New Ride - anybody know where it came from??

[Glenn Brooks]

Just brought home this nice little Ottaway to join the Backyard Railroad. The prior owners were never able to find a serial number, or determine who first owned it - except that it may have been built and originally delivered to a New York state amusement park in the late 1950's. The locomotive has several modifications from Herb Otaway's production cycle, that make it distinctive - a lot of detailed bolt patterns around the front face of the smokebox, a bronze engine number 9 round medallion casting on the firebox, bronze hand rail on the lower smokebox door, etc...

Anybody remember the engine in its original habitat?? I would love to pin down its early history.

1950's Ottaway - emerging from the rain forest in 2015

image.jpg (42.45 KiB) Viewed 3200 times

Thanks much,
Glenn

[gcarsen]

Glenn,
are you interested in another, its a 4-4-0, I have been asked to help liquidate it,, looks lo be a good chassis mechanically, boiler looks ok at a quick glance. tender, and a couple extra sets of trucks I believe,
Grant

[Glenn Brooks]

Hi Grant, pretty tapped out, but maybe. Can you Pm me with photo or two and some details regarding who built it, gauge, age etc?

Thanks
Glenn

[gcarsen]

Glenn,
just brought it up as your in Washington, and the engine is here in Oregon! it is 12 inch gauge as I recall.
will get some pics of it and post them.
Grant

[Glenn Brooks]

Turns out this is Ottaway # 1065, first sold to James Harris in Wappengers Falls, NY on March 11, 1950.

At some point in the mid to late 1950's Mr. Harris sold the loco to Mr. Frank DeSantis, a noted and accomplished live steam pioneer who was one of the founders of the Adriondaks Live Steam Society (ALS) . Mr. DeSantis rebuilt the loco, adding some distinctive modifications which allow positive identification today, such as the windows in the front of the cab, hand rail and bolt detail on the smokebox, and engine number 9 side lights on the headlight.

In the early '60's Mr. DeSantis sold the RR to Lawrence S. Griffin , a Burlington Northern RR engineer, living in Everett, Washington. Later a fellow who operated a mini golf concession in Bellingham, Wa purchased the RR and set it up with a wooden trestle and some elevated rail to run around his put-put golf course.

In 1985, Mr. Edwin Todd of a Port Orchard, Wa purchased the train and had the boiler rebuilt. He operated the train at his home until this year, when I purchased.

So, it's great to find out these details. Particularily as the loco is in pretty good condition, after all these years. A real testament to the skill, expertise, and dedication of each of the prior owners.

I like to think that documenting the history of these locomotives is a way to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of those who have made it possible for all of us to enjoy building and operating miniature locomotives today.

Postscript: here are a couple of nice photos I just received of the train, taken 1965.

[chooch]

Glenn Brooks,
Very interesting historic story about your locomotive "Barn" find. Must have been some exciting every time you found a little more info about it.
All good luck getting it to look and run as you would like.

chooch

[Glenn Brooks]

Thanks Chooch. Yes, it is amazing how one can uncover the history of these early day locomotives. Very exciting to fill in the pieces of the puzzle. I think of it as Internet Archaeology. And sites like Chaiski offer a venue for preserving the information so it doesn't get lost every time a locomotive changes hands...