Can someone please post a list of the equipment recently scrapped (beginning last week on August 15), or in the process of being scrapped, by the Park Service at Steamtown? I'd also appreciate a list of equipment that was slated to be scrapped in this round but may have been transferred to any outside entity (i.e. "saved") either in part or whole. Thank you.

Thanks to Robert John Davis, Rich Jahn, and David Monte Verde who posted some information and photos on FB. According to their posts, five artifacts were scrapped - two coaches, two cabooses, and a snow plow.

The first pic below shows the snow plow and one coach just prior to scrapping. The plow is Claremont and Concord Railroad Snowplow 60. It was built by the Boston & Maine Railroad Shops some time prior to 1910. C&C was a branch line of the B&M until 1954. According to the NPS it had a front truck with inboard bearings for better operation in the snow and the rear truck was a Fox-patent pressed-steel truck. I've seen earlier photos of this in VT and when it first came to PA. The Scranton winters really took their toll. Does anyone know the B&M road number for this plow?

The coach next to it was also scrapped. I believe this could have been one of several Pullman-built wood coaches (ca. 1910 or earlier), numbered in the 1200s by the Boston and Maine, that the Steamtown Foundation had up in VT. My understanding is that B&M added a steel underframe in the mid '20s and combine doors around 1950 at which time the cars were converted to MOW. The two photos of this car prior to scrapping are courtesy of RRPictureArchives.net and copyright Steve Pappas and Bob Keenan. Thank you to anyone with more accurate information on either of these two pieces.

Other posted photos show the scrapping in progress. The first shows what I believe to be another B&M wood coach, with similar history to the first one shown in the previous post, being scrapped. The two cabooses on either side of the coach were also scrapped. One is posted as being from Central Vermont Railway and the other is unidentified. The two photos of the coach prior to scrapping are courtesy of RRPictureArchives.net and both copyright Greg Wiltsie.

This is heartbreaking.

Did they at least salvage some hardware from the cars?

-Philip Marshall

A few other images of the scrapping were posted, showing the work on the second coach and one caboose more extensively. I believe the heavily cropped photo I took back in '06 may show one of the cabooses that were scrapped.

One last photo I found of the caboose frame and wheels after being stripped.

Did Steamtown save the trucks and other hardware? There are many passenger cars floating around that need trucks, and they aren't easy to find.

The other caboose was a Boston and Maine wide cupola car I believe. sad to see these go but there was zero maintance on these cars once they arrived in Scranton. In Vermont a dedicated group of two gentlemen from Canada spent many a weekend caring for the roofs on wooden cars such as these, in Scranton they were left to rot. I would expect some of the Rutland cars will soon see a similar fate, as well as a few others that have languished outdoors.

Interestingly enough My Caboose was among the two Central Vermont Cabooses @ Steam town Vermont late in the day. the one that went to Scranton was considered in better condition as it had recently been donated by the VTR. it had a varnished interior roof that had been added by them, and had a fresh COT&S so it was the one to go. My car still sees occasional service on the Naugy, and has been in far better condition for some time.

Al P.

And zero offers to any other interested parties ?

Trucks are so needed.

Mike Pannell

Thanks for the pics.

Isn't there a website that has pics of the individual equipment in the Steamtown collection?

I would guess that the caboose was rebuilt with a steel underframe, but the body dates from the 1880s.

Those cars were obviously far gone, but it would be an outrage if they just toted the metal parts away. Those truss rods and queen posts on the red observation end coach were generally tossed when cars were detrucked and set on the ground, some of which have been enclosed and have great bodies but were missing the underframe, e.g. the Central Pacific car being restored by the NWPHS. They found a set of truss rods, but I am sure there are others around that could use truss rods and queen posts, not to mention trucks.

This looks like a move by someone who knew they would be criticized and so didn't announce it..

Al P. - Thank you for the information on the cabooses. Do you recall their road numbers? Can you post some pics of your Central Vermont caboose?

Your personal account of the condition of the CV caboose that went down to Scranton seems to indicate that the artifacts were in much better shape prior to the move than opined by an FB poster who stated, "This equipment was on the verge of passing beyond economical repair 25 years ago when it first moved down to Scranton from Vermont".

Mr. Travis - Which caboose are you referring to - the one closest to the parking lot and awning or the one on the other side of the coach?

As for saving parts, which some posters mentioned, I would imagine that preservation SOP would be to have knowledgeable preservation professionals remove all reusable hardware (ladders, grab irons, railings, stovepipes to name a few) before the contractor is given the go ahead to go at it with the track hoe. The ladder on the caboose closest to the parking lot/awning looked pretty straight before the demo began. In the last photo I posted it appears to be pretty bent up.

I'm a bit confused. According to Mr. Scranton Yard, there were two cabooses scrapped, but there seems to be three in this series of photos; two wood cupola cabooses and a wood transfer caboose. Which two got scrapped? Is the third one also on the agenda to meet the wrecking crew?

Thanks for any clarification.


Les

Funny isnt it.....'the beyond saving' phrase......any of these are way better than the ones i have and am restoring.......in my opinion its more like too much stuff collected, and no nobody i know was aware of any of this being scrapped, the caboose ladders and hardware would have been gratefully received !

Mike