Steam & Excursion > The Continued Story Of SP #2384 - For Our Webmaster!

Yesterday I posted some photos of SP 4-6-0 #2384 in all her finest being readied to pull President Harding's special train from Portland, OR to San Francisco, CA.

Our tireless Webmaster even commented that he was so glad that I was now posting "happy" steam photos and not those from the darkside of the days of steam. There was even a reference to the "Grim Reaper" in there somewhere. Alas, I would be remiss if I did not complete the story of SP #2384.

14 years after she lead her special train with President Harding on board, #2384 gained further fame on the SP, but not in the way she would have wanted. On May 23, 1937 #2384 lost her footing on one of her trains at Radum, CA and here we see the unfortunate results. As you can see the spit and polish of the Harding Train is long gone after this terrible wreck.

Guy Dunscomb was able to gain access to the wreck site in order for him to record the aftermath. When he got there, #2384 had been righted and put back on rails awaiting her trip to the Sacramento Shops where she was first built in 1920. She would need a substantial amount of work before she would regain the luster she had on the President Harding train.

Thus, you now know the rest of the story of SP #2384.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/13 07:47 by LoggerHogger.

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Its a little amazing that the undercarriage and wheels were in good enough shape to roll straight after what happened to the top half!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/13 00:57 by lwilton.

I would hate to be the mechanic fixing that wreck! What a nightmare.

Just like changing spark plugs in some cars:

Step 1: Remove engine.

Ouch!

Hi,

...at Radurn, CA

I think the location is Radum, California; between Pleasanton and Livermore.

Radum was the site of some gravel pits, in later years a large Kaiser quarry.

Don

Surprisingly the railroads repaired wrecks like these and even worse and put them back into service to work many more years. I'm sure this one required a new boiler and cab. I've seen photos of engines worse than this that were put back in service.

Don,

Thanks for the correction on Radum. I could not read the handwriting on the negative sleeve and did not know where Radum was. Now we all do thanks to you.

Martin

It appears that the SP Sacramento Shops builder's plates survived in good fashion as well as the whistle and bell! Thanks for making our webmaster happy!! I am enclosing a photo of what some of the SP shop plates look like!!


Ron

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LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> \
> Our tireless Webmaster even commented that he was
> so glad that I was now posting "happy" steam
> photos and not those from the darkside of the days
> of steam. There was even a reference to the "Grim
> Reaper" in there somewhere. Alas, I would be
> remiss if I did not complete the story of SP
> #2384.

> Martin

Todd

The Grim Reaper returns . . . . after a one day hiatus!! :)

Craig
http://www.mcmrailvideos.com/

The Grim Reaper brings bad news, and good news that 2384 lived to run another day.

Any photos or history from after the wreck rebuilding?

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

these pictures bring new life to the term "butt ugly".....and I thought our "new" exhibit at the Oregon
Rail Heritage Center, the tenderless 4449, was ugly......(tender removed as the 15 year project begins).
Arlen

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yesterday I posted some photos of SP 4-6-0 #2384
> in all her finest being readied to pull President
> Harding's special train from Portland, OR to San
> Francisco, CA.
>
> Our tireless Webmaster even commented that he was
> so glad that I was now posting "happy" steam
> photos and not those from the darkside of the days
> of steam. There was even a reference to the "Grim
> Reaper" in there somewhere. Alas, I would be
> remiss if I did not complete the story of SP
> #2384.
>
> 14 years after she lead her special train with
> President Harding on board, #2384 gained further
> fame on the SP, but not in the way she would have
> wanted. On May 23, 1937 #2384 lost her footing on
> one of her trains at Radum, CA and here we see the
> unfortunate results. As you can see the spit and
> polish of the Harding Train is long gone after
> this terrible wreck.
>
> Guy Dunscomb was able to gain access to the wreck
> site in order for him to record the aftermath.
> When he got there, #2384 had been righted and put
> back on rails awaiting her trip to the Sacramento
> Shops where she was first built in 1920. She
> would need a substantial amount of work before she
> would regain the luster she had on the President
> Harding train.
>
> Thus, you now know the rest of the story of SP
> #2384.
>
> Martin

Good morning Martin! Great history lessons once again! Can you give any more details of the wreck? How it happened?.. Crew injuries/ fatalities, etc.............Thanx,.... Pat

This was the result of a side collision with extra 2525 West and resulted in two fatalities. ICC Investigation report No 2161 shows the location as Eliot, California for those looking for additional information on the DOT special collections site: (http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?websearch&site=dot_railroads).

While Radum is not mentioned in the report, it describes the location as having spurs leading south from the mainline to several gravel pits. This would place Elliot on the west side of Livermore, north of Stanley Boulevard and between today’s Bernal and Isabel Avenues. Radum is just west of the gravel pits. There is a locator map in the report.

