Bensman said Feb. 23 that 12 crown brasses and 12 hub liners, two per driving axle, were removed from 1309. New pieces will have to be manufactured to replace them.
Earlier this month, Allegany County, Md., authorities charged former Western Maryland Scenic employee Scottie A. Nixon with stealing more than $14,000 worth of brass and bronze from the railroad’s shop in Ridgeley, W.V.
It’s not known if these components were recovered, because an inventory of stolen items has not been made public. Bensman said the crown brasses were original to the locomotive, built by Baldwin in 1949. Diversified made replacement hub liners.
Bensman said all the pieces will have to be re-made because a hydraulic press used to remove them from No. 1309 caused damage that rendered them useless. He said he had not estimated the cost of making replacements, but it will add to the $530,000 WMSR needs to raise to complete restoration of No. 1309.
The project ground to a halt last November after the railroad ran out of money. Railroad General Superintendent John Garner has said several times that the railroad is committed to completing the job.
Lol what?
Train Orders is to blame for this they keep saying the S (scrap) word on their site and they send spies into preservation shops and steal from them. Big Boy got it’s wheels stolen, 1309 got it’s brass stolen, 2926 got parts stolen and all down the line. Train Orders does not care about preservation all they care about is money and they get it by robbery and extortion all to pay Todd Clark Kurt Clark’s evil brother. Todd hates Ed Dickens he hates steam locomotives and this theft must stop and his website must be shutdown.
A former WMS employee with quite a lengthy police rap sheet has been arrested in the theft.
It might be beneficial to run thorough background checks on potential employees BEFORE hiring them.
“Maybe now’s a good time to shut up and make a donation?”
Go right ahead. For others, maybe now’s a good time to question whether this group has the ability to see the project through and make a donation worthwhile.
“It’s not known if these components were recovered…”
“Bensman said all the pieces will have to be re-made because a hydraulic press used to remove them from No. 1309 caused damage that rendered them useless.”
If they know they’re damaged, presumably they were recovered.
Lots of armchair, 20-20 hindsight here. At least they’re trying. Maybe now’s a good time to shut up and make a donation?
Hopefully they charge this a$$hat with the full value of his thefts and not some small amount to make it look like a minor theft. I hate thieves, especially of this type.
This whole thing is starting to look like the Steamtown K-4 fiasco.
Talking about adding insult to injury
I also think going for a complete overhaul of everything to like new condition is not always the best option. If something is 50% worn, no need to replace it now. Fix what needs to be fixed to get it running, then fix other wear items as required. This can he a tough call based on how much service the engine is going to see, and how much other work can be done while doing an annual each year.
Might have been a better move to rebuild #734 and modify it to be able to MU with a diesel for those occasions where extra power was needed. Of course, hindsight is always 20-20.
Can’t express how outrageous this is.
The only times I ever saw them need a diesel was when the train had extra cars that would not allow 734 to be turned on the turntable to connect to the rear end of the train at Frostburg. This usually occurred when they added the dining cars and the longer trains on special events.
Part of the justification to obtain 1309 was because it can pull more than the 734. They stated that at times they have to use a diesel with the 734 and the 1309 would be able to run without a diesel.
This locomotive needs an exorcism.
Al Dicenso
If you remember, preliminary inspection did not reveal the extent of the work needed to bring 1309 to like new condition, which is what they’re going for. In fact in the case of almost all restorations you can’t determine the amount of work required until the entire engine is disassembled. Based on your statement no steam locomotive would ever be restored again.
The guy’s rap sheet. Arrested in 2002, 2004 and 3 times in 2009.
https://arrestfacts.com/Scottie-Nixon-614U53
1309 was destined to be a disaster from the get-go. The idea was conceived by a bunch of starry-eyed foamer amateurs who think that any steam engine, no matter in how poor shape, is worth restoration, just so “they” have one of their very own to play engineer and blow the whistle. Gishlick is absolutely right.
The group working on ATSF 2926 also has experienced some theft over the years. I think at one point they had to borrow a radial buffer from a sister locomotive to have a pattern to fabricate a new one. People do horrible things.. I hope this project can recover and start making progress again.
In hindsight maybe 1309 should have just stayed in the B&O Museum and be given a cosmetic restoration. It would have cost a lot less than this fiasco. We need to be more realistic when it comes to decisions regarding the restoration of steam locomotives to operational status.
This is really sad.