5 Trains That Barely Escaped Being Scrapped | History in the Dark
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The mass-scrapping of steam locomotives is always a sore subject for any historical railfan. Many models were rendered completely extinct by these actions, though the companies were just attempting to make sound business decisions at the time. However, many locomotives did survive, and a few, just barely. Here's five locomotives that were just one decision away from being scrapped.
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Southern Pacific 4449
7:54 - Stepney
12:16 - Norfolk and Western 611
15:16 - New York Central Mohawks
21:21 - GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall
"Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being "GS-6" 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of "General Service" or "Golden State," a nickname for California (where the locomotive was operated in regular service)."
"Stepney is named after the area of London of the same name (many of the Terrier locomotives were named after similar areas) and served first as a suburban shunter and station pilot in London. All terrier tank engines like Stepney at the time, were built with wooden brakes. However, these were soon replaced with metal brakes due to their obvious tendency that wooden brakes could ignite into flames if they were overused. The engine was then used for push-pull trains and branch-line duties."
"Norfolk and Western 611, also known as the "Spirit of Roanoke" and the "Queen of Steam", is a Norfolk and Western (N&W) class J 4-8-4 "Northern" streamlined steam locomotive built in May 1950 by the N&W's East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia. It was one of the last steam passenger locomotives built in the United States and represents the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology."
"The New York Central Railroad (NYC) called the 4-8-2 type of steam locomotive the Mohawk type. It was known as the Mountain type on other roads, but the mighty New York Central didn't see the name as fitting on its famous Water Level Route. Instead, it picked the name of one of those rivers its rails followed, the Mohawk River, to name its newest type of locomotive. Despite the more common name, the 4-8-2 was actually suited in many ways more to flatland running than slow mountain slogging, with its 4-wheel leading truck for stability at speed."
"Built in April 1937 at Swindon Works for the Great Western Railway (GWR), 5972 was first allocated to Carmarthen, South Wales where it remained until 1951. After being fitted with a three row superheater at Swindon Works, it was allocated to Plymouth Laira. Its last shed allocation was to Cardiff East Dock, before it was withdrawn in December 1963, and sold to Woodham Brothers, Barry for scrap in May 1964."
🚂 Further reading 🚂
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Idk if you are aware N&W 611 was used on a freight train back in 2018 I think
Ok. There was one particular loco In the UK it was a one off design. Designed by Robert Riddles. This particular loco would become a rarity. The B.R p8 4-6-2 pacific type.
The duke of glouster. It's fate would see this magnificent peice of British manufacturing saved all accept the valve gear. Saved by the great Central railway in the mid 80s and with a bit of research the Preservation team managed to get the duke running better than when it was on B.Rs roster. Due to the blue prints for the ash pan
please do a video on the history of Aeolus, CB&Q's streamlined Hudson that survived.
one that barely escaped was a 0-6-0 switcher used by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, No. 6, which was saved minutes before it was to be scrapped (the scrapper was getting his tools ready when it was bought)
There is a replica of olton hall
In Watford
Those cutaways with Alfred Perlman had me rolling on the floor laughing
Should do a video "5 conversations with..."
*I WANT THAT STEAM LOCOMOTIVE DESTROYED*
Same
“I’ve brought my CHAINSAW!”
Alfred E Pearlman’s favorite weapon is a chainsaw
This is gonna be a good one. Still can't believe 4449 and 611, two of the best streamliners saved from scarp, were almost about to be scrapped.
So happy they were saved, though! Whatever the reasons.
Really is a good thing neither of them were scarped, the world is better for it
U mean scrapped
@@aplane9625 yee
4449 and 611:OI DON'T TRY TO SCRAP US STUPIDYS WE HOPE U DIE WE ARE STREAMLINED STUPIDYS DON'T TRY TO EVER SCRAP US AGAIN👿
Darkness, I think NYC 999 should have been on the list as it managed to escape Perlman's purge of steam locomotives thanks to it supposedly being the first steam locomotive to go 100MPH. This rare exception by the railroad is why it still exists today.
Chicago museum of science and technology: "NO CHAINSAWS ALLOWED IN THE MUSEUM, SIR."
“Stepney you lucky old engine, you’ve been saved! The Bluebell Railway has bought you.”
Honourable mention to the Daylight, Hudson and Good Old Hogwarts himself.
