folks

Railroad are a part of preservation called industrial archaeology. In simple terms it means that many replaceable parts make up the whole. The machines are intended

to serve a function. when they no longer do that it means parts are repaired or replaced. During their working lives many parts are replaced. When they are original is when a locomotive is really special. Take the North Pacific Coast Sonoma at the California State Railroad Museum; when it was being studied, they found the 100 year old cab was still the original Baldwin product from 1870s. A real treasure there.

Any number of times on this Forum; we have read of the assorted number parts in a locomotive class turning up in a given locomotive. The oldest parts are the most historic parts as far as I am concerned.

Ted Miles, Member Colorado Railroad Museum