A second B6sb survivor may exist. Check this out.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8048

In the PRR forum, I started a posting about the last PRR steamer to operate until 1960, a B6sb. A responder has other information that indicates a quarry in Birdsboro, Pa. hold another B6sb under 50 feet of freshwater. Divers and others have been to the wreckage and seem to have put an I.D. on her. The quarry is now owned by the state of Pennsylvania, and hold the remains of several small steam switchers, one of which is possibly a Pennsy B6sb.
I am not telling you this is the case, but the responder weems to have the data to back up his claim. Check it out. This may be treasure awaiting recovery. It may be simply scrap iron.

Richard:

Fresh water is supposed to be good for preservation.

They raised the CSS Hunley and also discovered the RMS Titanic and after all the years passed, were in remarkably good shape considering. . . and both of those instances were salt walter, albeit the Titanic was is extremely COLD salt water.

Perhaps the B6sb is scrap metal. But then again, perhaps it can be raised, and cosmetically restored and displayed in the PRR museum.

Certainly is promising news!

For those unfamiliar, here is a Pennsy B6sb switcher at M.P.Shops in 1939:



Not exactly a little tea-kettle!

Dave Keller

Time to get the SCUBA gear on and take a swim.

I believe Jim Boyd, the retired Railfan & Railroad editor, dove down to and explored the site perhaps a decade ago. He wrote a Markers column about the trip. I'll see if I can find the column.

Two or three steam engines are down there, maybe 50-75 feet down in a quarry pond.

Hello all,
The No.750 is the locomotive that`s in the Quarry in Monocacy, Pa. The quarry is near Red Conner Road of Rt. 724 Berks County, Pa.

I saw this locomotive in 1999 when we had drought of all time 46 days with out rain . The locomotive was at that time sitting in about 10 Feet of water . She was hooked fast to a roted out old box car and two coal hoppers.
When the quarry isn`t in a drounght theres about 30 to 50 feet of water over her. There is a cover welded on the stack and its has a slanted tender with a railing on one side of the tender with steps .

I was told about this locomotive being in the quarry from a friend that worked for the Pennsy back in the 40`s He told me that the locomotive was sold to the quarry in 1947 and used up untill the quarry shut down in 1960 .

I was talking to a women that lives along the old railroad right away , She told me that she remebers seeing the locomotive being used, she also told me that the engineer gave her son a ride in the cab that was in 1954 .

Thers two other steamers in the quarry there tank engines and one steam driven crane on croller tracks.

if you go st steamlocomotives.com they have information about this locomotive too.

Have a happy New Year 2005,

Thank you for your time,
Leonard.

Hello all,
I did a post on this railfan forum too, check it out.

have a good railfanning day,

Leonard

HTTP://chaski.com

From the info posted on both steamlocomotive.com and steamlocomotive.info this locomotive cannot be a B6 since it is listed as a 0-4-0, not a 0-6-0. Doug who runs steamlocomotive.info notes that he has spoken to a volunteer fireman from the area who confirms that it has 4 wheels.

http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomo ... splay=4024

Roger

Then maybe it's an A3!!

Similar to the Central Islip State Hospital drill engine:



Dave Keller

Exactly what I was thinking, Dave! An A5 or an A3 would be far more likely, simply because the A3 was available well before inexpensive Diesels came on the scene. Not that I'm not hoping for the larger locomotive, but there has been a story about a lost A3 around for decades. Still , the guy who started all this says he read the cab number and the tender reads "Pennsylvania". That data jives with the records he claims to have checked out. I am still waiting for videotape or stills shot by divers or by the man himself. A slopeback tender means nothing except "switcher".

BTW, got your book for Xmas and have enjoyed it immensely. How about another detailing the final year of steam, including those scrapyard shots I inquired about?

Dick

Dick:

An A3 - - - - now THAT would be a teakettle!

Yes, sloping tender means "switcher." The huge C51 class 0-8-0 engines had sloped tenders, too.

Glad Santa was good to you and got you a present you like!

BTW I've "unofficially" started volume II (no permission from Arcadia yet, just getting a "jump" on it for when I do), and it will be a continuation of volume I: covering the same period, but more unpublished and more not-well-known photos. A slight change in a few chapter topics as well. The book is designed to be both a continuation of volume I and/or a stand-alone volume in and of itself.

Arcadia probably wouldn't publish a book on the last year of steam on LI unless I was able to provide them 180-240 photos on the subject.

Way too much for the topic.

Also, a lot of people (yourself excluded) aren't interested in scrapline shots. I've even had people THANK ME for NOT putting wreck photos in my book!

Everybody has different tastes.

Anyhow . . . Enjoy the book and let's hope a piece of history gets raised from the quarry and solves the mystery!!!

Dave Keller

Scrapline shots are fine, simply because damn few shots exist of PRR locos being cut up. I, for one, want the entire history, particularly for my "pet" locos, G5s #24, H-10 #107, and PRR #5406. If you do get to a second edition, please include a roster, as complete as you can find it. Any information about dispositions, scrapping dates, artifacts still in existance, are always welcomed. I happen to like wreck photos too, simply because the sizes and weights are so magnificent. Newsday has quite a collection (gory, too) of the Rockville Center and Richmond Hill wrecks. These are rarely seen today and many of the younger generation are without knowledge of the extent of the story. 1950 was a baaaaddd year for the LIRR. I'm sure anecdotes relating to all these events are still being told by the remaining few men who were there, and they should be collected. I'm told the lead MP54 that hit and sheared into the other train at Rockville Ctr. was rebuilt and remained in service until the close of fleet service. Ed Kohler could tell you more, I'm sure.

If you're interested, my friend Joe DeMay has put together a great site on the history of Kew Gardens.

The following link will take you to his page about the Richmond Hill disaster in 1950.

Click on the various thumbnails for further text as well as a great copy of the ICC report with map showing exact locations, etc.!!

http://www.oldkewgardens.com/ss-lirr-0650.html

Dave Keller