I've had an inquiry into the status of the poppet valve Consolidation that was stored at Cass. An individual with railroad shop background and steam experience has an interest in said locomotive. Beyond that, I have no idea. Would a knowledgeable individual give a short update?

Richard,

You have your Ft. Eustis locomotives mixed up.

I believe #611 had the poppet valves and was sold by TVRM to a private collector. It was at TVRM for a number of years prior to sale. I believe it resides in Maryland.

The #612 you speak of was at Cass a number of years, before it was purchased. I believe it is being stored at the Souteastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia.

A simple search of the RYPN forum would have yielded a thread from the locomotive's current owner, Mr. Franzen, and his offer of it for sale. That thread can be viewed here:
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31246&hilit=612+duluth

Further, said locomotive, number 612 is also listed for sale on the website of a well-known railroad equipment broker:
http://www.trains-trams-trolleys.com/home/2020.htm

Deleted.

Yes, mixed my locomotives. Thanks for the information, David.

Richard,

No problem, the 612 can be yours for the low low price of $100k.

Uh...just searching the J. Peterman Catalog for a friend! Either the current owner wants to flip his investment for a killing, or he paid too much to begin with, or he is out of touch with what is really out there for the going price of rusted hulks, historically valuable as they may be.

The owner purchased it at auction bidding against a couple of scrappers to save it....so maybe he paid a little too much, coupled with the costs of prepping for and moving it. He is definately not out of touch though, he wants to see it saved as an army S-160. Not a civilianized S-160 like the 555, 606, 610, 1702 or the Alaska engines. I know the owner, and he definately knows steam and what he can realistically do with it and sell it for.

Whats wrong with that price? I've seen some passenger cars in sad shape go for at least that....it's all about who comes up with the money. 612 is not that bad off, and compaired to a lot of other engines hasn't been sitting for that long.

And the reality is, there are these things called conditional sales, where the seller can dictate what happens to a piece of equipment.....

Point taken though......

I'm sure Mr. Franzen is looking for the "right buyer" and that the price is negotiable.

His efforts should be comended, as mentioned earlier, he was bidding against the scrap vultures for the locomotive, and put a lot of effort into moving it out of Cass.

I would like to see an Army S-160 preserved and operated as an S-160.

Depending on the mechanical condition of the locomotive, minus the rust, the price may be fair, depending on the amount of work needed to make operable.

In that case you only have a couple of options, and one of them is just a maybe.

612-Robert REALLY wants to do something with the veterans groups or otherwise try to fund the engine....or the 611 is a possibility. I have not seen or heard how it is doing since it arrived in Maryland, back where it was tested. You can write off the 607 (will NEVER run again), 610, 1702, 555, 556 and 557.

I know that there is a group in the UK building an LMS Patriot which is serving as the new war memorial engine for the UK... Maybe something similar could be done with 612. From military service to life as a veteran... There's some great symbolism there that could be tapped into with not only the 612 could represent, but all the surviving S160s could be representative of such a transition, and serve as a memorial to all American vets...

Railway battalion veteran groups are an unlikely source of funding. Most of those from WW II have disbanded and the few remaining hold reunions at which only a handful of survivors attend, always far outnumbered by wives, widows, and offspring. Korean War veterans aren't far behind. This was the case last year for members of the WW II 759th Railway Operating Battalion holding a reunion in Ohio. Only four vets were there, and the youngest was 85.

Who's to say that you need Railway Veteran groups? Serving as an overall Veteran Memorial Engine would be a better choice, as it would represent more than a small niche group of vets. Some S160s have gone from military service to work in civilian lines of work, very much a similar path may vets go down, but each story and circumstance is much different, much the case with engines like 556, 557 and 1702.

Good idea Dylan....but there is no funding for it. Believe me, we have looked. There are plans for such an idea in the works, but nothing will happen until we get the funding.

One of these locomotives sold a few years ago somewhere "across the pond" for close to 250k, it was in poor condition. The 612 is in REALLY good shape as unrestored locomotives go. So, why is 100k so outrageous???
One of the problems in this industry is that of people/groups being in the mode of spending just enough money to barely get by, this stuff costs cubic amounts of money. A locomotive in Europe had two washout plugs installed in the front tubesheet for a cost of around 25k(us), another group is going to have or has had a new throatsheet made at a cost of about 75k(us).
So a locomotive in good condition is not in this country worth 100k yet in a country with the most impressive scope of operating preservation era steam a throatsheet is worth 75k? Hmmm, work for more, raise/ask for more, SPEND more and achieve greater results.
BTW, TVRM is an S-159....not an S-160, not sure as to the differences as they are.

Cheers, Jason