Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 2-8-2 Class O-1-A 4963 in a scrap yard on the south side of Chicago, Illinois on August 31, 1986, Kodachrome by Chuck Zeiler. This was one of the few times it was a good thing to see a steam locomotive in a scrap yard. The following is excerpted from Dick Jensen's story at steamlocomotive.com: In 1966 Dick Jensen obtained 4963 (along with 5632) as scrap from the CB&Q after the steam excursion program was discontinued. Jensen was evicted from the C&WI roundhouse in 1969, and his equipment was moved to the Erman Howell scrap yard at 83rd street. The 5632 derails during the move into the scrap yard and is scrapped. On March 16, 1991, Richard Jensen, at age 60, passed away. After Richard Jensen's death, the Illinois Railway Museum was able to acquire his 4963, rescuing it from the Chicago-area scrap dealer just before it was scheduled to be cut up. Here are the details. When Northwestern Steel and Wire got rid of its ex GTW 0-8-0s in the early 1980s, the IRM acquired six for its collection (only one was moved to the IRM property). In 1988 the IRM wanted to save 4963 (which sat at that scrap yard until 1990!), and so traded five of the 0-8-0s (8306, 8328, 8372, 8375, and 8379) to the scrap dealer in exchange for 4963. 4963 is now safe at the IRM. It is ironic, that these 0-8-0s which dragged so many fine steamers to their demise in the early 1960s met their end saving a mainline engine from the torch. |