BC&G Consolidation #4

This is one of my favorite photos of this engine, looking well maintained but not just out-shopped.   She looks ready to depart for the day with a faint trace of smoke rising from her stack.  Good color photos are not that common and this one is nice.  Clearly visible are the white stripes on the running boards and tender as well as the yellow diamond logo on the cab.  Notice the firebox is painted light.  Even the weathering on the drivers and running gear is just like a modeler would do it!  One thing unusual about the photo is the direction the engine is facing.  It's sitting in the Dundon yard but facing the engine house, opposite the normal direction for engines in the yard as they were normally turned on the Avoca wye before returning the the yard.  The diamond logo dates this photo as sometime after 1959.

Consolidation #14 was the only BC&G locomotive purchased new, although three Climax were purchased new for the ERC&L logging activity.  The story goes that the engine was built by Baldwin for the National Railway of Mexico but that J.G. Bradley made a personal visit to Baldwin and got them to sell the engine to the BC&G.  It was originally configured to burn oil.

Modifications made by the BC&G included installation of the cylindrical air tank on the pilot, a feature installed on all BC&G engines.

Boiler Pressure: 190 lbs.

Driver Diamter: 51"

Cylinders: 22 x 28"

Tractive Effort: 43,000 lbs

Ole SLOBBER FACE

According to a newletter 2007 newsletter from the North Carolina Transportation Museum, around 1970 when this engine was in tourist service with the Quakerstown & Eastern RR, a Mr. William Young affectionately started referring to her as 'Ole Slobber Face' as a result of the moisture that was constantly falling on her from her own stack.  She was an unsaturated steam engine and her 'face' was always wet. The name stuck and this nomer has been applied widely since.

LOCOMOTIVE OWNERHIP HISTORY

1926 - Purchased new by BC&G

1967 - Purchased by Quakertown & Eastern

1970 - Ended operation with the Q&E

1972 - Sold to Southwest Virginia Scenic RR, Hiltons, VA

1978 - Purchased by North Carolina Transportation Museum

Here's an equally nice photo of the engineer's side of #4.  This is an earlier photo as the diamond logo is not on the cab.  The pilot-mounted air tank is clearly visible in this view.  In most photos the number plate under the headligth is read with brass lettering, as in the color photo above.  In a few color photos, the background of the number plate is a light brown or gold with brass lettering.

Harold Vollrath collection - August 1956

This undated photo is interesting because it shows #4 closer to her as-delivered configuration.  The engine looks very new suggesting this photo might have been taken soon after she arrived at the BC&G.  The headlight is high-mounted, as it came from the factory and the air tank has not yet been installed on the pilot.  Notice that there is pretty elegant pinstriping on the tender.

Sigman site - Photographer and date unknown

Photographer and date unknown

While all three of the BC&G Consolidations that were in service when the line closed in 1965 have survived, engine #4 has faired the best, by far.  At the present time she is owned by the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spence, NC.  For a number of years she was in regular tourist service there on a small loop of track.  The two photos above were taken in 1995 at a "BC&G Reunion Day" organized to celebrate the 30th anniversary of #4 final revenue run from Swandale to Dundon.  The engine was relettered for the BC&G courtesy of a large magnetic sign on the tender and diamond logos on the cab.  The cab windows were reversed so the green showed on the outside as the BC&G engines had green cab windows as is visible in the top photo on this page.  The number plate under the headlight is a reproduction made for this occassion.  About 6 were made and were sold to participants of the weekend event.  I have one in my collection and it is one of my most prized memoribilia items.  Both photos by Brooks Stover.

While this is not a very clear rendition of this photo, I've included because it is one of the few color photos that shows the red tender deck that appeared on the BC&G Consolidations in the later years.  Notice the spiffy cable with red hooks on the tender chassis.

    HELP RESTORE THIS LOCOMOTIVE!! To find out how you can help restore this locomotive and return her to tourist service at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC go to the bottom of this page...

BC&G #4 is undergoing an extensive 4-year rebuilding process that will bring her up to date on federal requirements for operational locomotives.  Donations, large and small, are being sought.  This effort will cost more than $550,000.  The North Carolina Transportation Museum has already raised $150,000 of the amount.  Work is currently underway so funds are urgently needed now.

Important for BC&G fans is that when completed the engine is going to be returned to her ORGINAL BC&G LIVERY!

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN HELP CONTACT

NORTH CAROLINA TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM

P.O. BOX 69

SPENCER, NC  28159

(704) 639-2889 ext. 228

or email Misty.Ebel@ncmail.net

BC&G #4 RESTORATION PROJECT

This photograph by John Phillips reveals the top of the tender deck on #4 as it was in May of 1963.  Note the the backup light is now on a pedestal in the center of the tender deck instead of at the very rear as in the photo above. .

John Phillips photo - May 31, 1963

Two photos by Brooks Stover - 1995