Brian,
My best guess is that #3 is in extremely bad condition. The reason the locomotive is disassembled today is that it was left in the engine house in a partially disassembled state when the railroad and mine shut down in 1945. A new boiler had been purchased for locomotive #4 sometime prior to 1940. However, they decided to scrap #4 in 1940, and the new boiler sat unused on a flatcar outside of the engine house. I am not exactly sure why they decided to scrap #4 after purchasing a new boiler for it, but there was some history of significant problems with #4 going back for several years. I would be curious to know if somebody here has more information about why #4 was deemed to be a “lemon” so to speak.
Some time after, or perhaps in conjunction with the decision to scrap #4, Quincy Mining decided to use the new boiler intended for #4 on locomotive #3, which was nearly identical to #4. When Quincy Mining shut down in 1945, #3 was undergoing repairs to replace its boiler with the new boiler that was purchased for #4. However, the shutdown suspended that work and the disassembled #3 along with the three other locomotives, and the new boiler sitting outside on the flatcar sat where they were left until 1976. At that time, locomotives #2 and 5 were removed from the engine house and placed on display near the preserved Quincy hoist display. Locomotive #6 was leased to the Pine Creek RR in New Jersey.
Pine Creek had also intended to lease #3, but at the last minute, they discovered that the new boiler for #4 would not mount on the frame of #3 without some major re-working of #3’s frame. So they did not take #3. I am not sure why this frame issue was a showstopper, considering the overall magnitude of adding the new boiler to #3 plus rebuilding the rest of the locomotive in the process. It is true that the replacement boiler was new and in good condition, but the rest of #3 was probably in the same general condition as #2 and #5. And if you study the external condition of these two locomotives today where they sit on display, it is stunning to discover just how bad their condition was in their last days of service. Quincy apparently put a lot of faith in arc welding.
Shortly after the three locomotives were removed from the engine house, the pieces of #3, along with the boiler for #4, were either sold or leased to the Huckleberry RR. I have seen photograph of the disassembled #3 at Huckleberry, and perhaps someone can find them and post them here.
