Tony Faulk Railroad

Lee

Mega Poster
WMSTR Lifetime Member
Does the Tony Faulk railroad belong to WMSTR or is it privately owned? Who is charge of it and what kind of shape is it in? Would be nice to give it some room to run.
When was it moved from Minatureland into the East end of the Nelson Building?
This is a very under rated exhibit and deserves a much more visible place. I remember it as a little kid and today I am still amazed at the craftsmanship and the amount of work and time that went into creating it.
 
Jeff,

I don't have answers to your questions but I would agree that it deserves some more exposure. If I am right in thinking this is the one currently in the Nelson building. Just this past show my wife was in there looking at it and wondering if it was in operational condition and if so it would be great to see it running. She thought it was a shame it was tucked back away from everything. She runs live steam a little smaller than that on a layout in our backyard. I do remember a small RR in miniature land when I was a kid in the late 60's early 70's and assumed this was the same one. I know Shelly (My wife) was commenting that it would be neat to set it up and have it run for people to look at while waiting in line to get on the Ortner. Hope someone reads this and can give more information about the status of that engine and elevator. I agree there is a real level of craftsmanship in that whole set up.

Darren
 
Live steam train in your backyard? Wow do you have pictures? Sounds really cool.
 
Hi all,

I don't know if the Tony Faulk train ran last year. I believe that Darrin Pinske (spelling?) was the last person that operated the train. I think the train has been run on compressed air.

Later,
Jerry Christiansen
 
Jeff,

I am sure she has some pictures but I don't have them handy as I answer this. If you send me a private message with your e-mail address I can send one so I don't clutter up the list with off topic pictures. Yes it is pretty neat. My guess is that I will probably get one of the pictures from her that she has used on our Christmas cards the past couple years.

It is a G-Gauge garden railway somewhat smaller than the one this thread is talking about. Her main engine is a Shay logging engine that is butane fired. She also has a 4-4-0, also butane fired but the Shay pulls the grades much better. When she is not running steam, she has a couple radio controlled battery powered engines for when she wants to run a train but does not have the prep time to get the steam all set up. One is a Santa Fe F-Unit diesel and the other looks like a C-16 steamer but is electric.
Darren
 
The Tony Falk railroad is indeed the show's. I had heard rumor that the boiler had some ills. If anyone knows where the cars and engine are I would like to know also.

Rick
 
It was still in Miniature land In the early 80s and was moved into the Nelson building after it was built. I don't remember it running the last years it was in the fence, Boiler issues were stated as why then. It did run the first year or two that I was in Miniature land (79, 80) I don't recall what year it didn't though.:confused:

Pat
 
Tony Falk Rail Road

Hi all.
The little rail road was moved inrto the Nelson Building as soon as the building was completed. There was a couple reasons for this. The original road bed (4 x 4s) was getting bad. It also required setting up and taking down each year. That took a couple days of time. Also originally the Nelson Building was going to be a museum building, open summer days etc, and not just a storage building, the the train would have made a great exhibit. They began running it on air because of burner issues and propane tank. It would take an hour of firing to get enough steam to make a couple runs, and then would be out of steam. I am sure a new burner, from camp stove etc. could be made to work. The elevator was also a great exhibit, just moving flax from one side to the other. I too have heard that Darin has the engine, and it has a bad boiler. I would sure like to see a new boiler built if we have a good year. It would be money well spent.
darrell

ps does anyone remmeber when strong winds hit durning the show and the locomotive was tipped on side, and the water tower standing on four stakes right beside the shed did not wiggle? I have a picture somewhere. d3
 
Tony Faulk Railroad

Karl:
Is this a project that you could work with Darin on and possibly get it operational and out where the visiting public can see it, and if it is in need of serious work (boiler etc) maybe some one will step up and help?
Jim out west.
Just a added note there are many association owned pieces of equipment etc that have been forgotten and are in need of some tender loving care and not just forgotten about. Or they will end up like the fire hose cart on the west end of the nelson building , it has just about buried itself.
Better stop before I say tooo much, and just try to stay positive .
 
I can't say for sure as for the last show but the little railroad has ran on compressed air in recent years during the day. Darin has set up an air compressor on he ouside of the Nelson Building and ran the engine and cars back and forth. I'm sure Darin would appreciate any help.. it is a great location if it rains you stay dry if its sunny you stay in the shade..

