For a steam locomotive, the dead-line is most often the end of the line....unless that dead-line happens to be here, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. This old girl is a 1924 Alco 2-8-2 tank locomotive that spent her working life running logs at the Sugar Pine Railway and later, at the Pacific Lumber Company. She last operated hauling tourists under lease to the Wilmington and Western Railroad before being put out of service for mechanical reasons in 1990. For many years, she sat amid the shrubbery on an unused siding in Marshallton, Delaware until being sold to the Timber Heritage Association in California, which intends to restore her to service. The new buyer selected the Strasburg Railroad Mechanical Shop to perform this work and she was recently moved to their facilities. The work is widely expected to take a few years to complete. As you see her here, her large saddle tank and much of her running gear has been removed and stored. The tender parked behind her belongs to another locomotive, which also awaits restoration at Strasburg.
