12/18/2025
Let's take a look back in time, a time when Locomotive #35 escaped the scrapper's torch for the second time!
From 1956 until the late 1980's, dedicated members of the Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter NRHS cared for #35. Until 1977, she was displayed in Eisenhower (Salisbury) Park before being partially disassembled and moved to Mitchel Field. This move was necessary due to liability concerns by Nassau County who owned her, but it also prompted her first real attempts at restoration. Throughout the early 80's, the group had her wheels turned at Amtrak's shops while other work was done on site. Attempts were made to find a suitable home for her where she could be operated elsewhere, including Strasburg PA and Flemington NJ, each of which unfortunately fell through. As the years rolled by, frustration grew and interests waned. Her most valuable (and collectible) parts were safeguarded, but the locomotive itself languished in a field, eventually becoming a victim of vandalism. By the end of the decade, proceedings had quietly begun to scrap the locomotive.
In late 1990, another group of eager young train buffs expressed interest in the locomotive, and by spring of 1991 they were granted permission to clean up and paint it. With this effort, scrapping was put on hold. The group continued to grow, unofficially dubbing themselves the Locomotive #35 Restoration Committee.
Working as volunteers for Nassau County Parks, ironically under the umbrella of the Cradle of Aviation Museum, they worked to bring the locomotive back from being an eyesore to an attraction, fenced it in to protect it from further vandalism and began the arduous process of bringing all the removed parts back together. Over the previous decade, many of the parts were stored in and near various County buildings in Mitchel Field. Thus, as they were located, they were brought back to the locomotive site for cataloging, restoration and storage.
The attached photos show Steve Torborg and Bonnie Mitthauer Parker as they oversee the relocation of the locomotive drive rods from an old airplane hanger to the locomotive site. The group would later be incorporated as the Friends of Locomotive #35 Inc. and eventually the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum, and both Bonnie and Steve remain members and active volunteers to this day, 34 years after these photos were taken!
