As many of you who read this board are aware, The Southern Forest Heritage Museum at Longleaf, Louisiana has 3 steam engines that have been stored on this site since the early 1950's. In the past several years the museum focus has been on stabilizing the sawmill and adjacent buildings. At the present time, more attention is being paid to stabilizing the existing RR equipment and its preservation. As part of that effort, the museum is trying to locate several items that have been removed from the locomotives over time. These items are the number plates and builders plates from the three locomotives, most of which have been removed since 1980. The Number plates and matching Baldwin Builders plates are: #106, BLW #57203 built 1923, #400, BLW #51175 built 1919, and #202, BLW #40862, built 1913. If anyone knows of the whereabouts of any of these items and can facilitate their return to the museum, if they would contact me via this forum, and the plates are returned to the museum, I have the personal assurance from the museum director that no further questions will be asked, as the objective is the preservation of the equipment at the museum.

Everett Lueck
representing the museum

Reasonably priced reproductions can be obtained from Wayne James in Gettsburg, PA, his email: jamesgang@netrax.net

If the equipment is to be on display outdoors I would suggest aluminum reproductions. Even if someone did return the originals (almost never happens) there is the chance they would just be stolen again. Paint the alum. plates black or even brass and most will not be able to tell the difference.

Chris Allan

Thanks for the info on the reproductions! I recognize that most likely we will have to go the reproduction route, but I am hoping the somebody out there "saved" the originals for us.

I do have a correction though. In studying the photographs that have been taken over time at the mill site, I have narrowed down the time frame to between 1964 and 1968, with the removal of the plates from the 202 possibly as late as the mid 1970's. After that expanse of time, I doubt seriously that if they are in someone's collection, that they will ever be returned. Just the same, there are builders plate collectors out there, and people find things at flea markets....... or on EBAY