Why did the New York Central 4-8-2 3011 moved from Dallas,TX to Elkhart,IN in the 1980s
The current issue of the New York Central System Historical Society's "The Headlight" has an article about that, called "Bringing the Mohawk Home." Long story short after considerable effort a man named Bob Spaugh convinced the Texas museum to trade the Mohawk for a Pennsy GG-1. They eventually agreed, largely because they didn't have any electric engines in their museum. The Mohawk when it was in Texas was painted as a Texas & Pacific engine.
I saw the `T&P Mohawk' in Dallas in the 1960s. The story I was told was that the T&P had put a 2-10-4 on display without any form of security or protection and it had been vandalized beyond recovery. The Mohawk had been acquired to replace it, painted to duplicate it and put on display under bright lights inside two concentric fences - which is what the Texas should have had in the first place.
NYC fans should offer a prayer of thanks to those Texas vandals.
Chuck