Dan,
Barring any overnight issue - Yes.
As of 9:00 yesterday she was bedded down for the night with no identified problems and a crew lined up to run her today.
Nigel
I really want to commend you and your hard working staff for the efforts to bring these historic workhorses to life, my son will be able to marvel at the beauty and mechanical grace these working time machines possess.
Thank you for your hard work and efforts.
i could see why 938 is just cosmetic at the moment. operating it would need time, money, resources, and support. if we had all those thing, full restoration would work. (Wishful Thinking).
I guess I'm echoing both Dan & Kim. Kim expressed my family's gratitude very eloquently. Dan had the same question we do - Is 1630 running today - July 6th? We've learned an awful lot about trains, esp steam trains, with my 4 yr old grandson. We're making our way toward "Big Boy" and we thought #1630 would be a great stepping stone. We're coming anyway but would like to prepare him one way or the other. Thank you
Cyndy,
I am not at the museum today but, as of late last evening, #1630 had no identified issues to prevent running and was scheduled to run today.
Nigel
I would like to see the steam blog updates continue on a regular basis. I consider it a great educational tool. Although I have only visited the steam shop on several occasions I have learned a great deal through the blog about steam and how much is involved in restoring a steam locomotive to service. I feel have a better understanding of steam locomotives. I think there is much more to be learned regarding the day to day and week to week efforts needed to keep it running.
Hi, we are only in town once per summer, and are really pleased to see that it's a steam weekend! Can you confirm which steam train(s) will be running today?
When in service, #1630 remains outside, either in front of the shop or on the service lead.
Two factors. The loco takes a long time for the fire to be dead enough to be safely put into a wooden building and she is too tall to get in to the shop with her dome cover in place.
#938 is under cover taking advantage of the space to get a coat of paint on her before the Winter when the space will be needed for #1630 again.
Nigel
Nigel,
I noticed in your last post you mentioned the new route (the Schmidt cut-off). Do you have a map that labels everything (for us who are not intimately familiar).
Also, I noticed a couple of bridges and a what looks like a turntable off in the distance. What are the plans for that infrastructure? Are you planning to install the turntable?
I do not have a map although the museum office can provide visitor maps.
The cut off will run from beside the steam service boxcar to a new switch at the South East corner of the trolley loop. The grade is now in place for it.
Nigel
On the IRM home page, click on "Site Imndex". There you will find, about halfway down, "View a map of the IRM grounds". The Schmidt cutoff is shown as a green dotted line from the steam lead to the trolley loop. Location is approximate, since the map was updated in 2011.