By Justin Franz

Three months after a grassroots effort saved it from the scrapper’s torch, a Boston & Maine SW1 is being prepared for a move to its new home in Connecticut. The Danbury Railway Museum recently took possession of Boston & Maine 1127 and organizers of the effort to save it said the locomotive will be moved from its current home in the coming months. 

Built in 1953, locomotive 1127 was unique in that it was the only SW1 on the B&M roster outfitted with MU (multiple unit) control, which allowed it to be operated in tandem with other diesel locomotives. For years, the locomotive was assigned to branches in central New Hampshire. In the 1990s, it was sold to the Luzerne & Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. 

Earlier this year, preservationlists learned that the locomotive was going to be scrapped in a matter of days and launched a GoFundMe page that raised the $65,000 needed to buy and move the locomotive in a matter of days. The Danbury Railway Musuem is now working on a plan to move it east by rail. The museum is also raising money for its continued maintenance.  

Connor Maher, one of the people who launched the original GoFundMe effort, said the museum plans on initially putting the locomotive into the original black B&M scheme to take advantage of its current paint. However, longterm plans call for it to be painted in B&M marron and gold.