I asked this some time ago, and received no response, so I will try again. Does anyone know how to contact the Glen Monhart estate? I have a party who is interested in possibly acquiring at least one of his BL-2's for preservation in Michigan. The last info I have is at the following address:

www.whrc-wi.org/wict901/wict901a.htm

Another question: how different were C&O's BL-2's from those of BAR? Hypothetically, would it be that difficult to make a BAR unit look C&O?

TJG

Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com

Perhaps acquisition of a Glen Monhart BL2 may not be the best solution for your collection. The Lake State Railroad has two retired ALCO RS2's that have been serving as part hulks for some time. This would give you a real Michigan Locomotive that is very suitable for permanent display. Glen Monhart's engines may not be obtainable at the current time [They owner of the Janesville Roundhouse in Wisconsin wants to repossess them in lieu of unpaid fees for having them there] while the Lake State may be willing to donate at least one of the RS2's for preservation. Another consideration to account for is that the Glen Monhart BL2's are probably not in immediate danger of being scrapped while the former Detroit and Mackinaw Engines almost certainly will be.

The two RS2's were part of the first order for RS2's in 1946 for Lake States Railroad parent Detroit and Mackinac and were rebuilt in 1959 by ALCO. These engines dieselized the Detroit and Mackinac. These are considered by many to be the first roadswitchers ever produced.

A link to ALCOWORLD.NET will describe their current situation as well as show photos of similar engines.

http://alcoworld.railfan.net/lsrc.htm

> I asked this some time ago, and received no
> response, so I will try again. Does anyone
> know how to contact the Glen Monhart estate?
> I have a party who is interested in possibly
> acquiring at least one of his BL-2's for
> preservation in Michigan. The last info I
> have is at the following address:

> www.whrc-wi.org/wict901/wict901a.htm

> Another question: how different were
> C&O's BL-2's from those of BAR?
> Hypothetically, would it be that difficult
> to make a BAR unit look C&O?

> TJG


ALCOWORLD's Lake State Railway Page

What about the RS-1 ?

> The two RS2's were part of the first order
> for RS2's in 1946 for Lake States Railroad
> parent Detroit and Mackinac and were rebuilt
> in 1959 by ALCO. These engines dieselized
> the Detroit and Mackinac. These are
> considered by many to be the first
> roadswitchers ever produced.



richard.s.wilkens@boeing.com

You can contact me and I will see what I can do to help you out.

John M. Sorrel
jmsorrel@rocketmail.com
Home 414 422-0377 mon-fri 5pm-9pm cst
Work 262 797-2450 mon-fri 8am-430pm cst
weekends Mid-Continent getting my hands dirty!!!

>I asked this some time ago, and received no
> response, so I will try again. Does anyone
> know how to contact the Glen Monhart estate?
> I have a party who is interested in possibly
> acquiring at least one of his BL-2's for
> preservation in Michigan. The last info I
> have is at the following address:

> www.whrc-wi.org/wict901/wict901a.htm

> Another question: how different were
> C&O's BL-2's from those of BAR?
> Hypothetically, would it be that difficult
> to make a BAR unit look C&O?

> TJG


jmsorrel@rocketmail.com

> Perhaps acquisition of a Glen Monhart BL2
> may not be the best solution for your
> collection. The Lake State Railroad has two
> retired ALCO RS2's that have been serving as
> part hulks for some time.

Do you have a contact at the LSRC about the RS2s? Sounds like a pretty historic locomotive and should be saved. Might be interested if the price is right.

Tod Engine Foundation
rickrailrd@aol.com

I hope my main point is not being lost. It's much more important to try to represent an actual locomotive from a specific area. Point in case the RS2's on the LSR.
An opportunity exists now that you can acquire, restore, and display a locomotive that not only are the same type and look like engines that operated in Michigan but are the actual locomotives that dieselized a railroad, and also played a big part in dieselization in the United States.
These two engines deserved to be preserved some way if not another, but the likely hood is that they won't be.

Andrew

P.S., the RS1 may be the first road switcher but was built on a stretched switcher frame. The RS2 was actually designed from scratch and may be the first true road switcher along with the Baldwin AS416.

Original Message

> You can contact me and I will see what I can
> do to help you out.

> John M. Sorrel
> jmsorrel@rocketmail.com
> Home 414 422-0377 mon-fri 5pm-9pm cst
> Work 262 797-2450 mon-fri 8am-430pm cst
> weekends Mid-Continent getting my hands
> dirty!!!


railroadandrew@yahoo.com

Andrew-

You make an excellent point, and I agree that the RS's should be saved, but I don not think we are the place that they should be saved. I do not know how well you know Michigan, but we are in Port Huron, nowhere near DM territory. In my mind, the RS's should be saved in one place and one place alone: Tawas. If the guys up there could argue with the city of Tawas and/ or Lake States to save the wonderful roundhouse, it is there and only there they should go, not here in Port Huron. To my knowledge, the only rs's ever in the Port Huron area were probably Grand Trunk's pair, and I believe they were RS-1's.

My feeling on the BL's is that while none of the C&O's have survived, the engine TYPE is forever connected with our area. These BL-s were the main power that the C&O used in the Thumb for the better part of 15 years, and except for the few other roads that operated them (mainly the BAR) they were a big part of railroading in our community. The fact that I believe that there are only 8 or so left reinforces the fact that I think the BL's are just as worthy of preservation.

The ideal situation would be to send them back to BAR territory, but how feasible that is I don't know. From what I understood previously, they were in real danger of being scrapped in Wisconsin, hence my plea. Heck, if you are making arguments for why an engine should be in Michigan, what the heck are those two Balwin Shark units doing in Escanaba?????????

T.J. Gaffney

> I hope my main point is not being lost. It's
> much more important to try to represent an
> actual locomotive from a specific area.
> Point in case the RS2's on the LSR.
> An opportunity exists now that you can
> acquire, restore, and display a locomotive
> that not only are the same type and look
> like engines that operated in Michigan but
> are the actual locomotives that dieselized a
> railroad, and also played a big part in
> dieselization in the United States.
> These two engines deserved to be preserved
> some way if not another, but the likely hood
> is that they won't be.

> Andrew

> P.S., the RS1 may be the first road switcher
> but was built on a stretched switcher frame.
> The RS2 was actually designed from scratch
> and may be the first true road switcher
> along with the Baldwin AS416.

> Original Message


Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com