Hi Bob,

No Margaret is correct. The plow received a cosmetic restoration. It can be coupled to a steam engine and run around on the line, but the steam engine is not operable.

If you look at the first and second pictures, you can see that most of the wooden cab was replaced. The original was in pretty tough shape. Unfortunately, getting the steam engine and the big impeller running would require some serious work. My understanding is that since rotary plows are not locomotives, they don't need the full Form 4 treatment, but we are still talking about a machine that has not operated in many decades. The boiler and all of the machinery would need to be inspected and repaired as needed. It would take some resources and certainly some cubic dollars.

While I am sure that the museum would love to be able to actually run the rotary, they don't really have a need for it. Although it snows frequently in Ely...and it gets mighty cold (!!!), it seldom snows enough to need this type of equipment. We are all fortunate that the museum has the space in the engine house to keep it sheltered and protected. As much as I'd like to see it work, just getting those shots of it on the front of a plow extra in the snow were worth the trip out to Ely!

/Kevin