WILMINGTON & WESTERN NO. 98 COMES ALIVE More Than a Machine BY THOMAS GEARS/PHOTOS AS NOTED I


T WAS A VERY GOOD COMBINATION: liking trains and growing up in Wilmington, Delaware. There was a lot to see


— vintage GG1s on Amtrak and the colorful locomotives of the Chessie System and its railroads were my favorites. But nothing else came close to the real steam locomotive over at the Wilmington & Western Railroad. I used to ride my bicycle down to the W&W’s Greenbank station to see 4-4-0 No. 98 whenever I could. After I figured out where the shops were located in nearby Marshallton, I would frequently cruise by on my trusty Schwinn ten-speed. These early years sparked an interest


in all things steam and led to a career working in steam power plants. By the age of 14 I was a W&W member and at 15 I was signed up as a student


40 JUNE 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


fireman. I learned quickly, and I learned from old railroad men as well as from other weekend railroaders. I studied everything I could get my hands on. The original Wilmington & Western


was chartered in 1867 to connect Wilmington, Del., and Landenberg, Pa. By the 1880s, the line had come under the control of the Baltimore & Ohio as a route to compete with the nearby Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1966, Historic Red Clay Valley Inc., (HRCV) began leasing the tracks from the B&O on weekends to operate steam-powered passenger trains. By the 1970s, Chessie System was looking to abandon what it called the Landenberg Branch and, thanks to successful fundraising efforts, HRCV was able to purchase the tracks in 1982.


The object of my infatuation was built


in 1909 at the American Locomotive Co. works in Schenectady, N.Y. (construction No. 45921). This hard-working 4-4- 0 pulled trains for the Mississippi Central, and was retired in December 1944. In 1946 No. 98 was purchased by entrepreneur Paulsen Spence to work on his Louisiana Eastern lines. No. 98 made its way back north in 1960 when two partners purchased the engine for a proposed weekend steam tourist railroad in Delaware. She was stored at the Strasburg Rail Road until 1964 when No. 98 finally arrived at the new Wilmington & Western Railroad. No. 98 returned to service in 1972, and owner Tom Marshall officially donated the locomotive to HRCV in December 1977. In my teenage mind No. 98 was the


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