Photo from 1962 of this recently-discussed C&O 2-8-4 being placed in the Lynchburg park. Click on link below, then find Abandoned Rails in left window, then scroll down on that page. Sorry, no direct link.

http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/rails.html
ryarger@rypn.org

What a great image! There's an idea for a book; locomotives going on display and as they appear today. Having photographed the 2760 extensively, two years ago, I can attest to her poor condition, yet I really don't believe she beyond restoration, even restoration to operation. There are three ex-C&O Kanawhas that I am aware of in Virginia. Each has been through hard times. While each locomotive has been vandalized over the years, there is also some light to be seen. 2732 was recently moved to a new location in Richmond. SHe was not torched apart, but correctly separated from her tender. The loco in Newport News has been cosmetically restored by the town after they recognized her state of decay. Lynchburg's is the least among equals, and need extra attention. Between the three, I'm betting that at least one could be made operable again. I'd like it to be Lynchburg's, simply because it defies the situation she is presently in. She's been in a wet area for forty years, but I am not yet willing to surrender her to time and the elements.


glueck@maine.edu

Cosmetic restoration? 100% for it and will shotly put my money into it.

Operation? For my money, not until the existing sister Van Swerengen AMC operable Berks are so busy that we need another running to relieve the burden.

eledbetter@rypn.org

Darn it, Eric! Reality and rationale aren't supposed to appear in the equation! :-)


glueck@maine.edu

Does anyone have photos of the C&O 2-8-4s and the lone remaining 2-8-2 being scrapped at Russell, KY, about 1970?

ryarger@rypn.org

I do! Actually they are old Kodak ektachorme slides made with an Instamatic 626 camera. Someone I knew from the KRM gave them to me a number of years ago and they are in my photo box. I can post them or provide them via the internet whenever I get the chance to scan them on the slide scanner at school. Anyone interested?

david.wilkins@bardstown.com

You betcha!! I was always curious whether any parts were saved, considering the late date they were cut up.

drotarinoh@webtv.net

I think the KRM got a booster engine or a stoker engine from one of the unlucky 2700s to use on 2716. Other than that, I don't think much salvable in the way of appliances of parts were left by the time they met the torch. It is a shame about the 2-8-2 though.

david.wilkins@bardstown.com

> You betcha!! I was always curious whether
> any parts were saved, considering the late
> date they were cut up.

David:

Count me in too.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, IN)


midlandblb@cs.com

> I think the KRM got a booster engine or a
> stoker engine from one of the unlucky 2700s
> to use on 2716. Other than that, I don't
> think much salvable in the way of appliances
> of parts were left by the time they met the
> torch. It is a shame about the 2-8-2 though.

David:

You can say THAT again! Our museum has a Kanawha but it was the C&O K class 2-8-2's that ran here through North Judson (the 2-8-4's were apparently too heavy for some of the bridges on this line.)

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)



midlandblb@cs.com

> Does anyone have photos of the C&O
> 2-8-4s and the lone remaining 2-8-2 being
> scrapped at Russell, KY, about 1970?

Does anyone know why these three engines were cut up, and not everything that was there at the time? #614 was there (wearing the number 611), plus 2-6-6-2 #1309, and 2-8-4 #2705. These three went to the B&O Museum about 1975. Allegheny #1604 was there, but may have been moved to the Roanoke by the time these other three engines met their demise. It's certainly a shame that they didn't hold on to the K3.

kevin.r.gillespie@verizon.net

Maybe I'm irrational, but cutting up steam locomotives in 1970, particularly in the case of a class 1 outfit like C&O, seems a bit odd. They certainly did not need the money from scrap, and I doubt track room was a consideration. What was the difference between saving a loco and designating another as expendible? 614 was probably subjected to the same outdoor stresses as the other locos, yet she is in good enough shape to get dressed for the Ball.
And btw, why was 614 dressed up as 611?

glueck@maine.edu

IIRC, C&O had "borrowed" several engines from the RF&P in the late days of steam, one of which was also numbered 614. It was pretty easy to make the 4 into a 1 with a chisel and some white paint I suppose, and this solved the problem of 2 #614s.


drotarinoh@webtv.net