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Ohio Central Donates ‘Super 7’ to Age of Steam

Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary Ohio Central has donated GE B23-7R number 4092 to the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum. Photo Courtesy of Age of Steam.

Ohio Central Donates ‘Super 7’ to Age of Steam

By M.T. Burkhart

Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary Ohio Central has donated GE B23-7R 4092 to the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum.

“The Age of Steam is grateful to the Ohio Central for the donation of this significant locomotive to our collection,” Pete Poremba, AOSR Executive Director, said in a release. “In preserving this locomotive, we preserve the memories, history, and experiences of countless railroaders, the railroads where this locomotive served, the fans of those railroads, and the uniqueness of this class of locomotive.”

The locomotive is being preserved because the museum’s founder, the late Jerry Joe Jacobson, had a particular fondness for this model and tried to reunite the entire class of 11 former Monongahela Railway locomotives.

Constructed for Western Pacific in 1972 as a GE U23B, it was rebuilt in 1990 as a B23-7R for the Monongahela and survived when the coal-hauling railroad was absorbed by Conrail in 1993. Referred to as “Super 7’s,” they were numbered 2300 to 2310 on the Monongahela. Following the Conrail split, the locomotives went to CSX and Norfolk Southern before migrating to various shortlines and regionals, including Ohio Central, New Castle Industrial, Arkansas-Oklahoma Railroad, and Providence & Worcester.

The locomotive was part of 70 older units G&W was required to scrap or upgrade as part of a consent decree over federal Clean Air Act violations.

This article was posted on: October 23, 2024