Took the grandson and wife to see Nickel Plate 765 head into Ashville, Oh (south of Columbus) on the NS line to Portsmouth. The train stopped in Ashville to take on water, via a fire hydrant, and for some crew going over that all steam engines need.
Here you see 765 coming into Ashville.
The crew was extremely busy oiling, greasing (you could hear the air powered grease gun!), and just checking things out. There was a large ground crew swarming all over the engine.
In the bygone days of steam, not that many people were needed!
Another view of the engine and crew.
How much oil do I add? I dunno, but I guess this crewman knew the right amount. He kept climbing up his ladder and looking in the reservoir to check. There was both NS crew and
Fort Wayne Railroad crewmembers working on the engine.
765 is running on NS's rails as part of their celebration of thirty years as a corporation. Behind 765 is NS's Nickel Plate heritage engine.
765 is from
Fort Wayne, Indiana and is part of the historical museum located there.
This is for all you modelers out there.
765 is just about ready to leave Ashville.
Most of the crew are aboard and just a few more checks.
Here is 765 heading south just out of Circleville. If the lights hadn't been so long, traffic so...well you know... I would have been able to have some great shots in Circleville, but I just managed to get some from an overpass south of town. I didn't see the power line in the foreground in my haste to get the shot.
I did get to this overpass just north of Kingston, just north of Chillicothe.
Here is a photograph of the steam dome (nearest the bottom of the photo), the sand dome-note all the lines leading down on the right side of the engine.
On the steam dome you can see the whistle. The sand is to provide traction for the driving wheels, of which there are eight (four to a side).
Behind the sand dome and just before the cab roof you can see the steam driven motors that supply air for the draft of the engine's fire.
765 splits the signals heading towards Kingston. This photo is best viewed by right clicking on it and viewing as a larger image.
765 leaves us as it heads south out of Kingston towards Portsmouth on the Ohio River. It is just about to cross route 159.
It was a great adventure to watch this piece of history come alive!
