Tales & Lore of the Rock Valley Sub
CIRCA 1978
How the Rock Valley RailRoad Museum Started...
In case you missed it, Fred (Big Ed's brother in-law) had retired from the RVS, Fred was the Head Mechanic there for many years.
Fred, being a foamer, really loved all the old engines etc., that he had the pleasure to work on from the years gone by. Big Ed used to kid him that he should start a museum with all the money he had saved and made from other ventures through the years.
Fred already had four old UP engines which he had bought before they were scrapped, and kept them in an old abandoned warehouse that he had also bought, years back, when it still had rail service. It was in Rock Valley, right off UP's mainline, and there was a good amount of property for sale around it, too.
Shortly after his retirement, the remarks which Big Ed had made to him in jest started to become serious thoughts to Fred. His kids had all grown up and moved away, and he had more than enough money for Betty and himself to live on.
Over the years, Fred had made many friends on the RVS: some were real foamers like himself, so he started contacting some of his old buddies, seeking out some more support to actually get a RailRoad Museum going. It didn't take Fred long to find the extra support which he needed: he had two friends that already had a couple of old engines they had saved from the scrapper. They were tired of paying storage on them, though, and joining together would cut down their costs in the long run. It would also give them all something to do with the extra time they now had since they were all retired.
As it ended up Fred, Eric Munson, and Bernie Olson, along with some other backers, decided to buy up the land around Fred's Warehouse, and start a Railroad Museum with the engines and Railroad paraphernalia that the three of them had amassed through the years.
Big Ed was more than happy to help out in any way he could, which really worked out great as far as getting more track for the museum. Ed had tons of track that had been torn up and was to be scrapped: it wasn't in the greatest shape, but it was good enough for moving things around on at a museum, so Ed sold it to the three for scrap value.
Big Ed eventually became a really key person in the start up of the museum: being Crew Chief on the RVS, he had many ties with people that Fred, Eric and Bernie needed to really make something of the museum. In no time, Ed had different roads donating old engines, freight cars, and a multitude of spare parts and other things to the cause.
One example of this involved Big Ed's long time buddy up in Canada, Al Moon. Al's the Superintendent of Motive Power on the EG&E. He talked to the boys in Accounting and they saw a sizable tax write-off if some of the old, unneeded EG&E equipment could be donated to a non-profit organization like a museum.
The EG&E had a freight due out on Friday to the CN interchange at Mount Forest, with many cars destined for UP's Proviso Yard, in Chicago. From there, it was only a hop, skip, and a jump to UP's RVS.
That gave Al four days to get things rolling.
He planned to send out two engines, along with an older EG&E caboose, for donation to the museum. All three items would be ready to leave with the freight due out Friday.
The first engine was an old steamer, #501. It was built, in 1938, by Montreal Locomotive Works, an affiliate of ALCo. Its main purpose was to haul the EG&E's fast and frequent time freights, know locally as the Warriors. The 501 was officially retired in 1961, but saw several years of fan trip service after that.
#501 was in really good shape, thanks to a recent overhaul. This was perfect for the museum, as it was the first operating and certified steamer the museum acquired, and it could be used for excursion runs almost immediately.
The second engine was #53, an NW2 built in 1939, at La Grange, Illinois, and purchased by the Grand River Southern, a terminal and transfer road jointly owned by the EG&E, Grand Valley, and Erie Northshore. It spent its entire career moving interchange traffic between the EG&E's Shuman Yard and the Grand Valley's West Dunn Yard in Dunnville, Ontario. She was retired in 1972, when EG&E and Grand Valley locos became part of a run-through program, which allowed all locos of both roads to roam system-wide. This loco, too, was well-cared for, and would serve the museum well, moving equipment around.
The caboose that Al sent out became surplus at about the same time as the NW2 #53 and for the same reason. The EG&E had purchased a number of wide-vision cabooses in 1971, and in 1972, all cabooses became part of a system-wide pool. This required fewer cabooses, as they weren't assigned to any particular service or terminal.
Al made sure that all donated equipment was inspected and repaired as required before shipment, and that all were suitable for service upon delivery. Early Friday morning, the donated equipment was switched into the outbound freight, and headed off to a new lease on life on the RVS.
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Now folks, Big Ed called and notified me that the engines and caboose that was donated to the Museum would be rolling through the RVS around 9am, fortunatly i made it in time to take some pics of the event:thumb: , as you can tell though, i wasnt alone, other railfans lined the rails to get some good shots too:winki: .
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I hope you folks enjoyed the NEW installment of the "Tales & Lore of the RVS":smilie: .
In my next post, a little later tonight, a BIG THANK YOU! to my VERY GOOD FRIEND Wayne:worship: , and i'll explain what you folks REALLY seen, with a few close up pics too:winki: .
Till next time...Stay on track!:thumb: