Jeff, do you know what the schedule/timeline is for the delivery of no. 18 to the V&T? Will they be shipping her on a flatcar? Thanks.
Jeff - Mr. Hammond, the President and CEO of the YWRR has set a target date of having number 19 and the Blue Goose up and running by 1 May 2006. To my knowledge no work has commenced up to now, but Mr. Hammond has been actively searching for a boiler-maker that can do the work and have it certified. In as much as I am "out of the loop" anymore, I can't tell you any more than that. I can say that I'm excited about the prospect of seeing old "Pancho" under steam again .. even if it is not me at the throttle!
Bill- If they do get her back together, could conditions ever exist, where you'd be able to run the YW steamer again? Boxcab E50
The crew may have not tied enough hand brakes down...as you can well imagine the railroad has some pretty strict rules on how many hand brakes must be tied down at any one time in that yard. On the other hand, it may have been somebody messing around with the cars that got them rolling as well...I don't think they ever came to a definate conclusion about what happened. As for the #18...at last report the V&T had not actually paid for the locomotive yet. This seems to be backed up by a newspaper article I saw a week or so ago detailing the needed fundraising efforts to pay for the locomotive. Assuming they pay for it I would expect to see it move perhaps next spring. It may go out on a flat car...but I think we are more likely to see it on the back of a truck. Jeff Moore Elko, NV
Boxcab .. that would be entirely up to Mr. Hammond. My fireman and I would like to be involved in putting her back together, regardless. It's a labor of love!
Bill- Hmmm. Would be a great chance to follow along with another steam engine restoration. Much of the work may be similar to other efforts. But the way it happens usually seems to be somewhat different. A photo diary is always fun to see! I do hope you have the opportunity to run her again! Boxcab E50
I take it that this guy in Merril,or just plan do'st like steam engines,or he would no let them go to H___! it is a shame!! JIM
Fred does like steam engines...his basic problem is that he is a collector, and all of his resources have gone into collecting and very little of it into doing anything with what he accumulates. Fred also likes to do everything by himself...I know several people who have tried to help him out through the years, and he has run each and every one of them off. Quite a few of these locomotives would not be with us today had he not stepped in...whether he actually saved them or not is open to discussion. Jeff Moore Elko, NV
Bill, If work starts on the 19 again I try and get up there and help out. Maybe then I can have some skills knowledge of something that is dissapearing passed down to me to help keep the tradtion alive. And besides the 19 would be a good place to start since co-incidenlty I'm 19 years old.
By the way .. getting back to the original topic about the McCloud .. here's an excerpt from the Altamont Press Railroad News regarding that railroad: "Just returned from McCloud and, indeed, everything east of Hambone was removed by A&K Railroad Materials; they finished last week and the right-of-way is now a US Forest Service road." Shortline Sammie
OK I'am not up to date on things,but where is McCloud located,I throught it was in northren Cal?? Also is #19 in Yreka yet? If so where? JIM LONG
The tracks east of Hambone were abandoned sometime last year. The tracks were originally built by the Great Northern. The BNSF owned them, but never actually operated on them except for a few MOW trains. The McCloud just had a lease on the tracks and didn't actually own them. Did I get some of this right Jeff?
Jim - McCloud is located about 12 miles east of Mt. Shasta City on SR89. Number 19 has been at the Yreka Western RR since 1988 where it will be back in service by the first of May, 2006. You may be thinking about #18 which is at McCloud RR awaiting delivery to the Virgina City, RR in Nevada. (I'm thinking it's the Virginia & Truckee RR?)
About the Hambone-Lookout line...the McCloud River Lumber Company actually built most of that line in stages from around 1919 to 1928-1929 as they moved their harvest operations ever eastward. At the time the eastern terminus of the McCloud River Railroad was at Car A, about halfway between Bartle and Hambone. To complete the Lookout Line the McCloud River Railroad purchased the lumber company trackage from Car A to Hambone and the Great Northern purchased the line from Hambone to a point only a mile or two west of Lookout Junction. GN built a short section of track to tie the end of the lumber company trackage into their new mainline at Lookout Junction. They also re-worked a bunch of the lumber company trackage. Under the deal the lumber company got the right to continue using the line to ship logs west to McCloud, which they would continue to do until they finally concluded harvest operations in the area in 1947/1948. GN initially contemplated operating the line themselves, which is why the junction point was set at Hambone...it is one of the few places in the area with sufficient flat land to build the required interchange yards and servicing facilities. However, GN looked that the logistics of running the line and decided to contract operations out to the McCloud River Railroad. Thus GN hired the McCloud to operate the railroad from Hambone to Lookout...GN/BN/BNSF paid the wages of McCloud train crews for the time they spent on GN rails, and the two railroads split maintenance costs 50-50. Very few GN/BN/BNSF trains ever ventured out onto the line, and the few that did carried McCloud pilot engineers. They were all m-o-w trains, such as weed spraying trains. The "big" road also supplied some equipment from time to time, such as wreck relief help to clean up derailments. BN also once sent a Jordan spreader down to Lookout Junction to try to widen a lot of the tight clearances along the line...however, most of these tight clearances were solid lava rock formations, with the result that they did not move, but the Jordan sure did. BNSF sent the Jordan directly from Lookout Junction to the scrap dealer. Traffic over the Lookout Line dropped to less than 5 cars a week in 1998. BNSF struck a haulage agreement with UP in late 2003 that saw UP handle McCloud-BNSF interchange traffic between the McCloud at Mt. Shasta City and BNSF in Klamath Falls, OR. The last train to Lookout ran on 16 December 2003. BNSF initiated the abandonment process even before the last train ran, and they received permission to abandon the line in Spring 2004. Rails to Trails conservancy intervened with a trail use request, and the STB stayed the decision through all of last summer to give R-T-T and BNSF time to negotiate for trail use. Apparently the negotiations came to nothing, as BNSF went ahead and started the salvage process in late November 2004. By early this year they had officially taken the line out of service and removed all signage; the actual scrapping was not far off, and I am saddened (but not completely surprised) to hear that it has happened. Bill- It is the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. For more information on the Lookout line, including links to photo pages for stations along the line, can be found on this page: http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails/AlongTheLine/Hambone-Lookout.html Pictures of Lookout Line operations can be found on this page: http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails/FreightOperations/LookoutJob.html I think that's all for tonight. Jeff Moore Elko, NV
Bill Thanks a lot I guess I had my head screwed on backwards,I just ask my wife the same Question,she told me the same thing.She told me we had been there in the past Any way thanks for info.I think some time next spring I'll come down and look around JIM
Bill I thank I'll stop by Yreka Westren for sure,I have an aunt and some family in Yreka,I want to go look around McCloud allso.There is a Sierra 2-6-6-2 in the airea some where is it at Fred place?Is there any pictures of it?and what is the number of it?I've a mantua logger coming in the mail in a few days that will need a re-build it would be nice if I could copy an loco from that airea!!Thanks for info. Jim
