Steam & Excursion > NC&StL 4-8-4 restoration talk...

Caught wind of a discussion on OGR On-Line Forum regarding the
restoration to operation of former NC&StL 4-8-4 Northern currently
residing in a park in Nashville, TN.

The forum has a discussion board "Real Trains" which often has
very interesting discussions.

http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/46660482/m/135103043

From Art Poole
Hot Water:

We have a committment from the Nashville and Eastern Railroad, which
operates over the old Tennessee Central route east from Nashville, TN
to Monterey, TN, at milepost 108.4. The track from Nashville to Lebanon
(milepost 32) has been upgraded to FRA commuter rail standards with
signaling integrated with traffic signals. The remainder of the route
has upgraded bridges and track approved for excursion service. There is
a wye in Nashville, and one at Monterey, each with 11 degree curves.
This engine has lateral motion drive boxes, and has easily negotiated
curves as tight as 30 degrees!

The excursions will be run under the auspices of the Tennessee Central
Museum, which will supply the train set (with tight-lock couplers and HEP)
on all cars.

/Mitch

Knowing of a few previous restoration attempts, all I gotta say is, "Best of luck trying to get it out of the park!"

First of all, outside of a dockside tank engine (and that's a maybe), no standard gauge steam locomotive is going around a 30 degree curve. Second, it's foolish to speculate on the "estimated cost" of restoring a steam locomotive until the jacket is off and the flues removed. Sorry to dry up those two buckets of foam, but I'd be very skeptical of the source...

I think the fella should have said 6 degrees after reading at the link provided.

Mgoldman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Caught wind of a discussion on OGR On-Line Forum
> regarding the
> restoration to operation of former NC&StL 4-8-4
> Northern currently
> residing in a park in Nashville, TN.
>
> The forum has a discussion board "Real Trains"
> which often has
> very interesting discussions.
>
> http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4666
> 0482/m/135103043
>
> From Art Poole
> Hot Water:
>
> We have a committment from the Nashville and
> Eastern Railroad, which
> operates over the old Tennessee Central route east
> from Nashville, TN
> to Monterey, TN, at milepost 108.4. The track from
> Nashville to Lebanon
> (milepost 32) has been upgraded to FRA commuter
> rail standards with
> signaling integrated with traffic signals. The
> remainder of the route
> has upgraded bridges and track approved for
> excursion service. There is
> a wye in Nashville, and one at Monterey, each with
> 11 degree curves.
> This engine has lateral motion drive boxes, and
> has easily negotiated
> curves as tight as 30 degrees!
>
> The excursions will be run under the auspices of
> the Tennessee Central
> Museum, which will supply the train set (with
> tight-lock couplers and HEP)
> on all cars.
>
> /Mitch

Sounds promising at least. Am I to ascertain that the Tennessee Central
is 108.4 miles in length, or is it shorter. Having a place to operate this engine
would be marvelous. Hope it happens, and its not that far for me at least.
Greg Scholl

I see no official announcement.

An outdated website.

Not an ounce of restoration inspection candidacy information.

And speculative information on a website forum.

Despite the perfect storm of potential suggested by the person in the original thread, I don't see anything official.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/10 09:09 by nathansixchime.

Quick glimpse shows that NCPS got wind of the rumors. They are willing to support their plans, provided they actually come to fruition. But they say they're not involved in them, and therefore know nothing. They'll announce official plans regarding the engine in my name as it comes.

Mgoldman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Caught wind of a discussion on OGR On-Line Forum
> regarding the
> restoration to operation of former NC&StL 4-8-4
> Northern currently
> residing in a park in Nashville, TN.

In mt best Yosemite Sam voice..."I say...I say SON! Them there's FIGHTIN' WORDS!"

"Northern". Come on Mitch, you know better than that. She's a DIXIE. More specifically, she's an almost nekkid Yellow Jacket, stripped down to just a thong (stripe).

1. Engineer's side.

2. Side view of what I call a "shovel head" tender, ala SP&S 700.

3. Don't worry little buddy, nobody is drawing up the eviction papers just yet...albeit soon, I hope. :P



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/10 00:00 by AdamPhillips.

---

---

---

You ain't just whistling Dixie - I stand corrected!

A 4-8-4 NC&StL Dixie, #576 it is.

Too bad no part of the Stimulas money went towards
steam engine restoration - that would've put people
to work and drawn tourists to the events that could
follow. All for a minute part of a fund to study
some future project that may or may not ever happen.

/Mitch

There has been talk of this as long as I've lived in the Nashville area (20+ years). It's owned by the city, and they have zero interest in doing it. Even though it is currently under cover, it never received the same care as did 4449 in Portland. No one has done any maintenance other than occasional paint since she was deposited in Centennial Park. I think you can forget seeing her in steam. Ever.

Brian Ehni

> 3. Don't worry little buddy, nobody is drawing up
> the eviction papers just yet...albeit soon, I
> hope. :P


Nice soot blower!

I wonder how much asbestos that bird has ingested...

Brian Ehni

Does anyone have an as built picture they can post of this locomotive?

twin_star_rocket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There has been talk of this as long as I've lived
> in the Nashville area (20+ years). It's owned by
> the city, and they have zero interest in doing it.
> Even though it is currently under cover, it never
> received the same care as did 4449 in Portland. No
> one has done any maintenance other than occasional
> paint since she was deposited in Centennial Park.
> I think you can forget seeing her in steam. Ever.
>
> Brian Ehni


Well, the 4449 wasn't exactly in all that good of shape when in Oak's Park either. The only maintenance I remember is what Jack Holst did on the old gal by keeping her lubed as best as he could. She sat right out in the weather for her "walk in the park"!

Probably looked a lot like this...

http://www.ncstl.com/ericfleet/images/ncstl577.jpg

576 was built as a "Yellow Jacket". This is somewhat a misnomer since the boiler jacket itself was not yellow, rather it had a sheet metal skirt along the running board which was painted yellow. I suppose the "yellow jacket" was in reference to the flying/stinging type.

There was an article printed in Trains Magazine December, 1963, called "Gliders, Yellow Jackets, and Stripes" written by Mr. David P. Morgan. It's been reproduced with permission of Trains here. http://www.ncstl.com/articles/trainmag/00cover.htm

Note the comparison with the NdeM QR-1. OK Keystone1, here's your chance to use all your energy to get a doubleheader featuring two locomotives few living souls have ever seen run....NC&StL 576 and NdeM 3028. You could call it "South meets South of the Border".

Interstingly enough, the as built appearance with the conical smokebox front is still in evidence. A close-up look reveals that the NC just cut away the biggest part of the cone, leaving part for the headlight and part for the bell mount. It is indeed a fine modern Dixie class engine and a great candidate for reliable mainline service. Though I would love to see it, I won't believe it until they lay the track panels down to roll her out...

Definitely something fishy going on with this subject.

The link that Mitch Goldman posted to begin this discussion has since been totally removed from the OGR Real Trains Forum!

Just found on the NC&StL Preservation Society Inc. website www.ncstl.com the following statement:

QUOTE

576 RESTORATION???

2010: Rumors are flying fast and furious about a restoration of 576 and future runs.

Please be advised that although the NC&StL Railway Preservation Society would support plans for restoration, we are not involved in any current negotiations and thus has (sic.) no knowledge of any plans in progress.

If and when any formal announcements are made, we'll be happy to post current information...

END QUOTE

Does the old line of "The right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing." come to mind?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/10 08:29 by HotWater.