PRINTER'S NO. 1344
No. 99 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, RHOADES AND MELLOW, SEPTEMBER 28, 1999
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, SEPTEMBER 28, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Commissioners of the County of Saint Louis,
2 Missouri, to release the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
3 Railroad's 4-4-0 Camelback Steam Engine No. 952 for its
4 return to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton,
5 Pennsylvania.
6 WHEREAS, In 1911 the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W)
7 Railroad's 4-4-0 Camelback Steam Engine No. 952 was the only
8 engine on the first train to use the Lackawanna Cut-Off on a run
9 from Hoboken, New Jersey, to Scranton, Pennsylvania; and
10 WHEREAS, In 1938 Steam Engine No. 952, the only surviving
11 DL&W Railroad steam passenger locomotive, was donated to the
12 Railway and Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) by the
13 management of DL&W Railroad, which recognized its historical
14 significance; and
15 WHEREAS, Until 1951, Steam Engine No. 952 was operated from,
16 maintained at and stored in the DL&W Railroad Roundhouse in
17 Scranton, Pennsylvania; and
18 WHEREAS, Steam Engine No. 952 was later loaned by the R&LHS
19 to the National Museum of Transport in the City of Saint Louis,
1 Missouri, which subsequently sold the site and equipment to the
2 County of Saint Louis, Missouri, without the knowledge,
3 notification or consent of the R&LHS; and
4 WHEREAS, The National Museum of Transport and Saint Louis
5 County failed to comply with the conditions under which the loan
6 was made by the R&LHS and DL&W Railroad management; and
7 WHEREAS, The Commissioners of Saint Louis County have
8 steadfastly refused to release Steam Engine No. 952 to its
9 owners for return to DL&W Railroad territory; and
10 WHEREAS, The R&LHS, on May 30, 1996, voted to consider
11 transferring ownership of Steam Engine No. 952 to any museum or
12 group that would:
13 (1) protect it against further deterioration;
14 (2) restore and conserve it for at least static display;
15 and
16 (3) exhibit it, at least on a loan basis, in the
17 territory where it was operated by the DL&W Railroad;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, Steam Engine No. 952 is the only DL&W Railroad
20 engine that was maintained in its original configuration
21 following the railroad's decision to use electric engines; and
22 WHEREAS, The DL&W Railroad Roundhouse in Scranton,
23 Pennsylvania, which has now been transformed into Steamtown
24 National Historic Site with the facilities to store Steam Engine
25 No. 952 under cover, restore it, make it operational and make it
26 available for use by various historic rail preservation groups
27 in its home territory, including New Jersey, New York and
28 Pennsylvania, is the most appropriate location for Steam Engine
29 No. 952 to be housed; therefore be it
30 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
19990S0099R1344 - 2 -
1 memorialize the Commissioners of the County of Saint Louis,
2 Missouri, to expedite the prompt release of the DL&W Railroad's
3 4-4-0 Camelback Steam Engine No. 952 to its rightful owner, the
4 R&LHS, for its return to DL&W Railroad territory; and be it
5 further
6 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
7 the Commissioners of the County of Saint Louis, Missouri, and to
8 the presiding officers of the Legislature and the Governor of
9 the State of Missouri.
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