Just curious here. The restored B&O EMC "E" unit, was it just cosmetic? Or is it also internally complete and operable?
Yep - just cosmetic but man they did a beautiful job of it. I imagine it was in such bad shape originally that trying to get it run, too, would have just been way too cost prohibitive. With volunteers I think I read they were able to do this restoration at a cost between 300-400k(?) which sounds like a heck of a deal to me considering the final result and amount of work that needed to get it there. Cheers -Mike
When the unit was sent to EMD to be 'upgraded' to a E8m in about 1953 or 54 - EMD harvested all the parts they wanted and returned the rolling carbody back to the B&O for display at the B&O Museum which was established by the B&O in approximately 1953. Under B&O ownership the museum would be opened and closed as the financial condition of the company permitted. When the C&O acquired control of the B&O in about 1962 the museum was kept open and in operation up through the creation of CSX Corporation in 1980. Sometime during the 1980's CSX set the museum up to be a separate and independent company and no business connection to CSX. A blizzard on President's Day of 2003 caused the roof of the roundhouse part of the museum to fail and crash down upon the exhibits in the roundhouse with damage to many exhibits. https://www.wbaltv.com/article/bo-railroad-museum-thriving-10-years-after-roof-collapse/6584840 The restoration of engine 51 is a 'ground up' cosmetic restoration and includes the remanufacture of the stainless steel headlight surround that the engine had when it originally left LaGrange in the 1930's.
To my limited knowledge - virtually everything has been repaired with the roundhouse roof being made much stronger than the original iteration.
I watched a video, yesterday, and a representative of the museum said the original framework of the roundhouse was wrought iron and was replaced with steel. I'm pretty sure he said they had as much snow, one winter, as that which collapsed the original roof and it help up fine. Doug
Winter of 2009-2010 the Mid-Atlantic area had successive storms that dumped 20+ inches of snow about 5 days apart. The storms collapsed a Shelter-Logic 'garage' I had erected on my property - it survived the 1st storm but I didn't get the snow from that storm removed and the weight of snow from the 2nd storm did it in.
Saw the restored B&O EA, and it's beautiful. Having been in the museum's custody since being retired c. 1953 or so, it was never in horrible shape, but now it looks magnificent--as if out of a builder's photo. But, as noted, it hasn't run for almost 70 years. But I've got another question. Years ago there was talk of the B&O museum getting hold of E8 #92 (later 1460, later 1463, later Amtrak 210). Some online sources indicate this occurred, as does the 1994 book "Baltimore and Ohio E-Unit Diesel Passenger Locomotives," which indicates it "went on display" at the B&O museum in early 1994. Saw photos indicating that it was somewhere on the museum property c. 2005, looking horrible and rusting away in what had been Amtrak colors. But the folks I talked to at the museum knew nothing about it. Another photo from 2014 has it on a storage track in West Virginia c. 2014, possibly beyond salvage. Anyone know about this?
So after poking around on the Internet, spotted this: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2662089 A note above the photo mentions the Transportation Safety Institute. If so, I have a feeling it might have ceased to exist.
@SF Chief 's mention of West Virginia got me to thinking about the West Virginia Central/Durbin & Greenbrier Valley. Their roster [at https://www.american-rails.com/wvc.html ] shows the 92 and as former No. 1440. https://www.thedieselshop.us/B&O.HTML shows this too. The newest photos I can find of it were taken 2016 at https://hawkinsrails.net/shortlines/wvc/wvc.htm
Some stuff looking really rough there. Most anything can be restored, but the longer it sits, the more $$$$.
I'm supportive of tourist lines and museums that make hard choices on what to keep, trade or cut up. We've all seen equipment rust away into oblivion, along with its worth as scrap metal and it seems a waste. Ya can't save it all.
Fascinating. I wasn't aware of the West Virginia Central. I've got to pay them a visit. But E8 #92 is a pretty sad sight... Rick
