The Walkersville Southern near Frederick, Md. adds to its stable of operable "critters" with this 1941 Davenport, which supposedly originally started its career at nearby Holabird Ordnance Depot (later Fort Holabird) in southeast Baltimore before being transferred to Arkansas, later ending up at the Hardin Southern in Kentucky before being acquired by private owners for Walkersville Southern.

From Facebook:

Excellent! I knew they were getting close, but not this close! Should be their number 3 and painted a nice red.
Jimmy Baird is an excellent man who really needs more credit for all that he’s done. He was the one who really helped me get back into preservation after the let down of a previous project I was involved in and has helped me out of a sticky situation at the MoESL. Fantastic man.

For some reason many people who post here have an aversion to mentioning exactly which locomotive they are talking about.

2360 8/1941 B 26” Std GM20 LeRoi 40000#
US Army #7707 Quartermaster Corps #2056, Ft Holabird, Baltimore, Md
Lion Oil #1422, El Dorado, Ark
Rebuilt – B 26” Std D/TC Cum H
Rebuilt – B 26” Std D/TC Cum L
Malvern Brick & Tile #1422, Malvern, Ark
Hardin Southern , Hardin, Ky
Walkersville & Southern #3, Walkersville, Md

More like not having the time to go hunting down the details you obviously had at hand. I went with the info provided by the Walkersville Southern, and even THEY had some of the details inaccurate at first!

When I do Facebook or forum posts that include detail to that level, on average it takes me a half-hour or more of research and fact-checking to be sure I have the details right. I ain't getting paid either hourly or per word; don't have the time today; be glad I found time just to share the good news, okay????

Other than a test run, don't look for this locomotive to be operated over the WS. It was acquired over a decade ago when the WS was short on motive power and there were dreams of double-heading it with the other Davenport, No. 2, but this is no longer the case. The WS now has stronger locomotives to handle its longer trains, and when it's ready No. 3 will depart for Maine.

The WS's former track foreman, Howard Betts, retired from his federal service job a few years ago and returned to his native Maine where he's involved with a similar operation. (I don't know its name or location.) Howard needs a good little locomotive for MoW trains, and when No. 3 is finished it's going to be trucked north.

For years No. 3 has languished in in pieces in the back of the enginehouse, but thanks to the recent efforts of Al Leyh, a former locomotive shop employee of the now-gone Patapsco & Back Rivers Railroad, the day is coming when No. 3 will be ready to pull Howard Betts' MoW trains way up north.

...And for the sake of historical accuracy, this locomotive was not owned by the Hardin Southern, rather stored there by a private party who also volunteered at the HS.

And to that I add that it's not the Walkersville & Southern, but rather the Walkersville Southern.

An update on the little No. 3: A couple of years ago there were hopes of restoring this locomotive to operation but that never happened, and it remained in the rear of the enginehouse, competing with other pieces of equipment for maintenance and restoration time. In an earlier post I wrote that it was being restored to be sent to Howard Betts, a former WS volunteer now volunteering on the B&ML in Maine. I'm told that Howard was eventually able to acquire another locomotive, so it's no longer needed there.

When it was originally acquired the WS was short on motive power but that's no longer the case, and even if No. 3 were now fully operational its utility would be very limited, given the current length of trains on the WS.

This is a dilemma faced by most such organizations. There's a limited amount of storage space, maintenance money, in-house skill, time, etc., so companies must decide which pieces have priority in keeping operations going.

Recently No. 3 was moved out of the back of enginehouse to make room for the newly-acquired former American Car & Foundry No. 9, a GE 45-ton in excellent condition. Now No. 101, the rare Model 40, sits in the rear, in need of a lot of work before it can run again. Yesterday I and another volunteer placed plywood over No. 3's glass-free window spaces so it can be stored just south of the depot on Tucker Siding. The word I've received is that it could be used as a parts source for No. 2 (another Davenport) or possibly excessed.

A final update to No. 3. At the WS last Wednesday (6/3) I noticed it had been pulled out of the storage track and placed next to the shop. I wondered if someone had decided to restore it, but no. I learned the WS had sold it and it was due to depart on Thursday (6/4). I don't know the buyer yet but I hope it has gone to a new home that can restore it and make proper use of it. It arrived at the WS out of service and the WS, which accumulated bigger and better locomotives as the years passed, never had enough time to devote to it to get it going again. The WS also quickly outgrew it, and it could never have handled the train lengths that are now common on the railroad.

The locomotive has been acquired for use by the Juniata & Aughwick Railroad (Stephen Lane). It was delivered to Mount Union on Friday June 5th and now resides inside the enginehouse at Mount Union. The locomotive has been renumbered as J&A No. 1