Steam & Excursion > You Never Know What You Might Find Hiding Out Back!

Railfans in the days of steam did not have the luxury of Google Maps available to them to find their hidden quarry. They had to rely on simply checking every available spot that a steam locomotive could be hiding.

Such was the case with the photographer here who was on the hunt for this illusive engine. The date is April 1948 and our intrepid railfan is in the hunt for Spaulding Pulp & Paper #2 at the mill in Newberg, Oregon. He would have found under steam a large ALCO 2-6-2 #2 under steam at the mill as that was their main power by 1948. However, he had been told they had tank 2-6-2 so he keeps looking around the mill.

Hidden back among the log stacks on an unused piece of track he spots his prize in the form of the original SP&P #2 as we see here. She was built in 1920 by Baldwin for the Wind River Lumber Co. for service along the Columbia River near Skamania, Washington. She would later be re-sold to SP&P and would serve out her days in service at the Newberg, OR plant.

I wonder how many other railfans missed the chance to photograph this special locomotive simply because they did not look thoroughly enough.


Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/14 04:11 by LoggerHogger.

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We can be thankful he photographed this hidden treasure. She may not have been beautiful with what looks like an extra water tank added to the side of the original tank, but at least she can now be remembered. Thanks for posting this.
Bob

I had never noticed what does indeed could look like a tank extension on the engineer's side. That is an optical illusion in this photo that I never noticed before. Here is a photo of the other side for reference.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/14 08:02 by LoggerHogger.

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Both sides look exactly the same to me. Both sides have the double row of rivets on the corner, stop at the same place on the boiler course and have the same cab height and width to the cab.

Labby Wrote:
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> Both sides look exactly the same to me. Both sides
> have the double row of rivets on the corner, stop
> at the same place on the boiler course and have
> the same cab height and width to the cab.


Yes you are so right as taking a second look one can see the slope at first glance makes it look like its been added on to. Good catch.

Looks to me like a brace off the boiler/smoke box to hold the front of the tank up.

What a great illusion. Sure looked like an add-on. If you put your finger over the top front to hide it, only then does the illusion of additional added width go away and one realizes that what looks like more girth up front, coming outward from the boiler, is in fact just part of the side. It seems to be caused by the camera angle which makes the line representing the top edge of the sloping part line up so well with the line of the front top extending outward.