Sugarcreek, Ohio – Measuring more than 108 feet long, a lightweight of 308 tons, amassing 450 tons fully loaded. The massive steam locomotive #643 has been placed on display inside the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum (AoSRM) in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Formerly owned by the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad (B&LE) and operated in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, the towering 2-10-4 #643 joins 23 other rare, old-time steam locomotives, dozens of diesel engines and acres of railroad cars in AoSRM’s vast collection of historic trains.
Constructed in 1944 at the height of World War II, the “War Baby” #643’s boiler generated a whopping 4,700 horsepower to move freight trains loaded with raw iron ore for Pittsburgh blast furnaces and the making of steel to help win the war. Just 10 years later, all B&LE steam locomotives had been scrapped and replaced with new-fangled diesel engines, and #643 was the only B&LE 2-10-4 steamer saved. Spending the next 30 years in railroad storage, the #643 was sold to a private individual who attempted to rebuild it for return to operation, but the task was unsuccessful. Eventually, the railroad tracks around #643 were torn up; it became land-locked and essentially abandoned. There was no way to easily or economically remove the giant locomotive unless a rescuer stepped up. It seemed #643 was doomed to be scrapped, melted down and made into razor blades.
And the rescuer that did step up was the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, an organization – perhaps the only organization — with the personnel, experience, facilities, finances and determination to do the impossible … to save the #643 from becoming 300 tons of scrap metal. The AoSRM purchased the locomotive in August 2019, but it would require a Herculean effort by AoSRM spread across 4 years to prepare #643 for its complicated and difficult removal. The locomotive was disassembled into hundreds of smaller individual parts that could be transported easily to Ohio. Then #643’s huge, stripped-down carcass was separated into 3 major pieces—the empty coal and water tender, the 8-foot diameter boiler, and the massive, 57-foot-long frame with its ten 64-inch driving wheels. The 643’s tender was hauled on a highway truck to the Age of Steam’s beautiful roundhouse. The locomotive’s boiler was separated from its wheels, and then both pieces were transported to Sugarcreek on two heavy-duty flatcars. The final delivery of #643’s pieces and parts to the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum occurred on February 16, 2024. The #643 had been saved in pieces, but it was saved!
AoSRM’s repair crew had been busy working on another steam locomotive in the next shop stall, but they also worked diligently so that #643 was carefully disassembled, successfully transported, totally reassembled, cosmetically restored, professionally painted and, nine months later in November 2024, happily placed on display in the Age of Steam Roundhouse stall #5. Finally, #643 was safe, and in one piece, in its forever home.
The first public view of #643 will be during the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum’s Member Day on March 29th. To attend this member-only event become a member of the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum at https://ageofsteamroundhouse.org/join-us/#membership. Member’s Day will be from 1 pm – 3 pm and we will have a train ride through the yard. Will we also be opening our 2025 Jacobson Gallery as this year’s exhibit is Moniker. For more information about the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, visit ageofsteamroundhouse.org and keep up to date with the latest news on Facebook.
























