Hi All,
OK, I know. This is a very aggressive move for someone to make, but you got to have dreams, right? I recently stumbled across the website of Madison Kirkman who runs the McKeen Motor Car Company Historical Society and read that he saved the body of a McKeen Car while still in school. It got me wondering, "What's the status of East Washington Railway GE 45 Tonner #101 right now? Is it still being used? Or is it rusting away on a spur next to the Cogentrix power plant in Hopewell, Virginia? "Now with coal fired power plants being closed across the nation, is #101 rusting away or has it been scrapped?" So many questions and so little answers.
As indicated by this post, my bold move would be if the locomotive were indeed for sale or not in use, that funds could be collected to save the locomotive and maybe move it to somewhere like the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum or the Virginia Museum of Transportation. If the locomotive were not for sale, then at least the company would have me in mind when/if they decide to retire the engine. Personally, I think that it would be better suited at the B&O Railroad museum because the original route of the East Washington Railway was much closer to Baltimore than to Roanoke. If neither the museums had enough space, than maybe the locomotive could go to somewhere smaller, like the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum or maybe even the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum (Probably not).
But before I get ahead of myself, why the preservation of this locomotive matters and is feasible:
1. In this day and age, with the suburbs of Washington D.C. forever (It seems) growing and changing, railroads like the East Washington Railway fade into obscurity faster than most other abandoned rail lines. New roadways are built, house complexes are constructed, and the influx of people keeps growing. It is important to keep physical history alive in order to tell the tales of a bygone age, photographs and personal account are only so much when compared to a real, solid, machine.
2. East Washington Railway #101 is one of only two surviving East Washington locomotives and the only locomotive bought brand new. It ushered in a new age of railroading on the East Washington with the retirement of their steam locomotives soon after the diesel locomotive's arrival. For decades it toiled in the delivery of goods to the good folks of Seat Pleasant, and the delivery of coal to the Benning Power Plant which supplied energy to thousands of homes throughout the D.C. area. Finally retired in 1970 after more than thirty years of working on the railroad, it was sold to Pinto Islands Metal Company in Alabama before ending up as the plant switcher at the Cogentrix Power Plant in Hopewell, Virginia, where it remains to this day.
3. If #101 were to be saved, it would be a good fit at the B&O Railroad Museum especially because of it's size. GE 45 Tonners were built to be used as industrial switchers meaning the smaller and stronger, the better. I'm no expert on locomotive restoration, but I infer that #101's rehabilitation wouldn't be nearly as expensive or time consuming as restoring Chesapeake & Ohio Railway L-1 Hudson #490 to Operational Order. All the locomotive would need would be a paint job (Maybe); it would all depend on the funds of course.
If you are experienced in the preservation of locomotives, please give me as much wisdom as you can! I believe that this is definitely feasible if the support is there. Also, if you know anybody who could help with this process, PLEASE contact me or you can reply to this thread. More info to come as I send emails this way and that.
All The Best,
Nick Jobe
Centreville, VA
OK, I know. This is a very aggressive move for someone to make, but you got to have dreams, right? I recently stumbled across the website of Madison Kirkman who runs the McKeen Motor Car Company Historical Society and read that he saved the body of a McKeen Car while still in school. It got me wondering, "What's the status of East Washington Railway GE 45 Tonner #101 right now? Is it still being used? Or is it rusting away on a spur next to the Cogentrix power plant in Hopewell, Virginia? "Now with coal fired power plants being closed across the nation, is #101 rusting away or has it been scrapped?" So many questions and so little answers.
As indicated by this post, my bold move would be if the locomotive were indeed for sale or not in use, that funds could be collected to save the locomotive and maybe move it to somewhere like the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum or the Virginia Museum of Transportation. If the locomotive were not for sale, then at least the company would have me in mind when/if they decide to retire the engine. Personally, I think that it would be better suited at the B&O Railroad museum because the original route of the East Washington Railway was much closer to Baltimore than to Roanoke. If neither the museums had enough space, than maybe the locomotive could go to somewhere smaller, like the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum or maybe even the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum (Probably not).
But before I get ahead of myself, why the preservation of this locomotive matters and is feasible:
1. In this day and age, with the suburbs of Washington D.C. forever (It seems) growing and changing, railroads like the East Washington Railway fade into obscurity faster than most other abandoned rail lines. New roadways are built, house complexes are constructed, and the influx of people keeps growing. It is important to keep physical history alive in order to tell the tales of a bygone age, photographs and personal account are only so much when compared to a real, solid, machine.
2. East Washington Railway #101 is one of only two surviving East Washington locomotives and the only locomotive bought brand new. It ushered in a new age of railroading on the East Washington with the retirement of their steam locomotives soon after the diesel locomotive's arrival. For decades it toiled in the delivery of goods to the good folks of Seat Pleasant, and the delivery of coal to the Benning Power Plant which supplied energy to thousands of homes throughout the D.C. area. Finally retired in 1970 after more than thirty years of working on the railroad, it was sold to Pinto Islands Metal Company in Alabama before ending up as the plant switcher at the Cogentrix Power Plant in Hopewell, Virginia, where it remains to this day.
3. If #101 were to be saved, it would be a good fit at the B&O Railroad Museum especially because of it's size. GE 45 Tonners were built to be used as industrial switchers meaning the smaller and stronger, the better. I'm no expert on locomotive restoration, but I infer that #101's rehabilitation wouldn't be nearly as expensive or time consuming as restoring Chesapeake & Ohio Railway L-1 Hudson #490 to Operational Order. All the locomotive would need would be a paint job (Maybe); it would all depend on the funds of course.
If you are experienced in the preservation of locomotives, please give me as much wisdom as you can! I believe that this is definitely feasible if the support is there. Also, if you know anybody who could help with this process, PLEASE contact me or you can reply to this thread. More info to come as I send emails this way and that.
All The Best,
Nick Jobe
Centreville, VA
