Back in mid-November, there was a thread on INTERCHANGE concerning U.S. Army 0-6-0 tender locomotives built by ALCO and LIMA during WWII. Someone brought up the fact that the Midland Terminal had purchased six of these surplus switchers after the war and converted three of them to 2-6-0's. There was also a mention that the MT also had a former 2-8-0 from the Chicago & Eastern Illinois that had been converted aby the MT Shop forces into a 2-8-2, and that further info on the Midland Terminal could be found in Morris Cafky's book "Rails Around Gold Hill."

I was finally able to secure this book through the interlibrary loan system through my local library. And just to set the record straight, the 2-8-0/2-8-2 mentioned was NOT a former Chicago & Eastern Illinois locomotive, but was purchased by the MT in 1938 from the Chicago & Illinois Midland where it had been #174 and then #510. It was originally built in 1910 for the Chicago & Alton as its #439. Unfortunately the engine was scrapped in 1949 when the MT quit running.

Les Beckman (HVRM)

midlandblb@cs.com