Steam & Excursion > Two Sunken Locomotives off the coast of New Jersey

I saw this at a Yahoo Group and find it fascinating. The two locomtives are beleived to be 2-2-2's built maybe in the 1850's or earlier. It is theorized that that they were on a barge that sank while delivering the locos form New England or the Atlantic States to the South.

http://www.andreadoria.orgwww.njscuba.net/sites/list_nj_north_2.html#locomotives

I forgot to mention that someone reported that a diver did bring up a part (what?) with a Boston Manufacurer's name on it. However, it is thought the part was from a supplier and not a loco builder. If it would a builder, off the top of my head, Hinkley was located in Boston.

Interesting, but what a great expense to restore. Did I read that right, they are in 18 ft of water?

CPRR Wrote:
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> Interesting, but what a great expense to restore.
> Did I read that right, they are in 18 ft of
> water?

No. 85 feet.

Interesting article I wonder how many more underwater locomotives exist As far as restoration I doubt theres much to restore after this many years at the bottom of the ocean

roberthedgecock Wrote:
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> Interesting article I wonder how many more
> underwater locomotives exist As far as restoration
> I doubt theres much to restore after this many
> years at the bottom of the ocean


There are a few and there are the many myths too. There was a loco pulled from a river bottom in Australia that was painstakingly (understatement) restored to operating condition and what a beautiful locomotive it is. I believe the loco was built in the 1800's. All that was pulled up, if I recall correctly, was a boiler, drivers and pilot wheels. I don't recall if the tender was included. I believe Trains magazine had a nice article about it some years ago.

Hi Wabash I recall that article I think this locomotive was a Rogers 2-4-0 it was in freshwater so the damage was less than it would have been in saltwater Also here in California a Porter 0-4-0 was pulled from I beleive the bottom of Lake Almanor a few years ago

There is a B&M Pacific in the (brackish) waters of the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, NH. Several years ago the state of New Hampshire investigated the possibility of raising the engine, as it had become a navigational hazard. In the end it was decided to drag her out of the way and not bring her up.

Actually, there must be quite a number of locomotives on the ocean floors.

2 examples off the top of my head:

1) after WWII a couple of new 2-8-2's slipped off the deck of a cargo during a heavy storm while on their way to France and sank in xxx thousand feet of water.

2) and during the same war, a number of Belgian 2-10-0s (not small russian decapods, but huge, weird-looking machines), underway for Russia, went down with their ship in the Barentsz Sea.

Many more (japanese-made for example), must be around somewhere. 2 World Wars inevitably have left their traces...

WDW - SP among Kenya's Garratts

Don't forget the brand new Chinese 2-8-2 that was in a frighter that sank off China a few years back. It was on its way to a tourist RR in the Midwest and they got a replacement.

I recall reading a news feature report, when I was a kid going to school in San Bernardino, CA, that there is a loco at the bottom of Lake Arrowhead. It belonged to a sawmill operation that cleared the area before it was made into a lake.

Perhaps a search of the SB Sun-Telegram archives would bear fruit. I recall there was a photo of it included with the text.

Of course, it would be economically infeasible to recover it. I wonder, though, if it would be accessible for underwater photos?

Bill in Texas