Ex-Reader Railroad #108, a 2-6-2, was sold by the Conway Scenic to a party in Texas who supposedly moved it to the Blacklands Railroad to be restored.

Anyone know its current status? TIA.

Jim Tatum.

Can't help with #108....don't know anything about it.

Here's a bit on Reader 2-6-2 #11: It is still landlocked in Paris, KY. CSX pulled the switch several years ago, and it won't run on CSX trackage. Despite efforts by other local rail museums to purchase it and move it, the current owners (local NRHS group) absolutely refuse to sell or lease it or enter into any agreement to allow it's use elsewhere. The landowner wants it gone, and there have been rumblings of potential scrapping. These photos are from 2006, and I don't know the up to date status.

I hope the #11's situation gets better. Would be a shame to have her scrapped. I am also intrested in the status of the #108.

I visited #11 in Paris 3 weeks ago. She's still sitting in the same place along with a Baldwin diesel, baggage car and U.S. Army SW-8.

The tarp covering her is torn to shreds and hanging by a single strand around the steam dome, shes also nearly engulfed in grape vine which is winding its way through the undercarriage of the engine. The equipment moving company (whose lot shes sitting in) has it surrounded by large pieces of various equipment and getting to see her is difficult.

Reader 108 remains disassembled in Texas pending a move to a new owner in Tuscumbia, AL where a preserved station and rebuilt roundhouse will be the start of a new tourist complex.

For those with longer memories, ex-Reader 2-6-2 #11 served the Hartwell RR in Hartwell, northeastern Georgia, for a spell in the 1980s. There was a reminiscence of the railroad and its steam operations in a recent NRHS Bulletin, as I recall.

Alexander,
My memory is a little longer than that. Might the article you referred to be "Mixed Train to Waterloo" in the Fall 2008 issue of Classic Trains?
Glen

Glen -

It just so happens that I recently picked up a used copy of that Fall 2008 issue of Classic Trains and read your article "Mixed Train to Waterloo". Very enjoyable reading! I hope that the two Reader 2-6-2's end up someplace where they can be well cared for. Sounds as if the 108 might be okay, but things don't sound so good for the 11.

Les

Current photo of Reader #11 at Paris, KY:

Les,
Thanks for the kind words. Now I know that at least one person has seen the article.

Mark, that is sad! Here is how I remember Number 11:


Glen

Poor old no. 11. I was able to ride on and behind her during her brief sojourn on the Hartwell RR, and it was quite an adventure. The Hartwell was built as a narrow gauge, and when it was standard gauged, they never straightened out the curves or eased the grades. It was truly laid on top of the ground, and no. 11 sounded fine barking up the grades and then charging down the other side. I wish I'd had my camera with me. I hope somehow she can run again someday.

Damn.

Is anyone up for a "hostile takeover" of an NRHS Chapter?

http://www.nrhs.com/chapters/kentucky_central.htm

Have at it! KRM has tried and tried to do something, and these folks only sit and won't talk......

Reader #11 was in service in the late 1980's and early 1990's as KENTUCKY CENTRAL was running excursions on TTI. Then CSX purchased TTI, they said "no more", and pulled the switch. There are other diesel locomotives and a baggage car landlocked w/#11. Here's what #11 looked like about 2006, and is in the same place as the current photo with foliage:

They are long out of production, but Trackside Video did several tapes on the 11 at the Hartwell. One from 1984-85ish while it was painted green, then another tape and a segment in 1988 pulling freight and passenger. Very cool operation, and one of the few that was a real shortline through and through--4% grades and all. Those hills certainly gave #11 a workout. Of course, they were running diesels the one time I got down there....hmmph.

Here's hoping the 11 finds a good home one day. It's the perfect size for a tourist engine, and a prime candidate if someone ever wanted to try the Gramling version of travelling steam locomotive with a slightly larger engine.