It’s late 1968 or early 1969 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The Monongahela Railway has purchased Baldwin Sharks from the New York Central. Some would go on and be lettered for the Monongahela while the rest would ultimately be used for parts. Two units (Monongahela 1205 and Monongahela 1216) would even escape the scrapper. Here No. 1207 sits between two Baldwin switchers, its fate is already sealed. It would not be one of the survivors.
The original slide of this image has a greenish-orange cast to it. This is the first time I have been able to get that cast mostly out of the image. Maybe the off-color look was due to a processing problem. Nonetheless what we have are a pair of “sharks,” Monongahela 1216 and Monongahela 1205 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in May 1974.
John Woodworth and I first saw the Monongahela Railway and its treasures on Oct. 21, 1968. Here is a photo of the MRY engine facility in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Visible are four Monongahela Baldwin switchers, four ex-New York Central RF16A Sharks, and one ex-New York Central RF16B Shark. Thankfully, two of these NYC 1205 and NYC 1216 (after several owners) still exist in protected storage in Michigan.
Additional information about the movement of a rare Baldwin Sharknose locomotive in Michigan has surfaced and it’s not what many railfans were hoping it would be.
The president of the Escanaba & Lake Superior told Trains magazine that the RF16 was moved to free space in a shop building that will be used to clean covered hopper cars.
Former Delaware & Hudson No. 1216 was moved from a car shop in Escanaba to another shop in Wells earlier this week.
E&LS President John Larkin said he would like to restore the 1216 someday but said it would be a tough project to do.
The 1216 last operated in 1982 when it suffered a broken crankshaft. It and fellow Shark No. 1205 have been stored indoors since then.
It’s early 1969 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The Monongahela engine facility has two Baldwin switchers, including recently-purchased ex-New York Central 1210, a Baldwin RF16A. Also visible are small portions of two more Sharks.
It’s March 4, 1969 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Four of the last Baldwin Sharks and two Baldwin switchers – the nose of one is barely seen on the left – are in the Monongahela engine facility with a most likely Pittsburgh & Lake Erie GE unit.
We’re in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the Monnogahela and taking a tour of the engine facility.
This may not look like a Monongahela locomotive because it has New York Central markings.
The former NYC unit, a Baldwin RF16A, is part of an A-B-A sharknose motive power set waiting in Brownsville on Sept. 21, 1968, to get back out on the road.