Posted from the Essex Steam Train & River Boat Facebook Page. Also known as the Valley Railroad. They were trying to acquire an engine out of the Fred Kepner collection, that deal seems to have fallen through after the Mississippi city it was displayed in claimed ownership.

Press release below.

"We are excited to announce the newest addition to our steam fleet! The American Locomotive Company 1352 will be coming to Essex soon, so keep your eye on our page for updates and details. We are proud to be a part of American railroad preservation steam restoration!
The 1352 was built in 1912 by ALCO for the Frisco Railway and served them until retirement in 1956. Since then, the locomotive has been housed in the Midwest awaiting restoration under the ownership of the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc
From ASR President Rob Gardner “We are very pleased to know that the Frisco 1352 is going to such an exceptional organization as the Valley RR and will be restored to operational condition much sooner than we could have hoped to accomplish. The funds generated from this sale will further expedite the restoration of Reading 2100 as the American Freedom Train 250. ASR would also like to extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to the Genesee & Wyoming RR and the Illinois Midland RR for allowing the 1352 to be stored on their property for all of these years.”

Am I wrong in thinking that 1352 is a fair sight larger than the rest of the Valley's present fleet?

.

A former 2-8-0 rebuilt by the Frisco to 2-8-2.

Mark

One of the 2-8-2s that they rebuilt from earlier 2-8-0s during WWII. Quite a bit bigger than anything that Valley Railroad already has. Man, the most recent photos I can find of her show that the condition could kindly be described as rough. But, seems like all the basket cases are suddenly having happy endings lately, so why not this one too?

Kelly, no USRA heritage as she was rebuilt from a smaller 2-8-0 during WWII when the WPD would not authorize any brand new motive power for the power-hungry Frisco. 1352 is chunky but a bit smaller than a USRA light Mike, though she is equipped with a duplex stoker and booster engine.

Rob Gardner

Mark Herren photos from 2017, Taylorville IL:

This is excellent and totally unexpected, holy cow. Despite living in New England, I joke that I've become a Frisco fan by marriage since my wife's grandfather was an engineer on the SLSF. Soon we'll be able to see real Frisco power right here Connecticut, something I never would have predicted.

-Philip Marshall

The Frisco had a line from Amory, Mississippi down to Pensacola, Florida, where bridges restricted steam power to Consolidations. Without increasing the weight on drivers, seven 2-8-0's had a new course added to their boilers with the new Mikado's assigned numbers 1350 through 1356. Number 1356 rolled out of SLSF's Springfield Shops in March of 1946, ending company rebuilding's there. Two of these other Mike's are still in existence; number 1351 in Memphis and number 1355 in Pensacola.

Les

Congratulations to the Valley.

I’m curious how many of the “features” of the locomotive they will retain. I would assume they will use the stoker but I wonder about the booster and the feed water heater. Always a trade off between usefulness and maintenance.

Roger

I'm glad the 1352 will get a new home. Despite ASR's original plans and protestations that they hadnt "forgotten" about her; the idea that the profits from 2100's first runs would be used to bring her to the Cleavland Roundhouse for restoration always felt far-fetched. ASR always seemed like an organization that should focus on one locomotive and only one so that they can give it all the attention it needs.

Speaking of maintenance, look at all those flexies!

These are now thoroughly 'modern' 2-8-2s, and bear about as much resemblance to a Consolidation as a Reading T-1 does. They were equipped with boosters, good feedwater heaters, Foam-Meter, Valve Pilot, and lightweight lower-augment running gear

So this brings me to a thought. Was the rebuild the Frisco did a rebuild or a "rebuild" as accountants love so they can charge against different accounts for the new locomotive?

In connection with sister locomotive 1351, it was explained to me as being something slightly different. There are several posters on here who are more familiar with the 'ins and outs' of Internal Revenue Service practice in the late 1940s, amd I did not take careful notes when it was explained to me a couple of decades ago now, but 'rebuilding' that costs some percentage of the cost of an equivalent new locomotive resulted in the depreciation schedule for the engine being reset, allowing more deduction for the cost than you'd get if either the improvement cost or the 'resulting' locomotive were to be taxed at current value. There is little question in my mind that SLSF threw considerably more money at these locomotives than would be justified by service on lines too light for regular power (and presumably undermaintained as part of their 'lightness'. What resulted is surely among the best of the late-Forties Mikados, easily capable with booster engaged of starting any practical excursion, accelerating it to reasonable track speed, and being maintained in efficient operation while there.