The number of behind-the-scenes bits I could go into… it’d take days. At least a few for you from a volunteer at the NSRM: NCNG 5 has Glenbrook’s boiler from when Glenbrook’s restoration had begun. The boiler was ordered new for the restoration only to find out it didn’t fit the frame. It was sold to NCNG, and Glenbrook’s original boiler was reutilized, repaired, and reused in the locomotive, the ill-fitting boiler being modified to rebuild NCNG 5. NCNG 5 and Glenbrook may have been sisters, but after their time serving on the Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company (their new working railroad after the C&T), Glenbrook basically stopped her operational life to serve as a source of parts for Tahoe, then NCNG 5, meaning Glenbrook was never actually an oil burner, ending operations before NCNG 5 was converted to oil and kept running. That comically enormous whistle on the Antelope and Western 0-4-0 porter is actually a part of history close to Glenbrook and Tahoe. Part of the Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company was a steam ship also named the Tahoe, the very ship that basically took everything from the Glenbrook area on the east edge of Lake Tahoe and brought it all up, locomotives included, to Tahoe City for their new life after the logging railroad ended operations. The ship has long since been lost, but before it was, her whistle, a steam ship whistle, was saved, and over time came to NCNG’s possession. When the Antelope and Western was restored, it was given the steam ship Tahoe’s original whistle in all its comically big size. (Info given from NCNG museum volunteers, amazing folks they are) Inyo may have stopped running for the V&T in the 20’s, but almost directly afterwards, she made her way down to Hollywood to serve in movies and TV shows through the 60’s, giving her a phenomenally long career even before being brought back to the museum to be restored and operated again, with her original 1875 boiler, no less. Anything further I’ll try to answer to the best of my abilities, otherwise I’ll get info when I can from the museum over the weekend. Great video, and it was awesome to meet you, Hyce!
Does the Glenbrook still have a lap-seam boiler? Here at SCRM, the narrow gauge folks are hard at work restoring the Emma Nevada, which we have found unfortunately has a lap-seam boiler.
@@blackbirdgaming8147 I’m not 100% certain, a lot changed with that boiler when it was rebuilt, sections replaced, I can check this weekend at the museum and get more info for you.
@@Hyce777 I was a volunteer on the Lyon project a couple years back. If you look at the driver side steam chest, the bolts on the disc that connects the timing rod to the cylinder top my initials are on them. CW. Or CRW.
Inyo also played the Texas in the Disney movie "The Great Locomotive Chase" based off of the actual Locomotive chase between the General and the Texas.
On behalf of all the volunteers and staff at the event, thank you so much for your praise! We were genuinely amazed at how many people turned out and keeping everyone safe while still letting them get right up in the action was a tall order. It was really cool getting to meet you, and thanks for coming and for the great video!
Of course! Praise all deserved. It's not easy putting on these sorts of events, and 4 days of this madness was very well wrangled. Nice to meet you as well :)
I’ve seen a porter, they are pretty loud engines. The one I’ve seen is BEDT 15 which is now made to look like Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s an impressively powerful 0-6-0. One I would like to see is J&L 58, a 2ft gauge 0-4-0.
I am not a train guy and I don’t know how I came across your videos but I have watched many of them and I so appreciate your enthusiasm and knowledge of all things steam. I might be becoming a train guy. You really are a great presenter.
The Roots of Motive Power museum is a small but amazing place that’ll only get better as time goes on. In addition to that Heisler and all the stationary engines, they also have a Class B Shay and a Class B Climax with walschearts, with the latter of which being restored to operation as we speak and the former being planned for an operational restoration soon after. It’ll be exciting to have another museum with all three types of operational geared motive power.
Chris Baldo, of Roots of Motive Power, also owns Skookum which is normally running at Niles Canyon. That Heisler was the one I almost cooked myself to death while taking brakeman classes at Roots! I refused a cab ride and went to the diesel instead. I’m a wimp!
Hi Mark! Sam here (the guy working the fire hydrant down at the depot), glad to see you could show up, it was a hit with the locals too. Coach No. 4 has actually always been with NSRM. Its sister No. 3 is also in the shop awaiting restoration, as they were part of the V&T’s Winter Train. We also have the two Kimball coaches 11 and 12, which made up the Summer Train. The Inyo can only pull one car at a time these days, as its working pressure was reduced to 75 psi to keep from rebuilding the boiler. It hasn’t had a tube change since the twenty’s!
