Charlie Wilson and I were in ARMCO Steel’s plant in Middletown, Ohio, on Dec. 28, 1972. We were given a tour where I was able to photograph the E133, a Lima switcher. ARMCO is an acronym for American Rolling Mill Company. The Middletown facility had closed by 1985.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Back in late December 1972, a derelict steam locomotive was sitting at the Armco Steel plant in Middletown, Ohio, where it had once worked as a stationary boiler. All signs pointed toward the steamer heading for a scrap yard.
That rough looking steamer was Norfolk & Western Y3a No. 2050, a 2-8-8-2 Alco built in 1923.
It was built to a USRA standard design for heavy drag freight service in the Virginia and West Virginia mountains.
It worked for the N&W between 1923 and 1959 before winding up at Armco, which owned it until 1976 when it was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum.
IRM cosmetically restored the 2050, which the IRM website notes is just one of two 2-8-8-2 mallets still in existence.
Although no longer operational, the 2050 still can be enjoyed at the museum.
The 2050 escaped the scrapper’s torch which goes to show that you never know how a locomotive you are capturing on film or megapixels today might turn out down the road.
To view a photograph of the 2050 as it appears today at IRM, visit https://www.irm.org/cgi-bin/rsearch.cgi?steam=Norfolk+&+Western=2050
To see an image of the front of the locomotive visit https://www.steamlocomotive.com/places/irm/
Photograph by Robert Farkas
An Indiana tourist railroad is raising money to restore a Lima diesel switcher.
The Whitewater Valley Railroad plans a mechanical and cosmetic restoration of former ARMCO Steel No. 709, which is one of just four surviving Lima diesels and the only 1,000-horsepower model left.
Best known for building steam locomotives, Lima built 174 diesels.
No. 709 has been at the Whitewater Valley since 1989 and operated for one year before being sidelined by leaking radiators.
Thieves later removed the copper wiring to its trucks.
Whitewater Valley has three Lima diesels, including the only known operational one, former Cincinnati Union Terminal No. 25.
One estimate of the cost of restoring No. 709 is that it will take between $4,000 and $5,000 for body work, lettering, and painting.
Built in March 1950, No. 709 worked at ARMCO plants in Hamilton and Middletown, Ohio, until the mid-1980s.
Whitewater Valley volunteer and former ARMCO employee Jerry Feicht persuaded the company to donate No. 709 to the Whitewater Valley.
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