ESSEX, Conn. — The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat, a heritage railroad operated by the Valley Railroad Co. on a former New Haven rail line, has purchased Frisco 2-8-2 No. 1352 from the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, the group restoring Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100.
The locomotive was built by Alco in 1912 as a 2-8-0 and later converted to a 2-8-2. Upon retirement, it was displayed in a park in Kansas City, Mo., until park officials wanted the engine removed because of its deterioration and vandalism. Donated to the Smoky Hill Railway & Historical Society, subsequent ownership changes have seen it end up in storage, partially disassembled, in Taylorville, Ill. American Steam Railroad Preservation had owned the locomotive since 2008.
Essex Steam Train says in a Facebook post that the locomotive “will be coming to Essex soon.” In that same post, ASR President Rob Gardner says the transaction means No. 1352 “will be restored to operational condition much sooner than we could have hoped to accomplish,” and that the funds from the sale will go toward ASR’s restoration of No. 2100, which the group plans to present in an American Freedom Train paint scheme [see “Reading T-1 No. 2100 will debut …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 1, 2023]. Gardner also thanked Genesee & Wyoming and the Illinois Midland Railroad “for allowing the 1352 to be stored on their property for all of these years.”
More information on the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat is available at its website.
Dr. GU is AI. Pay no attention to the bot behind the curtain…
John it is nice that you gave us more details and corrections, but in the future, should you come across errors in a Wiki page, might I suggest you spend the five minutes to edit the page (anyone can do so). Wiki only works when folks who care and are knowledgeable take the time to add or correct info. I tried to make the changes you suggested so hopefully Wiki’s article on 1352 is more accurate now.
As a former Valley RR employee, I can attest that the engine is finally in good hands and has a great shot of returning to steam. Only downside is that it will be far from home rails (Frisco) but like N&W 611 on the Strasburg, it will still be a wonderful sight to behold.
I usually ignore Dr. Ustun’s pontifications as the pasture pavement that so many of them are. But, seeing such serious -and obvious- errors regarding American history being posted caused me to look at Wikipedia. And, seeing them there and being re-posted here without attribution really got me. Likely because I’m a retired broadcast engineer who has worked in news departments with zero tolerance for inaccuracy. And, even less for plagiarism. My alma mater has an honor code which reads, “… a member of the community shall not lie, cheat, or steal. Nor tolerate those who do.” As much as D.P.M. is revered by the oldtimers here, his thoughts on plagiarism and ethics might make for interesting reading!
This was ASR’S first locomotive. Thier ambassador if you will. While it saddened me That ASR is getting rid of her in favor of the T1…. she is going to a good home
True. The younger and flashier Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100 must have attracted more attention from the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Let’s recall that due to the demands of World War II the Frisco railroad needed more heavy power to keep up with the demands in traffic. The Wartime Production Board at that time would not allow new locomotives to be built, but would allow existing locomotives to be rebuilt, so the Frisco took the task of rebuilding 6 of their existing 2-8-0s into 2-8-2 “Mikados”. In June 1944 No. 1321 was rebuilt into a 2-8-2 and renumbered 1352. The locomotive went through a major overhaul/modernization.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Not exactly correct. The War Production Board allowed many new locomotives to be built. What they did cut down on were new designs for locomotives. Instead, railroads needing new power would typically adapt a design from another road. One shining example is the Pennsylvania Railroad class J-1. These were modeled after the Chesapeake and Ohio 2-10-4, and the Pens was very pleased with their version. They built 125 examples of them during the war. There are many other similar cases on other railroads.
To add to Mr. Carbonetti’s great post:
It was the War Production Board that allocated locomotive construction in the U.S. during WWII. There was no “Wartime Production Board”.
Not only were new freight locomotives allowed to be constructed, but several operating/operable ones from that era are still with us. These include MILW 261, UP 844, and UP 3985.
After reading your posting, I looked up the Wikipedia entry for Frisco 1352. You copied and pasted its inaccuracies verbatim. I suggest that in the future you carefully research your information before posting. When quoting from sources, it is at least a courtesy to attribute your source material. While your frequent and repetitive banal postings (such as your first one in this thread) have angered more than a few in this otherwise enthusiastic and inclusive community, you will find it has little tolerance for the posting of inaccurate or false information. Before engaging in your usual keyboard gastroenteritis in the future, you might want to first check and cross-check your source material. This would be expected of many an American high school student, let alone undergraduate post-secondary. Not everything you read on the Internet is true. To update a quote of Abraham Lincoln, ‘Tis better to not to post and thought a fool, rather than to post and remove any doubt.’
*UPDATED COMMENT*
According to the “https://www.steamlocomotive.com/” website, it is not sure why the Frisco felt the need to convert seven of its 1306-series Consolidations to Mikados, but the demands of World War II traffic undoubtedly had the greatest influence. So 142 went under the knife and wrench first in August 1943, followed by 1313 (November 1943, emerging as 1351), 1321 (June 1944 – 1352), 1322 (September 1944 – 1353), 1316 (May 1945 – 1316), 1342 (August 1945 – 1350), 1318 (October 1945 – 1355), and 1343 (March 1946 – 1356).
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Actually, I kind of like Dr. Ustun’s comments. They are generally upbeat and positive, unlike some of the right wing foolishness we occasionally see in other posts.
This occasional right-wing fool stands foursquare with Mr. Pinckney. Unfortunately, like that child’s toy where every time a peg is pounded down another one pops up, there seems no cure except for the good doctor to realize his flapdoodle, which is unlikely.
Wonderful news indeed for the dear Frisco 2-8-2 No. 1352!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün