Steam & Excursion > B&W 759 - 8 of 9 Sessions

After the long hot 1968 summer in Conneaut, Ohio, the HICO crew got the 759 back together again. We were all very happy that we had 2 of the best NKP steam men to help us, Dale Moses and Joe Karal. They were the brains and Wes and I, along with a volunteer crew we assembled, were the brawn. "Pop" & Joe's careful, patient teaching along with a great work ethic will be forever in my memory.

Photo 1 - the 759 pulls out of the roundhouse for the first time in more than 11 years
Photo 2 - a trial run in Conneaut
Photo 3 - fresh arrival to the HICO HQ in Lebanon, NJ. Full barrel of water, full tender of coal, and the HICO cosmetic treatment; ready-to-go!

Respectfully
Hank Webber (Scoopdejour)

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Nice photos.  I remember when the 759 came to Baltimore, Maryland over the Western Maryland Railway.  So many folks were all along the line photographing this historic event.  Seems like only yesterday in some ways.  I wish we had those times now.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

I well remember waiting at Lebanon, NJ with my family for 759 to arrive!   Those were great times with a great locomotive.  It is hard to believe that was 52 years ago!   That looks like the classic Don Wood photo at Lebanon.  Thanks for sending the reminders Hank!

Ron

Sure beautiful photos and the 3rd photo is the greatest example of the quality of the long focus length lens of the 4x5 Press camera. As you look at the image of the #759 your brain makes you feel being there as your brain can angle in on the location of where the photographer was standing.  The longer the focus length of the lens, the better it fit the natural image and the way your eye and brain see things. That is called perspective.  The fan magazines like TRAINS understood that and seldon uses telephoto photo and never had them in conflict to the large press camera photos.  That is why Don Wood photos, and others, gained such a following and sold magazines. 

Ron...

We're coming up on 50 the anniversary ( September) of the 
2 trips, back-to-back, of conquering Horseshoe Curve, unassisted.
( Saturday, we almost got stuck in most unexpected spot --- the return loop at Gallitzin...)

The trips of the summer of 1970..
You hadda' been there !

​Wes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/20 05:53 by wcamp1472.

Wes

You're absolutely right, glad we were there doing our thing!

Hank

Thanks Hank for posting and for the great memories. Appears to me that the bottom of the # 3 main driver has a little smudge on the whitewall. Please get that cleaned up at your first convenience. 

  Great memories. Ross Rowland 

That's OK, Hank...I'll drive you to Scranton, and bring the cleaner & rags.
(The "Food & Transportation" are all taken care-of...)!

Watch-out for the armed National Park Police, guarding the steam engines.....
"AND...you will NOT get a refund!"

​Stilts...

Thanks for the HICO memories.  My Dad and I were on the Horshoe Curve trips over the Middle Division to Gallitzen.  I seem to remember two photo runbys, but it's been such a long time.  My search for old slides has not been successful.  Thank you High Iron Crew for everything you did for us fans.

My brother and I were on the Saturday trip and I remember a photo run-by out in the middle of no where and I remember a short Penn Central passenger train coming by heading east.  It was a hazy early morning photo run-by and I can remember it like it was yesterday.  There was a second run-by in a very tight location and Wes or Hank might remember the location.  We had a layover in Altoona while 759 was serviced and coaled up with the best possible pocahontas coal so that Wes could keep a strong fire for the accent.  You might remember that some passengers did not get back to the train in time and were left behind for the best part of the  trip.  The PC sent them up on a special train and I believe that they got on somewhere around Gallitzen.  Yes, I remember that 759 had some minor problems on the curved track at Gallitzen..  I also remember the trip back from Altoona very well as we flew across the middle division and came into Harrisburg EARLY.  This still remains by far the best steam fantrip I have ever been on..  759 did all the work with NO assistance!  Like Wes noted,  you HAD to there, movies and photos do not do it justice!

Ron

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The Saturday photo runby was the 759 emerging from the west portal of Spruce Creek Tunnel. What a show!

