Steam & Excursion > It Is Just Amazing To Think What Used To Be Possible!

In this day in age of tight controls over the movement of any special trains and the limitations that mainline roads have to impose on any steam movements it is good to remember what used to be possible.  Here is just such an example.

While this photo may seem to most simply a steam engine taking on water and nothing else, look closer.  What we see is Yreka Western #19 at the water spout on the Southern Pacific at Mt. Shasta, California.  The date is June 9, 1962 and the SP has allowed YW #19 and her crew to operate light engine all the way down from the YW connection at Montague, CA to Mt. Shasta so that #19 can pull a special passenger train on her old home road of the McCloud River Railroad.  Wil Whittaker was on hand to record the special movement.

The SP continued to allow a few such movements over the next 3 decades.  In 1984 McCloud #25 was towed under steam with a caboose by a single diesel from Mt. Shasta to Dunsmuir so that we could greet SP #4449 coming back from the Worlds Fair in New Orleans.  After the ceremony in Dunsmuir was over the SP let us run the caboose hop back to Mt. Shasta with no diesel assist!

In about 1994 the SP towed YW #19 under steam down from Montague to Mt. Shasta so that Jeff Forbis could operate #19 again on the McCloud to test the viability of returning steam to the McCloud.

These were amazing times indeed.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/16 04:10 by LoggerHogger.

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After the visit to Dunsmuir in 1984, the 25 departed right behind 4449 to go back to Mt. Shasta; it did have an SP SD9 coupled behind the caboose, but the 25 was doing all the work. I observed it at Cantara Loop and Azalea. 

The SD-9 was dropped enroute as her crew needed to tie up in Dunsmuir before they went dead..  #25 was light with only her caboose the rest of the way into Mt. Shasta.

Martin

That 1984 New Orleans trip still boggles my mind....an amazing feat by all involved...and there were many (not me, too busy with family and job).   Thanks to the slide collection owner, I just recently got the official trip photographer, Don Hunter's, some 2000 slides converted to DVD.  I understand three sets of these slides were made but other than the set that was recently donated to PNWC-NRHS, I know not where the other two sets are.  Don Hunter was a very good photographer and captured some great scenes on this trip.  Arlen

Arlen,

Now that you mention Don Hunter I learned that Don passed away just a couple weeks ago just shy of his 102nd Birthday.  Don was excellent and photogrpahy and sound recordings of steam.

Martin

I didn't know that Don was recently still alve.  I met him back in ther early sixties when he was recording steam on Rayonier along with Elwin Purington of Seattle who passed away some time ago.  They both got some excellent recordings which I have copies of.

Pete

Same moment, different angle, and in color. No info on who the photographer was.

Tim Stricker
Gillette, WY

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I took a photo of the Mt. Shasta water column and water tank in 1962.

The water column was still standing in April of 1977 at the time of the Transcontinental Steam Excursion with No. 4449 but next year when I passed through Mt. Shasta, the water column was gone.  I was told it was donated the the Calif. State RR Museum but when I asked the museum's curator last year about the water column, he had no idea whether or not it was in the museum's collection.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/16 13:29 by johnsweetser.

LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> The SD-9 was dropped enroute as her crew needed to
> tie up in Dunsmuir before they went dead..  #25
> was light with only her caboose the rest of the
> way into Mt. Shasta.
>
> Martin

The SD9 was still attached when the 25 passed the east switch at Azalea--that's only about three miles from Mt. Shasta.