Greenfield Village

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Greenfield Village

Unread postby steve_the_slim » Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:36 pm

I was in Detroit this weekend and went to the Henry Ford museum. Among other things, the museum has a "village" made up of various historical buildings taken from all over the country, including the Wright Brothers' shop and Edison's lab. They also have an operating mini-railroad with two restored steam locomotives, plus a roundhouse with a full restoration shop and quite a few trains on indoor static display. One of their steam locomotives is the Torch Lake, the oldest regularly-operating locomotive in North America and the only Mason Bogie-type locomotive left in the world.

I'll apologize in advance for the washed-out photos. I'm not very good at taking pictures, mainly due to lack of practice.

And now for the pics:

Torch Lake
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Note the blind center drivers; this locomotive was used in a mining operation and had to deal with bad track and tight curves.

Refilling the water tank:
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Going past some freight cars:
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Station:
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Overview of the roundhouse area, with the house itself being on the left behind the water tower:
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You can sort of see into the cab in this shot:
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One of the train crew:
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Water tower and some more freight cars:
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The mainline goes past the museum, and there's a siding that connects to the museum railroad. There's an off-limits area containing a rusty 0-6-0 that I wasn't able to get a picture of.
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Steam crane:
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Close-up of the crane:
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Critter. Aww...isn't it cute?
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Boxcars:
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More boxcars:
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Tank car:
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The turntable outside the roundhouse:
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An ex-Michigan Central Atlantic on static display in the roundhouse:
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Atlantic cab:
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If you've ever wondered what the underside of a steam locomotive looked like, now you know:
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The Atlantic's firebox:
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Edison, the other operational locomotive, being overhauled:
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Henry Ford's personal engine, currently being restored:
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The running gear:
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Caboose being restored:
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Every crossing is protected by a different type of signal. This one is a wig-wag.
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And this one is a more modern signal:
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Alleghanies are BIG:
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So big, in fact, that it's really hard to get the whole thing in the picture:
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This one was easier.
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DeWitt Clinton:
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Rocket replica:
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This is a railroad car, not a stagecoach:
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The "Sam Hill":
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Sam's cab:
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Passenger car:
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Snowplow:
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Consolidation:
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Look what I found hiding in the back! Very early boxcab diesel:
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Streetcar:
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I forgot to get pictures of the Canadian National passenger cars that can be seen to the left of the boxcab. Also, two non-train things I wanted to show you. The $150 million car:
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And the airplane with no front windows:
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If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I might be able to give more complete information once the jet lag wears off.
I am become rust, ...destroyer of trains.
-dogmouse
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Re: Greenfield Village

Unread postby arizonachris » Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:42 pm

Pics are great. Only question I have is, when you can buy me the plane ticket and pick me up at the airport. !*brav*!
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Re: Greenfield Village

Unread postby Chock » Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:05 am

Great pics, that Allegheny loco is a big mother.

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Re: Greenfield Village

Unread postby mapitts » Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:24 pm

Calling an Allegheny big is an understatement. Someone was doing research on them years ago. Discovered Lima was lying to the C & O about the weight. They where destroying turn tables. They went back and started adding up all the casting weights. Found out some of them where VERY heavy. In fact some of them where ( I hate to bust you UP fan's bubble) 16,000 lbs heavier than a Big Boy. Love the pics of the Industrial Brownhoist 120 ton crane.
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