@@ekapus It's an interesting dynamic. Those who were around when he was or those who know people involved with him are well aware of him, but many younger railfans with no direct involvement or experience with Rail Tours seem to know very little more often than not. I kind of fell into this camp as well until I started really digging to make this video. My original plan for this video was just to go over the life and times of 972, but the more I researched the more I realized I couldn't tell her story without also telling George's.
What a video!! Its such a shame how 972 went from being a huge star to now being rusted over at rest on SRC tracks. But nothing lasts forever, This was a great way to show the history of 972 in model form!
I knew Old George, Great guy he was. I used to hang out with him over the years back in the 80's at Jim Thorpe Tourist Railroad. George was always willing to teach anyone anything about Railroading, as a few of us that know him always thought of him as the Mr. Rogers of Railroading, the stories I could tell ha-ha. A lot of Strasburg Railroad Museum engines are there because of George, his name is on many of the plaques inside the Museum walls. Strasburg's Longest Engine run was when he brought all the Engines up from down south and ran 9 of them on the Strasburg line from Paradise to home base, what a sight to see them all. Doylestown PA was George's hometown, and Stewartstown was his Main Railroad Station he owned; Jim Thorpe was just one of the area's he loved to be at. Only reasons why Jim Thorpe station is still around was because of him, as he did live in one of the passenger cars for years. Just thinking of Packerton yard just brings chills down my spine. Not a lot of people know this unless you were there is that no.90 Strasburg Decapod 2-10-0 Great Western would freakily go on Rail Excursions visiting to Jim Thorpe and Allentown as no.90 has used the Bethlehem Roundtable a few times in her life as well as pick-up more Coal at the old coal chute, when the table was there, unlike now a day as it's been removed since the mid 90's. Strasburg's most famous Iconic passenger car was the "Hello Dolly" car Bright yellow she was open air deck. The good Old Days when the Valley railroad was something special. Great video, took me back to the past
Interesting video, thank you for uploading. George Hart also owned Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal locomotives #13 and #14. He had air brakes added to #14 and ran it several times while at York and then leased it to the Black River & Western RR in NJ who ran it a few times and then put it on display. #14 had received a new firebox in the early 1950s, installed by the CNJ at that time. I believe #14 is in upstate New York, partially dismantled. George transferred #13 to the RR Museum of Pa at some point in time. They had it on display and then it was sold to the Age of Steam in Ohio where it is on display.
I rode behind the 972 3 times in the early 1980's with my late father who passed March 8, 1986, and my late mom who passed June 14, 2022 in the hospital, and one time was with my late dad's mom who passed March 2016 with one of her sons in Emmaus, PA and was buried with her mom in Tamaqua, her mom passed Dec 1989 ina nursing facility in Allentown but lived in Tamaqua most of her life. My dad's mom moved from Tamaqua to Allentown if that didn't happen I wouldn't exist, my dad was born in the Bronx, NY in June 1943 but his family moved to Tamaqua several years later, one was a longer excursion from Jim Thorpe to Haucks with the CNJ RS3 1554 behind 972 and was the power for the return trip. They moved the diesel to the back of the train before the Hometown trestle by backing it on a spur track and 972 pulled the train across the trestle. At Haucks, the 972 decoupled and ran back to JT by itself, following our train while the RS3 pulled the train back to JT. I sadly never rode any of the 972, 7002 and 1223, 2102, etc. off line excursions on Conrail in the 80's. Of those, only 2102 is running again since 2022, it went out of service in Oct 1991. I rode behind it 3 times, April 1988 South Hamburg to Temple, Sept. 7, 1991 Emmaus to Pennsburg and Oct. 1, 2022 Reading to Jim Thorpe. Norfolk Southern hosted steam excursions again from Sept. 2011 to May 2017, they own most of the former Conrail lines across PA and now they are basically closed to excursions again of any kind, and most of their tracks east of Harrisburg on ex-Reading and ex-Lehigh Valley tracks are freight only, LV discontinued passenger trains in Feb 1961 and Reading 1963 from Allentown to Harrisburg and 1981 Conrail cut train service from Reading to Norristown where electrification begins. SEPTA took over direct operation of the electric lines around Philly and suburbs in 1983.
