A nice birthday present

[kimv1972]

Here is a park train story rarely heard and almost unbelievable.  Arthur LaSalle, son of a sugar fortune near Baton Rouge, received a train for his birthday from his mother.  A rather large toy train.  It was a beautiful historical full sized standard gage 4-4-0 from a line in Texas, I think.  That was when Arthur was 19.  Anyhow, Arthur was drafted into the service and while he was gone, his mom died.  There was no one to pay the rent on the storage of the loco, so the scrap dealer got it and cut it up.  Arthur took the scrap dealer to court.  He first called Baldwin Locomotive Works to see what it would cost to replicate the loco in the late 1950's.  They told him around three million bucks for a custom built job like that.  So Arthur sued for that plus a million or two in pain and suffering (I would be in pain, too!).  He won.  The scrap guy was tearing up sugar lines at the time, so he paid Arthur partially be giving him locos.  Albert (now at Cedar Point), Maude L (now at Disneyland), and Melodia (ex-Carowinds) were among them.  The suit also gave Arthur enough cash to go collecting other narrow gagers he could find, like the Carbon Limestone engine that is now the big George R at Cedar Point, as well as two Carbon Limestones in Hawaii and one at Dry Gulch.  I had heard this story years ago and didn't really believe it.  A few weeks ago, I spent an evening with a fellow who knew all those guys back then.  Yep, it was true.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Interesting story, thanks for sharing!

[beastfan11]

I had no idea. Love this. Thanks for sharing!