There has been a recent revival of articles about a long rumored 180 year old steam locomotive buried in an abandoned rail tunnel under a busy street in Brooklyn. A local historian (and yes, eccentric) named Bob Diamond has been butting heads with the authorities for years over his belief – possibly now confirmed by evidence of something metalic of the right size in the tunnel – that a steam locomotive was left behind when the tunnel was closed.
It may be that Diamond has not helped his cause by similarly speculating that the missing pages from the diary of assassin John Wilkes Booth are near the locomotive. But his credibility is enhanced by his long insistence that the tunnel existed, which was denied by the authorities until he proved them wrong. One thing is undeniable: Diamond is an intelligent and very interesting fellow.
That a local bureaucracy is proving to be unimaginative is hardly breaking news or unique to New York.
I saw this information on AOL news and then a Google News search showed a recent spate of print and TV news articles. This is just one example:
http://gothamist.com/2015/03/23/old_train_hidden_brooklyn.php
At least one TV news article brings up the so-called FDR limo baggage car in the subway story – which was the subject of quite a bit of comment on these forums a few years ago – for the proposition that interesting stuff is “down there.” This is a different story and a different location.
Dave Nelson