Posted from Android

I had the honor of running the eastbound legs both days and can testify that our RFE liked speed and encouraged us to put the whip to her. Those were great runs on a beautiful railroad. The locomotive was right at home doing what she was designed to do and the relatively light passenger train was way under her capability.

    IIRC we arrived back in Harrisburg ahead of schedule both days despite an unscheduled stop on one of the days to isollate a broken water glass. 

    Great memories. Ross Rowland 

He's being modest....
RR also ran the 759 from Altoona, westward to Gallitzin, around the Horseshoe...
on both days...

To give a public affirmation about the boiler pressure, I had all 3 safeties lifted as we
passed the packed viewing park ( apex of the 'Curve)...

With a TERRIFIC draft, 11-mph, a big 'heel' across the rear of the grates, and a steady
throttle-hand we thundered up hill towards MG tower..
( I forgot to mention the fully-functioning sanders & the effective rail-washers...)

As we found out, 759  'was a steaming fool',   with a good draft.
Whereas, a light draft, like train excursions, doesn't generate enough wind through 
the grates to make it a 'self-cleaning' fire.

The constantly rocking finger grates can, with a heavy train, keep/maintain the firebed about 2-inches 
thick across the grates.... for hundreds of miles...

Unless countered, that  causes the heaviest draft up the rear of the grates...and quickly 
burns the fuel down ashes & to bare, cold grates... The big, heavy heel, thus,  forces the major
air-flow ( forward)to draft the thinner  ' reduction zone' ( the front 80% of the grate) to be fiercely drafted,
making a white-hot Fire and maximum superheat ---- ( locos can be made to generate many hundreds
of degrees of superheat.. ... which burns the cylinders valve oil.. and then you grind the pistons to bits...
Superheat is limited, by design, to a total amount of sream's heat to about 800 F, before the tallow-based
film of valve oil --- on the cykinder walls--- is ruined..).

That was how the NKP-guys fired a 700..
As Scoopdejour says, a heavy heel is: "Money in the Bank!"   ---- pun intended..

​W.

 



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/20 16:03 by wcamp1472.

Wes did a great job keeping her hot both days. I failed to mention that we won a $ 1,000.00 cash bet ( 1970 dollars = about $ 6,600.00 today's dollars)  that first day as the then General Sup't. of the railroad was positive that the 759 couldn't take that train up the mountain unassisted. He had helper diesels stationed at Gallitzin convinced that we'd stall and need to be rescued. He and I both put our thousand dollars cash in an envelope and gave the envelope to the Pastor of the Altoona Methodist church ( a fellow foamer) who was instructed to deliver it to whoever proved right.

   I'll always fondly remember the sight of the Pastor walking up to me at Altoona with a very broad smile as he handed me the envelope. 

   Great engine....fond memories.  Ross Rowland 

As a college kid I drove all night from western Ohio to Harrisburg, Pa., to ride the Saturday trip of NKP 2-8-4 #759 going up Horseshoe Curve. After the train arrived back that evening, I drove to the curve and hiked up a mountain to a spot right above the curve where I spent the night in a sleeping bag. I was surprised to find that there was still a 12-inch thick layer of coal cinders covering the ground from the exhausts of the passage of a million steamers! The next morning (Sunday) I took my spot along with a handful of fans at the top of Horseshoe curve and eagerly--anxiously--waited for #759 to arrive. I watched through my camera's viewfinder as the spectacular scene unfolded, and shot this photo when 759's rods were down and its steam was up.
John B. Corns -- misterwandle

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What a great memory.  My Dad tried to explain what Super Power meant to me.  But I was 10 year old.
Some nice person let Dad and I into the rear observation car "Brothers Two".  They let us ride the rear platform, briefly, among others, at 60 per +.  

Many thanks to all of you at High Iron Company for such an phenominal lifetime experience!

PS:  I'm still searching for slides.

Ross.....Awesome story!  Now what did you do with the money?

Another story...
I believe "The Bet" originated on a Sunday afternoon at the Elk's Club in Altoona.
Earlier in the Spring of 1970, Ross, and about4 of us, had arranged for an 'inspection trip' of the 
route from Harrisburg to Altoona ( possibly on a midday scheduled passenger train)
 Ross rode in the cab.  The rest rode in the train...we might have switched out...taking turns for 
cab-time.

