On December 29, 2015, they placed the 18th locomotive into the Age of Steam Roundhouse. It is a 2-10-0 that they purchased at auction this summer from the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin. That FILLS the roundhouse!
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I was reading about that locomotive a few weeks ago. Not a bad looker, and it sure went to a good home. hope they open up to the general public sometime soon so we can see these treasures in person.
My only involvement with the AOSR is maintaining the web site. I have only been there three times...twice to deliver parts and once to shoot video of the grand opening.
Well, it goes to show you, no matter the scale, your railroad collection will quickly expand to consume the available space.
BessemerSam posted:
One locomotive per stall I take it, no sharing?
Roundhouses weren't built for locomotive storage, they were built for locomotive maintenance. Even in ye olden days, it wasn't really possible to put more than one locomotive per stall.
Rusty
Wow how great is that!!!!
I just hope this project doesn't run out of cash. I do not know anything about its financing except that it is privately owned.
What a wonderful project and I surely wish them much success.
Could they add on just one more stall with an extension for an Allegheny? 
I'd be interested to know what their long term goals are for all of these locomotives. As for the question about funding I read somewhere that there has been a trust set up by Jerry (the owner) and his wife in order to fund the roundhouse after their passing. Jerry got a lot of the money for his roundhouse from the sale of his railroad, the Ohio Central.
Steamer posted:. hope they open up to the general public sometime soon so we can see these treasures in person.
while its not open publicly, the AOSR has conducted tours this past year for groups and clubs. they require 40 people min./ no young children/ able to walk a 2hr tour.
trains magazine done an excellent story on the AOSR regarding the why and how the owner built it.
Jim
be a terrific spot for another Train Fest like Jerry had in 2004. maybe even get a certain 2-8-4 to appear....
Allegheny posted:Wow how great is that!!!!
I just hope this project doesn't run out of cash. I do not know anything about its financing except that it is privately owned.
When Jerry and Laura Jacobson established the Age of Steam Roundhouse, they endowed the organization with sufficient funds to sustain it, even without any additional income from tours or souvenir sales.
I think there are a couple of stalls in the roundhouse which have two small locomotives in them on the same track.
My only involvement with the AOSR is maintaining the web site.
Excellent! then :
Inquiring minds would like to know!
looks like Jerry has run into the same problem many of us have...he's run out of room and needs to expand!
The original Steamtown collection was amazing, but Blount got a lot of those locomotives donated to him. AoS is even more amazing, in my mind, as Jacobsen is paying out of pocket for all of this.
Funnier still is that a this has operated under the radar of many train fans, because I've had several people look me in the eye and tell me I'm making the whole thing up as they'd never heard of AoS before. Most have come back (or emailed) me later apologizing, most saying, "I never thought anyone could pull something like that off..."
prrhorseshoecurve posted:My only involvement with the AOSR is maintaining the web site.
Excellent! then :
- When are we going to see more pics on that website such as the 2014 and 2015 years!
- When will the list of Steam locomotives and status be updated? [operatable- being restored- non- operatable]
- Will a list of future projects be posted of the Steamers that are scheduled to be restored vs. ones that are cosmetic only?
- Are the Diesel collection destined to be sitting out in the elements?
- What are the chances Jerry will go "full circle" or 360?
Inquiring minds would like to know!
I cannot answer your web site questions. I don't GENERATE the web site content, I just PLACE the content which they send me. The pages which go into the web site are based upon what I receive from the AOSR HQ.
I don't know if there are any plans to get the diesels under cover, and I doubt that any additions will be put on the roundhouse to make it larger. Some of the diesels are operating under lease. Two AOSR SW1200s were recently repainted into a B&O-style scheme and sent to theGrand River Railway, where I also do the web site. There is not much in that site yet, but there soon will be.
"I cannot answer your web site questions. I don't GENERATE the web site content, I just PLACE the content which they send me. The pages which go into the web site are based upon what I receive from the AOSR HQ."
Come on Rich, aren't you "The Great and Powerful Oz?". You do generate a lot of smoke and steam!
