The 4-6-2 would have been a nice fit for VMT. It'd also make a decent tourist engine - not too big.
I've been to Morgan Run once during the 33's restoration, but I have no direct connection to the OC other than through my father. He is good friends with one of the steam department guys from back prior to the Hocking Valley days and is doing the roundhouse drawings. Good updates come via that channel occasionally.
Spill the beans on 765!
Let me see if I can recall the deal (second hand, of course) with the only surviving N&W 4-6-2...as many know, it used to be run regularly by the Ohio Railway Museum (ORM). The ORM had two camps...juicers and steam/diesels...and one peacemaker whom allowed it to work. When he died, the civil war got going and the 4-6-2 has been sitting ever since. Further, rumor has it that they didn't own a grease gun, so the rod bearings might not be mainline worthy...but that is very much an unconfirmed rumor and I doubt it. I do not know if the group is still dysfunctional, but that certainly would cause enough of a problem to prevent Jerry Joe from swinging his deal for the 4-6-2.
I do know that Jerry Joe covets (or at least used to) the NKP Hudson at St. Louis in my sig. I also know that Doyle McCormick, when asked if the PA-1 will be his last project, mentioned a fondness for that NKP 4-6-4. I have 3 of them in brass, so you can guess how I feel about it...that might be the next major, major horse trade deal.
The 765...this is a subject that many people care very much about. Hint hint...sign up for a membership, I thing it is $15 currently. Last year there were, um, communication issues with a certain railroad. They didn't seem to want to be bothered, even if it was for just a small move. A bypass was not feasible...so nothing happened. This isn't really spilling the beans as there isn't much here that isn't on their website. It is very important for such a group not to let word out on such deals for parties involved may get cold feet if things aren't final, and the parties may look bad if things don't happen.
When the 765's test run occurred in march '06, it was not announced in advance for two reasons: 1) minimize bad publicity if things went poorly and 2) to avoid having too many people around which worries railroad lawyers (no future operations). This is very important as historically there has usually only been one class 1 RR whom was excursion friendly at any given time...as is very much the case now...although Amtrak certification is needed prior to anything on a class 1 for insurance reasons.
I do not recall if anything has been announced as coming down the pipeline, but the kind of people that can come up with $500,000 to overhaul a mainline steam locomotive are the type of visionaries and business men to have ideas and contacts to make things happen. If you look around at the potential partners...you can see some of their ideas...:twisted: Just be sure to join the society as a member.
I might run into you if you do.
Here are a couple pics I took at the top secret test run. I somehow managed to make hear about it and make it up...4hrs up...in time to catch it
Afterall, I did have more than a 4 day heads up.
, but not on a loco in color (like that really matters on a steam loco). 
