Steam & Excursion > San Francisco's Ocean Shore RR Lives On - In Logging!

Running south out of San Francisco along the Ocean for a distance of 56 miles from 1905 to 1920 was the fabled Ocean Shore Ry. This shortline hauled both freight and passengers along some of the most treacherous coastal ledges one could imagine.

One of the locomotives that was built for the OSR in 1913 was this big Baldwin 2-6-0. She was delivered to the OSR as their #21. In 1920 when the OSR quit, she was sold to the Pacific Lumber Co. in Scotia, CA and was re-numbered as their #34. She spent the next 22 years hauling redwood logs in the northern California coastal area.

In 1942, with the demand for wood high on account of WWII, the Baldwin was sold to the Red River Lumber Co. for service on their Westwood, CA logging lines. She retained the #34 for a few years until the Fruit Growers Supply Co. bought out the RRL. At that time she was re-numbered as FGS #1. You can still see the #34 on her sand dome in this (top) August 26, 1950 photo of her at Westwood.

FGS gave their engines silver paint on both the smokebox front and the rear of the tender. This made the trains more visible in the woods to log trucks crossing the railroad.

When her work for FGS was done by 1953, #1 was parked in the deadline at the FGS camp along with the retired FGS Shays as seen in the bottom photo. She was waiting to be towed to South San Francisco to the scrapyard that so many steam locomotives met their fate in. It is interesting to note how close this scrap yard was to the original Ocean Shore Ry station where this big 2-6-0 first started her railroad career!


Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/12 09:13 by LoggerHogger.

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Here is a builder's photo of OSR #21 when she was new in 1913. As you can see, she received very few changes over her career on the OSR and later on the logging lines mentioned above.

The second view show OSR #21 in service south of San Francisco along the Pacific Ocean Shore that the railroad was named after.

Yet another Ocean Shore RR survivor that found a new life in logging was OSR Motor Car #62. This car was built new for the OSR by the A. Meister Co.

Here we see the car in San Francisco when she was nearly new.


Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/12 05:42 by LoggerHogger.

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Here is another photo of OSR Motor #62 in service along the OS line. She helped save the Ocean Shore RR considerable money over the years with her ability to haul people at much less cost than by a full train.

It was this very same trait that saved the motor from scrap when the OSR quit in 1920.

Loggers using railroads had to move their cutting crews from camp to the woods on a daily basis. Rather than run a special train for this purpose a motor car like OSR #62 would be handy. The Long-Bell Lumber Co. of Tennant, CA recognized the value in OSR Motor #62 and they bought her from the scrap dealer in 1920.

The car was moved to Tennant, CA and re-numbered Long-Bell M-21. She was given some modifications as you can see in the photo Bert Ward took of her at Tennant in October 1948.

It is interesting that a passenger railroad out of San Francisco like the OSR would end up supplying so much equipment to the logging industry.


Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/12 05:53 by LoggerHogger.

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Very interesting story and photos!

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

Interesting! Looks like she got converted to piston valves,
did she also get superheat too?
Great pics and info Martin, thanks!

Yes, she got converted to piston valves and superheat while she was at the Pacific Lumber Co. in Scotia, CA.

Martin

Neat set of Ocean Shore pics! Awesome.

Actually, perhaps it isn't that odd that so much OSRR stuff went into logging. On its south end, the OSRR was basically a logger itself. Its major customer was the mill at Swanton.

Z

Martin does not state that the photo is from SSF -- the photo is of engines waiting to be towed to SSF. Best -- B

Thanks for the great story, Martin. Too bad there's not much left of the Ocean Shore excpet for right-of-way and five depots. For eight years I used to work in Half Moon Bay. For the first two years I was still living in San Francisco and regulary commuted on Hwy 1, which was built on, or paralleled much of the old reight of way between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.