Did you know: the owner of the Thomas show tried to sue British railways for having a locomotive named Stepney, but later finding out that the locomotive was crated over a century before the show has its first episode
I got to be a 'guest fireman' for the 611 for a completely reasonable fee. I can't tell you how cool an experience it was. The chick who was showing me how to run a steam loco pointed out the sight glass for the water level and remarked, "If the level drops to the bottom, we all die!" I kept a good eye on that sight glass. I did pooch the draft valve briefly. There are guys with diesel pickups who think they know what 'rolling coal' is. They have no idea. I managed to make a monstrous cloud of black smoke. Anyway, if you get the chance, go do the thing and support a historical locomotive. I didn't think I'd ever see 611, but I got to be in the cab and work all the valves!
I absolutely loved chasing her around some of the historic rail towns out here in northern VA the first year she was returned to the mainlines for excursions, it was in June and my birthday is 6/11 lol. And yes I’ll never forget how weird it was to have coal ash / embers falling down on my hair and my car as she blew past us! I understand why many are converted to oil, but damn if it isn’t cool that she still burns coal!
Well done 👏
Flying Scotsman barely escaped being scrapped as well twice. Once for the dieselization of the UK and on tour in the USA after Alan Pegler went bankrupt.
There's also a 9F that was built to be not scrapped. That being Evening Star.
And actually, there's a tender of one of the New York Central Hudsons still around (hopefully). It has been turned I think into a steam generator or office.
also one that barely escaped was a 0-6-0 switcher used by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, No. 6, which was saved minutes before it was to be scrapped (the scrapper was getting his tools ready when it was bought)
You could always include here that Scotsman when running with her second tender is pulling behind her a dead A4 all the time, as it was originally from either A4 class "Kingfisher" or "Lord Farringdon" which was to be preserved but failed and the locomotive front got scrapped and all that was left was the tender.
4472
That NYC Hudson tender was converted into an auxiliary water tender
There’s also the one of a kind BR standard class 8 no 71000 duke of Gloucester.
The hogwarts Castle in Japan is not a replica, but Olton Hall sister 4920 Dumbleton Hall. 4920 is the oldest surviving member of her class
Correct, 4920 Dumbleton Hall was purchased by West Coast Railways from my local heritage railway, South Devon Railway in Buckfastleigh, it was understood at the time that 4920 was to be restored for mainline excursions and much to the upset of many it was then discovered that West Coast Railways sold her to Warner Bros and sent her to Japan after a quick lick of paint into the Hogwarts Express, removal of her original "Dumbleton Hall" plates and had the "Hogwarts Express" name plates put on before being sent to Japan.
It's a shame as she was a good candidate to be restored back into working condition as she was last used in the late 1990's.
Something tells me they chose him because of the name alone.
well great now besides the old jr locomotives that were purchased form Britain we now have an actual loco form the 20s or 30s from the gwr
I wonder now about how the workers will treat her and if she would ever be steamed
That's ridicilous! #bring4920backtoUK
DUDE THAT'S AMAZING
Fun fact - Olton Hall has now worn the fictitious Hogwards Maroon livery longer than any of her real operations liveries in BR times.
I first saw the 4449 in 1976, at the age of four, in El Paso, Texas, pulling the Freedom Train. I remember being in the car with my mom, and the crossing gates coming down on the Santa Fe tracks, and seeing it go by 🙂 No forethought or planning, just being in the right place at the right time!
More examples:
D5705 (bought by an experimental company became a carriage heater before going into preservation)
48305 (sent to Barry scrapyard, had “plz don’t let me die” on her boiler door and was saved along with 212 others)
Two pointers about the part with Stepney:
1. Stepney and the Terriers' survival into BR days was because of the Hayling Island branchline. This branchline has a wooden trestle, the Langstone rail bridge, that was too weak for other tank engine classes or even the new DMUs, which meant only the lightest engines could operate the route and only the Terriers fit the bill. This line was closed in 1963, hence why A1X operations under BR ended that same year.
2. The information on Fenchurch and Stepney's ages mentioned is now outdated, as 2022 is the Terriers' 150th birthday and that means for No. 70 'Poplar' and No. 72 'Fenchurch', both are now about 150 years old. As of August 2022, Stepney is 146-turning-147.
Fun fact: N&W 611, as well as the other J classes, were so good that they were the only thing that could beat the New York Central’s Niagara. That’s right, the only thing that could beat the famously good NYC Niagara, was the J class 611.
