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The Controversy of AT&SF Locomotive #3463

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There has been a lot of press about this, so maybe most of you are familiar with it.  In 1956, the AT&SF donated steam locomotive #3463 to the city of Topeka, KS.  The locomotive was placed on display on property in Topeka owned by Shawnee County, and it has been sitting there ever since.  This is a relatively modern 4-6-4 weighing 206 tons.   <o:p></o:p> The following information is according to my understanding from talking to some people in Topeka who are familiar with the story of this locomotive.  I do not guarantee the accuracy of the following information, but believe it to be correct to the best of my knowledge.  <o:p></o:p> By the early 1990s, the locomotive had become weathered and needed cosmetic maintenance, which was undertaken at that time by a group of volunteers.  Sometime before or during this work, that work group or a part of it claims to have acquired ownership of the locomotive.  Subsequently, that group acquired the depot from Union Pacific and changed their name to the Great Overland Station.  Then the GOS stopped their members and other volunteers from continuing the restoration work, citing a fear of liability.     <o:p></o:p> A couple months ago, it was reported that a Minneapolis group called; the Coalition For Sustainable Rail has acquired the AT&SF locomotive as a gift from the Great Overland Station.  The intent of CSR is to bring the locomotive to Minneapolis, redesign it with many modern upgrades, and to rebuild the locomotive with those modern features.  Some people oppose this because the original historic locomotive will be destroyed in this upgrade.  Other people support it because they see the upgrade as restoring a locomotive said to have been rusting away in Topeka.  The CSR group says the original locomotive will not be destroyed because their modernization work will be reversible.     <o:p></o:p> From what I understand, the “rusting away” charge is highly exaggerated, apparently to justify giving the locomotive to CSR.  The engine is somewhat disassembled and was in the process of repainting when work was suspended several years ago, so it does appear disheveled.  But the basic machine is actually in relatively good condition for a park display locomotive.  So it really was not necessary to get rid of the locomotive in order to prevent it from rusting away.   <o:p></o:p> And regarding the belief that CRS will rescue the locomotive by “restoring” it, one only has to read their entire plan to realize that the so-called restored #3463 will be an entirely new and different locomotive.  Even CRS says that the modernized locomotive will bear only the most fundamental resemblance to the present #3463.  They refer to the existing locomotive as a “test bed” for the new, experimental locomotive.  Their main objective is to create a carbon neutral locomotive that can be used as a prototype for a whole new generation of steam locomotives to replace diesels in modern railroad applications.  This new genre of locomotive will burn torrefied biomass fuel.  <o:p></o:p> The CRS group also intends to set a 130 mph speed record with the modernized locomotive.          <o:p></o:p> I have spoken to someone in Topeka who was involved with the original donation from the AT&SF.  He says there are several people in town who were involved with the AT&SF at that time, and most of them are not even aware of the fact that the locomotive has been given away.  Many of the citizens of Topeka are not aware of the giveaway either.  There was no popular outcry demanding to get rid of the locomotive because of it being an eyesore, as some have suggested.  This giveaway was done very quietly with little, if any, advance notification.    <o:p></o:p> It seems clear that the railroad donated the locomotive to the city, even if no record exists today.  But what is not evident at all is how GOS assumed the right to give the locomotive to someone else who will take it away from its public display and use it to build something else.  <o:p></o:p> My inquiry has shown that GOS is unable provide documentation that they had the right to give the locomotive away.  Certainly the AT&SF did not donate the locomotive to GOS, because GOS did not exist at the time of the 1956 donation from the AT&SF.  <o:p></o:p> So, this presents an interesting conundrum shaping up for a possible tug of war over a locomotive whose ownership cannot be formally verified.   <o:p></o:p>
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