Other than Albuquerque and Portland, which cities have formally sold displayed steam locomotives to restoration groups?

No flaming, but what have been the results of those sales?

Southern 154 which sat in Chilhowie Park for 50+ yrs. was sold to the Old Smoky Chapter NRHS, who then sold/donated in to G&O who restored it 2 yrs. ago. Also Nkp 765 and 587, ATSF 3751, and Cotton Belt 819. Thats all that I can think of right now

Topeka donating ATSF #3463 to Great Overland Station.

We probably need to define sell here. I don't think Portland ever sold there locomotives. Doesn't the City still own them?

3751 was eventually sold wasn't it?

The City of LA traded the two Hawaiian steam locomotives back to Hawaii in exchange for the CWR 56 (Baldwin RS-12) and two passenger cars.

Brandi

Lorain Oh sold (donated?) their 0-6-0 to the Lorain & West Virginia.

I know of a couple here in Minnesota. The former Soo Line 4-6-2 No. 2719 was donated to the city of Eau Claire, WI in 1959 and sat in Carson Park there until 1996 when it was purchased by the Locomotive and Tower Preservation Fund. It was restored to operation and is now leased by the Lake Superior RR Museum in Duluth, MN.

Also at the LSRM in Duluth, though not operational, is NP 2-6-2 No. 2436 that was donated to the City of Duluth in 1954. It was displayed in the city zoo until 1978 when it was donated to the then new LSRM.

All three steam locomotives at the Minnesota Transportation Museum are former park displays. NP Pacific No. 2153 was displayed in East Grand Forks, ND for many years before being donated to MTM in 2000. NP Pacific No. 2156 was a fixture at the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul before being donated to the MTM in 1980. NP 10 wheeler No. 328 came from a city park in Stillwater, MN. Leased from the City of Stillwater, it was restored to operation in 1981 and was operated for many years until its boiler needed significant work.

Speaking of Soo Line engines, the 1003 was donated to the city of Superior, WI, and stored for years at the wastewater treatment plant before it was restored. I'm not sure that either engine was sold; I think they are both still owned by the respective cities and on long term lease.

Also Soo Line 2645, a 4-6-0 that was donated to the city of Waukesha, WI and displayed in a park, later sold to a restaurant developer and moved to the former C&NW depot in that city. When the WSOR needed to establish a new connection with the Soo the engine was in the way, and was donated to Mid-Continent.


Also, don't forget "Old Smokey", MILW 265, which went to IRM from a park in Milwaukee when it was in the path of an expressway. I believe that was a donation.

Georgia Northern Railway 107, ex-Florida East Coast Railway 88 (ALCO, 1911) was donated by the City of Albany, GA to Thronateeska Heritage Canter in Albany, GA in 1979. It had sat in Albany's Tift Park near the old zoo from the time it was donated by the Georgia Northern in 1957 until December 1980 when it was moved to the former Union Passenger Station in downtown. The depot had become the main museum facility for the organization in 1976 after being purchased from the railroad. The locomotive was under cover for a good portion of it's display time at the park, but was left in the open from 1980 until construction of the display shed at the museum in 2004. She suffered substantial and significant deterioration after her move to the museum.

Restoration planning began in 1996 and $500,000 in funding was received with passage of the November 1999 SPLOST referendum, which funded the display shed and other railroad equipment artifact restorations. A contracted cosmetic restoration was begun in February 2002 but was officially (and somewhat covertly) halted by museum management in February 2008.

Volunteer efforts continued into 2009 without museum support or sanction and completely ceased after fencing was put up. Although the GN Ry 107 restoration funding came through the same 1999 SPLOST that paid for the display shed, and a large portion (over 20%) was budgeted for 107's thorough cosmetic restoration, the Executive Director exploited a loophole to use funds for other museum purposes. Additional SPLOST funding was received in November 2010. In talking with city officials, it is my understanding that the museum Executive Director has received a mandate from the city to complete the restoration after he attempted to "redirect" the additional 2010 SPLOST funds into yet another construction project, but no further work has been performed as yet.

Restoration status: awaiting completion.

Overwhelmingly positive for the city management, as they have responsibly passed a liability off to an organization whose mission is (ostensibly) railway preservation, not running a municipality. Some recipients found their new main course hard to digest, some have done better.......

dave

Oro Grande, California.
See this link for information from Orange Empire Railway Museum's website.
http://www.oerm.org/collection/union-pacific/2564

YES. They do.

Lakeland, FL sold Virginia-Carolina 2-6-0 #50 to the Alexander Chapter-NRHS a couple of years ago.

Matt Bumgarner

Thank you, everyone for contributing to this thread. Very informational and worthwhile!

I would guess that a healthy percentage of the currently operating steam locomotives were once displayed in parks. A lot of non-operating engines have made their way to museums as well. So much so that the idea of maintaining a steam locomotive outdoors in a public park seems increasingly out of style.

A partial list of former park-displayed engines in California:

ATSF 3751 Operational - stored
SD&A 104 SDRM - display
SP 1771 CSRM - stored
SP 1227 Sierra Railway - stored
SP 1269 Niles Canyon - was operational
SP 1903 CSRM - stored
SP 2353 SDRM - was operational
SP 2467 CSRM - was operational
SP 2472 Niles Canyon - operational
SP 2479 CTRC - restoration
SP 2706 Private owner - restoration
SP 4294 CSRM - display
UP 2564 OERM - display
WP 165 WPRRM - restoration

14 engines
5 of these had been restored to operation
2 of these are currently operational

3 of the 14 may yet be made operational
~3 of the 14 are now indoors
~5 of the 14 are not publicly displayed

One small correction, SOO 2719 was donated to Chippewa Falls Wisconsin, it spent some time in Eau Claire at the old roundhouse there, but it has since been razed.

Steve