I used to travel to London King's Cross every day for work and have seen Olton Hall a couple of times in her Hogwarts guise during filming at the station an absolute beauty.
I do hate to be that guy.
But 611 wasn't saved due to her Condition. She was saved due to the fact she was in the front of the Queue in Bluefield West Virginia where the last surviving Js were being stored before they were going to be hauled off for scrap. They simply backed up and coupled to the first engine in the line, which was 611.
While yes she was in better shape than most, It wasn't her condition that saved her. Just a coincidence. Now later, it was Claytor that convinced them to donate 611, But that was after the whole end of steam excursion thing that Norfolk and Western had done with 611 was complete.
Claytors whole story is over done to make it seem like HE personally saved 611.
I find it personally hilarious that the NYC wanted to look “modern” and proceeded to green light the Penn Central Merger
It was only Alfred E Perlman who wanted to look modern and he wasn't really given a choice
Most of Australian preserved steam locomotives were actually donated after withdrawal. At that time, the state governments owned their railway networks not including industrial lines
An honorable mention must go to Pere Marquette 1225. She survived due to 2 reasons:
1. Her equipment trust contract was still valid, so 1225 was not eligible to be scrapped at the time.
2.When C&O president Robert Eaton (the complete antithesis of Alfred Perlman) was looking for a steam engine to give to Michigan State University, there were 6 locomotives, all Pere Marquette Berkshires, that were in the old PM yard in New Buffalo, Michigan. He ordered the yard forces there to pull the first locomotive out of that line. That locomotive was 1225.
And the rest is history. In a lot of ways, 1225 (plus sister unit 1223) has a lot in common with SP 4449: all were built by Lima, and all three were saved by sheer laziness.
Eaton couldn't stand the fact that locomotives that in some cases weren't even a decade old were going to scrap.
@@michigandon indeed.
I like to believe someone on the Bluebell Railway went rogue and left Stepney on the siding in an effort to save her.. hoping someone who cared would find her before Brittish Railways
The first standard gauge steam locomotive to be (privately) preserved in the UK wasn't Flying Scotsman or Stepney. It was Great Northern Railway (UK) 1247, purchased by Captain W G Smith in 1959, one year before the Bluebell Railway opened
Replicas of existing locomotives include but are not limited to, Stephenson's Rocket, Locomotion, & Puffing Billy
The real rocket is in the National science museum or was it the national history museum?
But she will never run again so they made a replica for that
@@harryjohnson9215 2 actually, one sectioned off at the NRM York, and the 1979 operating replica
I've had the privilege to see 611 in person, years ago (pre-pandemic) and while I never heard the whistle for myself, I had the video transferred from my old phone to my current one
4449 has a really big story that most of her history had to be simplified
N&W Y3 2050 and Y6a 2156 are also good candidates. Both were used as stationary boilers and set to be scrapped but ultimately saved. I've only seen 4449 in person once and that was in the winter of '75-'76. The Freedom Train was supposed to stop in Milwaukee Wi. while travelling on C&NW but something happenened and the stop was cancelled. I was 15 and thought about taking the bus to the Butler yards but had a lot of homework due the next day. We lived along the Milwaukee Road main in Wauwatosa and the only time I woke up at night was if something didn't sound right on one of the trains. At 2:00 a.m. something sounded all kinds of wrong but in a right way and I ran to the window and threw it open to see 4449 blasting upgrade in all her red white and blue glory . I waved to the engineer and got a nice toot salute back. A derailment on the Northwestern had caused the Freedom Train to go on to Minneapolis on the Milwaukee Road. Thanks for another good video.
Same thing with me I was used as a stationary boiler until I was found and restored. 😔
Still makes me wonder why n&w kept steam for so long but when they finally gave up they almost killed off their entire fleet of steam....all of that for nothing...I'm just glad we still have some n&w equipment that isn't diesel around 😌
N&W's coal supply was very high at the time so they kept using steam until finally diesels won.
The key thing is that their cargo had lots of coal itself
Hello 1218
You forgot that 4449,was also a movie star! Remember,"Tough Guys",which also showed the Toluca Substation of the Pacific Electric,as an added bonus!! Memory jog,time!! Thanks for an very interesting video!! 👍
I went and saw in the theater when it first came out, specifically just to see 4449! At the time, I thought the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a fictional band, made up specifically for the movie itself lol.
