I came across an article on the Louisiana & Arkansas No. 503, located in Port Arthur, Texas. From what I was reading the city wanted to scrap the engine. Then some folks got involved trying to save the engine.
However I couldn't find anything that spoke to what the final decision by the city was and current status of the engine.
Does anyone on the Forum know with certainty what the status is today?
Thanks!
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Final outcome? Not sure there is one.
The city voted to keep the engine, move it forward one locomotive length on new track, remediate the ground where the engine used to be, and then....? It's been over a year; It's been pretty quiet since the initial kerfuffle. I doubt one cent has been spent to preserve the engine since then.
There's video of them dragging the engine to its new location - and the drivers are frozen solid.
The RYPN article was locked on April 2018.
And this facebook site hasn't been updated in 4 months.
https://www.facebook.com/KCSEngineNo503
There are 3 videos on Facebook.
Thank you SMD4 for the update as I could not locate one with any definitive details/results.
Leland, thanks for the Facebook link as it was interesting to watch the actual move.
It's a shame that exterior of the engine has been left to deteriorate so badly.
Also they could have greased the bearings a bit prior to the move.
What became of the money raised to save the engine?
Allegheny posted:What became of the money raised to save the engine?
IIRC, it was used to help move NKP 587 and some other pieces of equipment out of ITM's former location.
Thanks Lionelpostwarfan for the update. At least the funds were used for a good purpose.
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