Western Railroad Discussion > Merrill OR collection

Lots of iron.....

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Is this the Kepner collection talked about here on TO?

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That is the Fred Kepner collection, a sad sight.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Is any of this salvageable?

Tom

Yes

TL

Posted from iPhone

Just looking at it, if you moved it, it would fall into a pile of rust

WAF Wrote:
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> Just looking at it, if you moved it, it would fall
> into a pile of rust


Not really but one fact is its not in a scrap yard. Also where its at is relatively dry which helps. I usually take a trip down just to gaze at it one day will go and see if he is home so a closer look can be done.

funnelfan wrote  >That is the Fred Kepner collection<. That isn't what the title says.  What RR is that steam crane? upkpfan

I shed a tear every time I look at those pictures as I regularly ran one of those steamers and, briefly, another one in the '60s. When I got out of HO gauge in the '90s after 25 years (too many irons in the fire!) the only steamer model I kept was the 1925 Oregon-American (VSP&S) Prairie #105 though I now wish I had kept one of my two SP&S Z6s.

upkpfan Wrote:
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> funnelfan wrote  >That is the Fred Kepner
> collection<. That isn't what the title says. 
> What RR is that steam crane? upkpfan


Yes, the owners name and the nearby town. The private collection has moved around a few times, it would be interesting if somebody had a list of the equipment.

Crane is ex SP, believe it was assigned to Klamath Falls but don't have a list of assignments. The crane has SP markings, a big logo on the side and is consistent with SP equipment assigned to the area.

+ should also add, based on previous posts, the collection is well known among the steam crowd on the west coast, including legal representation on TO. Don't know if any of it is for sale though.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/18 09:10 by TCnR.

Searching Google found an interesting TrainOrders thread from 2003 with some background to the collection, note that the information is corrected as the post goes through it's vetting process:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,588461

Interesting to read the connection with the previous McCloud owners.

The hook was assigned to Dunsmuir but then went up to K Falls. The SP gave it to Fred but he almost lost it. UP gave him a date and said they would dispose of it if he didn't move it.

The last time I saw it work was a derailment in the canyon. We had the "little" hook on the east end and the "big" hook on the west end, picking up cars. The Roseville hook took 2 people to run it. One to operate it, the other to keep up steam and keep everything else running. The K Falls hook just took one person.



Nudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/18 16:44 by spnudge.

I shake my head every time a photo of these shows up. There are several drone flyovers on YT. Look them up.

Nothing will happen until the passing of Fred, IMHO. Personally, there is a 0-4-0 there that I would love to restore. Railtown in Jamestown would like to get 34(?) back. And there are a lot of small items, track speeders, parts, lots of stuff that I hope does not get thrown out.

Posted from iPhone

I was told but never looked for it, years back it was at Modoc Point north of Chiloquin OR and moved to its present location. The move was done by a military unit for practice to where its at now. Think that someone may have the answer.

BAB Wrote:
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> I was told but never looked for it, years back it
> was at Modoc Point north of Chiloquin OR and moved
> to its present location. The move was done by a
> military unit for practice to where its at now.
> Think that someone may have the answer.

Some of the equipment was visible outside of the large building where hiway 97 crosses the old SP mainline. The location where the industry switch is/was called Lobert. The building was pretty much empty at the time.

I never heard how the equipment was moved, would be interesting to hear more about that, whether it was by rail or land transport.

CPRR Wrote:
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> I shake my head every time a photo of these shows
> up. There are several drone flyovers on YT. Look
> them up.
>
> Nothing will happen until the passing of Fred,
> IMHO. Personally, there is a 0-4-0 there that I
> would love to restore. Railtown in Jamestown would
> like to get 34(?) back. And there are a lot of
> small items, track speeders, parts, lots of stuff
> that I hope does not get thrown out.
>
> Posted from iPhone

It's the Sierra 36.