The 11 is road ready compared to the 108. The 108 was dismantled down to its lowest molecular componants by contractors and volunteers. Running gear was taken apart, and restoration on the cab was done, but the thing that really needed attention, and had needed it since Mr. Long owned the engine, was thinning of the firebox sheets. Had the boiler gotten the attention it needed, the slop in the running gear could have been dealt with on an as needed basis. I wonder if any one knows where the parts may even be. In fact, the 108 may belong in another thread on lost and forgotten.

Call me old fashioned, but if you can't safely make steam, the cab lining ain't that important.

Is it just me, or is there a trend for some itinerant contractors to dismantle an engine, giving a ball park of getting it road worthy (noting that in the real world that FRA road worthy and making the engine better than it was the day Mr Vauclainsent it out of the shop are different things entirely), scattering parts to the four winds, and then, OOPPSS, if you want this thing back together its REALLY gonna cost ya....

108 got caught in the transition of ownership of the Blacklands Railroad as the content of the partnership changed. She's about the right size for a good tourist line and seems now destined for a new home. The situation is one of a business plan getting halted in mid stream rather than unrealistic expectations discovered during restoration. I had a small bit to do with helping the previous owner acquire it, and wish he had been able to do what he wished....a steam experience based on real shortline freight operation, with setouts, pickups, etc. Quite a time machine that didn't get built.

dave

Thought it might interest some:

Reader Railroad (aka Kentucky Central) #11 is currently being loaded by an R.J. Corman crew onto lowboy trailers as I write this. She is being transported for display at Riney-B Park in Nicholasville, KY.

Thanks for the news. I presume it will be cosmetically repaired only? Still, that is better than before.

Glen Brewer
Railroad Glory Days
http://RailroadGloryDays.com

So what's the status on this locomotive? Being that the last post is from 2010 and it's 2017, I'd hope something has happened. The reason I ask is photos were posted at Abandoned Rail on Facebook of the 108 and it's BAD! Can anyone give an update?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6580473 ... 262446111/

I saw it in this group and wow it's been just left to the elements. I'm kinda curious too myself what happened

Its not abandoned, the owner is quite aware of it.

No updates since 2017; curious if there has been any news on the 108? Not sure how recent Google Maps photos of Sulphur Springs, TX are, but that is where it appears to be located.

Still at Sulphur Springs, dismantled..

As of 11/22/2020, it's still intended for transport to Tuscumbia Alabama, and railroad historical display. No word on actual move plans.

No "new news" on that...
...I have some "old news" on this engine.

Baldwin build some design flaw in this locomotive.
See if you can find it? Answer is here tomorrow!

PS: And yes I talk about the topic loco #108 not the stolen part of this threat about #11.

My memories are a bit longer than y'all's. They go back to riding the Possum Trot Line a couple times when I was 12, all the way to Waterlooo and back. #11 was power both times, and I got a cab ride, too, when they wyed her in Reader. #108 was standby power, and #1702 was a rusty wreck in peeling Warren & Saline River paint, that "might run again someday". The magazine article I remember was published in an extinct magazine called "Model Trains" in the early 60's, but a movie called "Boxcar Bertha" shows a lot of what once was, and lots more that they made up.

I'll just say "ain't it a shame". --- Further proof that the world is going straight to hell, as if any were needed.

Oh yea, I saw the Louisiana Longleaf Lumber #7, too, but she wasn't at Reader then, she was still working the wood chip mill at Fisher La, on the KCS. I got photos of it all, but no way to post them here. At least I can still see it all when I close my eyes and let my mind wander...

Nobody find the flaw...?

They forged an "U" in the lettering!
I wonder if it was shipped that way or they realized before and repaint.

I had a good look at it up at Conway years ago and a couple things stopped me up; one being the 'vegetation' emerging from the jacket insulation (presumed original) and the second being a really thin set of wheels everywhere. Still a sweet little engine but without doing a UT on everything under that jacket condition unknown. It was sold off of Conway shortly after. From photos it looked like it was run until something major took it out of service.

If I remember correctly the crown sheet was bit rippled.