Thanks for making and sharing this. I worked for George and RTI in Jim Thorpe for some time, until his passing 2008. I knew him since I was in the seventh grade. He was always up for a great railroad conversation and had an encyclopedic knowledge of anything steam locomotive. I'm now in Phillipsburg NJ as a Locomotive Engineer and I will always credit George Hart as being my first inspiration to do so.
For now, I think it would be a good idea to do a cosmetic restoration and put 972 in the museum created by her owner as a tribute to its first director.
Jimmy, your work never fails to amaze me. Whether it’s telling goofy fictional stories of British locomotives on U.S. soil, model railroad tutorials, or amazing mini documentaries like this, I’m always blown away by the level of effort you put into all of your videos. It is truly informative and inspiring watching your videos and I look forward to what you do next!
Wonderful video and great tribute to George Hart. I actually remember my dad talking about George Hart and his excursions on the WMd and later on the Northern York Rwy. My dad grew up in York and Dallas town and he (and I) chased steam trains all over PA, the US, and eventually in my dad's later years we made some awesome trips out west to Durango & Silverton, Numbers & To,tec, White Pass, and a 3 day excursion with BC Rail from North Vancouver to Kelly Lake....and many other steam excursions in BC and Alberta. But our steam chasing &video & photography (my dad's before me) all started with my dad. Having and shooting 8mm movies of George Hart's locos, and zzRoss Rowlands Reading T-1 excursions. It's sad that George's favorite loco, the 972 is too costly to restore.
There were some mainline steam excursions in the past that will never happen again because the locomotive is out of service, or the class 1 railroad is against excursions, and all except 1 are against excursions now, only UP has a steam program and they only operate occasional excursions for the public behind Big Boy, they discontinued the Denver to Cheyenne annual excursions with 844 several years ago. Most class 1's consider steam and public excursions to be a liability, but NS hosted steam excursions again in partnership with TVRM, FWRHS, and later VMT from Sept. 2011 to May 2017 because then CEO Charles "Wick" Moorman was a steam fan like Bob Claytor was.
I personally knew Mr Hart as I was one of Rail Tours last Conductor working out of Jim thorpe although 972 was long off of the property George always spoke very highly of her.
Fun fact: When I was young I used to get scared at 972's husk when the train would pass it at Strasburg. It was super eerie looking at what was essentially a dead engine husk.
Great video! I love how you gave background info and the importance of steams preservation. Anyone that clicks on this video is caught up with every detail of the production. Nice layout as well!
Thank you for sharing this great video about George Hart. I will never forget his contributions he made to Steam and steam preservation. While 972s future is uncertain there is always hope that something will change and I do hope she will return to operation someday.
Jimmy Lambert, I've been to the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum 2 times. One was when me and my family went on Christmas break, and the second time was when I graduated high school. The best part, I got to ride on an auto train, with 2 P42 Genesis's diesels leading in the front, from Sanford Florida. I also saw N&W 611 in action when I was getting ready to go. I ran out of the museum, and took one last picture
8:00 fun fact: I've been to Strasburg many times, but less at the railroad museum (this is due to the difficult closing time) Edit: never knew that the scrap engine at Strasburg had this story. Cool to know it was the same engine class as 89
I sure learned a lot I didn't know about 972 I didn't know about til now. Still, I do hope something will happen to her again someday, seeing she hasn't had the best of luck since Strasburg acquired here in the late 90s. Still, maybe they might sell it one day like what they did with 1187 to AOSR in 2020. But for now, all we can do is hope something will happen.
Excellent video! Unfortunately, I don’t see Strasburg ever restoring this engine to operating condition for their operations, as they have hardly worked on their first locomotive, number 31 since it went down for its 1472 day inspection in 2009. Supposedly 31 will run again, but with the current schedule the railroad runs on, I doubt that they will have a need for 972 in the future, but hopefully I am wrong about that.
