Singer Manufacturing Co. 2-4-2 No. 12
Shelby Township, MI, United States
Location: Shelby Township
Status: Display
Posted: Jan 20, 2005 @ 21:01:53 by Dave Washburn

This locomotive was modified to its present form by Bob Owen of Romeo Mich who had it on display at his sign shop in the relocated Washington Depot.  My friend and I worked for him as kids growing up in the area.  As I recall, the loco was recovered from the bottom of a lake in a quarry in Canada in pretty sad shape sometime around 1968.  As noted, many of the parts were made up in order to put it on display at Bob's Whistle Stop & Southern.  It was displayed at 29 mile and Van Dyke with an ex DUR Interurban and an ex PM Caboose until Bob retired in the early 80's when he sold the loco and cab to Shelby Township.  The Interurban went to Mich Transit Museum.  Bob was a true gentlemen and a railfan all his life.  The Depot was his passion as well as his place of business.  It was filled with RR artifacts of all kinds and my friend and I worked as tour guides most weekends giving rides to the public behind speeders and hand cars that ran along the property next to the GTW main.  Our Stoney Creek Model  railroad club would hold meetings in the interurban.  Bob's father worked on the DUR out of Romeo.  The Depot is a party store now.  Some of the "passenger" cars we used to pull with the speeders are still on display at the Orchard next to the depot. 


Posted: Oct 9, 2004 @ 11:10:17 by Chad Thompson

This 2-4-2 is actually a 0-4-0T.  The tender was thrown together with the tank being from Cananda (note the hand rails).  The pilot and trailing trucks are just sitting there, they are not attached to the locomotive in anyway.  They simply do not support any wheight and there from a different company.  Many appliances are missing, including control levers, some of the reversing linkage, etc.  The Diamond Stack is nothing but sheet metal that has been tack welded to the original stack.  The cab is a poorly built replica.  It is propable that the original cab was steel, maybe with doors.  The water tank is missing, as are the original headlight and front end.  The cow catcher that is noted in the photo is a poorly built replica.