C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

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trnwatcher
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C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by trnwatcher »

I finally found the pictures of Chesapeake and Ohio #614 being worked on in Wyoming Yard back in 1981. She had pulled the Chessie Safety Express to West Michigan and had main rod bearing issues east of Grand Rapids. They brought the train in Wyoming and serviced her on one of the dock tracks along the Stores Department at Wyoming yard. These pictures where taken by Ron Pikaart, a co-worker of my fathers. Shortly before he passed away Ron gave the pictures to my dad and now they are in my collection.

The story I heard was that they had to call in a 80+ year old man that lived on the west side of GR that knew how to make one of these bearings. You can see the gentleman in one of the pictures, the one with the hi-lo, he is standing with his arms behind his back supervising the work. Ron had told my dad the guys name but his name is lost to me.

Enjoy.

https://flic.kr/p/ZcPHe1

https://flic.kr/p/21cN82u

I've linked two of the pictures but you can see the rest here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/trnwatcher/
Steven F. Shick
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Doktor No
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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by Doktor No »

VERY NICE!
Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Tim
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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by Tim »

Thank you for the post, great!!

GP30M4216
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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

I love these shots, thanks for sharing! That's a great story about the old head they had to have come down to give some expertise. That kind of knowledge just isn't sitting around anymore except in very few specific places....

Did 614 only come to west Michigan in 1981, or was there at least one other year? I know 2101 also made at least one trip in the late 1970s with the Chessie Steam Special before the roundhouse fire in KY.

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BL2-1843
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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by BL2-1843 »

GP30M4216 wrote:Did 614 only come to west Michigan in 1981, or was there at least one other year? I know 2101 also made at least one trip in the late 1970s with the Chessie Steam Special before the roundhouse fire in KY.
Log book entries shows 2101 made a trip from Oak Yard to Grand Ledge and back on 7-9-77. Went west by Howell at 11:01am and back east at 4:42 pm. Chased that run from Howell, back to Howell. On 7-17-77 saw 2101 go west by Howell at 1:33pm. Assuming this was a one way move west to GRP. On 7-23-77 2101 made a run from GRP to Oak Yard and return going by Howell east 12:45 PM and back west at 5:23pm.

In 1978, on 6-25-78 2101 made another GRP to Oak Yard and return move going east by Howell at 1:32pm and back west at 5:28 PM, and on 7-8-78 the same move went east by Howell at 1:44pm and back west at 5:43pm. On 7-15-78 while in GRP for the C&OHS convention, my two youngest sons, saw 2101 again go east by Howell at 1:50pm. My eldest son was with me in GRP. Not sure if this was a one way more or not.

Per my memory, while 614 made trips in 1980, it never came to Michigan, or at least not up the Plymouth Sub from Plymouth. On 5-30-81, 614 made a run from Oak Yard Plymouth to Saginaw. (Chased that one). ON 5-31-81, 614 made a round trip from Oak yard to Grand Ledge and back. By Howell west at 10:46 am and back east at 5:03 pm. Was on board that trip. On 6-6-81, 614 made a one way run from Oak yard to GRP. Rode that one with a church group from Plymouth to Lansing, and the church bus met us there and took us back to Plymouth. On 6-13-81, 614 evidently made a round trip run from GRT to Oak Yard. By Howell east at 1:18 PM and back west at 5:22 PM

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J T
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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by J T »

BL2-1843 wrote:
Per my memory, while 614 made trips in 1980, it never came to Michigan, or at least not up the Plymouth Sub from Plymouth. On 5-30-81, 614 made a run from Oak Yard Plymouth to Saginaw. (Chased that one). ON 5-31-81, 614 made a round trip from Oak yard to Grand Ledge and back. By Howell west at 10:46 am and back east at 5:03 pm. Was on board that trip. On 6-6-81, 614 made a one way run from Oak yard to GRP. Rode that one with a church group from Plymouth to Lansing, and the church bus met us there and took us back to Plymouth. On 6-13-81, 614 evidently made a round trip run from GRT to Oak Yard. By Howell east at 1:18 PM and back west at 5:22 PM
Thanks for the dates. I have several photos of 614 in Lansing that I took in June of 81 but I've never known what the exact date was, other than the date stamp on the corner of the photo (as seen in the photos Steve linked above).

I recently scanned those photos but have to process them first before uploading. Like the images that Steve posted, the quality isn't the best, but I'm doing what I can to make them look presentable. :-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by Dan Cluley »

As a kid I saw one of the westbound moves in the summer of 1977. We had been shopping in Lansing, and on the way home ran out of gas on the exit ramp at Trowbridge. While my Dad walked down the gas station at Harrison, something seemed to be on fire to the east and then it turned out to be a steam train!

I've never been sure when exactly it was, but based on those times, the July 17th one way trip seems the most likely.

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Re: C&O 614 at Wyoming Yard

Unread post by fmilhaupt »

There's a good run-down of the trip dates for the Chessie Steam Special, the Chessie Safety Expresses and a number of other special trains (such as the Freedom Train, the American Freedom Train and the Golden Spike Centennial Limited) at http://www.themetrains.com/main.html .

The site also has photos of cars used in the consists, and background information on the trains.
-Fritz Milhaupt

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