I went to Steamtown in 2009 and I couldn't get enough of it!! I went back in 2011, took a trolley tour through the mile long tunnel, and then went to Delaware water Gap station again!! It's the best bang for the buck to take a 3-hour train ride, Walk around the town, have a beer or two and a nice lunch, walk back to the depot get back on the train, and another 3 hours home to Scranton!! You have to try it it's so relaxing!!😎
The K4 chassis:- Strange (to British eyes) are the American fabricated "bar frames". Virtually all British steam locos had heavy duty solid Plate frames. (Basically two complete sheets of metal side by side, with slots for the axle boxes to slide up & down in. With cylinders bolted to the frames.) This style of frame required very high quality track however, as plate frames have virtually no flex in them. US "Bar frames" as seen in the programme, became the norm in the US, due to the problems of obtaining very high precision quality in track laying & maintenance in the vast expanses of the USA. In Britain you were never more than 10 miles from a town or village, so track workers were always available to "walk the length" daily. Hope the Museum can progress the restoration of this impressive locomotive type. As I know just how hard & technical it is restoring Steam locomotives. Good Luck !!
Im sorry that extra crispy comment got me laughing. I really thought he was thinking of saying something else then he said extra... Uhh crispy" lol classic comedy
Very informative video! Thank you for making this video and keeping everyone up to date on 1361’s restoration. Looking forward to it returning to steam.
Considering the part the Altoona works played in American Rail Road History the museum looks underwhelming. The museum in Strasburg has an extensive collection of PRR stock. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the Altoona works museum.
In the future, the collection at the Railroaders Memorial Museum will go through cosmetic restorations or operational restorations, including K4s no. 1361.
update the firebox sheets were cut to shape and in the process of being put togather. but sadly three things from the musieum are to be scraped the one car the elkart crane and another car I belive, but saddly it was too far gone and no other museum wanted the peices of rollingshock
@@connietonysadventures9035 they tried to give it away but no takers, and wrecker cranes are still kind of widely found, but I would have been nice if it was returned to elkart where it worked out of though there is so much there at the new york central museume, its sad they leave the one last big nyc steam engine out to rust slowly away, but its there if you travel though on the line on amtrak you can look over and see it across from the station at elkart, which still has a very large yard one of the largest still in the nation I think east of the mississippi I heard. its good the k4 is getting needed attention and by one of the finest railroad rebuild and enginering companies out there fmw, they do just about all you can imagine railroad related, and it was wolfgang fengler that did most of the redesign for the boiler from rivieted to welded for the t1 trust with Gary Bensman also helping and being consulted, never met them yet, I mean I know kelly lynch from fmw from indiana here and helping with nkp 765, and Gary too though I dont see him as often as I did when we were doing our 15 year about back in 2017, but do usually at the openhouse for the year.
No, $2.4 million is needed to bring 1361 back into service. So far over $213k has been raised for this restoration. There will be a new firebox for 1361 in the not so distant future.
Lots of amazing things have happened throughout the years. There will be more happening in the future, especially when the famous K4 1361 is back under steam, ready to tour the mid-Atlantic region.
Fund raising for the K4??????? I volunteered from 1987-2002 on this engie. It went to steamtwosn along with several MILLION dollars dedicated to its restoration. Where's the money????
That’s all from the past. The current team at the museum will get this K4 running again. The museum worked with PNC bank to clean up financial issues the museum had.
It is amazing that you are taking cars that were purpose built and instead of restoration, you are planning to convert them into tourist attractions. What is the purpose of a museum - Preserve or destroy. All those cares outside are going through deterioration. You worry about restorking the K9 while other equipment goes to rack and ruin.
Um.....there's no evidence of any passenger cars being destroyed. Plus, what's wrong with giving a car a new purpose when it's old one doesn't exist anymore? I don't see your reasoning behind this comment. Their purpose is to restore these cars, not let them be destroyed, plus they need them to pull passengers and promote the history and story of Altoona. Also how is it not a tourist attraction, it's a museum.
@@regularguy7266 Hi. Thanks for you comment. A museum, if it is to demonstrate the history, purpose and evolution of rail cars, regardless of their utilitarian purpose, should not alter these cars. Once they are "Repurposed" they no longer represent their original purpose or the interior design - in the last of passenger cars. There are fewer and fewer cars to be found in good condition, restorable or usable, just like engines. The museum should be concerned with restoration rather than alteration. After all, it is unlikely any of if the visitors will ever see such cars on any train today. They are simply no longer built with craftsmanship, and attention to artistic detail. If it is a railroad museum, then preservation should be paramount. Show what it was like. That can not be done with a rail car - repurposed. Of course if this museum is in fact a tourist attraction with little concern for the history and operation of railroads in mind - go to it. Make them a useless candidate for the scrap yard. Why do I say that - Just look at all the "Historic navel vessels rotting away at wharfs. One of the most important of those ships sank last year (2022) because of the same neglect - THE SULLIVAN BROTHERS. The New Jersey (I thing) is now leaking. Other vessels are derelict, completely abandoned, like the famous windjammer PEKING stolen from the Germans to lay rotting at the New York seaport. Finally rescued by Germans and taken home to be fully restored. Tourists come to see railroad equipment, rolling stock, locomotives not stuff turned into tourist traps. Look at the hundreds of rusting locomotives iin museums or on "Static Display" in parks and other places. This are one of a kind in some cases. In another 20 years they will be towed away as a danger to the public and turned into razor blades. Everyone wants these things but no one wants the cost of restoration or even preservation. The cars I saw - every one was rotting away and people can not even go into them to what are they there for.?
@@organbuilder272 Thanks for you comment that is as long as a novel. Not every piece of historic railroad equipment looks perfect. A museum to destroy history? You can’t be more obvious that you don’t know what you are talking about. You expect every piece of equipment to be perfect, I recommend you open your wallet and donate money to the museum. The Railroaders Memorial Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible. This museum is in great hands, thanks to the Wick Moorman and Bennett Levin joining the board of directors for a few years now. Also, you can’t save everything. Betters things will come to the museum, because I know the folks at the museum and they are dedicated to preserving railroad history of Altoona. Also, it’s K4s, not K9 lol. Have fun trackside with your camera ready when K4 1361 is back together and running again.
@@organbuilder272You can’t simultaneously complain about them doing things to make them more attractive to the average tourist *and* complain about them not having enough money to restore them at all. They are mutually exclusive; there are simply not enough people who care deeply enough about these artifacts in their original condition who will pay to see them time and time again. They have to make it interesting for the average layperson. Museum ships are the biggest victim of this; they are simultaneously the most expensive to operate and least profitable museums. Thats why The Sullivans is in the condition she’s in, and the only reason New Jersey was able to get into drydock is because they get millions of dollars from the New Jersey government. So you have to ask yourself; would you rather have them modified, or would you rather have them gone? The third option would be to keep them as original as possible and give them millions in taxpayer dollars for maintenance, which we both know will never happen.
