A few years ago, there were some posts here or on Trainorders about a steam locomotive someone had move to some property in the Palmdale or Lancaster area. There were pictures of it being lifted off a flatcar to a truck and then taken to the owners property not far away.

Does anyone know the story on this engine? I don't see any listing on steamlocomotive.info. Is it still there? And if so, can it be seen from the road? And if so, what road? :-)

Thanks,

Brandi

Brandi,

Apparently it is located in Lancaster on Avenue G, just east of Sierra Highway.
Further info at http://www.steamlocomotive.com/lists/CA.shtml and http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive ... splay=1790

Jim Tatum.

That sounds like the engine I remember from the posts. But your steamlocomotive.info link says it is in KY, and I can't find anything similar in the CA list you link for steamlocomotive.com. Have the lists just not been updated or am I missing something?

Thanks,

Brandi

#717, about a third of the way down the list:

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/ima ... rmy717.jpg

Thought that looked like another USATC S100. The tank threw me a little though.

If this locomotive is indeed #717 I may be able to provide some info. I was involved in getting #717 moved from Orrville, OH where it was loaded via operating steam derrick onto a flat car and moved to Bluegrass Railroad Museum about 1989. I'm wondering if in fact this event was the most recent time a steam locomotive was loaded by a steam railroad crane??? At BGRM we replaced a small patch in the left wrapper sheet and a fabricated a partial door sheet, along with replacing about 60 staybolts. A lot of other work was done, including new tubes, in preparation for operation and we did run it some, but I'm not sure what happened after I left the BGRM in 1991. The engine sat for most of the time, but was occasionally operated until about 1997. I did speak with the buyer that did move the engine to California, but don't remember who or where.

#717 is a large tank engine. Built by Porter in 1947, it has an ASME "L" stamp boiler with National Board number. It is an ex-army engine, but NOT an S100, and is in the 65-70 ton range. Oil fired, 200psi design.

Glad to be corrected by someone who knows what they're talking about. :)

Which derick did the loading? There are several derricks in Orrville but the only operable one I believe is a diesel powered 250 ton IB.

What is the significance of an "L" stamp? What other kinds of stamps or other designations are there?

I finally found the time on one of my semi-annual inspection trips up to the Trona to stop in Lancaster and look for this engine. Found it exactly where it was described above. If I did this right, here are two images of it where it sits today.

Greg

This is, in fact the Porter loco from Bluegrass RR Museum that I have referenced earlier in this thread.

We did load the loco in Orrville with one of the steam cranes, not diesel, in 1989. I don't remember what the heritage of that crane is, but can find out if somebody REALLY wants to know. I have video.

The ASME "L" stamp was used on a Locomotive type boiler, and was section III of the ASME boiler code. With the demise of steam locomotives, ASME section III is now the "Nuclear Code", and any modern locomotive boilers are built with the standard ASME "S" (high pressure) stamp.

Still sleeping, two years later...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/6393858143

Following your flickr link I see that there is now a 80 tonner in the collection. That's new since this past April.

If that's the same Porter 0-6-0T #717 that I'm familiar with it once served the GATX tank car plant at Masury, OH, right across the state line from Sharon, PA. I last saw it on the property of a scrap dealer in Sharon named Goldberg, probably in the mid to late 1960s. Sounds like it's done some traveling since then. The scrap dealer had it for sale and used an ex-PRR 44 ton GE to do his switching.