The Company got its money’s worth out of the rebuild. SP assignment sheets show her on the western division as of years end 1937. Diebert & Strapac’s SP Compendium notes that she was leased to the San Diego & Arizona Eastern November 11, 1939 to January 20, 1951. Assignment sheets for 1951, 52, 53, 54 and 55 place her on the LA division. From March 31, through June 30, 1957 she was assigned to Yuma but as of August 31, of ’57 was back on the LA Division where she was vacated at LA on November 28, 1957 and sold to Luria Brothers for scrap on September 16, 1958.

Cheers,
Jack



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/13 10:42 by africansteam.

lwilton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just like changing spark plugs in some cars:
>
> Step 1: Remove engine.

Step 1: Raise whistle.

Step 2: Replace locomotive under whistle.

:D

-M

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

Frisco1522 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Surprisingly the railroads repaired wrecks like
> these and even worse and put them back into
> service to work many more years. I'm sure this one
> required a new boiler and cab. I've seen photos
> of engines worse than this that were put back in
> service.

Also, it's amazing to note the short time frames in which they turned these around. Things that only took a few weeks at the SP shops take restoration groups sometimes decades. All the specialized workforce and equipment gone, and sheer power of numbers with all the parts being worked on all at once in separate areas of the shops. Plus spare parts readily available or with the proper equipment to make them, etc. etc.

The fine stalwart crew that has been restoring the P8 Pacific in a parking lot in San Jose for the past two and a half decades, that work probably would have taken a under a month in Sacramento in the early 20th century. Sometimes maddening to think about. :)

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

Eliot is indeed between Radum and Livermore.

Radum
Remillard
Eliot
Livermore

africansteam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This was the result of a side collision with extra
> 2525 West and resulted in two fatalities. ICC
> Investigation report No 2161 shows the location as
> Eliot, California for those looking for additional
> information on the DOT special collections site:
> (http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?
> websearch&site=dot_railroads).
>
> While Radum is not mentioned in the report, it
> describes the location as having spurs leading
> south from the mainline to several gravel pits.
> This would place Elliot on the west side of
> Livermore, north of Stanley Boulevard and between
> today’s Bernal and Isabel Avenues. Radum is
> just west of the gravel pits. There is a locator
> map in the report.
>
> The Company got its money’s worth out of the
> rebuild. SP assignment sheets show her on the
> western division as of years end 1937. Diebert &
> Strapac’s SP Compendium notes that she was
> leased to the San Diego & Arizona Eastern November
> 11, 1939 to January 20, 1951. Assignment sheets
> for 1951, 52, 53, 54 and 55 place her on the LA
> division. From March 31, through June 30, 1957 she
> was assigned to Yuma but as of August 31, of ’57
> was back on the LA Division where she was vacated
> at LA on November 28, 1957 and sold to Luria
> Brothers for scrap on September 16, 1958.
>
> Cheers,
> Jack

A little search around the interweb turned up a reference to a Steinheimer photo of her in the Imperial Valley in the December 1953 issue of Railroad Magazine:

‘Imperial Valley climate calls for big tanks. At Brawley fireman fills 10,000 gallon cistern of 4-6-0 (# 2384) before heading back to Niland. ‘ – p 49 (1/2 page)'

.

Kit Courter
Menefee, CA
LunarLight Photography

Another search turned up a Fairbanks Morse H12-44 of the same number, so SP didn't let the number die.

I tried looking for the steamer in the Trains Magazine Complete Collection on disc. That has to be one of the worst search engines of all time. Fortunately, I got the program as a gift, but it was pretty pricey as I recall.

When you do a search for SP 2384 on Google, Martin's story is the first result to pop up. Then the diesel photo in RR picture archives comes up. After that, it is a bunch of non-train related stuff.

I Googled "Southern Pacific" 2384 with the quotation marks and found some more:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Duplicate slide-Southern Pacific 4-6-0 #2384 & Train/ Brawley,CA. May 1954-Nice!Train/ Brawley,CA. May 1954!"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Duplicate-slide-Southern-Pacific-4-6-0-2384-Train-Brawley-CA-May-1954-Nice-/140902025346?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ce6a4882&nma=true&si=lyrNCf%252FPPDg%252F%252BQbPEaql5LrLGd8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

You can click on the photo to enlarge it or hover the mouse pointer over the picture to zoom in on portions of it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kodachrome Original SOUTHERN PACIFIC 4-6-0 2384 at L.A.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/kodachrome-original-southern-pacific-4-6-0-2384-at-l

Click on picture for slightly larger image.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That's it for now.


poffcapt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another search turned up a Fairbanks Morse H12-44
> of the same number, so SP didn't let the number
> die.
>
> I tried looking for the steamer in the Trains
> Magazine Complete Collection on disc. That has to
> be one of the worst search engines of all time.
> Fortunately, I got the program as a gift, but it
> was pretty pricey as I recall.
>
> When you do a search for SP 2384 on Google,
> Martin's story is the first result to pop up. Then
> the diesel photo in RR picture archives comes up.
> After that, it is a bunch of non-train related
> stuff.