Lol, are we gonna ignore the fact that N&W 605-610 were originally built without streamlining and had it added later. For those curious about #638, you can still go see her sister, #610, another big 2-10-4 I1a, who also was an American Freedom train. Personally, I think 610 has a fascinating story, but it's a shame how she's been stiffed since the late 70s.
I still laugh how a hall is mascarading as a castle.
The reason why 610 was retired from excursions was because of the engine having running gear problems.
@@ronanvave560 and she beat the heck out of the track. They couldn't balance her drivers perfectly, so she had a good chunk of hammer blow. Also, she's a Texas. She had a long, rigid wheelbase that limits her a mite on where she goes, and a lot of sources credit that she was too slow to go mainline speeds and was happy at only going 55mph
@@brycehill6678 Also, someone plans to restore her back to operation. He also plans to run it in Pennsylvania iirc. I think he should give the engine roller bearings with the hammer blow issue in mind as well.
I’d also like to add N&W 605-610 looked better w/o the shroud than with. The Class J’s with the shroud kinda look, not flattering. My mind can hit the gutter some times. The non shrouded look like a brutish N&W freighter engine.
Congrats on the sponsor. Glad to see that content like this is getting support to help keep it going.
I wish a couple of the LMS garrets could have been saved
If there's another locomotive that could be saved from scrap, I think it should be the F40C. If Metra's not going to do anything with the remaining two they have left, they should send at least one of them to a railroad museum, maybe the IRM.
1:13 Southern Pacific Daylight #4449 was a sole survivor of a GS-4 class 4-8-4. She's saved from the scrapper's torch and put on display at Oaks Park in 1958.
I get that escaping scrap by being the first on the deadline isn't the greatest way to survive dieselization but you gotta love one minute 4449 is almost rotten away and the next she's pulling the most popular train in American history also 19:18 AHAHA suck on the Alfred
The Mohawk part is the most rewatch-able part due to the funny mock scenes with Pearlman
Weirdly enough Espees lack of coordination is also why a Cab Forward got preserved instead of a second daylight...
A dartboard with Alfred Perlman's face would be awesome.
Pearlman's decision to scrap all NYC steam locomotives, in particular the J-class Hudsons (which were one of the most famous American steam engines even back in the day), is second only to the PRR's demolition of Penn Station in crimes against our railroading heritage. I'd love to see a T1 Project-esque effort to recreate a J-3 take off.
The steam loco in my avatar pic, Black River and Western #60, has a survival story similar to SP #4449. #60 was built by ALCO for the Great Western Railway in Colorado. There, she was almost treated with kid gloves; she was the only ALCO locomotive in their fleet, so she shared no parts in common with her running mates. When the BR&W purchased her in the mid-60s, they acquired an engine in near-pristine condition along with a box car full of never-used spare parts, highly unusual for a workaday consolidation-type. So she survived because the railroad foremen didn't want to deal with maintenance of an unfamiliar locomotive.
BTW blame the Midwest for the pronunciation of "Lima" (which was based in the Ohio town of the same name). I have family in Indiana, and how they pronounce certain towns is baffling. For example, "Peru" is pronounced "PEE-roo," "Chile" is pronounced "CHAI-LIE," and "Albany" is said with the emphasis on the second, not first, syllable.
Black River Western 60 is the sister of Strasburg 90, they both still regularly operate to this day not very far from each other. Only one of the locomotives from the Great Western of Colorado was scrapped, number 52. I remember hearing a story about 90, the great western apparently had a roundhouse fire, and number 90 being the only locomotive steamed up was used to pull the other equipment out. It’s possible that number 60 was one of those.
You know, Alfred E. Perlman is like a legitimate Evil Dictator of the New York Central who does not want any NYC Steamers to survive. It's not like the time, BR tried to actively abolish steam in the 60's.
What is BR supposed to mean, i know NYC mean New York Central Railroad
@@curious5887 BR = British Rail
@@genesisrailfan1507 oh
The 1218 was another engine that was saved because it was sold to be the boiler for an industrial plant... and was put back into service for excursions when found (and got a full rebuild..)--- The Norfolk Southern did a great job on her and with her... Now at the VA transportation museum.... When they shut down the steam program, the 1218 was in their Alabama shops in pieces. The new flues were used to build a gate for the property.
Can somebody please animate the Alfred E Pearlman senes? That would probably be the greatest thing ever!
