JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – I was in Jacksonville last week on a three-fold mission: 1. Give an after dinner talk to the Atlantic Coast Line / Seaboard Air Line Historical Society (nobody feel asleep that I could tell, whew!); 2. Interview CSX Chairman and CEO Michael Ward (news flash, if you didn’t read Trains Newswire earlier this week, he’s staying three more years; read the rest of my Q&A with him about coal traffic, PTC, mergers, and more in the May issue); and 3. Get out of Wisconsin’s cold for a few days with my wife, visit friends, and walk on the beach (done, and was it good!).
My first instinct upon arrival was to go and visit a magnificent but troubled steam locomotive: Atlantic Coast Line 4-6-2 No. 1504, a gorgeous 1919 Alco-built USRA light Pacific that has been on display for 30 years in the parking lot of the Prime Osborne Convention Center in the former Jacksonville Union Station. I’m quite proud of the North Florida Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society for leading the effort to do a thorough cosmetic job on the engine that had been rusting and withering in the Florida heat and humidity. The pride of the Coast Line looked beaten and down just a few years ago. Now, locomotive practically shines now in a fresh paint job. I’m proud that Trains contributed $10,000 to the restoration through our annual Preservation Award and that CSX Corp., just down Water Street from the locomotive, matched our award.
Now $20,000 doesn’t go far when you’re talking about a cosmetic job these days but it is still pretty good. The chapter hired folks who knew what they’re doing, and they did the job well. The engine is a princess once more. What she needs now is a roof over her so that pretty paint job will last longer and the elements don’t continue to work at her. She is a gorgeous reminder of the ACL’s passenger service along the East Coast, and her likes are rare. Fewer than a half dozen ACL steam locomotives are still in existence, and this one is the largest, and dare I say, the most graceful. Let’s all pledge to do what we can to get a roof over this magnificent locomotive. She needs to keep telling her story to a new generation. A cover is the next step in preserving the history of ACL’s passenger motive power and a classic Georgian locomotive that author H. Stafford Bryant would find numerous reasons to praise.
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