Last week we visited the National New York Central Railroad Museum (NYCRR) located in Elkhart, Indiana.
The New York Central Railroad was at one time the second largest railroad in the United States being located in eleven states and two Canadian provinces with 11,000 route miles of track.
Elkhart is the home of the largest railroad freight classification yard east of the Mississippi, the Norfolk Southern Railway's Elkhart yard, which made it a natural location for the museum.
The museum's goal is to educate the public on the history of the vast New York Central System and its progression into the modern era.
Below is a picture of a General Motor's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive that is on display at the museum. I will get into it more later on in the blog.
An EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive on display at the NYCRR Museum. |
Below is a 1/12 scale working model of a L2A Mohawk steam engine which was built by Richard Stolzenfelds who was a locomotive engineer for the Santa Fe railroad. He based the model off an actual New York Central (NYC) locomotive blueprints. It is an amazing model which is very detailed.
A model of a L2A Mohawk steam engine.
Outside is the New York Central #3001, a L3A Mohawk steam engine which was purchased in 1940 to be used as a dual service steam locomotive to move both heavy freight and passenger cars.
There have been many rumors that this steam engine was to be rebuilt and used as a tourist attraction operating twelve months out of the year.
Many train enthusiasts would love this to happen, but I think that politics and the high cost of rebuilding has put this idea to bed.
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Avery, Courtney, Tia, Chloe, Ethan, & Ian posing in front of NYC #3001's massive wheels. |
Control room for the O gauge model railroad tracks in the museum. |
A model crashed bi-plane on the model railroad. |
Front view of the EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive on display at the museum. |
The EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive has a diesel engine which runs the on-board generators that power the electric motors that actually drive the wheels. Most people think it is the diesel engine that drives the wheels. So in essence, it is an electric train that carries its own power plant.
A view of the NYC #3001 through the windshield while inside the cab of the E8 locomotive.
View of NYC #3001. |
Below is a picture of the inside cab where the engineer would drive the train engine.
Engineer / Operator controls inside the cab of the E8 locomotive. |
Below you can see the size of the piston (just above and to the right of Tia's head) compared to Ethan and Tia. I had a picture with Misty next to the piston, which was a better comparison, but the expression on her face was less than flattering, so I had to crop the picture above.
One of the pistons out of the V-12 diesel engine in the EMD E8. |
Ethan & Tia next to the piston out of the V-12 diesel engine. |
Toothpick Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific. |
Side view of the Toothpick Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific. |
The 1/6 scale model also has moving parts that include the brakes, side rods, wheels, and windows.
Close up details for the Toothpick Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific. |
The museum also has plenty of hands on displays such as the miniature tracks that you could stake down.
Ethan and Ian testing their hammering skills while Mother watches closely. |
Throughout the entire museum there were train bells that could be rung such as this one that came off of NYC #3001.
Ethan ringing the bell off of the NYC #3001. |
I guess the scenes of chasing someone across the roof of any of these trains was not possible since the below warning was stenciled on the wall at both ends of this caboose.
And the doctor said, "No more employees jumping on the bed!" or in this case, the roof. |
Just one of the cabooses that was part of the rolling stock at the museum.
The old caboose ain't what it used to be. |
This is what you get when your three year old thinks he is going to go on a train ride, but then discovers that he is not going on a train ride because we missed the last available train for the day.
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