At Altoona, the Penn Central officers: Road Foremen, Division Suoerintendent ( or whatever the title
was changed to..) and several other company supervisors, toghter with those of us from HICO gathered 
in Altoona's Elks Club for a late lunch.  Penna. still had "Blue Laws" in effect at the time, so all the bars
and liquor stores were closed for Sunday.  Private 'clubs' were exempted from the ban...

So, the 'inspection crew' , Railroaders and HICO guys, had an informal 'banquet' luncheon'  with 
informal groups gathering at several tables.  I was sitting with PC engine-types, Raod Firemen and such....
Ross, and a couple of other HICO fellas, was at a table with the division officers, including the senior 
officer of the territory.   

At our table we talked about 'the Hill' and it's characteristics, terrain and profile.  The Road Foreman, a fairly
young officer ( sadly, I don't remember his name, but we had introduced ourselves earlier in the day...), 
told me, over dinner, that the point of the  "hardest pull" was well in advance of the actual 'curve', itself.

The hardest pull was at the right-hand Curve, just before the straight tracks leading to the 180- degree
Hoseshoe Curve itself.  There is a small stream that flows under the tracks ( in a culvert) back at the 
'entrance curve' to main panorama surrounding the reservoir.   On maps that stream carries a 
Scottish-name, railroaders called it 'Scotch Run'.   The Road Foreman told me that " if you you get around
Scotch Run, then your train will make the rest of the trip all the way to Gallitzin"...

I was not at Ross's table, but later that month, we had been discussing that Elks Club dinner....
I had never heard about The Wager, and how it came about...but Ross had negotiated the issue of 
the diesel helpers for the trip around the Curve..  At the beginning of the discussion the helpers were
going to attached at Altoona for the trip to Gallitzin.   As the meal continued, Ross negotiated further...

Soon, it was agreed to NOT have the helpers attached at Altoona...but, they would be separated from 759,
and ready,  if needed....then, it was further negotiated to be at the rear, in case tge y were needed,
like about a mile, back.  Somehow, as the dinner progressed , and the drinks were enjoyed,
my guess is that "The Wager" became the main Boasting Point of the duscussion....  
It wasn't 'til years later that I'd heard that there even was "The Bet...."

On the first day of he trip, HICO firemen took turns firing over different distances of the route, changing 
at convenient occasions --- 'run- bys' , etc.  I had requested the track territory , Altoona to Gallitzin...

[Many years earlier, as a rail fan, I think it was Thanksgiving 1965, I had walked the entire
distance,from Altoona , around tge Curve, through the tunnels, to Gallitzin, and back
down the hill..  I took a few slides of the tracks etc, There was virtually NO train traffic on
the rails that day.. I did see a couple of HighWide loads that were ferried across the line---
with the lull of any other trains being run, that day.

 I have several slides, from deep inside the tunnel -- looking towards each portal...way in the distance,
to prove that I WAS  at the center if the bore...
someday, i'll dig through my slide collection, & I'll post this pics from inside the bore..]

So, now fast-forward to September of 1970, the excursion train was stopped at Altoona, getting
fresh coal and water, being serviced, and the crew change,
 Ross had arranged to run the 759 up the Hill to Gallitzin, I was firing for him .....

I built up a 'good heel' across the back of the grates,using the stoker jets and a scoop to 
direct the coal way-into the back corners and around the stoker pot.... I built the main
grate area with a nice bright, even bed, about 2-inches thick.. having gently shaken the
gratesto sift out the dead ash...and soon we were READY...

We had boarded the passengers, had the engine ready, a couple of PC officers were in
the 759's. cab ---- including my friend, the Road Foreman ( from the 'dinner').  
Ross got the signal to leave Altoona, and slowly opened the throttle, blew out the cylinder cocks --
for a GOOD long blast period....I ran the stoker, and we were "OFF to the races..."

