I'm legit crying internally right now! Seeing these beauties of the PRR on the original mainline just ignites my soul every single time. *I've bookmarked some timestamps in order to add some context to this footage.* 1:06: This location is right along Strasburg Rd just under a mile west of Gap, Pa. Once the Doubleheader passed and the camera stopped rolling, Mark I Video captured the train rounding the corner that immediately followed at Gap which can be seen in their program titled "DOUBLEHEADER! PRR 7002 and 1223". 4:07: Here the train had stopped at the Conrail yard in Thorndale for servicing and refueling courtesy of the local fire department. 5:28: Here we see the train quite literally flying past the station in Downingtown. ( *Fun Fact* At 5:43, you can barely see some people on the other side of the tracks. One of them took a snapshot of the train passing at this moment and now when you do a google search of PRR 7002 and 1223 that picture is one of the first images that will pop up). 6:11: This scene shows the train actually performing a Run-by through Paoli. You can tell this is a Run-by because of the larger than average crowd made of of both spectators, chasers, and people who disembarked the train in order to film and the fact that as the train passes the camera you can see it beginning to slowing down. 8:10 This final shot is in Berwyn just a mile or so west of Paoli. ( *Fun Fact* The Mark I Video crew that I mentioned earlier are the people that you see in the center of the shot that distance away. They filmed the train passing by at this moment from their vantage point which can also be seen in their program.)
One unnerving fact about this trip that I discovered awhile back was that it took place on the same day as the infamous Great Dismal Swamp Derailment involving Norfolk and Western 611. Therefore, a 65 mph speed limit was placed on the special in order to prevent a similar disaster from occurring especially given that both 7002 and 1223 were almost 50 years older than the Class J.
It’s upsetting how mainline steam excursion operations aren’t like this anymore. Wish they will just come back to life under steam again in the future!
After seeing these locomotives in the museum and then this, it’s a shame they’ll most likely never see the rails under their own power again. Honestly if I won the lottery I would gladly donate more than half of it to both the PRR Museum and Strausburg to make it happen. Since 7002 (actually 8063) and 1223 are more than fast enough to pull such a train down the mainline. If given enough room to get up to speed. Imagine you’re in Philadelphia driving to the airport or whatever and you see a double header steam train heading the same way. Though I think 460 and 7002 are more suited to mainline excursions because of the sheer speeds they can achieve since the E6 and E2 classes were known to go over 100MPH easily. Either way the locomotives will always be a part of history for the PRR and will always be part of Strausburg. Maybe one day we’ll see these two under steam again to join the plausible growing Strausburg fleet.
In 1989, the Strasburg Railroad purchased a device that measured metal thickness for use on their locomotives (Think of it as an Ultrasound machine for trains). When examining both 7002 and 1223 it was discovered that their boilers had several dangerously thin areas due to all the mainline excursion work they performed throughout the mid to late 80's. The only solution would've been a complete overhaul for both locomotives, but because the railroad was leasing them from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania they were not allowed to perform the job since it would've meant altering their historical fabric. As a result both were retired in 1989 and are now on permanent display.
@@jacksonfleegal5241 The other major contributing factor was that the PRR used thinner than acceptable metal for the Belpaire firebox. A standard was set for Belpaire firebox thickness following the retirement of 1223 and 7002. That’s partially why there aren’t any operational PRR steam locomotives besides 643, which doesn’t have a Belpaire firebox. PRR and GN were the only North American roads to use Belpaire fireboxes. 1361 is undergoing the necessary changes to meet the standard, and 5550 has already incorporated necessary changes to meet the standard with its largely-complete boiler.
