Rocky Road Railway No. 69 (Legions of Steam 2023)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Rocky Road Railway No. 69 is a fictional tender locomotive that is owned by the fictional Rocky Road Railway of Louisville Kentucky. It is based on a H.K. Porter 0-6-0ST saddle tank locomotive, albeit with modifications into a tender locomotive.

In-Universe Lore
Rocky Road Railway No. 69 was originally built as an 0-6-0-ST saddle tank in 1935 by the H. K. Porter Company of Pittsburgh, PA and originally operated on the Suddery and Chesapeake Railroad of Chesapeake, Virginia. It is now owned and operated by the Rocky Road Railway of Louisville, Kentucky.

History
Rocky Road Railway No. 69 was initially put into service as a switcher locomotive for Norfolk and Western to aid in freight switching operations for a brief period of time until it was transferred over to Suddery and Chesapeake to join sister locomotive No. 32 where it was renumbered as the railroad's No. 33 and tasked with pulling moderate sized goods trains across several rural lines owned by the company.

From 1948 until 1956, the locomotive was then moved to the site of the under construction Suddery Passenger Depot where it was temporarily turned into a stationary boiler/generator to provide power and heating during the summer and winter months respectively. It was later returned to the rails for another eleven years before it retired in 1967 to a GE diesel switcher.

After its retirement on May 23, 1967, it was sold and moved to the Wanamaker, Kempton and Southern Railroad in Kempton, Pennsylvania where it was put on static display from 1967-1972.

In 1972, #33 was purchased by the Stonycreek Railway in Huntsville, AL, and was originally considered as a display piece as the railroad reportedly declined the idea of buying more steam switchers. However, railroad workers were also intrigued by the idea of the possible work No. 33 could perform as it initially seemed to be fit for hauling regular passenger excursions; this possibility led to it being purchased nonetheless.

Contrary to expectations, however, an insufficient oil and water capacity meant the locomotive had a range too short for it to go fully around the railroad and back. It was instead reserved for switching and occasional test runs as railroad employees would have to deal with the unpleasant habit of having to regularly re-fill on water at Huntsville Station.

Later in 1976, When Rocky Road Railway manager Edward P. E. Bush was looking for permission to acquire the former Suddery and Chesapeake No. 32 on loan, Stonycreek approached him with the idea of giving away #33 as a converted tender locomotive as the latter railroad had grown furious of the engine's tendency to run short of fuel and water by this point. Bush nevertheless agreed to the arrangement, even though it might have been clear for Stonycreek to buy a larger locomotive not intended for switching. It later underwent a complete conversion into a tender locomotive at the Charleston Locomotive Shops in Lancaster, PA before being acquired in 1979 by the Rocky Road Railway. After joining the railroad on 9th May 1980, #33 was renumbered as Rocky Road Railway No. 69 and it received a subsequent repaint.

Design
Rocky Road Railway No. 69 was formerly an H.K. Porter 0-6-0ST tank locomotive built for the Suddery and Chesapeake Railroad of Chesapeake, Virginia. The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad, which served the dockyards in Brooklyn, New York, also owned similar H.K. Porter locomotives. Most of these were saddle tanks that shared the same overall design as Rocky Road Railway No. 69 prior to its rebuild and overhaul into a tender locomotive.

In the initial conversion, the locomotive had it's water and oil tanks removed and it only received a crudely made Vanderbilt tender. The tender itself was likely modified from a tank car, having a rectangular fuel tank set into the front rather than a bunker for solid fuel. This may have been because the locomotive was left as an oil burning steam locomotive rather than be converted to burn coal due to the railroad's access to abundant fuel oil and kerosene reserves. In 1989 and 1997 respectively, the locomotive underwent further modifications at the Strasburg Rail Road's workshops. These modifications included the replacement of the original Vanderbilt tender with a rectangular tender that accommodated fuel and water tanks way larger in capacity than the original saddle and oil tanks. The locomotive still remains an oil burner today, even after the subsequent modifications it had gotten.