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(erielack) DL&W F3 Volunteer - Tobyhanna bound

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Great news, all,

After a successful run to Tobyhanna on July 16th, Steamtown officials asked about using the F3s again this coming Saturday for its next Tobyhanna trip.  It's a little soon to predict the weather, but it looks good so far so c'mon out to see the fruits of our labor pulling trains in the Poconos.  Tickets are available if you'd like to ride.  The train leaves Scranton at 11:00 a.m. and returns about 3:00 p.m. As before, fares are $34 for adults and $22 for kids.  Tickets should be purchased in advance, and instructions are on the NPS website; the link to the schedules pages is at:    http://www.nps.gov/stea/planyourvisit/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=317710   The 7/16 trip stopped at Gouldsboro on the way back, but according to the schedule this coming Saturday's will not, so plan your photo locations accordingly, or enjoy the ride.

Plans are still shaping up for the F3s to play a small role in the upcoming ELHS Convention September 30th weekend.  Watch for news there.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the F3s from this past month's events.  Enjoy, all, this is what we've worked for. The F3s are making a great impression on Steamtown visitors, and they look great on the main line.  Thanks again to all who made it possible.

                    ....Mike Del Vecchio


Below: View this one BIG!  Gary Pancavage lensed the July 16th train with 663 in the lead as it rounded the curve at Moscow on the return.  No paint ever gleamed more proudly.  That's ARHS's Rich Jahn waiving from the fireman's window as he was the F3's caretaker on this trip.  A few little glitches occurred during the day, but with each run the little problems are corrected.  Thanks, Gary, for allowing us to use of his photos from that day.






Below: One of my favorite scenes is being lost to foliage, but for this year we can still get the view of the Nay Aug tunnels from the overlook at Nay Aug Park.   This is an afternoon westbound showing the return trip in the 3:00 p.m. sun on July 16th. This scene might be a little more open by the fall when some of the leaves are down.  The nose door apparently swung itself open while in the Roaring Brook Gorge in a scene sorta recalling the Erie-Lackawanna days when the crews would prop the nose doors open for ventilation.  Gary Pancavage contributed the image.





Below: Chad Hubler posted on the Steamtown facebook page the only photo we've seen circulated one of the F3s on the yard shuttle, here on July 14th, the Thursday before the first trip to Tobyhanna.  This day while 664 was on the "Scranton Limited" yard shuttle, Steamtown people were helping us troubleshoot a transition circuit on the 663.  While in Jim Thorpe the track speed was such that the F3s didn't go fast enough to make transition, a diesel locomotive's way of shifting gears. Here on the former-Lackawanna main line, the electrical cabinet needs everything working as it did in 1948. Preston Cook spent a lot of time in his files from his days as an locomotive maintenance instructor at EMD to help us find the correct drawings and specs to set up the transition circuits and relays. Preston and Steamtown's Mike Tillger passed much information and PDFs over a couple of weeks, and the result is a properly set up 663 in time for July 16th trip.  It turns out that the 663 was up
 graded on the Bangor & Aroostook about 1955 to F9 electricals set up for the 1500 horsepower of an F3. F9s were 1750 horsepower. The 663, originally BAR 504 and later 44, then CNJ 57, hadn't made transition since 1987 or so on the Morristown & Erie while pulling freight over NJTransit's former Lackawanna main line.
- --6ecd3d05-0d1d-44ef-9c01-bb71c21e61a1

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