Nassau, Oyster Bay to fund steam engine fix

Students from the Joseph M. Barry Career and Technical Educational Center in Westbury and volunteers work on a restoration project at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum. (March 12, 2011) Credit: T.C. McCarthy
The Town of Oyster Bay and Nassau County will combine to fund a $524,000 restoration of a historic steam engine for display at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum.
Town board members Tuesday approved the agreement, which calls for the town to contribute $222,000. The county will pay $262,000, and the nonprofit museum, $40,000.
Known as Locomotive No. 35, the train was built in Pennsylvania in 1928 and ran on Long Island through 1955. As one of the region’s last steam locomotives, it was displayed for several years at what is now the county’s Eisenhower Park.
It has been stored, in pieces, in the railroad museum in downtown Oyster Bay.
“Nobody has seen this engine in its original form since 1978,” said museum chairman Ben Jankowski. “This is certainly a process that has been eagerly anticipated.”
Above: Students from the Joseph M. Barry Career and Technical Educational Center in Westbury and volunteers work on a restoration project at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum in March.

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