The 3007 was indeed purchased at auction of the Purple Martin train equipment. The IRM was the winning bidder and the interesting thing was that they were bidding against the E&LS Railroad. IRM paid a rather robust price for the 3007 and the stated goal at the time was that we (I have been an IRM member for 18 years) did not have a 4-6-4 in our collection. At the time I had questioned the decision to pay as much as was paid for it and also what would be in the best interest in the artifact.
I have no direct knowledge that the E&LS would have restored the 3007 to operation, but would speculate that would be a likely goal. Why they have not gone out and looked for others since that time may speak for the fact that they may have not planned to restore it to operation anyway. Who knows, it may have ended up stored next to the Sharks and out of the public eye. The locomotive at IRM is stored indoors and is in good static condition, but I would very highly doubt that it will ever steam again. (At least at the museum) The steam department at IRM have their hands full and they certainly do not have the capitol to restore such a large locomotive. They have not been able to have running steam for the last three years and maybe not again this year. The Frisco 2-10-0 1630 has needed wheel work, and there has been little progress made in recent years to get the drop pit functional which is needed to do the work. Also, they are loosing flue time for the 1630 as the clock keeps ticking. The Union Pacific 2-8-0 428 is probably 80% complete, but that elusive 20% is a tall order. The Shay (J Neils Lumber #5) needs tubes and other work. The Tuskegee 101 2-6-2 is somewhat apart, and not being worked on, it hasn't run in many years. Finally, the last one in the shop is the L&A 99 is also being worked on. I have no idea of the progress on that one.
The IRM is a huge museum but it is more like several museums within a larger house. The different departments all have thier agendas and many have made outstanding progress. Look at some of the recent progress that the internal combustion department has done. The recent repaint of the BN U-30-C 5383 is outstanding and great news. Ironically, the 5383 was the locomotive that IRM loaned back to BN when they were power short and they ran it down to Texas to retrieve the T&P 975 2-10-2 from Beaumont Texas, and the CB&Q 3007 from Iowa at the same time. The best to do is offer help when you can and donate to their "Buck a Project" fund for the steam department.
Steve

Why are pits the preferred way to remove wheels from locomotives? With todays jacks, wouldn't it be more economical to jack the whole engine up instead? I believe this is common in diesel shops. And jacks could be rented and returned, leaving the engine on cribbing.