Cheers Sam! Was great to meet you. I recalled something about a passenger car traveling but evidently I was incorrect! Thank you for the info. Gorgeous cars, either way. And that's kind of incredible that it's run so long with the same boiler and tubes! Haha.
Yes, and to answer your question about the Miller couplers and platforms, those were an early Automatic coupler whose pusher springs were the single buffer just above to take up the slack. Separate from the Janney design that became law decades later. H.M. Yerington, the V&T’s general manager, actually sued (the United States?) to keep those “automatic” couplers past the 1903 deadline, but it was overruled as they were deemed not fully automatic. So he had to go shopping at the last minute! Also I think I misspake, the Summer Train cars were Brill and not Kimball. No. 4 is a Kimball manufacture.
Was able to get my ES&D piss cup at the event. The Great Western Steam Up was truly amazing, a once in a lifetime experience indeed. You’ll never see anything like it for a long ass time, glad I was able to go. Also spotted Hyce in the wild at the event lol.
I’ve been going to the Strasburg Railroad and RRMPA almost every year since I was five, and Tahoe was always my favorite engine. As much as the big steam, diesels and electrics were cool, the tiny Mogul in the corner seemed like it could tell some stories.
Awesome footage! It was great to talk to you and Leighton at the event on Sunday afternoon, hopefully I'll get a chance to see you at CRRM later this year. And one of these days I'll write the rest of the ES&D "anthem" I gave you a couple lines for!
Little late to the party, but thought I'd throw in some comments from my time at this historic event. Firstly, I worked out how Hyce and I kept missing each other: It looks like he was mostly there in the afternoons whereas I always went up first thing in the morning. A bit of a shame we never crossed paths, but nevermind. Since Hyce now works at the Colorado Railroad Museum, we all know where to find him >) 0:56 Yeah, can I also comment on how weird it was to see such a pedestrian friendly city as Carson was? Lovely broad sidewalks and shared use paths, frequent crosswalks, drivers that treated pedestrians as human beings and not as a barely tolerated nuisance or worse as target practice? It was lovely to be able to cross a major road and not be in fear for my life. 1:50 It's actually a 2% grade up by that used car lot all the way to the back of the museum complex by their boneyard. And it was a little extra challenging for reasons I'll elaborate on shortly. 2:09 Actually, I think 4 locos there had 5-chimes: SPNG #18, V&T #25, Bluestone M&S #1, and Antelope & Western #1. Most of them were the dreaded single-chimes though. 4:46 I got to talk to the folks from Kinetic Steamworks, which was a real treat as they're a lovely bunch and kind of legends in the steampunk community. They did have a steam powered snowcone machine set up, but sadly they couldn't secure a steady supply of ice, so no steam snowcones for us. They did have a beautiful printing press set up, and I actually got their first steam printed coaster of the event. And there was a Kona Ice truck around most of the weekend, so snowcones were had, and gratefully so as it was pretty hot. 7:40 That note on the switch stand sparked a memory. The old switchman Layton's referencing from "The Great Locomotive Chase" was actually played by the former mayor of Clayton, GA. So, that's fun. 8:20 I hadn't snapped to it until now, but the V&T "Tahoe" was the only surviving V&T locomotive not in attendance at this event. Guess it was too high a PITA Factor to ship a historic locomotive all the way from Strasburg, PA. 9:13 That's amazing, hearing that just two guys can push that huge engine. I could be wrong, but I thought I heard that this "Chiggin" was actually the biggest 0-4-0 that H. K. Porter ever built. Now, about the slipping; I heard this from multiple onlookers and volunteers throughout the weekend, that the "Chiggin" was leaking fuel oil onto the line. Whether it was a leak in the fuel bunker or from the burners, no one was sure, but it was a problem that was never fully resolved. So whenever an engine slips on the hill, it's probably because of the "Chiggin"'s leaked oil. This led to one particularly memorable incident on the second day: "Chiggin" was sitting outside the sheds next to the wood piles, and apparently had been sitting for so long that leaking oil had pooled beneath her. All of a sudden, that oil lit up and started spreading toward the wood piles, right where my friend was standing and filming. He managed to get out of the way and the fire was quickly brought under control. My friend elected not to upload his video of the incident to Facebook so as not to embarrass the "Chiggin"'s crew and the museum. One of his friends was not so courteous, so evidence of the event does exist out there in Facebookland. Also, as a quick aside, one of the volunteers on the train rides mentioned that all of the fuel oil used by the museum is donated, and one of their largest donors is Reno