(The following story by Larry Alexander appeared on the Intelligencer Journal website on January 11.)
STRASBURG, Pa. — The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg has twins: two 58-year-old Diesel locomotives weighing in at 255,000 pounds each.
The new arrivals were brought to the museum Wednesday via the main line at Paradise and the tracks of the Strasburg Rail Road.
Dubbed the 902 and the 903, the locomotives are owned by the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society and the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society, respectively.
They will be on display at the state museum for at least a year and maybe longer.
“We’re very happy to have them and protect them for as long as they’re here,” David Dunn, the museum’s director, said.
The two are part of a fleet of eight FP7 passenger-train diesels built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division and sold to the Reading Railroad.
From 1950, when they were built, to 1967, when Reading phased out passenger service, the locomotives took passengers from Reading and Philadelphia to New York at a top speed of 89 miles per hour.
Trains pulled by locomotives 900 and 901 were called “The Crusader,” while the 902 and 903 operated under the name “The Wall Street.” They were later joined by the 904 and 905.
The 906 and 907 arrived in 1952 and were assigned to the Schuylkill line running between Philadelphia and Pottsville.
After 1967, they did a stint pulling commuter trains between Philadelphia and Reading. They were sold to SEPTA in Philadelphia, where they operated until 1985.
Retired and in poor condition, the 900, the 902 and the 903 — the only ones saved from the scrap yard — were sold.
The Lancaster Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society bought the 902 and the Philadelphia chapter purchased the 903 and 900. After evaluating the condition of each, restoration was begun on the 902 and 903 in 1985, with the intent of making them look like they did during their Reading Railroad days.
The 900 will be restored at a later date.
The historic groups knew they had their work cut out for them.
Both were “pretty well rusted,” said Cindy Bowers, project coordinator of the Lancaster Chapter of NRHS for the past 21 years.
“They were both completely gone over and overhauled mechanically,” Bowers said. “The car bodies were very bad. We had to completely replace the outside panels and do other extensive body work.”
A rebuilt diesel motor was put into the 903.
Restoration ended in 2000. The 902 cost about $300,000, with the 903 costing a bit less.
In 2006, the Lancaster Chapter of the NRHS donated the 902 to the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society, which is creating its own museum.
Today, both engines are not just restored to look like new but also are fully operational. Both have been used to pull excursion trains, most recently in October, when they traveled over the former Perkiomen branch of the Reading Railroad to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce.
This summer, Bowers said, the NRHS hopes to sponsor excursion trips from Philadelphia to Reading and Philadelphia to Strasburg.
The latter trip would allow people from Philadelphia to visit the museum, as well as ride the historic cars of the Strasburg Rail Road.
“These locomotives are fully operational and can run on the main line,” she said.
When the excursion season is over, Bowers said, it’s possible the two locomotives might be kept at the Strasburg museum, using it as their base of operation.
“I’ve always thought it a win-win situation for both us and the railroad museum to store these locomotives here,” she said.
Dunn agrees.
“We will keep them here for as long as the RCTHS wants us to keep them,” Dunn said.