Reports at TrainOrders.com state NYC 6894 (the ex-Hagerstown, Md. 0-6-0) and its flatcar have made it as far as Cumberland, Md. and is poised to go west soon; reportedly the tender went by road and is already in Indiana.

I can confirm that the tender arrived in Connersville about 24 hours after it was loaded onto a flatbed truck.I haven't heard where it is as of today, we're hoping it doesn't take a detour to Chicago or Nashville.David Farlow, CMOWhitewater Valley Railroad

As of this morning, the engine's flatcar is still waiting to be moved from Cumberland. Although not especially tall or wide, it is moving under special orders from the clearance bureau (as it represents an unusual shipment) which greatly limit which trains can move it, the routing, and the placement within the train. I'm certain others on this board understand this process far better and may be willing to elaborate. We anticipate it coming to Cincinnati first and then up to Connersville on CSX within a month.To comment on some earlier posts about this engine, I had understood (as was mentioned) that it was not stored in the Hagerstown roundhouse building, but was stored within the terminal complex area. Special thanks must be given to the members of the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum / Hagerstown NRHS for not allowing the engine to be cut up when the roundhouse was demolished. Their quick actions essentially saved this privately owned engine by moving it to their own siding and getting it out of harms way when it was under threat of destruction. The engine was donated to the Whitewater Valley Railroad by Mr. Charles Smith and the estate of H. Lansing Vail who saved it from an similar uncertain fate from Maryland Metals in the early 1970's. I gather from reading comments over the years that many RYPN members support the idea of getting locomotives (and other equipment) back to the regions in which they previously operated. This is basically our intent with this project. We don't have any unrealistic plans to restore 6894 to operation within a month or anything like that to announce. We will be sealing it up for winter storage with cosmetic restoration work to start next year. The plan is to restore it to its last appearance on the New York Central circa 1945, leaving intact late modifications and improvements and removing modifications (if any) performed by later owners. We are very much interested in photo and other documentation of the engine's history, NYC assignments, shoppings, etc as well as its post NYC career. Sources such as the Alco Historic Photos do not have a builder's photo, but it does appear that many drawings are going to be available through the NYCSHS. If enough documentation can be found, our intent is to nominate the locomotive for inclusion on the National Register and the Indiana State Register list. In theory, such recognition may allow us to pursue additional grants that may allow for a full restoration to operation in the future, though this would be a long term goal. The locomotive is mostly complete and has had relatively few modifications over the years. Deterioration is what you'd typically find for "park" engines. Many cab fittings such as airbrake and steam gauges are missing along with "jewelry" such as the headlight, bell, and whistle. Should anyone have and be interested in donating such items for the locomotive's restoration or be interested in working on the restoration please contact me. A photo of the engine I took in January 2002 can be found at: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-s6894bdf.jpg The first phone call regarding the potential availability of the engine was made about a year before this photo was taken.As for the other steam locomotives at the WVRR (and diesels for that matter) several different proposals are being worked on with other organizations about various engines. All of this takes time and substantial resources for groups to sort out. Due to past (and even recent) structure and equipment acquisition and even deaccession problems, we have generally found that we cannot reveal much (if any) details about ongoing project negotiations without creating new issues. Sometimes these problems have been created by large museums, local organizations, state government officials, and even private preservationists. This appears to be a sad reality of this fairly fractured "business". Once a project is rolling though, we will definitely provide details of these projects through press releases and similar postings. I encourage others to do the same as we all like to see projects moving forward.David Farlow, CMOWhitewater Valley Railroad

NYC 6894 finally caught a train out of Cumberland and is making up for lost time. As of 10:30pm tonight it has passed New River, OH on its way to Cincinnati. It went by way of Willard Ohio to Lima and south to Dayton. It looks as though it won't have to be turned, so it will probably be on the local to Connersville within the next couple of days.David Farlow

NYC 6894 was delivered today around noon by the connecting shortline who have been "storing" it for the last few months. It will be unloaded in the next week.

David Farlow, CMO
Whitewater Valley RR

Good news, David. Congratulations.