Former ‘Ma & Pa’ diesel to join Stewartstown roster NEWSWIRE

STEWARTSTOWN, Pa. – The Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad Inc., a support organization reviving tourist operations on the namesake short line in south-central Pennsylvania, has arranged the donation of former Maryland & Pennsylvania SW9 No. 84 locomotive by York Railway Co., the company that took over the remains of the famed “Ma & Pa” short line. The unit will go into storage for evaluation and repairs before transfer to the Stewartstown Railroad, which connects to the former Pennsylvania Railroad line at New Freedom, Pa., now used by Steam Into History. No. 84 will remain in its current paint scheme as long as possible, according to Friends president Dave Watson.

No. 84 is a 1,200 hp SW9, built Sept. 1952, s/n 16330, order 6368-1, for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie as its 8952, then was later renumbered to P&LE 1243, then sold to the Montour Railroad as its 85 before being acquired by the Maryland & Pennsylvania.

The railroad also donated a mechanized tie inserter and ballast regulator to the nonprofit, which the group plans to put into service as soon as possible to facilitate further track rehabilitation.

Sister engine No. 82, also an SW9, is owned by the Ma & Pa Preservation Society at Muddy Creek Forks, Pa., and NW2 No. 81 is at the Railroad Museum of Pa. in Strasburg. Ma & Pa SW900M No. 83, originally a Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England and then Steelton & Highspire Electro-Motive Corp. model SC, built in 1937 and acquired by the Ma & Pa in 1968 after rebuild to SW900 specifications, operated on the Stewartstown tourist operation north of New Freedom under George Hart in the later 1980s and 1990s as Stewartstown No. 11, and is now at the Allentown & Auburn tourist operation in eastern Pennsylvania.

The Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad continue rehabilitation on trackage between Stewartstown and New Freedom and provides volunteer crews for operations. The original Stewartstown Railroad excursion operation, operated by the then for-profit Stewartstown Railroad Co., ceased operation in April 2004. Work continues on an open-air car built on top of a former Pennsylvania Railroad flatcar, alng with rehabilitating former Reading Co. coach No. 1158.

Donations toward No. 84’s restoration and repairs can be sent to: Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad Inc., PO Box 456, Stewartstown, PA 17363. For more information on the Friends, go to www.stewartstownfriends.org.