WHEN THE BIG 4-8-4 in Nash ville's Centennial Park left on the start of its road to restoration early on the rainy morning of Jan. 13, it was a sight to behold going down city streets and a vivid display of how far the art and science of dead and far-from-active-track steam locomotive relocation has come. In days past, such a job was given to cranes (and occasionally Caterpillar front-end loaders) and multi-axle low-boy trailers. As cables cinched around boiler barrels and fireboxes, even the most hardened observers winced for fear that a line might slip and shear off sheet metal, piping or, worse, important appliances like air pumps or injectors.
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