At Wymore, Nebraska, March 29, 1948:

http://www.castlegraphics.com/photo/alb ... 9_1948.jpg

And stored at Lincoln, January 1954:

http://www.castlegraphics.com/photo/alb ... an1954.jpg

Now displayed at Council Bluffs, Iowa near the CRI&P depot, after years of rusting in the park at Council Bluffs.

Bob -

Thanks for the photos. Anyone got a recent picture?

I think there were a couple of other CB&Q engines in this series preserved too. Maybe 710 and 717 or.....? Anyone know what their status is these days?

Les

Those K4s preserved were the 710, 715 and 719, all renumbered to the 900 series in the early 1950s so the 700 series could be reassigned to F units. The 710, long rusting in a Lincoln park, was shipped to Iowa and given a complete and proper cosmetic restoration by the late Stan Matthews, then put back on display at the CB&Q station at Lincoln, still in good condition, but unsheltered.

The 715 sat in the park at Council Bluffs with UP 814 and a couple of cars for many years, then both were moved to the Railswest RR Museum, at the old Rock Island station in Council Bluffs several years ago. I think some work has been done there, but not to the degree the 710 got. The equipment at Council Bluffs is unsheltered as far as I know.

The 719 was long a resident of the light-railed and lonely Sterling-Cheyenne line, last operating in 1956. Unlike the others, it burned oil, and I think it also may have operated on the Black Hills line before the 1930s. It has been on display at Alliance, Nebraska since the early 1960s and was kept well painted there, but of course paint does not retard the corrosion caused by soggy asbestos under the jacket. It has been moved at least once since being placed on display.

There are other two CB&Q 4-6-0s. The 637 is an older K2 which became the Burlington's show engine for the 1948-49 RR fair and operated occasionally into 1956 for excursions, etc.. After rusting away in an Aurora park, it went to IRM several years ago and is pending restoration there. The 967 is a K10, rebuilt at the Havelock Shops in Lincoln from a 2-6-0. It has been on display at Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska, with goofy unauthentic paint and a fake cow catcher, but has been well sheltered for many years.

The ideal place for at least some of these locomotives would have been the old B&MR peaked-roof roundhouse at Nebraska City, which existed in poor condition until just a few years ago, and regularly serviced these engines into the mid-1950s. Though a valiant attempt was made to save it, locals were not interested. It was partly blown down by high straight line winds and the city required the rest to be cleared soon after.

The only other intact roundhouse of this type remaining that I know of is at Holdrege, Nebraska, used as a fertilizer warehouse until recent years, but vacant last I heard. Needing brick pointing, it was instead coated on the outside with a white fiberglass/stucco mixture, which might be difficult to remove. The same person also owned the depot there, which was restored and he seemed interested in saving the roundhouse also at the time I spoke with him some years ago. Holdrege saw mostly Mikados and the little 4-4-2s in later years (the Atlantics ran as late as 1954), but probably saw ten wheelers at one time also. I'd like to know the current status of the Holdrege roundhouse if anyone passes that way..

Les,
There are four more CB&Q 4-6-0s preserved in addition to the 715.
637 at IRM Class K2 Formerly on display at Aurora, IL
710 at BNSF/Amtrak depot in Lincoln, NE Class K4
719 at Alliance, NE in a museum Class K4 I believe she was numbered 919 while she worked the Cheyenne to Sterling line to avoid confusion with C&S locomotives.
967 at Minden, NE museum Class K10 I believe she is all "gaudied-up" from postcards that I have seen of her. All five sure would make a grand display in a little five stall engine house with an armstrong turntable.....

Don C.

At Pioneer Village, poor scan of old postcard, before the shelter was erected:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-Village-188 ... otohosting

As it appears today:

http://www.nebraskahistory.org/images/h ... /16207.jpg