The thread about the long lost locomotives of the Allegheny River made me recall another steam locomotive that lived near that River.

This one has a lot less mystery involved. It was an 0-6-0 if I recall correctly, and sat next to a mill in Etna, PA, just north of the huge B&LE bridge.

It was there for many years, but I seem to recall it's gone now. Anyone know the final disposition?

I visited it on occasion as a kid, and one time a couple friends and I even made an un-authorized midnight exploration of the "abandoned" factory to see if there was anything on the siding inside the building. Found some cool old automobiles, but no more railroad items.

We also found that only part of it was abandoned, and when we noticed a current calendar in the part of the warehouse still in use you should have seen us run for the hole in the wall we'd snuck into! LOL!

That would be the 0-6-0, 1913 Juniata built B6sa, PRR #60.
Its currently stored on the Wilmington & Western RR in Hockessin DE.
I think its privately owned now.

I too climbed over her numerous times and was caught by the local police when he appeared on the embankment along her fireman side. He was nice and just chased us away. There was also a fair amount of steam locomotive/RR parts lying around between the engine and the river, parts included driver tires, wheel sets, smokebox door,grates, air compressor and many other assorted parts.

Never heard it these were saved......just the engine.

That would be #60 - more info at Steamlocomotive.info:

http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomo ... splay=1555



Looks much better in the photo then it does today.

/Mitch

There has always been talk aout fixing her up to run once again, but as somebody posted here, long ago, this is a case of jack up the whistle and replace the locomotive. Are the tubes still in her? End sheets? Have her joints and bearings been cleaned and polished? I'm certain people would love to see her run, but wow! Cosmetically restored with real PRR parts, replace her jacketing, and put her indoors, under cover, seems like the best one can hope for.

I recently made an inquiry about PRR #60 to the Wilmington and Western from a small group interested in doing a cosmetic restoration. The engine was owned by the late Matt Minker of Wilmington, DE. It is still owned by the estate or heirs. The WWRR indicated that it would be better to consider some other piece. (based on ownership, not preservation) It is in pretty rough shape externally. Regrettably my pictures languish on a computer with a corrupt hard drive. Perhaps in the next week I can get some current pictures.

Tom P

Tom -

It's always amazing to me that you can learn something new everyday! I have known about Pennsy B6 #60 for a long time, and realized that she was in pretty bad shape. What I always assumed is that it had a Belpaire firebox. Now I find out that it actually had a radial-stay firebox. Who knew? I guess if you're a Pennsy fan, you did. I didn't.

Apparently the PRR built some of their B6's that way and classified them as Class B6sa. They had already built some B6's (later class B6s after superheating) and later some class B6sb 0-6-0s WITH Belpaire fireboxes. Anyone know why the change "mid-stream" so to speak? Also, in Mitch Goldman's photo above, the number 60 appears to have a genuine Pennsy tender, but not a slope back tender like I am used to seeing. Did some of the Pennsylvania's 0-6-0's have road tenders like this, or is this just a tender added for display (which is what I suspect)?

Les

I thought that she had a slopeback tender when she was stored in Etna?

Then again, maybe I'm recalling the similiar 0-6-0 on Penn View Mountain and mixing the two up.

I was told her tender was swapped out at some point with one from a G class 4-6-0. She is in very poor shape. I would rate her as in slightly in better shape than if you found a locomotive used as rip-rap in a riverbank.

I second the motion about the 60 being in, if we want to be charitable about it, "rough shape." She sat for something like thirty years in wet weather before being "rescued" by HRCV, and thirty years of damp did no good to the boiler shell and rivets/staybolts. Even in her current condition, she's at best a "basket case"--the cab was butchered to get her to Delaware on a trailer, and what exists today is a fabrication.

There was a story passed around HRCV at the time this loco arrived: The mover that was contracted to move the 60 from the Pittsburgh area to Delaware was the same one that moved SR 1401 to the Smithsonian. As the load progressed across Pennsylvania, it was hauled in by the Pa. police and truck inspection crews for suspected weight violations. I recall the permits being for something like 180,000 pounds (loco and trailer only, that's about the weight of one in working order with tender); the police initially, using portable scales calculated a weight of around 300,000 pounds, then were argued into letting the load go to a permanent weigh station, which could still only weigh one end at a time, coming up with a total of 250,000 pounds. After a weekend of removing every conceivable piece of metal they could off the loco (including the rods and the smokebox door), for a total of maybe several tons of metal in pickup trucks and whatnot, the load was re-weighed--and recorded 260,000 pounds.

I never did hear a final outcome of whether fines were paid and/or by whom, except that I heard a lot of grumblings to the effect of "if it had been going to an in-state museum, it would have gotten a police escort, not police harassment!!"

Tom: The PRR folks say the tender is/was off of a PRR H-class 2-8-0, definitely NOT a G5.

The first posted image was a direct link from steamlocomotive.com and was actually taken by Tom Gears.

Here's a photo from "the album":


Taken by Chris Signorelli in May of 2005.

There is further info under "notes".

/Mitch

First a correction: PRR 60 was a long way from Etna when stored all those years. The exact location was alongside the PRR Conemaugh Div. mainline at the plant of Chemline Corp., located between Harmarville and Springdale, at a location sometimes called Acme. It had been there since purchased by Chemline in 1952 with the intention of using it as a stationary boiler. That never happened. By the time I discovered it in 1957 it was already pretty deteriorated. By the time it was finally rescued (1980s?) it was a basket case. That someone sunk the time and bucks into saving it says a lot about the extreme dedication of the steam loco enthusiasts among us.

Since it was purchased for its boiler, it's a safe bet that all the internal pieces were still there. But every nut, bolt, and washer that could be stripped off the outside was long gone even by 1957, let alone 3 decades later. If it ever runs again, it would be one of the more remarkable restoration jobs ever. Perhaps a more realistic purpose would be a decent cosmetic restoration combined with sheltered storage. Not every engine has to be a runner to be a valued historic artifact.

And while we'd all love to see an operational B6sa shuttling around, I'd much rather see the money go to the K4s or G5's on Long Island. I would say that her classic smokebox front and cab lines could be enhanced with the used of smoke clever foundry work and high quality metal fabrication. Those things alone would enhance the little switcher to a much, much, higher degree. If somebody had deep, deep, pockets, total restoration would make for a great documentary, but otherwise, she could make a delightful PRR exhibit piece without a million dollar infusion.

Is that a decent sized hole on the front of the smokebox? If so I'd assume the stack wasn't capped adding to the fun awaiting any restoration team.

The loco was stored in the worst possible place; a swampy area close to the bank of the Allegheny River and subject to occasional flooding. Nothing was covered or protected in any way by 1957. Little wonder it's in such poor condition now.

You are correct, it was Harmarville, not Etna.

I was recalling recently reading about another steam locomotive (Maybe the Penn View one?) that was from a mill in Etna. The two towns are relatively close, and I got them mixed up.

Update: Yes, I just checked and I was recalling the Penn View locomotive, which was built for Spang, Chalfont & Company in Etna, PA. Since I had recently read the details on that one, Etna stuck in my mind. (Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative...)