April 27, 2013
Justin - I, too, have a Pyle National headlight with "winged" number boards
and the heavy cast steel smoke box face mount/bracket removed off Q M4a
6324. There was no number plate with mine, either, just the engine number
painted on in yellow. Although the bracket has holes for a plate, it doesn't
appear that a plate had been on it in a long, long time. It's been my
understanding that many brass number plates were removed from Q steam engines
during World War Two scrap drives and either replaced with cast iron ones or not
at all with the engine number just being painted on the bracket in yellow. A
cast iron number plate off sister M4a No. 6312 was recently offered for sale on
this List for $3,995, but there was no follow-up posted indicating whether
the plate sold or not. As for making cardboard cut-outs/stencils to number
your headlight, fellow List member Charlie Vlk should be able to tell you
what computer font to use for enlarging to the proper size. My headlight
came from the Store Keeper at the Eola, IL. Reclamation Yard in, as I
recall, the summer of 1963. Both the 6316 and 6424 are recorded as having been
sold for scrap in 1961 to Northwestern Steel & Wire in Sterling, IL.
Photographs of the 6316's scrapping were published in Ron Zeil's
book The Twilight Of Steam Locomotives. Two of the M4a's awaiting
dismantling there were pulled off the scrap line and used for a couple of years
as stationary boilers in back of the steel mill along side the river. They were
equipped with extended stacks and large air blowers on the front
ends to create draft for the fireboxes. I photographed both and recall
that their pilot trucks had been torched off to get them around the tight
curves making them 0-10-4's. A sad fate for them both..... When they eventually
got to leaking too much to be of any further use, both were cut-up. Getting
back to the 6324, how its headlight ended-up in Eola some two years
after the entire class has been sold for scrap brings-up the old rumor that at
least one M4a was scrapped at Eola in the early 1960s to determine if it was
cost effective for the Q to dismantle the locomotives themselves. It's been my
understanding that this happened and it cost the Q more in labor than what
the scrap steel was worth at the time, so no other "large" steam engines
went to Eola, all were sold to Northwestern Steel & Wire. It is known
that Q O1a 4992, that had last been used at Galesburg, IL, in hump
yard and switching in the mid-to-late 1950's, did indeed move to Eola for
scrapping in the summer of either 1960 or 61. Perhaps, the 6324 accompanied the
4992, but I've never been able to find official documentation. I'm very
interested in how you came into possession of the 6316's headlight. Must be
a good story there. Please advise - Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope,
AL
In a message dated 4/25/2013 6:38:56 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
tubaman21@yahoo.com writes:
Lists,
We
received the following inquiry off our Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Burlington-Route-Historical-Society/241376535884413)
last night. Please be sure to include Mr. Kerstner in your reply if you
can help.
Hi,
I
have the headlight and headlight mount from CB&Q 6316, and I am looking
for any information or pictures that may exist about this locomotive. I have
already been in contact with Ron Zeil, the gentleman who documented this
locomotive's scrapping in 1961. The number boards were gone before scrapping
so I am looking for what font would they have used for them, and also did this
locomotive have a bronze number plate? There are holes in the mount for one
but all the pictures I have seen it has only had the numbers painted. Thanks
in advance for any help you can offer!
Justin
Kerstner
JK2402@gmail.com
Bryan J.
Howell
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