S&UP

reunited (sort of)

This rip saw was very likely aboard the train pictured above, together again right before your eyes. I’m not exactly a railroad historian, but a dedicated tool guy with a dogged persistence when it comes to their histories. That dogged persistence along with tools earned me a livelihood, so giving them a good life is my mission.

Backing my data

"R-1-b 3323 westbound near Branford in February 1939"

CLASS R-1 4-8-2

R-1 Class consisted of forty-nine engines: ten built by Richmond in 1919 (3300-09), thirty built by Schenectady in 1920 (3310-39) and nine in 1924 (3340-48). The first 25 Schenectady engines were classed R-1-a before feedwater heaters were installed and R-1-b after the installation; Schenectady engines originally built with feedwater heaters were R-1-b.

https://sites.google.com/site/nynhhsteam/new-haven-rr-steam-locomotives-a-to-z/class-a-4-4-0-type/class-b-4-4-0-type/class-c-1-to-c-9-4-4-0/class-r-1-4-8-2

More on the 482 Light Mountain class of locomotives can be seen in the link above. Built by the American Locomotive Company, (ALCO) they pulled freight and occasional passenger trains servicing N.Y.N.H.&H.R.R. lines as well as other railroad lines. Being a working-class engine means working class men hauling freight and maintaining equipment; they were tool users and tools travelled along with the crews and in the yards. This was the steam age, and it ran on raw materials, grit and labor.

By some twist of providence, the original handle survived the ravages of time, space and storage to arise from the darkness together, in need of some gentle restoration. There is no question the two of them belong together since saws were assembled one at a time, and handles are not interchangeable on vintage saws. Railroad companies were frugal and organized, the saw handle and the saw plate give title of property to both the line and its engine; likely an Atkins Silver Steel rip saw made for the railroad, plain, robust and serviceable. By the looks of the saw teeth, it was lightly used, most of the wear probably from a rough life getting tossed around and stored with other tools.

The fate of R-1-b 3323 is spelled out in the video above, as no surviving 482’s are thought to exist.

Here’s the thing

The 3323 rip saw outlived the engine it belonged to, reunited only here in Strange and Unusual Places.