An N&W J Class cab that has been converted to a rest room is listed on an auction list at Auction Zip. Strange but rather nicely done. It is lettered for engine 600 on the outside.
I wonder if this is the same J class cab that was at Birmingham Shop back when the NS was running the 611. The auction lists it as a "Train Caboose".

You can find it at
http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photo ... &zip=&kwd=

Just thing for a railfan who has a swimming pool and needs a 1/2 bathroom next to the pool.
Or for someone who is building a J and needs a cab. Or, strip it out and build a backhead in the front of it. Lots of other railroadiana on the list, too.

I have no connection with this sale. Just letting you know in case anyone is interested.

-Jim Herron

The link doesn't appear to work, but this sounds very interesting.

EDIT: Here are 2 working URL's(at least it was when I tried them)

http://www.nationalauctionlist.com/auct ... ?id=161691

http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photo ... %20Caboose

Also here is a URL to a photo of the N&W 600 prototype cab. Is this the same cab? I don't know, but there is a lot to see and I'll definitely be attending this auction!

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfol ... s1545.jpeg

Sure looks like it! As it now has a door on the back I'd assume the interior is stripped out. WOW, I never realized anything like this would still be in existence! Hope it goes to a good home!

I can't believe that, in all the blather about that cab, no one noticed the one really USEFUL collectible there, Lot 421:



Does anyone need/want a water crane in 2011?

That cab (if it's the one in the old photo above) was "found" in Portsmouth, Ohio near the N&W yards there around 1983. It was stored inside the fence of a local cement supplier.

I was working for the N-S at the time, and I got to ride the 611 excursion that came through Portsmouth headed north to Bellevue (its first trip this way since its restoration). I caught a freight back late that night, riding in one of the locomotive cabs with another passenger. It turned out this guy was the owner of the 600 cab, and he had somehow hooked up with Bill Purdie, Jr. (who was in charge of 611 at that time), and offered to sell the NS steam shop the cab. Purdie was salivating about it because it was completely equipped with seats, throttle, gauges, brake stand, Franklin firedoors (the 611 had Berkely firedoors), etc.

The guy was a little fuzzy on how he acquired the 600 cab; he was under the impression that it was a "spare" that could be quickly swapped for the cab on an operating locomotive (not feasible at all- the cab included a fake boiler backhead). A couple of days later after work, I went over to the cement yard and checked it out. The cab was sitting outside next to one of the buildings up against a fence and was in remarkable condition considering it was being stored outside.

I worked in the Maintenance Shop at Portsmouth, and many of the pipefitters and machinists that I supervised were old-time N&W guys. Two of the pipefitters told me that this cab had been put together near the end of steam at Portsmouth. The Master Mechanic in Portsmouth at the time was apparently very good friends with a local hobby shop operator, and the cab was built as a "favor" for this guy (back in the days when such things were routinely done). The pipefitter claimed the cab was the featured attraction in this hobby shop for many years and kids came from all over to sit in it and play engineer.

I always thought the ideal use for this thing would be as a fireplace surround/mantle piece. You could mount the thing in your living room onto your fireplace or wood stove and make it semi-functional (although a wood-fired J would be a bit of a stretch!). Making a toilet out of the thing is a pretty big travesty.

BTW- there were at least two other intact cabs around the Roanoke shops. IIRC one was inside the shops and was used as some sort of cabinet/storage (doors had been added to the rear) and there was another outside somewhere. I wonder if those are still around?

Hugh,

Your story from '83 fits what I was also told about this cab. I asked someone who would know and they said this is the cab that came from Birmingham after the auction in '94. I have to say it looks a lot better now than it did the last time I say it, despite the bathroom set up. I also spoke to a friend that was there when it got to Birmingham and he said exactly what you did....it was fully outfitted with guages, levers, firedoor, etc.

As ADM (!) mentioned, that looks like the water column that was set up outside the B'ham shop......quite a personal collection. Does anyone know if this is all from one estate or (not to come across morbid) who this is that had all of this stuff?

Who? >;-)



The original auction listing/catalog lists it as "Private One Owner Antique Auction". To be perfectly honest, someone on this list has to know whose stuff this is. When you collect several cabooses, signals, track cars, etc., it pretty well becomes an "open secret." I'm sure the principal rail geeks (and one former one registered on this forum) at North Carolina Transportation Museum, SCRRM, New Hope Valley, etc. know who this is, and will choose to afford the individual or his family/heirs whatever privacy they may desire.

This is hardly an unusual "crossover" mix or accumulation, to be honest. One loco owner I know of has too darned many vintage British sports cars in a warehouse and barn as well; another rolling stock owner has too many vintage motorcycles.

The one interesting point about this "single owner" auction is that the auction prices may not need to have sales tax added in, as is the case with many consignment auctions. On the other hand, there's a 13% buyer's premium, with 3% discount for cash. Online bidding permitted; only a couple bids (for auto signs) have been placed so far.

I'm trying to drum up interest in us bidding on the cab/toilet. We're long overdue for indoor plumbing at 9th St. :)

Didn't know if anyone else knew that at the VMT in Roanoke, where the grand lady 611 rests, there is a cab off of one of the J's on display. Here is a photo from around the time when it first arrived back in 2010.


Martin

Heck, win this cab, then go out and obtain that smokebox/pilot etc remnants of a steam locomotive (2-8-0?) elsewhere in the US-you'd have a cab and a front end. Just add boiler, running gear, and a tender-and presto-a Frankensteamer!

It's astounding....time is fleeting.....madness takes it's toll.

dave

That "complete" Poage water column requires a few things first to be of some use. Mainly something to control the flow of water, like in the picture below.
Is something like that in the auction?

Martin, The cab at VMT was an extra (several were supposedly made) and was the receiving office at the East End Shops storehouse for many years. The cab that Hugh referenced as storage (it was outside the boiler shop) is now at 9th. St. We store flammables (welding tanks, penetrants, and other fuels) there, as well as the sandblasting equipment. It is a much older cab off of a smaller locomotive such as an M or W2. Interestingly enough, we have joked about hooking it up for sewer & water and adding an AC to make a new and improved "Yard Office".

Jeff, No, VMT has the one in Martin's photo already. I'm trying to drum up interest on the part of Roanoke Chapter NRHS for use as a bathroom at our maintenance yard at 9th St. (I also think the water column would look good next our Virginian Signal.....:) )

http://www.facebook.com/#!/roanokenrhs

Thank you Gary for clarifying that. It does look pretty convincing otherwise.