Sleeper "Norfolk County", a little touch of fame

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The sleeper "Norfolk County"  earned a brief few minutes of fame in  
1978 when it was used in a PBS TV show titled "The Golden Honeymoon"  
which was based on a short story by Ring Lardner. At the time, the car  
was owned by the late W. O. (Bill) Savage who lived in Tampa. FL. Bill  
also owned the ex-SCL office car "Jacksonville" (ex- Pullman  
"Pioneer") at that time.

One day, I got a call from a Hollywood producer asking if it might be  
possible to put together a 1920's train for a film that was going to  
be shot here in Tampa. Oddly enough, it was entirely possible because  
not only was Mr. Savage willing to lease his cars but there was also a  
fully operational steam loco based here. That was the ex-Reader RR  
2-6-2 no. 11 which was owned by Frank W. Pollock. He had it stored at  
a closed steel plant in south Tampa. After negotiations with SCL were  
positive, a train consisting of the 11, an ex-Southern baggage car,  
Frank's ex-MKT coach, the "Norfolk County" and the "Jacksonville" was  
assembled for filming at Tampa Union Station. To get action shots of  
the train, it was run to Brooksville and back, about a 110 mile round  
trip. (No diesels were used.)

The "Norfolk County" appears in several scenes and some filming was  
done inside it with actors James Whitmore and Theresa Wright. The film  
ran on PBS around 1979-1980. It is also available on DVD through  
Amazon. They show only 1 copy in stock, price $17.99.

All the train scenes are in the opening and first few minutes of the  
show. Frank Pollock let Mr. Whitmore actually run the engine on the  
way back to Tampa that day.

Mr. Savage died in the mid-1980's and his cars were sold. Both the  
"Norfolk County" and the "Jacksonville" eventually ended up with the  
Indiana RR Museum at French Lick, IN where they remain today in poor  
condition. Frank Pollock moved his engine to the Hartwell RR around  
1982 where he started a tourist operation. Later, he was killed in an  
automobile accident and the engine went to the New Georgia RR but they  
never ran it, instead they sold it to the NRHS chapter at Lexington,  
KY and it was moved to the TTI RR at Paris, KY where several  
excursions were run with it until CSX discovered it and put an abrupt  
stop to that. The engine sat neglected for several years until a few  
years ago when it was bought and moved to Flemingsburg, KY where it is  
now stuffed and mounted.

-Jim Herron