Logansport & Eel River Railroad (Iron Horse Festival) - 1985 & 1986 скачать в хорошем качестве

Logansport & Eel River Railroad (Iron Horse Festival) - 1985 & 1986

The Logansport Iron Horse Festival was an annual Summer event held in downtown Logansport, Indiana. It started July 25, 1981. It was a popular festival for many years, especially when the steam excursions became a central part of it the following year. A book could easily be written about the festival's 22 year history and the various steam excursions and routes that were featured in it. The 1920 2-8-0 Alco Consolidation steam locomotive, former Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad # 13 (BCG 13), arrived at the festival in 1982 as Lakeshore Central System # 1977 (LSCS 1977). The passenger cars were former Rock Island commuter coaches. The locomotive was moved to Logansport from Middlebury, Indiana where it had previously operated excursions on the Pumpkinvine (now a bike trail). In 1982 it pulled the first Iron Horse Festival excursions on the Conrail (ex-PRR) to Anoka Jct., which was the only year it went across the Wabash River. In 1984 the locomotive was repainted in Logansport & Eel River Railroad livery (LER 1). In 1986 the LER purchased the locomotive from its owner, Robert Spaugh. From 1983 to 1985 the LER excursions for the festival were on the Conrail (ex-PRR) trackage out to Kenneth (France Park). Trouble began in 1986 when Conrail significantly raised the passenger liability insurance. Since Norfolk Southern already had insured passenger excursions on the Lafayette District (ex-WAB), the LER was able to negotiate with them to run the train east of town to Danes for that year's festival. It was the only year that LER # 1 operated this way. Passenger boarding was moved several blocks away to the former Wabash depot on Lytle St. and the number of excursions was reduced. It wasn’t quite the same as the previous years, since the train seemed somewhat detached from the main festival area. In the subsequent years, the excursions were done on the LER's own trackage (PRR South Bend/Butler Branch) with either diesel or steam power. In 1989 they were able to run LER # 1 on Conrail one last time to France Park. In 1990 Conrail would ban the LER from running on their tracks because of the open air coaches. 1992 was last year LER # 1 operated for the Iron Horse Festival (on the South Bend/Butler Branch). In 1993 LER # 1 was sold to the Ohio Central where it operated for several more years. Today it resides indoors at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek, Ohio as a static display in BCG livery. The Iron Horse Festival continued on; some years with steam excursions (1996 saw C&O 2716), some with diesel excursions, and some without any excursions. The festival was eventually renamed the Iron Horse Heritage Festival and its final year was 2003. Footage Notes: July 13, 1985 00:00 LER Storage yard between 6th St. and Miami Ave. This is the former South/Bend Butler Branch (PRR). The South Bend branch was already gone. Equipment rests 1 week before the big festival. There is a spare tender, as well. The track was still Conrail-owned at the time. Eventually the LER purchased this property. July 21, 1985 01:40 Iron Horse Festival, riding the train from Logansport to Kenneth. The band at the boarding area was the Vandalia Silver Brass Band. 07:12 Chasing the train from Logansport to Kenneth (France Park) along US 24. July 20, 1986 12:36 Operating on the NS Lafayette District (former WAB) east of town to Danes and back. No ride this time and the 3-chime whistle is gone from LER # 1. At the end, after detraining at the Wabash Depot, the train pulls east to work its way back west to the South Bend/Butler Branch. The Wabash Depot in Logansport was torn down in 1988. This was filmed with a Sony BetaMax BMC-110 camcorder. There is some flickering in the 1985 footage because the original tape was damaged, but the 1986 footage is okay. I use Shotcut for video editing. Thanks for watching! ~ Zeke Links Age of Steam Roundhouse (current location of the steam locomotive) https://ageofsteamroundhouse.org/ LSCS 1977 during both its Pumpkinvine and Iron Horse Festival days. https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/loc... LER 1 in Logansport https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/loc...