By Eric Berger
Another venerable Alco diesel has arrived at the critical juncture between imminent scrapping and preservation, its fate is now a matter of whether enough donations arrive before the torches do. The engine is Lakeville, Avon & Livonia 46, which the railroad has offered to donate for preservation if it can be removed from storage in Cohocton, N.Y., prior to its date with the scrapper.
Leading the effort to save the engine is Charlie Monte Verde, who wants to make it a key component of the Flour-By-Rail Legacy Project. That project aims to illustrate and preserve elements of Buffalo’s industrial heritage in the Silo City waterfront area. The locomotive is the former Buffalo Creek 46, a unit with an interesting history that spent much of its first three decades hauling the raw materials and finished products of General Mills, which went to breakfast tables across the nation.
“We are eternally grateful that the LA&L is willing to donate BCK 46 to our 501c3 foundation,” said Monte Verde in announcing the drive to raise at least $30,000 on the GoFundMe platform. As this story was published, the fundraiser had reached $20,000 of its goal.
Nearly 50 years ago, Buffalo Creek was among the railroads that applied a red, white and blue paint scheme to one of its nine Alco diesels as the United States prepared for the 1976-77 Bicentennial celebration. Chosen for the honor was BCK 46, a 1000-hp Alco S-2 built in 1947. The paint job would outlast the railroad and the celebration, becoming CR 9662 in 1976 as BCK followed parent railroads Lehigh Valley and Erie-Lackawanna into the Conrail merger.
In 1980 the engine was rescued from a Conrail scrap line to become New York & Lake Erie 46, still in its Bicentennial scheme and restored to its original number. Next, it went to Ontario Midland, where the patriotic colors finally disappeared under a short-lived coat of black and yellow paint resembling its original BCK appearance. By 1989, it had become Tioga Central 14 and received its fourth and current paint job, the Cornell red of a Lehigh Valley-inspired scheme. It spent three decades on the now closed heritage line before being sold in 2018 to LAL, which moved it to subsidiary Bath & Hammondsport, where it is currently stored in serviceable condition.
Monte Verde hopes to move the engine by rail, but it will need a pair of roller bearing trucks and coupler blocking to meet current interchange requirements, contributing to the estimated cost of the move. A highway move is also possible. If the effort succeeds, the engine will return to the NY&LE, where it is expected to be put into excursion service later this year.
Trustees of the sponsoring foundation have pledged a $2,500 donation when public contributions reach $10,000, and a private donor has pledged another $5,000 when the total reaches $15,000. Contributions can be made directly to their GoFundMe account, and checks or cash can be sent to Flour-by-Rail Legacy Project at 630 Ohio Street, Buffalo, NY, 14203.
The foundation has already acquired flour boxcar Buffalo Creek 1424, which is now at the Silo City site awaiting restoration. If the effort to save BCK 46 does not succeed, donors can choose between having their contributions refunded or applied to restoration of the boxcar.
