Locomotive #3960 is the only steamer on today’s Ohio Central roster that actually worked for an OC predecessor railroad. Built to the standardized, highly successful and oft-copied USRA design for 0-6-0s, former Wheeling & Lake Erie #3960 rolled out of W&LE’s Brewster (Ohio) Shop on June 16, 1935, as one of thirty homemade 0-6-0 and twenty 0-8-0 switchers built there between 1928 and 1940. These modern-era steam locomotives incorporated such innovative devices as Nicholson Thermic Syphons in their fireboxes, Chambers front-end throttles in their smokeboxes, and had all-welded tenders.
In September 1935 W&LE 0-6-0 sister #3965 was built with Timken roller bearings on all locomotive and tender axles, and was the first steam switcher so equipped in America. All subsequent Brewster-built 0-6-0s were built with Timken roller bearings on all axles, but plans to re-equip W&LE's existing 0-6-0s with the then non-standard roller bearings never materialized. Consequently, #3960 rolled on friction bearings for its entire life.
The #3960 was used in yards all across the greater W&LE system, and was renumbered Nickel Plate Road #360 after the W&LE was leased in December 1949 to become the W&LE District of the NKP. In 1957 mainline steam died on the NKP's W&LE District, but, because of light rail encountered on a branch line, a pair of former W&LE 0-6-0s kept steam power alive in the yard at Zanesville where the two switchers alternated operations each month. The #360 made its last run on October 31, 1957, when it steamed from Zanesville up to Brewster for its monthly boiler wash, which would never occur because the locomotive was immediately retired. Cousin #384 (a USRA 0-6-0 copy built by Alco-Schenectady in 1944) had the distinction of being the last steamer in operation on the former W&LE when it ran from Zanesville to Brewster on November 17, 1957.
The city of Canton, Ohio, wanted a locomotive for display in a park, and ex-W&LE USRA heavy 2-8-2 #678 was selected for preservation. However, because of Timken's significant contribution of the tested and trusted roller bearing for railroad use, it was decided that a Timken-equipped ex-W&LE steamer would be substituted for the Mikado. Donated in June 1958 to the city of Canton for a children's display in Mother Gooseland Park, the shiny NKP #360 joined the likes of a Sheridan Army tank, Matador guided missile and Starfighter jet airplane among storybook characters and live animals. The locomotive quickly became a popular exhibit as youngsters played Casey Jones in its cab, but the combined effects of reduced maintenance and Ohio weather took its toll on the once-handsome switcher.
During 1971-72 the rusting 0-6-0 had its boiler jacketing and lagging removed to retard further deterioration, was sandblasted, repainted, and cosmetically restored back to its original appearance as W&LE #3960, the sole-surviving Brewster-built locomotive. With the closing of Mother Gooseland Park, this historic 0-6-0 was sold in 1988 to the Silver Throttle Engine And Museum (STEAM) for possible restoration back to service. Some mechanical work was accomplished and eventually the 0-6-0 was moved into STEAM's spacious and dry Quonset building in Minerva, but the rebuilding project stalled and the stripped carcass became just another steam eyesore whose fate was bleak.
Steam-friendly Ohio Central Railroad System acquired this 0-6-0 through an equipment trade in 2004, making #3960 the 10th steamer on the OC equipment roster. The railroad's owner, Jerry Joe Jacobson, would like to rebuild #3960 and steam it up at some time in the future, but currently there are no definite plans for its restoration. However, today this historically significant steamer is stored safely inside until its day in the sun returns.