Tahoe International Airport; they donate the fuel they get from tank drainings for washouts and inspections, since FAA regulations state that once fuel is drained from a tank it cannot be reused, so the airport basically gives it to the railroad museum since they have no use for it. So yeah, these ol' steamers are literally burning jet fuel. Fun note on the Glenbrook: I talked with one of the directors at the museum, who expressed some concern about the future of steam operations at the museum since #25 is their only regular runner anymore; "Inyo" is on reduced boiler pressure and is only really brought out for special occasions like this; in fact, apparently this event was the first one for ages where "Inyo" was allowed to pull any cars at all. Likewise, she was floored by how well the "Glenbrook" held up; despite being another loco that they weren't sure of the capabilities of she stepped up to the plate like a champion, often subbing in for the "Eureka", which was down most of the weekend with temperamental injectors or other mechanical niggles. The only problem with running "Glenbrook" on their regular excursions is that the NSRM has no narrow gauge passenger cars aside from the converted flatcars; the caboose was on loan from Laws, CA. Still, she said it's something they might look into as they need another steam engine for when #25 goes in for overhaul, and their new-build replica of V&T #1 "Lyon" is still a fair ways off. 15:02 Actually, "Tahoe" was finished and tested less than two weeks before the event! It's amazing to see on Facebook how fast their restoration accelerated. That said, rumor was that they had to get a bit... creative to get her running on time, which is why she was never allowed out on the service trains and barely ran at all during the event beyond her show-off laps behind "Inyo" and the odd shuffle up and down the demo track by the shed. 18:30 BZZT! V&T Coach #3 is a NSRM resident and was also recently restored by the museum especially for this event. 25:19 My mother was actually rather upset when you cut away from the beautiful valve gear motion so soon. We could easily have sat and watched that for hours. She actually stuck her tongue out at the TV for that. Antelope & Western #1: The story I got from her owner was that she was built for use in a factory around the Turn-of-the-Century, it seems nobody's quite sure when, and she worked quietly and steadily for 52 years until she took a tumble off a siding and the factory didn't have the resources to haul her back up. So she just sat there forgotten until the current owner's father showed up and asked how much they wanted for her. Thinking it was a joke, the factory said that if he could haul her away he could have her for nothin'. What they didn't know was that the guy owned a wrecking company and had several high capacity cranes at his disposal, so getting the loco out of where she lay was no problem. Over the course of the next couple decades she was restored to her current condition and now resides at the Ardenwood Railroad Museum in California. Incidentally, I am now eagerly waiting for RRO to get Workshop support so that someone will inevitably make a model of this little gem so she can be mine. "Eureka" was supposed to be out pulling trains almost every day that weekend, but she only actually got out onto the loop once due to persistent mechanical problems; the clearest I heard were her injectors being temperamental. Obviously not serious enough to stop her steaming entirely, but enough that they didn't want to pull passengers behind her. Yeah, she was being a cranky ol' lady. So the "Glenbrook" kept stepping in to take her place. One thing I do recall is that once her current owner passes away, the plan is to donate "Eureka" to the Nevada State Railroad Museum and make her a permanent part of their collection alongside "Glenbrook". 33:07 That was another sequence of shots I could just sit and watch all day. The Heisler's motion is just glorious, it is steampunk in the real world. So hypnotic and fascinating seeing all of that mechanical linkage working together. I kept wanting to see the Heisler at work myself, but each time she was brought out I was tired out or hurting from the thumping great blister on my foot. Still, glad to have seen her at all. An absolute work of mechanical art. That whole weekend was a blast. A part of me wishes I'd been able to experience even more, but I certainly had my share of fun. It reaffirmed my belief that railway enthusiasm is one of the healthiest hobbies to get into, that there's no greater band of comrades, no more welcoming and friendly a gang as a gang of railfans. Even if you know nothing about nothing, we're glad to sit with you and share our obsession with you in a kind and encouraging way. And if you do know something about something, we can happily while away hours talking details and minutiae, risk missing dinner reservations to talk about how for all that's original that's left the restored W&A "Texas" isn't the "Texas". Just a friendlier bunch of guys you'll never meet. Made me proud to call myself a railfan.
