[Attachment(s)
from LZadnichek@aol.com included below]
October 14, 2015
Hol - I think one of the most unusual and sad sights I ever photographed in July 1963 of Q steam at NWS&W in Sterling, IL, was that of two Class M-4-A 2-10-4 type locomotives that had been converted into stationary boilers
to provide steam to the steel mill. In order to move the massive locomotives over industrial trackage with sharp curves to the back of the mill, burners had cut the pony and trailing trucks, as well as all rods, off both locomotives turning them into huge
0-10-0's. Slots had been cut into the front bottom of both smoke boxes for large blowers to create draft as seen on the locomotive at right. A tall smoke stack had been added to that locomotive to carry the smoke upwards. Hanging over the tender in the background
was a conveyor belt used to dump coal into the bunker where the still operative mechanical stoker would've spread it on the grates. Water was provided by a fire hose connected to a hydrant. In back of the smoke stack you can see the steam pipe that would've
connected both M-4-A's to the mill. A really pitiful, but still fascinating, scene. This is not the greatest quality photograph, but then again it was the best I could get shooting "dark" locomotives that were back lighted by the sun. Perhaps, some one else
also photographed these two locomotives with better results and recorded their numbers which for whatever reason I did not. I was told at a later date that both M-4-A's survived in such service for some time, then when their boilers eventually failed, were
cut-up on the spot. Best Regards - Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL