D&H Alco PA-1's in Ronceverte (WV) Autumn 1971 - Firebox Vault 28

Описание: Our footage this week takes us to the small West Virginia mountain town of Ronceverte (translated from French as "greenbrier"), to see the famed Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Alco diesel locomotives, PA-1 16 and PA-1 18. Ronceverte is located along the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) line and played a vital role in transporting commodities like limestone from quarries in the area to nearby towns like Clifton Forge, Virginia, as part of the C&O's Greenbrier Division.

The Alco PAs ended up in Ronceverte in early fall of 1971, when both 16 and 18 were leased (with the option to purchase) by the rail excursion outfit Steam Tours, Inc. (Note that the engines are sitting on sub-yard tracks of the old Greenbrier Division's freight house; those tracks no longer exist as evidenced by the images in our slide show.)

Steam Tours had difficulty financing the ongoing maintenance and repair of the two engines, which did not bode well for the engines. Unfortunately, 16 suffered a scored No. 4 main bearing, which took it out of service. Both 16 and 18 were then relocated to the shops of the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in Hagerstown by early 1972.

Both engines were eventually rebuilt as PA-4s at Morrison-Knudsen and ended up in Mexico. While both made it back to the U.S., 18 appears to be in much better shape, as it was magnificently restored and refurbished as Nickel Plate Road (NKP) 190 and currently resides at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland. It's unclear what the current state of 16 is but its last known location was also Oregon. (If anyone has any information, please share below in the comments.)

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