In the spring of 1951, a young boy, curious about a nearby thunderous sound, stood on the radiator cover at his bedroom window. The two-year old strained to see the source. It was a locomotive that was billowing smoke far above the trees as it labored to climb the steepest grade on the Putnam division of the New York Central Railroad. His home was in Bryn Mawr Park, a suburb that overlooked the railroad tracks, in New York. Unbeknown to him, the days of his hearing the staccato bark of the engine’s exhaust and triumphant, a melodious blast of steam, would soon be gone forever. The New York Central Railroad had already ordered their diesel replacements.
Photos courtesy of Paul Carey and Captain Bob Cerullo
Although an era was ending, what was to be Paul Carey’s lifelong interest in trains had just begun. Against this backdrop, he would be destined to serve, over a period of 40 years, as a manager in passenger and freight rail operations including Amtrak and freight railroads, culminating with Conrail – the New York Central’s latter-day successor. He would also go on to create his incredible live steam model train railroad, the Sunnybank, Putnam & Pacific Railroad.
In 1987, as general manager of Conrail’s Albany Division, Carey had a chance meeting at the Empire State Convention Center with Frank deSantis, a retired GE draftsman and expert builder of large-scale model live steam locomotive models. His display featured engine #999 of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. This engine was renowned for having broken the 100 MPH speed record in 1893 near Batavia, New York, while hauling the Empire State Express.
Carey has a personal interest in history and old technology. He was taken with the authenticity and attention to detail in deSantis’s live steam engine, which by deSantis’s estimate had taken about 2500 hours to build. He added that a typical hobbyist could reasonably expect to spend 10,000 hours to do nearly as well. Carey bought the locomotive for display at the Conrail Albany Division Headquarters. It was eventually donated to the Albany Institute of History and Art, in deSantis’s honor.
A few years later, in the course of a visit to deSantis’s home in Delanson, New York, two more live steam locomotives were offered for sale by deSantis: the Southern Railroad #3783 and the Lackawanna & Western #988. Each of these engines were fully-equipped with working auxiliary appliances, including steam driven turbogenerators and air compressors, exactly as the originals. The scale of everything on the Sunnybank, Putnam & Pacific is 1-1/2” to the foot, or 1/8 of full size.
The original full-sized locomotive Southern Railroad #3783 was built in 1882 by the Rogers Locomotive Works in Patterson, New Jersey. Steam locomotives are identified by their wheel arrangement, in this case 4-4-0, also known as the “American Standard” by the four-wheel lead truck, the four drive wheels, and no trailing wheels. The type was ubiquitous in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was used in all classes of service. These engines, light and uncomplicated, were typically assigned to branch lines in their later years. By the time of The Great Depression, the vast majority had been retired. Engine #3783 was the exception. It was not retired until 1943.
Photos courtesy of Paul Carey and Captain Bob Cerullo
The green and gold colors (a striking departure from the customary black) of #3783 are attributed to Fairfax Harrison (president of Southern Railroad). Returning from a visit to England in 1925, he ordered the shops to use the new colors for passenger engines such as the 1925 Crescent Limited. They were to be painted in the new green and gold scheme similar to the London and Northeastern Railway (LNER) colors. Since engine #3783 was assigned to pull freight trains with a single passenger coach, it was the less prestigious engine, so it was chosen to receive the nontraditional colors. The mixed train was most likely an “economizing” measure in response to the effects of The Great Depression.
Eventually, Carey retired, and engines #3783 and #988 were brought to his workshop at his home in Virginia located on wooded acreage on the Little Wicomico River. It was discovered that, according to a visiting scientist from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the site is the last remaining patch of old-growth forest on the Little Wicomico River. A beautiful setting for a railroad but, the question emerged: would it be possible to return these engines to operation, building a live steam railroad in scale, for guests to pass through the forest and view the river without disturbing the tall trees and hardwood saplings? Initially, and sadly, the answer was NO! There was a 90’ tall poplar tree at a critical place. In addition, the availability of sufficient and “correct” track materials was doubtful.
Photos courtesy of Paul Carey and Captain Bob Cerullo
In September 2003, Hurricane Isabel toppled the 90’ poplar tree, opening the possibility of a railroad line into the woods. Gradually, the line of what would become the Sunnybank, Putnam & Pacific Railroad appeared in the woods. Suitable rail and other track materials, including authentic square-cut spikes, were found and the work was begun. With the help of Carl Ulrich of Salem, Wisconsin, all the scale rail, spikes, and other track materials were found to complete the railroad. Construction was completed with an extension to Bridge Creek on May 29, 2008, exactly 50 years to the day since the discontinuance of the last passenger train on the New York Central’s Putnam Division. Most of the freight cars were built by Ulrich, a graphic artist whose exacting artistic ability appears in the incredibly realistic lettering and the weathering of the cars. The cars include a refrigerator car, a flat car, a watermelon car, stock cars, convertible flat/gondola cars, and an ore car. The gondola cars were used to carry bulk material like coal. The trucks (wheel assemblies) for each of the cars were meticulously fabricated from original plans. The caboose was custom built, riding on appropriate swing- motion trucks and represents the type of caboose most widely used by the NYCRR in the early twentieth century.
Photos courtesy of Paul Carey and Captain Bob Cerullo
Carey opined, “The Sunnybank Putnam & Pacific Railroad represents what the professionals would refer to as a ‘Dirt-Road’ railroad, a condescending expression usually applied to a line that shows evidence of minimal engineering and maintenance, usually applied to branch lines (or short lines). This described an irreversible decline as seen between the Great Depression and the 1970s. Struggling railroads were proudly maintaining appearances while deferring vital maintenance, in the face of ever-increasing losses driven by government regulations, costly labor contracts, and unforeseen competition. Live steam railroading preserves and demonstrates the technology of America’s first great industry. Elemental in their nature, these locomotives exemplify the character of the ‘Iron Horse’, as they were first described, muted in their gate at the walk, yet unmistakable in their thunder at the gallop, all at a precise beat of four exhaust blasts per revolution. They are temperamental and sensitive to treatment by their handlers - in the management of fire, and the provision of water and the offering of fuel.”
Experiencing the Sunnybank, Putnam & Pacific live steam railroad is a something I shall not soon forget. This writer, also a railroad buff, was fortunate to have ridden on a flat car pulled by locomotive #3783 on a fascinating ride through the beautiful forest and along the river. I recall riding with the caboose behind me and locomotive #3783 up ahead, smoke rising above the trees and the sound of the whistle echoing off the tree trunks. I wondered what Lemuel Gulliver, the fictional character in Gulliver’s Travels, might have thought of being a giant in this Lilliputian world of live steam trains that is the Sunnybank, Putnam & Pacific Railroad.
There is a unique thrill that comes over one riding this live steam railroad. The aroma of burning coal, the moist smell of steam, the clanging brass bell and the hauntingly shrill whistle are captivating as the train chugs through a centuries old forest and along the beautiful Little Wicomico River. With the engineer driving the engine, wearing a traditional stripped engineer’s cap cocked on his head and with a broad grin of his face, the train roared on at 45 MPH (in scale) as did the generations of full-sized steam trains that crisscrossed America in bygone days. Paul Carey, the toddler who grew up to be a railroad executive with Conrail, has created a unique opportunity to go back in time and experience what trains were really like in the closing days of golden era of steam-powered trains.