Jim, update to the show's 8-16 International tractor. The fenders were delivered last Saturday from Pennsylvania. Now we have to make some brackets and it will be ready for the paint. Dave and Fran are doing a top notch restoration and the cost to the show will be minimal.
 
mrnewway;4939 said:
Karl:
Is this a project that you could work with Darin on?

Or they will end up like the fire hose cart on the west end of the nelson building , it has just about buried itself.

jim.

off season i could but during the show... i'm helping out daniel with his straw burning buffalo pitts. "a city boy throwing straw bales" ha ha. you must realize, i along with my brother ken help tremedously to support daniel and our dad. i also help with the music as i'm a co-chair of the music.

this cart... why hasn't this been redone or at least moved to the baker depot where the rest of this type equipment is located? i'd be tempted to move this but would probably just fall apart. although you have me wondering about moving this hose cart.

the anton falk miniture has been run on air as stated by brian and i believe it was moved into the nelson building not only for convenience of the track but to preserve this unique exhibit.
 
Karl:
I realize you have commitments as I do but maybe we can spark some interest from others to help on this display as it is mentioned in promoting WMSTR.
The hose cart ??? Just pointing out that some equipment dosen't get the best of care.
See you at show time.
 
mrnewway;4969 said:
Karl:
The hose cart ???

See you at show time.

i guess in plan sight, out of sight. i always thought this was put inside but after a closer look. this is not so.

catch me at the straw burning buffalo pitts.
 
We have a lot more equipment than we have "champions" ready to take on the responsibility of taking care of an exhibit. With fuel prices what they are, this is going to be a bigger challenge than it has ever been.

That is why the board (since I have been on it) has turned down at least 3 donations of various pieces of equipment. While we would love to have another threshing machine, a fanning mill, or another truck, this stuff all takes a lot of resources to maintain and exhibit. If we don't have someone lined up for each piece who is willing to make the commitment, there is no use bringing the piece to the show grounds, or it will end up being another "hose cart".

A couple of good examples just in the last few years, that have worked as they should are the 8-16 International and the Locomobile steam car replica that the Martin family donated. Both are big jobs, and both have great volunteers working on them. When I was contacted about the Locomobile, the very first thing I did, before even bringing the offer to the board, was make a phone call and see if I could line up someone to take care of it. We need to keep moving that direction and get more good people lined up to take care of these exhibits.

Sorry your thread has gotten a little off track Jeff, but it made for some good discussion!

BTW... Where are the missing pieces from the Tony Faulk RR?
 
No problem Mark. I was wondering where the rest of the track is too. Rafters?
As far as the hose cart goes, I think Fosston has an old one stuck in a shed and I was going to measure the wheels so maybe the wheels off a dump rake will work. That way at least it will be mobile. I have done some research on them lately and I think it is very fixable. I suppose the original wood wheels or parts are long gone.
Maybe should change the name of the thread to "Orphan WMSTR Eqipment".
 
I finally got into the site, was having trouble registering as the image part was hard to see. As for the Falk railroad the engine is at home for maintenance issues (always back for show) and boiler is kaput it wont hold corncobs let alone anything else. Have a few pictures if anyone wants to see them find me at the nelson building or miniatureland. The hard steaming mentioned in an earlier post was mostly do to the fact that it was scaled up really bad probably never flushed out. Taking a plug out a few years ago I managed to shake out over a quart of crud that had accumulated. It was mostly brazed together with some welding. Why it wasn't fully welded we'll never know. It has run on air for many years now it works good as everything is small and crowded. One drawback to being indoors is the fine dust that gets in everywhere and takes a toll on running gear. Bushings and pivot points wear rapidly. Lubing only slows it down some as it is powder fine and very abrasive. Usually take engine and whatever cars need looking at home to check over after show that way it gets done and not neglected. I water the floor around the exhibit to help keep the dust down but with the amount of traffic in and out it's a futile effort at best, used to water the whole building until a musician threw a fit about a little mud on the stage so I quit. Got the last laugh though as it rained solid the rest of the show! Not the best thing to happen at rollag but he did quiet down quick.
 
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