NOT-SO-GIANTS OF THE RAILS


Small Steam Sojourn


BY STEVE BARRY/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR I


t all started with an invitation from the folks at the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East, Penn. “Would you like to come up and do the lighting for a night photo session dur- ing our steam weekend?” they asked. Of course I said yes. They would have Viscose Company 0-4-0T No. 6, one of the “traveling steam engines” that visit otherwise steamless tourist railroads, in


the weekend, creating some unique opportunities. And Nick Hovey, who was my contact with LSRM, said he’d try to track down a second night photo subject for the following evening. The trip got even more interesting


for 58 SEPTEMBER 2013 • RAILFAN.COM


when we found out that video that was shot by Emily Moser of the popular website I Ride The Harlem Line (www.iridetheharlemline.com) for use with last month’s feature on the Cedar Point & Lake Erie in Ohio was not us- able due to a technical issues. With Cedar Point less than three hours from North East, it didn’t take much con- vincing for us to return to the three-foot coal fired operation to reshoot the video and visit the railroad’s friendly people. (Plus, I wanted to ride the coaster Mil- lennium Force again and get my first ride on Top Thrill Dragster). So the afternoon of August 17 found


us at North East where Viscose 6 was running back and forth with “student engineer” sessions. The locomotive was built by Baldwin in 1924 for the Amer- ican Viscose Company of Roanoke, Va., and was sold to Gem Cities Iron & Met- al in Pulaski, Va., in the early 1960s. In September 2004 Scott Symans of Dunkirk, N.Y., purchased the engine and rebuilt it for service. Since 2007 it has ridden the highways on a lowboy trailer visiting a variety of tourist rail- roads and museums, and has partici- pated in three Train Festivals. While I shot some still photos and caught up with a few friends, Emily


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