Larry
Time to complete the circle, add on more stalls, just like the historic railroads. I am glad this is set up to continue into perpetuity. I could hope this would become a national park. I don't think we have any devoted to railroad history, although several...Cass, Durango, Cumbres, California Western all seem logical candidates.
colorado hirailer posted:I could hope this would become a national park. I don't think we have any devoted to railroad history, although several...Cass, Durango, Cumbres, California Western all seem logical candidates.
Good grief NO!!!!! Just look how well the National Park Service has been handling Steamtown.
It appears that an additional future "round" building was intended when this rendering was drawn.
It doesn't appear in subsequent renderings.
Maybe there's room for more...
Mill City posted:It appears that an additional future "round" building was intended when this rendering was drawn.
Maybe there's room for more...
Looks like a 'park' setting with a stand-alone engine house. You can clearly see the open space exactly the size and shape of it in the left side of the last photo. They could easily still build it right there anytime they wanted to.
colorado hirailer posted:...I could hope this would become a national park...
You're kidding, right? That would be the absolute worst thing that could possibly happen to this place! Once the Feds get involved, it's all downhill from there.
Considering the opposition from DC and in the media for the NPS taking over the Scranton Steamtown operation when it happened, I couldn't imagine them ever taking on another responsibility like that again.
It's all a moot point anyway. I have zero doubt that this facility is secure at least for a generation or so. Now, in the extreme long haul (like 30+ years down the road), I wouldn't bet on the bases being covered that far out as there's no source of revenue for a steam facility that is landlocked with no tracks of its own that I'm aware of for trains to run on, other than the tracks inside the yard and engine facility...
colorado hirailer posted- I could hope this would become a national park.
omg no.....jerry should really flip out when he reads this.....Jim
colorado hirailer posted:I could hope this would become a national park.
p51 posted:
It's all a moot point anyway. I have zero doubt that this facility is secure at least for a generation or so. Now, in the extreme long haul (like 30+ years down the road), I wouldn't bet on the bases being covered that far out as there's no source of revenue for a steam facility that is landlocked with no tracks of its own that I'm aware of for trains to run on, other than the tracks inside the yard and engine facility...
You might want to look more carefully at that overhead view that you posted above, as the main line of the Ohio Central RR goes right past the entire facility. Also, NONE of Jerry's "steam operations" need to make any money at all, as the entire facility was build and paid for by the INTEREST ALONE, from Jerry's sale of the entire Ohio Central RR. Jerry LOVES steam and thus it is NOT about "making money", and his entire trust is properly set-up that way.
I swear that reading comprehension around here must be at an all-time low. In the 11th post in this thread I said, "When Jerry and Laura Jacobson established the Age of Steam Roundhouse, they endowed the organization with sufficient funds to sustain it, even without any additional income from tours or souvenir sales." How we get from there to making this into a National Park because it is going to run out of money is beyond me.
It was never the intent of the Age of Steam Roundhouse that they would have to operate the steam locomotives to make money. Operating the locomotives is not the primary goal at AOSR. Preserving the locomotives is the mission of the organization. They will be just fine financially even if they never operate any of the locomotives.
p51 posted:...They could easily still build it right there anytime they wanted to.
Sure...they could do that. It would only take another $500,000 dollars. 
Hot Water posted:p51 posted:
It's all a moot point anyway. I have zero doubt that this facility is secure at least for a generation or so. Now, in the extreme long haul (like 30+ years down the road), I wouldn't bet on the bases being covered that far out as there's no source of revenue for a steam facility that is landlocked with no tracks of its own that I'm aware of for trains to run on, other than the tracks inside the yard and engine facility...
You might want to look more carefully at that overhead view that you posted above, as the main line of the Ohio Central RR goes right past the entire facility. Also, NONE of Jerry's "steam operations" need to make any money at all, as the entire facility was build and paid for by the INTEREST ALONE, from Jerry's sale of the entire Ohio Central RR. Jerry LOVES steam and thus it is NOT about "making money", and his entire trust is properly set-up that way.
My understanding is that Jerry doesn't have any agreements to run anything from the AoS facility onto Ohio Central track since he sold the line. So, in respect for running trains off the grounds of the facility, it is landlocked in a legal stance.
