Steam & Excursion > This Massive Steam Beast Is Only 10 Years Old & She's In Control!

Just this one huge 4-6-6-4 is clearly in control of her long string of freight cars in photo taken just 10 short years after she left the ALCO factory.

We are on a hill side at Union Gap, Washington along with Al Farrow who has taken time off from his day job as a Northern Pacific engineer to train his camera on NP #5137 as she rolls along effortlessly with her mile-long freight consist. 

The date is August 5, 1953, just 10 years from the March 1943 build date that adorns her builder's plate on the smokebox of this massive steam engine.  She has been well maintained and could have had another 20 years of service ahead of her had the economies of the ever arriving diesel locomotives had not retired her long before her time was up.

For now as we watch her pass by, all is right with her world.  Let's not spoil that with talk of diesels.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/16 06:13 by LoggerHogger.

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Picky---picky.....

New Murphy's Law corollary:   Typos in electronics communications compositions are always gonna be there,
The more complex the composition, the more the typos will multiply  (numbers are more susceptible, and are often whoppers).
They never show-up in the original text; but, only when it goes to the Internet.

​W.

And  that's the U.P. on the right?  East of Yakima there are still two sets of tracks.  And some abandoned.  Who can explain which ones are which?

Ed

Sure beats: here's the photo, I forget when it was.

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> Picky---picky.....
>

Great stuff, thanks.

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just this one huge 4-6-6-4 is clearly in control
> of her long string of freight cars in photo taken
> just 10 short years after she left the ALCO
> factory.
>
> We are on a hill side at Union Gap, Washington
> along with Al Farrow who has taken time off from
> his day job as a Northern Pacific engineer to
> train his camera on NP #5137 as she rolls along
> effortlessly with her mile-long freight
> consist. 
>
> The date is August 5, 1953, just 10 years from the
> March 1943 build date that adorns her builder's
> plate on the smokebox of this massive steam
> engine.  She has been well maintained and could
> have had another 20 years of service ahead of her
> had the economies of the ever arriving diesel
> locomotives had not retired her long before her
> time was up.
>
> For now as we watch her pass by, all is right with
> her world.  Let's not spoil that with talk of
> diesels.
>
> Martin



Thanks for sharing.  I was 1 year and 1 day old (born 8/4/52) the day the photo was taken.

Nomosantafe
Portland, Oregon
"Pacific Wonderland"

The 1950s were a bad time for both steam locomotives and trolley cars.  It would be a long and painful task to list all the steamers and electric cars that were scrapped long before they were worn out.

It's a beauty, those Z-8s, and the photo.  Not much smoke considering they had to burn that poor coal.   I was only five and a half at the time and two thousand miles to the East.   And to think, they almost saved one of these Z-8s.   Bummer.

C. Hanson
Vay, Id.

Ed,
  Yes, that's the UP on the right. Just out of view, beyond the rear of the train, the UP swung to the east, crossed the NP at grade, at a location called Parker and then crossed the Yakima river on a gauntlet track on a bridge that it shared with the NP's branchline on the east side of the valley.

Auburn_Ed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And  that's the U.P. on the right?  East of
> Yakima there are still two sets of tracks.  And
> some abandoned.  Who can explain which ones are
> which?
>
> Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/16 14:13 by crackerjackhoghead.