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According to copies of SRC roster notes in my files, #31's tender capacity is 8 tons coal, and water 3700 gals. Here's the low down on #31's vital stats and provenance drawn from my SRC roster:

31 0-6-0 Built by Burnham, Williams & Co. in 8/1908 (BLW c/n 32894) as a freight engine for the Grand Trunk Railway Co. of Canada #118; in c. 9/1919 to #1708. Corporate merger transferred locomotive in 1/1923 to Canadian National Railway Co. #1708, in ca. 4/1923 to 7157; in 2/1952 to #7240; in 1/1957 to CNR class 0-9a. #7312. Was used as the CNR shop switcher at Stratford, Ontario; shortened tender enabled engine to pull locomotives onto turntable with room for both to fit (Griner). Retired July 1958. Sold 9/1959 for $5,250.00 including transportation to Lynford Swearer, J. Huber Leath, William M. Moedinger, Jr., Carroll L. Caldwell, William Kline, Jr. John B. Chubb, Winston Gottschalk and Jan Deelman (all vice-presidents of SRR), and SRC ($1,250); arrived SRC 6/15/1960. Riders, John L. Sullivan (Ontario-Williamsport) and Lynford Swearer (Williamsport-Reading). First fired-up 9/1/1960, first run on train 9/2/1960, entered regular service 9/3/1960. Leased 11/1/1960-10/1968 to Strasburg Rail Road Co. #31; sold outright to SRC in 10/1968. Last run on 10/30/1994 and stored serviceable. Returned to service 8/13/1999. Some sources suggest that engine may have been reboilered by Canadian Locomotive Company, Kingston, Ont. in 1912 (Bowman). CNR records show as BLW c/n 32895 (per Conrad). In service. (165 lbs. p.s.i. TF 31,515 lbs. Fuel: Bituminous soft coal; cyl. 22” x 26”, drivers 56”, eng. wt. 153,384 lbs.). 1st locomotive to be re-registered for ICC service in U.S.

In case you're curious, I was working on the train yesterday as a brakeman and narrator. Linn was engineer. It was a great day to enjoy #31 in all her glory, steady as a church and never let the railroad down.

She ranks as my all-time favorite SRC engine.

~K.R. Bell

Great history of 31, KRB. It has certainly had plenty of numbers over the years!

One thing I've wondered about, though- why was 7312 picked as the first steam loco for the "new" Strasburg? With the tendency for 0-6-0s to be a bit rough on the track, why not have gone for one of the 2-6-0s (like 89) instead? There were probably lots of engines of various sizes, in good or better condition, at Stratford in 1958-59. Was 7231 a low-mileage or zero-mileage engine at that time? I know 2-8-2 3254 had less than 100 miles out of a Straford overhaul when Willis Barron bought her for his Ashland Motel in 1961.

From what I understand, they discovered that 31 was pretty rough on track too late. If I remember correctly, only about a month or two after 31 went into service, they had to give the Strasburg track a complete overhaul because 31 had utterly destroyed it. It may have been the best available engine at the time.

Kurt,

Thanks for the lowdown. The electronic age is great for sharing this type of information.

Howard,

According to SRC lore, one of the SRC Veeps (may have been Warren Benner) was vacationing in Canada and came across the 7312 in a loco deadline in Stratford, Ontario. The engine still had some flue time left on it (it was last run in Dec. 1957 with only a year of flue time used and stored serviceable) and when asked, the CNR responded favorably and would sell the engine for a cheap price. In mid-1959, the Strasburg sent a delegation of three representatives to look it over--Huber Leath, John Sullivan, Stu Armstrong and Lynford Swearer. The CNR's Stratford shops staff gave the engine high marks. Since it was operable and checked out well mechanically, it was an easy sell for the SRC. When the Strasburg did not have any funds to buy the engine, they pooled the funds from eight men who chipped in $500 apiece. Two of the investors bailed out a year later and the railroad bought their interest in the engine. One of the six vice presidents remarked for years that he'd take *his* wheel with him and go home. The Stratford shop crew loaded up 31's firebox and tender tank full of steam parts still in stock at the shops (i.e. spare injectors, staybolts, etc.) which helped the SRC get off on the right foot, mechanically speaking. The engine was shipped from Stratford-Williamsport, thence to Leaman Place (CNR-NYC-RDG-PRR-SRC) , after a delay at Reading in April 1960. Finally, Plymouth #1 pulled No. 7312 on an evening move from Leaman Place, where the engine had been delivered by the PRR on June 15, 1960.

The loco was supposed to have been shopped at the Reading Company's Reading, Pa., shops but instead the work was done in Strasburg by the Reading's Fritz Giehl and Ben Kantner (who later became George Hart's boilermaker). Linn still has #31's first cab card from Sept. 1960 which bears Kantner's typed signature. It was the first engine to go back into ICC registered service in the US, making it a historic enigne in the annals of tourist railroading.

Interestingly, Strasburg officials were looking for locomotives in the east and in the south about the time they located No. 7312. I have copies of correspondence from Bud Swearer in which they made various queries in 1959-1961 to the N&W, Wrightsville & Tennille, Virginia Blue Ridge, Prescott & Northweatern, Dansville & Mt. Morris, Chattahoochie Valley, Aberdeen & Rockfish, Hampton & Branchville, East Jordan & Southern, Dardenelle & Russellville, Rockton & Rion, Smokey Mountain, Winifrede, Meadow River Lumber, Maine Central, Lowville & Beaver River, and others.

