Steam & Excursion > Doodlebug Day PRR 4662 Wilmington and Western

The last operation Feb 22-23, on the Wilmington and Western in Delaware before suspending all operations, was the PRR Doodlebug 4662.  4662 was built by Brill in 1929 as a gas electric.  Pennsy converted them to diesel electric. PRR retired her in 1959 and WWRR aquired her about 1969. It was put in operation in the 70s and Wilmington Western had the Doodlebug completely rebuilt in 1990 and power truck again in 2018.   It holds 60 passengers.  Each February they offer $5 40 minute round trips from the Hochessin Art Festival.  Hochessin (pronounced Ho-kess-in) is the Western end of the WWRR.  I saw nothing to indicate a need for the railroad to cease operating.  The 46662 appeared fine, the track was decent, not great, and the operation was safe.  Please don't make this about Wilmington and Western.  Talk about Doodlebugs.  Does anybody have recent photos of "sister" PRR 4666 to post for comparison?

1.  The 4662 at Hochessin
2.  Interior coach 4662
3.  THe baggage Room

More to Follow
 

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4.  The front of B end
5.  The control stand B end.  Note that it is on the left side of the cab.   
6.  The crew.  No idea that all operations would be suspended.

More to Follow 

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7-8  Engine room.  Twin 175hp diesel electric. Note the engineer control stand directly in front of the engine.   

More to follow
 

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The video starts out with the idle, Then a view out the front passenger door.  Taken inside the passenger compartment, hence a little extra window glare.  After my ride I went down the line to to catch the train in each direction.  Note that the horn on the F end (engine end as the video ends) sure sounds like it came off a GG1.  .  

END of MY POST

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Thanks for sharing. Does it have its original prime mover?

Victor Baird

VERY NICE video.  Thank you for sharing!

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Thanks for sharing. Does it have its original prime mover?
>
> Victor Baird

The original prime mover was gasoline electric.  1942 replace with Cummins diesels.  1990 replaced again.

Tominde Wrote:
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> 6.  The crew.  No idea that all operations would
> be suspended.
>

Excellent photo! 

One of my most memorable cab rides was on sister doodlebug 4666 on the Black River & Western. IIRC, it had a single engine. What a sound!

Tominde Wrote:

> Note that the
> horn on the F end (engine end as the video ends)
> sure sounds like it came off a GG1. 

Thanks for the video. It’s wonderful that a couple of those big old Brill cars survive, even if they are dieselized.

The horn on the front looks to be a Wabco E-2. From what I’ve been told, the typical GG1 horn was the competing Leslie Tyfon A-200-156.

The horn on the rear looks and sounds like a single Leslie Supertyfon of some kind. It’s not deep enough for an S-25, but more like an S-31.

Not a recent photo but one when 4666 was part of Black River & Western's roster. Unknown date.

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Enjoyed the runbys and the sound of the horns. Thanks for sharing it. 

I understand 4666 has moved from the BR&W in NJ to the Allentown & Auburn in Topton/Kutztown PA
jb



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/25 11:33 by boejoe.

Interesting photos, and great video :-)  Thanks for posting this.