Re: NG Climax in the mail!!

Hi Greg,
The previous poster is correct, but I thought you might enjoy knowing that my dad owned both Ely Thomas #5 and #7 and brought them to Ann Arbor for a planned logging museum. I grew up playing engineer on them. The American loader behind the Climax, as well as the log cars are all from Ely Thomas. We steamed the Shay and the loader up several times, but the Climax had a leaking water tank and the frame had rusted through under the leak, so it had been stored out of service by Ely Thomas and we never ran it either.
The Forest Service had the #7 rebuilt at the Tweetsie shops and I understand that apart from having no boiler tubes installed, it could easily be made operable, if the Forest Service ever decided to do so. The Tweetsie had a big job restoring the engine, as a previous "restorer" hired by the Forest Service had butchered the engine by scrapping the cab and losing a lot of the parts out behind his totally disorganized shop building. I won't name names, but this misguided individual decided that the #7 ought to have a wood cab, despite the fact that it left Corry Pa. with a steel cab! The current cab was newly built by the Tweetsie and it looks like they did an excellent job.
Too bad the Greenbay Museum hasn't done much with the #5. I understand it is currently stored outside in rather deteriorated condition.