I know what it's about and why he set up, but I highly question anyone who says this is set up for an eternal presence where someone will never need to figure out funds for it's operation. Jerry's rich, but he ain't that rich, that someday whoever is running the place won't eventually need to figure out how to pay the inevitable bills.
Sure...they could do that. It would only take another $500,000 dollars.
Well, you all keep going on how about how much money Jerry has and how it'll pay for anything that comes down the road in any length of time in the future. Five hundred K is nothing compared to the upkeep for a place like this a few decades down the line...
You talk about reading comprehension, maybe you should try that yourself. I was only talking about the open space in the original drawing and how he hadn't placed anything there in it's place. That means if he WANTS to later, he could as there's nothing there already.
p51 posted:Hot Water posted:p51 posted:
It's all a moot point anyway. I have zero doubt that this facility is secure at least for a generation or so. Now, in the extreme long haul (like 30+ years down the road), I wouldn't bet on the bases being covered that far out as there's no source of revenue for a steam facility that is landlocked with no tracks of its own that I'm aware of for trains to run on, other than the tracks inside the yard and engine facility...
You might want to look more carefully at that overhead view that you posted above, as the main line of the Ohio Central RR goes right past the entire facility. Also, NONE of Jerry's "steam operations" need to make any money at all, as the entire facility was build and paid for by the INTEREST ALONE, from Jerry's sale of the entire Ohio Central RR. Jerry LOVES steam and thus it is NOT about "making money", and his entire trust is properly set-up that way.
My understanding is that Jerry doesn't have any agreements to run anything from the AoS facility onto Ohio Central track since he sold the line. So, in respect for running trains off the grounds of the facility, it is landlocked in a legal stance.
Well then, you must be a LOT closer to what is going on than what Jerry told me, face to face!
I know what it's about and why he set up, but I highly question anyone who says this is set up for an eternal presence where someone will never need to figure out funds for it's operation. Jerry's rich, but he ain't that rich, that someday whoever is running the place won't eventually need to figure out how to pay the inevitable bills.
Another rash statement from someone on the "outside".
Hot Water posted:My understanding is that Jerry doesn't have any agreements to run anything from the AoS facility onto Ohio Central track since he sold the line. So, in respect for running trains off the grounds of the facility, it is landlocked in a legal stance.
Well then, you must be a LOT closer to what is going on than what Jerry told me, face to face!
I know what it's about and why he set up, but I highly question anyone who says this is set up for an eternal presence where someone will never need to figure out funds for it's operation. Jerry's rich, but he ain't that rich, that someday whoever is running the place won't eventually need to figure out how to pay the inevitable bills.
Another rash statement from someone on the "outside".
I read that his operation was (legally) landlocked for running trains as part of the sale of the Ohio Central in a train magazine, can't recall if it was Railfan or Trains. Might have been in the RYPF forum now that I think on it (seeing that you're on every single train forum in the universe, maybe you might recall). If that's not the case, then that's great.
And as for us "outsiders" who can't use the force like you can, Jack, even Bill Gates would run out of money eventually with an enginehouse that isn't designed to generate income of any kind. Jerry's lifetime is assured but years or decades later than that? You know, money going out but none ever coming in? The idea I have to explain that to you strongly suggests nobody ever invests in any business you're getting started.
p51 posted:Hot Water posted:My understanding is that Jerry doesn't have any agreements to run anything from the AoS facility onto Ohio Central track since he sold the line. So, in respect for running trains off the grounds of the facility, it is landlocked in a legal stance.
Well then, you must be a LOT closer to what is going on than what Jerry told me, face to face!
I know what it's about and why he set up, but I highly question anyone who says this is set up for an eternal presence where someone will never need to figure out funds for it's operation. Jerry's rich, but he ain't that rich, that someday whoever is running the place won't eventually need to figure out how to pay the inevitable bills.
Another rash statement from someone on the "outside".