If I may proffer another lucky escape: LMS 'Black 5' No. 45305, having lasted in service with British Railways right up to August 1968, was sold for scrap to Albert Draper and Sons of Hull, England. Albert Draper himself decided to preserve one of the locomotives in the yard, and picked 45305 for no better reason than it was the cleanest... The engine was since named 'Alderman A. E. Draper' in his honour.
I legit have to keep that meme alive
Am i allowed to collect the parts of Alfred and make a entire video about that?
Yay he talked about the new york central's Mohawks. My favorites are 2933 and 3001
Nevada Northern locomotive #40, the Ghost Engine, when WW2 broke out several of the oldest engines including #40 were consigned to be sold for scrap, but the engine house crews conspired to save #40, so under cover of night she disappeared, they moved her to an abandoned mine on an unused spur, keeping her from the scrap pile and hidden away until the war was over.
You should do a video on that NYC 0-6-0 that got smashed by the freight car while it was on static display which also damaged a station
UK: Great Eastern Railway Y14 564 on the North Norfolk Railway only survived because when the preservationists went to choose their loco from the British Railways scrap line, she had a GER-style blastpipe. It was a replica blastpipe, fitted for a railtour very late in her life. She later also turned out to have a really bad firebox crack that meant, in hindsight, all the other locos in the line were probably all better prospects. At the same time they saved B12/3 8572, which the Norwich shedmaster had been hiding from the attention of the scrapman for some time. The Y14 was restored first, at greater cost than expected due to the fault. The line later found that the B12, in contrast, had been almost operational when delivered - but by then needed a huge restoration due to long-term storage!
4449 has a surviving cousin, class GS-6 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. They're the only two of the 66 streamlined or semi-streamlined GS class locomotives built (60 for the Southern Pacific, 6 of the GS-6 were re-directed by the War Production Board to the Western Pacific) to survive. (Class GS-1 was not streamlined, I didn't count those 10 here. Class GS-6 had the same general streamlined form as GS-2 through GS-5, but without the side skirts.)
Fun fact alfred himself presented 2933 to the museum, That snickers did wonders! But i bet im his head it would be MUST NOT BRRRZZZZT
I'm proud that two colorful streamlined 4-8-4's Daylight 4449 (Orange and Red) and J class 611 (Splended Tuscan Red) survived the scrap! For New York Central.. LOL Oh Yeah, Al Pearlman is an Evil NYC Chairman not only scrapped all of steam engines but two mohawkes escaped, but for scrapping a Hudson and the Niagara. I wish one Hudson (my twin brother liked NYC Hudson), and one Niagara would've escaped scrap too. I love the Niagara because, they're very similar to Union Pacific 844. If the Niagara crews or anything that could've save her would've outsmart Al Pearlman while being preserved, that would be the 844 and the Niagara just like Daylight 4449 and J class 611 still survived today.
Al Perlman was arguably the best railroad man of last century. He was wrong on preservation.
Dead wrong
And it was that one position which arguably destroyed his entire legacy, and left his reputation in ruins. The power that one major mistake can do to a person
Does Spokane Portland and Seattle 700 count ?
Cause she only had two other sister’s built after her and that was it, until 701 and 702 were scrapped and obviously 700 herself was eventually put at oaks park
Until she 4449 and 197 had been taken out
700 was only preserved because of 197. If 197 wasn't donated to the City of Portland, 700 wouldn't be here today
Dang both 4449 and 700 survived with Dumb luck, I don’t even know what to say after that
I love the perelman sound sound effects and stuff, his only business blunder was merging with PRR but that's a whole nother video 😂😂
My heart almost shadderd hearing about the daylight. So glad she survived but Jesus that is heartbreaking.
I just recently went to Strausburg (not to see a train) but just to go out and have breakfast with my grandparents and I unknowingly saw 611 in Strausburg and saw she was under steam, possibly going under some form of maintenance. Plus In a antique shop I was able to find (what I assume) is a postal card or something of the very first of her class #600. I was shocked to even see the train, even if it was for a brief moment and we didn’t stop to see it. But just the brief moment I saw I realized what a beauty she is and I hope to get to see why she is “The Queen of Steam.”
