
This is SP 745 which was a static park display in Audubon Park across from Tulane University in New Orleans. A really dedicated group of rail historians, the Louisiana Steam Train Association, pulled her from the park and restored her.
I was blessed to be the engineer that got to take the old girl out on the mainline for the first time in December 2004 and in March 2005 we took her and the Louisiana Bicentennial History Train out on a 1000 mile, 25 city tour through Louisiana and western Mississippi. During this trip, the locomotive consumed about 16 - 18 gallons of oil and 100 gallons of water per mile. The best part was the living history the old locomotive attracted. It's original home district was the Southern Pacific mainline between New Orleans, LA and Houston, TX. We spent two days in Lafayette, LA where the main locomotive shops are located and I got to spend time with several old master mechanics that used to work on her when she was in regular mainline service. In DeQuincy, LA, we arrived for their annual Railroad Days celebration and I got to spend an hour and a half talking to the first black locomotive engineer in the state of Louisiana which was fascinating. In Shreveport, LA, they did an early morning TV show and I got to spend some time with a retired engineer in his 90's that used to run this class locomotive when it was still in service.
I kept a journal of the trip and if anyone is interested in reading it, go to http://www.backroombluegrassband.com and click on the "Bill's Steam Journal" link at the bottom of the page.
Come down and visit us at the Big South Fork Scenic Railway in Stearns, KY! http://www.bsfsry.com