Bill Stewart continues with archival material from Indiana:
3] Here is the 318 in its awkward Westport role as a
“steam road” coach trailing its tiny companion, 0-4-0 11. The 11 came from a
sand and gravel company in western Indiana. (Ed.: The 11 is still on display at French Lick as seen here.)
4] And now the scene of greatest interest to people at IRM: the September 20, 1964
Anderson Railroad Club excursion from Anderson to Westport and return. The
nearest of the North Shore cars in the train is the 172, the other is the
ill-fated 154, and the third (left) is said to be a 250-series combine, its
later ownership or circumstances of demise unknown. (Ed.: That must be the 250, which was later acquired by IRM and scrapped for parts at Union in 1995.) Barely visible behind it is
box motor 228, now at East Troy. The NYC GP-7, still in its original
pin-striped paint scheme, would itself qualify today as a worthy railroad museum
artifact. The president of the Anderson Railroad Club, Bill Somebody, was a
local Chamber of Commerce official and railfan. He died suddenly at a young age
and the club folded after only three years (1964-67).
2 comments:
Fascinating post! I wonder how this was arranged. Were all the NSL cars in transit to their final home, and were switched out for a day's worth of fun from some storage yard? Was it planned all along or was it impromptu? Still yet, were they actually all owned by the museum at Westport, then distributed to other locations when their plans changed?
Also, in the photo with the combine on a separate track, I wonder what is the story with the depot in the picture...
Thanks for sharing,
O. Anderson
250 and 228 were then permanent residents at Westport. At this time, 154 and 172 were stored in Anderson Indiana. 154 was used on multiple fantrips by the Anderson Railroad Club c. 1964 before it moved to Ohio; this particular outing was 172's only fantrip with 154 before it went to the Indiana Transportation Museum.
By the conjecture that 228 and 250 were eventually at East Troy, it stands to reason they were probably sold on from the Indiana Railroad Museum to TWERHS at the same time as 318. While this was a fatal move for 318, 250 and 228 apparently survived their encounter with Penn Central a bit more intact.
-Zach E.
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