SUGARCREEK, Ohio — The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum is preparing for the first public viewing of the newest locomotive on display in its collection, Bessemer & Lake Erie 2-10-4 No. 643.
That viewing will come March 29 as part of the museum’s Member Day, to be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. A membership, needed to attend, is available at this page on the museum website.
The locomotive, built by Baldwin in 1944, was purchased by Age of Steam in 2019. It took more than four years to be moved from its prior home at McKees Rocks, Pa., where it had at one time been restored to operating condition, but never ran — in part because of operating limits created by its length and 308-ton weight — and eventually ended up in a location without a rail connection.
After the purchase by Age of Steam, the locomotive was disassembled into hundreds of smaller parts to ease its move, with the three largest parts — the tender, boiler, and frame with driving wheels — moved by truck or train to Sugarcreek.
Delivery of all parts was completed on Feb. 16, 2024; reassembly and cosmetic restoration was completed in November 2024, with the locomotive placed in stall No. 5 of the roundhouse. It joins 22 other steam locomotives in the museum collection.
More information on the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum is available at its website and on its Facebook page.
The 643 restoration work was done in the ex B&O backshop at Glenwood, Pa. where it was fired but never run. I once rolled it back and forth with a yard engine there to exercise the bearings. It was moved to McKees Rocks when the Glenwood building was repurposed.
Mark, does the 643 have Timkin Roller Bearings or friction bearings?
And another question, Mark, have the middle axle driving wheel flanges been machined away in order to negotiate tighter radius curves?