Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern RR 2-8-2 No. 300

John D · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 2:28 pm **Posts:** 485

Per an entry in steamlocomotive.info:

"Posted: Mar 1, 2022 @ 11:03:27 by Matthew Gardner
Was told that the Valley Railroad Company sent a truck with some guys down there to tear into the engine for an evaluation.".

True or not?

Kelly Anderson · **Joined:** Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:52 am **Posts:** 2477

elueck · **Posted:** Thu Mar 10, 2022 11:26 am

300 has been outside with the boiler jacket on and the asbestos underneath it in humid MS now for about 50 years. The city got permission to paint it a few years ago, but other than that, it has never moved since it was placed there.

It will be interesting to see what they find out.

K.R. Bell · **Joined:** Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:37 pm **Posts:** 298

I can confirm from a reliable inside source that Valley RR as of 1 March 2022 did indeed purchase B&HS 2-8-2 No. 300.

tom moungovan · **Posted:** Thu Mar 10, 2022 12:52 pm

K.R. Bell wrote:

I can confirm from a reliable inside source that Valley RR as of 1 March 2022 did indeed purchase B&HS 2-8-2 No. 300.

I'm glad to hear of this. On the right pike, she'd be a wonderful machine.

G. W. Laepple · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:10 pm **Posts:** 1182

Very pleased to know that No. 300 is going to a good home. I saw her a few years ago from the window of the Amtrak Crescent. She is a close cousin to my favorite steam locomotive, Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern 2-6-2 No. 250, later WK&S, Wolfeboro, and displayed at Edaville. Now somewhere in Massachusetts, I believe.

softwerkslex · **Posted:** Thu Mar 10, 2022 6:35 pm

Four locomotives at Valley RR? Are they seeing that much traffic?

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

softwerkslex wrote:

Four locomotives at Valley RR? Are they seeing that much traffic?

Steven -

Two engines in service, one as a backup and one in heavy repair/restoration. Sounds like a plan to me.

Les

Finderskeepers · **Posted:** Thu Mar 10, 2022 8:33 pm

As someone not familiar with this engine, I had to google it. To save you the trip, here’s the link
https://images.app.goo.gl/SnFNKdT47Nuhd74q7

tom moungovan · **Posted:** Thu Mar 10, 2022 9:56 pm

Finderskeepers wrote:

As someone not familiar with this engine, I had to google it. To save you the trip, here’s the link
https://images.app.goo.gl/SnFNKdT47Nuhd74q7

Thanks for posting this, it gives some specs. Think of 300 as quite similar to Sierra Ry. 34, but with 6" larger drivers. This is the reason that I felt it would be a good fit on certain pikes. The larger drivers would be a plus on relatively level lines with decent track. Time will see.

Howard P. · **Posted:** Thu Mar 10, 2022 10:16 pm

Starting in mid-November, Valley Railroad regularly operates three Christmas-season trains simultaneously. There's a place for a spare engine, or perhaps a fourth Christmas train.

Howard P.

linkthebutler · **Joined:** Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:29 am **Posts:** 267

Here is a recent video with a lot of that locomotive.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M-mCfaqBRWs

Steamguy73 · **Joined:** Wed Dec 24, 2014 3:15 pm **Posts:** 635

Yep they had just got done fixing up 97, and they’ve had both 40 and 3025 operating for a while.

Great addition for them!

Shane M · **Posted:** Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:07 am

G. W. Laepple wrote:

She is a close cousin to my favorite steam locomotive, Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern 2-6-2 No. 250, later WK&S, Wolfeboro, and displayed at Edaville. Now somewhere in Massachusetts, I believe.

250 is still displayed at Edaville.

NJDixon · **Joined:** Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:36 pm **Posts:** 364

Hopefully they find the engine in good enough shape to be worth bothering with. In terms of appearance, the #300 fits in nicely with the #40 and #97