I am the proud owner of an ex-Rock Island steam engine tender that was converted to a snow plow by the Rock Island. The plow is currently lettered for the Chicago & North Western, and carries the number X262739. I am looking for any information on it's history that I can find. Anyone out there know anything about these plows? Any info would be greatly appreciated.


ddg14@msn.com

> I am the proud owner of an ex-Rock Island
> steam engine tender that was converted to a
> snow plow by the Rock Island. The plow is
> currently lettered for the Chicago &
> North Western, and carries the number
> X262739. I am looking for any information on
> it's history that I can find. Anyone out
> there know anything about these plows? Any
> info would be greatly appreciated.

Was this one of those Rock Island "half a loaf of bread" (semi-Vanderbilt) tenders, or a normal tender?

midlandblb@cs.com

Some of these still had the engine number hidden under several coats of paint. Try looking on the back of the tender, in about the middle. Careful sanding in that area might turn it up.

I am the proud owner of an ex-Rock Island
> steam engine tender that was converted to a
> snow plow by the Rock Island. The plow is
> currently lettered for the Chicago &
> North Western, and carries the number
> X262739. I am looking for any information on
> it's history that I can find. Anyone out
> there know anything about these plows? Any
> info would be greatly appreciated.


bobyar2001@yahoo.com

> Was this one of those Rock Island "half
> a loaf of bread" (semi-Vanderbilt)
> tenders, or a normal tender?
It's a semi-Vanderbilt type. I believe they may have been called "whale-back" tenders by the Rock Island.

ddg14@msn.com

> Some of these still had the engine number
> hidden under several coats of paint. Try
> looking on the back of the tender, in about
> the middle. Careful sanding in that area
> might turn it up.
Unfortunately, the C&NW sandblasted all the old Rock Island paint off before applying their own.
> I am the proud owner of an ex-Rock Island


ddg14@msn.com

Rock Island/Cotton Belt MW 95589 is one of these former tenders rebuilt into a snowplow and is at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. It was repainted last year and we did find the former locomotive number on the rear and repainted it with this number intact, except for the last digit which was largely under a headlight control electrical box added when it became a plow. The tender was built as a Vanderbuilt type in 1912 and due to leaking problems was rebuilt in the "Loaf-of-Bread" shape in the mid-1920s. It was still useful when the locomotive was scrapped and became a snowplow in 1957. I'll check on the former number and post it when I get back to work on monday. I believe it was from a 25xx class 2-8-2. It went to the Cotton Belt when the Rock Island was broken up and the line it was on was sold to the SSW/Cotton Belt. We found that the Rock had painted it with "bankruptcy blue" paint at one time but it was black when we got it and is again now.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com