NW-3 (ex GN #179) in Morrisville, PA

ConnorDoesTrainStuff · **Posted:** Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:31 pm

And then there was one...

Such a shame, thankfully we still have 181 which is on display in her original GN paint.

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6403

ConnorDoesTrainStuff wrote:

And then there was one...

Such a shame, thankfully we still have 181 which is on display in her original GN paint.

Connor -

Your note jogged my memory and I checked some old slides taken when my wife and I went out west on AMTRAK'S Empire Builder back in 2006. Here is my shot of Great Northern NW3 #181 on display in Whitefish, Montana.

Les

Lincoln Penn · **Joined:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:40 pm **Posts:** 840

cood101 wrote:

Per a poster on the "Ahead of the Torch" Facebook Group, there was a serious attempt four years ago to have the unit set aside for preservation. The owner would not donate it, and wanted a price for the locomotive. It was said that it was due to it's continual use as a functional locomotive for the company. A lack of alignment couplers and friction bearings did it in. It was functionally only capable of moving in plant, both Norfolk Southern and CSX denied it's ability to move on their rails. The only feasible way to move it would have been by truck or scrapping on site.

As we can see, the later option was what the options came down to. Just goes to show that sometimes the world is unfair, even when you are proactive on preservation.

The journal boxes visible in the photos above are clearly Hyatt roller bearings.

cood101 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:18 am **Posts:** 197

Lincoln Penn wrote:

cood101 wrote:

Per a poster on the "Ahead of the Torch" Facebook Group, there was a serious attempt four years ago to have the unit set aside for preservation. The owner would not donate it, and wanted a price for the locomotive. It was said that it was due to it's continual use as a functional locomotive for the company. A lack of alignment couplers and friction bearings did it in. It was functionally only capable of moving in plant, both Norfolk Southern and CSX denied it's ability to move on their rails. The only feasible way to move it would have been by truck or scrapping on site.

As we can see, the later option was what the options came down to. Just goes to show that sometimes the world is unfair, even when you are proactive on preservation.

The journal boxes visible in the photos above are clearly Hyatt roller bearings.

My apologies. I'm not adept at telling the difference in bearings. The overlying point still stands, however. The locomotive was not going to make it out of A.E. Staley without major modifications or a truck, both of which were cost prohibitive.

NW-3 (ex GN #179) in Morrisville, PA

Who is online