I’m sure when Jon gets home he’ll have some pix to put up. He doesn’t get WiFi where he’s staying in the campground. And he’ll probably give you a better commentary than I did.
I was there for 2 days and never did get to the roundhouse tour or the shop tour or get to ride in M-1, but hey, there’s always next year…
Ken,
Glad you and Jon had a great time. Looks like the weather was perfect, criap and clear for great steam and great photos.
Great pictures and looks like a fun weekend. I will have to put that on my list.
Shawn,
It is very much worthwhile. You are so close and the Fall Spectacular is so good. The FEBT works on the buildings and has Spring and Winter explorations of the old right of way. There are great books and though connected to the outside World, it was and is a World unto itself.
Check these out. -
http://quickpicbooks.homestead.com/files/EBTngbooks.htm#
And of course Kevin’s site -
I was there on Saturday. Besides the rolling stock, I love the structures…
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/old_iron/DSC_0129.JPG)
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/old_iron/DSC_0130.JPG)
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/old_iron/DSC_0134.JPG)
Took my first ride on the M1, very cool. I want one in F scale.
“I want one in F scale”
I agree. I’ve had a chance to ride the M-1 many times and talk to the guys that have kept it going. The ride at night in the coach was very cool, because the darkness outside wrapped you into a pre 1950’s World with the lights and sounds of what it was like.
I’ve also ridden in the baggage compartment and got the feel of the ride with the baggage doors open and another time able to sit right behind the engineer and to see what he saw going down the track. The best may have been with the bulkhead removed, because of some repair, and seeing how the whole system worked. It is a great example of little rigs both standard and narrow gauge that protected mail contracts through out this Country.
After a short stop at Dave R’s where I met up again with Ken and also Dave M and a bunch of Dave R’s friends, we got home about 10:30 PM on Monday. My pictures are still in the camera. Most, except for evening and night shots are pretty much the same as Ken’s, so I won’t bore you all with duplicates.
The night photo shoot was a disaster. Pouring rain, trying to walk around in the yards with all the security lighting off, carrying a camera on top of an extended tripod and trying not to trip over the junk between the rails that you can’t see in the dark… After the second set-up the Lumidyne flash pack shorted out from water and exploded, so we were done. Just as well. Any more water and my camera would have not recovered. As it was, it wasn’t happy Saturday morning until the sun came out and helped dry it better.
On the bright side, the weather overall was much better than forecast. Friday afternoon was great with afternoon sun for the Photographer’s Special for which I did not have a ticket. They tried to chase me out of the parking area at the Runk Rd. bridge, but my car battery died and I couldn’t move 
Ended up getting some great shots and then a jump start from a fellow FEBT member, George. I did the 5PM speeder ride to Colgate Grove which was a blast, then dinner at Pizza Star before heading back to get drenched at the photo shoot. So I guess I do have some different pictures I can post 
Saturday and Sunday weather was good as evidenced by Ken’s pictures. Overcast skies Saturday morning made for good photo lighting, and bright sunny skies on Sunday.
I did ride the M1, but at night which was not a good idea. Nothing at all to see. That, and the ride back from the grove was super slow as the steam train had to be towed home by M7 with us behind it. The better ride was the caboose cupola with Marilyn and Ken. We almost didn’t get the seats since Joe K. decided it was OK for him, as the owner, to cut the line and fill an entire caboose with his family. Fortunately the railroad decided at the last minute to add two chair cars to the head of the freight train, otherwise there would have been a bunch of angry passengers left waiting in the line.
I tried to pry Ken out of the yards at Rockhill to go see some other parts of the active and dormant line, but he was happy taking pictures there. Maybe next time 
Hey Geoff - Sorry we missed you. Like me, it looks like you prefer the derelict look. I have mixed feelings about the FEBT’s restoration efforts. I’m glad they are saving structures, replacing glass, and painting - but on the other hand, I love the derelict look. As you found out back, there is still plenty of unpainted wood and boarded up windows to fix.
Ric - I wish I would have been able to have those thoughts on my M-1 ride. The loud conversation next to me about repairing a gas furnace kind of killed the mood. And it got REAL cold
Jon Radder said:Yea, that's it, blame me...................;)
I tried to pry Ken out of the yards at Rockhill to go see some other parts of the active and dormant line, but he was happy taking pictures there. Maybe next time :D
If you hadn’t been filling my head with all those little tidbits of info about this, that, and the other, I wouldn’t have had half as much fun. You made an excellent tour guide, Jon and I really appreciated that!!