Here is an engine with an interesting backstory form my country: 327 141. Built in 1912 she is a 327 class 4-6-0 steam locomotive. She was originally numbered 016 and wore that number even after ww1 when she was given to the Yugoslavian railways as war reparation (her class was changed to "02" class, but the number stayed the same) she was in Yugoslavia until 1941 when she was returned after Germany along with Hungary invaded Yugoslavia (I know, Hungary was in the wrong side both world wars) and stayed in Hungarian service after ww2, in 1948 she was renumbered to 327 141 and ran until 1969, when she was withdrawn from active service (she was the last of the class to be withdrawn). After that she was used as a mobile heater in a city called "Hatvan", during this time she was partially vandalized (her cylinders and con-rods were removed) and in december of 1988 her boiler was heavily damaged after an operator error. In 1989, she was chosen to be preserved and towed to a steam works in Budapest, where she sat abandoned in the workshop's "storage facility" (an abandoned warehouse filled with abandoned engines and rolling stock), between 2016 and 2019 she was repainted and restored (unfortunately with wooden cylinders and running gear). She is currently on static display at the Eiffel Workshop (the former Northern Locomotive Workshop) with her original "016" number.
Note. Fenchurch turned 150 at the end of July and stepney is shunted into the museum and is not going to undergo an overhaul
I think there's an ulterior motive for why the head of the New York Central was anti-preservation. You don't make money preserving old equipment like you do with scrap sales, especially if you charge above scrap value for any parts that may still be functional on their own.
Hey History in the Dark, don't forget the toy replicas of the 5972 Olton Hall. There is a lot of them.
And I personally own 4 of them in Lego.
These videos legitimately make me laugh and I enjoy the heck out of them. I tip my hat, sir.
Jack holst is a very good man. The story between him and 4449 is like a sad boy and a dog movie (just that the kid dies instead). And damn, imagine being a famous celebrity just because you just happen to be in the RIGHT kind of scrapyard that did not just tear things down left and right.
I fully agree with both statements
*I WANT THAT STEAM ENGINE!!!*- Alfred E. Pearlman
Someone needs to make a movie about a group of engineers hiding the last steam locomotive from Alfred Perlman
I might do it if I ever get the money
Graham Claytor did have a little extra pull with saving N&W 611 - his younger brother Robert Claytor was President of the N&W! It was only after both Claytor's passed away that NS ended the Steam Program.
Another one that barely survived was SOU 4501. Claytor's predecessor at the Southern Railway, D.W. Brosnan, was almost as rabid in his determination to destroy steam engines as Perlman was at the NY Central. She survived because she was sold to the K&T Railroad in 1948. Like SP 4449, it was pure, dumb luck. SOU 4501 was one of three Mikado locomotives offered to the K&T, so it was the decision of the K&T Master Mechanic L.C. Bruce as to which one he wanted to buy, and he picked 4501. Doubtless TVRM founders Bob Soule & Paul Merriman would have bought one of the steam locomotives that Mr. Bruce had for sale when the K&T dieselized, but that small, seemingly inconsequential decision ultimately also decided which of the SR's Mikado's would live to see preservation.
So she survived the same way as 3001
You also mention for part 2 of this video, The Flying Scotsman, Bessemer & Lake Erie H1D 2-10-4 Texas #643, Norfolk & Western #1218, LNER V2 #4771 “Green Arrow”, and Chesapeake & Ohio 614 (it has been stored at the C&O Diesel shops in Russel Kentucky from 1955-1975 and was miraculously saved by the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and is still in its failed Greenbrier Presidential Express livery.
Wrong. There are TWO SURVIVING Nashville, Chattanooga and Saint Louis steam locomotives. They are 0-4-0T's were part of the shop switches. They are privately owned and stored in a shed somewhere
@@joenewstead4848 What about 4-8-4 #576?
@@Whoasked-bc5uiEveryone knows about 576. Thats why i didn't mention her. Not a lot knew about the other two.
Probably the one that stood out to me the most was Nickel Plate 765's story. After she was retired, the city of Fort Wayne, IN was looking to preserve a loco at Lawton Park, with their candidate being the 767. The thing was that 767 was in terrible condition and was not well enough for preservation unlike 765. So Fort Wayne decided to do arguably THE WEIRDEST IDEA POSSIBLE and renumber 765 as 767, before she was renumbered back to 765 during her restoration. It makes 4449 look like a walk in the park
Every time Alfred got a speaking roll:
16:54
18:57
20:34
NSWGR 5711 was another locomotive that was fortunate enough not to be cut up with its classmates, it is preserved at the museum at Thirlmere in Sydney.
