BELLVILLE — An old railroad steam engine went through Mount Vernon on Tuesday afternoon. But it wasn’t on the Ohio Central Railroad tracks. It was a trailer headed for the business complex at I-71 and Ohio 97 northwest of Bellville. It looks like a derelict, really in bad shape.
But in its new home it will be spruced up and placed on railroad tracks hooked to a 1926 mail-baggage car and a 1941 caboose that owner Terry Byrne has had in place for about two years. Byrne is a rail fan — a class of people who enjoy railroading. And he felt old steam railroad locomotives should be saved for future generations to enjoy.
That partially justifies all the trouble and expense of moving this 87-ton behemoth. There is a Web site listing old steam engines sitting in scrap yards and Byrne found this one in Roanoke, Va. Byrne purchased the smallest engine of several in the yard because they would be able to transport it on the road. It is a 1903 Baldwin manufactured in Philadelphia, a 2-8-0 wheel layout
Just getting to it was a major chore. Trees had to be cut down to get close to the engine and then a road had to be dozed to get a crane and trailer close enough to load. Byrne has a scrapbook full of 8-by-10-inch color photos depicting each part of the project.
The engine was too heavy, too big, too tall and too wide to transport as it sat. So he had to remove the cab, smokestack, steam housing and then took off the front wheels and the side drive rods to the main wheels. With the weight down to 75 tons it could be hauled over the road legally. All of the pieces taken off were trucked to Bellville earlier.
A heavy transfer company, Miller Transfer Moving of Rootstown, was selected for the move. A 13-axle trailer spread the load over the pavement and a big truck moved the load without difficulty. The site of this project is off Ohio 97, up a hill on an area Byrne has leveled. A crane was to be brought in today to transfer the engine from the trailer to the tracks.
Next, Byrne says with a smile, comes the job of putting all those the parts back on the engine. He plans to build a railroad themed restaurant-diner for rail fans to enjoy.
