Looking pretty tired from the shiny black paint I saw a few years ago. Proof that they need to be indoors.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=136446

This is the first thing you see when you pull into Steamtown. What a shame. Maybe they should spin her off to a better home that wont let that happen.

In all fairness, this is NOT an issue that's just Steamtown-related. I can find you a dozen or so "museums" where the "first thing you see" is a loco or other relic in dire need of paint. Some of the stuff in the front lot at one nearby museum, for example, has not only badly-flaking paint and rust patches but, in one case, a number board seemingly in a slow-motion fall.

As for 2124 needing a "better home", well, geez, there ain't no satisfying you Reading fans. 2124 is one of the few steamers, if not the only one, at Steamtown that can actually be considered "local"!!!! There's one in operation in Washington, there's one stored serviceable near Reading, and one that needs paint in Baltimore. Methinks Andy Muller spoiled rotten to the core a generation of ingrates.

DL&W #565 is the "local" engine in the Steamtown collection. I might give #2124 a pass at a "regional" engine as they did get within 50 miles of Scranton in regular service. Now, if she had been leased to the PRR and showed up in Wilkes-Barre then you might get a "local" description.

As for #2102 being stored serviceable? Ah, no.

Spoiled? Think not. In fact, of the anthracite road engines still with us, there are only 4 (yep, 4) that are in towns their home roads served (the two Reading relics in Philly, #565 and #2102).

Now, anytime you are ready to send CNJ #592 back north, just give the word. ;-)

Rob

Let's not forget Rahawy Valley #17. Also in that line up. And like 565, has the strongest connection to the site, she had work done at Scranton back in the day.

Now I wonder if 592 ever came up to Scranton???

Joshua

It's a shame that the railroads in the Northeast did such a lousy job at preserving steam and it is more of a shame when one of the few is not being cared for properly. If the NPS can't do a better job they should find someone who will. A rotting locomotive is really not the first thing you should see when you pull up to a railroad museum.

Actually it looks like the paint is fading more than the engine rusting. I do concede that there is one large rust spot in view though.

To me it looks more like an "in service" condition ;-)

As far as placing it somewhere else, I would state that most (not all) museums have other static displays in similar conditions. There are a LOT of engines to paint at Steamtown, can't do them all at once.

This engine could use a touch up (not a full repaint) at this point.


Chris

Yes, but remember #15 is outside, too, she her status doesn't rate her any special care.

#2124 is not in terrible shape. I just went up to take detail photos of her last month.

I would bet that any volunteer group willing take on the cost and work of repainting engines would be met with interest.

Not being specific to Steamtown, but..........

Think again.

I have heard several horror stories along these lines, from flat-out denial of the opportunity ("You're not Museum members and you're not covered under our insurance") to far worse and convoluted ("We have to consider the environmental issues involved....", "by law it has to be done in a properly-equipped paint booth," "that has to be done by municipal employees under labor union agreement," etc.)

In my personal experience it's almost impossible, short of buying a volunteer paint crew memberships, to just volunteer to paint someone else's locomotives. Given my own experience with this kind of situation, it lends credence to the anti-government biases exhibited by the owners of the East Broad Top--where, by the way, volunteers from the Friends of the East Broad Top are making restoration progress that probably wouldn't be happening if the NPS or a state board owned the EBT by now.......

Yes, I know. It makes me reconsider my own positions as well.

Random humor:
A prostitute slinks up to the CMO of a major railroad museum while he's out on the town for the night, and purrs into his ear, "I'll fulfill any fantasy of yours for $200, but you have to tell me your fantasy in three words or less."
CMO thinks a second, reaches into his pocket, pulls out $200, slams it on the bar, and replies, "Paint my locomotives."

The beloved 2124 is the first impression for our national park that celebrates the best of American railroading. How many minivans and SUVs pull up and have the family think "look at the rusty old train". Is that the first impression people should be getting? It certainly sets the tone for a ho-hum visit, the fun-o-meter is already in the hole before people get out of the car.

One 'outside' locomotive I've seen not long ago that was just in incredible condition is the Santa Fe 4-8-4 2913 at Ft. Madison, IA, in Riverside Park.

I thought it had just been painted, from the condition, and it turns out it had been several years earlier.

The difference? A big brass plaque in front of it that the locomotive had been painted by DuPont themselves, in black Imron. Not any ordinary paint job, this was a factory-done 'demo' of the best paint, prepped in the best way, and possibly even washed, the way it looked. How do you get that? Well, Ft. Madison has a big DuPont plant in town.

I don't think I've ever seen an unprotected, outside, display locomotive look any better. So I'm wondering out loud how much difference it makes to 'really' know your painting, preparation, materials, and technique as well as DuPont did on their own product on show in their own town. Probably worth asking about. Sure wasn't any ordinary paint job from what I've seen in my travels.

Imron is one of those paints that are best left to the pros, from what I understand. A spray booth, supplied-air respirator (not just a carbon-filtered one, since Imron solvents do nasty, nasty things to your lungs) and a way to bake the paint (to cure it) are the minimum requirements for an Imron job.

I don't know how Steamtown does its current painting, but I bet these requirements exceed what they currently have.

Since DuPont is based in Wilmington, DE (about 3 hrs fm Scranton), I wonder if there would be a way for them to sponsor a 'proper' Imron paint booth at Steamtown without 25 tons of red tape (ha, ha, ha, I kill myself sometimes......). It'd be nice if there would be a way for other local groups to use such a facility for a nominal fee to paint their own equipment (boy, what *have* I been smoking today??!!! LOL)
-Walter

Probably not. Even in the era of wooden coaches, those huge drivers were made for the straight and flat, not the twists and 1.5% plus grades of NEPA.

I just recently saw a picture of a Pennsy passenger train in Wilkes Barre sporting an H class consol.-an H-9, I believe.

Sandy:

I have THAT dream every night......

Au contraire, Mr. Superheater. I have seen photographic evidence that both 592 and 565 have been in Scranton. The late Clarence Weaver of Sunbury photographed both locomotives on the turntable at Northumberland in the early 1930s.