For a single day, steam locomotion returned to central Kentucky.
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Jeddo Coal Co. Locomotive #85 made a guest appearance at the Kentucky Railway Museum. Ticketed rides were offered all day, and the crowd swelled with train enthusiasts.
Train aficionados, mostly men, are a dedicated bunch. But the steam locomotive guys are another track altogether. They talk trains, follow trains, record sightings, and inhale the wafting smoke like perfume. One gent told me excitedly, “Been a long time since they’s had steam in New Haven!”
The steam in this locomotive was produced by burning coal which heats a giant water tank.
After each hour-long run, a swarm of volunteers helped load more coal with a bucket brigade.
The event brought out other steam powered engines, such as a pair of wood-burning tractors. One guy even had a hand-built radio controlled miniature steam roller, smartly painted with the name, “Small Ass Roller Company, Ltd.”
But the main attraction was Mack – #85 with its blasting whistle and billowing smokestack. A small engine, it was built in 1928 to service the coal mines in northeast Pennsylvania.
After the engine pulled out of the station, I heard we could catch another look over at the Howardstown crossing. A bunch of us jumped in cars to beat the train there. No need to rush – Mack only goes 9 mph. I wondered how it managed to travel all the way to New Haven at such a slow speed. Turns out it was transported here on a flatbed trailer.
While we waited at the crossing, the train guys peppered me with jargon. They could reel off engine numbers, models, and specifications without pause. It was impressive, and I told them so. “Mack is a 0-4-0T saddle tank,” they said happily, followed by more coded lingo I couldn’t understand.
The ticketed rides were sold out long ago, but I was content to view the train from the siding.
One last whistle and the steam locomotive trundled out of sight. A fine day on the tracks!
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2 comments
Very cool Richie!
You’ve roused my Steampunk inclinations, Richie. I haven’t seen piles of coal like that since I was a kid and followed my grandfathers down to their basements and gazed in amazement from the safe distance of the basement stairs as they pulled on heavy gloves, opened the door that showed Hell gazing back, while the guy with the shovel drove it into the pile of coal that had been delivered through a coal shut. If Daddy was along on the visit, he made shoveling coal in the furnace his treat for his Dad and his father-in-law, who he called Pop (I often think my Dad liked his mother and father-in-law more than his own parents). We kids trailed along for the glory of how the turn of the century two story houses were both heated. The fireplaces had all been blocked up when the steam furnace arrived.