4449 & 765

[RailCanon]

Just a little thread for the return moves of SP 4449 and Nickel Plate 765 from Trainfestival to their homes in Portland, OR and New Haven, IN, respectively. I decided to create this thread as I feel the original Trainfest update thread has served its intended purpose, seeing the festival itself is now done.
For the record, the current plans are as follows...

SP 4449: The Daylight will depart the state of Michigan on July 31st. The tenative schedule calls for a 12:00 PM departure from Durand for a run to Chicago. More information on this move may be posted, if it becomes available. The engine will layover in Chicago on August 1 before moving to Milwaukee on August 2 and Minneapolis on August 3. The engine will remain in Mineapolis for some fall color excursions in October before returning the rest of the way to Portland, OR.
http://www.trainfestival2009.com/4449-schedule.php
http://www.westbound4449.com

NKP 765: The 765 will remain in Owosso until late October. It is tenatively scheduled to pull a photo freight at the end of August and doublehead with PM 1225 between Alma and Cadillac on October 3.

That's all for now. Just thought I'd post this to set the record straight, as I know many people are either wondering or confused about this stuff.

[Gov. Crappo]

plans for Hamburg's Railroad days on the 12th of Sept?....1225 is advertised....will 765 sub?....will GLC supply some Geeps?....any clue?... ...that'd be a easy lil chase from my house

[amtrak1007]

So looking at the website for the 4449, and using the times she took on her way east, the WB trip COULD look like this

Depart
Durand 1200
Lansing 1330
Battle Creek 1430
Kalamazoo 1530 (meet 352 just west of here)
Dowagiac 1615
Niles 1700
Michigan City Drawbridge 1830

All times ET...
Notes:
Train will be following 353, at Battle Creek.
Meet 353 around Kalamazoo (if both keep to "schedule")
Meeet 364 between Niles and Dowagiac (if both keep to "schedule")

again this is all conjecture, the author takes no reponcibility for "acts of God" or "acts of dispatchers"

Have a safe day watching the railroad.

[J T]

The more delays on Friday, the better....starting with a delayed departure from Durand.

[MDH]

plans for Hamburg's Railroad days on the 12th of Sept?....1225 is advertised....will 765 sub?....will GLC supply some Geeps?....any clue?... ...that'd be a easy lil chase from my house

I'm also curious about this one as I was thinking about taking my son to ride it? Anyone know what's going to be up with that?

Also, how about "consolidating" and adding the Southern FP7 return trip to this thread also? Any ideas when that might move out? I'm assuming reverse route of how it got here (i.e. down GLC/AA to Toledo and then NS pick it up and take South...)

Thanks,
Michael

[Larry G]

Any idea yet when the 4449 will move down to Durand from Owosso yet?

[~Z~]

Any idea yet when the 4449 will move down to Durand from Owosso yet?

I was talking to one of the crew members from 4449 on Saturday, and he mentioned that it might go Owosso to Durand late Thursday night(7/30) but had about an equal chance of going around 7-8am Friday morning.
They are also again expecting to take it to Michigan City where 4449 will again head off on it's own to get to Chicago.

[CSX_CO]

Any idea yet when the 4449 will move down to Durand from Owosso yet?

I was talking to one of the crew members from 4449 on Saturday, and he mentioned that it might go Owosso to Durand late Thursday night(7/30) but had about an equal chance of going around 7-8am Friday morning.
They are also again expecting to take it to Michigan City where 4449 will again head off on it's own to get to Chicago.

Drat. I was hoping they'd leave it on the point of the train to Indiana Harbor, and cut it off at Hick Tower for its move down the IHB. At least then you'd be able to get a few shots of it around the steel mills with train in tow.

Practice Safe CSX

[Larry G]

Thanks, I am trying to get back to Owosso, if it works to follow it down to Durand. Would appreciate all the pre Durand information.
Will be waiting somewhere along the high iron of CN for the high speed pass on Friday.

