Just found some #765 shots on a storage drive

Here’s some video from that day. The 765 just barely made that hill. At one point she was down to .68 mph, according to the GPS speedometer.

Stoneboro Branch, 

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  Great shots!  

Rich, 

Thanks for the video, really nice!  Enjoyed the part with your family watching as you went by.  On a few of the shots, what is the steam shooting upwards towards the back near the cab?  Also, I think I remember you saying before, when you were running 765 and going uphill or in a situation where the drivers could slip, that you always kept 2 hands on the throttle, is that correct?  

Thanks, 

Rob 

Starting at around 1 minute there's some real "coal rolling" going on.  Put those silly diesel truck guys to shame that like to do that on the road......

@Rich Melvin posted:

Here’s some video from that day. The 765 just barely made that hill. At one point she was down to .68 mph, according to the GPS speedometer.

 

Thanks Rich -  Might've been the best 4.5 minutes of my day!

@TexasSP posted:

Starting at around 1 minute there's some real "coal rolling" going on.  Put those silly diesel truck guys to shame that like to do that on the road......

LOL! That "coal rolling" was necessary to make the grade.

The tall, white plume of steam is the pop valve. The engine is purposely being fired "against the pops" in order to make the grade. You have to roll a lot of coal to do that.

As the 765 leaned into the grade, Gary Bensman, the engineer running the 765 on this day, realized that it was going to be a very tough climb up this four-mile hill. He had the whole passenger train, plus four gons of coal, and an idling diesel on the rear of the train for an upcoming reverse move. He told the fireman, Jason Sobcynski (I hope I spelled that right) who is also very experienced, to fire against the pop and get the pressure up to 260 psi. The normal max operating pressure is 245. The maximum operating boiler pressure for a steam locomotive is determined by the loads imparted to the running gear at full throttle, not the ability of the boiler to handle a higher pressure. For the short time the additional pressure was needed, there was no danger of doing any damage to the running gear. Jason had just begun the process of raising the pressure when the 765 reached her slowest point on the grade at .68 mph. As the pressure climbed above 255, the speed picked up slightly to about 1.5 mph until they crested the hill at MP4. If the pressure had remained at 245, they would have stalled.

The rail conditions on this day were perfect. It was a warm, sunny day. This line is well-used, so the rail was shiny and clean. There was no danger of the drivers slipping. In fact, as I pan the cab when the 765 goes by my camera and Gary gives me the thumbs up, note that he does not have his hand on the throttle. No need to on a day like this.

I guess you could say we ran the 765 at 106% power for a couple of miles on this climb.

Thanks for the rest of the story Mr. Harvey.... Errrr, I mean Rich.

For the record I have nothing against diesel trucks, just some of the people who happen to drive them. 

@TexasSP posted:

Thanks for the rest of the story Mr. Harvey.... Errrr, I mean Rich.

Wow! If you are comparing me to Paul Harvey, that's the best compliment on my writing I've ever received. Thank you!

Rich, thanks for your story too, I just learned a few things about running a steam locomotive, those were very interesting facts.

Cheers,

Nice pics!

I love that sharp cracking exhaust sound as she climbs Horseshoe Curve around the 3:00 mark in the video. Always love a great steam whistle echoing off surroundings too.

Great stuff here. Thanks All!

@Rich Melvin posted:

Wow! If you are comparing me to Paul Harvey, that's the best compliment on my writing I've ever received. Thank you!

I certainly enjoy your writing.  I am no critic, but my little quip and your follow up just put Paul Harvey in my brain.  I used to listen to him in HS with another friend during lunch.

What you did was what he did, add a whole lot of context and color to the story.  The video was one part, but your description made it better.

TexasSP, at the risk of being called a "shameless promoter" I will suggest that if you enjoy my writing, you should get a copy of my book about the 765. There are many other stories about my days with the 765 in the book. Profits from these book sales go to the Fort Wayne RR Historical Society for the on-going upkeep of the 765.