Cheers for the great comment, seems most of your tidbits and corrections are right save for one: 18 had the only 5 chime. The others you listed are 3 chimes. ;)
Definitely late to the comment party here but I actually do have a lot to add. Regarding Inyo, when you said "When you watch the old cowboy movies or old Hollywood stuff, that's what you see," I chuckled because that's truer than you think. Inyo actually was the first steam locomotive to be owned by a Hollywood studio. She was purchased in 1937 when Paramount decided they needed more authentic railroad equipment to reliably have in their westerns and period flicks. She went on to be used in more than two dozen movies and "The Wild Wild West." And she was also heavily featured in "The Great Locomotive Chase," a film you guys even referenced in this video. This event was the first time in history that all the Hollywood owned locomotives have been in one location. Inyo and Dayton from Paramount. Reno from MGM. #25 from RKO. Tahoe from Universal. Eureka from Warner Bros. And, Dardanelle & Russellville #8 from 20th Century Fox. This event was definitely unlike anything the museum has done in my lifetime. The usual routine is that the train will take two loops around the loop, then be switched into the hole on the third trip, where the engine will uncouple and reconnect facing the opposite direction for the next trip. For the event, we did "Santa Train" style as that is how we run our Christmas trains, where we run three loops and then back into the station. I definitely prefer the former as it means more to do for crew members, but for the event, especially with the narrow gauge equipment involved, it made sense to simplify things. Coach 4 is a Nevada Native and has remained in Nevada since 1971. She was restored back in 1986 by the museum and is rarely ever used for passenger service so as to not wear down the extensive wood and paintwork. She is a prime example of how the passenger trains generally looked in the 19th century, and the cars we regularly use on our year round excursions are workers cars or lower class cabooses, hence the expensive price tag on #4's tickets. I'm hoping we restore more passenger cars for excursion service as the ones we use are showing their wear and could use some heavy maintenance. The biggest rumored contender is combination passenger coach #15. She is a longer and more elegant coach kept in the back of the shops. She is well known for being the coach that was the center piece for the Oscar Winning musical number, "Athison Topeka and the Santa Fe," from the 1946 MGM musical "The Harvey Girls," in which Judy Garland and Ray Bolger both sang on the coach. If done right, she should have about the same level of detailing as #4 and would be an easy favorite on the train. The California State Railroad museum allowed the museum to borrow #21, the JW Bowker, and #12, the Genoa, in trade with #18, the Dayton, and coach #17, the only known piece of railroad equipment to survive from the driving of the golden spike and was actually the private Commissioners Car that was used to carry the golden spike itself to Promontory point in Utah. The deal was set for two years but there are runored plans to extend the lease and potentially keep the switch permanent. If you're interested, try coming back for Independence day, 2025. It will mark the 150th birthdays of Inyo, JW Bowker, Glenbrook, Tahoe, and Eureka, and we're hoping to do another event featuring all of them.
If you’re ever on the East coast, check out Steamtown in Scranton Pennsylvania. Dozens of running engines and a working roundhouse and a fab shop that you can walk through and see them doing the restorations close up. Worth the trip if you’re into this stuff.
7:18 Don't know if anyone else cares, but out here in Sacramento, there's one spot on the CSRM's excursion line with a harp switch stand like that for three tracks.
The one down side of living in Missouri is we don’t have really any working steam engines again ever since the museum of transportation retired the Frisco 1522 from road use; blame BNSF for that one. But we do have live steam groups here which is also awesome. Downside of being an adult is not getting to do said stuff all the time as much as you would like to.
Wonderful video! Thanks for all of the focus on the paint for Glenbrook, this is the first time I learned of the original 1875 paint under the right cab side. You have indulged my interests most generously!
I learned something watching this video. Heisler types have master connecting rods just like radial engines. Radials don't have master valve rods like Heislers do, but they also have 5, 7, or 9 cylinders per row.
