I was watching a Steamlogger video from April 1989 and something caught my eye.
In the video he documents Fuller junction in Grand Rapids Michigan and as he does it also includes a short clip of the Padnos facility. In that short clip it shows an Alco road switcher. My question is can anybody identify and give any history regarding this engine.
Note: The video also shows a passenger car from the Kalamazoo Lakeshore and Chicago. I would assume this car was brought to Fuller junction after passenger/tourist operations ceased on the line. Can anybody tell me the fate of this car.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
The IT did have a fleet of Alco RS-1’s and the colors match the IT paint scheme however I’m not sure that’s an old IT unit in the picture. While the colors are correct the styling of the scheme is different as noted in the picture below.
After reading what you wrote I did a little research on the IT units and what happened to them and most of them were sold off to the GM&O and some eventually wound up on the Green Mountain railroad.
I noticed in the picture that the unit is missing its doors/panels on the long hood which makes me wonder if this unit is there to be scrapped. Which leads me to the question was Padnos in the engine scrapping business at one time.
Maybe Steamlogger will log onto the website see this post and be able to shed some light on this mystery.
The KLSC passenger car was likely on its way to Paw Paw as that operation ran from 1987 until 1995. It was a former Erie passenger car that ended up going to the Midwest Railway Historical Foundation, later Cuyahoga Valley Line (now Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad), and finally to the KLSC. It likely never saw service on KLSC and was stored at the Teapot Dome siding with the Michigan Central/NYC RPO and both have been presumed scrapped. https://www.railroadmichigan.com/klsc1020.jpg
The KLSC passenger car was likely on its way to Paw Paw as that operation ran from 1987 until 1995. It was a former Erie passenger car that ended up going to the Midwest Railway Historical Foundation, later Cuyahoga Valley Line (now Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad), and finally to the KLSC. It likely never saw service on KLSC and was stored at the Teapot Dome siding with the Michigan Central/NYC RPO and both have been presumed scrapped. https://www.railroadmichigan.com/klsc1020.jpg
I don’t have much more information. I don’t think Padnos scrapped many locomotives. I wonder if they bought it for use or if they or someone else bought it for scrap.
I didn’t remember seeing this until I digitized the footage.
The KLSC passenger car was likely on its way to Paw Paw as that operation ran from 1987 until 1995. It was a former Erie passenger car that ended up going to the Midwest Railway Historical Foundation, later Cuyahoga Valley Line (now Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad), and finally to the KLSC. It likely never saw service on KLSC and was stored at the Teapot Dome siding with the Michigan Central/NYC RPO and both have been presumed scrapped. https://www.railroadmichigan.com/klsc1020.jpg
In the better-than-expected news department, I don’t believe the MC/NYC RPO car was scrapped. I’m 99% sure it’s the one at the National NYC RR Museum in Elkhart. I was not expecting to have a reason to reference a random NYC Museum newsletter I just happened to come across recently for this thread, but here we are. The Winter 1997 issue had a brief note about the arrival of an MC/NYC RPO which had been in storage in Lawrence, MI. My scanner is not hooked up, so I snapped a photo of the write up and photo.
The car got a new coat of paint (you can see the gloss in the photo below) and was stabilized a bit either before or after arrival, but I’m not sure much of any attention has been paid to it in Elkhart. Originally, it was placed in a somewhat prototypical fashion right behind the 3001, but after some shuffling around a dozen or more years ago it is way down at the far west end with the south shore car, generally forgotten. It is certainly not actively interpreting RPO history, as originally intended. But at least it was not scrapped. Anyhow, the mystery of the MC RPO is hereby resolved!
In the better-than-expected news department, I don’t believe the MC/NYC RPO car was scrapped. I’m 99% sure it’s the one at the National NYC RR Museum in Elkhart. I was not expecting to have a reason to reference a random NYC Museum newsletter I just happened to come across recently for this thread, but here we are. The Winter 1997 issue had a brief note about the arrival of an MC/NYC RPO which had been in storage in Lawrence, MI. My scanner is not hooked up, so I snapped a photo of the write up and photo.
