SCRANTON --It's not every day you see a train off the tracks roaming through Scranton's South Side.
A 1951 General Electric Diesel Locomotive is in the process of being moved from New Jersey to the Steamtown National Historic Site. Decades ago, it was used on the New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O & W.
"This was built for the O&W, the O & W used it to eliminate some steam engines. They had five of these," said Norman Barrett, one of Steamtown's volunteers."I have a real passion for the O & W. When I was a young boy, the first time I was ever invited into a locomotive was an O&W . It led me to a career in railroading for 31 years."
Crews spent Wednesday morning unloading the train engine off a flatbed and onto the tracks in Scranton.
Only two of the locomotives still exist, with the other being housed at a museum in Georgia.
The diesel engine will be housed at Steamtown. It's being restored by its new owner, The Ontario and Western Historical Society.
Steamtown, along with the owner, hope to get the locomotive fully restored over the next couple of years and even possibly get it back into service.
"It means a lot," commented Tim Kane of Scranton, "It means a lot to me because Scranton is a historic town, always was and always will be. We live by our past but we look to the future so that's our anchor!"
The goal is to get the locomotive back into service at the Steamtown site in the next five years.
The O&W RHS, Inc. is a non profit organization.
Donations to help restore the Locomotive can be set to:
Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society, Inc.
PO Box 713
Middletown, NY 10940