quote:Originally posted by ChooChooGuy:
Wow, JeffS why on earth did you use off-the-shelf avatar pic when you have your own great picture like that, have enlarged it up to take a closer look.
With such a shine to the paintwork suggests its a preserved engine working a mainline special, right ?
Mainline, oh yes. Chesapeake & Ohio #614, that last passenger steam engine manufactured by the Lima works in 1948. A 4-8-4 Northern class (called the "Greenbrier" on C&O), it was freshly restored when these mainline runs were made between Hoboken NJ and Port Jervis NY on the old Erie mainline. The 90 mile trips were a sight to behold, with speeds up to 79mph on some sections. These trips were run in 1996 - 98 in the fall (8 trips each fall) and the summer of 97 (4 trips) when I was lucky enough to ride one. In Port Jervis NY they restored an aging turntable that was just barely large enough to turn the engine so that it could be on the head end for the return trip.
Google C&O 614 and you'll find lots of hits, and a number of sites with my pictures (including the full size original of my avatar). In all, I took hundreds of photos and hours of video.
Here's one to start you off:
http://piercehaviland.com/rail/co614.htm
You'll find many more online.
There's also several dozen videos on YouTube of the Erie Mainline specials that I just discovered! I'm sure some of them will show this engine at it's best. This link should get you there:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=c%26o+614&search=Search