I always enjoyed Paul Harvey. Whether it was, "Paul Harvey ... good day!" or the famous closing line from his Rest of the Story series, "And now you know ... (Long pause here) ...the rest of the story." I always enjoyed listening to him.

@Rich Melvin posted:

Here’s some video from that day. The 765 just barely made that hill. At one point she was down to .68 mph, according to the GPS speedometer.

Was the video on The Curve from the same excursion? And if so, do you happen to remember the date?

@rplst8 posted:

Was the video on The Curve from the same excursion? And if so, do you happen to remember the date?

Pretty sure the "Horseshoe Curve" operation was on Memorial Day weekend of 2013.

@rplst8 posted:

Was the video on The Curve from the same excursion? And if so, do you happen to remember the date?

That video contains scenes from several different years.

• The Carson Hill scene was from 2012, on a deadhead move to Youngstown, Ohio.
• The Horseshoe Curve scene was shot on a Norfolk Southern Employee Appreciation Special excursion in May 2013. We ran several of these, and I don't know which trip the scene is from. The Memorial Day trips that Hot Water referred to had the PRR Heritage Diesel behind the 765.
• The CVSR Scene with my Daughter and Granddaughter was shot on September 25, 2016, on my last trip running the 765. That's why they were there.
  Here is a scene of yours truly making my very last station stop with the 765. My grandsons help me with the final, long whistle blast to bring down the curtain on my career with the 765 crew.

@Rich Melvin posted:

TexasSP, at the risk of being called a "shameless promoter" I will suggest that if you enjoy my writing, you should get a copy of my book about the 765. There are many other stories about my days with the 765 in the book. Profits from these book sales go to the Fort Wayne RR Historical Society for the on-going upkeep of the 765.

I always enjoyed Paul Harvey. Whether it was, "Paul Harvey ... good day!" or the famous closing line from his Rest of the Story series, "And now you know ... (Long pause here) ...the rest of the story." I always enjoyed listening to him.

Rich, I bought the book a couple of weeks ago and saved it for this last weekend when my wife and I had a getaway weekend in a friend's log cabin. I ended reading the book cover to cover by noon on Sunday.  Needless to say, it is an excellent piece of work and just when I thought I had heard and read every tidbit out there about 765, I learned several new things!  A truly valuable addition to my railroad library.   As for Paul Harvey, not only was a great news man, he was truly a class act and a gentleman and I can't think of anyone currently in the profession that is fit to even be mentioned in the same paragraph with him.

@Rich Melvin posted:

That video contains scenes from several different years.

• Here is a scene of yours truly making my very last station stop with the 765. My grandsons help me with the final, long whistle blast to bring down the curtain on my career with the 765 crew.

Proud to be up there in the cab with you Rich for that one.  I owe Jason a huge thanks for setting that up, even though he didn't know it was going to be the last run for you!  I guess it was meant to be.

Great job on the book.  Got a copy and it is very entertaining and enlightening.  Wish you could have been able to put the setting up the P&LE Akron to Pittsburgh trips tornado story in there that was in Trains years ago.  Very few people understand how much work it takes to make an excursion a reality.

Kevin

@Rich Melvin posted:

That video contains scenes from several different years.

• The Carson Hill scene was from 2012, on a deadhead move to Youngstown, Ohio.
• The Horseshoe Curve scene was shot on a Norfolk Southern Employee Appreciation Special excursion in May 2013. We ran several of these, and I don't know which trip the scene is from. The Memorial Day trips that Hot Water referred to had the PRR Heritage Diesel behind the 765.
• The CVSR Scene with my Daughter and Granddaughter was shot on September 25, 2016, on my last trip running the 765. That's why they were there.
  Here is a scene of yours truly making my very last station stop with the 765. My grandsons help me with the final, long whistle blast to bring down the curtain on my career with the 765 crew.

2016?  Man seems like yesterday.  Remember meeting up with when 765 was running through Jim Thorpe in 2015.  A fun trip

765 was moving great northbound destined for Ashtabula on this day I caught her on video

Yep...looks like right at 40 mph, our maximum allowed speed on NS.