The Chinese have started to, opening the China Railway Museum in 2003. A lot of the engines we see exported to various groups are the mass produced locomotives, with some engines only being 15-20 years old. They stopped making steam engines in one form or another back in 2002 or so, after all.

I will nominate Fisher Lumber Heisler #3. On steamlocomotive.com the picture of it shows it as worse then run down and in a shed that hasn't seen a human in 60 years. It is owned by a lumber company i believe but is forgotten, stripped, derelict, and out of the publics eye.

If I may add, Nickel Plate Road 44 at steamtown is VERY decrepit. It's not necessarily at risk of scrapping, but the deterioration is bad on the outside- I think the interior would reflect that. Part of the smokebox had fallen off, and the stack is very rough. It needs abatement. Much of the metal seems to be in bad shape. I don't know if it is on any lists or anything for work anytime soon. http://railpictures.net/photo/611172/

Frankly, if the folks at Steamtown have any conscience or sense of responsibility at all, they would turn over NKP 4-6-0 44 (304) to somebody who would give her some care, such as Age of Steam Roundhouse. The same could be said of the Meadow River Shay. Another horror story is CB&Q 0-6-0 1548, the only survivor of her type, in Akron, Ohio. One would think somebody from the Midwest would want to save her while it's still possible.

Go through the list of Santa Fe 2-6-2's in Kansas. Look at the pictures and weep.

I might also ask why N&W E2a 4-6-2 578 languishes unappreciated in a trolley museum, but at least she doesn't seem to be threatened.

Tom

Steamtown does not care about any pieces that are not already done or directly connected to the ride. So kiss 44(304) goodbye! This Locomotive spent most of its life in my home town. So sad!

To me, the saddest looking Steamtown loco is CP 2929. One of only two 4-4-4 Jubilee types in the world, this engine has had probably no maintenance of any kind done on it in at least 35 years. If you want to see something truly sad, look for a picture of this locomotive in Vermont in the early 80's, when it was cosmetically restored under Don Ball's regime, and then look at it from any time in the last 10 years. This engine was at one time rumored to be headed to Canada, but for whatever reason never made it there.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=4649476 (Steamtown, 1981)

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=3885097 (2014)-Not even a cap on the stack at this time. It has since received one, but it's probably too little too late.

Thanks,
John

I asked about the NKP/AC&Y/D&MM Ten Wheeler when I was at Steamtown in 1996, and was told they had plans to restore it as the oldest existing NKP engine it is (and a rare smaller U. S. locomotive in the collection). I was unhappy about that, as it is the ONLY existing AC&Y steam locomotive, but at least they wanted to restore it and keep it in good shape. Oh well.

As for the two locomotives in downtown Akron at the former Quaker Square festival market place; AFAIK, they belong to the University of Akron, so whatever they might want to do with them - who knows? I hope that a better fate awaits them than did the Ottaway park Aerotrain that was also part of the Mack Lowry collection, serial number 1, which except for the locomotive and first car was laterally bisected and made into a wall art installation in the passageway between the hotel and the stores.

This thread was not intended to be an anti-Steamtown thread. If you want to talk about Steamtown please create your own thread on the matter. They do the best they can with the little funding they receive.

Yea, what do you want for a paltry $ 6 million a year? Real steam? Not gonna happen.

Sad but true. Ross Rowland

My response about 2929 wasn't specifically to bash Steamtown, as I understand the pitfalls of government funding, but nevertheless letting engines deteriorate to the point that they are falling apart still would, to me, qualify these engines as endangered and worthy of mention. If they are stretched to their limits, de-accessioning certain items that receive little to no attention would be the most responsible action to take. And having engines in outdoor storage with uncapped stacks is negligence no matter how you slice it. There is plenty of scrap metal up there at any time that could have been used as a stack cap. That's a preventative measure at its most basic and wouldn't have cost a dime.

John

3' ga. Davenport 2-6-0 tender engine #3, Albert, 1912(?), former LA sugar plantation loco survives on display on the Frontier Trail at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, OH, although exposed to middle of Lake Erie winters. Featured in the book Extra South, by H. Reid, chapter titled "Albert, the Princely Locomotive".

Just saw a current photo of Albert on the "Pointbuzz" page of Facebook. She was all wrapped up for the winter, something I wish they had done for Jennie K......

For the record, I didn't post my comments about Steamtown, or anybody else, as an attempt to bash them. I posted them because this thread is ostensibly about endangered locomotives, and the ones I mentioned certainly qualify. I understand the limitations imposed by funding, and I know you can only do as much as your budget allows. That's simple mathematics.

However, it does seem to me that responsible custodians ought to take minimal measures to conserve what they have and/or make provisions to adjust their program to economic realities. If there is a reasonable expectation that restoration and preservation funds will be available in the future, then it seems prudent and reasonable to cocoon the artifacts and prevent further deterioration until that day arrives. If you want to know how to do that, ask Strasburg. If there is little likelihood that those future funds will magically appear (as seems likely), then deaccession seems like the responsible course to pursue.

As for criticizing or defending Steamtown, or the University of Akron, or any other custodian, their own actions or inactions state the case, as Lincoln said, "far above our poor power to add or detract". They can act, or they can fail to act, as they deem fit. Their reputation is in their own hands, not mine.

Tom

I would nominate the 0-4-0T at Tannersville Pa. Looking pretty rough.
After reading down this thread, It looks a volunteer recruiting drive is in order.
There are 2 locomotives on my list to save, [not steam]. Neither one will make any headlines when I save it, Except maybe the local paper when we go through town, last move we were like on page 6, I think because we stopped at the station to take pictures.
Anyway, I hope this will stir some interest in saving a few.

Grumpy Jensen

The locomotive at Tannersville is an 0-6-0T.