Reposted from a rail-related Yahoo Group; I suspect a few folks here have firsthand experience in this matter....

The RF&P Railroad Historical Society owns SW1 diesel locomotive RF&P No. 50. It was originally purchased by the Richmond Terminal Co. in 1939 for use at Broad Street Station, Richmond. It was Richmond Terminal NO. 1 and proved to be to light weight to handle the heavy standard weight cars of the time. It was sold to the RF&P RR proper who renumbered it to RF&P No. 50.

This locomotive now resides on the RBM&N at Towanda, Pa. and the Society would like to move it to Fredericksburg, Va. It is unfortunately equipped with friction bearings and both NS and CSX decline to move it even if it is equipped with the new approved types of roller bearings or a new set of trucks.

Therefore the Society is currently looking for a heavy haul trucking company in or close by central Pennsylvania or thereabouts close by to move it down to Fredericksburg. We would greatly appreciate any leads to a heavy haul trucker in or around Reading or Towanda who could move it for us.

EMD SW-1 BASIC SPECIFICATIONS

Engine Builder: EMD
Engine weight 198000 +/-
Engine: 567A 6 cylinder
Built: 1939

Exterior Dimensions SW 1
Total Length (OAL) 44'05" over pulling face of couplers
Wheel Diameter 40"
Truck Wheel Base 8'00"
Height ATR to top engine hood 11'11'
Height ATR to Top Cab Hood 14'04"
Cab Width 10'2" (also extreme width)
Engine Hood Width 10'-00"
Bolsters Center-Center 22'-0"
Center Front Truck to Front Pilot 2'-03"
Center Rear Truck to Rear Pilot 2'-03"
Distance between Truck Centers 30'-00"

Trucks and couplers will have to be removed to provide for bracing blocking and tie downs.
Extreme height to be determined for highway permitting per Pa. Md. Va. oversize overweight shipments.

Any assistance in locating a heavy haul trucker in central PA. will be greatly appreciated.

Please respond to Jim Foley, RF&P HS, at RFPRRNO50 --at-- verizon dot net

Bill Sheild
President RF&P Historical Society
wsheild --at-- crosslink dot net

You may have already seen these links:

https://www.facebook.com/mchughlocomotiveandcrane

http://www.prrllc.com/projects_LV%20112_main.html

Two good contacts for info fishing for your SW1. Also, a few years back, a NRHS chapter out in the west found it was cheaper to buy a second hand TOFC/TT flatcar for moving a locomotive and building a ramp than it was to convert it to roller bearings or change trucks.

Have fun - Dave

PS Are there still any RF&P steam locomotives in Cuba?

Daily Express, Carlisle,PA

Silk Road Trans, Arkport, NY

Move by rail on a TTX flat.
http://www.ttx.com/Contact.aspx

With an extreme height of 14' 4", it'll be difficult to move by road. May be cheaper to move by rail on a TTX heavy duty. Another hurdle on the road is weight, but weight can be overcome with more axels. Height is gonna hurt though.

A cheaper option may be to cut the cab down to the 11' of the hood and ship seperately. Then when it arrives in VA, re-weld the cab to the unit. Not the preferred way but an option to keep open.

Russ

Contact Dan Edwards at Ozark Rail Logistics. www.ozarkraillogistics.com 513-502-5443. Ozark Rail Logistics has coordinated and set-up similar moves like this.

I second McHugh for this.... not really sure why the poster (on the yahoo group) didn't think of them first, since McHugh has been doing this for eons in the state of PA and are usually quite willing to work with preservation groups.

Secondly, glad to see the Towanda-Monroeton Shippers Line SW1 got spared the torch. I knew R&N had it up for sale, but hadn't heard of any buyers.

Seems like the SW1 is a popular model to be saving and or restoring right now... nothing wrong with that!

Side note,

I was under the impression this loco went to the Atlantic Coast Line in 1939 as test loco and it was there it did not meet the needs, and went back to EMC who still owned it, which then sold it to the Richmond Terminal as their Number 1 where it served for 4 years before being bought by the RF&P who used it until 1955 or 56 when it went to the Canton RR.....?

The recommendation I got with regards to Silk Road (frequently used by trolley museums in the Northeast) probably applies equally to a lot of other transport companies.

If you go to them and say "we need X moved from Y to Z whenever it works out," you can get incredible price breaks. Simply wait until the company has a "back haul" to run, and can fit you into their (hopefully) busy schedule. If you wait until they can call you up and say "can you be ready to load next Tuesday?", the price savings can be substantial, on the order of 30% or even more.

But again, survey all the options. One of the parties mentioned elsewhere was adamant that you get competing bids from other companies, if for no other reason than the first guy you go to knows he has competition.

Another one popped up:

Daily Express, Inc.
P.O. Box 39
Carlisle, PA 17013
phone: 800-733-2459 ext # 2159
fax: 717-240-2193
email: meyer@dailyexp.com

The VP-operations is a card-carrying railfan (president of an NRHS chapter, no less). He knows the loco in question, I assure you.

Here's a photo of a move they did in January 2011:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 744&nseq=0

Not to sidetrack the thread, but it seems like this is the kind of area where ARM/TRAIN could provide a service to members by owning a high capacity flat. Make it available to members for a discounted rate, the member pays to have it shipped from the last user to their loading site, then to their unloading site and for all labor, cranes and such. They then store it until the next member needs it. Seems like the demand is out there. Just an idea.

That's what I wondered about during the Steamfest difficulties. Even if it's not practical to haul large engines this way, the large number of small ones might justify the effort. Also, the idea of the member who uses it storing it seems like a win, because that would remove storage charges from the equation.

We've had some interesting heavy hauls through our area lately, as well as some interesting solutions. One of the gas drilling companies found it cheaper to use a helicopter to fly their poles and well casings to their drill pad than it would have been to buy the road permits and road closures they'd have nbeeded to haul everything on trucks. Some really huge generator parts came down the interstate and went on the river at the intermodal yards. I know people thought I was either nuts or kidding, but water transport for heavy items that don't need to be somewhere yesterday is the cheapest way to go, provioding there's reasonable enough crane service. With the increasing popularity of small intermodal yards along waterways, that might be something else to look at.