Steam & Excursion > CO&E # 17 to be moved

Local radio report this morning had a segment about moving the locomotive from the Boone & Senic Valley Railroad several miles south to the where highway 30 intersects with Story st (northeast corner) apperantly there has already been an approval with the DOT. There is also a plan to have several other pieces to go with the display. I'm assuming there will be a cosmetic restoration to some degree? I just caught part of the segment, if anyone has any further details please advise.

Posted from Android

It needs to come back home to Marion, IL.

My $0.02.

The news was pretty disappointing, there was talk about an operational restoration even though it needed about everything. Obviously that's not gonna happen.

Posted from Android

bankshotone Wrote:
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> The news was pretty disappointing, there was talk
> about an operational restoration even though it
> needed about everything. Obviously that's not
> gonna happen.
>
> Posted from Android

All it needs is a boiler, cab and tender body and it's good to go!

Oh.  Yeah.

Winning lotto ticket anyone?

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Minor swerve, how is the B&SV freight business doing?

Out

callum_out Wrote:
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> Minor swerve, how is the B&SV freight business
> doing?
>
> Out


Pretty good despite the mile or so trackage that they have...

Posted from Android

That’s why you have to tag an engine while it is operational.   I believe this one was called “the pig hogger” when I saw it.

No. 17  will make a great display along Story Street.  The B&SV is truly a class act and one of the best-run tourist railroads I've visited. 

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> That’s why you have to tag an engine while it is
> operational.   I believe this one was called
> “the pig hogger” when I saw it.

The "Pig Hogger" was the logo for the CO&E's Piggyback service.  It featured a pig wearing an engineer's cap sitting astride a 2-4-2.  #17 had no such nickname, and had the same Pyramid logo on the tender as adorned the 40 foot piggyback trailers (in addition to the Pig Hogger logo).

I've confessed elsewhere that #17 was my first love.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

HERE is an older thread of film footage I shot of #17 in 1985 when I was 12 years old.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

They rebroadcasted the segment this afternoon, the Boone and Senic Valley Railroad will donate the #17 and a Pullman car, both will be sandblasted and painted prior to movement. They will be placed along the intersection where it will look like it is turning into town. The Pullman car will be lit up inside during the night time as well as the locomotive. The city plans to hang banners on the tender promoting local events. Estimated cost is $150,000.00 and so far $50,000.00 has been raised. This has been in the works for the past 20 months and will soon be a reality.

Posted from Android

If you didn't know the B&SV was there you'd miss it, the promotion idea is very positive. It's not just the ride but the trackage under wire,
the neat freighthouse, the little bit that still sees freight business, it's definitely worth a visit.

Out

The B&SV is going to DONATE the engine?!?!  Back around 1991, they wanted so much for her that Strasburg said no thanks and left with just #475.  Then the B&SV parked #17 on the street corner and all but left her to rust.  Had she gone to Strasburg, #17 could have been running today!

And what the heck, here are a couple of photos of #17 on the CO&E from the camera of the late Brian Shafer (Edward Bridges collection).

The first photo is from January, 1986; #17's last winter in operation.  Here she is headed west on a late afternoon.

The second photo is of the end of #17 as an operational locomotive.  She has just suffered the collapsed dry pipe that ended her career, and is sitting where she was brought to a halt.  This is the last time there would be steam in her boiler or a fire on her grates.  She would be hauled back to the enginehouse, and within a week it would be determined that repairs would cost more than the CO&E would be willing to spend.  A pair of former MoPac SW1200's had arrived only days before from Precision National, and #17's days had already been numbered.  The date: September 9, 1986.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/19 10:15 by MaryMcPherson.

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MaryMcPherson Wrote:
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> The B&SV is going to DONATE the engine?!?! 

Yes, DONATE.


Back
> around 1991, they wanted so much for her that
> Strasburg said no thanks and left with just
> #475.  Then the B&SV parked #17 on the street
> corner and all but left her to rust.  Had she
> gone to Strasburg, #17 could have been running
> today!

So Strasburg has the winning lottery ticket numbers?
Good to know.

And yes to be clear the locomotive will be essentially used as a billboard for the city of Boone as banners will be hung on side of tender.. This is not being used to promote the BSV.

Posted from Android

Over a quarter-century ago, #475 was in about the same shape as #17.  They were both project locomotives, and #475 was running within a few years.  Had they bought both, they would have probably both been made operational.

#17 is in considerably worse shape today than she was then, and the price tag to get her running is exponentially higher.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Thanks for the story about the "Pig Hogger" logo!  About 20 years ago I saw a semi-trailer on I5 in Anaheim, CA.  with that logo.  I have wondered about it since; in my mind, some farmer someplace had a live steam railroad and put it on a trailer.  Now I know the whole story!

MaryMcPherson Wrote:
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> Over a quarter-century ago, #475 was in about the
> same shape as #17.  They were both project
> locomotives, and #475 was running within a few
> years.  Had they bought both, they would have
> probably both been made operational.
>
> #17 is in considerably worse shape today than she
> was then, and the price tag to get her running is
> exponentially higher.


Oh I remember quite well. I remember the guys came to look at them and had a big ladder from the ground to the smoke box checking it out. Had to of been about 1990.

Posted from Android

Ever since that C.O.&E. episode of "On the Road with Charles Kuralt" aired I've had a special appreciation for #17. While looking rough when we visited the B&SV in 2008 I felt something better could be in her future but this move isn't exactly what I had hoped for. No one asked but I'd have been happy to contribute to a cosmetic restoration that would have resulted in her remaining somewhere on railroad property.



i  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/19 17:54 by grizzledgary.

It's special if for nothing else than being one of the last steam locomotives built in North America.

Out

callum_out Wrote:
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> It's special if for nothing else than being one of
> the last steam locomotives built in North
> America.
>
> Out

Last 2-8-0 built in Canada, and possibly the last in North America for domestic (and non-military) use.  Also special for being the last steam locomotive in common-carrier non-passenger service.  Tourist trains on the CO&E ended about 7 months before #17's first run.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions