THE PERILS OF RAILWAY PRESERVATION.

There might be more ferroequinologically significant rolling stock extant than there are resources to conserve them, as we have learned watching local preservation railways having to choose among projects.  But when the first successful mainline electric locomotive in the United States is still extant, if endangered, an all-hands effort to conserve it might be in order.

The units are NYC Class S-1 (2-D-2 configuration) No. 100, built in 1904, and Class T-3a (B-B+B-B configuration) No. 278, built in 1926. Built by a consortium of American Locomotive Co. of Schenectady, N.Y., and General Electric Co., they are among the last of their kind.

No. 100, built as No. 6000, is especially historic, with the museum calling it “the world’s first mainline electric locomotive.” It was the prototype of a 47-unit fleet that made possible NYC’s 600-volt DC third-rail electrification, including the opening of the 1913 Grand Central Terminal complex. That project was prompted by passage of laws that mandated electrification after smoky conditions from steam locomotives caused a Jan. 8, 1902, collision in NYC’s Park Avenue Tunnel. Fifteen people died and many were injured in what became New York City’s worst train accident.

The other electric, No. 278, is the sole survivor of a 36-unit fleet in a second generation of locomotives used on NYC commuter and freight lines around New York City.

There are production model S motors in preservation but not operable outside St. Louis, and at the Illinois Railway Museum.  The design lives on in several series of tinplate electric trains by Lionel and other manufacturers, and one occasionally appears in Cold Spring Shops Festive Season videos.  The sole T-3 motor survived thanks to a decision by Penn Central or Conrail to replace an even older Pennsylvania Railroad DD-1 motor on the wire train working the East River tunnels.  A third-rail motor could use Long Island's third rail, and the overhead wire de-energized for work.  That DD-1 therefore made it into preservation at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

The preservationists that first acquired the two New York Central motors, however, had trouble raising money to keep a railroad museum going, and the site where they were stored had other possible uses.

The future is looking increasingly grim for a pair of rare New York Central electrics stranded at an old power plant near Albany, N.Y.

Earlier this year, it looked as if the owner of the electric motors, the Danbury Railway Museum, was going to be able to move them in a matter of weeks. But since then the costs have increased dramatically and the president of the group said if they’re not moved in a month, they could be lost for good.

The Danbury Railway Museum acquired S-1 6000, built by Alco/GE in 1904, and T-3a 278, built in 1926, back in 2013, but had been unable to move them until this year when a developer told them they needed to move. The land the electrics are sitting on is supposed to be turned into a wind turbine tower factory. Earlier this year, Danbury was able to raise some funds for the move that at the time was expected to cost upwards of $160,000. The museum had even secured R.J. Corman to break the electrics apart and move them out in pieces because the route they need to travel is soft and may not be able to handle the weight.

But then work on the site came to a halt, in part because of a lawsuit from local residents trying to fight the construction of the windmill farm and because the contractor needed additional permits. Work resumed on the property on November 15 and when it did, the contractor told the museum that the time to move the electrics had come. But now, the cost of such a move has increased dramatically. In hopes of getting more time to raise money, the museum asked if the electrics could be moved to another spot on the property temporarily. But the contractor said that was not feasible.

The previous preservation effort also involved some diesel locomotives and coaching stock, which were scrapped at that location.

The two motors have been moved to more solid ground for future trucking to Danbury.  The museum estimates the cost of disassembly and movement at around $200,000.  Consider a contribution to that effort.