I was here on the 2nd. I got great photos of all the engines as well as good close-ups. This was an experience unlike anything I've ever had, and I was at the Golden spike 150 events in Utah
Yea buddy,them shots of the heisler were great. And the Big Porter. We have a Porter on static display in a little town called Grand Tower I LL. We live about 20 miles from it and it's neat the Mississippi River. ✌️😎
Great video, Hyce! It was really cool to see the close up shots of those parts moving that I bet not many others thought to get, as well as the shots only you could get!
I loved! It just makes me look forward to the next weekend to work. And where I work, we only wood burners, and pretty sizable ones (and a lot of times we use donated sleepers to run them), a lot of space is used just to have where to put so much firewood just like in the vid lmao, because , oh boy, they are hungry.
Neat video, I was at the event and it was fun looking for myself and my friends. I also enjoyed that we were able to have beer and just walk around. I was actually on the ride where the Chiggin was slipping a lot.
It was certainly a pleasure to meet you at the Steam Up (July 1; I'm the kilted geezer you met as you came into the museum building that day). I'm only sorry I couldn't have more time to talk with you.
I was on crew for the Sumpter valley when this event happened so I wasn't able to go. Wish I could have though. The really sad thing though, Is that my speeder isn't done with restoration yet but wish I could take it to an event like that. Since it was originally made in 1922 and was used by the southern pacific in oregon until trucks took over, so probably mid 80s or possibly a bit later. It was around through the steam era and still running way past when diesels took over. Granted it has a 1940s motor on it now and I have given it narrow gauge axels and a couple of actual seats to use in on the sumpter valley in comfort. But I still wish I could someday take it to events like that because it is still at its core, one of the very first m14 speeders that Fairmont made and was ran alongside a wide range of steam locomotives
Many years ago I saw pictures of a Heisler and it soon became my favourite type of loco. I now prefer Climax locos, although that may be because a Climax is the only geared loco I have seen running.
The little porter locomotive there could be Betsy if stuck the name on the cab. That tender is has is completely adorable and should be an add-on for the future of the game. Idk it's just the cutest little porter ever with the little tender
Saw, many many years ago, at the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, their Climax when it was at Rockaway, OR. Now talk about a different locomotive, since I was like 15 at the time it was very strange to see it. Seeing something so very different in how the pistons were...well...not where they normally would be. Also, N scale layout!!
Wow! Never thought I'd see the chiggen running! Used to drive past it all the time as a kid. The restaurant was called Pollardville. I always knew our bay area drive home to Sacramento was nearly over when I saw the restaurant and train.
I'm glad I got to see this, I was there at the event but had not yet seen your channel, it was an amazing event and as someone who lives close by I want to volunteer there once I have time to do so. The event was absolutely amazing, and being able to climb into the cabs of some of these locomotives was something I'll never forget.
This was amazing the old 1800s steam reminds me of smokeboxs 119 and Jupiter which I have and run fantastically and the Heisler that was awesome seeing all the counterweights and the gearing fantastic
This looks so fun, and I’m really looking forward to the day when I can partake in something similar 👍 I’m gonna need some context on Leighton’s apparent mistreatment of SP 18, though.
Lol, so Leighton has had a streak of him being present when things go wrong on charters. 2019, he was there when SP 18 blew a cylinder head, in 2019 or 2020 he was there when SP 18's blast nozzle broke, and then in 2021 he was there when eureka's blower broke, and then at this event he was there when eureka broke a water glass... He's just bad luck. Lol!
Hey Hyce! If you are ever in the NC/SC area you should go check out Tweetsie Railroad up in Boone! they have two authentic narrow gauge (i think) steam locomotives!
I volunteer at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. It may be a long time before we can do another Event that big again. For the staff at the Museum, it was a massive amount of work to put it all together. My personal favorite engine is the Inyo. The look, sound, and feel of the engine is what I really like. The Museum only runs it a limited number of times each year, but when it runs, it's wonderful. The #25 is our workhorse, we run it most of the times we have steam running.
I believe that, what an incredible amount of hard work months leading up to the event and then during. The professionalism was wonderful. Inyo, was supremely cool to see.