Most probably know, but for those who don’t.. this video didn’t mention in the 2000s when BNSF had 4449 painted in black and put on BNSF logos for a business train
I feel like it’s overlooked by her being on the AFT (American Freedom Train) as it was more popular
The Stepney brings up an idea for another list: Top 5 Oldest Operational Locomotives. I know the oldest is a tie between a pair of sister locomotives in India: Express and Fairy Queen, built in 1855. And no, the oft-cited John Bull shouldn't be on the list because it's no longer operational. It last ran 41 years ago. It might deserve an honorable mention, though.
Lion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1838) survives, but is no longer operational. It was still running in 1980 for the 150th anniversary of the opening of the line, but I don’t know if that was the last time it ran.
This is the old locomotive that was used in the film ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’.
4449 is my favorite steam locomotive in the whole globe
Because Portland lucked out with getting a large steam locomotive, the Great Northern didn’t want to be out done. GN decided to donated a 4-8-4 too. Initially the GN was going to donate a GN 4-8-4, but all the GN passenger steam had already been scrapped. So Portland was donated an even rarer SP&S locomotive. Had the 4449 not been first out in the deadline, Portland could now be in possession of an SP and GN 0-6-0 or a cab forward and a GN Challenger.
Pere Marquette 1225 also narrowly escaped the Scraper’s torch
How
Man you deserve a bigger channel than you currently have. Keep up the good work buddy.
I appreciate that!
I’m happy that some steam engines from the New York Central got preserved and Alfred Perlman is probably rolling in his grave if he saw this (as a ghost)
I’m never not going be annoyed that they pretended a hall class was a castle class then ran it out of kings cross
Fun fact: the stepney within thomas IS the same stepney that we have, but just with a face and can talk, and visted sodor
I actually saw the Norfolk and western 611 and Strasburg and she looks In good condition!
Me too
Thanks for including my 1st and 8th favorite locomotives, which are SP 4449 & N&W 611!
What are your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th
So cool!
There was a fun fact about 4449 that it was used in the 1986 Movie Tough Guys, As the Gold Coast Flyer which they steal and take it all the way to Mexico and crash it through the Mexican Border, Lucky the People in Hollywood built a prop replica locomotive in the place of 4449 to play the scene where the Gold Coast Flyer crash through the border and I'd readup somewhere that the prop Locomotive that was used in the Film was sold on auction on Nov/2rd/2019 for $130.00 Because it was in rough condition and was probably bought by someone who wanted to restore it or collect it, And I'm only guessing since Hollywood props endup getting collected or thrown away.
I heard that prop was stored in a parking garage somewhere out West.
As well as those in the video and 71000 mentioned by Billy Stanier, some other lucky survivors in the UK:
GWR King Class locos 6023 King Edward II and 6024 King Edward I ('Kings' were originally named in reverse order beginning with 6000 King George V) were scheduled to be cut up at their 'birthplace' of Swindon Works, but the Civil Engineer needed something heavy to test a bridge in South Wales, so they were towed to Wales to test the Bridge, and rather than tow them back to Swindon, they were instead dumped at Woodham's.
GWR saddle tank 1361 - this locomotive was regarded as the depot "pet", so it was a sad day when the order came that all steam locos remaining at the depot should be shunted into a siding ready to be towed away as scrap. 1361 was positioned at the rear of the line, and strategic bolts removed, so that when the line was towed away, 1361's buffer beam and coupling came off! As there wasn't time to repair it, the other locos were taken away for scrap, and 1361 was left for another day, which never came.
I got to see the American Freedom Train back in 1975. I was around four years and and seeing this huge steam locomotive up close was massive to me then. I think it was the 4449. I know there were three steam locomotives used but I clearly remember the red,white, and blue paint scheme on the side panels. I’m glad it was preserved such a great piece of history. I know it’s not the same colors as when I saw it but if you get a chance to see it you should.
Another great engine candidate for this type of theme is the Victorian Railways X Class X36
It apparently has oxy torch marks on it where the first cuts were commenced. The scrapping was stopped just after it had started which is cutting it as fine as it gets.
@@smitajky Nice joke
Somebody ticked Stepney off as sent to the scrapper and his subsequent box ticker made sure nobody went looking.
The five locomotives that barely escaped from being sold for scrap are: Louise the Norfolk and Western Railway J class steam locomotive #611, Southern Pacific Daylight steam locomotive #4449, Olton Hall from the Great Western Railway, the two New York Central Mohawk steam locomotives and Stepney the Bluebell Engine, the same steam engine in the Thomas and Friends franchise and fandom!
