NH&I 1977 - 1979 Tourist Passenger Trains

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Beginning in 1973 with the help of the McHugh family and a renewed group of volunteer's freight and passenger trains were operated on the NH&I until March of 1977.

The NH&I during March of 1977 had an incident occur involving a volunteer train crew that force the railroad to seperate the freight and passanger operations. The New Hope & Ivyland railroad and the NH&I freight operation would continued to be operated by McHugh Bros. NH&I president Jimmy McHugh and NH&I trustee Ken Andrews offered the now former NH&I voulnteers the oppurtuninty to operate the tourist passanget trains as a seperate corportaion. The group formed the for-profit  New Hope & Ivyland Steam Trains Corporation. The NH&ISTC leased from McHugh Bros. for a one year period at one dollar a year the 0-6-0 #9 & 2-8-0 #40, the four operatable coaches, dinning car 1430, the station at New Hope, and trackage rights for weekends service from New Hope to Buckingham Valley. This group in return was to maintain the equipment and New hope freight and passenger stations. However no maintenance or improvements were made to the leased equipment or stations during 1977 and the group would quite operating the passenger trains.

In the spring of 1977 the #40 had also been disconnected from it's tender by the newly formed New Hope & Ivyland Steam Trains, Inc. group made up of the former NH&I volunteers. This group would quickly give up on the project to repair the cross heads and main rod brass. Then the paid staff of the NH&I freight railroad had to reconnect the #40 to it's tender when the NH&ISTC volunteer's aborted the rebuild project.

The NH&ISTC group had many internal problems basicall everyone wanted to be the boss and no one wanted to do the necessary mechanical work to keep the trains operating. Also the weekend before the 1977 operating season was to begin all of the former NH&I steam engineer's except for Al Breigal, Dixon Blanchard, & Dave Work, informed the NH&I that they were on strike and would not operate #9. When these three men gave up assisting the new NH&ISTC group in 1977, it quickly fell apart and the passenger train operating lease was canceled.

NH&I president Jimmy McHugh & trustee Ken Andrews still desired to see the steam trains operate on the railroad. The NH&I then leased steam locomotives #9 & #40, the five passenger cars, plus the New Hope and Buckingham Valley stations to the non-profit Buckingham Valley Trolley Association for one dollar a year. The intent of this agreement was that the BVTA would make improvements to the passenger equipment and two stations, plus start repairing #40 so it could be placed back into service no later than the start up of operations of the 1979 season. 

The BVTA desired to paint the coaches into a new scheme that matched the nearby Middletown & Humblestown railroad passanger cars. BVTA member Art Adams designed the new paint scheme for the steam train operation cars in the spring of 1978, and it was applied to coaches #1127 & #1220 by volunteers: Art Adams, Charlie Long, Donna & Tom Ratigan, Dee & John Bortz Jr., the entire Boylan family, along with a few other BVTA members. In April of 1978 steam locomotive #9 was lettered "New Hope Steam Railway" and "Doing Business As" however this name was never incorporated by the BVTA.  

In early 1979 the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association began to have management / membership issues devolop within it's non-profit operation along with the small group of volunteers who operated the steam trains in late 1978. During the winter months it was discussed by some of the members of the BVTA that it was now no longer interested in the steam train part of the operation, except for the cash it generated. Also by the spring of 1979 questions would arise among the members of the BVTA group, and the NH&I because Joe Alfonsi now claimed he privately owned several of the non-profit corporations trolley cars.  In June of 1979 allegations were made that the steam train operation funds were not being accounted for properly by BVTA treasure Joe Alfonsi. BVTA members and train ticket agents: Jeanette McHugh, Dee Bortz, & Thelma Bortz, were keeping seperate records of the train ticket sales and believed their records did not match what was reported by the BVTA treasure. Also during this period of  uncertainity the BVTA only had one trolley car open to the public for rides, and it was in the need of repairs. Then other issues would devolop and by late August it was the end of the BVTA on the NH&I. The 6 trolley cars would be moved off site onto the BVTA county leased property during the early winter of 1980 by the McHugh company. The BVTA members and stockholders during 1980 and 1981 would become entangled in a bitter fight with the former BVTA treasure Joe Alfonsi. The group during the summer months of 1982 would move to the Penn's Landing area in Phila., PA and Jimmy McHugh donated tractor and trailers to the trolley group for moving the equipment to the new location now that the former treasure was no longer involved with the trolley association.

Because of the internal problems at the BVTA Jimmy McHugh would operate the #9 for the first two days of passenger service in 1979. NH&I general manager Len Smolsky & part time employee ( air brake specialist ) Bill Coffey were also on hand that day. Also during these first two days of the 1979 passenger train operations, JC McHugh would qualified as engineer, Mike Bortz qualified as fireman, and Jason Kulig would qualify as lead brakeman / conductor. These three people were paid employees of the BVTA and would become the steam locomotive engine crew for most of the 1979  season except for a  couple days when a  few volunteers were on the locomotive. Then by late May some old volunteer engine crew members returned, however it was short lived. A father and son engine crew team were throw off the property because the son would light off fire crackers in the steam locomotive as the passenger train would pull into the station. Also a few volunteer's that were banned from the NH&I in 1976 join the BVTA non-profit passenger operation in 1979. This group lead by engineer Larry Cohen was later caught with eight people in the cab / tender of steam locomotive #9, with four people being unauthorized. These actions caused  all remaining volunteer's to be banned from locomotive service on the NH&I property. All steam trains in 1979 had car attendents that would take care of the passengers while they were on the train. The entire Boylan family, volunteered for that position on almost every weekend, with Bill Coffey & Bill Lenz helping out a few times each month, and  two gentlemen from Long Island, NY assisting assisting one weekend per month. The train tickets at New Hope were sold by Jeanette McHugh, Dee Bortz, Lisa Wirght, and a few others. The NH&I gift shop corporation was owned by the NH&I railroad but all sales income went directly back to purchasing new sales items. The gift shop since 1973 had been managed by trustee Andrew's wife Vivian who stepped down from this position at the end of 1978. In 1979 several different volunteer's began operating the New Hope giftshop and from May until August when the tourist passenger train operation closed the sales revenue did not match the materials that were no longer in stock.

#40 has been disconnected from it's tender for repairs, but the NH&ISTC volunteer group quickly give up on the rebuilding project. The NH&I freight staff will reconnect #40 to it's tender, and it will be placed on display on the front track siding at the paper mill across from the NH passenger station.

The last volunteer steam train to Ivyland occured in December 1977, here #9 charges up the hill with engineer Dick Roden behind the throttle.

May 1978 the #9 has had New Hope Steam Railway applied to it's tender and the first run of the season pulles into Buckingham Valley Station. The #9 remained in this paint scheme with yellow handrails for the entire 1978 season. 

The first tourist passenger train of the 1977 season with NH&ISTC staff gets ready to pull into the New Hope station platform area. 

The other engine crew members of the last 1977 steam train were JC McHugh fireman & Mike Bortz student fireman.

May 1979, the first day of the passenger season. The #9 has been painted into the US Army paint scheme with silver smoke box and handrails. Jimmy McHugh engineer. Fireman Mike Bortz, engineer trainee JC McHugh.