Another little known story is that one of the SRC officials felt that 7312 was too big of a number for a small four mile long railroad so the 7 and the 2 digits were dropped in favor of "31".

All of this info and more will be in my forthcoming Strasburg RR book. Stay tuned.

~K.R. Bell

When you say "back into ICC registered service", do you mean the first Canadian engine to get a USA Form 4 (a Canadian engine that had not previously been in US service), or the first "preservation" engine to be filed for ICC service? Considering all that came after Sept. 1960, either one is quite a "first"!!

What a nice haul of goodies from the CNR shops, too.

In the first edition of "The Road to Paradise", I recall the comments about 31 breaking up the track; of course at that time, SRC's track was rather "rustic", as per the photo in the book.

And on a personal note, SRC 31 was the first live standard gage steam locomotive I ever saw (1962).

When's the book due? Can't wait to see it!

[redacted]

Thanks for your kind comments. Actually, I was the younger guy on the train crew--reddish beard and glasses. I narrated the first two trips and was brakeman on the parlor car-end of the train on the third trip.

~K.R. Bell

Kurt:

Nice history of Stasburg #31. According to what you have listed, the Baldwin carried five numbers in Canada for the Grand Trunk and Canadian National. These numbers, and the years are as follows:

# 118 1908 - 1919
# 1708 1919 - 1923
# 7157 1923 - 1952
# 7240 1952 - 1957
# 7312 1957 - 1958

We can see by the above, that #31 carried #7312 for the shortest amount of time. Conversely, she carried the number 7157 for the longest amount of time (29 years.) I can understand Strasburg's renumbering her 31 at the time they received her by lopping off the first and last numbers. But I wonder if any thought has ever been given in the many years since she was first added to the roster, to restoring one of her other numbers. There's a case to be made for her first number on the GT (118) and also for #7157, which she carried the longest. If she had this particular number, then the lopping off would have made her 15 instead of 31. What's ironic is that she has carried the number 7312 for the shortest length of time while in active service in Canada, but that is what she is known by, and which led to her current number on the Strasburg.

Les Beckman

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Of course, a British excursion line, even one of similar seniority to the Strasburg (Severn Valley/Middleton/NYMR/Keighly & Worth Valley) wouldn't hesitate to renumber that CN 0-6-0 with an earlier number (7157 or 7240) for a season just for variety's sake--it gives the fans a "new" attraction to shoot, another excuse for Craft/Franz/whoever to schedule a steam charter, etc. Heck, most of the British lines wouldn't even hesitate to temporarily renumber a loco to the number of a class mate--oftentimes using the real number plates from the other loco, loaned for the occasion. Imagine, just as a mental exercise, if PRR 1223 and the wooden PRR cars were still running and were chartered for a weekend with the number plate from a sister D16sb and decals to renumber the cars just slightly.........

Hey, Strasburg crews, I know your specialty is in wooden freight cars, but we have a few very vintage metal B&O cars going up for grabs in my area, including two parked directly next to roller-bearing-equipped MTTX flatcars that are also up for grabs (or loading and shipping!). The scrappers are on their way, I'm told; if you'd like to grab a few more cars for your fleet, PM me and I'll connect you with the owners!

As for the photos I've seen, I have but one comment: I want to see a photo charter after the locos (L&C 40, GW 90, etc.) have had at least a month's grime and cinders dusting their all-too-%$*&#@-shiny boilers and tanks!!!

This was done in the mid-1980s on the C&TS. However, there is a requirement in the steam regs that "when a steam locomotive number is changed" that "all documentation related to the steam locomotive" must be updated with the new number. I don't see a distinction in the regs between temporary and permanent. In the case of no. 31, Strasburg has 45+ years of daily / monthly / etc. inspection reports. That's not a job I'd want.

(Presumably to get around this, the C&TS wrote the train orders as "ENG 489 SHOWING 482 RUN EXTRA . . . ")

A while back I proposed renumbering no. 89 to CNR 911 (the number it had the longest while on CNR), and Linn didn't say no. But if I have to pay for the updated paperwork, that'll be one expensive photo special ;)

JAC

John-

This fact is interesting. If true, I wonder how the following changes were handled:

NKP 2-8-4 # 765 to C&O # 2765
RDG 4-8-4 # 2102 to D&H # 302
UP 4-6-6-4 # 3985 to Clinchfield # 675 (?)
SRR 2-8-2 # 4500 to B&O #4500
One of the CP 1200 4-6-2's to D&H # ?
SP&S 4-8-4 # 700 to a Northern Pacific 2600
RDG 4-8-4 # 2101 to AFT # 1

These are ones I can remember off of the top of my head. There may have been a few others. Perhaps someone that were involved with these changes can remember what the problems with this regulation were and let us know.

Les

Has anyone ever seen in-service photos of No. 31 on the CN? I've never seen any of it's pre-Strasburg existance. I think Don Wood and John Rehor visited the Stratford shops in the late 50s, but don't know if they saw the 7312.