Man Finds Locomotive Buried On His Land

(no, this is not from the Weekly World News, but instead from the Ogdensburg Advance*News).

The town of Oswegatchie may not be a major manufacturing center now, but remnants of its bustling past still turn up.
Frank Scheer of State Highway 37, found one such relic on the shoreline of his property. Half buried in the earth is what appears to be a partially exposed locomotive engine from an abandoned rail line that ran between Ogdensburg and Morristown, dating back to the 1850s.
It's always been visible, but you kind of have to be in the river to see it." Scheer said.
All that can be seen of the old relic is a small steel cylinder which was believed to house the coal that fueled the engine (sic).
The Rev. Walter Smith, former Lisbon Depot Museum chairman, said that from the description of the size of the train, it was likely an older style train, or possibly even a steam tractor.
"If it's that small, it's likely very old. Older trains are much smaller than the trains we are used to seeing. It may have even been fueled by wood for a time," he said. "It's possible that it's an old American Type TRain, like the kind used in the movie "The General".
If it is an old locomotive, it would have frequented the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad that used to stand in the plot owned by Scheer. According to Smith, the railroad later became part of the New York Central Railroad.
... railroad history ...
As for the train itself, both Scheer and Smith agreed that the train was likely pushed aside and used for fill which was common in the time period. Scheer said he has no plans to extract the relic which solidifies a fair portion of his shoreline.

If I ever found a locomotive buried on my property, I'd have it completely dug out of the ground within the hour, and before nightfall, I'd already be on here asking for help with a complete operational restoration.

Russ, was the this at the mapped location along the abandoned line from Ogdensburg to Morristown shown on old topo maps that ran basically right along the St. Lawrence.
http://mapper1.acme.com/?lat=44.653334& ... =2&dot=Yes
"Ogdensburg & Morristown Railroad __Utica & Black River created the Ogdensburg & Morristown Railroad in 1871 to connect those two points.
Ogdensburg & Morristown opened in 1878 from Morristown to Ogdensburg.
Ogdensburg & Morristown merged into Utica & Black River in 1886." Was that also part of the Hojack?

Seems somewhat suspect, though that "...All that can be seen of the old relic is a small steel cylinder which was believed to house the coal that fueled the engine" Sounds more like an old tractor?? Anyone gone out to take photos of what is visible?
http://www.ogdensburg.info/webphotos/enginerwrrm02.jpg
http://www.ogdensburg.info/webphotos/antwerpt.jpg

CarterB wrote:Russ, was this at the mapped location along the abandoned line from Ogdensburg to Morristown shown on old topo maps that ran basically right along the St. Lawrence.

Yes, that's the line. I don't know if the entire RW&O was called the Hojack, or just the part west of Pulaski.

Does "...All that can be seen of the old relic is a small steel cylinder..." mean that that's all that is visible above the ground, or that's all there is to what's on his property?

My understanding is that the property owner believes that there is much more below the ground, but since it's stabilizing his shoreline (which was in places quite close to the railbed) he's loathe to frick with it.

Just have to replace it with some concrete or stone. Locomotives of that vintage are quite rare, although I'm sure it's unrestorable it would be interesting to see what's left.