Hi All; Since some of you enjoyed my post yesterday of the Whitcomb switcher at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, VA, I thought I would post some of the other recent restorations, plus a heritage unit. First is N&W SD45 Bicentennial unit 1776. The locomotive has been lovingly restored to the glory of its 1976 livery.
Next is a Baldwin DS-4-4-660 switcher from the Chesapeake Western Railway. This was among the “lost locomotives” retrieved from a Roanoke scrap yard. Our Roanoke Chapter of the NRHS restored this locomotive to its former “like new” appearance. How they got accurate paint samples is especially interesting. Chapter member S. R. Weingard had worked for the CW Ry when these locomotives were new. The diesel shop crew had painted S. R.'s lunch box with the same colors used for these locomotives. Because S. R. had always kept his lunch box stored indoors, it provided an accurate sample for matching the original paint. The second photo shows how the locomotive looked when the Roanoke Chapter got it.
Finally, while I was photographing the other locomotives, a man came running down the walkway shouting “There’s a Heritage unit coming out of Schaeffer’s Crossing!” I didn’t have much time other than to point and click from under the pavilion, but it turned out “good enough for gummint work.”
Enjoy, David Meashey