Saturday, January 23, 1999
|
| 125 pictures of Saturday's setup and the tender's move! | |
| The Story Behind the Pictures | ||
| Raoul arrived shortly after sunup and the crew was already getting things in place. The day was spent getting the logistics straight, moving the oil-tender and getting the engine ready for its move on Sunday. It was a nice day, a little nippy in the morning but warmed up nicely as the sun came up. About a hundred train buffs and kids showed up for the move and were enthralled by the equipment needed to move something that weighed 170 tons! The main crane was a 220-ton beast that didn't even break a sweat. Work knocked off at dusk for safety reasons. Put into service in 1916, No. 794 had a top speed of an unheard of 70 mph! It was retired in 1956 and moved to Maverick Park in 1957. Later, a chainlink fence was erected around it and it sat neglected for years. Its new home is the renovated Sunset Depot, now called Sunset Station, a multi-venue, entertainment complex. There'll be no more fences for old 794, kids of all ages will be able to climb aboard and pretend they're flying down the track, outrunning train robbers and watching for buffalo on the tracks... | ||
| Top | ||