Nostalgia & History > NWP stationary boiler and MW100?

Found a couple of undated pictures of Northwestern Pacific "stuff" in the Ted Wurm collection in the Western Railway Museum archives. Nosing around online, it seems likely that the first one shows former NWP 4-4-0 #8 in use as a stationary boiler at Tiburon, CA sometime after 1938, but does anyone know for sure?

In the second one, MW100 looks like a former caboose that has been converted to some maintenance of way role. Anyone know its origin and what its function was as MW100?

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Evan,

Three observations:

I don't think MW 100 was ever a caboose because there are no corner steps.

Strangely, the third pocket for the vertical posts is in the third stirrup.

Why the rivets about 1/3 the way up on the wall. Are they are holding some sort of shelve inside? Must be pretty heavy.

Marty Bernard

MW 100 looks like a tunnel repair car. That's why the grab irons go to the roof. Inside looks like room for wood, tools, and a work bench.

Grab irons always went to the roof. Wouldn't a tunnel repair car have a flat platform on the roof to work from? And I'd think there would be a better way to get to the roof, like an internal ladder, which there may be.

Well, what ever that is in Photo 1, it's stationary. From what we can see it is hook up to nothing, i.e., buildings/machines to which to send steam.

Marty Bernard

MartyBernard Wrote:
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> Grab irons always went to the roof. Wouldn't a
> tunnel repair car have a flat platform on the roof
> to work from? And I'd think there would be a
> better way to get to the roof, like an internal
> ladder, which there may be.
>
> Well, what ever that is in Photo 1, it's
> stationary. From what we can see it is hook up to
> nothing, i.e., buildings/machines to which to send
> steam.
>
> Marty Bernard

It is clearly 'hooked' into the steam line that runs round the roundhouse, stands out plainly.


Malcolm
New Zealand.

MW100 - this might be that was a Ledgewood(sp?)in its "ready to move-knocked down " mode. wag216

First picture looks more like Sausalito,not Tiburon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/14 09:09 by Nickster.

Sausalito has my vote too. The RH in Tiburon looked out on the bay and barge slip. There was a hill behind the yard at Tiburon but there were not many houses on it, even up thru the 50s. They did have an old steam engine on one of the garden tracks with the rear of the tender pointed in a westerly direction and the pilot pointed at the turntable pit. It was hooked up to the overhead steam line and still had its rods but the main was disconnected. I watched the hostlers get up in it and fire it off a few times. They invited me up once and the fire went out. They re-lit it of the bricks with a huge whump, along with the black smoke coming back into the cab. (I think they did it to scare me, which it did) A real thrill for a grammar school kid.

Nudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/14 12:50 by spnudge.

MartyBernard Wrote:

> I don't think MW 100 was ever a caboose because
> there are no corner steps.

The relatively short length, stubby end platforms, partial end door, and low curved roof reminded me a bit of Santa Fe's once-ubiquitous side door cabooses like the one shown below (although MW100 would have been built from an earlier generation of car than 1913-built ATSF 1019). Santa Fe was part-owner of NWP until the late 20's, so they could have influenced NWP practice and maybe even contributed a caboose carbody to the NWP MW cause, although I certainly can't prove that.

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I agree Sausalito, not Tiburon. If this was Tiburon, you'd be looking east and the sun isn't right. Also, as Nudge says the hill in background looks more like Sausalito. You'd be looking west and the sun angle makes more sense.