Western Maryland 2-8-0 736, at Baltimore in 1934:http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?march04/03-12-04/wm736.jpg

Unfortunately, only two Western Maryland steam locomotives escaped scrapping in the 1950's, 4-6-2 #202 preserved in a Hagerstown park, and Shay #6, which was donated to the B&O Museum. In 1981, #6 was sent to the Cass Scenic Railroad for restoration to operation in exchange for Greenbrier Chet and Elk Shay #1, and 0-4-0T #4.Western Maryland Scenic Railway #734, is really ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 #34. While similar in size to the original WM #734, she is in fact a stand in, albeit a very good one. Her identical twin ex-LS&I #35 survives at the Illinois Railway Museum.

It would be interesting to post photos of each for comparison.

The biggest visual difference between the 736 and WMSR 734 are the piston valves on the 734. The 736 has slide valves. The 734 also has smaller drivers and a larger tender. The 736 was the last WM class H-7a and the 734 more closely resembles WM class H-8. It is amazing how many different classes of locomotives the WMSR 734 actually shares some similarity to. It has the small drivers and piston valves of a H-8. The sand dome, which I think is original to the 34, appears to be very close to the sand domes on the H-7 class engines. The big tender gives her the look of an 800 series H-9. The only way I can think of for WM Scenic to have built a better stand in for a real WM engine would be to take the prints and build one from scratch. If you are not a WM steam fan it is difficult to tell if the 734 was a real WM engine or not.After taking a second look at the photo of the 736 the engine behind it apears to be another H-7a. The last number on the cab wall is the only one visible and is a 4. That means there is a one in four chance the engine in the background is the real WM 734. John Bohon

Kevin, Don't forget OHCR #33. Yet another sister.Don C.

Did 736 come from Lake Superior and Ishpheming also? : )

It's been done; the detail differences are there, albeit quite minor. The biggest actual difference is driver size; "734" has 50-inch drivers while the WM 734 had 60-inch drivers. Aside from that, however, as others have said, the only way to come closer would have been to start from scratch, and the British A1 project to build a LNER A1 Pacific from scratch has been at it about as long (or maybe longer) than the WMSR has been operating "734"!

The 736 was built for the WM in November 1911 by Alco-Richmond. WM sold her for scrap in May 1950. If you meant the 734 then yes it was LS&I 34. WMSR added the 7 when they made a WM engine out of it.Does anyone know if LS&I 33, 34, and 35 are identical or were there differences?John Bohon

No. WM #736 was a genuine WM locomotive photographed in service during the steam era, and unfortunately scrapped like all but two other WM steamers in the 1950's. When the WMSR purchased ex-LS&I #34, they noticed its similarity in size to the original WM 700's, and came up with #734.