Salvage

[Anonymous]

If a guy new where a Mogul 2-6-0 could be found, would it be worth the effort? Engine was lost in 1885 and has remained buried since that time.
Your opinions welcome.
Thank you,
Eric94

[Anonymous]

Would depend a lot on where it was buried.If it was buried in the desert sands for instance or sealed in a mine that was moisture free it might well still be in good condition.If it has been exposed to moisture for a hundred years though,there is doubtful it would be worth much at all.

[AltonFan]

Other considerations would be what would be required to move the engine from its current place to a nearby rail line, and and to a secure location where it can be restored.

A friend of mine discovered a good-sized steam locomotive in good condition. Unfortunately, the nearest rail lines were CSX and NS, which of late have been hostile to preserved steam. (There are friendlier CNIC and BNSF lines, but they would still have to pass over CSX and/or NS to access them.) The cost of moving the engine just to BNSF or CNIC turned out to be prohibitive, and the engine remains where it is.

[Anonymous]

Well, it may take some hard work, but in the end I think there would be a great deal of satisfaction from knowing you saved a piece of history from being forgotten forever, even if it is in bad condition. It's always worth it to rescue these things. Even if it can only be restored cosmetically, it's still something that ought to be done. Can you realy put a price on the history of the nation? Engines of this age aren't as common as they once were and to find another is truly a prize. We need these locomotives to be preserved for future generations to enjoy even after we're all gone. I say, go for it! I once heard the saying that in railroad preservation nothing's impossible-just more expensive. You'd be surprised what wrecks have been restored to original condition.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all.
This engine went into a river at that time. I believe the course of the river has changed and the engine is now somewhat dry. There are several things I have not determine yet such as how deep it is buried, legality/landowner issues, salvage rights, etc. It does seem to be a dreadful shame that this piece of history remains as it has. I'm thinking about soliciting the Boy Scouts and maybe getting a non-profit spin on the task.

[AltonFan]

I remember reading about an instance where a person followed up on old stories about an engine that fell into a river, found the engine, and restored it.

As always, it's best to start these projects with a clear idea of what its successful completion entails.

[ironhorseman]

This reminds me of a story not about a lost locomotive but of a lost freight car. It comes from the book The Romance & Folklore of North American Railroads, pg 75. It's titled The Legend of the Lost Freight Car.

It's two pages long and has a lot of text and I don't know if I permission to retype the whole thing here, but I'll sumarize it and give you the jist of it.

It was back in 1907 around the Kansas City area. The Northern Pacific had lost all of their 20 boxcar train and caboose in a flood. They recovered all but one boxcar belonging to the Union Pacific. They searched the Kansas countryside but never found the boxcar.

"After 20 days elapsed, UP, in accordance with rule three of the 'Per Diem' Rules for car service, mad a formal demand for the return of the car." After 30 days of no return UP began charging NP 75 cents/day + regular per diem charge of 25 cents/day.

The NP could've reported the car destroyed to end it's responsibitlity, but not one shred, not one nail, or not even one bolt was found.

14 months went by and NP was making one last attempt to find the car. 4 days into this search they found the rusted trucks. Serial number matched those of the missing car. "The number on the trucks made the sleuth ... whoop with joy." The trucks were only 1/4 mile from the tracks.

The sleuth looked around for any evidence of the boxcar itself and noticed a medicne ad in large white letters on the side of a boxcar that had been made into an improvised horse stable. He found the farmer using it and asked where he got it. Farmer said he didn't get it he found out. When asked, the farmer couldn't remember the car number but did remember the shield that used to be painted on it had said "Overland" on it.

The sleuth then had the boxcar confiscated, sent back to the shops, and fixed up. They found the boxcar number under the medicne ad. The car was painted up like new and restored. It was returned to the UP in the 15th month since since the flood. "And with the receipt for the car in their possession, the NP car service men danced a jig to the tune of a comic opera ditty entitled, And the Prodigal Came Back.

The bill from the UP: 25 cents/day for the 1st 30 days + $1.00/day for the rest of the 15 months the NP was responsible = $442.50. "The Northern Pacific sent the farmer who had taken possession of the car for his mare a bill for $442.50 for 'a year's rent of the stable.' " [}:)]

[Anonymous]

Ironhorseman,
Well, hello to a fellow-flatlander. That is indeed a good read. There are many stories such as that out here. I'm sure you have chased a few also. I have followed a few and each no matter how ridiclous seem to have an element of truth if not completely true. Most of what I have pursued are the artifacts of the Indian wars and conflicts. I have some very nice rusty objects my wife lets me keep in a bucket in my shed. I know nothing about trains I must apologize. I'm more of a troublemaker that asks why can't we do this or that. This train engine is probably setting on bedrock by now and what I would like to do is change this historical record into a pursuit of like minded locals with a goal to at least find this engine. To even mark it's rest would be sufficient I suppose. I think you know what I mean. Legends, half truths, ghost stories, should give way to the facts. Find this engine, restore it, or mark it's rest that's what I would like to see.

[Anonymous]

That boxcar story was good!

A few years back in Trains there was mention of a small 0-4-0ST that was found when a lake was drained and was restored (not to operating condition, though).

Also, a very excellent site for anyone interested in lost trains like this is http://nt1.foothill.net/rumorweb . It has listings of all the abandoned pieces of railroad equipment that exist or are rumored to exist in the US. You can check out listings by state, so if someone wants to start a project of restoring one, they can find something near where they live. You'd be surprised how many steam locomotives are out there that need to be rescued.

[ironhorseman]

Here's a link to surviving steam engines in Kansas:

http://parkengines.railfan.net/KS/content.shtml

There's a link on that page to a complete list. 2 steam engines are submerged in Kansas rivers

This link will take you to the main page of a state by state list:

http://parkengines.railfan.net/