A little Lionel LionChief "docksider" assumes the mantle of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad No. 316, a remarkable engine that began life as an 0-8-0 at Patterson, NJ, in 1865, and ended its days at Newark, NJ, in 1946. In 1865, she was a large and powerful locomotive built to challenge the Appalachians west of Cumberland; by 1946, she was a quaint anachronism switching the docks in New York City as an 0-6-0. Her remarkable tale is told by Ed Bommer in his fascinating essay, "A Long and Dutiful Life, the life of B&O 316":
http://members.trainweb.com/be...co/bo26lifeof316.pdf
Still vital and well maintained in 1946, the B&O decided to discard her. She was scrapped by Naporano in Newark, not far from where she was built. She had been supplanted by generation upon generation of more powerful and glamorous locomotives, her tasks assumed ultimately by the likes of the glorious EM-1, then diesels. Would that the B&O had thought to squirrel this gem away at Mount Clare - but they didn't. Yea, how the mighty are fallen. A few more decals, some Dulcote, a little weathering and she'll be as good as old - in O Gauge.
