Steam & Excursion > Steam Locomotive Towed Dead-In-Train Back In The Day!

In the era of steam locomotives when a railroad would buy a used locomotive they would need to have it shipped to them by rail. This meant the engine had to be prepared to be towed dead-in-train.

Here we see an example of such a move with the shipment of Pope & Talbot #100 in 1942 from her logging career in Washington State to her new home at the Santa Maria Valley RR in California.

Because the engine would not be under steam and would as a result be receiving no lubrication in her valves or pistons while en route, some parts needed to be removed to prevent damage. Here the main pistons have been removed and stored on the pilot deck. This allowed the main drive rods to be left attached. The valves are still intact, but the valve mechanism has been disconnected.

When these engines were sold they often came with spare parts that had been accumulated by their prior owners. IN this case a set of new tires for the drivers has been included in the sale and they can be seen stowed on the to of the tender. #100 has been coupled on to the rear of her train which was not uncommon. The plan must be to keep #100 moving on this trip south as no one has bothered to board up the cab or even close the cab windows.

This must have been quite a treat for railfans to be able to catch one of these movements back in the day.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/14 09:18 by LoggerHogger.

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Where in WA did Pope and Talbot have there steam logging operations?
thanks
Roger Beckett

Pope & Talbot was at Port Ludlow in Jefferson County, Washington.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/14 09:19 by LoggerHogger.

Wasn't it usual or at least fairly common to send a messenger with an engine, to make sure nothing bad went wrong with it, and possibly perform some walk-around lubrication at stops? Perhaps the messenger is occupying the cab, and we just can't see him.

The messenger may be waiting for the train to be completely made up (and may be stocking up his water and food supply for the trip.) And that boxcar to the right of the engine looks rather old and is probably tired.

Interesting location of the backup light on the cab roof. Good story
,

Thomas Eckhardt

http://tewe.borail.net

I'm really surprised they didn't remove the main rods as the slider would need to be lubricated on a regular basis as well.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Great photo. I've never see a photo of 100 from her Pope Talbot days.