I have seen SP 4449 and SP&S 700. They are in good hands, fully
operational, and stored inside out of the rainy Oregon weather. [tup]
How do the rest of them look? [?] Enjoy!
Hi John,
We have the AT&SF 2903 in barn 9 at the Illinois Railway Museum. We brought it over from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and you can see several pictures of it on my 2903 subfolder at railimages. I took those pics for “Gunns/Kevin” in Albuquerque, who is heavily involved in restoring the 2926 at his museum. Their engine had been on static display in a park, and had virtually eveything stripped off. Follow this link to Kevin’s railimage pages to see how the restoration is progressing.
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/kevinevans
Must confess to favortism for the Reading T-1’s since my father had been a conductor on the Reading Company. 2100 and 2102 were probably the very first live steam locomotives I ever saw in action, doing double-header duty on the “Iron Rambles”.
Last year my son and I saw 2124 at Steamtown. Since it’s stored outside in the weather it’s paint is beginning to suffer.
Last month I got some pictures of the J class 611 at Roanoke, Va. It’s looking pretty sharp since it’s stored under a shed.
N & W 611 is stored under roof in Roanoke but I’m not sure if it is being kept in a “mothball” condition or stored with no likelyhood of future operation.
Love those N & W J’s; however since I rode a number of the Reading Iron Horse Rambles my vote goes to the Reading T-1’s.
I am partial to Frisco’s 4500s, growing up in the heart of Frisco country. I know one of the oilburning passenger 4500s is disassembled and 4516 is painted completely black and was sinking into the earth the last time I saw her. I am one of the caretekers of 4524 and we wash her regularly and have recently restored most of her cab. She is currently decorated with white chaser lights around her drivers with white lights outlining her with a lit Santa Claus sitting in the engineer’s seat.
When I was in Pine Bluff this June all the new flues were on the shop floor waiting to be installed in 819. Hopefully that little project will be done soon.
Unfortunately, 4449 and 700 derailed yesterday, December 10th in Portland, Or
while doubleheading on a Holiday special. They seem to have spread the rails.
GN-Rick, That’s terrible news. Thanks for the info. After first hearing of it
from you I went to Trainorders.com to see what was being said. I think some
of those guys carry their computers with them all the time. They seem to have
the lastest as it’s taking place. Anyway, go to this site for pix, etc…
http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/46660482/m/6871005253
Doug, thanks for the info. I looked at the site you recommended and all the pix.
Is that 2903 or 2926? It’s good to see another loco that’s getting the care it needs to
stay with us for a long time. Kind of sad to hear of one “sinking in the mud”,
or otherwise not being properly cared for.
John
John …it’s the 2926 being restored. I believe they were given a $30,000 grant to get it started, and there is no real target date for its completion. The pics at my railimages were of the 2903, so the boys in New Mexico could see what was missing from their loco. Even the boiler plate number had been swiped, and they’ll be needing to make another.
By the way, we also have the U-3-B class 6323 and S3 class 265 at IRM. I can’t comment on the shape they’re in, because I don’t know.
611 is stuffed and mounted, with no chance of ever being run again. NS will not let this gem run. It is not in their best interests to operate it now, or in the forseeable future, sorry. It is a better fate than CNW 4001s inspiration, though.
Pete; Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean;
“It is a better fate than CNW 4001s inspiration, though.”
John
I’ll stay with my trusty CP 4-8-4s, the 3100 and 3101, both still surviving…
Matt; Thanks for the info. I would’ve liked to list all North American 4-8-4’s, but there wasn’t any room on the survey.
John
SP’s 4449 is number 1 and SP&S 700 comes in at a close second as well as UP 844.
Me, too. 4524 looks really good these days!
PBenham-when you say the J has no chance of running again, do you mean from a corporate liability/cost standpoint or have they taken deliberate actions to disable it-say weld the cylinder/valve gear?
844 is being kept in top notch running condition as far as I’ve heard.
Hi all,
The work on 2926 moves steadly forward, we hope to have the tender reassembled in 2 or 3 months. (We found wear on the brake shoe supports that needs to be repaired and that is nearly done) of note is that the 376x and onward are very nearly identicale to the 2900s, but are about 50 tons lighter ad titanium steel was used in thier boilers, the 2900s were built in 1943-1944 and had thicker mild steel boilers and other mods due to the war going on…
Gunns
Gunns:
Thanks for the progress report. Do you think you guys will make a run to the Rail Fair at Sacramento once 2926 is operating? Imagine SP&S 700, 4449, 844, 3751 & 2926 altogether at the rail fair. Sure would be nice.
John