Having grown up near Pasco, WA, I had the good fortune of meeting and befriending several former NP guys. Back in the mid-1980s, I asked one of them why the NP only donated smaller steam engines and how sad it was that an A-3 or Z-8 wasn't preserved. I remember he was very frank with his reply. He told me that the NP was very, very proud of its large 'modern' steam locomotives and really wanted to donate some of those big engines to larger cities along its route. Unfortunately, none of the cities actually wanted one of those big engines in their city parks, something they thought of as a great big eyesore. They all wanted little tea-kettles that reminded them of their Victorian youth. Despite NP's desire to save some of those big engines, there simply weren't any takers.

Ryan