While it's the un-preservation, I'd like to form a short-list ( the shorter the better) of park display locomotives that were eventually condemned for destruction by the communities or companies which owned them. I know of one C&O Kanawha and a T&P 2-10-4.
I am not requesting loco cut up by railroads on scrap lines or rip tracks.
Such examples are serious as revelations of what can happen when municipalities find they can no longer support the one-time welcomed gift. In any preservation drive, sad examples may prove ultimately beneficial and instructive.
For a shot of "brightness", please visit www.newenglandsteam.org . All good news to report to this date. Consider joining us and linking us.

Please cite the municipality, the locomotive, the ultimate fate, and perhaps indicate where a photo may be found.

I don't have the details, but two that I can think of are a DM&IR 2-8-8-4 that was, I believe, at Two Harbors (it was replaced with another 2-8-8-4), and a Detroit Edison 0-6-0 in Ohio (no other details, but it's scrapping was portrayed in Trains magazine in the early 1970s).

An earlier thread with some other engines and other equipment that almost survived but didn't is below:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33462

Dick -

Detroit Edison 0-6-0 #207 Allen Park, MI
Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 #2701 Buffalo, NY
Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 #638 Dallas, TX
Texas & New Orleans (SP) 2-8-2 #743 Lafayette, LA

Les

Several more to be found here:

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/lists/recent-losses.php

Thank you, everyone for the information.

A similar situation. Norfolk and Western class J 600 had been offered to the city of Norfolk, but they refused her, accepting a Navy plane instead. This plane was badly treated and was eventually scrapped. I have to wonder what would have happened if Norfolk had accepted 600, though I must think if she would have suffered the same fate that the plane did.
As far as I know, there was no further attempt to offer 600 to anyone else, but sent her to her fate. I do not know if this was near the time that the effort was going on to preserve 611, though 611 was eventually given to the city of Roanoke, when she was placed in the Roanoke Transportation Museum.
lois

Lois -

Thanks for the info. First I had ever heard that another one of the J's might have been preserved. Would have really been nice to have had a second one preserved, especially the "class" locomotive.

Some day we may have to start a thread naming the various places that were offered locomotives and turned them down.

Les

Add a RDG 4-6-2 for Reading, PA and a DL&W 4-8-4 for Scranton to that list.

Joshua

Some day we may have to start a thread naming the various places that were offered locomotives and turned them down.

Les[/quote]

As far as placed that were offered, and then turned down, there are two apocryphal stories around North Texas that Paris, Texas turned down one of the Paris and Mt Pleasant ex Cotton Belt Moguls that were on property when they shut down...which is kinda ironic since the City of Abilene, Tx bought an ex T&P ten wheeler to display, which is now running at the Texas State.

Some of the old heads around Denison, Texas said that there was an effort to pass the hat to buy a Katy Steamer in the early '50s to display, but the city fathers wanted nothing to do with it. And that was that.

Kinda OT, but since I was raised here I believe I can say this without much opposition, but it seems that anywhere Cotton was a predominant economic force there was very little effort at any type of historic preservation if it didn't have something to do with the Civil War or the Plantation Age

Hi
I heard that the city of Hartford, Connecticut was offered New Haven # 3016 for display . This was the locomotive that was used in the movie
It Happened to Jane , starring Doris Day & Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovacs .
The city turned down the offer , and did not want the locomotive , But at the last minute , the city did change it's mind , and wanted the locomotive but it was too late .
The scrap company had already started scrapping the locomotive .

Before this thread runs out of control with story-telling about locos allegedly offered and turned down or whatever, I believe Brother Glueck is asking specifically about locos that were actually PUT ON DISPLAY and then chopped up for whatever reason. He can correct me if I'm wrong.

The SteamLocomotive.com list/page is a refabrication with additional details of two data pages of "recently scrapped locos" from The Steam Locomotive Directory of North America by J. David Conrad, excluding a great number of industrial/etc. locos that were cut up without any serious preservation efforts.

Another "in a park but scrapped": The 0-4-0ST steamer that ended up at a Kennedy Playground, 6th and O Street in Washington DC.

Soo Line 2-8-2 1025 (ex-Monon 508) was offered to Rhinelander, WI newly shopped but when the city learned it would be responsible for the upkeep it turned down the offer, so the 1025 was scrapped. (I learned this some years ago from Les Beckman.)

Alex #4 is exactly correct regarding specifics of the topic. I was looking for loco assumed by municipalities as gifts, but then neglected or ruined by locals, resulting in the scrapping of the wreckage.

Some years ago, I started a thread which listed locomotive proposed for preservation, but scrapped without takers. It produced a long list of "almosts", including a B&O EM-1 and one of three Pennsy J's which lasted until 1960.

Richard,

In the "amost gone" category, there was that Soo Line 2-8-0 that the city encased in structure due to asbestos issues. The Ironhorse Central stepped in at the last minute and saved her from a likely fate of scrapping.

Kansas City had a KCPS PCC car on display in a city park until it was ruined by vandals and scrapped. While not a steam locomotive, it is the same principle.

Southern Pacific class S-12 0-6-0 #1294 was given to the city of San Francisco and put on display in the zoo but had deteriorated so badly that she was scrapped on site in 1981.

Howard