubes and flues that will enable the restoration of a former Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive.

The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation will purchase the tubes and flues from the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum. They will be used to restore to operating condition 2-8-4 No. 2716.

Funding for the transaction was provided by the John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust.

The Indiana museum is considering restoring its own C&O Kanawha-type locomotive, No, 2789, to operating condition.

A similar equipment arrangement between museums was consummated earlier this year when Kentucky Steam swapped locomotive air compressors with the Pueblo Railway Foundation of Colorado.

Kentucky Steam will host a two-day railroad-themed festival on Sept. 10-11 in Irvine, Kentucky.

Indiana Museum Tests Steam Locomotive

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum conducted test runs last week with 0-4-4T Bock Lumber Company No. 1.

Video of the test runs was posted online at the museum’s Facebook page.

The museum said that as crews become certified on the locomotive it will announce the dates of public steam runs.

The steamer was built in 1908 by Baldwin Locomotive Works and is the only operating example of a standard gauge Forney-type in North America.

The Forney design has two powered leading axles followed by two unpowered axles in a trailing truck that supports the weight of the water tank and fuel bunker.

The museum is in North Judson, Indiana, and offers train rides on Saturdays in the summer and fall.

Steamer Arrives at Indiana Museum

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana, received on Monday an operable 0-4-0T steam locomotive.

Bock Lumber Co. No. 1 was built by Baldwin in 1908 and will eventually pull excursions at the museum.

The diminutive locomotive was recently restored in Illinois and will be the only operating standard-gauge Forney-type locomotive in North America.

Steam-powered excursions are not expected to begin this year due to the lead time needed to train museum volunteers in how to operate the locomotive.

Steamer to Operate at Indiana Museum

A 0-4-4T steam locomotive will operate on the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana.

Bock Lumber Company No. 1 was built in 1908 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, is the only operating example of a standard gauge Forney-type in North America.

The steamer is not expected to pull passenger excursions this year although it is expected to arrive at the museum this fall.

Museum officials said they needed time to become acquainted with steam operations.

No. 1 is owned by Fred Haberkamp who spent six years restoring it to operating condition.

He was assisted in the restoration effort by David Kloke of Kloke Locomotive Works.

Kloke created the operating replicas of the Central Pacific Leviathan and Northern Central York locomotives.

In the restoration process, No. 1 was converted from wood burning to oil burning.

The Forney design has two powered leading axles followed by two unpowered axles in a trailing truck that supports the weight of the water tank and fuel bunker.

They are able to operate cab forward, but can be operated boiler-first.

No. 1 spent its working years in Florida and was saved by a Michigan car collector, Barney Pollard, in 1965.

It later wound up in a scrap yard before being acquired by George Thaggard and moved to California.

After being stored there for a few decades prior, the locomotive was sold to Haberkamp.

One Day in Wellsboro

A couple weeks ago I made a trip to Chicago for the weekend. On the way I stopped at Wellsboro, Indiana, and caught the Chesepeake & Indiana switching the local grain elevator.

It so happens that one of the engines was the 818, which was just donated to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum 

Also was SD18 813 still in Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range paint. This and another similar unit have been sold to another short line as they have been deemed surplus.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Indiana Museum to Receive 6-Axle Locomotive

A former SD9 locomotive is being donated to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum by the Chesapeake & Indiana.

The locomotive is a rebuilt former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern unit that was built in 1959 for the Duluth, Missable & Iron Range as No. 192.

The SD9 was rebuilt by the DM&IR in 1990, with its original 567 prime mover replaced by a 645 engine.

It was given model designation SD-M and roster number. 318. The EJ&E acquired the unit in 1998 and gave it roster number 818.

The C&I plans to continue using the locomotive until it is ready to be delivered to the museum.

C&I this summer deemed the 818 to be surplus. It will be the North Judson, Indiana, museum’s first EJ&E diesel and its first six-axle unit.

Indiana Rail Museum Leases 5 Miles of Track

Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum will continue to lease five miles of track between North Judson and English Lake in Indiana.

The North Judson-based museum signed the agreement with Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad, which operates freight service over the former Chesapeake & Ohio route.

C&I owner Midwest & Bluegrass Rail purchased the line last year from the Town of North Judson although it had operated over the route for several years.

The contract gives the museum greater flexibility in using the track by simplifying operational protocols.

The museum will be responsible for track maintenance on the leased section, while the short line will retain the right to serve freight customers.

Museum Won’t Repaint BL2s Into Monon Colors

The Monon Railroad was among a handful of operators of EMD’s BL2 locomotive.

Although an Indiana railroad museum has acquired a pair of the units it has no plans to repaint them into Monon colors.

Instead the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum plans to keep them in their Bangor & Aroostook livery because the locomotives were originally delivered to that road.

The units, Nos. 52 and 56, arrived in North Judson, Indiana, in June. They had most recently operated on the Saratoga & North Creek, a New York State tourist railroad.

No. 52 was fired up on July 14 and reportedly ran pretty well despite having sat dead for three years. The unit has a few water leads that need to be fixed.

No. 56 has electrical problems that need to be resolved but that work is not expected to begin until No. 52 is operating and gains a Federal Railroad Administration blue card.

Museum officials have received many requests that No. 52 and 56 be repainted in Monon black and gold, but they say they want to maintain the historical accuracy of the locomotives.

One Monon BL2 has survived and is in the collection of the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky. The Monon once had nine BL2 in service.

The Hoosier Valley Museum does have three pieces of former Monon equipment.

They include an SW1 switcher, steel transfer caboose 81551 and a 40-foot steel boxcar built in 1941.

Museum Seeks Fund to Restore BL2s

An Indiana museum is seeking to raise $5,000 to be used to restore its EMD BL2 diesels to operating condition.

The money would be enough to enable one of the two units to go into revenue service, said officials of the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum.

The former Bangor & Aroostook Railroad diesels were acquired during the bankruptcy sale of Iowa Pacific Holdings and are being leased to the museum by a museum member.

Built in 1949, the two units among 59 built with for branch line service. The two BL2s at the Hoosier Valley museum in North Judson are among seven that have been preserved.

Nos. 52 and 56 last worked at the New York tourist railroad Saratoga & North Creek Railway, which ceased operations in 2018.

Work needed to return No. 52 to service includes replacement of seals and gaskets, rebuild kits for water pumps, and other small items.

Donations marked for No. 52 can be submitted through the donation page on the museum’s website.

BL2s Arrive at Indiana Museum

Two BL2 locomotives have arrived at an Indiana railroad museum.

The units were formerly owned by the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad and acquired by a private owner from Iowa Pacific through a bankruptcy sale.

That owner has leased the units to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson.

The units leased by the Indiana museum wear a livery of the Saratoga & North Creek Railway, a New York tourist railroad that closed in 2018.

The BL2s arrived at the museum on June 19, delivered by the Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad.

The 1,500 horsepower EMD locomotives were built in 1949 and designed for banch line service. EMD build 59 of them.

The Hoosier Valley plans to restore both BL2s to operating condition. They will be the first EMD products to operate at the museum.

For now the locomotives will remain in their current livery.

Officials said when the BL2s arrived they found that a number board had been stolen from one unit and a marker lamp taken from the other.