@@micah-johnkershner3606 #fireup1098 ...but in black. ...or if they wanted to be cute, they could do the CP passenger scheme with the maroon and the pinstriping! lol
@@micah-johnkershner3606 Yeah, I figured as much. But hey, people are currently building a PRR T-1 from scratch! If that is a viable project, then putting a new firebox on a plucky little 10-wheeler shouldn't be too unfeasible of a project! ...well, at least on paper. At the moment, it seems like the R&N steam crews have their hands pretty darn full at the moment. Maybe South Simcoe up in Canada can get 1057 back running again in the not terribly distant future? It's a darn shame. They are great looking locomotives, and all first-hand accounts I have ever read from folks who worked on them are universally positive.
Yup. Depending on the frame's condition; you might as well just build a new locomotive from the ground up. The restoration costs are just too high for what it is.
I don't think she can be saved at this point,, just put the old girl out of her misery, at this point it's like keeping a loved one on life support even though they're dead.
![[SFS] Locomotives that HIT STUFF...](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/s8dvJrX0t58/mqdefault.jpg)
its a damn shame George went forgotten despite everything he did for rail preservation. Thank you for keeping his memory alive.
I'd hardly consider him forgotten. He's well remembered in the preservation world.
@@ekapus It's an interesting dynamic. Those who were around when he was or those who know people involved with him are well aware of him, but many younger railfans with no direct involvement or experience with Rail Tours seem to know very little more often than not. I kind of fell into this camp as well until I started really digging to make this video. My original plan for this video was just to go over the life and times of 972, but the more I researched the more I realized I couldn't tell her story without also telling George's.
What a video!! Its such a shame how 972 went from being a huge star to now being rusted over at rest on SRC tracks. But nothing lasts forever, This was a great way to show the history of 972 in model form!
I knew Old George, Great guy he was. I used to hang out with him over the years back in the 80's at Jim Thorpe Tourist Railroad. George was always willing to teach anyone anything about Railroading, as a few of us that know him always thought of him as the Mr. Rogers of Railroading, the stories I could tell ha-ha. A lot of Strasburg Railroad Museum engines are there because of George, his name is on many of the plaques inside the Museum walls. Strasburg's Longest Engine run was when he brought all the Engines up from down south and ran 9 of them on the Strasburg line from Paradise to home base, what a sight to see them all.
Doylestown PA was George's hometown, and Stewartstown was his Main Railroad Station he owned; Jim Thorpe was just one of the area's he loved to be at. Only reasons why Jim Thorpe station is still around was because of him, as he did live in one of the passenger cars for years. Just thinking of Packerton yard just brings chills down my spine.
Not a lot of people know this unless you were there is that no.90 Strasburg Decapod 2-10-0 Great Western would freakily go on Rail Excursions visiting to Jim Thorpe and Allentown as no.90 has used the Bethlehem Roundtable a few times in her life as well as pick-up more Coal at the old coal chute, when the table was there, unlike now a day as it's been removed since the mid 90's.
Strasburg's most famous Iconic passenger car was the "Hello Dolly" car Bright yellow she was open air deck.
The good Old Days when the Valley railroad was something special. Great video, took me back to the past
Interesting video, thank you for uploading. George Hart also owned Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal locomotives #13 and #14. He had air brakes added to #14 and ran it several times while at York and then leased it to the Black River & Western RR in NJ who ran it a few times and then put it on display. #14 had received a new firebox in the early 1950s, installed by the CNJ at that time. I believe #14 is in upstate New York, partially dismantled. George transferred #13 to the RR Museum of Pa at some point in time. They had it on display and then it was sold to the Age of Steam in Ohio where it is on display.
Thank you for letting me be apart of this Jimmy! You did absolutely wonderful with this!
My bucket list is to come to the US of A and visit all the railway museums there. Much love and respect from Australia.
amazing documentart about Mr. Hart. long live the Pennsylvania Railroading man and his legacy
One of the finest RR related videos I’ve had the privilege to watch. Thanks, Jimmy. Well, very well, done.
