Number Boards on Y6 2156

[NW Mailing List]

As one who ye tinker'eth with old engine number boards, I would like to ask how the number boards for the 2156 were rebuild when the engine came to Roanoke from St Louis ?

Specifically, what material was used for the number cut-outs sandwiched between the inside opal glass and the front clear glass ?

The really nice ones (not N&W) were hand cut from Copper sheet, using tin snips. The number boards off N&W Eng 306 (an RS-3) have a cut-out sheet fabricated from something like poster-board or very thin linoleum. (Yes, that was a Roanoke shops re-numbering job, changing the engine's original number boards as supplied by American Locomotive.) Another individual who owns an N&W headlight tells me his number cut-outs are made from black paper.

It is almost unbelievable that the N&W, which did everything else with such mechanical perfection, would cheap-out on the number boards, and use just black paper.

So, how were the number boards restored for the 2156? Anyone know what material was used for the "sandwich" ?

-- abram burnett
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