RONKS, Pa. — Strasburg Rail Road 4-8-0 No. 475, damaged in a Nov. 2 collision with a piece of track maintenance equipment, is back in operation on the railroad’s trains today (Monday, Nov. 7), Strasburg General Manager Jim Hager reports in a note to Trains News Wire correspondent Dan Cupper.
The locomotive suffered damage to its smokebox front and door, headlight, and some other parts in the collision with a “trackhoe,” or tracked excavator, after running through a misaligned switch onto a spur where the maintenance machine was parked [see “Strasburg collision damages No. 475 …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 2, 2022]. No one was injured. The accident was captured by a Virtual Railfan streaming camera; video from that camera was widely shared online.
The Federal Railroad Administration was scheduled to inspect the locomotive and investigate the incident last week.
No. 475, the only operating 4-8-0 in the U.S., was built by Baldwin in June 1906 and operated on Norfolk & Western until 1962. It has been at Strasburg since 1991.
Follow News Wire for more information as it becomes available.
The G had a bad bearing. Strasburg has a drop table to lower the wheel-axle set out from under the motor to replace the bearing. I’m sure a PRR crew came over with the parts.
Indeed Strasburg RR did repair a GG 1 on their property in the 1960’s. I remember a photo in Trains magazine.
The G had a bad bearing. Strasburg has a drop table to lower the wheel-axle set out from under the motor to replace the bearing. I’m sure a PRR crew came over with the parts.
Good News 🙂
I wish TRAINS would stop using Ronks as the location of the Strasburg Rail Road. The Strasburg Rail Road’s East Strasburg station is on Strasburg Road in Strasburg Township, Lancaster County PA, and the RR Museum of PA is across the street.
The Strasburg Post Office does not deliver to Strasburg Township; USPS handles the mail from Ronks. Ronks is a small unincorporated farming community and census-designated place in East Lampeter Township, 3.9 miles North of the SRC Station and on the North side of US 30. If someone goes to Ronks looking for the Strasburg RR, they will find Amtrak’s electrified Harrisburg Line.
Amtrak should hire the mechanics who quickly repaired 475. They might be the ones to get all the damaged equipment repaired and running in no time. It is amazing when you have a dedicated and well trained and experienced staff and crew who can fix locomotives and cars and get them back in service with no delay
Even better would be for Amtrak to contract out their equipment needing repair to the Strasburg Railroad. It would work both ways Amtrak gets their equipment repaired and back in service and Strasburg gets paid for the repairs and the money paid goes back into maintaining and running their railroad top notch
Joseph C. Markfelder
All I’m going to say is, when I asked them about parts for a 44-tonner, the reply was, “Diesels make me sneeze.” They know how to stay in their lane.
A repair in 5 days. That is very impressive. But I guess all they had to do was fit a new smokebox door on the locomotive.
They patched the damaged one back together.
She’s got some battle scars now. It’s a good look.
475 got a new smokebox front but the old door was braze welded back together.
The video by the person in the train car was the funny one. The accident itself wasn’t funny but the reaction from the people who thought they were watching the locomotive pass the passenger cars only to witness it strike the backhoe.