Thank goodness, the top five locomotives are not being scrapped!
How did 611 get the name Louise
How about NZR's only surviving Kb Class locomotive, Kb 968 which was only preserved due to her last rail excursion managing to come with the majority of the NZ$1500 (about NZ$24,000 in 2022) which NZR considered to be her scrap value. In order to get the last of the money, Cyril Evans showed steam rail videos to kids around Christchurch and got donations. Still in Operation, awaiting overhaul.
Another kiwi locomotive to be preserved, NZR E class of 1872 "Josephine" is the oldest NZ Public Works Department Locomotive, and after building much of NZ rail lines was sold to a scrap merchant in 1917, but was left in the yard til 1926, comestically restored and displayed next to Ab 608 "Passchendaele" then donated to the Otago Settlers Museum. She is officially one of the oldest NZ locomotive to be preserved and understood to be the first instance of rail preservation in nz. While she never run again, she is placed at the entrance of the museum.
Tbh, if I was the one dude in charge of choosing a locomotive to be gifted to Portland Oregon, I would've also chooses the 4449 just because it could have been moved right away
My father actually ran the 611 before he retired from N&S
The A1s: Basically the ONE LB&SCR locomotive class to *not* be screwed over by grouping. The Terriers were old, but they were bloody reliable and soldiered on through thick and thin - troopers all. Stroudley did good work.
You should do another of these, there's more close shaves. Like Duke of Gloucester.
Also, Olton Hall needs to be stripped of the scarlet paint and returned to proper Collett green ASAP. Olton Hall would just about be better off with an exploded boiler than continuing to associate with that mess.
10:35 what came throught my head was this: some of the board members are walking through the yard then see smoke so they when there as there's tracks going into it and stepney is there just covered in filth, smoking a pipe whist reading the newspaper placed on his coupling hook obscured by the side of the shed
I love your “illustrations” of Alfred E Perlman, I hate him with all my heart and you exaggerate him and his pro-scrapping obsession in the most hilarious ways😂🤣
Some of the existing steam engines from Nevada Northern RR and Virginia & Truckee RR would've been good candidates for this list.
Do a sequel, and include the Pere Marquette 1225.
Agreed, and her escape from scrapping is similar to fellow Lima-built engine 4449
Please talk about northern pacific 4-6-0 328 she's the last 4-6-0 and has a very interesting story
The Warner Brothers studio location, although spelt Watford, is pronounced, locally, Watt-fud, Wat the same as the query 'what?' and ford, in England, is shortened to 'fud'.
I'm from the UK and I pronounce 'Lima' as 'Leema', though that's the model railway company not a full size loco works!
Also the issue with getting Stepney back into running condition would mean overhauling the loco to the point where very little of her original parts (as you mention the frames which I believe are still the Victorian originals) would be left. it's an ago old preservation argument between having her operational and keeping as much originality as possible.
Apparently Talyllyn's No.1 has almost nothing original left after she was sent away for her first overhaul in the 50s, the loco had been severely worn out to the point where she was an almost entirely new machine upon her return.
The funny thing about SP4449 is that the reason behind her preservation is the same as of that of PM1225's. That locomotive was saved from scrap and donated to Michigan State University solely because it was the last to be backed in for storage while awaiting scrapping. Therefore, it was the easiest to move from the line to be donated.
Same with the N&W 611
@@samuelbenge524 That, and it was in the best mechanical condition of the entire class.
YEAH YOU SAID IT CORRECTLY THANK YOU!!!
SP 4449, the first American steam locomotive I ever saw, preserved just because it was *first in the scrap line?* and 611 just because of good condition in an accident?
I can't even... whaaaaat?!
K1 No. 62005 comes to mind. It was bought to provide a spare boiler for K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess - but then, the owner realised he didn't need the spare boiler after all.
Portland's Oaks Park is an amusement park. They put the locomotive as a place that kids could climb on and pretend they were engineers. That people took parts just shows that some peopke will take anything that isn't nailed down, whether they have a use for it or not. "Gee, that's odd-looking, I'll take it."
What about Union Pacific 3977 and 5511 ?
Cause at time when UP was retiring their steam locomotives UP 844 and UP 3710 (3977) were used for snow melting experiments
Now she stays in Cody Park
And 5511 has just been sitting in UP's roundhouse since