Riding the 765

My childhood returned to me as an adult this past Friday. I can recall, before I understood the concept of a week, that while most days my father was at work and my brother at preschool by the time I woke up, some days they would both be at home when I woke up and we would head up to Ft. Wayne, IN together. Why Ft. Wayne? Because of the Nickel Plate Road 765. My father, when he was younger than I am today, helped found a volunteer organization which pulled the 765 from a Ft. Wayne park and restored her to steam a few years before I was born. My childhood was dominated by this formative experience. Many summer weekends were spent both following and riding the 765's excursions.

As I grew older, I began to understand my schedule. 5 days a week, my father went to work. On Saturdays, he worked on the 765 and his passenger cars. On Sundays, we went to church and visited family. I would draw railroads on my children's bulletin at church...and spend the week imagining things relating to the 765. This life ended when I was 10 years old. The 765 needed some very costly 100,000 mile maintenance procedures. We continued heading up to Ft. Wayne, but then it was primarily for my dad to work on the Chittenango Falls. (http://thesouthparkline.blogspot.com/2009/02/chittenango-falls.html)

I temporarily lost my interest in trains when I began jr high sports. They were rekindled in high school after I quit the basketball team. The catalyst was an annual banquet of the 765's crew...the speaker was a long time friend of my father whom had saved the NKP 779 (sister to the 765)...the 779 was the last domestic, commercially produced steam locomotive in the USA (other nations continued to produce simpler locomotives into the 1990s).

The 779's cage along with John H. Keller's caboose, NKP 1091, and NKP business car #5.

Shortly after that meeting, the 765 received a TEA grant to fund the work...essentially, $500,000 for the overhaul. This was right around 1999...only 6 years since my last trip about the 765 when I road the crew car. Being that the TEA grant was a government thing, it wasn't exactly fast...but worth it.


The cab being removed early in the overhaul


Glen Brendel has also been there since day one and probably deserves more credit for this overhaul than anyone else. Not only was he part of the original group of visionaries, but he was also the tireless one whom obtained the grant and then managed the overhaul. If you have ever enjoyed the 765 and happen to meet him, thank him.


Here, you are looking at a professional railroader. Gary Bensman grew up with the Nickel Plate literally in his backyard...the small yards and wye where the NKP's Minster branch met up with the NKP's LE&W (Sandusky-Peoria mainline). Gary is a consulting steam locomotive restoration expert. I can recall a couple of his projects from the late 1980s prior to his leaving the 765 crew...such as the CB&Q 4960. The services of Diversified Rail Services were brought in to help with the restoration.


Here, Gary and Steve Winicker (sic?) are in the firebox. The Siphons have been cut out. This is were Gary is really cool to talk to, as he's restored so may locomotives that he's learned stuff about siphons which few very living people know...such as how they actually serve no purpose and hence are a liability. Steve is a regular at the shop. He has tirelessly driven a couple hours every Saturday for as long as I can recall to work on the 765.


Here's the locomotive on the day of the big lift. Every 100k miles, a locomotive needs work on its running gear. The drivers are removed. The steel tires are removed from the driver centers. They are then turned on a gigantic lathe. Tires on steam locomotives are changed by placing flammable rags around the tires and lighting them on fire. The 765 has 69" drivers prior to wear and tear. Most modern freight engines had between 57" and 69" drivers...63" being the most common. The larger they are, the faster they are. Passenger engines typically had 72"-80" drivers...the largest I can recall were 86". Hence, the wheel lathes are huge...and only a few are operational in the US.


Here she is sitting on the cribbing. She doesn't weigh anywhere close to the 400tons weighs while operational.


That's me admiring the trailing truck after tagging along with my dad. I'm 6'2"...but I look a bit short alongside those massive wheels.


Here she is after her wheels were returned.


Here she was on her break in run back three years ago. She operated on the former Pennsy mainline between Van Wert, OH, and Ft. Wayne. This track is a regional railroad now, but it was once the primary New York-Chicago mainline of the worlds largest railroad.

Once more, ready to exert 4500HP and attain speeds approaching 90mph.

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This Friday was a members appreciation special. Lisa, Liam, and I left Cincinnati at 8:30am and arrived around 12:45 Ohio time...not bad considering we had to stop for Liam's lunch. We made it in time for the dedication ceremony. My dad gave a short speech and Glen Brendel did the honors with the champagne.




My batteries died right at the start!!! AHHHHH!!!! I didn't remember to bring spares. Fortunately, Kevin's, whom was part of the two man team who magnificently restored the group's wooden NKP caboose, wife had a couple spare batteries. I nursed the batteries since I didn't know how much life they'd have...and therefore didn't take anywhere close to as many photos as I was planning to take.


I only knabbed one photo of the local group's pride and joy...the C&O 2789. She is a sister of the 765. Six NKP, twelve C&O, and two PM "berkshires" survive...the single greatest number of examples of any steam locomotive design. Two of the NKP, one of the C&O, and one of the PM engines have run. A third NKP engine will be restored in the near future.


A family photo.


Little man was a good sport as we road an open air car which belonged to the 765 crew (FWRHS) when I was a kid. We switched to a "modern" (1954) air conditioned coach for the return trip.



It is a time honored tradition on steam excursions to, at some point, allow everyone off the train...back it up...and blast past for the cameras.


back on the train, right before changing cars.


