Steam veteran Wes Camp remembered

DOVER, Del. — Dozens and dozens of steam locomotives have been revived over the past 60-plus years, and many bear the fingerprints, often literally, of Wesley “Wes” Camp, one of the guiding lights of steam engineering and practice, a man who dedicated his professional life to what many thought would be a lost art.

That influence is evident in remembrances among railroad preservationists following the news of Camp’s death on Easter Sunday, April 20, at age 84.

The loss is keenly felt by Ross Rowland, longtime steam entrepreneur who, along with Camp, founded the High Iron Co. in 1966. Together they oversaw the restoration of former Nickel Plate 2-8-4 No. 759, its use on the Golden Spike Limited of 1969, and, along with former Reading 4-8-4 No. 2101, the creation of the American Freedom Train in 1975 and the Chessie Steam Special two years later. Camp served as High Iron’s chief mechanical officer and continued to work with Rowland in 1979 to restore Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 No. 614.

Camp also got involved as a mechanic and/or advisor for a long list of other engines, among them Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449, which shared duties on the Freedom Train; former Reading 4-8-4 No. 2102, now operating on the Reading & Northern; and several ex-Canadian Pacific engines owned by the late George Hart of York, Pa.

More recently he lent a hand to Reading 4-8-4 No. 2100 at the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc., in Cleveland; as well as the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust, now constructing from scratch a replica PRR T1 4-4-4-4 duplex.

“Wes had a natural affinity for all things steam and a lifelong appetite to gather as much knowledge as he could on every aspect of the modern steam locomotive,” says Rowland. “Wes was one of those very rare men who had both decades of experience that comes from hands-on work plus decades of knowledge gained from reading up on all aspects of the many systems that make up a living, breathing steam locomotive.”

Rowland describes Camp as a student of two visionary locomotive designers, Frenchman André Chapelon (1892-1978) and his Argentine disciple Dante Livio Porta (1922-2003). In turn, says Rowland, Camp worked to convey what he learned to a new generation.

“Wes was dedicated to sharing his knowledge and love for steam with everyone he met, anyone who showed any interest in learning what made these fascinating beasts tick,” Rowland says.

Wes Camp was born Aug. 10, 1940, in New York City and grew up in Red Bank, N.J., where he became enamored of the Pennsylvania Railroad K4s 4-6-2s that lasted into the mid-1950s in commuter service on PRR subsidiary New York & Long Branch. Youthful cab rides in those K4 engines help cement his devotion to steam.

After briefly attending college, Camp spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, most of that time as a radar specialist at Malmstrom Air Force Base in central Montana. He later worked for IBM before getting involved with Hart’s CP engines and, later, High Iron. Along with fellow High Iron alum Hank Webber, Camp worked for a time at Rowland’s Floor Broker Associates commodities trading firm. From 1980 to 1990 he served as master mechanic for the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad.

Camp is survived by his son, Matthew Camp. Wes Camp’s wife of 47 years, Ruth Camp, died in December 2022. Matthew Camp says information about a celebration of life will be released later, noting his father’s legacy: “He was always a believer, and he wanted to support the kids coming up behind him.”