Its a level, tangent track, from Altoona, west, passed ALTO tower , to the start of the up-grade,
towards Gallitzin... The straight, level track is about a mile long...
Ross worked hard to get a 'run' for  the hill...and we got  to about 25-MPH ( Barco speed recorder)
when we started up the Grade...

As each car of the train was pulled onto the grade, 759 lost some speed, although he had 
759 wide-open...  Slower and slower we went, Ross was nervous, and tentatively rested
his hand on the 6-brake's 'Automatic' valve-handle ... I went across the cab, knocked his
hand away from the brakes --- "We're gonna make IT", I shouted ...and two thumbs-up!!

Sure enough, we slowly dropped in speed to 11-mph...NO SLOWER ..
759 was fighting for all it was worth, but never dropping below 11mph..

Soon I spotted 'Scotch Run'... coming towards us at 11- MPH..
Ross and 759 were doing fine... and soon we thundered around the sweeping curve,
past Scitch Run, and onto the straight tracks leading to the viewing area and the Curve...

My God!  there musta' been 1,000 people and families there.. 
On we slogged, up hill towards the waiting crowd...

( The Curve tracks are virtually 'flat' ... with no change in elevation...to 'compensate' 
for the drag that is caused by the wheel flanges rubbing the rails of the long curve).

ON, we fought...   As we rounded the Curve, with a really HOT fire, I decided to 
use the 'flat area' of the tracks to add more coal on my big heel --- now partially
burned -down...  When the heel was filled, I opened the stoker jets and blew-off
the firing-table..blowing coal over the rest of the firebed.  

Soon, the first safety lifted ...announcing to all that we were blazing HOT...
I took advantage of the fierce draft........ soon I had all 3-safeties lifted ..
The crowd was Cheering, wildly..  
Everybody understands what safety valves are for, and basically how they work!

As we approached the far end of the curve, we picked up a little speed, and 759
marched up the Hill...victory was certain...  

Further up the Hill, as we approached MG tower, I put my hat on backwards ,
turned around to the Road Foreman, seated behind me, and asked ...
" Let me know, before we get near Scotch Run!!...  So I can get ready!!"

He smiled, patted my hand and acknowledged we had passed it, miles ago.....
However, none of us was prepared for what lay ahead, at Gallitzin.....

​Wes.

not proofed, yet..





 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/20 06:26 by wcamp1472.

The Saturday photo runby was the 759 emerging from the west portal of Spruce Creek Tunnel. What a show!

Posted from Android

Interesting background Wes. For additional context you should know that the whole Horseshoe Curve adventure was approved by the railroad as I had managed to befriend Howard Butcher who at that time was in charge of the mutual fund who was by far the railroad's largest shareholder. 

   Senior management did NOT want to be bothered by this attractive nuisance but had no choice in the matter as the word to do it had come down from the CEO. As we all know the railroads are quasi-military in managment style and when the 4 star says we're going to " do this" everyone snaps to attention and says in uinison " yes Sir".

   To their credit the line officers that Wes mentions gave us every courtesy and ended up being the biggest boosters of all.......everyone of them rooting for the 759 to succeed.

   Wes is correct. The $ 1000.00 bet was agreed to at our luncheon table between me and the General Sup't. ( IIRC Mr. McGinnis ?) . He was near retirement, had started his career in 1924 as a yard fireman, was promoted in 1940 to engineer, ran mainline steam on the Broadway Limited and other name trains and after his 3rd.or 4th. Gin & Tonic said " I've forgotten more than you'll ever know about steam and what it takes to drag a train up that mountain". He further said " I'll bet you anything you want that your engine won't make it unassisted with a16 car train". I said " you're on !! " He said " How much". I said " $ 10 thousand cash". He said" How about $ 1 thousand". I said " Done". We further agreed that we would both come trainside on the 1st. day with our cash, turn it over to the Methodist Minister and he would give the envelope to the winner.

   To his credit he made the effort to find me in the crowd after we arrived back in Altoona and congratulated us on a splendid effort. He stated " that's one hell of a pulling engine sonny, take good care of her". And with that he walked away, never to be seen again. 

   I used part of the winnings to take the crew out to a fancy steak feast. 

    Great memories, thanks, Ross Rowland