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  • Park railroad with 1/3rd-scale CP Huntingdon 4-2-4 loco?

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1565256  by lvrr325
 
Found some old slides mixed in what appears to be someone's vacation to New Hampshire or ? that show a park railroad operating with a scaled down CP Huntington 4-2-4 and sort of like tram cars where you slide in each side of the bench, maybe 18" gauge I'm guessing, the engine is run sitting on the tender deck and looks like it might be wide enough for two people to sit side by side. No sign of actual steam so perhaps it runs with some other kind of motor.

Does that ring any bells? I need to scan them, there is a name on the locomotive which may be a clue but I can't make it out with my slide viewer. They aren't marked and no visual clues I recognize but era is roughly 1965-67, some of the other pictures feature what appears to be a brand new Mustang fastback.

It could be somewhere else and just put in these boxes, these people also went a number of other places, but most of the slides are marked fairly accurately.
 #1565280  by lvrr325
 
On scanning the one slide I see the nameplate reads The Loyalist and on the tender compartment at an angle is __?__nada ____road, photo taken at the station and bars of a railing block out the rest of the name. First letter looks like an I or U. There's a third slide but it's mixed into a different box so not scanned yet. The cars have no ID on them. It does overlook a lake of some sort in the background.

No, clearly not one built in 2013, the slide is from like 1966. Possible they were built to the same plans, I am sure there's more than one of these, I recall seeing a small ad in Model Railroader for an engine of this type.
 #1565333  by b&m 1566
 
The only park in NH, operating the 4-2-4T style engines is the Huff Puff & Whistle Railroad, located at Story Land. I believe the railroad is original to the park, so probably dates back to 1954ish? The Jingle Bell Express at Santa's Village, is another similar one but that's a 4-4-4T
 #1565604  by elecuyer
 
The CP Huntington "steam outline" produced by Chance Rides is a very common park train configuration. They are usually 24" gauge, but it has also been offered in 18" gauge (I think) which is used by StoryLand.

I believe that StoryLand had something other than a CP Huntington fleet when they first opened; possibly a Cagney steam locomotive.

Canobie Lake Park uses a 24" propane fired 4-4-0 made by Crown. It is a legitimate steam locomotive and a rare example still operating in amusement park service. Chance specifically designed the CP Huntington to be a natural replacement for the steam powered Crown locomotives.

Outside of New Hampshire, the Worcester Science Center/Ecotarium has had a CP Huntington train ride since at least the mid-1970s. I think they are on their second locomotive. IIRC there is also a town park in central Mass that has a CP Huntington as well. There was one at the late, great Rocky Point Amusement Park in Rhode Island - while the train is gone, some track (reportedly) still remains on the site.
 #1565619  by b&m 1566
 
NHV 669 wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:45 am What about Canobie Lake?
I left out Canobie because that's a real 4-4-0 steam engine as elecuyer pointed out. Story Land and Santa's Village are operated by gas powered engines with drive shaft powering the front and rear trucks, not sure about the middle axles, I think those are just for looks.
 #1565807  by jaymac
 
Mebbe the Ecotarium? Took a ride on the park RR there when it was still the Worcester Science Museum. Strangely, all the old-school equipment had Blomberg-ish trucks.
 #1568988  by FLRailFan1
 
elecuyer wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:08 pm The CP Huntington "steam outline" produced by Chance Rides is a very common park train configuration. They are usually 24" gauge, but it has also been offered in 18" gauge (I think) which is used by StoryLand.

I believe that StoryLand had something other than a CP Huntington fleet when they first opened; possibly a Cagney steam locomotive.

Canobie Lake Park uses a 24" propane fired 4-4-0 made by Crown. It is a legitimate steam locomotive and a rare example still operating in amusement park service. Chance specifically designed the CP Huntington to be a natural replacement for the steam powered Crown locomotives.

Outside of New Hampshire, the Worcester Science Center/Ecotarium has had a CP Huntington train ride since at least the mid-1970s. I think they are on their second locomotive. IIRC there is also a town park in central Mass that has a CP Huntington as well. There was one at the late, great Rocky Point Amusement Park in Rhode Island - while the train is gone, some track (reportedly) still remains on the site.
I wonder where the train went? I'm thinking of getting a 3D printer and create a nice park layout for my N scale layout...I have a piece of 'property' that I'm making into a historical site/train watching platform/model railroad clubhouse on my layout.
 #1575410  by unichris
 
elecuyer wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:08 pm IIRC there is also a town park in central Mass that has a CP Huntington as well.
Do you mean Look Park in Northampton?

It's a fake steamer today, website pictures resembling those up the thread but it's varied over the years. I've seen an older picture where it looked more like an F7 or something like that.

There are a couple of ponds, one with rental boats but I wouldn't call it a lake, so no idea if it could be what the OP saw or just an "and also...."
 #1590181  by shepaug
 
A lost science I think. I don't think anybody kept up with old miniature railroads as most old amusement parks had. I tried to audit some but never got far. Amusement parks were the big thing at the end of the 1800's and early 1900's. Lost science ? Parts..repair ?? How many private railroads are left ? (Garden do they call it ?) Quarry Railroads ? I know of one that still might have tracks in the woods.(Canaan-Ct.) Took some pictures of old cars and engine but such vanished somewhere. (the latter seems a lost science in itself--Industrial Small Gauge)