I really like #89’s look here with the white lining and smokebox topped with a headlamp. I’d like to see it with the Canadian National red and yellow on the tender! And that whistle of her’s is very haunting.
I would place this in the summer of 1989. 1223 would be retired in a few months that fall. 89’s return from nearly a decade’s worth of restoration would help spell the end for the two PRR locomotives in addition to the thin firebox sheets. 7002 was retired earlier in January that year and was likely sitting across the street in the museum’s outdoor display yard.
It is a shame that the museum won't let 1223 return. The locomotive has to have a certain amount of original fabric in order to be deemed original enough to be in a museum and since the Strasburg leased her from the Pennsy in 1960 and it ran all those years it probably doesn't have enough original fabric so why they won't let her return is beyond me.
Don, the 1223's retiremnt wasn't because of *89, it ws because the museum was leasing it to the Strasburg after the Pennsy went bankrupt. The RR leased it from the Pennsy and then later Penn Central and then the museum. When the lease ran out, unfortunately because they wanted it to have original fabric, they would not renew the lease. Whether it even has any orignal fabric left is a matter of speculation but I personally would like to see it run again.
i know! According to the RR museum of Pennsylvania a steamer has to have a certain amount of original parts in order to be in a museum and since 1223 was leased from the Pennsy in the 60s and ran until 1989 it probably doesn't have enough so why they won't lease her again is beyond me! 7002 probably doesn't have enough originality either because she was built in 1902. I really wish they could run again but sadly I don't think the Strasburg cares enough about those two.
It's her old whistle. It's rumored that 89 used A B&O 3 Chime That sounded Nearly identical to her CNR 4 Chime, but I can't find Footage of said 3 Chime
Ahh, the dreaded yellow passenger cars I remember as a kid. Rarely seen, rarely talked about, rarely acknowledged.. Those thnings were absolutely dreadful.. Nice to see rare 1223 footage though!
