It is October and I am in Byesville, Ohio with my parents waiting for the Byesville Scenic's steam excursion to come around the bend. It is a nice, warm afternoon and with the evening shadows approaching, here it comes, just down the track.

Here is Ohio Central Railroad's Pacific #1293, a 4-6-2, quietly approaching the street crossing. Everyone stops to watch the sight.

Here is the Pacific, stopped at the "end of the line" while the passenger's unload.

A close up of the front of the engine. The data plate on the side there will tell you that this engine was built in 1948. My dad was 31 years old then and I was six years into the future.

The tracks number 1293 stands on were once part of the PRR's line from Cleveland to Marietta. I don't know how much is left north of where I stood, but all that remains here is this short section from Cambridge, through Byesville and just a few miles south. There are no tracks to Marietta at all today, just CSX into the Harmar side of the town (west of the Muskingum River). According to the Byesville Scenic's web page (http://www.bsrw.org/)
most of the traffic on the "Marietta Branch" was coal, in the Byesville area. Once the coal was consumed, the railroad had no more interest in the area and so the slow decline began.
But today, it was unique to see this engine run again. Get out to see these old behemoths. As they get older and older, there will be a day when they cannot run again. Watch while you can!
To stand beside the engine and here the noises, its sounds like it is panting, wheezing and gurgling. Like it is alive. Quite different from the quiet running a/c engines of today!
Good job Byesville Scenic! Quite a show!