• Sunday-What'sUP October 6 - 09:39 pm

On this foggy Copper Country morning our Shoebox Memory comes from Bill Haller and Chuck Pomazal, with help from Pauline Trabert (video). Bill writes:

Pasty-Cam viewers or Day in History buffs might enjoy what’s going on this past week at the Quincy Mine Hoist, more specifically down on Roundhouse Road.
Last Friday the historic re-assembly of the Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad’s Engine’ No. 6 coal tender began. For several seasons now, a dedicated volunteer staff have donated countless man-hours and traveled at their own expense to capture the history of this local short-line railroad. The Q&TLRR conveyed copper rock from the mine to stamp mill in Mason, the copper concentrate from the stamp mill to the smelter, and coal back to the mine’s powerhouse boilers atop Quincy Hill.
The No. 6 coal tender’s undercarriage was totally rebuilt and restored, also having been painted earlier that week.
Shown here is the undercarriage and the tender’s water & coal storage box, having also been volunteer sandblasted and primer’d. [Picture taken outside the recently restored Q&TLRR roundhouse]



Ever poised for an opportunity, the crew utilized the backhoe’s presence to erect refurbished components atop Q&TLRR’s no. 6 engine, also undergoing restoration.
Hard to imagine without the Engineer’s cab Star [wooden, hence rotted away] , but here’s where the restoration is ultimately going:
(to be volunteer re-constructed)
Q.&T.L.R.R. No. 6 engine as of October 2013
Q.&T.L.R.R. No. 6 engine, date unknown

Emerging from the brush and over-growth, the photogenic water storage house is also returning to view after too long of an absence.
The Quincy Mine Hoist Association sincerely thanks all it’s loyal volunteers and cadre of donors for their continued support and dedication to the preservation of our unique mining history. . ...Bill Haller

Trains are my 'first love' ~ lake freighters come next.:>
Thank you, Charlie, Bill, Chuck and Pauline for the interesting pix and details.

You have to give this crew a mighty big hand in their determination and ambition to take on this restoration! Great Work!

Shirley--I have those loves in reverse. Terrific pics.

Kosk, it was because I was 'land-locked' and grew up with trains. Lake ships run a very close second though.

Incredible work on the train both the smaller scale
model and the full sized.. thanks to all
involved.nice work will have to bring my grandson up
to see it..thanks for the video..and posting it
here.

Glad to see all the progress. About the time of close down in the 40s Quincy had 5 engines. 2 remained on site. 1 may have been scrapped. 1 (#6) just returned. Now if they could get the other one back from the Huckleberry R.R. near flint. So much bad happened at Quincy in the 70s just to keep the property. A couple of buildings such as the Compressor House were mostly destroyed to remove the machinery for scrap. The intact machine shop had much removed illegally by individuals for scrap. The R.R. rails were removed for scrap. So, I am very thankful for what remains and thankful for the work that is being done to the property on the hill above where I was born.

Allen,
The loco at Huckleberry is pretty much gone to rust and scrap. Like the folks in New Jersey, they bit off more than they could chew - or afford. It would be much more productive to get the two on the hill back into the roundhouse. As with #6, both tenders need a lot of work. #1 also needs work on the engine. Like anything else, it requires money and people. We have a small work group, so progress on 6 continues. The work done on #5 was almost 100% done by Chuck.
Contributions can be made via QMHA with a note to direct them to the Railroad account.

My staff of "Dedicated Volunteers" includes my wife, Jane, Chuck and Pauline Trabert, Paul Meier, Dennis Leopold, and David Parker. Special thanks also go out to LJJ Construction, Superior Sand & Gravel, Gundlach Construction, and the Rust-Oleum Company for all the donations.

And Lawrence Julio has been a big help too.

Great job on the model railroad layout AND on the restoration of the real deal!

Are they planning to steam #6, or is this a cosmetic restoration?

No steam, just a cosmetic restoration without doing anything that would ever prevent someone from getting it running in the future. It will be the centerpiece in the newly restored Enginehouse.