He told me and a couple other NRHS meeting attendees himself, in his own words: "I just bought the Bellefonte Central!"

I think I replied something like "Wait--there's still something left to buy?"

The reality is I have no idea if he bought the contents of the enginehouse, the enginehouse and its one-mile connection to the recently-formed Nittany & Bald Eagle RR, or what. I know that he later or simultaneously bought/claimed title to a couple other stretches of track that later ended up in the hands of other operators, some "last mile" stretches to future industrial parks as I recall, such as the stretch between the White Deer (Pa.) RR Museum and a planned industrial park in Allenwood to the north. And I seem to remember a few bits of BCRR leftovers being sold in the WTSE gift shop back then, things like old receipts, freight car seals, etc.

I'm reasonably sure (like 98%) that if Sanders did buy any BCRR property, it was later resold to either the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority or the operating company, the Nittany & Bald Eagle, which I think razed the original enginehouse and erected a new shop and enginehouse on the site. As with many situations like this, ACTUAL ownership, operation, rights, etc. of a railroad get to be a fuzzy thing.

Back to what's relevant:
The West Shore Excursions had a steam loco front--not just the door-- on display at Mifflinburg in the late 1980s.
Anyone know where it is now?

I recall seeing another complete front end of a steam locomotive preserved somewhere, but totally forget all the details!

The replica front to 4070 is indeed striking. I have to laugh, because I'm pretty sure the engine crew from the mid-1970's would not have represented it with the red and gold number plate shown. It did have a red and gold number plate during the 1975-76 operating seasons on the Cuyahoga Valley, but it wasn't considered the permanent plate. I actually have that original number plate in my apartment. It's just 1/8th in. flat steel plate with red and gold paint. I fished it out of the scrap bin at the W. 3rd St. roundhouse when they replaced it with one with raised aluminum numbers on black for the 1977 season. I asked if I could have it, and they looked at me like, "Whatever, don't know why you'd want that piece of trash, but have at it". Several years later they made one with gold numbers on black. That painted plate was one of the first pieces I ever collected. If MRPS wants it back I can leave it to them in my will. Also, in that era 4070's smokebox was painted in dark grey graphite, not black.

For many years, a replica of the front of Western Maryland 4-6-2 201 decorated a wall in the Hagerstown Model Railroad Club when they were in the fairgrounds building. I believe the smokebox front and door were of plywood or something else that was relatively light in weight, while the headlight, number plate, handrail, and flag holders were from the 204.

You may have to scroll down a bit to find the image; I can't load the screenshot I have, I get a message that the file is too big.

https://books.google.com/books?id=mxkPv ... ds&f=false

An associate of mine has confirmed, back-channel, that the steam loco front I mentioned from the West Shore/Mifflinburg is now in private hands elsewhere in central Pennsylvania, not open to the public.

I just had a thought about a picture I think I saw fairly recently. A town somewhere had a steam locomotive display in which the front end of the locomotive was chopped just behind the cylinders and just that front section was displayed against the wall of a (municipal?) building. I can't seem to find it now, so perhaps I'm dreaming...

Jake -

You're not dreaming! This was discussed in a previous thread "Missouri Pacific 124 in Dupo, Illinois". Although not quite what we are talking about in this particular thread, the display was one communities decision to an offer by the MoPac to preserve the locomotive that was part of the railroads last steam operation.

Les

Fund raising idea for groups. Do a 3D scan of one of these and then sell 3D printed replicas.

I have, on my wall, a funky "art project" type boiler front from some art/craft store and it makes a great decoration. I'd gladly purchase a more realistic version at a reasonable price.

I am aware that there is a place that makes some already, I think they're CNC carved out of wood sheets or something? They're quite nice, but also rather expensive.

Maybe a 3D printed "negative" that was used for resin castings could lower the cost while allowing the group to get some revenue?

I think that's the same display I'm thinking about.

Here's the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31196&hilit=Missouri+Pacific+124