Good evening everybody, I read all of your posts and I have to agree. I was working in the Scranton area and got rained out one day while 1361 was at Steamtown.
So I thought I would spend the day looking around. As one of you mentioned we went a guide tour of the shops and there sat the 1361. People on the tour asked questions about the engine and if the answer it wasn't written on the guides cheat sheet he didn't have a clue.
One of the gentlemen that appeared to be working on 1361, but seem to spend more time leaning against it so it wouldn't fall over had what I thought some very ignorant answers when some of the group decided to asked him questions.
I realize maybe he was not a people person but if that be the case instead of standing there move on to another area that is off limit to the tour and wait for the crowd to leave.
On another trip to Steamtown a year later the attitude of the people working in the shop and on 1361 seemed to be worse with complaining about funding to finish 1361 in front of the tour group.
The comment was made we work until the money runs out, were not working for free you know!!!
We need to get this piece of@#$#out of here so we can get some jobs that pay!!!
I realize at the time he may be speaking the truth, but you just don't go spouting off like this to a tour group.
After this trip my mind was made up that as far as I am concerned I will never go back.
I sometimes think the reason 1361 was sent to Steamtown was to prove that the money spent to build Steamtown was well spent and to prove their existence will let them rebuild the engine.
"Look what we can do here in Pennsylvania"
I agree going to Strasburg Shops would have been a better decision, but as they say hind sight is 20/20.
Also the individual that made the comment about the first rebuild you were correct it was a little more than a patch job kinda like a Sherman Williams Rebuild with a few new parts.
It is a shame and what has happened to this locomotive is in the past. Hopefully they don't make the same mistake again.
To you folks that posted the videos they were great.
Looking at the track when 1361 crosses over from the Conrail main now Norfolk Southern onto the Juanita Bald Eagle Branch those tracks sure look to be in bad shape.
It has to be the camera angle!!!!
And yes that is one wild whistle. I just couldn't understand why the blew the whistle as much as they did. They are on it the whole up thru town, oh well boys and their toys.
I have a Railking K4 that years ago I put a QSI Banshee Whistle Sound board in it.
This sound board had a lot of the functions that the DCS system has today if you were patient enough to work the whistle and bell buttons on the transformer.
That whistle is definitely diffrent than any other steam whistle out there.
I don't know of any of the manufactures use this whistle sound. it was just screech and running the engine in a doppler mode heading for a tunnel or coming out it really sound cool.
I think I will have to get out my own copy of the Junita Jewel and watch this old girl run down the rails.