BMEWS
 
Death once had a near-Sarah Palin experience.

calendar   Friday - April 01, 2011

Local Color

Black River & Western Engine #60

Ready To Return To Service



image



Restoration and government inspection took more than 10 years


* Dec 1, 2009: Restoration work on #60 is near completion.
* Feb 1, 2010: The BRRHT has been tasked with overseeing completion of the BR&W steam program. The program consists of three sections: one to govern system-wide steam procedures for the Bel-Del and BR&W lines, one to govern procedures specific to locomotive #142, and one to govern procedures specific to locomotive #60.
* Mar 22, 2010: Work on the steam program is progressing. The system-wide and #142 sections are largely complete. Section for #60 is in progress. Plans for steam-crew training/qualifications are in progress.
* Aug 9, 2010: Work on #60 in preparation for recertification and operation is complete. The mandated Federal inspection (the last significant hurdle to be cleared for #60 to operate) has been scheduled and will take place during the coming weeks.
* Oct 19, 2010: #60 has officially passed her required FRA inspection! Preparations are underway for break-in runs on the BR&W.


Eight miles to the south of Clinton is the historic town of Flemington, NJ. It’s the Hunterdon County seat, and it’s courthouse was where the famous Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial took place in 1935. A few hundred yards down Main Street past the courthouse a rail line crosses the road, and a very short distance down that rail line is the terminus of the Black River & Western railroad. The BR&W RR is an actual commercial rail company; they own a good number of miles of track in our area and haul freight from here to there. Mostly though they are known for their weekend excursions in the summer. Come on down to Flemington, and shop ‘till you drop. They’ve got one of the largest outdoor discount malls in the country, and dozens of quaint specialty shops downtown. Enjoy the town’s well preserved picturesque 1850’s architecture. Watch one of the frequent parades, or the monthly classic car and street rod shows. Have lunch in one of the half dozen Zagat rated restaurants. And take your kids on a train ride. Just 90 minutes from NYC, less than an hour from Philadelphia! This is how small towns survive these days.

BR&W has been doing the theme based scenic train ride thing since 1965, when engine #60 was all that they had. I took the trip as a very small boy, probably in 1967. It was awesome!! These days the rail company, which is actually a historic trust, owns quite a few old time diesel locomotives. All the restoration work is done by volunteers and the members of the historical society. Their steam engine was taken out of service back in November 2000, and it had only rarely run in the years leading up to that. I’ve been living here in the county for 14 years now and I’m in Flemington every weekend and I’ve never seen it, not even on a siding. It’s been living in a train house a few miles further south in the town of Ringoes.

image

10/10/09 - a long time in the making, #60 is fired up for the first time in 9 years

15 miles to the west of Clinton there is another steam engine excursion railroad, the New York Susquehanna & Western that does theme runs up and down a privately owned length of track along the Delaware River. Right now they are the only operating steam engine in the entire state. A dozen miles south of there and across the river into PA there is another one, the New Hope & Ivy RR that runs a locomotive quite similar to the BR&W’s #60. So these things aren’t impossible to find in my locale. They just aren’t very common.

I’m glad we’re going to soon have another steam locomotive running in the area. They aren’t energy efficient, they have tremendous maintenance requirements, the government regulations are a mile long, and they pollute the air even when fed clean burning anthracite coal. I don’t care. They are magical things, living breathing iron dragons created by the hand of man. I’m going to find out when the first run of #60 will be, and I’ll be on that ride that day.

The first link at the top of this post has information about the engine, which was built by ALCO in 1937 and worked was owned by Great Western it’s entire working life.

The locomotive was first owned by the Great Western Railway of Colorado, and had the distinction of being the only Alco locomotive in their fleet - all of the company’s other locomotives were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA.

Because #60 was one-of-a-kind at Great Western, it saw the least amount of service of all their locomotives. When the BR&W purchased the locomotive from Great Western it was delivered along with a box car containing their entire stock of parts for #60

A pretty good database of every surviving steam engine in the western hemisphere can be found here. Facebook has several pages for the BR&W with pictures.

The Black River & Western Railroad has been in continuous operation since 1854. For a long time it was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

image

another 17 photos here


avatar

Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/01/2011 at 08:32 AM   
Filed Under: • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •  
Comments (3) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  
Page 1 of 1 pages

Five Most Recent Trackbacks:

Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
The advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37

The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20

Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造,北京名传天下配音公司
  专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作,北京名传天下配音公司   北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月,是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司,幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位,可供给一流的外语配音,长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台,能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话:010-83265555   北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00

meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28

a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07



DISCLAIMER
Allanspacer

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
  1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
  2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
  3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
  4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.


Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner



GNU Terry Pratchett


Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
free counters