11:20 I just wanted to point this out that The Henry Ford Museum does exactly this between the 3 locomotives they have there, it's really impressive, I mean they do it over the course of an 8 month season not 10 hours, but I was still impressed by this video because i didn't think that anywhere else did that
Those are some awesome shots. Loved the inside the frame shots. You should consider a Loco bits and bobs 101 video. Would love to get a pros take on the different valve types/couplers/injectors/lubricators etc that make these iron horses run.
I remember going to this for about half of it, 2:45 and I remember being briefly confused about where the fuel storage was on the porter because I was so used to saddle tanks having coal bunkers
@Hyce...It was great running into you on Saturday at the V&T in Virginia City, and seeing you Sunday at the event. I knew you'd be there but I had no plans on specifically meeting you or running into anyone else I knew might be there(that includes Chris Eden-Green of the U.K.). Speaking of walking up to anything...I was talking with one of the volunteers/employees(grizzled veteran, didn't find out which) just before they started bringing out the power for the train in the morning...he asked if I wanted to assist turning the Armstrong table, which I jumped at. Couldn't help with the first engine as three members jumped on the end he'd asked me to assist, but later on there was only one person on that same end for another and he motioned me to go assist...which I did, gladly.
Cheers, great to meet you! It was funny running into you at the V&T. I was sort of used to it at the steam up but out further "in the wild" was not what I expected!
@@Hyce777 That was sort of a semi-last minute addition to my entire trip...I was going up on Saturday anyways, checked the schedule and figured since I was going to get an early jump on traffic Saturday I might as well take in the V&T again. Worked out better than I expected as I arrived over an hour early than anticipated.
Hey! I just got back from Hanover, PA. While I was there I saw GN No. 90. If only I was there at the steam up with the others but hey I still enjoyed 90 & 89 😄
So cool to see the chiggen running finally. I live in Folsom where it now resides. I've been following along with it's progress locally. The guys working on it have been putting in so much time over the past year to get it up and running again. It still hasn't made any runs here on our local tracks though. They plan to start that up in September hopefully. The tracks go right by my neighborhood and through the whole city and out past the highway into the foothills nearby. I also grew up going to Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton. So it's almost funny to hear you say how unique of an experience it was to see a running geared loco in person. I grew up riding on their Shays and their Heisler (which I believe might be the oldest one currently in operation). It has much beefier pistons and gears than the one you saw at the event. Much simpler drivetrain design and fewer, but way bigger, parts lol. But the Shays are what probably got me into trains in the first place as a kid. Seeing that 3 piston geared drivetrain up close and the unique sound it makes was something special. Even better getting to go on rides at Roaring Camp. Those guys are always on the edge of shutting down unfortunately due to lack of funds every year. Hopefully they can stick around for a long time to come. Great video, relatively new subscriber. You're like the train nerd friend I never got to have lol.
Inyo is the OLDEST Disney star still working! She was in The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) and was even seen (and likely touched!) by Walt Disney himself. Previously the title belonged to the William Mason, but the engine is now on display.
Man. I live in NV, only an hour away from Carson. I had no idea this was going on. However, I was also in Austin, TX, on vacation that weekend. But, at least I went to the Northern Nevada Railway Museum in Ely right after returning.
Right off the bat I'm like, "Whoa, So weird seeing Carson Street from someone else's Camera." Sadly the day Steam up was kicking off I cruised through Carson from Stateline up in Tahoe at the butt crack of dawn for Las Vegas to pick up a load going to Gulfport MS. So wanted to stick around for Steam Up. But, money is money and my Truck doesn't make it sitting still.
I just saw this video and I rewatched the Heisler shots a few times. It appears to be two cylinders in a V configuration one on either side of the engine turning a crankshaft with a front and rear drive shaft that go to gearboxes to drive the wheels? I could be totally wrong but that's what it looked like. Like a giant steam powered V-twin. I never would have thought anything like this existed.
Chiggen reminds me very much of another big Porter I'm familiar with. East Branch and Lincoln No. 3 is on static display at the base of Loon Mountain. If you do the New England narrow gauge tour, which includes more than just 2-footers as the Mt. Washington Cog is half an inch narrow, this big tank loco is about an hour away and I reccomend going via Conway (preferably on the Notch train) and over the Kangamangus to get there.
