Delaware and Hudson 1205 and 1216 are two Baldwin RF-16 locomotives originally built for the New York Central Railroad in 1951 and 1952.[1] They are the last two surviving examples of the Baldwin RF-16.
The locomotives were originally delivered to the New York Central Railroad, as units 3805 and 3816, later renumbered to 1205 and 1216 in 1966, shortly before being traded in to General Electric.[2] They were then sold to the Monongahela Railway in 1967, where they worked coal drag service until 1972, by which point they were the only operable units out of the group of RF-16s initially purchased by the railway. That same year they were traded to a scrap dealer where they stayed until 1974, when they were exchanged for $6,000 worth of scrap boxcars by the Delaware and Hudson Railway.[3]
The locomotives were acquired by the Delaware & Hudson as part of a preservation project enacted under the tenure of then CEO Carl B. Sterzing Jr., and so in addition to local freight service in New York, the locomotives also participated in public relations and railfan specials until their retirement and sale in April 1978, to Castolite Inc of Minneapolis, MN.[2] They were leased to the Michigan Northern Railway later that same year, however damage to one of the cylinder heads, followed by damage to the crankshaft would put 1205 out of service. 1216 was also damaged while operating on the Michigan Northern, with one of its traction motors suffering a short circuit due to snow accumulation. 1205 was later sent for repairs by owner Castolite Inc, but the mechanic would go out of business before repairs could be completed, and both units were sent to storage at the Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad, where John Larkin would eventually gain ownership of both units[4]
1216 would operate twice on the Escanaba & Lake Superior, once in the summer of 1979, and again in autumn 1982, before suffering a crankshaft failure and being relegated to storage alongside 1205. 1205 remains in the same storage building as of November 4, 2023; 1216 was moved to a different storage building on December 2, 2021, in order to free-up space for cleaning hopper cars, and has not been moved again since.[5] An interview with John Larkin for Trains in 2020 indicated both units would go to a museum upon his passing, though which museum was not specified.[6]
