NYC’s J3a’s, Pennsy’s 4-4-4-4 Duplexii, CMS&SP’s Class A Hiawathas, Pennsy’s K4’s, N&W’s Jawn Henry NYC’s Niagara Class 4-8-4’s? They have all disappeared without a trace.
Why were so many of America’s great steam locomotives scrapped and not preserved?
First, there IS a PRR K4s preserved, No. 1361, which is being rebuilt at the Steamtwon complex in Scranton, PA. PRR did not feel the T1’s were successful, nor did N&W feel the one and only Jawn Henry was successful. People don’t commemorate mistakes. As to the NYC, they hated railfans at the time.