Okay:
Here is one from the rumor mill. About ten years ago I had a conversation with the president of a RR museum. The topic of Baldwin Centipedes came up and he told me that he had remembered seeing one at a scrap yard in the mid to late 1970's. The scrap yard was the same one that had the two Reading 4-8-4 's that Ross Rowland would later save. I think the scrap dealer was Streigal ?
The burning question is of course was the rumor true ? And if so, what RR was the centipede from and does anyone have a photo of it. If true this would be a case of one of the rarest diesel types almost saved but sadly lost forever.

Kevin Kohls

The scrap yard was scrapped in the mid-to-late 1990s. Ed Streigel sold out to a gentleman from the northwest. He tried operating it at the same location, but people were stealing stuff by the truckload. He shut it down and moved his assets to Crystal Springs, PA and Mukilteo, WA. It is still operated under the name "Streigel Equipment and Supply". His focus is primarily marine, but I did see a crankshaft for a 16-244 when I was up to visit him in April 2002.

The primary reason for my visit was to research the dispositions of some Western Maryland Alcos and Baldwins that passed through Ed Streigel's company. I was given permission to rummage through a dozen or so file cabinets he shipped to the west coast after he shut down the Chemical Road site. Among the WM treasures, I found a folder of correspondence between Mr. Streigel, Ross Rowland, and the American Freedom Train Foundation regarding the aforementioned ex-Reading 4-8-4s.

Sorry, no Baldwins left at 6000 Chemical Road. As for heritage, based on the information in those files, Streigel did the bulk of his buying from Pennsy, Reading, and B&O.

Kevin -

I believe that the only U.S. railroads that had Centipedes were the Pennsy and the Seaboard Air Line. The NdeM also had some. Figure if the rumor WAS true, it was probably a PRR unit.

Les

I'll be straightforward.

I've seen, over the course of the past 16 years of living in the Baltimore area, LOTS of local photos of Striegel with lots of stuff there. When I first blitzed the yard myself in the early 1980s, the only "jewels" left there were some ex-C&NW Baldwin switchers, some ex-military junk, and an ex-PRR Alco RS1.

I have never seen a photo of a PRR or other Baldwin Centipede there. And I've seen photos of lots of other stuff there, including but not limited to the Reading T1's and B&O steamers.

Make of that what you will.

As one who frequented the Streigel location from 1965 into the early 1980s I can assure you that during that period there were NO Baldwin "Centipedes" present at this facility. The last of the PRR units were scrapped at the Holidaysburg, PA reclamation plant in the early 1960s. BLW demo 6000A/B went to scrap even earlier. Streigel had lots of interesting stuff there over the years, but no DR-12-8-1500/2 models, to use the correct BLW terminology.

From visits in the early 1970s (pre AFT #1) I recall that there were one (or more?) small GE diesel locomotives from Washington & Old Dominion, and at least one RDC shell.

Are you sure he wasn't thinking of a Baldwin SHARK? There was a rumor that there was a RF-16 , or whatever the designation was for the freight sharks, booster unit in a scrap yard "up east". Certainly could have been at the Streigel yard. John Larkin of the E&LS and a mutual friend went to check it out, with thoughts of making the ex D&H sharks into an A-B-A set. The rumor was true, there was a Baldwin B unit. It was, or had been, used as a portable generator, less trucks, and apparently had been physically dragged around the yard on its frame. They lost interest quickly.

It also occurs to me that the centipedes shared the same cab and nose styling with the earlier B-B trucked freight units. Lots of things in scrap yards that could look like a centipede to an overly active railfan imagination.

The B was on the property surrounding the Sullivan Trail coal breaker which was in West Pittston PA. The breaker was torn down in 1996. I have heard but cannot confirm that the B was offered to Steamtown before being cut up.

The 'B' unit in question was part of the ABA set of RF-16's that was re-engined/modified with 12-251 engines by Alco Products in 1959.

An up close & personal inspection of the unit revealed Alco style radiator shutters and a GE right angle gear box for the radiator fan.

DPK

Holidaysburg Reclamation Plant also rendered all 15 PRR PA/PB units for scrap after salvage for components which became RS-27's 2400-2414.

Many years later during the CONRAIL era , I was able to witness 'Igor' process a couple of SD-45 hulks.

DPK

If anyone is interested:

http://www.chrisjacks.com/2100baltimore.html

These are Instamatic prints I found in a junk box at a model train show about 15 years ago.

Chris.

Dave and Sandy are correct. I was given access to the Striegel yards in Curtis Bay (Baltimore) three or four times in the late 70s and early 80s. I did see a lot of Baldwin switch engines, some ex-Military center cabs, and cranes. There were ex-PRR 44 tonners, and I remember at least one W&OD 70 Ton GE. Tucked away, across the street from the main building were some PRR E7s. The 4200 was an "A" unit, and I believe there was at least oneB unit, as I remember. I did take a picture of what was visible. From this angle, it's hard to tell if it was an A or a B unit, but at least one Internet source says the low 4200s were "E7A" units.

http://members.aol.com/gfpat420/public/scan0023.jpg

I seem to recall that the PRR cab units had the radio antennas mounted along the roof(?). Maybe that is the source of confusion between the E's and the rumors of Sharks and Centipedes?

Wesley

Can't be in Oct. '76, since the loco was restored to operating in late '74-early '75, and already on the AFT, but interesting anyway.

I remember seeing in a RR club slide show in either the late '70's or early '80's of supposedly the last Centipede in Mexico, taken by mass slide seller John C. Benson of Cleveland. Legend is that he set his Nikon motor drive on a tripod and banged off 30 plus rolls of Kodachrome on roster shots of the unit. To my knowledge that was the last existing Centipede.

From a 2006 Bobyar thread:



http://nepa.railfan.net/breakers/pbshark.htm