Before the W&W got into operation locomotive 98 and the DLW passenger cars were stored in Wilmington at East 7th Street. This is the former site of the famous Jackson and Sharp car works. This is also where Bangy came from as well. The cars were worked on and painted at the former shops. Probably the last rail car work done on that site in some time.

The blacked out lettering is the Strasburg RR lettering painted out. She was stored there for a while before being moved to Wilmington.

Ah yes, the infamous fire ball shooting Bangy. What ever happened to that locomotive?

Mike Tillger

"Bangy" (a small four-wheel Plymouth not too unlike the Strasburg's famous #1) ended up at the Walkersville Southern RR near Frederick, Md.:

http://www.wsrr.org/plymouth.htm

Notice the creative placement of the smokestack behind the locomotive?

Bob

I miss Bangy. She should have never left W&W.

Looks like 98 is cold and has a ball of newspaper burning on top of the stack.

She was lettered for Strasburg, but never ran there?

That looks like a Northern Pacific headlight sitting on top of the smokebox. What happened to the headlight?

Les

The postcard picture was taken in 1964 at the Wilmington Industrial Park. In October 1964 HRCV held an open house event to exhibit the three newly refurbished cars and try to get some new members. A week or two before the open house 98 and the three cars were pulled out of the building for B&W publicity photos and this post card photo.
The idea was to have a 5-gallon can of burning oily rags in the stack to show some smoke, but the stuff wouldn't burn right once it was in the stack. The photographer was ready to shoot and the engine was sitting on the crossing, so the can was left in with the hope that it would look better on film than in person. After the photographer left, the can was pulled out of the stack and started to make a nice plume of smoke.
The photographer was standing near the corner of the building where the equipment was kept. The building behind the train burned down in a spectacular fire in 1965. The smoke stack sticking out of the sand dome is still standing IINM.
Typing "7th and Claymont Sts Wilmington DE" into Google maps satellite view will bring the area right up. The equipment was kept in the large building with the saw-tooth roof on the track closest to 7th St. Except for that building you would hardly recognize the place now as it's so overgrown.