I understand that Lake States 466, which is an RS-2 built in June of 1946 is used on a daily basis.
The have the 469, built in Sept.1949 up for sale. I don't know if it is operable.

Dave

A cut & pste from another list:

Ex. GBW/AA RS-2 #301 was just scrapped this pass summer in Duluth, but Ex. GBW/AA RS-2 #303 is alive and in storage in Duluth.

Dave

Who owns the 303?

One of the first, #466 is no longer at Lake States, and has not been for years. The #466 is at Michigan Southern in White Pigeon (shot below from Eddie Gross's page), and has not operated in some time. Its sad, as she hauled the last D&M passenger train, seen below. Sadly, most of the ex-D&M RS's are now scrap fodder, as can be seen in the recent shot of #468 and #4610 Below. Hulks of up two of them can/ could be seen around the shops in Alpena. I believe #469 is the last of the original batch still operable.

Lake States, while it operates quite a few ALCOS, does not seem to understand what they have/ had in the RS's, other than parts supplies. The same goes for steam facilities, as they recently tore down part of one of the last intact standing roundhouses in Michigan in East Tawas for a Walmart, and about 10 years ago tore down the passenger station/ main office building seen in the "last train" shot. Talk about a perfect museum lost forever.

TJG




[img]http://www.michiganrailroads.com/dmhs/images/DM466LastPassTrainAtTawasCity033151[ThorntonPhotoFogelsingerColl].jpg[/img]

TJ -

Just curious: what was the color scheme of the 466 when it powered the last D&M passenger train shown in the black and white photo?

Les

Les-
The D&M RS2's had an early grey and maroon scheme which was fairly similar to what they wore later in life, with one exception; the center stripe was deleted sometime after passenger service ended in the 1950's. I have heard rumors that the lettering on the center stripe may have been a pale yellow, givening it a slightly lackawanna aspect, but I have yet to see proof, and I personally beliweve it was grey. My guess is that it was easier on the guys in the East Tawas shop to paint a maroon stencil then a maroon stripe and then a grey stencil for letters, and so the extra step of the stripe was deleted.
Below is a shot of #468 in better days with the "later" scheme, courtesy of the D&M Historical Society website:

TJ



[img]http://www.michiganrailroads.com/dmhs/images/DM4610SouthboundAtTawas1983[PaulCameron].jpg[/img]

Money talks and these people do not give hoot about history. And with scrap being as high as it currently is, look for the hulks to disappear. Several automotive junk yards that used to have sections for older cars have begun scrapping them because they contain more metal. More history lost!

Later!
Mr. Ed

From the looks of #466 in the picture, it would make a fine locomotive for preservation, I just wonder if she is still operational. I've always liked the look of the RS-2's rounded corners and cab. I hope that this unit doesn't end up like the other pictures posted in this topic.

I do have a question about those lights above the headlight on #466, what were they used for? From the picture above, it looks like they are red and green.

To clarify a post above: the Lake State RR didn't own the station or enginehouse in Tawas that were torn down in recent years - they were still owned by the Pinkerton family.

I agree that either facility would have made a nice museum, but Tawas is too isolated to support it, and the trackage on that line is mostly exempt, so you couldn't run excursions on it.

Chris.