New York Central 5383 - Olcott, Illinois by Richard Jenkins

Sitting on an overgrown siding in the American Product Recycling Industries, Ltd. scrapyard in Olcott, Illinois is New York Central J3 Hudson no. 5383.   "It's incredible," says Tom Fullery, president of the newly-formed Friends Of Olcott Locomotive Society, "The rumors about one of these things surviving have been going around for years.   It's like the Holy Grail of steam locomotives, and here it is!   It's been sitting here all this time."  

The engine's recent "discovery" is a result of a change in ownership of the scrapyard.   "The old man was very tight-lipped about it," says Fullery "Apparently he didn't want the place crawling with railfans, and it must have worked since nobody had any idea the engine was here until he sold the place. Turns out he really was a railfan at heart, though."  

The group hopes to persuade the scrapyard's new owner to donate the locomotive, and plans a full restoration to steam for excursions over her former NYC (now CSX) stomping grounds.   While Fullery admits the project is ambitious, he insists that it's not impossible.   "The engine is in surprisingly good shape considering all the years she's been sitting outdoors.   Why shouldn't we restore her?" he reasons, "I mean, hey, they're restoring a Big Boy, aren't they?"