Kennecott Copper Steeplecab Scrapped

Kennecott Copper 703, an 85-ton articulated-frame steeplecab located at the Boone & Scenic Valley in Iowa, has been scrapped. The above photo was taken, and was among several posted online, this week by Dan Hodgson. This locomotive was built by GE in 1928 and worked its entire career at Kennecott Copper, or KCC, until it was retired in the early 1980s. It was one of four KCC steeplecabs that went to Boone in 1986. I'm not really clear on why Boone acquired them, but I presume it was because they resemble a similarly large steeplecab that once ran on the Fort Dodge Des Moines & Southern (photo). Anyway, two - KCC 408 and 409 - were cut up by B&SV years ago, but 702 and 703 have remained in increasingly derelict condition.

This photo of KCC 702 was also taken this week and posted by Dan Hodgson. The loss of KCC 703 is of only moderate significance. It was one of nine (now eight) surviving KCC steeplecabs and was one of three (now two) survivors of this type, the other two being 702 in Boone and KCC 700, preserved at the Western Railway Museum in markedly better condition - in fact, 700 is operational, which I believe makes it the only KCC electric to have operated in preservation. But 702 and 703 are not the only large industrial steeplecabs in preservation, and the KCC locomotives preserved elsewhere do not seem to be in much danger.