By Railfan & Railroad Staff

The Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad announced that it has purchased a two-truck Heisler locomotive that has been stashed away in storage for more than 20 years. The rare locomotive, originally built as Fisher Lumber 2, last ran in the 1980s. 

Officials with the D&GV, which operates the Cass Scenic Railroad for the State of West Virginia, said they hope to eventually restore the locomotive to operation. Details about that plan will be announced at a later date. 

The 42-ton locomotive was built for the Fisher Lumber Co. of Wisner, La., and was later purchased by Forest Products Chemical Co. of Memphis, Tenn. During the late 1960s, the Heisler was acquired by the now-defunct Dry Gulch Junction tourist railroad in Wytheville, Va., where it saw occasional operation through the early 1980s before spending time in Florida, Alabama, and eventually Thomas, W.Va., where it has been stored since 2002. 

While the locomotive has no previous connection to Cass, it is only two construction numbers apart from one of its other locomotives, Heisler 6, so it is possible they may have shared the shop floor during construction.