Steam & Excursion > Cotton Belt 819 rolling to St.Louis

June 90
With a 14 car consist, 819 is headed to St.Louis and the 1990 NRHS Convention.
Later at St.Louis Union Station, 819 would join up with N&W 1218, UP 844 and Frisco 1522.

Gary

---

Great photo Gary.
I was there with 844.
Unfortunately they did not make it there in time for the Trains photo shoot at Ewing Avenue Yard.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/21 06:11 by Bob3985.

Some seious heavy smoke.  Must be the big steam excursion era.

Tominde Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some seious heavy smoke.  Must be the big steam
> excursion era.

That was due to the "old guy" they had as their "Engineer", and I use the term loosely! He kept the reverse gear hooked up so far, the Fireman never had any appreciable draft, and thus had to force the fire with the blower wide open. Eventually, it got so bad that during the return trip back to Arkansas, they set fire to the underside of the cab floor!

Here she is at Illmo, the night before. What a wonderful engine.

---

I guess she will never run again.

Keystone1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess she will never run again.

You are probably correct:

1) Nobody there no longer knows anything about steam.

2) No place to operate.

3) Nothing to pull.

4) No available liability insurance without Amtrak coverage.

Also I understand that the UP pulled out the switch into their museum.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tominde Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Some seious heavy smoke.  Must be the big
> steam
> > excursion era.
>
> That was due to the "old guy" they had as their
> "Engineer", and I use the term loosely! He kept
> the reverse gear hooked up so far, the Fireman
> never had any appreciable draft, and thus had to
> force the fire with the blower wide open.
> Eventually, it got so bad that during the return
> trip back to Arkansas, they set fire to the
> underside of the cab floor!

Was there any truth to having a bad batch of oil (supposedly diesel fuel) causing all the smoke? Didn't the whistle fall off during this run too?🤔

bankshotone Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HotWater Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Tominde Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Some seious heavy smoke.  Must be the big
> > steam
> > > excursion era.
> >
> > That was due to the "old guy" they had as their
> > "Engineer", and I use the term loosely! He kept
> > the reverse gear hooked up so far, the Fireman
> > never had any appreciable draft, and thus had
> to
> > force the fire with the blower wide open.
> > Eventually, it got so bad that during the
> return
> > trip back to Arkansas, they set fire to the
> > underside of the cab floor!
>
> Was there any truth to having a bad batch of oil
> (supposedly diesel fuel) causing all the smoke?

No. As I stated, the "old timer" didn't know how to run the 819 properly. 

> Didn't the whistle fall off during this run
> too?🤔

Yes, during the return trip home.

bankshotone Wrote:
> Didn't the whistle fall off during this run
> too?🤔

Yup.  Blew off the engine on the return to Pine Bluff.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Man, That is funny stuff , the whistle blew off !  Thought I read some where that the bell flew off the 4051 on a excursion once or maybe it was the 1522?  That is stuff you don't read about everyday !  Lol

Wolfman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Man, That is funny stuff , the whistle blew off !
>  Thought I read some where that the bell flew off
> the 4051 on a excursion once


What was/is the "4051"?

or maybe it was the
> 1522?  That is stuff you don't read about
> everyday !  Lol

A Wabash conductor friend told me about finding a whistle for an M-1 (4-8-2) in the 40s along the Fourth District. He said he turned it into the roundhouse crew at Montpelier (Ohio). Clarence also told me that many years later an Ann Arbor caboose ended up on his run with some beautiful, old-fashioned kerosene marker lamps. He tried to put them in his locker to take home but was told NO! He thought one of the higher ups kept them instead...

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Gary, a fine slide of an ideal excursion locomotive . Rode behind her on three trips. Thanks for sharing. 

Great stuff ! 

I got the Railway Express Agency sign as a 15 year old from the N&W station in Wentzville MO because the agent said the big wigs would take everything they could walk away with. The station was gone a couple of months later.

MWPerkins
St. Louis MO

Posted from Android

MW:
Some years ago I accompanied a member of the Topeka (Indiana) Area Historical Society to an auction at Montpelier, Ohio. At the auction a number of items were up for bid that had been in a railroad official's collection (deceased). Included in the collection were a number of Wabash RR depot clocks. The society had got word that the Topeka Depot's clock was in the collection. The clocks came up for bid last and the society was the highest bidder for the Topeka Clock. The clock now resides in the restored Topeka Depot along with a Wabash caboose out front. I don't remember what the society paid for the clock but I recall he was pretty much given a "blank check" to secure the clock at all cost.

A little off topic: The Montpelier station had a grandfather clock and perhaps others. I was told the railroad ended up painting the grandfather clock....gray!

Victor A. Baird
www.//erstwhilepublications.com



EMD2024 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got the Railway Express Agency sign as a 15 year
> old from the N&W station in Wentzville MO because
> the agent said the big wigs would take everything
> they could walk away with. The station was gone a
> couple of months later.
>
> MWPerkins
> St. Louis MO
>
> Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/21 19:30 by wabash2800.

In addition to the "engineer" I was told by a reliable source that they did have some crap drain oil and junk.  When in town for the 90 convention, Steve Lee offered to  furnish them with a bunker full of No. 5 and was told "we don't need your Yankee oil".   There was also an offer on the table once to doublehead with the 844 and was rudely turned down.  That might explain why it is been moribund for years.
When 1522 needed serious running gear work, we tried to buy, borrow, lease or otherwise obtain Frisco 4500 to replace her.  At the time, she was in pieces in the weeds in Owasso, OK.  We put together a great proposal and were stonewalled by the City of Tulsa until we said the hell with it.
We seriously considering doing the same with 819 and were told not to waste our time talking with that group from back then.  Shame!  Makes my teeth itch to think of running the 819.
Politics, egos and cliques have probably caused more engines to sit and rust than mechanical issues.  Shame.

I was working on the PV Chouteau Club which was right behind the crew cars on the way south after the convention. The A/C failed so we were running with the end doors open for a breeze. The ridiculous amount of smoke chased most people out of the car.

MWPerkins
STLMO

Posted from Android