While in Ocean City MD over the weekend I was told about a steam locomotive near Bethany Beach. I found it and saw that it was part of a restaurant complex, but appeared to be permanently closed. I am guessing that this is the locomotive that operated on the Queen's Anne Railroad out of Lewes, DE several years ago and I thought this locomotive also was used on the Wawa and Concordville Railroad back in the late 1960's.

Anyone else have any information on the history of this locomotive and restaurant it is now located at?

Joel

Your info is mostly right. Yes, it's former Queen Anne's RR 3, ex-Wilmington & Western 3, exx-Wawa & Concordville 3, exxx-U.S. Navy 3 from Philadelphia Navy Yard. It was parked outside a restaurant in the Ocean View community inland from Bethany Beach along Rt. 26, as I recall (last time I happened to visit it).

Long story short, the owner wants more money for the loco than it's realistically worth.

See if this works:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38%C2%B02 ... 42,,0,3.43

Hi Everyone; The Queen Anne locomotive was a former USATC S100, 0-6-0t of WW2 vintage assigned to the US Navy Shipyard in Philadelphia. There is a number of post relating to the 3 at:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2751&start=0

and a recent photo at:

http://steamlocomotive.com/misc/images/ ... snavy3.jpg

and some basic info on USATC 0-6-0t's at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USATC_S100_Class
http://www.project62.supanet.com/


Hope this is some use. Have fun – Dave Notarius, London UK

...if I'm not mistaken, W&W sold the very operational #3 to Queen Anne's for a mere $35,000. Curious what the current owner is asking.

3, at its time on the W&W, was the only engine they would allow to double head with any other engine on the branch, due to its light weight and the 100 ton weight restriction on the wooden bridges. Several times, it operated with 98 on Fall Foliage Trains and also in tandem with the 8408 for trips to Hockessin.

From what I've been told, the engine had the guts that the #37 had, just not the steaming ability for the length of the trip.

I can't comment on the W&W, but give two examples at QARR:

1) Once there was an occasion that we need to use it to move a little bit of freight, and it will move a loaded 16 car grain train, but not easily.

2) The largest passenger train assembled was for a "rare mileage" trip. U.S. Army baggage converted to power car / tender, four Osgood Bradley dinner train cars, N&W heavyweight combine, NYC heavyweight coach, PRR MP-54 coach, and PRR caboose. Total 9 cars. Went 18 miles at 15mph (Johnson Bar @ 70% cutoff) with no problem. QARR had straight a mostly level track.

I love it when my beloved #3 comes up every few years. I've posted a number of things about her before so I'll try not to repeat.

If memory serves me right she was built for the Army and destined for a base in Oklahoma but ended up being transfered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. According to old timers who worked there she never had a number and was painted Navy grey.

The W&C gave her the number 3 and painted her like a circus train.

She operated at the W&C, W&W, and her first season or two at QARR with her US Navy tubes. Those were to good ole days of the FRA granting extensions over and over. She was in steam in the 90's on tubes probably dating back to the 50's. How's that for the they don't make em like that any more file.

Running uphill on the W&W she was a bit of a bugger keeping steam with the mix of motor oil and other unknown waste oils in her tank. It was possible but a bit tricky. She was a good solid locomotive with a lot of meat in her side sheets, tight running gear, and square exhaust. At the W&W we found the boiler fouled with sludge and scale, we gave her 3 acid washes to clean her out. The naysayers all said she would leak because the scale was the only thing holding her together but she was fine. We also sandblasted the top of the crown sheet from inside the boiler.

I'm sure that sooner or later she will find a new home and will once again find a fire in her belly.

Looks like she would still be handy to a museum or short line if she's sound enough to restore.
I didn't know Barbara Walters was co-owner of a railroad.

Jeff,

Close but no guitar. The Chessie Safety Express came through in 1981 and was pulled by #614 with no diesels. The W&W at the time had gathered a large collection of equipment. There was an arrangement made with Chessie to pull our stuff out into the yard so the passengers on the Safety Express could view it as they passed. W&W assembled a long string of equipment that included #2839, 425, 58, 4662, and 98 with a short train. The Wilsmere yard mechanice Johnny Forrest ran a Chessie GP-9 over and coupled on to the rear of our string of equipment and #98 pushed from the other end. We spaced the equipment with about 25 feet between each item. The Safety Express rolled in and stopped, traded whistles with our beloved 98, and then pulled past slowly allowing everyone on the train to check out our equipment. On the return trip they were late out of Philly and the 614 stormed through Elsmere Junction faster than any train I've ever seen. In fact it actually scared me! I remember you being around, I was just a kid then and you were probably 6 years younger than me.

