Conway Scenic Railroad (CSRX) discussion thread

[Jonathan]

As it pertains to the Planes, Trains and Automobiles event, can 7470 handle the train both ways?

My guess and it only a guess, they will have 252 on the east end, either shadowing to Hazens or assisting by pushing on the rear, if the train requires more than 5 cars. 7470 will likely stay on the west end the entire time. 2 hours at Hazen's probably won't give them time to run 7470 around at Fabyan's on the return trip. I wonder if they will stop a Crawford's to fill the tender or push on to Hazen's and do it there, will a full tender make it to Hazen's?

The last time they went up to Hazens with 7470 they stopped to take on water at Crawford so I think that they might do the same here. They also stopped at Bartlett but I have no idea why.

One thing as it pertains to your comment, there is a 1 pm roundtrip from Hazens to Fabyans that day. Any speculation what that could be?

Also who’s going to engineer 7470?

[b&m 1566]

I didn't know anything about the 1pm round trip to Fabyan's, are they planning to offer a ride for those attending the air-show not coming from the Conway Scenic? I suppose 7470 could switch ends if they got permission from NHC to back the train north and having 7470 and 252 (assuming) swap places.

[NHV 669]

It's there, listed as available only as "notch coach".

[John Smythe]

Soft coal...does hard coal burn at a higher temperature? Which is cleaner or less corrosive?

I thought that the 7470 was a lower-power locomotive. If it was designed to run at <40 MPH the gearing would be different than the road locomotive. Gearing on a steam locomotive was basically the size of the drive wheel, right? A yard switcher would also have a smaller tender I imagine.

Refresh my memory - the 501 would be typical of what the MEC was running on the Mountain Division in the 1930s??? I imagine asbestos steam locomotive brake pads were a lot cheaper and better performing back in the day than non-asbestos custom pads are today, and so would have been labor, so I assume changing brake pads frequently wasn't a big deal.

Hard coal is known to have a very high BTU rating, hard coal does burn cleaner but soft coal has the advantage of instant volatility when a quick hotter fire is needed in short order, however soft coal usually has a higher sulfur content & comprised of Bituminous ( tar like components ) it produces more smoke until it's volatile chemicals are burned off.

#7470 does not have gears, the size of the drivers & no front truck allows all it's weight to be utilized for traction effort at slow speeds like switching in a rail yard. The general rule of thumb is the larger the drive wheel diameter the more capable of higher speeds but can come at the cost of lower tonnage pulling power. Like the NYC RR #999 that set a world speed record using 86.5" diameter driving wheels, boiler pressure & locomotive weight also played a role in her ability to make 112 1/2 MPH.

MEC #501 was put into service after arrival in 1910, it's services were utilized all over The MEC system including The Notch, it was the last official live steam locomotive to make the round trip from Rigby to St. Johnsbury and back in 1950 as steam was brought to a close on The Mtn Div that year.

When a railroad purchases brake shoes and / or pads they buy them in bulk, it's cheaper by the pallet load & many different type of designs and material make up are available allowing the railroad to customize, therefore getting the most bang for their buck.

Hope I explained it in a understandable fashion.

I have a MEC RR Employees Magazine that I'm going to locate, copy & post on this Forum. It will do a great job to allow those interested railfans to broaden their horizons regarding what The MEC Operations & Mechanical Personnel thought about the Class " W " 2-8-0's like #501. Hope to have it up within 24 hours.

[John Smythe]

Here it is. Note the date of the publication, who published it and the article to read is on the right hand side of the page. The old timers knew the Class " W " 2-8-0 's were very good locomotives. Back in 1910 steam locomotives were very simple machines, they didn't come with a lot of fancy gadgets & gizmos #501 is a boiler, frame, 8 coupled drive wheels & Stephenson valve gear, later on replaced with Walschaerts, air pumps, power reverser, superheater was added later on.

NOTE..... The #501 was involved in some type of accident & a welded repair was made to the frame on the engineers side, I have another document somewhere that states that #501 should not be operated at speeds higher than 40 MPH.

[b&m 1566]

It's there, listed as available only as "notch coach".

Thank you, I haven't been on their website in a few weeks, when I first saw the event nothing was mentioned about a departure to Fabyan's and back. I do think it’s a great idea, that show will certainly be and event worth going to and sadly I have to miss because of a stupid wedding I have to go to down near the cape.
Hopefully this becomes a yearly event for the foreseeable future, sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.

[Calebharris39]

Here it is. Note the date of the publication, who published it and the article to read is on the right hand side of the page. The old timers knew the Class " W " 2-8-0 's were very good locomotives. Back in 1910 steam locomotives were very simple machines, they didn't come with a lot of fancy gadgets & gizmos #501 is a boiler, frame, 8 coupled drive wheels & Stephenson valve gear, later on replaced with Walschaerts, air pumps, power reverser, superheater was added later on.

NOTE..... The #501 was involved in some type of accident & a welded repair was made to the frame on the engineers side, I have another document somewhere that states that #501 should not be operated at speeds higher than 40 MPH.

Thats a awesome article John!!! Do you know what the accident was ?

[John Smythe]

According to what my former Supervisor the late ( Matt Rines ) told me #501 was involved in some kind of derailment / collision & the frame went out of alignment on the engineers side, it is quite visible and there is a considerable amount of welded repair to that area. I'm unaware if an official document exists, probably just one of those things that happen and it gets addressed in the shop. Too late to ask the old timers as they are all gone now.

[Calebharris39]

Great Progress on 7470 On CSRR's Instagram Page. Seems like great progress is abounding!

[John Smythe]

Not a problem sharing various news prints / articles or photos, anything that will educate, inform & promote the MEC #501 Restoration Project. I made some inquiries about brake shoes, braking procedures , etc. Like in the automotive repair business.... there are very good brand name & grade shoes & pads available, there are also very poor quality shoes & pads manufactured in the jungles of only God knows where that I would never use on any customers car for any reason at any time. Enough said. Railroads can buy brake components that are of high quality or low quality, like everything else you get what you pay for in the end. These purchases are made in bulk quantities, I mean by the wooden pallet load, 250 pairs of shoes strapped onto a skid for example, buying in quantity saves money of course, the quality of those items bought in bulk is determined by the purchaser.

Just from experience as a ex- auto mechanic it pays to put good quality brake parts on your personal automobile, truck, SUV whatever, same can be said of train brakes.

[b&m 1566]

They added another new event this year. There will be a circus setting up camp in Conway for one weekend in July, each show will be about 90 minutes with intermission. All acts will be by people and will not have any exotic animals involved (those days are long gone in that industry). I assume the tent will be setup in the lot of land opposite trackside of the freight house?

[Calebharris39]

Sounds like a fun time!

[Jonathan]

Is 7470 pulling the train?

[Calebharris39]

Prob 573 or 252.

[Calebharris39]

Wheel report is out https://www.conwayscenic.com/blog/march-2019/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;