Morton Salt RS-1 at Himrod

Just out of idle curiosity, does anybody have details on the RS-1 which Morton Salt used at the Himrod mine? What was its heritage, and where did they send it after the mine shut down?

A tentative agreement was in place in spring 1977 for its sale which likely would have seen it sent to the Virginia & Maryland. But just before the deal was formally executed, Morton backed out, citing their possible need for the unit at another of their mines, not located in NY. I have no details on where that other location was, nor whether the unit actually did go there.

Any further info, or pics?

#101
RS-1
Alco
c/n 75392
ex-ATSF #2397
Blt 6/1947
Std gauge
arrived 10/1972
departed 1976 (It was sold to Transco)
Notes: Steam generator intact

Thanks Charles! It would have been neat to see it in action but I never got down there.

I will suggest the departure date is incorrect. Attached is a copy of a letter regarding its potential sale to an affiliate of V&M. I have two other letters in this exchange, and it seems plain that as of April 12th 1977 the unit was still at Himrod.

Either Transco came along with a better offer at the last minute, prompting this deal to be cancelled with a "cover story" of possibly needing the unit elsewhere, or else it was subsequently re-offered to the DMV folks by which time they no longer wanted it. The full explanation given was that government acquisition of one of Morton's out-of-state mines, for underground oil storage, was forcing expansion of mining at another location, possibly requiring an additional locomotive there. Neither of those locations was identified.

Note Dick Horstman's mailing address, PO Box 353. He was, at that time, the owner of the LV 353 business car.

That could be true. The mine closed May 1976, fairly abruptly. The date given was probably based on that.

I only found this. From Morton, to:

Transco Prod #101 Lordstown OH
then
Transco Prod #101 Oelwein IA

Nothing beyond that or a scrap date.

"Either Transco came along with a better offer at the last minute, prompting this deal to be cancelled with a "cover story" of possibly needing the unit elsewhere, or else it was subsequently re-offered to the DMV folks by which time they no longer wanted it. The full explanation given was that government acquisition of one of Morton's out-of-state mines, for underground oil storage, was forcing expansion of mining at another location, possibly requiring an additional locomotive there. Neither of those locations was identified."

I worked on the underground oil storage project back then. I actually visited every Morton, and in fact, every underground salt mine in the U.S. to do evaluations for this Govt. project. The mine purchased from Morton was the Weeks Island salt mine, in Louisiana. At that time, it had rail service. Now it does not. The Govt paid to build them a new mine on the same property.
The Himrod mine was a mistake on Morton's part. They never should have built it, as they interpreted the geologic info. wrong, and the salt was irregular and contaminated with other rock. They wanted out of the operation really bad, back in about 74 or 75 when I was dealing with them. The problem with that mine, was that there were no large crude oil pipelines nearby, which would be needed for filling or drawing out of the storage area.
Jeff