Steam & Excursion > I got the Strasburg Blues.....

This is Thomas time at Strasburg. My friend Tim and I took a young man Andrew to see Thomas. Andrew is developmentally challenged but is just a really neat guy with a love of trains. He is pure innocence. The crowds were huge as expected. The day was spectacular. Strasburg has the experience to handle all of this.

Operations....They still run the hourly train 8 cars, to Paradise and back. 475 handled that. Thomas is an 8 car train that runs every half hour on the quarter hour. Percy train follows Thomas departing from the shop track. The doodlebug LO&S runs short back and forth trips in the station yard track. Everything is extremely well coordinated time wise with our 2:15 train departing about 5-6 minutes late. Not much slippage in the schedule considering the huge amount of people for boarding. Thomas runs with the engine on the west end with a caboose on the east end for the shoving move. It pushes back east leaving the station and goes about a mile or two up the tracks not quite to Groffs. It simply reverses and pulls back to East Strasburg. There are no run around moves. The Porter sounds real good. I am always impressed by the sound of the Porters. What makes them sound so gutsy? The Percy train is 4 cars. Percy is the newest "steam" engine in America. It was built from scratch in the Strasburg shops, just completed this month. Percy is a dummy. SW7 8618 provides the power. Maybe they should instal and MTH sound system.

Pictures at the station area extremely hard to take in the typical railfan mindset. They even install blue netting around Thomas while stopped in the station. You can wait in line and have a picture taken for purchase while sitting in front of the pilot. I believe the netting also provides a safety net keeping kids and adults away from the locomotive. No doubt that this event keeps money in the till for Strasburg to do all of its great work.

#1. Thomas approaching the station.
#2. This is what is it all about. Andrew captures Percy.
#3. A young man in heaven.

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#4 Percy's running gear.
#5 Lancaster Oxford and Southern Doodlebug runs a short back and forth trip in the station yard.
#6 Yes it is crowded

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#7 475 on the regular hourly train.
#8 Blue netting around Thomas Keep it safe make some $$
#9 Approaching the station. Thomas does not take water at the tank. There is a separate hose at the station platform.

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#10 Percy is a little fellow.
#11. That Porter sounds good. Hope to get a short video clip.
#12. Lancaster County PA from the train. Always looks good.

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I know where Thomas came from...but is Percy from a butchered steam engine, or, completely new?

Thanks for the post, I took my 4 year old grandson to see Thomas last Monday. I wanted to avoid the weekend crowds. I agree with Tominde, Strasburg did a great job. In fact, I think Strasburg is the best place to take the grandkids for a train ride, Thomas or no Thomas. We rode Thomas twice, took a regular trip and upgraded to the parlour car for the last trip of the day. Plus we mixed in a ride behind Percy. I am sure some are upset Thomas was kitbashed out of a real locomotive, my grandson was very excited to see him. And he is a budding railfan thanks to Thomas and all of his friends from Sodor. Below please find a few shots.

My grandson waving as the last Thomas train of the day pulls in.
Percy returning to the boarding area
Thomas pushing his train out, as seen from the Percy train

Randy in PHX

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randyr Wrote:
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> I am sure some are upset Thomas was
> kitbashed out of a real locomotive

I'm absolutely sure that some are foaming at the mouth. But then, what is new about that?

Personally I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. A steam engine that the kids can enjoy that not only looks like their idea of a steam engine, it actually WORKS like a steam engine, and actually IS a steam engine! So what if most of them weren't blue when they were running? As the kids grow older most of them will figure that out, and will probably realize that the bright blue was a lot more attractive to them when they were a kid than grubby flat black would have been. I can think of worse things happening than people becoming interested in steam engines because Thomas came to town one day.

I suspect that because of crowd sizes and copyrights and "we are on control!" mentality that cab visits are absolutely prohibited. But if they were possible, don't you think it would be a lot nicer for some kid to look inside Thomas and see a real engineer and fireman sitting at a real backhead, rather than a guy in a padded chair with an 8 track and a PA system and an accelerator and brake pedal on the floor in front of him?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/14 11:27 by lwilton.

Dear Iwilton....Not me! I believe Thomas was made out of BEDT 14 or 15, I forget which. Anyway...I got both of those original BEDT engines in regular service. No problem from me. Now...if you are going to tell me about destroying a unique, high drivered, one of a kind Santa Fe 4-6-4 (instead of a still plentiful Chinese RM 4-6-2), I'd have plenty to say about butchering rare existing steam power.

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> Now...if you are
> going to tell me about destroying a unique, high
> drivered, one of a kind Santa Fe 4-6-4 (instead of
> a still plentiful Chinese RM 4-6-2), I'd have
> plenty to say about butchering rare existing steam
> power.

Let's examine the concept of butchered a little more closely here. What are we talking about in the form of changes? Looks like we in some way hide the steam and sand domes, and for that matter most of the rest of the boiler jacket and accessories hanging off the side of the boiler. We obviously cover the front of the boiler. Do we really have to do anything to the cab of any sort of engine that is about the right size? I suspect not, but I'm not sure.

So it boils down to how we can hide most of the works in a 'streamline casing'. Can we just take a big hunk of Fiberglas tube, notch the bottom to fit around the motion, and slide it over the rest of the boiler? Or do we actually have to make some mods to the engine (beyond the obvious bolting or welding on some tabs and struts to hold the Fiberglas tube in place)? If all we have done is stuck some tabs and struts to the engine, and a couple of guys with a chainfall and wrenches and a torch can take it off in a day, the engine isn't butchered, and I don't care how rare the original was, because tomorrow it can be itself again.

Suppose we do have to make some mods to the engine to slide the fake boiler tube on. What do we have to do? Cut off some handrails along the outside of the boiler? That would be an annoyance, but not a huge deal as long as we store them for replacement, or have good plans/pictures so we can rebuilt them. Take off the sand dome? As long as we don't have to cut through the middle with a torch, but instead can just unbolt it, so what? It can be bolted back on later. I don't see how you can rightly cut off the steam done om a steamer and still have it steam, unless you replace it with some sort of box. Again though, if you just unbolt the old dome and bolt on a lower box, how have you damaged the engine?

I guess I'd say that using a one of a kind running 1850s engine for Thomas would be a poor choice. But if all you are doing is taking on some supports here and there, I don't see it as butchery. Given a day or two she can go back to her old self, with possibly only a little excess weld here or there or a spare mounting tab to show for it. Remember that in service engines were modified all the time! Excursion service is still a form of service, I don't see a problem with small modifications if they are reversible.

Now, if you are going to cut two feet off the front of the boiler, or replace the valve gear -- yes, then I agree with you.

Very nice of you Tom and your friend to take Andrew out, that's an experience of a lifetime for him I'm sure. I like the new Percy engine, even if it isn't a "real" engine. Can't imagine the crowds though, when we visited Strasburg it was much quieter. But we took our kids to ride Thomas at the Heber Valley Railroad here in Utah a few years ago and that was a circus. Well run, but lots and lots of people. The population of Heber probably doubled for the weekend! :)

Nathan

Iwilton...I luv ya guy. You MUST be an attorney, 'cause in a second, you can argue either side. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the photos; my grandchildren will be absolutely THRILLED !!!!!
Thank you Strasburg R.R. for keeping the young ones interested in trains. This having Percy will help even more.