Steam & Excursion > The Famous "Skookum"-Here Are Her True Specifications!

I have notice lots of folks have been asking questions over the past couple days about the Skookum's specifications. Let me clear up any confusion and speculation by giving you the engines true specs.

She was built in 1909 for the Little River Railroad as their #126. She was originally built to burn coal for that line.

She was the first of only three 2-4-4-2 engines ever built and all were built by Baldwin.

As built the engine weighed 142,000#s and the tender weighed 80,000#s. She had 200-PSI boiler pressure.

The tender was built to hold 7 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water.

She was built as a saturated engine with slide valves.

She had compound cylinders with the high pressure cylinders built as 15" x 22" in size and the low pressure cylinders built 23" x 22" in size. Her drivers are 48" in diameter.

She developed 27,430#s of Tractive Effort.

She was returned to Little River RR as she was too large for them. In 1910 Baldwin resold her to the Columbia River Belt Line as their "Skookum" for logging service near Astoria, Oregon. Baldwin gave her a new builder plate when she was resold which was in the new plate design they were then using. It showed her as C/N 33463. She was converted to oil for the CRBL.

She was soon transferred to CRBL's parent company The Whitney & Company and then to Larkin & Green Logging, all for service on the same trackage at Blind Slough, Oregon.

She next went to Washington when she was sold to the Carlisle Lumber Co. as their #7 to work out of Onalaska, Washington.

While at Carlisle, she was shipped to Mud Bay Logging outside of Olympia, WA and tested there for possible sale to them. However she was rejected as to light and the sale did not go through.

Finally, she was sold in the early 1930's to the Deep River Logging Co. as their #7 for logging service out of Deep River, Washington. This would prove to be her last operator. It was at Deep River on the afternoon of February 23, 1955, that the Skookum derailed on a short trestle and then slowly rolled over on her side. With the railroad nearly done operating she was left there and ownership transferred to the insurance company that insured Deep River. A few years later Seattle railfan Charlie Morrow bought her "as is-where is" and the rest as they say is history!


Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/14 07:01 by LoggerHogger.

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I remember when Powerhouse released this in HO. I bought one then (and a couple more since). I was amazed it would go around 10" radius!

Brian Ehni

Thanks for providing these insights.

So that was the same Little River Railroad that owned what was probably the lightest Pacific ever built (No. 110) that now operates out of Coldwater, Michigan?

That is correct. This is the same Little River RR as the little pacific came from.

Martin

I would like to model this in 1" scale. A very beautiful locomotive.

You gotta beware of those "as is-where is" clauses...but it looks like all involved were up to the task! Best of luck on the restoration...another great "save"!

Dick Samuels
O P R

Great stuff as usual Martin! You continue to amaze us with your historical railroad knowledge! Thanx-a-million!... Oh,... and have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanx again,.....Pat

That is awesome that two unique engines from a unique railroad are going to be in operation but quite some distance from each other.

Folks, if you've never seen the 110 in operation, she is sweet. From the front she looks like a turn of the century ten-wheeler coming at you.

LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> That is correct. This is the same Little River RR
> as the little pacific came from.
>
> Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/14 12:45 by wabash2800.

Martin, how does her 27,430 lb. tractive effort compare to OCSR's McCloud 25?

They're probably fairly close.

Posted from iPhone

25 might even be a bit more.

Out

I'm under the impression that slide valves on locomotives of this sort are a dead giveaway that they are not superheated. If I remember right, it has to do with the higher temperatures causing issues with the slide valve lubrication that are not an issue with piston valves. Is that in the ball park or is that a total airball?

Come to think of it, I can't think of a superheated slide valve locomotive running; all soaks.

In case of airball, I haven't had anything since dinner so eaten words could suffice for a well timed snack.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

You're pretty much right, Mary. One exception is some of the early superheated mallets did have piston valves on the HP engine but slide valves on the LP. The steam temperature wasn't so high by the time it reached the LP valves so it wasn't an issue.

We have many live steamers with slide valves and superheat, due to the overall lower pressures and temperatures it does not seem to cause a problem. We use higher temp lubricant for the superheated engines.

CPRR: There are several live steam Skookums out there, in 7.x" gauge and 3 1/2" gauge.

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

MaryMcPherson Wrote:
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> I'm under the impression that slide valves on
> locomotives of this sort are a dead giveaway that
> they are not superheated.

That's a good indication. The other thing to check for is the presence of a superheater header at the back of the smokebox. If you have an even reasonably decent 3/4 or side view of the engine, look carefully at the side of the boiler shell, about 2/3rds of the way up, where you judge the back of the smokebox to be. If there is a superheater header inside, there will be a pattern of 5 bolt heads, three in a horizontal row, and two in a row under that, in an area a little smaller than a typical builder's plate. It is usually just in front of the vertical row of rivets for the front tube sheet.

If you don't see that pattern of 5 lumps, almost certainly the engine isn't superheated, especially if it has slide valves.

(Yes, there were other forms of superheater, and some probably didn't have a superheater header in the normal position. So this isn't guaranteed. But it will get you 90% of the way there, and will usually be "good enough".)

As has been mentioned before, Skookum (alias Little River 126) was deemed too heavy for the Little River. Her builders number was 33463, and later in 1909, she was replaced by another 2-4-4-2, #148. #148, was builders number 34088, and had 14 X 22 high pressure, and 21 X 22 low pressure cylinders with 44" drivers.

As such, it appears that the 148 was quite a bit smaller, both in weight and cyinder size, but with the smaller drivers, the attempt was made to get at least close to the power that the 126 generated.

elueck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As has been mentioned before, Skookum (alias
> Little River 126) was deemed too heavy for the
> Little River. Her builders number was 33463, and
> later in 1909, she was replaced by another
> 2-4-4-2, #148. #148, was builders number 34088,
> and had 14 X 22 high pressure, and 21 X 22 low
> pressure cylinders with 44" drivers.
>
> As such, it appears that the 148 was quite a bit
> smaller, both in weight and cyinder size, but with
> the smaller drivers, the attempt was made to get
> at least close to the power that the 126
> generated.

It's been suggested that the tender #110 came from #148.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

That will be a very interesting little locomotive to see when it is running! === === = === JLH

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
<snip>
>
> She was the first of only three 2-4-4-2 engines
> ever built and all were built by Baldwin.
>
> As built the engine weighed 142,000#s and the
> tender weighed 80,000#s. She had 200-PSI boiler
> pressure.
>
> The tender was built to hold 7 tons of coal and
> 4,000 gallons of water.
>
> She was built as a saturated engine with slide
> valves.
>
<snip>

Martin,

The only 3 built for the US or worldwide? As there is another, and not a Baldwin.

J.