Re: Forced retirement of the 483 - why?

To add to what Russ posted, 489 was chosen for the next engine to be overhauled because she had the best running gear of the remaining 480's, and hers was pretty marginal. Both 483 (in 1977) and 484 (1980) were set aside because of badly worn tires. When the big trade happened with the 482 and 497, the D&S was offered either 482 or 483. 482 was chosen because 483 had a pretty bad rear tube sheet knuckle (where the back tube sheet curves over into the crown sheet) that would have needed replacing. 482 did not have this issue. However, as part of the deal, the D&S got what every parts the 483 had that 482 was missing in the trade. The tender that went with 482 was 482's frame with 483's tank.

As someone above noted, there is nothing wrong with 483 that hasn't been addressed on other engines at one time or another.