The car got a new coat of paint (you can see the gloss in the photo below) and was stabilized a bit either before or after arrival, but I’m not sure much of any attention has been paid to it in Elkhart. Originally, it was placed in a somewhat prototypical fashion right behind the 3001, but after some shuffling around a dozen or more years ago it is way down at the far west end with the south shore car, generally forgotten. It is certainly not actively interpreting RPO history, as originally intended. But at least it was not scrapped. Anyhow, the mystery of the MC RPO is hereby resolved!
IMG_4155.jpeg
Wow, thank you for sharing that info GP30M4216! This thread solved a number of mysteries!
Very glad to learn we did not lose a Michigan Central car to the scrapper in the 1990s!
Yes! Always fun to solve a rolling stock mystery and even better when that mystery doesn’t conclude in a scrap yard. Not much Michigan Central equipment survives. I don't know what the Elkhart museum’s plans are long term but there does seem to be a concerted effort to get a few pieces of rolling stock fixed up. They had a few fund raisers last year for the caboose parked near the Main Street crossing on the stub track.
Circling back around to the RS-1 theme, Michigan railroads had a few notable examples which became fan favorites. GTW had a pair, #1950-1951. I think one of those is at IRM? Annie had a couple and at least one of them is preserved. In the U.P., DSS&A had as least one which I believe has been restored to operation on a tourist line. There’s a couple others still around as well.
GTW 1951 is preserved at IRM. AA 20 and 21 are both preserved, one in Shephard and the other down in Raisin Center. Saginaw Valley Railway Museum has a former Consumer's Power RS1 on display. Coopersville & Marne also has ex Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RS1 2394 "Corkpine Express" on display. On the UP side of things, a Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RS1 is preserved at Lake Superior Railroad museum.
GTW 1951 is preserved at IRM. AA 20 and 21 are both preserved, one in Shephard and the other down in Raisin Center. Saginaw Valley Railway Museum has a former Consumer's Power RS1 on display. Coopersville & Marne also has ex Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RS1 2394 "Corkpine Express" on display. On the UP side of things, a Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RS1 is preserved at Lake Superior Railroad museum.
Great RS1 survey, Jon, thanks for providing all these details I didn’t have at my fingertips! I forgot about the Corkpine Express, and that’s the closest one to me! The DSSA unit at Lake Superior was restored to operation and there are some incredible photos of it online; I’m not sure if it runs presently.
That RS 1,the Corkpine Express-- I remember reading long ago that before it came to Michigan, that it was originally a RUTLAND unit. That, or do I has it confused with something else......... ??????????
GTW 1951 is preserved at IRM. AA 20 and 21 are both preserved, one in Shephard and the other down in Raisin Center. Saginaw Valley Railway Museum has a former Consumer's Power RS1 on display. Coopersville & Marne also has ex Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RS1 2394 "Corkpine Express" on display. On the UP side of things, a Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RS1 is preserved at Lake Superior Railroad museum.
I have recently discovered that a second DSS&A RS-1 is apparently around and is not well documented. The Indiana Railroad Museum in French Lick, Indiana has an RS-1 painted for the Algers, Winslow and Western and was originally built as DSS&A #103.
1223 OUT! President and Founder of the Buck Creek Central, the Rolling River Route! (2012-2017) President and Founder of the Lamberton Valley Railroad, The Tin Plate Road! Proudly railfanning with Asperger's since 1996.
I have recently discovered that a second DSS&A RS-1 is apparently around and is not well documented. The Indiana Railroad Museum in French Lick, Indiana has an RS-1 painted for the Algers, Winslow and Western and was originally built as DSS&A #103.
This unit is still active too on IRM's French Lick Scenic tourist trains and their freight hauling division, the Dubois County Railroad. We're two for two on operable DSSA RS1s still in existence!
