J Builders plate on ebay

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

The builders plates on the K2's and K2a's were also relocated at the
same time. When the 611-613 came out of Roanoke in 1950, we thought they
simply did not have plates. Later, the plates on all other streamlined
steam began to vanish. Dad and I finally discovered what was happening
when we stood close to a K2 at the Bluefield roundhouse one day. We
could look up above the cylinder and see the plate just below the
running board level. So we looked the same place for a plate on the
611-613, and sure enough, there it was.
     Why? I don't know, but our guess at the time was that it was for
cosmetic purposes. The plate, after all, did break up the smooth surface
of the boiler jacket. There is one other possibility. The K2's, after
all, were more than 30 years old by this time. The casual observer would
not know it unless he read the built date on the builders plate. What
otherwise appeared to be a modern streamlined locomotive was betrayed by
the builders plate. (something like asking a woman how old she really
was). The problem with this explanation is that the first relocated
plates were on the newest J's. Then the plates were relocated on all
existing streamliners. I still think it was cosmetic.       Jim Nichols


nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org wrote:

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