Tk’s… for all of trhe Photos… That was great to see and looks like everyone had a great time even if the air pump had problems…
Jon Radder said:
Hey Geoff - Sorry we missed you. Like me, it looks like you prefer the derelict look. I have mixed feelings about the FEBT’s restoration efforts. I’m glad they are saving structures, replacing glass, and painting - but on the other hand, I love the derelict look. As you found out back, there is still plenty of unpainted wood and boarded up windows to fix.
Jon, Yes, sorry we didn’t meet. In the antique motorcycle world there is a big difference between preservation and restoration… preserving in original condition (highly prized) vs. total ground up restoration to what it looked like when it left the factory. Some of the EBT equipment is too far gone.
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/old_iron/DSC_0163.JPG)
I understand that the FEBT has plans to rebuild this box car.
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/old_iron/DSC_0086.JPG)
Frame looks sound, sides are probably unusable & roof missing.
The boxcar restoration is a long way down the road. Did you get a chance to see the combine they are working on in the Paint Shop? Tons of work already done stripping off the rot, and hundreds of tons of work left to replace rotted side sills etc. There is only a handful of guys actively working on restoration. They could really use more help, one weekend a month.
The side-dump 2-bay that was in the freight train is an example of the work they are capable of. It was almost as bad as the hopper in your photo. Today it is operational and is the only example of a car with arch bar trucks that can be easily seen.
I’d be there working if it wasn’t so far for me. They don’t want to hear that though since several of the active volunteers come from much further every month
I was there Saturday and had originally planned to spend part of the day Sunday but decided to head home early. It was good to see Ken and Jon again. I didn’t take a lot of photos as I have pretty much captured most of the Orbisonia area on film in the past. My main goal this trip was to just soak up the ambiance. I rode behind #15 in an open car, rode the M1 and took a speeder ride (a real hoot) and a trolley ride as well. I lost track of Ken and Jon after the M-1 ride. I did get to watch them turn the M-3 on the turntable which seemed a bit strange but the Y was pretty busy with trolley and other traffic.
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/gary_buchanan/m-3.jpg)
Shortly thereafter they rolled out the M-1
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/gary_buchanan/m-1.jpg)
Here’s a photo of the hopper mentioned earlier that was restored by the Friends
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/gary_buchanan/hop-01.jpg)
and a shot of #15 simmering next to the truck in EBT livery
Here are just a few of the over 800 shots I took over the weekend… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_01-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_01-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]M-1 waiting in the roundhouse Friday morning.FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Several of the people who paid for tickets on the Photo Freight were not to happy with those of us who chased the train. I did pay for the night shoot which fizzled (literally) so I don’t feel I “cheated” the railroad out of the ticket price for the photo train. I spent plenty on tickets, more than those who bought the photo train only. I had been experimenting with photo modes and forgot my camera was set on monochrome. Several of the resulting ‘mistakes’ came out great - here’s two examples… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_02-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_02-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]EBT 15 pulls a coal train under the tell-tale at McMullin’s Summit on Friday - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_03-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_03-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]The coal stove in the caboose keeps the crew warm - McMullin’s Summit - Friday - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_04-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_04-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]EBT No. 15 and a string of empties head North over the fill at Runk Road - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_05-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_05-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]No. 15’s safety pops on the fill at Runk Road - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_06-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_06-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Courtney mans the controls of a vintage EBT Speeder at Colgate Grove on Friday - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_07-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_07-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]M-3 at the end of 3-rail on the Shade Gap branch on Friday - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_08-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_08-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]The Speeder collection ready to head back to Rockhill Furnace from the end of 3-rail on the Shade Gap branch - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_09-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_09-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Courtney awaits the all-clear to head back into the yard to finish the Friday speeder run- FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] After the speeder trip to Colgate Grove, which was the highlight of the weekend, we went over to Pizza Star I for dinner. After dinner, I waited under the station overhang for the night photo session to start and experimented with long available light exposures of the caboose… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_10-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_10-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]EBT