I read that his operation was (legally) landlocked for running trains as part of the sale of the Ohio Central in a train magazine, can't recall if it was Railfan or Trains. Might have been in the RYPF forum now that I think on it (seeing that you're on every single train forum in the universe, maybe you might recall). If that's not the case, then that's great.
Obviously totally authoritative sources.
And as for us "outsiders" who can't use the force like you can, Jack, even Bill Gates would run out of money eventually with an enginehouse that isn't designed to generate income of any kind. Jerry's lifetime is assured but years or decades later than that?
You mean like the Carnage Foundation, or the Pulitzer Foundation, or the Alfred Nobel Foundation? Have they run out of money yet?
You know, money going out but none ever coming in?
Are you forgetting about the interest on the estate?
The idea I have to explain that to you strongly suggests nobody ever invests in any business you're getting started.
I have no ide what that statement means.
p51 posted:My understanding is that Jerry doesn't have any agreements to run anything from the AoS facility onto Ohio Central track since he sold the line. So, in respect for running trains off the grounds of the facility, it is landlocked in a legal stance.
The AOSR is NOT "...legally landlocked..." (whatever that means.) AOSR steam locomotives have ventured off-line many times to participate in various steam events. Don't believe everything you read in Trains. They still think the Union Pacific steam program is running just fine.
I know what it's about and why he set up, but I highly question anyone who says this is set up for an eternal presence where someone will never need to figure out funds for it's operation. Jerry's rich, but he ain't that rich, that someday whoever is running the place won't eventually need to figure out how to pay the inevitable bills.
Do you understand what an ENDOWMENT is? An endowment is an investment vehicle that earns interest. That interest is what the facility runs on. The principal is never touched. The funds to sustain the AOSR facility have already been provided by the Jacobson's in the form of an endowment. I have no idea what the endowment amount is, but if it was $15 million invested at 4%, that's $600,000 per year in interest income.
Do you really think Jerry would build a magnificent facility like this and not have a long-term plan in place to secure its future?
OGR Webmaster posted:Sure...they could do that. It would only take another $500,000 dollars.
Well, you all keep going on how about how much money Jerry has and how it'll pay for anything that comes down the road in any length of time in the future. Five hundred K is nothing compared to the upkeep for a place like this a few decades down the line...
The endowment is for OPERATING funds. It was not intended to be used for capital expenditures.
Well, sorry, I am not thrilled with the way the national park service runs things around several of the national parks, either, with recent experience with that. I did not know Steamtown's mgt. history.....haven't been there in years, but should go. As for running out of money, as noted, with good investments in trusts, that should not be a problem. I know nothing more than what is on here, correct or not, about how it is financed (and did not even know that private "museum"? existed until it was posted on here some time ago).
Mill City posted:colorado hirailer posted:I could hope this would become a national park.
Are you kidding? Washington touches something, and it falls apart. PLEASE!
there you go Rich....clouding the issue with facts....
Sorry...
so i have to ask what are they going to do with 6325. I know the boiler time will run out soon and what is the bearing issue.
Several years ago my wife and I stopped at Dennison, Ohio and there was a big 4-8-4 sitting there at the depot. The crew was inside eating lunch and I grabbed my camera and started to load up the data card. I started talking to a guy that was also admiring that beautiful locomotive. I experssed my thoughts about historical preservation and how saving our past for future generations is a worthy endeavor. Well, for about and hour that guy talked my ear off about railroads and I enjoyed every minute. As the crew was walking towards the 4-8-4, I finally introduced myself to Jerry Jacobson. You could have knocked me over with a feather. My wife asked me who that was, and I said, "He owns the railroad."
Larry
That's one of the fascinating things about Jerry. His wealth and position never went to his head. He is still just a regular guy who loves railroading and steam locomotives.
Working for "Triple J" as his Superintendent of Operations on the Youngstown Division and as the Ohio Central Corporate Pilot were two of the most pleasant work experiences of my life.
so how does JJJ compare to your current boss Rich? 
My current "boss" is my wife, The Lovely and Gracious Linda. I learned a LONG time ago that if I do as I'm told, everything will be just fine.
She's the best boss I ever had. 46 years and counting.
amen to that brother....
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