ARRT'S ARRCHIVES |
LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMPANY ENGINE NUMBER THIRTY NINE CLASS G5s - BUILT 1928 JUNIATA SHOPS |
MAY 27, 2005 - NEWSDAY REPORTS THAT TODAY SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE STEVE LEVY WILL PRESENT THE RAILROAD MUSEUM OF LONG ISLAND WITH AN $800,000 CHECK FOR THE RESTORATION OF ENGINE 39. A MAN WHO APPARENTLY RODE BEHIND A STEAM ENGINE AS A CHILD DESCRIBES TRYING TO CATCH CINDERS THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW. AT ONE TIME THE WINDOWS HAD SCREENS TO KEEP THE CINDERS OUT BUT THEY WERE REMOVED TO SAVE MONEY - BESIDES, THE DIESELS WERE COMING. THIS 60 YEAR OLD GENTLEMAN EXPLAINS THAT ENGINE 39 TOOK PASSENGERS FROM LONG ISLAND CITY TO OYSTER BAY PULLING SIX OR SEVEN CARS. (AND THAT SPRINGS UNDER EACH CAR MADE THE RIDE BUMPY! IMAGINE THE RIDE WITHOUT SPRINGS!!) THIS BRINGS TO MIND THE PUBLICATION PUT OUT BY THE L.I.R.R. IN 1959 STATING THAT THE STEAM ENGINES SELDOM PULLED MORE THAN SEVEN OR EIGHT CARS AND AN ANDREW SMITH NEWSDAY ARTICLE A FEW YEARS AGO. SMITH WAS WRITING ABOUT THE NEGLECTED OYSTER BAY BRANCH AND CLAIMED THAT THE LAST STEAM LOCOMOTIVES WERE RELEGATED TO THE BRANCH, CALLING THEM "LUMBERING STEAM LOCOMOTIVES". LET'S CLARIFY THE SITUATION.
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