The engine was original built for the Pennsylvania Railroad with a high short hood. That hood housed dynamic breaks and steam generator equipment for heating passenger cars. The reason for this unusual equipment was to allow it to pull passenger trains in a pinch, and it was one of a batch of five locomotives designed with these unusual features. Because of its appearance, they were nicknamed "hammerheads".
The engine was later part of the Penn Central merger, and through some paperwork exchanges it became a Lehigh Valley engine. Now numbered #211, it was used in western New York mostly in the Buffalo area but it did make it east to near the Rochester area. It lasted into the Conrail era and was selected to be part of the RS3 rebuilding program in their DeWitt shops in Syracuse. Much of the internals were removed and replaced with EMD parts. Conrail #9920, as it was renumbered, worked in Pennsylvania steel mills and in 1981 was stored. In the shot below from November 04, 1979, in which it still is probably undergoing rebuilding (notice the shiny paint), it is odd to see the cab number is incomplete.
A year later, this shot taken in Reading, PA in 1980 shows the engine evidencing wear and tear. But at least the cab number is complete!
Five years later, it was purchased by the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum and it can be seen (and ridden behind) there today... though it was repainted in L.V. colors again. The postcard below shows #211 on the track connecting the R&GVRM and the nearby (and located at the other end of the track) New York Museum of Transportation.
I can't say exactly why I like it, but I am always drawn to local railroad subjects. This engine isn't exactly "local", as it likely never made it into Rochester directly (except when it was being transferred to Syracuse), but it just feels homey. A few models of the engine were produced, but none that I know of were painted for Conrail. Perhaps it will go on my project bucket list for some day...
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