Hi folks! Long time no see. I wanted to share some photos with you of my afternoon at the Elgin County Museum's Railway Heritage Day, so c'mon along!
It's a beautiful summer day, and as we cross the parking lot, we see a promising belch of coal black smoke.
Let's get a little closer to this beast.
Something about those old steamers just gets to me. Check out the guy with the oil can!
Here we are inside the main building. The back section was cordoned off - of course that's the part I most want to see.
Massive overhead crane in there. I wish I had thought of asking if it was operational.
There were some vendors set up too, with the usual stuff for sale. Here's something a little different though - big wooden engines for display. Check out the cab roof on the middle one!
And here's one for Mikey!! Nice G-scale toys!!
Let's head back outside and see what else they have. Here's an old cupola caboose, built in 1898, and recently restored.
A shot of the interior. Each engine or car had a volunteer to explain and answer questions. They were without exception friendly and full of interesting information.
Some TH&B boxcars awaiting restoration.
There was also an RPO that doubles as part of the museum. Too dark to get any good shots in there, so on to the centerpiece of the collection: CN5700, one of only 5 Hudsons that CN ever had, and one of 2 that still exists.
Yikes - so analog! (and complicated)
In the cab were a couple of retired engineers, old buddies from way back and volunteers at the museum. I introduced myself by telling them that I have a model of that exact engine, but it's numbered CN5703.
That led to a conversation about how 5703 got re-numbered as 5700 - and scared off all the other people in the cab - which gave me a chance to sit in the "driver's seat". Sorry for how dark the photo is - that's the view from the engineer's seat.
For all you train nerds, here's the story how 5703 got re-numbered. Originally when CN sent its fleet of Hudsons (all 5 of them) to the scrapyard, they planned to save No. 5700. But by the time the order came down, she was already being cut up. So, they grabbed 5703 out of the line and re-numbered her 5700.
One of the guys showed me that how the original number could still be found on some of the drive rods.
Finally a parting shot of this awesome locomotive.
Hope you enjoyed the tour!!
It's a beautiful summer day, and as we cross the parking lot, we see a promising belch of coal black smoke.
Let's get a little closer to this beast.
Something about those old steamers just gets to me. Check out the guy with the oil can!
Here we are inside the main building. The back section was cordoned off - of course that's the part I most want to see.
Massive overhead crane in there. I wish I had thought of asking if it was operational.
There were some vendors set up too, with the usual stuff for sale. Here's something a little different though - big wooden engines for display. Check out the cab roof on the middle one!
And here's one for Mikey!! Nice G-scale toys!!
Let's head back outside and see what else they have. Here's an old cupola caboose, built in 1898, and recently restored.
A shot of the interior. Each engine or car had a volunteer to explain and answer questions. They were without exception friendly and full of interesting information.
Some TH&B boxcars awaiting restoration.
There was also an RPO that doubles as part of the museum. Too dark to get any good shots in there, so on to the centerpiece of the collection: CN5700, one of only 5 Hudsons that CN ever had, and one of 2 that still exists.
Yikes - so analog! (and complicated)
In the cab were a couple of retired engineers, old buddies from way back and volunteers at the museum. I introduced myself by telling them that I have a model of that exact engine, but it's numbered CN5703.
That led to a conversation about how 5703 got re-numbered as 5700 - and scared off all the other people in the cab - which gave me a chance to sit in the "driver's seat". Sorry for how dark the photo is - that's the view from the engineer's seat.
For all you train nerds, here's the story how 5703 got re-numbered. Originally when CN sent its fleet of Hudsons (all 5 of them) to the scrapyard, they planned to save No. 5700. But by the time the order came down, she was already being cut up. So, they grabbed 5703 out of the line and re-numbered her 5700.
One of the guys showed me that how the original number could still be found on some of the drive rods.
Finally a parting shot of this awesome locomotive.
Hope you enjoyed the tour!!
