Steam & Excursion > 12/7/19 Pere Marquette 1225 Breaks out for the "North Pole!!"

12/7/19 10:07 29 degrees in Owosso, Michigan as Pere Marquette 1225 is out on the main and headed for the “North Pole.” 🔔 LISTEN TO THE BELL AND BELIEVE!!! 🔔 😀 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/19 16:32 by ngfan.

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Converted WW 2  Troop car, now used as power car , and Diseil loco bring up the rear.

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They coulda’ washed the dismal.... Its got a year’s-worth of grime on its flanks...

I'm not  a fan of dismals ( over Steam) ) , but I have maintained and operated them ( EMD, Alco, Baldwin, ) over many years...
So, EMD’s were  the easiest to keep clean, however.

That’s  the problem with using ‘white ‘paint on locomotives...It ‘shows dirt’ better than any other color..
Note the Rain-streaks and dirty cab sides...easy to clean off...
​W.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/19 16:56 by wcamp1472.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They coulda’ washed the dismal.... Its got a
> year’s-worth of grime on its flanks...

I was thinking the same thing.  For a passenger train excursion, the locomotive should have been cleaned.

 

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wcamp1472 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > They coulda’ washed the dismal.... Its got a
> > year’s-worth of grime on its flanks...
>
> I was thinking the same thing.  For a passenger
> train excursion, the locomotive should have been
> cleaned.
>
>  
Well, you could certainly volunteer if it bothers you so much. They are doing the best they can, but more volunteers are always welcome.

Posted from Android

It's about the Diesel at the end of the train.
It does a few things: It tows the train back
to Owosso, and I'm pretty sure that it is
providing some easy resistance (dynamic braking)
against which that loco can work. I've heard
it in the country before, and it sounded like
a sewing machine. With some dynamic breaking,
that engine works, and the fireman does more
than read the papers ;-) And the people along
the way hear and see what us old-timers were
used to on a daily basis.

Long Live Lima :-)

John.

PS. Nice shots. Glad you braved the weather.
I would have gone on the chase, but the grand
daughters (3 and 7) showed up unexpectedly,
so of course I stayed home to take photos of
them :-)

J.

J.
course I had to say home



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/19 06:43 by jkh2cpu.

GLC is not a "Volunteer Outfit". SRI is, and it's SRI that leases the diesel. SRI was/is lucky to be able to lease a GLC diesel considering events that have tried sorely on the GLC diesel fleet. If SRI would have had the time to wash whichever diesel GLC provides for them, often at the last minute most of the time, we probably would have. So, to the initial habitual complainer and his followers, which would you rather see, a washed diesel and a poorly maintained steam locomotive and passenger car fleet, some of which are also leased and which we have to do air brake maintenance before they can run. All as a result of time spent hand washing a diesel that will probably end up not even being loaned to us at the last minute due to freight traffic demands on GLC. GLC has repeatedly bent over backwards in every way possible to work with SRI and make each NPE so far an all out success. So, to the initial complainer, (you know who you are), and your "supporters", (who also know know who they are), jump out of your armchairs and come up and help out instead of keyboard complaining.

William Wilson
St. Johns, MI

Congrats on VOTD.  I was real impressed by the length of the train.  That has to help with the revenue.  Loading and unloading a train of that size is not easy.  I assume the donot have a thousand feet of platform. 

Hogger1225 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GLC is not a "Volunteer Outfit". SRI is, and it's
> SRI that leases the diesel. SRI was/is lucky to be
> able to lease a GLC diesel considering events that
> have tried sorely on the GLC diesel fleet. If SRI
> would have had the time to wash whichever diesel
> GLC provides for them, often at the last minute
> most of the time, we probably would have. So, to
> the initial habitual complainer and his followers,
> which would you rather see, a washed diesel and a
> poorly maintained steam locomotive and passenger
> car fleet, some of which are also leased and which
> we have to do air brake maintenance before they
> can run. All as a result of time spent hand
> washing a diesel that will probably end up not
> even being loaned to us at the last minute due to
> freight traffic demands on GLC. GLC has repeatedly
> bent over backwards in every way possible to work
> with SRI and make each NPE so far an all out
> success. So, to the initial complainer, (you know
> who you are), and your "supporters", (who also
> know know who they are), jump out of your
> armchairs and come up and help out instead of
> keyboard complaining.

Right on, Bill!!!!       Besides, I can't think of a worse job for the volunteers of SRI, than attempting to wash a diesel unit, there in Michigan, during December!

Mr.Wilson,

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
I meant no offense to the excursion operator for the appearance of the borrowed loco.
In my opinion, the appearance of the dismal is the responsibility of the owners, not the people that lease it.
They should have turned it over to you ‘cleaned’.
The accumulated grime and dirt occurs over months of neglect, that’s not your problem.

The SRI deserves the deep appreciation of all of us who have pioneered the private restorations of operable,
mainline steamers.  Especially so, to the SRI, for having provided the 1225 as the prototype for the loco in the movie
version of that appealing Christmas tale.

Back in the day, at High Iron Co., we too,  had many borrowed pieces of RR rolling-stock.  Ross continually insisted on 
cleaned and appealing equipment.   He knew that our customers were the reason for our survival....and that families
were our main support network.   Ross amassed a large army of volunteers; with many supporters, the tasks were
divided among many 2 & 3 member teams.  Thus, many hands made quick work of large tasks.

An example of the amount of work was the cleaning, inside and out, all of the windows of the open-window, CNJ coaches
that we leased for our CNJ excursions.  On those Mondays following the days of our excursions, the regular
CNJ commuters were pleased, and commented, that the excursion cars were so clean and neat, compared to their typical equipment and daily rides.

Anyway, thank you for continuing the operations of the 1225, we of the 759’s crew deeply appreciate your outfit’s efforts
at keeping the Mighty Berks competely operational.

I’m a student of the Franklin Precision Reverse gear, an example ( I presume) still exists on the 1225.
I’ve added a visit to 1225 to my life’s Bucket List.

Wes Camp

(And Yes, as a volunteer on George Hart’s 1960s excursions over the “Wild Mary”,  I’ve cleaned and washed many coaches’ windows and complete locos...  Hart was also an old-school fan, and used-to “Pennsy-grime”.... he often opined that the
excursion equipment wasn’t the way that suff looked “in service”....but, he taught us things like: how to clean commuter-car windows by simply using dry steel-wool pads.  Using them ‘dry’ got the windows glistening, without the use of water and it’s attendant streaking and smearing.  We could Steel-wool all the windows in 1/3 the time it took to ‘wash’ them....

He was good for many similar ways of ‘working smarter’, not working harder...his numbers of volunteers were far fewer 
than High Iron’s; so economy of effort was a necessity.  I’ve earned my arm-chair time, with those weekends without sleep,
many “pizza breakfasts”, over decades past..and over many trips & many years...
Been THERE, done THAT, got hundreds of Tee-shirts).


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/19 11:59 by wcamp1472.

Quite frankly, I've read many more and far more critical comments of other tourist/excursion/steam lines on TO without anyone saying the commentors should volunteer. 

I only agreed with a previous poster about the condition of the diesel.  I wrote thinking about the public image the railroad was presented.  My comment was never intended to be criticism of the SRI or its volunteers.

Unlike a few others on TO, I am not a habitual complainer.  I guess this one time was one too many.

I apologize to anyone who misunderstood my post to be a criticism of SRI volunteers.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/19 19:32 by RuleG.

Let's all say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays.  I'm sure Wes and RuleG meant no harm to the SRI crew.  Thanks, Bill for your explanation, and thahk you for being my instructor years ago when I actually got to run "december25" or 1225.