Seems to be rolling along quite nicely and with plain ol journals on the tender. Oh the thought of something moving over a class one without roller bearings.

seems pretty normal since thats all railroads had at that time...

get hot box detectors then suddenly you dump the friction journals...8-D

keepem nicely lube they'll do fine. Perhaps years of sitting formed rust but that will get scraped off in a hurry they should self smooth...

Just curious, has anyone taken a really good look at this locomotive, to determine what mechanical shape she's in?
I don't mean to infer one of those, "they should restore for operation" posts, but has there ever been a mechanical review of her condition, if maybe sometime in the future someone might want to do just that?

Good question Lee. Preston Claytor indicated that it is not in great condition in a presentation he gave at Spencer last year. Its been dormant for 56 years or so and outside so it won't be in great condition. In one of the initial threads here about the transfer to Roanoke the details of the broken connecting rod on one of the driver sets was discussed. Aside from replacing that rod, I would guess it would be a project not unlike the A in '86. If the lagging stayed on her in full exposure to the elements, lots of stay bolt sleeve work like the 2926. As Don Lindsey put it in his interview on "The Roundhouse" when asked about the A, takes time and money. I got a funny feeling there will be a look under the hood once in Roanoke...

Me, too.
Hey, you never know what the future can hold, that's a lesson we've all learned over the last couple of years, right?
I saw 2156 in person in 2002 but a cosmetic restoration doesn't mean jack in regard to restoring to running condition someday.

Hi,

Back in about 2000/1, Gainesville, Georgia cosmetically restored their Gainesville Midland Baldwin light decapod #209.

The fellow doing the restoration used what money there was to do the restoration. He did an excellent job to try to get the cosmetic repairs done to operational status (or accessible) to as possible. This was just in case there was a future for making the loco operable.

I hope this Y6a has this occur.

Doug vV

2156 just arrived in Roanoke

Man, imagine a photo shoot of 2156, 1218 and a 611 in steam.
Yeah, pure foamery, but I had to put that out there anyway...

Lee, it isn't "foamy" at all. It's something that I'm quite certain, has been discussed at levels more close to the center of operations than this board. Now, it may all be speculation at all levels, but, a "J" and an "A" have already been simultaneously in steam. Wehrner von Braun said, "I've come to use the word 'impossible' with great circumspection".

Thank you, Richard. I wasn't going to say anything like this at all--too "foamy," and actually, in a lot of ways, that would or could be true--but as you noted, we had two before--

Who's to say that someone wouldn't think it worthwhile to do? Who's to say it's impossible (though I admit improbable) that a decision like this wouldn't come? Heck, we have at least the start of a Big Boy restoration (something I thought I would never see), a Mallet under restoration at the Western Maryland Scenic (something else I never would have imagined), and most amazing of all, an apparent serious attempt at replicating a PRR T-1!

Compared to those things, the work going on by Sustainable Rail to restore an ATSF 4-6-4 for a new steam speed record and as a test bed for biocoal seems almost pedestrian (but not really)!

One more - don't forget the 2100 Reading T1.

Someone needs to do a run of those stickers...

Is it just me, or does five years seem like a relatively short term lease for a piece of equipment this large, and of such magnitude? Just a thought.

Please don't get me wrong, I am just as happy as everyone else on this board that #2156 has returned to the Star City!

/Andrew

No, it's certainly not you, that's the first thought I'd had when I heard.
But you know how these things often go... 5 years turns to extended to 10, 15 or 20, then after a while, it just becomes a permanent fixture.
Assuming 2156 will be well looked after in Roanoke, I'd be just fine with that happening. I live way too far away to see 2156 in either location, but I agree it's great to know it'll be sitting Roanoke.

Does anybody have any photos/videos to share of the 2156 in Roanoke? I haven't been able to find any.

Thanks!