Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation

This organization owns and operates two steam locomotives. The first is a 0-4-0 saddle tank made by Vulcan

for the Flagg Coal Company. The second is a 2-8-4 Berkshire made by Lima for the Pere Marquette.

I believe they are looking into purchasing a third steamer sometime in the future. They operate a limited excursion schedule with both locos. One of the groups steam team members mentioned the likelyhood

of purchasing a third loco to run a more consistant excursion operation. Although I have not been on any of

their excursions, I did participate in an awesome program where you can be an engineer or fireman for

an hour on either or both steam locomotives. I went to their site on July 3, 2004 and participated in all

four options. What an absolute thrill !!! You go in for a short safety training class, usually the day of

your time in the cab, and before you know it your pulling the throttle of one of these awesome

pieces of machinery. I gotta tell you, there is way more than meets the eye to making one of these

machines work. I became so involved with my function that I became oblivious to everything that was going

on around me. When I finally got used to what I was supposed to be doing (59 minutes in) I began watching

all the other things going on in the cab. Words just cant describe it. Amazing! Some brief highlights. While

operating the 75 (0-4-0) I was able to spot the loco on a turntable. If that wasn't enough, I actually got to get

out of the cab and operate the turntable! Pretty cool. At the end of the operation, I was able to couple to a

caboose. Firing the 75 was pretty uneventful. It's a rather small loco so it doesn't burn too much coal going up and down a track at yard speed. While operating the 1225 (2-8-4) I got to play with a few more toys. You need to open the steam cocks for every move. Pretty exciting for a loco that big. The thrill of having control

of that much power is awesome. Steam operated bell. Steam assisted reverser. LOUD whistle. Thrilling !!!

I actually screwed-up and spun the wheels. This was more than a minor slip. The head engineer slowed me

to a crawl in a low spot on the track so I could give a good pull on the throttle. He said "O.K.now pull it back

to your ears" Easier said than done! It takes a lot of force to pull back hard on that throttle. I gave it a good

pull and got nowhere. Having seen a few videos in my life watching engineers working big steam on the

open road I flashed back to a memory of the 765 in the New River Gorge. I remember the engineer standing

and pulling on the throttle with two hands. Well guess what my dumb ass did? I proceeded to stand-up, grab

the throttle, and give it one hell of a pull. Looking back, that probably wasn't something I should have done

on level track at five miles per hour with an engine that big. It sounded like an explosion. Everyone looked

at me like JESUS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? The head engineer raced from behind and applied

the sand but by then I realized what I had just done and returned the throttle to zero. Boy did I feel stupid. Live

and learn. On to firing this beast. The 1225 uses a mechanical stoker. I couldn't imagine hand firing this beast. The firebox is massive and it burns and unbelievable amount of coal just going up and down the

track. Very thirsty, too. I was having to add tons of water just for what we were doing. I cant imagine what it

would take to operate this beautiful piece of machinery on the road. That cab was a very busy place.

Anyway, back to the MSTRP. They just opened a new visitor center. Their goal is to teach people about

steam railroading. They have several steam related artifacts in their museum/visitor center and a

giftshop as well. Unfortunately, I was too busy to get any pictures of their facility, but I did get lots of pictures

of the locos. I plan on going back in August to ride an excursion behind the1225 so I'll get site pictures then.

The video is in Mpeg-4 format and takes about a minute to download with a cable internet connection. I've noticed

that the video is out of sync with the sound. Don't know what the deal is with that. Maybe it's just me but it still is neat to watch and hear. It is a brief clip of my engineer for an hour video that I purchased from SRI after my time a the throttle. Have a look.

Yes, I know. Totally Sexy. Totally Irresistible. Please try to contain yourself!


