I've only heard about the City of Alamosa's new display of D&RGW 169, but the roofed display also has a loading ramp so the loco can visit working railroads.

I would also have to go with #6069, the Canadian National 4-8-2 on display in Sarnia, Ontario. She has markers lit at night, and although not under cover, has a great wrought iron fence around her!

Photo LInk of her below:



TJ Gaffney
(alt+p)

I'd have to second the vote for CNR 6213 in Toronto. This engine looks like it was just outshopped with a class one overhaul. I have yet to see an outdoor display that comes even close. There was talk some time ago of a local group wanting to restore it to operating condition but I haven't heard anything of it. It would look nice at Toronto Union Station next to CPR 2816 on it's annual visit!

There was, not sure of its shape now, a very finely kept up display locomotive in Orlando on display. The SP narrow gauge 18 looks pretty slick...but its getting restored to operation...and liberated back from the grave!

-Ed Kelley

My vote goes for the 870. Considering the condition it was recieved in, (derelict) this 2-8-0 has to be one of the better displayed locomotives in the country. The City of Santa Fe Springs, CA also created a "environment", including a replica of the 1880 Califonia Southern depot, to place the locomotive in rather than encircle it with a chain link fence, which helps greatly with it's historical interpretation.
http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=217

Just to add to what Ken Jones has said about 6213, the gentlemen who have looked after it have also kept many of the mechanical parts moving and in operating condition. The asbestos was also removed years ago.

A rail-to-trail park in central Ohio, the Kokosing Gap Trail, has a great display alongside the trail in Gambier. They have, restored for display purposes, a 1940 Alco 0-6-0 and tender, a 1922 Nickel Plate flate car, and a 1924 Chesapeake & Ohio caboose. Photos available at their website: www.kokosinggaptrail.org. The great thing about this display: no fence! Climb aboard!

The best preserved park locomotive I have seen is the "Oregon Pony"
on display at Cascade locks in Oregon. It has had a roof over it for
years, and at some point has become glass enclosed with a dehumidifyer.

It is the sole survivor of several of these locos that were used as a
portage around falls on the Columbia river. It is not only a survivor
of the first locos in the northwest, it is one of the oldest survivors
in the west.

Early Orygun pioneers had a strong sense of identity and history, with
moves to preserve Oregon history being active even in the 1880's. That
this loco survived is an indication of thier efforts.

I saw this engine last in the early '90s. She had her cab windows covered with sheetmetal, and some rust thru on the outter jacketing. Still pretty good shape for an outdoor engine. And all her trim appeared to be in place. I first saw her on a family vacation in the early '70s. There were two cabooses with her that are gone now.

I'll second the vote for CB&Q 2-8-2 #4978 in Mendota, Illinois. Not only for the condition of the engine (absolutely gorgeous when I saw her in October of '98) but also a very well-thought-out display. In particular, the fence is a vertical bar type instead of the typical chain-link job, high enough to deter vandalism, but with bars spaced widely enough for a camera lens. It is also placed far enough back from the engine to allow a good, unobstructed 3/4 shot. I would also place the North Platte engines (both the 2-8-0 and Challenger 3977) high on my list.

What is truly impressive about the Mendota and North Platte engines is that they are not covered but are very well maintained. In general, roofed engines tend to be in better shape than the unroofed ones, but there are plenty of exceptions on both sides of the coin. I can also think of a number of examples of beautifully-maintained engines that suffer visually from poorly-designed roofs.

The entire display in the 1970's was run by a group known as the Sarnia Bayview Railway Museum, which started with the afore-mentioned two cabooses and the #6069, and then fell to the same fate as so many of its American counterparts. One important difference --- after a few of the remaining members of the group began to realize that the wooden cabooses were beyond their ability to maintain, they sent them to better homes. Although I do not know what happened to the second caboose after it left Sarnia, the one now is at Smith Falls, Ontario, linked
below

http://members.rogers.com/ecrm5700/gtw_caboose.htm


TJ Gaffney

I have fond memories of this loco. Mostly of taking 6 inches of rocks out of the cylinders in January of 1986.

I heard that this loco got her steam dome cut off before the move to Ohio. Is this true?

I was glad to see that they painted her and put the front pilot steps back on.

The firebox was welded up sometime during its life in Alabama after it froze and burst.

Just some memories,

JD

Wrong museum. GTW caboose # 77137 has been at the Elgin County Railway Museum in St. Thomas, Ontario since 1998. The link you gave is to their site.
It was privately owned and stored at the Smith Falls Railway Museum for several years, but it was donated to the ECRM in the late nineties.

GTW 77137 was privately owned by Ross Robinson. He stored it for several years at the Smiths Falls Railway Museum after rescuing it from the Toronto & York CRHA collection which had become homeless. The car underwent a fair bit of restoration while at SFRM.

Several of T&Y's passenger cars were acquired by and moved to SFRM at the time. One other car, a CN dental car, was acquired by another member and moved to the museum along with our equipment.

Ross donated the 77137 to Elgin County Railway Museum a number of years ago.

Steve Hunter
Cardinal, Ontario
_________________________________________________

>Although I do not know what happened to the second caboose after it left Sarnia, the one now is at Smith Falls, Ontario, linked
below

http://members.rogers.com/ecrm5700/gtw_caboose.htm

This would have to top my list as far as "park engines" go. While this is a museum, it sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood and everything is kept in top notch shape. I was there in 2000 and walked away with a very good impression of the dedication of its members and the community itself which embraces the facility.

Anyone who hasnt been to this museum and is planning a trip out west, stop by here. Its one of the best I have seen!!!!