I have a great picture of Lawndale #5 from the great Stan Mailer collection, actually a print. It is about the cutest 2-8-0 I have ever seen. On the back of the print is says Lawndale, SC. I have no idea when the picture was taken and wonder if this thing is still with us or if it got scrapped. I haven't been able to locate anything about it or the railroad, though I admit I haven't gone all out either. I would love to post the picture, but I don't have a scanner. Any help on this one?

This page suggests she was scapped in or around 1945... She was indeed a love of a little 2-8-0!http://www.tarheelpress.com/Lawndale2.html

Some Bob Richardson photos here on the Denver Public Library site:http://photoswest.org:8080/cgi-bin/cw_cgi?resultsScreen+31105+1+7+0If the link does not work (it's sometimes troublesome), just go to the search function of the Denver Public Library's Western History Collection and type in Lawndale.

The Lawndale wasn't in SC, it was in NC. AFAIK the only thing left of the RR are a couple boxcars, at least one of which has been nicely restored as a roadside display. It was located about 30-40 miles west of Charlotte, near Shelby, NC. Ran more or less north-south. The SPV Mid-Atlantic map book will show you exactly where it was.

Bob:I finally was able to pull up the three Lawndale photos. Although the number 5 was described as "cute", her sister (in two of Bob Richardson's photos) could better be described as "homely". The two engines were sisters; so why the difference? Simple. The number 5 still wears her original big headlight, but # 4 has had the headlight replaced with what appears to be two automobile type headlights. Really ugly! Would be interesting to know what happened to number 4 to precipitate this change.BTW, I don't think it was mentioned in this thread, but the Lawndale was a 3' narrow gauge line. A photo of it even made the famous Beebe & Clegg book "MIXED TRAIN DAILY" and yes, it was the "ugly" little number 4 that was pictured. Lucius Beebe pointed out a couple of other interesting things about the railroad. First, that its two Consolidations were painted GREEN! And second, that the roads combine was considered "the smallest combine in operation anywhere." Oh my word...did no one ever wander down to North Carolina with some color film and record that little treasure of a railroad before it was abandoned in 1945? If not, what a real shame.Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana) [/u]

The headlights on #4 were from an old Buick, placed there by Frank Coffey, who later when to be GFE of the Carolina & North-Western and the chief engineer who built Tweetsie RR and the Rebel RR (forerunner of Dollywood). A neat but completely insignificant relationship is that Frank had connections to the Carolina & N-W, which at one time was the longest Narrow Gauge in the Carolinas, as well as to the ET&WNC and Lawndale, probably NC's most famous Narrow Gauge lines.Its in the book listed in the Tarheel Press website.Matt BumgarnerCo-author, The Lawndale Rwy & Industrial Company