Ok guys, so, how bad is the condition of the boiler? Is she restorable to operation or is she worn out beyond economical repair? Thanks, David Notarius

If God created them in His image, that should mean God has a navel.

Which raises more questions......

If you seek the results of a boiler ultrasound and/or "feasibility study," one has, to my knowledge, never been undertaken. But I've been on and around the loco many times in the past 40 years. It reminds/reminded me of the GTW/NWS&W 0-8-0 in Illinois, as the closest analogy.

The oral history of that loco as it arrived at the W&W in 1983 amounts to this: the loco was well worn-out with deferred maintenance before its sale to the industry in Hamarsville, Pa. She was used there for a couple years, supposedly according to one account also as a supplemental boiler in winter. She was used up, "rode hard and put away wet," and then sat out in the elements for something on the order of 20 years before being retrieved by the W&W. Not long after, the jacketing and asbestos lagging (all well-soaked) were removed. To my knowledge, that means the firebox and boiler have been exposed to Northeastern weather for forty years now. I don't think it has ever been under cover in that time.

Now, is it possible the product of "Altoona's finest" could be in potentially restorable condition after all? Possibly, but I would personally reckon it as more likely you could find a spot or three on the boiler you could poke a ball-peen hammer through.

OK, Sir, I get it. I'm not from the east, and I've only seen this engine once in passing, but I'll try to help. --- Pretty much ANY locomotive is restorable to operation. However, it looks to me like this one is most definitely decayed, mutilated, and worn out beyond "economical" repair.

Well, then he's got another thing to answer for unless you limit it to people such as Zendaya, for example......

Or, as Bruce Jay Freidman said he said in the play Steambath, "I'm an ugly guy with pockmarks"

Why an old guy with a beard who speaks middle English while his wrong side of the blanket kid spoke Aramaic?

None of this makes sense.......

You're making the thoroughly Greek-style assumption that God is bound by 'form follows functionality'.

By extension from the previous answer: If God wanted navels, He would have made navels.

You probably don't know what the sound of one hand clapping is, either.

Can someone remind me what this has to do with steam preservation, even a discussion about miraculous birth from a quarry like some ferroequinological Nascite di Venere?

Well, if, say, Hephastus wanted steam preserved (and I'm pretty sure He's in our corner) and Terpsichore didn't, who would prevail? How much difference would the actions of mortals make? Any offerings or obeisances that would prevail?

In an attempt to get this back on topic, I did see where it looks like the group restoring this is trying to source a more-correct slopeback tender for the engine.

I wonder if a Pennsy slope back was saved for any purpose?

This must be the locomotive that for years, buried in undergrowth, sat under the Turnpike bridge in Harmar PA. I had heard about it from locals but had never know exactly which one it was.

The ones behind PRR A5s 94 and B6sb 1670 at Strasburg.

I don't think they're considered available.

Any others? Not to anyone's knowledge.

One and the same.

Getting back to the boiler, K4s 1361 is about the same age. ran until 1955 and needs a new boiler. Suggest we be governed accordingly.

Phil Mulligan

An interesting question, what type of boiler would fare the best (or be harmed the most) by being stored outside: a Belpaire boiler, a radial boiler, or about the same? In other words, which design could deal best with corrosion?

Photos of it from back then. It looked, uhhh, rough even back then.