Still working at Birmingham, June 7, 1963:http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?may04/05-09-04/rsc294.jpg

[quote="bobyar2001"]Still working at Birmingham, June 7, 1963:http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?may04/05-09-04/rsc294.jpg[/quote]Is it still extant?

How do you know it was still working in 1963? Can you share more information, or explain why you chose this picture for discussion?Why did you pick this picture out of the hundreds of thousands of pictures available on the internet?

Republic Steel 294 (0-6-2) was donated to the Heart of Dixie Railroad Club in Birmingham in 1964, per J. David Conrad's book. The locomotive is now on display at Linnville, TN, nominally disguised as a 2-6-2.Alan Maples

"How do you know it was still working in 1963? Can you share more information, or explain why you chose this picture for discussion?Why did you pick this picture out of the hundreds of thousands of pictures available on the internet?"Most all of the ABPR photos I post links to are of locomotives that still exist. If they are no longer extant, I'll say that, but sometimes a little nostalgia for something that's gone is ok too, if it is a good photo. The photos are mostly from collections apparently owned by Bud Laws and Joseph Testagrose, who I suspect have acquired them from older train picture collectors. For many of the old photos, the back has been scanned and posted also, from which one can usually get dates and locations. Sometimes, there is information in the posted caption.Obtaining in-service photos of long-displayed steam locomotives is often difficult, thus the www.railfan.net ABPR site is a gold mine if one has the patience to go through it. The old steam photos are buried in a sea of look-a-like modern trains and trolleys from all over the world, and there is no index that I know of. There is a search feature on each page, which sometimes can be helpful, but many of the captions are things like "Oops, I forgot to change the film.", which renders the feature useless. I keep a small notebook as I look at each date's thumbnails, noting items I find interesting. When I find something I think others might want to see, I post a link.

Republic Steel 0-6-2 # 294 was originally built as a 2-6-2 for the St. Louis and O'Fallon Railway as their # 8. It was later sold to the Manufacturers Railway Company in St. Louis as their # 8 and later still to the River Terminal Railway of Cleveland, Ohio as their # 47. Eventually it was transferred to Republic Steel Corp. in Birmingham, Alabama and given the number 294. Somewhere along the way, the Prairie had her pony truck removed, probably due to derailments during switching operations. So her display as a 2-6-2 is appropriate.(Info from J. David Conrad's book.)Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

That must have been a pretty husky 2-6-2. If I remember correctly from when I saw the loco a year or two ago, as presently displayed the lead truck is actually just a wheel set sitting loose on the track under the pilot. Alan Maples