[rwas]

Was told by an acquaintance that was in Owosso for festival that he had talked to someone associated with the 1225 crew and that 765 is staying in Owosso for up to a year. 1225 has federal inspection coming up and work to be done to it. Said 765 is running fall trip and maybe more. Did not talk with someone personally but this man has been around railroading all his life, is in his 70's and would probably not pass on incorrect info unless someone was wrong in telling him. Don't mean to sound as if I have the inside scoop just passing on some info you all would more than likely find interesting to chew on. Ron

[SMRSTM]

That is what I actually heard before 765 even headed north, that they would layover as 1225 had its bolier inspection upcoming, and dependant on when it was done, 765 might have ended up pulling the Polar Express. Now with 1225's flue issues (which I hope are substantially minor) sounds like a better possibility. Or mebe better yet if they get her fixed, a 1225/765 Polar Express double header!!!
But again, Like Ron, this was not from anyone directly connected to 765 or SRI, just a couple folks I know from NS and the Annie.
I will leave the REAL info (instead of my high hopes!) to folks in the know like Gregg or 1225Hogger, etc

[RailCanon]

I wouldn't exactly classify myself as one being "in the know" but I do have quite a few connections with people in that catagory...
That being said, I've gotten a new bit of information regarding 4449's return trip.
I hope you guys enjoyed that 40 MPH Speed restriction on the eastbound trip, because it won't be like that again. For the westbound trip, the 4449 will have a limit of 60 MPH on the Amtrak Michigan Line. However, the engine will still be restricted to 40 MPH on the NS Michigan Line between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo per NS Timetable rules.

[mrconductor55]

According to NKP 765's twitter it will be in owosso til october

@juliewbee The 765 will be in Owosso until the middle of October.
about 9 hours ago from web in reply to juliewbee

[trnwatcher]

That is what I actually heard before 765 even headed north, that they would layover as 1225 had its bolier inspection upcoming, and dependant on when it was done, 765 might have ended up pulling the Polar Express. Now with 1225's flue issues (which I hope are substantially minor) sounds like a better possibility. Or mebe better yet if they get her fixed, a 1225/765 Polar Express double header!!!
But again, Like Ron, this was not from anyone directly connected to 765 or SRI, just a couple folks I know from NS and the Annie.
I will leave the REAL info (instead of my high hopes!) to folks in the know like Gregg or 1225Hogger, etc

I actually overheard an SRI board member saying that due to the flue issues with 1225 it most likely will not run the remainder of the 2009. If they fix the flues now to allow 1225 to pull the fall\Polar trips, more than half of the work will need to be removed when they do the boiler work anyhow. Seeing that they are not drownding in money the flue work will most likely be pushed off until after the boiler work in finished. This will to be left up to a board vote as to whether they want to spend these dollars twice on the flues. The SRI is in discussions with the Ft. Wayne staff about keeping 765 around for the fall trips and possibly the Polar Express runs as well but nothing has been finalized. It sounded like they wanted to see what the "bottom line" was from Trainfest before making any such decisions.

[chapmaja]

Per the latest twitter tweet, 1225 is going to be repaired in time for the double with 765 and 1225 in early October. It looks like they are going to spare the expense to repair 1225 for this fall so she likely will be leading the Polar Express trains as well. Good news for those who had bought tickets for the 1225-765 excursion.

[RailCanon]

I've heard many different versions of this story, including the two posted right above this post. My advice, as I've said before, is to wait and see what happens. Remember, they haven't had a chance to really survey the damage due to the festival. There may be more damage or surprises lurking inside that may need to be repaired.

[chapmaja]

Gregg I would suggest you take issue with the 765 Twitter Group as they are the ones who have publically stated the engine will be running for the double header in October.

[RailCanon]

Things could change Jim.
There were public postings in May/June that indicated 4449 would be pulling excursions for the NRHS convention in Duluth, MN. In reality, there were no firm plans for these moves and they will not be happening after all.
I heard a lot of similar explanations from FWRHS people, but a few of the SRI people I spoke to had different tones.

[A No.1]

plans for Hamburg's Railroad days on the 12th of Sept?....1225 is advertised....will 765 sub?....will GLC supply some Geeps?....any clue?... ...that'd be a easy lil chase from my house

I may be asking the dumb question, Is that Hamburg PA?

[SD80MAC]

plans for Hamburg's Railroad days on the 12th of Sept?....1225 is advertised....will 765 sub?....will GLC supply some Geeps?....any clue?... ...that'd be a easy lil chase from my house

I may be asking the dumb question, Is that Hamburg PA?

Nope, Hamburg, MI. Between Howell and Ann Arbor, I think.