Over 12 years ago some of the older volunteers at MOT described the trip in 1948 when this loco was donated to the museum. They said that the center cylinder was cracked and that they rode the pilot for the entire trip to lubrucate the loco so it would not be damaged further. This was the reason the loco was available for donation. And this was often the fate of single three cylinder engines on lines that only bought a sample from ALCO to try them out. Maintenance on the center cylinder was a particularily dirty and nasty job that was often done on paper but not really done in fact. Lines like the UP and SP which bought fleets of them were able to maintain theirs just fine as management saw to it. But those which just got one often found it was a "roundhouse queen," which spent more time under repair than on the job. If it hadn't been for WW II, which had the line using everything it had available, I suspect the A&S would have scrapped #12 long before MOT was there to take it.

Ron -

Thanks for posting the story of A&S #12. Very interesting! I'll bet there are a lot of stories like this one out there, concerning equipment donated to the various museums.

Les

All things happen in due time. This is TRRA 0-8-0 taken today. Someday the A&S will look this good. Just takes somebody to get out of their armchair and help out.
The MOT could use some good volunteer help on these projects.

Nice, thanks for sharing. MOT has made a lot of progress in recent years.

Ron or F1522 or David -

A couple of questions if I may:

1. Is that a wooden cab on TRRA #318? Hard to tell for sure from the photo. If so, I think its pretty rare for an 0-8-0.

2. On the locomotives where there is a duplication at MOT of wheel arrangements, how do you guys determine which one to cosmetically restore first? I notice TRRA 0-8-0 #318 has been given attention, but not (yet) A&S #12. Also, from an earlier thread, SLSF 0-6-0 #3695 is in rough shape but (apparently) the Georgia Railroad 0-6-0 has been restored. Do you guys weigh the merits of each, or its condition, or is it just which one is easier to get to or just first in line? Just curious.

Thanks.

Les

I can answer Mr. Beckman's first question. Yes, that is a wood cab on the TRRA switcher. This locomotive is purportedly the first locomotive to have an integral cast steel frame, made by GSI of Granite City, Illinois. The locomotive was built by the TRRA in its own Brooklin, Illinois shops. TRRA seemed to like wooden cabs on its locomotives. The locomotive is interesting in that it is both modern (frame) and outdated for its time (wooden cab, hydrostatic lubricator). This restoration was done before I moved to St. Louis about 5 years ago.

I'm just a worker bee (one who has been preoccupied with life, work recently) and thus cannont and will not comment on Mr. Beckman's question.