2 Surviving Sharknoses to be Donated to Museum

The owner of a Michigan short line railroad plans to donate the only two surviving Baldwin RF-16 Sharknose diesel locomotives to a railroad museum.

John Larkin, owner of the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad, told Trains magazine he would donate the vintage locomotives to an unspecified museum after his death.

Larkin, 73, said during the interview he has not decided which museum would get the units, but he serves on the board of directors of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and has assisted it with several restoration projects.

The two Sharknose locomotives are A units, Nos. Nos. 1205 and 1216, and have not operated in several years.

Both were bought in 1974 by the Delaware & Hudson and used in freight and passenger excursion service until late 1978.

The locomotives were later purchased by Illinois-based Castolite Corporation, which leased them to the Michigan Northern.

After the latter railroad ended operations Nos. 1205 and 1216 were moved to E&LS.

EL&S used No. 1216 for a short time in summer 1979.

It pulled a few trips in fall 1982 in Michigan between Wells and Channing but was sidelined when its crankshaft broke.

No. 1205 never operated on the EL&S due to mechanical issues.

Both sharknoses have been stored indoors and away from view of railfans.

Larkin told Trains that he also acquired Baldwin prime movers and other parts in the event the locomotives  were ever restored.

But that never happened because it would cost too much. “But they are protected and out of the weather. They are inside so they are not further deteriorating,” he said.

Baldwin built 109 A units and 51 B-units between 1950 and 1953 for Baltimore & Ohio, New York Central, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1967 the Monongahela Railway purchased seven As and two Bs from NYC, and operated them into the 1970s.

Lesser Seen Locomotives

Here are some roster photographs of three less-seen locomotives.

Baltimore & Ohio No. 9185, an Alco RS1, is shown in Akron in early 1973. It is one of the two RS1’s the B&O got from Chesapeake & Ohio.

Note that sometimes there is a shadow when you’re photographing.

Akron, Canton & Youngstown No. 505 is a rare Fairbanks Morse H20-44. It is shown  leaving the Norfolk & Western (ex-AC&Y) turntable in Akron in 1968 or 1969.

Finally N&W 2152, an FM H12-44, is in Gambrinus, Ohio, in May 1974.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Vintage Diesel Going to Steamtown

Steamtown National Historic Site is taking delivering of a vintage diesel locomotive that may be restored there.

Former New York, Ontario & Western No. 105, a GE 44-ton center cab, was moved to Steamtown from Winslow, New Jersey.

The locomotive was moved by the New York, Ontario and Western Railway Historical Society, which expects No. 105 to be displayed if not restored.

Where ex-EL 2461 is Today

The article you posted of the image made by Roger Durfee showing Erie Lackawanna No. 2461 at Binghamton, New York, in 1975, was interesting.  I thought you might like to see the engine now for comparison. Here is the same the Alco C425 locomotive, now Delaware-Lackawanna No. 2461, 40 years later on Dec. 26, 2014, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 56 miles from where Roger’s picture was taken.

Photograph by Jack Norris

Vintage GEs Still Ply The Rails in Michigan’s UP

There still quite a few people who crave seeing early diesel locomotives in action, whether they be Alcos, GEs or EMDs.

If you are willing to do some traveling for that, then set a course for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Lake Superior & Ishpeming maintains a small fleet of older General Electric diesels that it uses to haul iron ore.

Most LS&I trains are assigned four two-unit sets of leased CEFX AC4400CEs, but four older ex-Burlington Northern GEs can also be seen out on the line. This includes U30C set of Nos. 3000 and 3009, plus a C30-7 set, Nos. 3074 and 3073.

Trains magazine reports that these are the last U30Cs and among the last C30-7s known to be in freight revenue service.

Change tends to come slowly at the LS&I. It continued to operate 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotives through 1962 and several of these have survived.

LS&I initially had an all Alco diesel fleet before adding two GE U25Cs in 1964 and five U23Cs between 1968 and 1970.

It then went shopping for used locomotive power in the 1970s and brought home additional Alcos, including four former Baltimore & Ohio/Chesapeake & Ohio RSD12s.

In 1975, the LS&I picked up six former Santa Fe “Alligator” RSD15s.

The LS&I retired its Alcos in 1989 and began replacing its U-boats in 1989-1990.

Hence, it acquired 16 Burlington Northern U30Cs, which still wear their BN markings and colors.

Four U30Cs were replaced with the C30-7, in part because components of the two models are interchangeable.

Another power swap occurred in 2010 when the LS&I took delivery of eight AC4400CEs units.

The railroad continues to use its older GE locomotives in revenue service and has several of them stored at its Eagle Mills Shop. These include U30Cs Nos. 3003, 3004, 3006, 3011 and 3053.