When the railroad shut down in 1945, the engines were locked in the roundhouse and the rolling stock was parked. And there it all sat for many years, until the formation of the Quincy Mine Hoist Association, Inc. to preserve and interpret the copper-mining history of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
No. 6 was only new locomotive purchased by the railroad and was the largest and heaviest of its engines. It was moved to the New Jersey Museum of Transportation (Pine Creek Railroad) in 1975 for restoration, but that never took place, and it was returned to the Upper Peninsula in 2009.
Chuck Pomazal, a model builder from Illinois who had built models and dioramas for the Quincy museum, got interested in No. 6. In 2012, Pomazal and a small group of volunteers began the cosmetic restoration of the engine, working primarily with hand tools. Q&TL No. 6 was pulled out of the roundhouse for its public debut on Aug. 25 and 26, even as volunteers began the restoration of No. 5, a smaller 2-6-0.
It is nice to see No. 6 cleaned up like this. I worked a summer at the hoist in 1993 and got the nick-name “Pete the Painter” because I spent a large part of my time cleaning and painting various pieces of equipment all over the site. I spent a week or two on No.1 & No.5 (No. 6 was in Jersey at the time) giving them a coat of primer and black. I painted signs for both locos as well (along with a lot of other things.) The signs and paint jobs looked pretty tired the last time I visited.
I don’t think the the No. 6 was the only new loco the Q&TL purchased. I am pretty sure the No. 1 was purchased new when the railroad was opened in the 1890’s, making it the truly elderly loco of the bunch.
This is a great example of what can happen if you get it away from the BLACK HOLE OF NG MUSEUMS. I don’t think there is any ng museum in this country which has done less and hidden its idle gems longer. Most museums have been working on things and putting engines in service but not at New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Pine Creek RR. They seen to have trouble even keeping the main source of power, a small Army diesel running. They have a gem of a Shay and other fine steam locomotives but nothing is forecast to be running in our life time. They had 6 wonder SS&S log cars which only contain 4 pieces of nice wood but they had completely rotted apart. Only one ET&WNC box car somehow also escaped the Black Hole. We read of things happening at Golden, CO, Alma, ME, Reno, NV, many museums in CA, and other museums but never at Pine Creek RR. They even made a claim on the sunken engines in the Atlantic Ocean, but nothing has happened with them. At one point the blocked the return of a EBT Combine when there were FEBT fans to work on it. They even built the wheel sets for it.
The place is a disgrace and much of their stuff should be put up for auction. It needs all new management and leaders who do not chase away new volunteers all the time.