The 3rd set was last seen on a siding in WA, and were damaged.

CD

Actually, someone has done something about repatriating this locomotive to the U.S.A. HVRM has started a fund to bring the PA-2 back to Indiana where it will be cosmetically restored as Erie #864 in its original black and yellow paint scheme. There are NO plans to restore the unit to service so the trucks on the unit will just be re-gauged to 4' 8-1/2". Donations thus far have been slow coming in, but please feel free to forward your check to the museum at P.O. Box 75 in North Judson, Indiana 46366. If the plans to bring the PA-2 back to the U.S.A. fall through, the museum will put any monies collected toward other worthwhile restoration projects at the museum

Les

Note - The above posting was made on April Fool's Day 2014 and was meant to be "tongue in cheek." There is no fund at HVRM to bring this PA-2 back to Indiana (even though this might be a good idea). To those who took this entry seriously, my sincere apologies. I realize now that someone might stumble across this entry later and not look at the date of submission and completely get the wrong idea. This revision posted by the person who made the original dumb mistake .

Les Beckman (posted 12/28/15)

How do you regauge PA trucks? And why would that make it only good for cosmetic and not operational restoration?

Actually, couldn't you just press the wheels down to standard gauge (on the original axle) leaving the trucks themselves alone? The D&RGW had some narrow gauge equipment with standard gauge trucks using a standard gauge axle with the wheels pressed in to 3 foot gauge.

Seen here on rotary OY:

And a close up of the tender's wheels:

Those are probably not the original standard gauge axles, since they seen to be perfect cylinders. Usually, axles have wheel seats that are larger in diameter than the rest of the axle. If you pushed the original wheels inward off the seats, they would be loose at the position pictured.
Brazilian railroads already had to deal with regauging Soviet 5 foot gauge Little Joe electric locomotives to 5 feet, 3 inches, just as American railroads had to deal with regauging others to standard gauge. In this case, if the truck frames are wider than standard gauge, new axles could be made if all else fails. All it takes is money. The trade magazines have ads from custom axle manufacturers.
Are the traction motors wider than what goes in a standard gauge Diesel?

I doubt it. Even if they are, it can't be that impossible to get four traction motors for it.

I suppose the question about regauging boils down to is it cheaper to modify the truck or simply put new wheelsets in.

Though really, this is all a pointless discussion as no one has yet proposed a reasonable, serious plan plan along with funding to repatriate this PA, and even then, is there really a need to repatriate it?

I find myself thinking about the plan in the 60s to ship a working UP big boy (4005, if memory serves) to Argentina. Imagine what we'd be saying right now if it had been shipped over there and was sitting in a yard outside of Buenos Aires right now...

Given the rarity of the PA (and my personal affection toward them) I think any repatriation and restoration effort would be a worthy cause. However, if a group or individual had amassed fund to put toward acquisition of a PA, I think making an offer to purchase one of the two that still remain in Mexico (both at the same museum) might be worth a try first. If a legitimate organization offered serious money and/or an interesting equipment trade, who knows what doors might open. Jundiai, Brazil is about 5000 miles away from Texas vs. 800 miles to Puebla, MX where the other two PAs are located. What's the Spanish word for De-accession?

I thought Brazilians spoke Portugese.

To add onto that, the two in Puebla are already standard gauge and one's operational. I agree, it would be better to try that first.

My comment about Spanish was in reference to the museum in Mexico that has two ex-ATSF PAs and could do very well to catch the vision of de-accessioning one, IMHO.

Good point. My Spanish is very bad, but I'd think the two words, "muy dinero" could get things started...

Yes, this might be a good point. EXCEPT that aren't the two PA's in Mexico already preserved? The one in Brazil seems to be in some danger.

Les

Given the great site in Brazil, why not develop it as a railroad museum? Makes more sense than bringing more rusting junk north. We can't take care of all we have now.

dave

Dave -

Certainly makes the most sense to me.

Les