I think you are confusing two separate occasions, Jeff.

Historic Red Clay Valley, owners of the W&W post-September 1982, DID stage a handsome photo op in 1980 and/or 1981 with the 614-led CSE, staging almost all their vintage motive power along the interchange track to "meet" 614 and train. This was back when HRCV management still had "delusions" of being the "next Steamtown," and among the stuff in said "photo op" was GM&N 425 (now Reading & Northern), BC&G 14 (now in Gaithersburg, Md.), Mississippi Central 4-4-0 98, PRR 4662, and maybe even 37, 3 and maybe Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 2839. Remember that HRCV did not actually acquire the B&O Landenberg Branch until September 1982; the operation before then was a lease of the branch on every weekend from B&O/Chessie.

There was a later out-and-back excursion to Wilsmere Yard/Landenberg Junction and back in late April 1984 or 1985 with several private cars then stashed at Baltimore's Camden Station (the waning years of Railroad Passenger Cars, Inc., plus a PV Pullman), using Chessie GP40-2 4447. They paid a "visit" to the railroad, and HRCV shuttled interested passengers to and from the enginehouse with the 4662 and their "chicken coop" open car.

Also #3 was the last steamer and maybe the last train on the ground level tracks at the old B&O Station next to the Amtrak (PRR) station. The event was to meet the passing of the "Real People Express". I think that was 1982 or 83.

"Real People Express" - talk about a trip on the WayBack machine.

MSC 98, DL&W's 410, 603, 581, PRR 4662, CP/Southern 2839 (facing RR East), GM&N 425, AB&A 58, the C&O Boxcar and Cab 2013 were in the lineup, in that order, pulled by GP9 #6487 for the SEPT 20, 1981 passing of the CSE through Elsmere.

At the time of the "delusional" state of the then management of the HRCV, the W&W did indeed acquire/have the largest Private Collection of Steam (13 steam loco's) on the East Coast and in total, owned/leased over 50 pieces of railroad equipment, of which, most was on the RR property all at the same time! They also had the largest private collection of PRR equipment with the Gas Car #4662, 12 MP54's, 1 PRR Diner (Defender), 2 P-70's, 1 PRR 0-6-0 and the aforementioned PRR Long-haul tender.


Yeah, I strayed a bit off topic...Sorry.

The Queen Anne's Railroad had two car sets. One for daytime excursion service, and the others for the dinner train.

The daytime tourist set was: 1) N&W heavyweight combine #1504 2) NYC heavyweight coach 3) PRR MP-54 commuter coach.

I found out today that these three cars have been scrapped.

The dinner train equipment is being moved out of Georgetown, DE, with the exception of the two cars set up with 0-6-0t #3 on static display in Bethany Beach, DE. I don't know where they are going, or what their future is.

Wow! I remember when you were running those trains Mark -- the N&W combine and NYC car were pretty good stuff. IIRC the N&W car was on Hyatts with the wide pedestals and both were fairly solid old cars. I can't imagine cutting these and someone wasting the time to move the New Haven O-B cars out. Talk about whipping a dead horse...

ETA

[quote="tomgears"] The Chessie Safety Express came through in 1981 and was pulled by #614 with no diesels. The W&W at the time had gathered a large collection of equipment. There was an arrangement made with Chessie to pull our stuff out into the yard so the passengers on the Safety Express could view it as they passed. W&W assembled a long string of equipment that included #2839, 425, 58, 4662, and 98 with a short train... The Safety Express rolled in and stopped, traded whistles with our beloved 98, and then pulled past slowly allowing everyone on the train to check out our equipment... [/quote]

I shot that meet on Super-8 Sound Movie Film !
It was definately #98, with a Reading 6-chime (!) exchanging salutes with 614's ''Chessie'' whistle.
I was on the opposite side of the tracks, and 614 came in to a stop right beside me.
I'll have to try to get that footage onto yootoob.