Firebox Work Progresses on K4s Restoration

Firebox work on former Pennsylvania Railroad K4s No. 1361 continues to progress in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Officials of the Railroaders Memorial Museum said they expect inner wrapper sheets of the firebox to be assembled by late August or early September.

Creating the new firebox is expected to cost $425,000 while the overall restoration to operating condition of the 1918-built locomotive is expected to cost $2.6 million.

The museum is building a new firebox upon the recommendation of a consultant, FMW Solutions, because the engine’s existing firebox doesn’t meet Federal Railroad Administration safety standards.

The 1361 is one of just two surviving K4s engines, most of which were built by the PRR’s Juniata Shops in Altoona between 1914 and 1928.

Also undergoing restoration in Altoona is Pennsy observation car Mountain View. Built by Pullman, the car was assigned to the Chicago-New York Broadway Limited.

The current restoration work on Mountain View involves replacing windows and gaskets.

Restoration of the car is expected to cost $80,000. Once the work is complete, the Mountain View is expected to run on tourist railroads and on Amtrak trains.

More information about both restoration projects can be found on the website of Trains magazine at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/fully-funded-new-firebox-work-advances-on-prr-k4s-no-1361/

Group Meets Funding Goal for New Firebox

A group working to raise money for restoration of a former Pennsylvania Railroad K4s steam locomotive  said it has exceeded its goal.

Trains magazine reported on its website that the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society has raised more than $100,000 to be used to construct a new firebox for ex-PRR 4-6-2 No. 1361, which is owned by the Railroaders Memorial Museum and for years was on static display at Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania after being retired in 1956.

The 1361 is one of just two of the 425 K4s class locomotives built that still survives.

The other survivor is the 3750, which is in the collection of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.

The Altoona museum restored the 1361 to operating condition in the late 1980s but it has not operated since 1988.

The fundraising efforts by the PRRT&HS are part of a larger campaign by the Altoona museum to raise $2.6 million to bring the 1361 back to operating condition.

The story can be read at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/prr-group-raises-100000-toward-restoration-of-k4s-steam-engine-no-1361/

Fabulous Fall Fun in 1987

Nickel Plate Road 765 at Clarksfield, Ohio, on Sept. 27, 1987.

My passion for steam was evident in the Fall of 1987.

In the 1980s Norfolk Southern was still operating between Orrville and Bellevue. For several years Nickel Plate Road No. 765 pulled trips sponsored by the Orrville Railroad Heritage or Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum.

Also during the ’80s the East Broad Top still had four operating 2-8-2s. Usually Nos. 12 and 17 were out just for specials as the Fall Spectacular. The regular tourist train was No. 14 or No. 15.

Finally former Pennsylvania Railroad  K-4 No. 1361 was operating crew training trips from Vail to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

I caught one on a spectacular autumn day not knowing the following year would be the last time it would be in steam.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

East Broad Top Nos. 14 and 17 at Orbisonia, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 10, 1987.

EBT Nos. 12, 14, 15 and 17 at Colgate Grove during a rare quadruple-header.

EBT 14 and 17 at Colgate Grove.

Nickel Plate Road No. 765 pulling a New River trip at Montgomery, West Virginia, on Oct. 18, 1987.

Pennsylvania Railroad No. 1361 at Vail, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 25, 1987. That’s steam impresario Doyle McCormack in the SP cap.

PRR 1361 at Milesburg, Pennsylvania, which is the junction of the branch to Bellefonte with the Bald Eagle Valley branch.

PRR 1361 at Bellfonte, Pennsylvania, the county seat of Centre County, on Oct. 25, 1987.

Levin Heading Effort to Restore PRR K4s

An effort to restore former Pennsylvania Railroad K4s 4-6-2 No. 1361 kicked off this week.

Bennett Levin, who owns a pair of PRR passenger diesels, is behind the effort to ramp up the restoration effort.

Speaking to the 50^th anniversary convention of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Levin said the official state locomotive of Pennsylvania needs a new boiler and its axles must be converted to roller bearings.

Levin said new boiler would cost at least $1 million with the money coming from private sources.

Former Norfolk Southern CEO Charles “Wick” Moorman is reportedly helping to support the restoration.

“We believe there are financial partners out there to sustain the operation,” Levin said. “There is movement going forward.”

Levin said once the 1361 is restored that it will be used to pull a replica 1940s and 1950s Pennsy passengers train in Pennsylvania.

No. 1361 was displayed at Horseshoe Curve near Altoona between 1957 and 1985.

The locomotive was then restored to operating condition and pulled excursion trains before an axle problem sidelined it 1988.

Partial restoration was done at Steamtown and the East Broad Top shops in Orbisonia, Pennsylvania, but the locomotive has been in a state of disassembly for more than 20 years.

Some further work has been done on the boiler and other components in Altoona in recent years.

Levin acknowledged that the operating environment for historic equipment is “fragile.”

Amtrak canceled a special he had planned to operate to the PRRT&HS convention with his PRR E8A locomotives and passenger cars.

He said he will work for a legislative remedy to alleviate liability insurance issues that hinder excursion trains so that excursion operators no longer need Amtrak’s liability insurance to use freight railroad tracks.