An interesting photo recently came through on railpictures.net

It's a wonder this poor locomotive lasted until 1986. The roundhouse either fell down or was torn down around the old girl.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 76&nseq=82

Looks more like burned. The whole scene reminds me eerily of the East Brookfield Depot after the fire... However, it appears that within a year it was moved out to the old Rock Island yard with a number of ex-Rock Island freight cars and was reunited with the tender.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 056&nseq=1
On a final note, wasn't this one of Dick Jenson's engines at one point, or am I thinking of the wrong engine?

From Steamlocomotive.com:

1971

If memory serves, this is the engine that the Southern tried to lease and turn into a PS-4 stand in for their steam program. Jensen told them to go pound sand and the rest, as they say, is history...

Two things are certain:

1. METRA had the 5629 scrapped.

2. The location where it sat has never been built upon as METRA claimed it was going to do.


Les

Friends,

I was sharing a newly posted photo on an old topic because the photo was interesting. Please let's not rehash this whole topic. Please use the search feature to check on the previous threads about this locomotive. It's all been said before.

I remember the other idiocy about the whole thing was that the court determined it was legal for METRA to scrap the locomotive in place, but it was not legal to move the locomotive intact to a new location without the consent of the owner.

Does anyone know for certain what happened to the roundhouse? The current RP picture shows the roof gone. My guess is that it just collapsed - there was no evidence of fire.

Incidentally, I have to agree with what I read earlier from someone else's comment, maybe it was here on RPN: In retrospect, Dick Jensen did more to cause the demise of some great steam locomotives than to preserve them. 5629 is a good case in point, but the real tragedy is what happened to my favorite ~ 5632. The earlier comment on Southern wanting to use 5629 goes to show you how hard headed this guy was.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/union/jensen.shtml
I never knew that. I sickens me to know it now, though.

I knew Dick Jensen very slightly. The bottom line is that his legacy is a mixed bag. True that CB&Q 4-8-4 #5632 and GTW 4-6-2 #5629 "died" while he was their owner, but there are some locomotives around that he originally saved. These include:

1. CB&Q 2-8-2 #4963 (now at IRM in Union, IL)

2. Georgia Northern 4-6-0 #102 (at a museum in Minnesota)

3. Mississippi Eastern 4-6-0 #303 (now at Monticello Railway Museum)



Les

You forgot another casualty: another Jensen locomotive, NKP 2-8-2 #965 (or was it 964?), also cut up in Chicago about the same time 5632 was rendered.

Howard P.

Yes 4963 was saved, but not by Mr. Jensen’s actions. The IRM stepped in to save it at the last minute by trading with the scrappers the five (5) GTW 0-8-0’s that came from Northwestern Steel & Wire. I guess if he had unlimited funds, we wouldn’t be talking about all this (so I shouldnt be so hard on him). The one advantage of being my age is that I had the opportunity to ride behind 5629 & 5632. I have also seen the 0-8-0’s in action several times at NS&W.

Is there someone out there who had the experience of going to NS&W to see and photograph the 0-8-0’s in action? I can tell you it was a real experience. If you came to town to photograph the engines without making arrangements, you will have Plant Security on your case within minutes. The first time this happened to me I thought I was going to jail, but they would merely stop you and politely direct you to go to their administration building in town and get permission to take pictures. I think it was Mr. Dillon himself who would give you permission to do so. I remember a few different times this older guy would interview and meet with us and give us the necessary permission and access to photograph the engines, even on plant property as I recall.

A good definition of Mr. Dillon, in my opinion, was that he was an “old school eccentric.” I was told that he was somewhat of a micro manager. The story was that If you worked for him and wanted to buy a part he would review all requisitions and tell you where you could find one in the plant if he was aware of one existing there. I got the feeling that Mr. Dillon actually liked people to come and ask permission to photograph his babies, the steam locomotives. Thank goodness for that.

Because of the nature of private ownership. An owner's rights are fairly absolute, including the right to be stupid (or visionary, which is often tough to distinguish.)

Nonprofits are another story. If a nonprofit's management was belligerent or nonresponsive, the court can look at their mission and bylaws and act in their best interests.