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.

Kentucky Museum Gets Pandemic Grant

A Kentucky group restoring a steam locomotive has received a $20,000 grant from COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

The grant was given to the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation through Kentucky Humanities, a local non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Kentucky Steam is developing a museum in Ravenna, Kentucky, on the site of a former CSX yard.

The organization qualified for the grant because of the educational programs it’s developing at its museum, which will be show visitors about the operation of historical railroad equipment including steam locomotives.

Kentucky Steam is also restoring to operating condition Chesapeake and Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716,

NKP 765 to Appear at Mad River Museum

Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 will be in residence at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum in late September.

It will be reunited with another former NKP Berkshire steamer, No. 757, which is part of the museum’s collection.

No. 765 will be at the museum from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3 and will participate in a number of events, including caboose rides, hostler experiences and night photo sessions.

The event is being billed as “Berkshires in Bellevue.” The 765 will be appearing in Bellevue following a two-week stay on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

The 765 and 757 are among six surviving Berkshire type locomotives of a one-time fleet of 80.

Museum president Chris Beamer said it will be the first time since 2013 that the 765 has operated at the museum.

NORM to Reopen on Saturday

The Northern Ohio Railway Museum will re-open on Saturday and offer trolley rides throughout the day.

Rides will be offered every hour on the hour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. aboard Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Car No. 12.

Passengers will be required to wear a facial mask while inside the car but not on the museum grounds.

It will be the first time the museum near Chippewa Lake and Seville has been open in more than a year.

Operating hours for the museum are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday through Oct. 9.

The museum is located at 5515 Buffham Road. For more information, visit www.northernohiorailwaymuseum.org.

Kentucky Museum to Hold Open House June 12

Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation will held an open house in Irvine, Kentucky, on June 12.

Visitors will be able to view former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716, which is currently undergoing restoration.

They will also be able to tour the site of the planned multipurpose tourist attraction to be known as “The Yard,” which is being built on the site of a former CSX yard.

The Yard is expected to include a concert venue, restaurant, and brewery, as well as the shop building for the 2716 operation.

Visitors to the open house are asked to register for the event on the group’s website.

Conneaut Museum to Reopen

The Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum will reopen on Saturday and is seeking volunteers.

The museum, which is housed in a former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern passenger station next to the CSX Erie West Subdivision, was closed throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operating hours for the museum will be Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It will also be open on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day.

The museum currently has a staff of six volunteers but is seeking more help because the average age of the staff is in the mid 70s.

More information about volunteering opportunities is available on the museum’s Facebook page.

Headwaters Jct. Work Expected to Begin Later This Year

Work is expected to get underway this year to build the Headwaters Junction museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that is expected to become the new home of Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765.

A former NKP depot is expected to be placed in the park, which will be situated in downtown Fort Wayne.

The depot and a passenger car initially will form the core of an eventual railroad-themed museum and event complex. 

“After many years of developing the overall vision for Headwaters Junction and winning meaningful public support along the way, we’re excited to finally be in a position to show very visible progress. This Phase I development will compliment Promenade Park and enhance the riverfront experience,” said Executive Director Kelly Lynch.

Built in 1879, the depot once stood in Craigville, Indiana, and was moved to New Haven, Indiana, in the 1970s.

Headwaters Junction acquired it in 2018 and plans to restore it with funding from the Shields Family Trust.

The passenger car at Headwaters Junction will be a former U.S. Army car built in 1953 and used for a time by Amtrak.

The car was donated by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, which is a partner in the Headwaters Junction project. Renovation of the car is being funded by Don and Kathy Steininger.

Development of the first phase of Headwaters Junction is being expected to be completed in 2022.

Funding is being provided by a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne’s Riverfront Fund and $15,000 from the Journal Gazette Foundation.

Bellevue Museum Meets Fundraising Goal

The Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum in Bellevue announced that it met its spring fundraising goal to benefit Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 757.

The museum raised $7,478.14, which will be matched a $5,500 matching grant. The funding will be used for restoration and display of the 757.

The announcement said museum officials learned in late March that the organization would have enough support to build a display track this spring and started ordering materials.

The track was completed on April 27 and the 757 was rolled outside onto the new track. Plans are to display the Berkshire-type locomotive during June, July, and August.

Other events scheduled include on May 22 the Back on Track Car/Truck Show.

The museum will begin daily operation on May 29. Hours are noon to 4 p.m.

AOS Forces Busy Over Winter, New Tours Planned for Summer

The shop forces at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum have spent the winter working to restore former McCloud River Railroad /Yreka Western 2-8-2 No. 19.

In a report, AOS said the locomotive has been undergoing heavy repairs for quite some time that have involved taking the locomotive apart and repairing  or replacing worn out parts.

AOS said the overhaul of No. 19 will include a boiler inspection and rebuild that is expected to extend the locomotive’s life for another 15 years.

The boiler has been stripped of such external appliances as piping, jacketing and insulation, and its large flues and smaller tubes have been removed.

In addition to working on the boiler, workers have been inspecting and repairing running gear parts and components, including valve, main and side rods and their bearings.

Repairs have been made to the locomotive’s piping, spring rigging and brake rigging, and the electrical system has been rewired.

Other locomotives that received attention from the shop included former Southern Railway/Morehead & North Fork 0-6-0 No. 12,

Last month No. 12 passed its Federal Railroad Administration annual inspection, including a required hydrostatic test of its boiler.

Former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy commuter coach No. 705 received minor mechanical repairs and a cosmetic make-over.

Built in 1920, the car will have its original CB&Q road number of 7158 restored when the final exterior painting occurs.

AOS said its tour season will begin on May 1 and extend through Nov. 20.

New this year is a three-hour Founder’s Tour, which provides a three-hour, behind-the-scenes exploration that will highlight the life, locomotives and legacy of AOS founder Jerry Joe Jacobson.

Also new this year is a special exhibit titled “Tools of the Trade” that will feature original artifacts and tools used by railroad shop workers.

Family-oriented events that have been added to this year’s schedule include a series of special 45-minute events most of which will begin every Saturday at 1 p.m.

The first of these family events, titled  “Story Book and Explore,” is scheduled for June 10 at 1 p.m., and will feature a museum volunteer reading aloud from Watty Piper’s classic children’s book, The Little Engine That Could.

The shorter Saturday afternoon family tours will include a presentation about how steam locomotives operate.

Participants will also get to see how a locomotive is turned on the roundhouse turntable and touring the back shop.

 “Railroad Heritage Career Day” on July 8 at 1 p.m. will involve visiting stations located throughout the museum to learn about old-time railroad workers, their tools and their skilled trades as engineers, machinists, blacksmiths and Carmen.

Indiana Rail Museum Reunites C&O Steamer With its Builders Plate

An Indiana railroad museum has acquired the builder’s plate for a former Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive decades after the two were separated in the 1950s

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum found the plate for C&O 2-8-4 No. 2789, which the museum based in North Judson is seeking to have placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The locomotive was built by Alco in Schenectady, New York, in 1947.

In a news release, the museum credited its secretary, Kyle Flanigan , with doing much of the work to find the builders plate.

 “Once these kinds of things are gone from a locomotive, they are usually gone forever,” Flanigan said. “To have an opportunity like this, we simply could not let it slip away.”

No. 2789 is the last of 90 C&O Kanawha-type locomotives and the only surviving example of the five constructed with a welded boiler.