Nostalgia & History > Family Lines 1776 (SCL)

SCL 1776 in Red,White and Blue was not really the 1776.By the time SCL
wanted to do a unit, the production was up to 1813,which is really the
correct number.(This is by memory,I will stand corrected)
The bogus 1776 is shown at Tampa in the current FL paint scheme.

Uncle Joe,Seffner,fl.

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Joe,

I can not remember. Is (was) the bogus 1776 the one that survived the longest? I seem to remember one was used as a shop switcher or some other function until a few years ago.

Jay

Posted from Android

Jay, the one that managed to survive was not the unit shown, but the "original" 1776 that was renumbered.  It's still around--it actually got repainted to FLS for a VERY short time while serving as a load test unit at Waycross.  CSX later gave it to the northern volunteer fire outfit that has the "Safety Train".  I hope they take care of it--it may well be THE last U36B extant.  I wish they'd given them one of the hordes of B30/B36's that were being retired instead of 5764 (now MCVX 7764).

Thanks for the reply. So the 1776 that survived and was donated by CSX to the Safety Train was the unit renumbered for the
bicentennial SCL 1776? The bicentennial SCL 1776 no longer exists?

Jay

Posted from Android

Jay, that's sadly correct.  It's almost like somebody at Jacksonville was trying to do the right thing, and made a mistake.  SBD/CSXT 5728 was the bicentennial 1776, and it very sadly got scrapped.  If only CSX had a Wick Moorman clone at the throttle...

The current 1776 is still a worthwhile candidate to preserve. I do not believe many would be too upset to see it as a substitute "1776" since it would have been the actual bicentennial unit if only the process back in 1970 or 71 would have started a little sooner. Better that than nothing in my book. Since the SCL 1776 was the spearhead of the bicentennial loco paint jobs, I believe having it restored in that scheme would still be fitting.

Jay

Jay, I agree 100%!  That's why I hated to see it shuffled off to who knows what fate where it is now.  NOBODY would (should) complain if it were to one day be restored as "SCL 1776".  I'd dearly love to see this happen and would readily donate to such an effort if it were ever to materialize.