Steam & Excursion > Logging Power in Chehalis, 1921

Since Martin is still off enjoying himself, I figured I might as well add a couple recently acquired images to the collective consciousness of the online logging aficionado sect. Not much information provided. First image is of some sort of monstrosity of a former saddle-tanker that clearly has a homemade tender. The second is a two-truck Heisler, looks like it may carry the number 4 based on the number plate. Both images were taken near Chehalis, Washington in 1921 according the the captions on the back.

Enjoy, Taylor

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My, what a tall stack you have

sp5312 Wrote:
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> My, what a tall stack you have

Not so tall if encased in a saddle tank though!

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR

The first proves that "kit bashing" in full scale happened way back then.

That first loco was one ugly Frankenstein of an engine. That one deserved to be scrapped.

Thanks for sharing.

Is it possible that the locomotive in the first photo wasn't actually ever a saddletank but rather a Forney 0-4-4T that had its rear end cut off and replaced by the homemade tender? The stack clearly appears to have been extended and I don't think necessarily has anything to do with whether it was ever a saddletank or not (the saddletank, if there was one, would not have extended over the smokebox and would not have dictated an extra-tall stack.

Just speculating . . .

Gordon

Certainly could have been a Forney at one time. I've been trying to figure out just what locomotive it actually is, though my resources are somewhat limited. Where the hell is Martin?

Taylor

Posted from iPhone

Ok, this is a long shot, but check out Oregon & California #43 at Portland Oregon in the 1870s. Now picture it forty five years later, converted to oil, with an extended smokebox and other modifications, eighty or so miles to the north. Any chance it might be the same locomotive as the one in the first picture?

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truxtrax Wrote:
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> sp5312 Wrote:
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> > My, what a tall stack you have
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> Not so tall if encased in a saddle tank though!


The saddle tank would have to be at the bottom of the whistle for that stack to look half right.

Hi Taylor,

I've also wondered about the identity of this 0-4-0, but haven't found much. The photo you posted also appears in Issue 69 of Tall Timber Short Lines in one of John Labbe's articles. In his caption he notes it was believed to be owned by the HH Martin Lumber Company, but there is nothing about its builder or prior history.

From the photo though there are a few clues as to its builder, which was most likely the Manchester Locomotive Works. Based on the dome style it would have been built between about 1875-1885. Manchester built a lot of similar 0-4-0s in that timeframe, most for the Boston & Maine, but several Midwestern roads had them as well.

Some of the Manchester features that stand out are their distinctive bell stand with downturned arms to the handrails, as well as the smokebox handrail posts having an 'S' turn shape. Also there other small features like the triangle smokebox brace brackets and the rear sandbox still has its Manchester-pattern lid.

Aside from some replacement parts like the cab, steam dome cover, and the giant stack the Chehalis locomotive looks largely unmodified from its original form. The tender on the other hand is completely kitbashed at least from the frame down. The tender tank could be original to the locomotive as sold into logging service, but likely isn't the as-built Manchester tank.

Here is a photo of a Boston & Maine Manchester 0-4-0 from the Paddock Collection at Lake Forest College. Aside from the positions of the bell stand and dome and the short smokebox this is probably a good representation of how the Chehalis engine would have looked when new:

http://collections.lakeforest.edu/files/original/a3b74e286ac9e3360f857185a36d93b9.jpg

Another site with photos of some Manchester 0-4-0s:
https://sites.google.com/site/bostonandmainerailroad/home/boston-maine-steam-locomotives/b-m-class-c-d-and-e/b-m-class-f-and-g

Jon

Other than the extended stack, those locos on the site Jon provided would sure indicate that Taylor's original post loco was indeed a Manchester product.