Care For Some Dip?
This austere maroon “dip” paint job was debuted by the Chicago Great Western in 1954 as a cost-cutting measure, and hasn’t been seen since Chicago & North Western acquired the line in 1968. Volunteers at the Hub City Heritage Museum in Oelwein, Iowa, completed the cosmetic restoration of the only remaining CGW F unit this past summer. The prime mover has also been rebuilt and operational. The museum is now seeking funds to replace and install traction motors.
PHOTO BY JEFFREY D. TERRY
STEAM AND PRESERVATION JEFFREY D. TERRY
Chicago Great Western Restored FP7
Volunteers at the Hub City Heritage Museum in Oelwein, Iowa, have repainted the last remaining Chicago Great Western FP7 into the railroad’s solid maroon scheme, popularly known as the “dip” scheme amongst CGW fans. Additionally, the unit’s prime mover has been made operational along with its headlights and class lights.
The CGW was a Class I railroad that connected the Midwest with Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. Number 116A was one of two FP7s purchased by CGW in 1950 for use on passenger trains and was delivered equipped with a steam generator. It arrived from EMD sporting CGW’s elaborate maroon, green, red, and gold paint scheme, which was replaced with the simplified (“dip”) paint scheme — introduced as a cost-cutting measure — in 1954. The latter scheme includes the CGW’s familiar “Lucky Strike” herald on the nose and carbody sides, along with black trucks and roofline.
Three years after Chicago & North Western’s acquisition of CGW in 1968, No. 116A was given a coat of yellow and a new number to become C&NW 217. It continued in service into the early 1980s when it was set aside for preservation and stored in the yard at Oelwein. In 1995 it was donated to the Hub City Heritage Museum and repainted into CGW’s early F-unit scheme, which had faded by 2015. The unit’s new look approximates No. 116A’s appearance in the 1960s, when many fans first
16 NOVEMBER 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
discovered the quirky CGW.
Volunteers have been working for several years to return No. 116A’s EMD 567 prime mover to operation, despite the fact that the unit was donated without traction motors. The diesel engine was freed (No. 116A had been sitting with its stacks uncovered for many years) and missing parts were replaced with components salvaged from a former Cotton Belt GP20. On August 16, the prime mover was started for the first time in 30 years. The museum intends to raise the money needed to purchase and install new traction motors to complete the restoration.
“Project 02” Returning Army 0-6-0T to Steam in Kentucky
United States Army Transportation Corps 0-6-0T No. 5002 has been acquired by a private individual and will be restored to operating condition. On August 14, the 50-ton tank engine was shipped from its longtime home at the Kentucky Railroad Museum to its new home at Boyertown, Pa. A non- profit organization,
Project 02, has
been formed to return the 73-year-old locomotive to steam. Once in service, it will be used on the tracks of the Colebrookdale Railroad, a new tourist line operating between Pottstown and Boyertown over the former Reading Company’s Colebrookdale Spur. Number 5002 was one of more than 400 S100-class 0-6-0Ts built for the United States Army Transportation Corps in 1942 for switching duties in North Africa and Europe. The side-tank locomotives
were designed by Col. Howard G. Hill and were of a close-clearance design that allowed them to operate on European rail systems. The order proved too large for one builder, so it was split between Vulcan, Porter, and Davenport-Besler. Porter built the majority, including No. 5002, which was turned out in August 1942. Most S100s were sent overseas and were pressed into service following D-Day, while
a handful remained
stateside and performed switching duties at various military facilities for the duration of World War II. In the late 1940s, No. 5002 was declared surplus. It was subsequently acquired by E.J. Lavino & Company and used to switch cars of waste slag at its pig iron blast furnace at Reusens, near Lynchburg, Va. In 1969 it was retired and purchased, along with sister 0-6-0T No. 5014, by Millard and Morris Stevens for their Cumberland Falls Scenic Railroad (later Tombstone Junction), a Kentucky tourist attraction. When Tombstone Junction closed in the early 1990s, No. 5002 was sold to a private owner and stored at KRM in New Haven, Ky. Number 5002 is one of several S100 class USATC 0-6-0Ts preserved in the United States. Operating examples include USATC No. 5001 (restored as Granite Rock No. 10) at the California State Railroad Museum and No. 5019, which is occasionally steamed by owner Old Dominion Chapter NRHS in Richmond, Virginia. About 100 S100s exist in total, with survivors in England, Greece,
Slovenia, Bosnia, and other
European countries. A GoFundMe campaign has been started to purchase parts needed for No. 5002’s restoration. To donate, visit
www.gofundme.com/project-02.
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