Greetings:
After a few false starts, I am again working on (and making progress with!) a 2nd edition of: "The Steam Locomotive Directory of North America".
The question of the evening is: what ever happened to Solvey Process #59, a standard gauge 0-4-0T, (ALCO Cooke c/n 64992), from the Rail City, Sandy Pond, NY collection?
It was sold (prior to the big auction) in 11/1974 to O.Roy Chalk and put on display at the Kennedy Playground in Washington, D.C. (7th & O Sts.) to replace the 3' gauge 4-4-0 which he had previously had on display there (it went to the Smithsonian).
I actually saw it in D.C. during a visit there in the 1970s', but by 1991 it was gone.
Gone to where? Where is it now? Who remembers way back into the '90s (or beyond)?
No one who I have spoken to at the Washington Parks Dept. remembers it...
So: if anyone out there in the internet ether knows where it has been hiding (or if it still exists), please let us all know!
Thank you in advance for your help!
Be well,
J.David
PS: Yeah, yeah, yeah: I know, it's just an 0-4-0T, but it is/was a "real" steam locomotive, it did real work, it wasn't just a toy. JDC

Could it be the JFK Playground locomotive mentioned here:

http://steamlocomotive.com/lists/recent-losses.php

J. David -

Haven't had a lot of good news lately, but THERE is some GREAT news!

Les

Kennedy playground originally had a steam locomotive plus one or more PCC streetcar bodies, an airplane, and a tug boat. All of that stuff was removed in the 1990s.

Wesley

I have never gotten a hold of anyone that ever confirmed the loco was scrapped, to the point of photos of the scrapping, official confirmation, etc.

But seeing as the last time I saw it in the late 1980s the bottom of its drivers were sunk into a couple inches of the concrete surrounding it to above the tires (ditto the fire truck, landing gear of the jet trainer, etc. surrounding it), I have no reason to doubt the allegations that it was indeed reduced to scrap, and no evidence to suggest it survives.

What a cool playground that must of been. We had to play in the CN&W yards and dodge hobos and security. Amazing how things have changed.
Regards, John.

One of the playgrounds where I grew up had all kind of hazards errr, attractions.

Teeter totters by the dozen. Swing sets with chain supporting the thin rubber swing. One of those merry go round things. A really cool "rocket ship" climbing toy you could climb up ladders into and make it sway like mad.

They also had a real life army tank, fire truck, jet plane that you could crawl through the tube that once contained the jet engine, and not one but two PRR wooden cabooses. A 2' gauge CP Huntington ran on a 2 mile loop around the whole place.

You could crawl anywhere you wanted, including up onto the roof of the caboose, and kids did that often. They fell down, they flew off the merry go round, they slammed to the ground on the teeter totter, they got small cuts on the tank and plane's many sharp edges.

Nobody thought anything of it. You got a bandaid and a warning "be more careful!"

Some time in the late 80's or early 90's, presumably some lawyer saw the place and once he'd re-covered from his mild coronary, they sanitized it all. Wish I could have gotten once of the cabooses, but they were pretty well trashed by then anyway.

For that matter, what happened to the rest of the Rail City collection?
I'm particularly curious about H&BTM 4-wheel caboose 17 (an ex-PRR ND cabin car) and the H&BTM combine.

Tom Davidson

The H&BTM combine is displayed at Central Square, NY, as part of the Central New York Chapter, NRHS, museum collection. http://www.cnynrhs.org/CentralSq.html

Alan Maples

Steamlocomotive.info also lists the locomotive as being scrapped, the info coming from the police department.

http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomo ... isplay=306

Oh, yes. That's my photo. I think it dates to around 1986 or 1987.

I went there on foot from the DC Metro's Mt. Vernon stop back then. It was nowhere near as "bad" as "everyone" said, though I did end up watching a profanity-laden verbal shouting match between two parents over the one boy's rude behavior to the little girl...... Now it's a stone's throw from the DC Convention Center, and I can even find good beer in the area.....

Well fiddle!
But thank you one and all for solving this one...
BUT WAIT, THERES' MORE! (but not today).
J.David

J. David,
Your locomotive books are my #1 steam resource. And great looking photography too.

i am most pleased to hear that you are planning another edition of the books!

That New Haven replica with a Chinese accent is a very cool project!

ted66

And the story of this park makes a "national" newspaper, thanks in part to Brother Paulson, though we don't get any closer to a definitive answer as to the exact fate of 59:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/re ... story.html

I'm confused, the article claims the locomotive went to the Smithsonian??