Steam & Excursion > Audio of UP 3985 June 18, 1988

Wyoming in 1988..... June 18th. UP 3985 is on a passenger special.
Still burning coal and starting grass fires
Shay2305 and I went to Wyoming to see the 3985 first hand.
We drove in from Nebraska, hung around Cheyenne till 3985 headed west, then went to Spear.
3985 coupled to the train and started west. A little slipping, blow some snot out of the whistle and:
There they go! The fire crews stomped out some small fires, while we headed for our next recording spot, Harriman.
A beautiful recording, one of my favorites. Stay till the very end to hear the far off whistle.
We followed it into Laramie and then chased it back to the east. We were pretty tired by late afternoon and instead of
following it all the way to Cheyenne we went south to the Denver area for a good night's sleep and echos of steam whistles in our heads.

Crank up the volume and Enjoy!

Marantz PMD320 stereo cassette recorder and Marantz superscope EC-7 Mikes. A foam covered box to keep out the Wyoming wind. What a great trip.

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I remember that trip well. As I recall we left Omaha in the late afternoon or evening. I think we got into Cheyenne around 3 or 4 in the morning and caught a few Zs in the depot parking lot. Someone may have better information, but I believe I heard the whistle on 3985 for that trip is an ex-Illinois Central whistle from Steve Lee's collection.

Definitely a different sound to 3985's whistle there. It sounds like either Steve Lee had brought out his personal I.C. whistle for the trip or the playback deck played the tape a tad faster than the record deck.

Ever get any unexpected surprises on tape? Oddest one I got was a steam engine blowing it's whistle off... as heard from the cab. Oops.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

shay2305 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Someone may have better information, but I believe
> I heard the whistle on 3985 for that trip is an
> ex-Illinois Central whistle from Steve Lee's
> collection.

So typed as I was wondering.

Being that the I.C. was my hometown road (still is, but don't tell the Cartoon Network that), I request anyone reading this who knows what engine Mr. Lee's whistle came from to please respond with that engine's number.

[Notice I did not ask if anyone knows.]

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Really neat recordings Rick. When you made these I didn't even know what the Challenger was. Saw it the first time the night before the APL stack train event. Can't believe that was over twenty years ago, but what a 20 years it has been.
Steve

That whistle was the 3985's. Remember the whistles can take on different tones based on the boiler conditions. It was not the IC whistle Steve had acquired later on. If it was you would know it and would beg to shut the recording off. IC whistles came off the steam dome with wet steam. When we attached his whistle to 3985 on the CSX Santa trip it was attached to the regular connection and the superheated steam had us all laughing and begging to put the original one back on. I believe it was at Bruceton, KY where Steve told the guys to change the whistle back. Also it was in my later years there that we would try various whistles from the Mike Connors collection non the 844 and 3985.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob3985 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That whistle was the 3985's. Remember the whistles
> can take on different tones based on the boiler
> conditions. It was not the IC whistle Steve had
> acquired later on. If it was you would know it and
> would beg to shut the recording off. IC whistles
> came off the steam dome with wet steam. When we
> attached his whistle to 3985 on the CSX Santa trip
> it was attached to the regular connection and the
> superheated steam had us all laughing and begging
> to put the original one back on. I believe it was
> at Bruceton, KY where Steve told the guys to
> change the whistle back. Also it was in my later
> years there that we would try various whistles
> from the Mike Connors collection non the 844 and
> 3985.

Brad Miller made recordings of the 3985 with the I.C. whistle returning west following the APL run in 1990, and WB Video did some good pacing of that same trip. Now I wouldn't go as far as to say I was laughing as the higher pressure was evident, but I could say it sounded like the whistle may not have quite hit puberty yet.

Oh well.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Thanks for the information on the whistle, Bob. It sounded so different that day that most us trackside folks were thinking it was a different whistle all together. I was just sure someone told me it was IC. Another myth dispelled by the truth.

We sure enjoyed the 3985 in the 80's and 90's. There were trips all over Nebraska. I especially liked the trips down the MOP line from Omaha to Kansas City and back. And the engine crew was so friendly.....

Mary,

I was in the cab of MRSR #5 one time when a pipe of some kind came off and hit the side of the cab. The engineer threw it into emergency. Short but interesting.
I also have one on the MOPAC with a 40MPH train going by and the ABS signals set the brakes(at least that's what I think happened) and the whole train came to a screeching , banging halt right in front of me. I'll post that this weekend.

zoohogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also have one on the MOPAC with a 40MPH train
> going by and the ABS signals set the brakes(at
> least that's what I think happened) and the whole
> train came to a screeching , banging halt right in
> front of me.

Had one dynamite as it was passing at around fifty, but the rear cleared before it stopped. On an occasion in the Chicago suburbs as I was rolling tape with the California Zephyr approaching, a fender bender happened about a half-block away... Crunch. Never know what you'll get on open mike night!

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

MaryMcPherson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob3985 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That whistle was the 3985's. Remember the
> whistles
> > can take on different tones based on the boiler
> > conditions. It was not the IC whistle Steve had
> > acquired later on. If it was you would know it
> and
> > would beg to shut the recording off. IC
> whistles
> > came off the steam dome with wet steam. When we
> > attached his whistle to 3985 on the CSX Santa
> trip
> > it was attached to the regular connection and
> the
> > superheated steam had us all laughing and
> begging
> > to put the original one back on. I believe it
> was
> > at Bruceton, KY where Steve told the guys to
> > change the whistle back. Also it was in my
> later
> > years there that we would try various whistles
> > from the Mike Connors collection non the 844
> and
> > 3985.
>
> Brad Miller made recordings of the 3985 with the
> I.C. whistle returning west following the APL run
> in 1990, and WB Video did some good pacing of that
> same trip. Now I wouldn't go as far as to say I
> was laughing as the higher pressure was evident,
> but I could say it sounded like the whistle may
> not have quite hit puberty yet.
>
> Oh well.

Used to have a copy of that Miller CD, and the IC
whistle used on the westbound trip home from the
doublestack run sure sounded good to me.

Realist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Used to have a copy of that Miller CD, and the IC
> whistle used on the westbound trip home from the
> doublestack run sure sounded good to me.

I'm not saying it sounded BAD, but it certainly was different at higher pressure than what I heard when I was a kid.

Crab Orchard & Egyptian 17 had the Illinois Central's 2807 whistle, and they ran somewhere around 200psi with the whistle mounted alongside the safety valves behind the steam dome. This same whistle had a bit more gusto on 1522, which ran at 210psi if I'm not mistaken. Now put that same whistle on 280psi..... definitely different!

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

That didn't sound bad at all, but I know I'm glad I didn't see 4449 back in 89 when she has that weird whistle!