Charlie Monte Verde is fundraising
Save the Buffalo Creek 46!
This iconic class of '47 ALCO S-2 bicentennial locomotive needs your help to come home! Buffalo Creek ALCO S-2 no. 46 was a well-known resident of the Buffalo waterfront. If you ate Cheerios or Lucky Charms at any point in the 1960s or 70s, BCK 46 hauled boxcars of flour to the General Mills Buffalo plant to make that happen.
The good news; the 46 is an operable/running locomotive! Fundraising is centered around mechanical adjustments and transportation costs to bring 46 from Corning to Buffalo, where the 46 will live on in excursion/passenger train service on the New York & Lake Erie Railroad out of Gowanda, NY, just south of Buffalo. Any funds in excess of what we need for transportation will be dedicated to getting the 46 repainted in her patriotic red, white and blue jacket and kept operational.
46 in service on the NY&LE, 1980. David Monte Verde photo
The Livonia, Avon & Lakeville RR has generously offered to donate this ‘pup’ to the Buffalo, USA Foundation (501c3). Our foundation's Flour-by-Rail Legacy Project is leading the effort to raise funds to bring this iconic ‘bicentennial’ locomotive home. We need to raise the necessary dollars between now and March 15th for this effort to be a success.
Devan Lawton Photo; Buffalo, USA Collection
Once the fundraiser hits $10,000, Charlie Monte Verde will personally throw in $2,500. Once it hits $15,000, an anonymous donor will donate $5,000. That gets us to $20K. We've estimated the truly safe figure for this relocation effort to be $30K. If the preservation effort is successful, any additional funds will go towards basic maintenance for 2024 operation on the NY&LE Railroad and repainting of the locomotive. If the preservation (relocation) effort is not successful, all donors will have the option to receive their money back or have it go towards our BCK 1424 boxcar project.
We will be providing status updates on this initiative via this GFM page and on our Facebook page. The locomotive will be owned, operated and restored by the Foundation. Our foundation is also in possession of Buffalo Creek Pullman-Standard PS-1 flour boxcar no. 1424, which is currently ongoing restoration adjacent to Silo City in Buffalo.
LET'S SAVE THE BCK 46!
BCK 46, April 2024. C. Monte Verde photo
The Buffalo, USA Foundation Team
- Charlie Monte Verde
- Micah Weber
- Luke Irvine
- Philip Monte Verde
OUR FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/flourbyrail/
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