There has been an interesting turn of fortune in the restoration of the sole remaining Southern Pacific Krauss Maffei locomotive. The SP9010 has been without cardan shafts and axle gear boxes since it was converted into the SP's camera car in 1969. At about that time, the SP sold 10 truck assemblies to a company in Austria where ballast cleaning machines were constructed using these trucks. We have been in negotiations with the owner of the last intact machine for the past 3 years and just this summer, the machine was scrapped and the trucks saved for us. Through a combination of fund raising and some significant donations, the Pacific Locomotive Association has purchased these trucks and paid for their return to California from France. The trucks are currently on board a container ship heading for the USA. The 9010's web site, http://sp9010.ncry.org has a full description of the technical details regarding the locomotive's condition so I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say, the return of this sole remaining pair of KM trucks and their gear boxes will someday allow the return to self powered operation of the Southern Pacific 9010.

This is a HUGE milestone in the restoration of this locomotive. The work performed by the volunteers up until this point has been fantastic. What a great way to make her partially operable again!

Incredible things CAN happen. NEVER say never.

Steve

Restorations of this type are milestones in Diesel preservation and restoration. Both this locomotive and the Nickel Plate PA1 show what can happen. There are several FA1 and FA2 restorations underway in the country. The "sharks" are locked up for their own safety. Perhaps we will see a Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster in the states once again. We appear to have re-entered an age of possibility. I, for one, am glad to see it make the cycle once again.