coal train and caboose wait on the wye in Rockhill Furnace for the festivities (and heavy rain) to begin- FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] And here are the only two poses that were set for the night shoot before the Lumidyne flash system exploded from getting too wet. Not perfect, but considering it was a downpour and I had never done this before, I think I got a couple of good shots… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_11-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_11-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]EBT 15 and a string of empties ready to head South at Orbisonia Station begin- FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_12-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_12-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]EBT #15 passes #17 heading South past the shops at Rockhill Furnace- FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_13-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_13-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Gary Buchanan between the EBT Car Shop and the freight caboose on Saturday - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] In the photo below, and many that I took Saturday morning, the corners are shadowed by something in the lens that was sticking from being soaked on Friday night. By afternoon when the sun came out and dried things up, the camera started to take normal pictures [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_14-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_14-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Ken Brunt by the turntable with M-3 and #15 in the background on Saturday - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_15-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_15-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Whenever you have a nice shot lined up, some oblivious railfan walks right into the shot - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] On Saturday evening the EBT ran it’s normal Night Train. Upon thew train’s return, the crowd was entertained by a rock band and fireworks. A very nice addition that added to the festive atmosphere. In the next shot taken just before the night train loaded, you can see the band equipment and lights set up on the Meadow Street side of Orbisonia Station. [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_16-1200.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/EBT-Fall-09_16-720.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Saturday just before the night train. Hand held with available light - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] I have hundreds more, but they mostly duplicate what others have already posted. What a super weekend !!!
Great pictures, Jon.
The two B/W shots are spectacular, as well as the night shots.
Too bad they didn’t postpone the night shoot until Saturday.
Ralph
Jon Radder said:
The boxcar restoration is a long way down the road. Did you get a chance to see the combine they are working on in the Paint Shop? Tons of work already done stripping off the rot, and hundreds of tons of work left to replace rotted side sills etc. There is only a handful of guys actively working on restoration. They could really use more help, one weekend a month.The side-dump 2-bay that was in the freight train is an example of the work they are capable of. It was almost as bad as the hopper in your photo. Today it is operational and is the only example of a car with arch bar trucks that can be easily seen.
I’d be there working if it wasn’t so far for me. They don’t want to hear that though since several of the active volunteers come from much further every month
Very nice shots posted by Ken, Gary & Jon. Thanks.
It is great to see the enthusiasm for the EBT.
I have the pleasure of being an FEBT Member. Going early to the Fall Spectacular can get you a job of raking 50 year old bird crap and other junk out of one of the buildings. Sounds terrible, but once your eyes adjust to the darknes of the building, you can really see the history you are amongst. It was a real experience and well worth all the dirt and grime. Join the organization, like Jon - buy from the Company Store, bring an old set of clothes and pitch in. Hours not days make a difference and you can learn so much. Yes, I live along way from Orbisonia also. It is great fun and worth while. My hat is off to all the people that keep the railroad going.
Thanks for the trip, guys!
The EBT is definitely a living history lesson.
It’s unfortunate that the buildings are decaying faster than the FEBT can afford to restore them.
Ralph Berg said:Thanks Ralph -
Great pictures, Jon. The two B/W shots are spectacular, as well as the night shots. Too bad they didn't postpone the night shoot until Saturday. Ralph
Saturday evening already had a full schedule, so it was Friday or nothing. It would have been nice if we had one or two more setups, and if it wasn’t raining, but I learned a lot taking those two pictures.
Jon
John Bouck said:John -
Thanks for the trip, guys! The EBT is definitely a living history lesson. It's unfortunate that the buildings are decaying faster than the FEBT can afford to restore them.
The solution is simple. Join and Donate !!!
Actually, most of the buildings are stable with the possible exception of the Blacksmith Shop which is a pole barn that is sinking into the ground on rotting poles. In many of the pictures you can see it leaning, but unfortunately no photos of that building in this thread.
I’m a FEBT member and I also do my best to support them with at least one donation to the restoration fund each year. Money is important, but they also need more active restoration volunteers. Word is the volunteers will be doing some steam engine rehabilitation work soon in addition to all the interesting projects they have already done. There are probably less than 25 guys responsible for all that has been accomplished.
The motto is: Make Saltillo Station the last EBT structure top be lost.
