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From: "J DOT Henry Priebe Jr DOT " root AT net DOT bluemoon DOT net
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 13:46:19 -0500 (EST)
Subject: RE: (erielack) 16" gauge DL&W --- & Erie too!
"Erie-July1960Page05.jpg" - image/jpeg, 50128 bytes, 513x386 (256c)

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003, Ken & Carol Dabisch wrote:

> NOTE: This message had contained at least one image attachment.
> To view or download the image(s), click on or cut and paste the following URL into your web browser:
>
>
> http://www.Railfan.net/lists/listthumb.cgi?erielack-10-29-03
>
> Erie_mag_-_Jan_1949.jpg (image/jpeg, 34296 bytes)
>
> Regarding the recent discussion of DL&W 16" gauge trains, here's a photo
> that was in the Jan. 1949 Erie magazine (maybe some of you are akready
> aware of this) showing an Erie 16" gauge train.
>
> "The Train Collectors Quarterly", the magazine of the TCA (Train
> Collectors Association) has been running a series of articles about
> amusement park trains, if anyone is interested in pursuing this. The
> latest issue had the Erie picture in it. Don't recall if there were
> pictures of any DL&W locos in previous issues.
>
> Ken Dabisch

I thought I had recalled an amusement park train in one of the Erie Magzines
and I finally got around to digging it up.

The Cleveland Zoo had a 16" Erie passenger train pulled by F units painted up
like Erie E8's and it was done at Meadville!

It was on the cover of the July 1960 Erie Magazine and there was an article
about it on page 5 with some photos.

Here are three shots of the train and some text about the train from the
article:


Perfect Model

Said to be a perfect model, to
one-fifth scale, of the Erie's PA-
20 Diesel-electric locomotive, the
pocket-sized power package con-
sists of one A and one B unit, de-
veloping 800 pounds of drawbar
pull--enough to move the five
passenger cars, painted like the
Erie's 1000-series coaches, over
the 16-inch gauge track, laid with
10 to 12 pound to the yard rail, at
what seems to be express train
speed.

Fully loaded, the train has a ca-
pacity of 60 passengers.
But the little railroad has other
similarities with the Erie. Just as
the Erie today has but one main-
line tunnel, at Otisville, N. Y., so
the little Erie has but one tunnel
-- and on the little Erie it serves
a double purpose.

For the operators of the little
Erie think so highly of the paint
job put on at Meadville that they
don't leave the train out overnight.
It is run into the tunnel, and then
the wings of the tunnel entrance
are closed, even though they look
like solid masonry, and the train
is "garaged" for the night, pre-
venting any dew from falilng upon
it.

Every year more than 650,000
people will see the train, and the
operators report a fine reception
for the Erie prototype in its first
year of operation.

It was built, not merely to give
the general impression of a8 train,
but to be one. The tightlock
couplers between the cars are
tightlock couplers in miniature;
even the knobs on the doors of
the sandboxes are to scale.


Diesel-Hydraulic Loco

Naturally enough, under the
skin it has to be different -- or it
would cost as much or more than
a full-scale locomotive. Instead of
a complicated system of electrical
controls, the engines drive the 16
wheels through a fluid drive.
And the engines are air, not
fluid cooled. There are two four-
cylinder engines, one in the A, the
other in the B unit.
But these are details that in-
terest the purist only. Children
think it wonderful--and while
they ride it their parents are im-
pressed, without their knowing
why or how, with the importance
of the Erie Railroad as a carrier
of freight, as a way to travel and
as a member of the community.


I wonder what happened to it...

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr. Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
www.bluemoon.net Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net Railfan Network Services


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