By Matthew Young
For HDMedia
The Capitol Complex in Charleston received a new addition Thursday as crane operators lowered a 100,000-pound fireless steam locomotive into a nearly complete outdoor exhibit between the Governor’s Mansion and the Culture Center.
Greenbrier Street has been closed since Wednesday morning in preparation for the machine’s placement.
“It weighs 50 tons,” said Charles Morris III, director of the West Virginia State Museum, referring to the locomotive. “They would pull a lot of heavy railcars, and their own weight is what would give them the power to do that.”
The H.K. Porter Co. 0-4-0 Fireless Locomotive No. 7971 was built in Pittsburgh around 1945 and was last used to move coal cars around the Cabin Creek Power Plant in Kanawha County. It used steam produced in the plant’s stationary boiler house to which it was assigned, rather than generating its own. It is typical of approximately 850 such industrial-use locomotives made between 1910 and 1948. In 1980, the locomotive was donated to the State Museum by Appalachian Power.
Despite being a fireless steam-powered engine, the engine will be displayed alongside a 20-ton coal shuttle car once the exhibit is complete.
The exhibit in which the locomotive will be featured is located just south of the Culture Center and titled “West Virginia: Nature Designs a State that Fuels a Nation.” It was announced in August 2023 by then-Gov. Jim Justice and is part of the “America 250 WV” legacy project, celebrating the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence
The Capitol Complex exhibit will highlight the industries and natural resources central to West Virginia’s industrial role for the nation — coal, oil, gas, iron and steel, clay, chemicals, salt, agriculture, timber, glass, water and railroads. The exhibit includes a scenic pathway and waterfall and will include display cases containing artifacts from each industry.
The exhibit should be completed later this year, according to West Virginia Tourism officials.
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