Rest In Pieces. This locomotive and I have had an odd relationship. From the time I was old enough to drive by myself, I had been periodically visiting this engine at her former home in North Grafton, wondering if I would ever see her in action. At that time the G&U was only operating about a half-mile of trackage, and its sporadic nature meant nobody had any clue when #212 came out of hibernation. I finally managed to see and photograph her in operation when I was most of the way through college, fulfulling a sort of mission after almost five years. In 2009 she and I had several encounters as operations became more regular, but time would eventually catch up to the old Alco. New management came to the G&U in 2008, and not long after came secondhand EMDs. In 2009, 212 kept her green paint when the EMDs were repainted, and from then on the writing was on the wall. The end came during the last week of March, 2010, when scrappers finally got ahold of the old girl. Though her cylinder heads reportedly leaked water, she went to the torch complete and in operable condition. So long, old friend.
