After a week of hot and humid weather, we awoke to the sound of pouring rain. Chris Parker and I had our last continental breakfast together since he had an 8:30 AM flight home from Pittsburgh the next morning so I let him have an extra hour of sleep. If he took me to Amtrak in Pittsburgh, we would have to leave at 4:00 AM in order for Chris to get to the airport in plenty of time for his flight but if I took the convention bus to Pittsburgh, Chris could leave here at 5:00 AM and still get to the airport in plenty of time.
I walked across the street to the Holiday Inn and in the convention registration room, bought a bus ticket to Amtrak in Pittsburgh. Later we boarded the bus for the Morgan Run shop tour, going south on Interstate 77 to Ohio 751, west to West Lafayette and then a local road to the Morgan Run shops as the rain continued to fall. The buses parked behind the shop and with an umbrella in hand, I started to explore. The shop was built in 1995 and is near the center of the Ohio Central Railroad system.
Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 6325 built by American Locmotive Company in 1942. It hauled both wartime freight and passenger trains between Detroit and Chicago. The smallish Northern Types were well-suited for the GTW’s needs; they were powerful and quick and handled such trains as the Maple Leaf and the International Limited.
In September 1948 this locomotive was chosen to pull President Truman's re-election campaign special. This assignment would lead to No. 6325's eventual preservation; in 1959 it was put on outdoor display next to GTW's depot in Battle Creek, Michigan. While 6325 was set aside for display, some of its sister engines famously continued racking up miles until March 1960 when GTW officially dieselized its freight and passenger trains.
In Battle Creek, a group of local railroad enthusiasts started a project to rebuild 6325 for operation, but enthusiasm and funds waned and by 1992 the 4-8-4 faced possible scrapping. The following year Jerry Jacobson purchased the locomotive and moved it to Coshocton, Ohio, for safe storage until he had the time and place to begin its rebuilding. That time came six years later, when the Northern was pulled into the Ohio Central's Morgan Run shops for a complete rebuild. After nearly three years of reconstruction, 6325 first steamed under its own power on July 31, 2001. This 4-8-4 pulled numerous fantrips and photographers' specials on Ohio Central rails, but in 2005 it was sidelined with a hot driving axle bearing and has not operated since.
Canadian National 2-6-0 96 built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1910 as Grand Trunk Railway 1024. These lightweight locomotives could be found at work all across Canada, but were used mostly on branch lines on the prairies with gentle grades and short trains. The engine went through a series of identity changes during its career, first being renumbered No. 926 by the GTR. In 1923, the GTR merged with the Canadian National Railway, becoming CN 96. After retirement, it was purchased F. Nelson Blount for his growing Steamtown tourist operation in Vermont. Number 96 was not operated, but instead used as a source of spare parts to keep Blount's other engines under steam. When Steamtown prepared to move to its new home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the steam engine was deemed surplus to the collection and sold to Horst Muller of Canada. The locomotive languished in Brantford, Ontario for many years. In 1994 the 96 was purchased by Jerry Jacobson who moved it to his Ohio Central Railroad System.
Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 1278 built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1948 and is another of the original Steamtown engines. On the evening of June 16, 1995 while operating for the Gettysburg Railroad a series of maintenance and operational errors combined to cause the crownsheet of 1278's firebox to overheat and fail. Suddenly, hot steam exploded into the cab and severly burned its three crewmen. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated, determining that the modern design of the firebox with button-head staybolts may have prevented additional injuries (and perhaps deaths) from the incident.
The Gettysburg firebox explosion prompted the Federal Railroad Administration to develop and introduce new rules for the maintenance and operation of steam locomotives. Thus, steam locomotive operation is safer today as a result of 1278's bad experience. Much of the former Gettysburg Railroad equipment was sold at auction in 1998, and Jerry Jacobson purchased this engine.
I walked over to the line of engines that were passed as we arrived.
The line of historic motive power that the Ohio Central provided for us this morning.
Ohio Central F7A 1000, ex. Gettysburg Railroad 81A, exx. Dakota Southern 81A, exxx. Milwaukee Road 81A, exxxx. Milwaukee Road 47A, nee Milwaukee Road 48C, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950.
