Grandpa Bill took the next few weeks sizing a real Wabash locomotive up
and down, considering just how he was going to make a blueprint for a
scaled down sized version of the one the two were going to make. When he
was ready, he informed Harv it was time, and the two went into the
basement for about 6 months, creating the monolith piece by piece, rivet
by rivet, welded attachment by welded attachment.
Listen to Harv explain in his own words just what
this meant!
Mr.
Schneider was never satisfied with anything less than perfection,
insisting that the welding had to be exact and fit to an exacting
proportion, which Harv, after trial and effort was able to accomplish.
When
it was done they had another problem.
Just
how on earth they were gonna get the monster out to the park!
Taking
off the cellars back stairs and door frame, they asked a few of Harv’s
“School chums” to come along and assist them in this endeavor. One of
the boys had a tow truck and lift, and with gentle reserve they were
able to get the beauty lifted onto the flat bed and driven over to the
park.
I was
told that Grandpa Bill very rarely showed any emotion during his long
life. He wasn’t the kind of man to speak a lot or to make a fuss about
anything, but that day he could barely control himself.
As the
Engine was taken off the flat bed and mounted on the tracks, “Dad
quietly took out an old engineer’s hat and lifted himself onto the seat.
He drove that engine around the track for close to three hours, then got off of her
with a tear in his eye, and walked back to my car.”
Paw
Paw went on to explain to me that it was the last time he ever saw that
train again, and for years they had no idea whatever happened with
her…..
Yet
the story goes on.
As
many of you are probably well aware, I love to do scale plastic
modeling, mostly cars and military vehicles. Sometimes this leads me to
search for old pictures on the internet by which I can duplicate
weathering, decaling, and other forms of special effects. One day I was
reviewing a hobby site which showed some tips on weathering various
models, and one of the pictures showed an old Wabash railroad locomotive
which a modeler airbrushed. I began to wonder how much this looked like
the “real McCoy”, so I used my favorite search engine
IXQuick and put in
“Decatur Steam Engines” thinking Wabash and the Central were good places
to start…..
The
pictures which I found are the following:
They now have a nice model train park
at the old Fairview and wouldn't you believe it, the pictures above
taken in 2008 are
of the actual train which Pappy and Grandpa Bill created from scratch 70 years ago!
They made a
REAL working locomotive, one with
the riveting and cast iron you would come to expect in an exacting scale
model….
