D&H Shark #1216 is moved!

Here is a movie of a recent (December 02, 2021) move of Delaware & Hudson RF-16 shark #1216. 

As D&H fans know, their two sharks (#1205, 1216) were built for the New York Central Railroad, then traded in to GE and later sent to the Monogahela Railway. Sold for scrap, the D&H purchased them in 1974 by exchanging $12,000 worth of metal scrap boxcars for the pair. Under the care of President Sterzing and maintenance of Chief Road Foreman of Engines Marv Davis, they worked various jobs including excursion trains, the Slatepicker, and road assignments. 

In 1978, with the D&H under new management, they were sold to the Castolite Corporation (a leasing company) and ended up on the Michigan Northern Railway. After #1205 was damaged in a snow accident, the pair were sent to the Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad. They have been there for over 40 years, and owner John Larkin has kept them hidden (and protected) from the weather, vandals, and a scraper's torch. He announced in 2020 that upon his death they would be sent to museums for future preservation.

We all have dreams for what we would do if we won the lottery. One of mine has always been to purchase and restore these two engines. I don't know why... they were retired and hidden away years before I was even born and I have never seen them run. My favorite steam locomotive is Arcade & Attica Railroad #14, a Baldwin ten wheeler that I rode behind once or twice as a child before it too was locked up in 1988 in an engine house for protection and perhaps future restoration. And who did the A&A buy it from in 1963? Ironically, it was the Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad. 

So, if I won the lottery (and my wife let me) my money would go to restoring several engines that passed through the E&LS railroad's roster. Small world, eh?