CWCY 1747

A brief history about an interesting locomotive.  Truth be told, I probably have a few facts wrong in here.  

I have posted hundreds of photographs on the internet of Caldwell County Railroad (cwcy) locomotive # 1811, and more recently, a handful of videos.  They seem to get quite a few views mainly because CWCY 1811 and 1747 are two of the few remaining locomotives still in the "family lines" paint scheme from the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.  I always feel a little saddened by the fact that I am always photography 1811, the Caldwell County Railroad does infact own two of these interesting locomotives, but they mainly use 1811.   It didnt use to be like that though, in fact, up until about a week or two before I started documenting the Caldwell County Railroad, CWCY 1747 was their main locomotive and there was a lot of speculation on the internet about whether or not 1811 was even operational or not.  One day in the spring of 2006, the 1747 caught on fire while heading towards Lenoir.  After the fire was put out the railroad brought 1811 up from Hickory to retrieve the stranded train and finish their switching duties for the day.  My friend Ben Earp has a handful of photos on RRPictureArchives.net from that day.

After that the railroad started using 1811 everyday, do not know, maybe the 1747 needed to be repaired or inspected before being operated again.  But that fire happened about a week or so before I started photographing the line.   In the three years since that event, 1747 has gained a little more character as well.  One evening in 2007 (or was it 2008?) the locomotive was vandalized, some one stole the horn, number board, and if I am not mistaken, a few other parts of the locomotive.  The horn has obviously been replaced since that incident, and I am told that the locomotive is still inspected and is in fact operational and could be used if needed, but now the thought to be extinct 1811 handles most of the work for the Caldwell County Railroad.  Maybe one day in the future I will get a chance to photograph the 1747 while she is actually fired up and leading a train.