	\| home About Me \| My Family \| My Aquariums \| My job \| Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania \| East Broad Top Railroad \| Steamtown National Historic Site \| New Hope and Ivyland Railroad \| Knox and Kane Railroad \| Ohio Central Railroad \| Horseshoe Curve and the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum \| Western Maryland Scenic Railroad \| Cass Scenic Railroad \| Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation \| Steam Railroading Institutes North Pole Express \| Kentucky Railway Museum \| Tennesee Valley Railway Museum \| Three Rivers Rambler \| The Durbin Rocket \| Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society \| Virginia Museum of Technology and the O. Winston Link Museum \| My Favorite Links \| Contact Me Go to the home page to view and sign my guestbook and guestmap. Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation This organization owns and operates two steam locomotives. The first is a 0-4-0 saddle tank made by Vulcan for the Flagg Coal Company. The second is a 2-8-4 Berkshire made by Lima for the Pere Marquette. I believe they are looking into purchasing a third steamer sometime in the future. They operate a limited excursion schedule with both locos. One of the groups steam team members mentioned the likelyhood of purchasing a third loco to run a more consistant excursion operation. Although I have not been on any of their excursions, I did participate in an awesome program where you can be an engineer or fireman for an hour on either or both steam locomotives. I went to their site on July 3, 2004 and participated in all four options. What an absolute thrill !!! You go in for a short safety training class, usually the day of your time in the cab, and before you know it your pulling the throttle of one of these awesome pieces of machinery. I gotta tell you, there is way more than meets the eye to making one of these machines work. I became so involved with my function that I became oblivious to everything that was going on around me. When I finally got used to what I was supposed to be doing (59 minutes in) I began watching all the other things going on in the cab. Words just cant describe it. Amazing! Some brief highlights. While operating the 75 (0-4-0) I was able to spot the loco on a turntable. If that wasn't enough, I actually got to get out of the cab and operate the turntable! Pretty cool. At the end of the operation, I was able to couple to a caboose. Firing the 75 was pretty uneventful. It's a rather small loco so it doesn't burn too much coal going up and down a track at yard speed. While operating the 1225 (2-8-4) I got to play with a few more toys. You need to open the steam cocks for every move. Pretty exciting for a loco that big. The thrill of having control of that much power is awesome. Steam operated bell. Steam assisted reverser. LOUD whistle. Thrilling !!! I actually screwed-up and spun the wheels. This was more than a minor slip. The head engineer slowed me to a crawl in a low spot on the track so I could give a good pull on the throttle. He said "O.K.now pull it back to your ears" Easier said than done! It takes a lot of force to pull back hard on that throttle. I gave it a good pull and got nowhere. Having seen a few videos in my life watching engineers working big steam on the open road I flashed back to a memory of the 765 in the New River Gorge. I remember the engineer standing and pulling on the throttle with two hands. Well guess what my dumb ass did? I proceeded to stand-up, grab the throttle, and give it one hell of a pull. Looking back, that probably wasn't something I should have done on level track at five miles per hour with an engine that big. It sounded like an explosion. Everyone looked at me like JESUS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? The head engineer raced from behind and applied the sand but by then I realized what I had just done and returned the throttle to zero. Boy did I feel stupid. Live and learn. On to firing this beast. The 1225 uses a mechanical stoker. I couldn't imagine hand firing this beast. The firebox is massive and it burns and unbelievable amount of coal just going up and down the track. Very thirsty, too. I was having to add tons of water just for what we were doing. I cant imagine what it would take to operate this beautiful piece of machinery on the road. That cab was a very busy place. Anyway, back to the MSTRP. They just opened a new visitor center. Their goal is to teach people about steam railroading. They have several steam related artifacts in their museum/visitor center and a giftshop as well. Unfortunately, I was too busy to get any pictures of their facility, but I did get lots of pictures of the locos. I plan on going back in August to ride an excursion behind the1225 so I'll get site pictures then. Anyway, on to the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1225_Video.mp4 The video is in Mpeg-4 format and takes about a minute to download with a cable internet connection. I've noticed that the video is out of sync with the sound. Don't know what the deal is with that. Maybe it's just me but it still is neat to watch and hear. It is a brief clip of my engineer for an hour video that I purchased from SRI after my time a the throttle. Have a look. The beautiful Pere Marquette Berkshire #1225 Firemans Side Engineers Side You want me to pull what? Where? Flagg Coal Company #75 Yes, I know. Totally Sexy. Totally Irresistible. Please try to contain yourself! I ask myself the same question: How could you not want that?