I rode behind the 972 3 times in the early 1980's with my late father who passed March 8, 1986, and my late mom who passed June 14, 2022 in the hospital, and one time was with my late dad's mom who passed March 2016 with one of her sons in Emmaus, PA and was buried with her mom in Tamaqua, her mom passed Dec 1989 ina nursing facility in Allentown but lived in Tamaqua most of her life. My dad's mom moved from Tamaqua to Allentown if that didn't happen I wouldn't exist, my dad was born in the Bronx, NY in June 1943 but his family moved to Tamaqua several years later, one was a longer excursion from Jim Thorpe to Haucks with the CNJ RS3 1554 behind 972 and was the power for the return trip. They moved the diesel to the back of the train before the Hometown trestle by backing it on a spur track and 972 pulled the train across the trestle. At Haucks, the 972 decoupled and ran back to JT by itself, following our train while the RS3 pulled the train back to JT. I sadly never rode any of the 972, 7002 and 1223, 2102, etc. off line excursions on Conrail in the 80's. Of those, only 2102 is running again since 2022, it went out of service in Oct 1991. I rode behind it 3 times, April 1988 South Hamburg to Temple, Sept. 7, 1991 Emmaus to Pennsburg and Oct. 1, 2022 Reading to Jim Thorpe. Norfolk Southern hosted steam excursions again from Sept. 2011 to May 2017, they own most of the former Conrail lines across PA and now they are basically closed to excursions again of any kind, and most of their tracks east of Harrisburg on ex-Reading and ex-Lehigh Valley tracks are freight only, LV discontinued passenger trains in Feb 1961 and Reading 1963 from Allentown to Harrisburg and 1981 Conrail cut train service from Reading to Norristown where electrification begins. SEPTA took over direct operation of the electric lines around Philly and suburbs in 1983.
What is an incredible man and an amazing locomotive to go with it. Great work my friend.
This video is a cinematic masterpiece. Absolutely beautiful.
Thanks for making and sharing this. I worked for George and RTI in Jim Thorpe for some time, until his passing 2008. I knew him since I was in the seventh grade. He was always up for a great railroad conversation and had an encyclopedic knowledge of anything steam locomotive.
I'm now in Phillipsburg NJ as a Locomotive Engineer and I will always credit George Hart as being my first inspiration to do so.
Wow! What a video and a half. I was not expecting the scoring at the end, caught me off guard emotionally.
Great video, Thanks for posting this about Mr. Hart. He was truly a Pennsylvania Railroading Man !!!!!
Thank you for sharing this very enjoyable video and story. A very well-made piece. Best wishes from Aotearoa New Zealand!
For now, I think it would be a good idea to do a cosmetic restoration and put 972 in the museum created by her owner as a tribute to its first director.
Very nice memorial video to the late George Hart, who I had the pleasure of knowing.
I LOVE engine 972! Plus I've never heard of George Hart until now! Thank you for the awesome video!
Jimmy, your work never fails to amaze me. Whether it’s telling goofy fictional stories of British locomotives on U.S. soil, model railroad tutorials, or amazing mini documentaries like this, I’m always blown away by the level of effort you put into all of your videos. It is truly informative and inspiring watching your videos and I look forward to what you do next!
Wonderful video and great tribute to George Hart. I actually remember my dad talking about George Hart and his excursions on the WMd and later on the Northern York Rwy. My dad grew up in York and Dallas town and he (and I) chased steam trains all over PA, the US, and eventually in my dad's later years we made some awesome trips out west to Durango & Silverton, Numbers & To,tec, White Pass, and a 3 day excursion with BC Rail from North Vancouver to Kelly Lake....and many other steam excursions in BC and Alberta. But our steam chasing &video & photography (my dad's before me) all started with my dad. Having and shooting 8mm movies of George Hart's locos, and zzRoss Rowlands Reading T-1 excursions. It's sad that George's favorite loco, the 972 is too costly to restore.
There were some mainline steam excursions in the past that will never happen again because the locomotive is out of service, or the class 1 railroad is against excursions, and all except 1 are against excursions now, only UP has a steam program and they only operate occasional excursions for the public behind Big Boy, they discontinued the Denver to Cheyenne annual excursions with 844 several years ago. Most class 1's consider steam and public excursions to be a liability, but NS hosted steam excursions again in partnership with TVRM, FWRHS, and later VMT from Sept. 2011 to May 2017 because then CEO Charles "Wick" Moorman was a steam fan like Bob Claytor was.
it is 6:40 am, i didnt not have crying over a steam engine on my list of plans for today
Was it the music at the end?
Was it the music at the end?
Excellent documentary!
I personally knew Mr Hart as I was one of Rail Tours last Conductor working out of Jim thorpe although 972 was long off of the property George always spoke very highly of her.
