Big Rivers Electric Corp. in Hawesville, Ky., donated two sets of Buckeye trucks to Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. in support of the group’s plans to restore to operation the former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 Kanawha No. 2716. The group plans to use the six-axle, roller bearing-equipped trucks to replace the original friction bearing-equipped trucks underneath No. 2716’s tender.
Kentucky steam group President Chris Campbell says the donated trucks will be used to move No. 2716’s tender from the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Ky., to the group’s facilities at CSX Transportation’s former car shop at Ravenna, more than 100 miles away. With support from Big Rivers, the steam group took possession of the Buckeye trucks Jan. 17, and they were delivered to Kentucky Railway Museum, where they will be swapped out with the original trucks.
“The Buckeye trucks are slightly smaller than the originals, but this gives us the ability to move 2716 to Ravenna without having to convert the trucks on the tender to roller bearings,” Campbell says.
Friction bearings are prohibited on trackage owned by many rail carriers, including CSX, across whose track No. 2716 will have to travel from New Haven to Ravenna.
Campbell says the donation of the trucks, resulting in the ability to move 2716 and its tender to Ravenna, will likely save the steam group between $90,000 and $100,000 on the No. 2716 restoration project.
“By moving it to Ravenna, it gives us the ability to convert the original trucks in our shops, rather than trying to do it out in the open at the museum and without shop tools. That’s where the savings is,” Campbell said. “We can’t thank Big Rivers enough for what they’ve done for us, which is much more than just donating a car.”
Campbell says the trucks were located by a Kentucky steam group member. He says the trucks were under a depressed center flatcar, which had been derailed and abandoned on the property of Big Rivers’ facilities in Hawesville after it was used to deliver a large generator. The trucks were removed, and the car, which was built in 1945 and had sat idle for more than 40 years, was scrapped on-site to help pay for the trucking of the wheelsets to New Haven.
Campbell says the plan is to add the original trucks back under No. 2716’s tender once the conversion to roller bearings is complete, but there is a chance the donated Buckeye trucks could stay on long term.