Ohio Central F7A 1001, ex. Gettysburg Railroad 81C, exx. Dakota Southern 81C, exxx. Milwaukee Road 81C, exxxx. Milwaukee Road 47C, nee Milwaukee Road 116-C built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.
Ohio Central S2 84, ex. Nickel Plate Road 84, exx. Bay Colony Railroad/Copperweld Steel 1052, nee Portland Terminal 1052 built by American Locomotive Company in 1945.
Ohio Central H12-44 1802, ex. North Carolina Ports Railway 1802, nee Yankeetown Docks 2, built by Fairbanks Morse in 1952.
Ohio Central C424 7230, ex LTV/Erie Mining 7230, nee Erie Mining 500 built by American Locomotive Company in 1964.
A line of currently-used motive power near the shop buildings.
Pittsburgh & Ohio Central SW1500 1545, ex. Ohio Central 1545, exx. Reading Blue Mountain and Northern 1545, exxx. Conrail 9502, nee Penn Central 9502 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1971.
Ohio Central GP10 7573, ex. Conrail 7573, exx. Penn Central GP9 7322, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 7239 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1959.
Ohio Central B23-7R 4095, ex. Norfolk Southern 4095, exx. Conrail 2034, ex. Monongahela Railroad 2304, nee Western Pacific U23B 2253 built by General Electric in 1972.
Ohio Central B23-7R 3187, ex. Conrail 2302, exx. CSXT 3186, exxx. Monongahela Railroad 2302, nee Western Pacific U23B 2252 built by General Electric in 1972.
Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 1293 built by the Canadian Locomotive Company in 1948. In 1964, 1293 was purchased from the Canadian Pacific by F. Nelson Blount and moved to his Steamtown USA museum in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The 16-year-old 4-6-2 needed only minor repairs to get it under steam again, and soon 1293 (relettered Green Mountain RR) was pulling short tourist trains at Steamtown. It also was used to pull the Vermont Bicentennial Train during 1976, and, temporarily renumbered "1881" to appear in the 1979 horror movie "Terror Train". In 1984, the engine was moved to the new Steamtown site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but never operated at that location. Jerry Jacobson acquired this steam engine in 1996.
She is still fired up from the excursion a couple of days ago because she will be pulling our excursion train this morning to Sugar Creek.
Ohio Central SD45R 7499, ex. Southern Pacific 7499, nee Southern Pacific SD45 8963 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1968.
Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 33 built by Baldwin in 1916 as Munising, Marquette & Southeastern Railway No. 44 and was specially designed for service on heavy iron ore trains in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. These ore trains were operated from the Marquette Iron Range to docks on Lake Superior for shipment by lake boats to lower Great Lakes steel mills. Three identical locomotives were sold to the neighboring Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad, into which the MM&S was eventually merged in 1924. As part of the merger, the engine was relettered and renumbered as LS&I 33.
After being retired in 1962, 33 was purchased in 1968 by Jerry Ballard for use on Ohio's Hocking Valley Scenic Railway. Rebuilt to operating condition by a flock of volunteers, this steam engine ran on the tourist railroad for many years before finally being parked in need of heavy repairs. In 2003 it was traded to Jerry Jacobson and moved to the Ohio Central Railroad shop for repairs.
Also pictured is Ohio Central SW-1 736, ex. Amtrak 736, exx. Amtrak 249 1976, exxx. Penn Central 8497 1968, exxxx. New York Central 8497 1966, exxxxx. New York Central 701, nee New York Central 651, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1942.
Ohio Central SW1 736.
Ohio Central C-420 7220, ex. LTV/Erie Mining 7220, exx. Erie Mining 350, nee Erie Mining 600 built by American Locomotive Company in 1965.
Ohio Central SD40T-2 8801, ex. Union Pacific 8801, nee Southern Pacific 8256 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1980.
Ohio Central C30-7 5122, nee Burlington Northern 5122 built by General Electric in 1980.
The former Wheeling & Lake Erie and Pennsylvania Railroad crossing at Morgan Run.
Ohio Central 1293 then reversed out of the shop on its way to the mainline.
Ohio Central 1293 then came forward on the mainline.
Ohio Central 6325 waits to run again, maybe someday here or somewhere else.
Our excursion train from Dennison arriving.
A last view of Ohio Central 1293 before it will be put on our excursion train this morning, but that trip will be another story.
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