Wilmington and Western RR No. 98 had a couple of close calls. That a tons more will be in my upcoming book.

Hi,
I recall a photo in Trains Magazine of 1218 being on the island of Union Carbide in Nitro (Charleston), WV and I recall another photo showing 1218 in a train when it was moved from Union Carbide.
Although I readily admit my memory may be flawed, I understood that 1218 was not headed for the scrap yard.
Oh well.
Doug vV

Hi,
I'd also like to say that the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic was almost scrapped but was saved. The East Broad Top is still in question BUT it was sold for scrap and is ready for restoration if an agreement can be made to save it.
Doug vV

1218 was sold to Union Carbide for re-use as a stationary boiler. If not for that, it would have undoubtedly been scrapped when it was retired. Because Union Carbide inadvertantly saved it, it was still around when Nelson Blount acquired it for Steamtown a few years later.

Probably the most recent one of these was R.J. Corman saving Reader Railroad #11 from the torch and moving it for display at the Riney-B Park in Nicholasville, KY.

About 4 years ago the engine was stored on a disconnected siding in Paris, KY and was sitting in the middle of a large machinery companies storage yard. The local NRHS chapter that owned the engine and other equipment on site had overstayed their welcome with the machinery company by about a decade and there were legitimate threats of scrapping to get it out of their way.

Luckly Corman stepped in and got the engine out of there. A former baggage car that used to be the TTI railroads business car, an SW-9 switcher, and a Baldwin V-1000 weren't so lucky and got torched shortly thereafter.

From across the pond, A4 4489 Dominion of Canada was put up for sale for scrap, but was the stuck behind the Darlington shed and forgotten about for several months until British Rail pulled her back out and sent her to Crewe to be cosmetically restored before being donated to the CRHA.

Southern Railway 385 was subject to be scrapped after Bergen Tech's "Stationary Steam" Program was cancelled. A man named Joseph Supor Jr. heard about it and stopped it within hours of the beginning of the scrapping. She now resides in Whippany, New Jersey at the Whippany Railway Museum. (Cited from Whippany Railway Museum Website).

Don't know if it was ever close to actually being scraped, but Shay #3092 spent almost 30 years buried under a pile of old tires at Davidson Scrap.

heh, that reminds me one of the engines at Hesston is a german engine, it was buried under hay to prevent becoming a scrap pile from bombing.

CB&Q E5A 9911A (Silver Pilot) had been traded in to Pielet Brothers and was destined for the torch when a gentleman (whose name escapes me) from the Illinois RR Museum inquired about saving an E5 for use with the museum's Nebraska Zephyr set.

My memory is foggy on this, but if I recall correctly (and I usually don't), there was an agreement between Pielet Brothers and EMD that nothing of the sort was to happen.

Phone calls were made and the rest, they say, is history.

Regards,
Burlington John

The gentleman's name was Herb Hansen.

Jeff

The agreement was that anything that was sent to Pielet had to be scrapped. This was the same place that the DL&W GP7 was saved from. Those were the only two times that agreement was broken.

In the world of electric railways, we have the saga of San Francisco Muni streetcar 130, which was scheduled to be scrapped (one of its mates, 162, had been sold to Orange Empire). Charles Smallwood, a supervisor who started with the old Market Street Ry., was able to keep the car hidden in various spots (probably in Geneva Car House and Elkton Shops) until he could convince Muni management to keep the car in non-revenue service as a wrecker to tow in disabled PCCs. Most of the seats were removed, the car was stocked with jacks, blocks and other hardware for dealing with mishaps, and it was painted yellow. It served in this function for about 20 years, but around 1980, Muni decided that it would be handy to have an old-school streetcar for special events, possibly as a backup for old #1, Muni's first car, which had been preserved for ceremonial occasions. Photos show 130 in its 0131 works-car days, and one of the Muni workers helping transform it back to a passenger carrier.

I just had to mention; notice the good condition the carbody is in? Amazing how well stuff keeps if it's kept indoors, instead of out in the weather! That's why they had roundhouses, carbarns, etc. etc. It's not normal for equipment to sit out in the weather all it's life!! Granted, most railroad freight cars did, but until "recent" times, locomotives, varnish, etc. was kept under cover when not in use, unless it was surplussed.
OK back on topic, sorry for the thread drift--I was just drooling over the good condition she was in!

Broken may not be the proper word; I believed the requirement was waived at EMD's request, at least in the case of the E-5.