Fun fact: When I was young I used to get scared at 972's husk when the train would pass it at Strasburg. It was super eerie looking at what was essentially a dead engine husk.
Great video! I love how you gave background info and the importance of steams preservation. Anyone that clicks on this video is caught up with every detail of the production. Nice layout as well!
Thank you for sharing this great video about George Hart. I will never forget his contributions he made to Steam and steam preservation. While 972s future is uncertain there is always hope that something will change and I do hope she will return to operation someday.
Jimmy Lambert, I've been to the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum 2 times. One was when me and my family went on Christmas break, and the second time was when I graduated high school. The best part, I got to ride on an auto train, with 2 P42 Genesis's diesels leading in the front, from Sanford Florida. I also saw N&W 611 in action when I was getting ready to go. I ran out of the museum, and took one last picture
Que hermosa música 🎼🎼😢😢
EXCELLENT INFORMATIVE VIDEO!
THANK YOU! 🚂 🇺🇸
8:00 fun fact: I've been to Strasburg many times, but less at the railroad museum (this is due to the difficult closing time)
Edit: never knew that the scrap engine at Strasburg had this story. Cool to know it was the same engine class as 89
good work!
Very good video. I always wondered what that CVRR tender and contraption hooked to it was.
I sure learned a lot I didn't know about 972 I didn't know about til now. Still, I do hope something will happen to her again someday, seeing she hasn't had the best of luck since Strasburg acquired here in the late 90s. Still, maybe they might sell it one day like what they did with 1187 to AOSR in 2020. But for now, all we can do is hope something will happen.
D10 Locomotives possibly are the coolest CP engines I know
Excellent video! Unfortunately, I don’t see Strasburg ever restoring this engine to operating condition for their operations, as they have hardly worked on their first locomotive, number 31 since it went down for its 1472 day inspection in 2009. Supposedly 31 will run again, but with the current schedule the railroad runs on, I doubt that they will have a need for 972 in the future, but hopefully I am wrong about that.
I agree, the Strasburg shops is on full capacity, especially once #614 comes into the shops for its full rebuild.
I wish StL got its act together and made that museum. That would have been awesome
same one should make a GoFundMe for that steam locomotive 🚂👍
I’m pretty shure 972 also visited the Pittsburg and Shawmut railroad along with the CP G5Cs
Have you thought of doing a video on O Winston Links steamer?
Where and how can I find a ten wheeler like 972 and by which manufacturer
I wonder if Strasburg would hand 972 off to SMS? She should be restored as a CPR ten-wheeler once more.
I almost bought a steam locomotive from the uk for $12,000 it was mostly scrap value but it could of been fixed it really wasn't bad
I have to wonder if 1098 suffers from similar expensive gremlins, if that bit about 972's mudring and boiler is true.
1098 has a new mudring installed in the 96-98 period of rebuilding (and occasional test firings).
@@micah-johnkershner3606 #fireup1098 ...but in black. ...or if they wanted to be cute, they could do the CP passenger scheme with the maroon and the pinstriping! lol
The firebox wrapper sheet is too thin to be legal now, the rules changed in 2000. 1098 has lots of work ahead of it before it ever steams again.
@@micah-johnkershner3606 Yeah, I figured as much. But hey, people are currently building a PRR T-1 from scratch! If that is a viable project, then putting a new firebox on a plucky little 10-wheeler shouldn't be too unfeasible of a project! ...well, at least on paper. At the moment, it seems like the R&N steam crews have their hands pretty darn full at the moment. Maybe South Simcoe up in Canada can get 1057 back running again in the not terribly distant future? It's a darn shame. They are great looking locomotives, and all first-hand accounts I have ever read from folks who worked on them are universally positive.
Do a model video on Canadian National 89 ?
Can someone direct me to where I can locate a set of decals for my D-10 to make her 972.
it is sad to see her sit all rusty.
$1 million? It ain't 2000 anymore, triple that number.
Yup. Depending on the frame's condition; you might as well just build a new locomotive from the ground up. The restoration costs are just too high for what it is.
Travle
I don't think she can be saved at this point,, just put the old girl out of her misery, at this point it's like keeping a loved one on life support even though they're dead.