Steam & Excursion > Old Shops, Old Coach & A Really Old Engine- ST&E #1!

Shortlines are favored by many railfans because of their way of hanging on to old and discarded equipment from the mainline roads for decades after the mainlines felt such equipment was worn out and of no further usefulness.

A case in point is this scene captured by Ralph Demoro at the Stockton Terminal & Eastern shops in 1940. While every thing in the scene is in active service, nothing in the scene has any hint of being in any way new. Who knows how old that wooden coach body is that now serves as offices for the shop. The shop itself is certainly timeless in its own right.

As for the 4-4-0 in the center of all this, she was built in 1864 for the original Western Pacific Railroad that was later acquired by the Central Pacific. She continued in service for the CP and later the SP until 1914 when she was sold to the ST&E. She would continue as the roads main power in Stockton until finally being retired in 1953 after 89 years of service.

While everything else in the scene is now gone, ST&E #1 is still with us at Traveltown.


Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/14 07:14 by LoggerHogger.

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Nice image of a grand old lady.

Martin, I don't think Harre took the photo. I think it was his dad Ralph Demoro. I don't think Harre was born yet.

That is an amazing span of History for that engine. As usual a great picture made better with your caption. Bring on the book.

Tony,

Good catch on the name. The negative is in the Hare Demoro collection I have, but yes, it was taken by his father Ralph.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/14 07:19 by LoggerHogger.

She would continue as the roads main power
> in Stockton until finally being retired in 1953
> after 89 years of service.
>
> Martin


Martin

That has to be close to a record for a locomotive in active service . . . many have been resurrected for museum or tourist service but maybe short of some narrow gauge loco's . . . I'm thinking this may beat them all(?)

Craig
http://mcmrailvideos.com/

She probably looked very different at the beginning of her life, coming from the era of Victorian spit and polish and bright colors.

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

I suspect that carbody on the left was a former combine rather than a coach. The 1938 picture in this thread, with #1 a little further out of the barn, shows a sliding door on the side of the carbody:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3515822

Thanks for sharing. It's likely the engine had some major rebuilding over the years. It might not even be the original boiler. But it's awesome.

If I remember correctly, she is also a Norris product which makes her even more rare and unusual.

Taylor

Posted from iPhone

Really is an amazingly long time to be in serivce, especially for an engine that old :)

Mike