Back in North Judson at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum (whom provided the railroad), here's a view of the modern passenger cars...the were built for the Canadian National and served in VIA (Canada's Amtrak).


The two open window cars which formerly were owned by the 765 crew. All of the passenger cars as well as the diesel on the other end (there was no facility to move the 765 to the other end of the train for the return) were provided by Jerry Jacobson. He is well known for his acquiring and restoring equipment which he usually runs on the railroad he recently sold. Years ago, he was part of the 765 crew.

After the passenger excursion, 765 was coupled to a short string of vintage freight cars which are from the HVRM collection. A 1929 Wabash composite boxcar, a transition era MDT reefer, a 1959 N&W hopper, a 1946 NKP gondola, and a 1962 NKP caboose (built in Kenton, OH...not far from where the 765 was built in Lima...and a town where I played basketball/ran track in high school).



Three generations of rail fans.





The vintage freight cars looked wonderful...so much better than modern freight cars. Two thumbs up!

And here's a compilation of videos:

New motive power

Yesterday, we had full day of 1:1 scale steam railroading. I'll be posting videos and pictures on here soon.

Today, I received three sets of On3 trucks in the mail from a friend in Florida. One pair will be used on a kit which has been sitting unassembled since I was around Liam's age...maybe longer.

Another toy came in the mail as well. On Weds evening, I saw a B-man On30 2-8-0 on ebay for $80 buy it now or best offer. I got it for $69. I was very excited as it is a great starting place for an Oahu Railway 2-8-0...it just needs regauged and re-detailed. It runs well and looks great. It comes with a number of different detail parts...an extended smoke box, multiple fuel loads for the tender (wood, coal, or oil), different smoke box fronts for different headlight locations, different pilots, different stacks, etc. I swapped out the onion stack for the tapered as well as the road pilot and oil load.

With the model in hand and armed with some measurements courtesy of Jeff L. out in Hawaii, I have begun evaluating which OR&L 2-8-0...the little Baldwins, the big Baldwins, the medium sized ALCOs, or the big ALCOs. I think that big ALCO #36 is probably the winner. The driver wheelbase is one foot too tight on the model...and every detail/dome needs changed, but it could look pretty darn cool. Plus, it'll need a new tender. I uploaded a broadside photo of #36 and have taken many key measurements off of it...especially the domes and the tender dimensions.

Now, I'm not so sure about it. I had the misfortune of thinking: I know what locomotive that is nearly spot on for...SG&N/SN #34. I pulled out the book Rainbow Route with a plan for #34, and it is spot on. The piping is correct, the tender is within a couple inches, the wheelbase is very close, the boiler is spot on, the domes are right, the cab is perfect, the turbo generator is in the right spot...it just needs the valve gear simplified and the counterweights removed.

There were really three projects I've wanted to build based off of this model: an OR&L 2-8-0, an OR&L 0-6-0, and SN #34. Now, I have to decide the easy road or the hard road...or acquiring a second and having one SN and one OR&L. I think that I prefer the OR&L locomotive...but It'll also require WAY more work. I know that either way, I'll eventually have both. I'm going to simmer on this decision for a while...perhaps I'll regauge and run her some first. I'm also going to study every photo I have of the two engines. (the 0-6-0 will probably be a project for the future).

An Oahu truck...

I had fun today printing out plans from Next Stop Honolulu. It was #1 on my list after discovering the Oahu Railway about a year ago while in Hawaii. This truck frame is a trial. I've decided that the rule for building non-DSP&P cars must be that the trucks be completed before I'm allowed to start the car. The OR&L had a number of cars that I'd like to build...

The yoke...

Here it is along with odd Cooke bracket...



And where it was a couple nights ago...


Last night, I focused on the cosmetics of the cylinder block...but don't have a photo of it.

A few nights ago, I was sufficiently tired of the 2-8-0 and so I finished preparing the arched ends for one of my coaches...

Current as of today

This week, I managed to form the Laird crosshead guides. I still have to add a few details to each and glue the piston in place, but they are in nice shape now. I've carefully engineered the parts for smooth motion. I was thwarted by my scale during the creation of the yoke...my scale has two 2s in a row...one for reading from left to right on the 1 1/2" scale, and another for right to left with the 3" scale. My as built drawings are 1 1/2"...and I measured them as being 2'7" instead of 1'7" thanks to the 3" 2 being the same mark as the 1 1/2" 1. Er. I taped over it to avoid that repeating that mistake again.

Here is the frame with the cylinder block in place and the frame extensions for the pilot...

I've temporarily added some spacers to illustrate the apprx motor elevation. You can also see the size of the boiler...minus its rivet overlays.

Here are the ends of the cylinder block:

I'll be adding the steam chests soon...but they aren't as essential for smooth performance since I won't be adding working Stephenson Valve Gear. (but I'm temped to do so...)

Here are the Laird crossheads with the main rods attached:

They look better in person.

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I've repowered, for now, one of my NKP hudsons. It has a Cannon motor in it now. Runs both quietly and smoothly...adjectives not applicable to it when it had the open frame motor. I can't wait to see the other with its coreless motor...as it will run even better.

Here it is visiting the Isle of Sodor...the only HO track currently set up in the family homestead.


Little man was excited about it. Unfortunately, it kept shorting as the brass tender and cab have opposite polarities...and touch on the super sharp Sodor curves. Note that Liam is wearing a train shirt...he's a good kid.