Steam & Excursion > Oregon Gets It's 8Th Operable Steam Engine-SMV #205!

Yesterday was a big day for many of us lovers of steam in the Pacific Northwest. We were able to see literally decades of hard work by our small group of steam lovers on a project spearheaded by our good friend, George Lavacot take a huge step forward.

You are looking at George's pride and joy, the Santa Maria Valley #205 under steam for the first time in 65 years! Yes, you saw that right, she has not had a fire in her since 1950 some 65 years ago when she was retired by the SMV Railroad and placed on display in the fairgrounds in Santa Maria, CA.

It was in 1983 that George was able to acquire the 1924 Baldwin 2-6-2 from the fairgrounds and move her by flatcar to his shops at the old Valley & Siletz RR yard in Independence, Oregon. Thus started what would be a 32-year restoration job by George and his circle of close friends and lovers of steam.

George likes to point out that, while many steam engines put on display were thought to be "freshly shopped" just before they were retired, that was not the case for "Porky" as #205 is lovingly referred to. George points out the the #205 "was thoroughly worn out, then run another 10 years, and THEN put on display"!

The rebuilt included building an entirely new tender tank, new cab and fabricating or rebuilding every other piece that you see her along with extensive firebox and other boiler work.

Yesterday was the big day. We arrived early in the unusually sunny day in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and got to work. The first order of business was to drag out the engine and tender from the shop and get them hooked up with the draw bar for the first time in 32 years. With that accomplished it was time to get a fire in her. Using a ceremonial piece of local steam history soaked in oil, we lit her off and started to get the old girl hot for the first time. You can see from the second shot that George is definitely happy to see this day come.

In just a few hours as I tended to the fire the 2 steam gauges in the cab slowly rose off the peg until finally in the afternoon the safeties lifted at 185#s as they were supposed to.

I was honored that George asked me to fire her on #205's first day back in steam. She drafted well and we found so few issues that need to be addressed that they are not worth mentioning.

Next we will be getting the drive rods on her and the jacket and lagging taken car of while finishing a myriad of other small things to complete her.

George made sure that #205 was rebuilt to better than she was when she left the Baldwin factory in 1924 for her original owner the San Juaguin & Eastern Ry. Thanks to George's hard work and that of his close friends, Oregon now has an 8Th operable steam locomotive.

Congratulations George!

Martin



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/15 08:11 by LoggerHogger.

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Here we see the forklift getting ready to pull SMV #205 out of the shot so we can get the drwbar installed and then tow her back to join up with her tender.

No project like this can be accomplished without the support of one's spouse and that is certainly true here. In the afternoon as we were getting pressure up in the boiler, George's wife, Marsha arrive to take some photos and celebrate her husband's big day. That is Marsha with George in the cab in the last shot.


Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/15 03:33 by LoggerHogger.

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Welp, that's another one to add to the list. She's going to look gorgeous when the job is done.

And now for the painfully obvious questions: Where will this engine run, and how easy would it be to low-boy her on a trailer as a travelling locomotive?

Congratulations. 32 years! Thanks Martin for the posting. Rolland

A solid looking little locomotive.

Congratulations to all

Congratulations George, and everyone also on the project! She sure is a beauty.

Now that the locomotive is like new what will he do with it?

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Well done, George. Been a long time coming, but well worth the effort.

Todd,

We are working on that now. Stay tuned.

Martin

This is the perfect engine to run between Watsonville Junction and Santa Cruz.

Outstanding!

Z

I couldn't easily find any pictures to show how much George has changed over the intervening years, but I did find a couple showing how much the locomotive has changed.
1 - Moving it into the former V&S shop (aka "The Temple"), 1986.
2 - Ready for sandblasting in 1988.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/15 09:48 by donaldcurtis.

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fotorail Wrote:
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> This is the perfect engine to run between
> Watsonville Junction and Santa Cruz.

Agree, but the NIMBY's would probably complain about the whistle interrupting someones yoga class.

Sure would make a nice addition to the Oregon Coast Scenic in Garibaldi!

Ed

Because of George and people like him, I have been able to show my kids, and now my grandkids why steam engines are so great.

Thanks to all who bring steam back to life and maintain them for future generations.

Randy in rainy PHX

Doncha just know that he was wishing the other rods were on it after it was fired up. But if he can work over 30 years on it, I guess a few more weeks are nothing.

Congratulations to all who had a hand in this.

Martin: We will all want video of this for it's first run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing display of attitude and effort, and one thing I didn't realize was the engine was
a refugee from the "Slow, Jerky and Easy", a railroad normally run by geared engines, on
the daily passenger train! Engine looks great, be even better with paint and a jacket.

Out

George always said that his restoration of the 205 would be like a "Smithsonian" restore! Good job George and all.

Dave
SMV1801LeavingGuad

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> fotorail Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This is the perfect engine to run between
> > Watsonville Junction and Santa Cruz.
>
> Agree, but the NIMBY's would probably complain
> about the whistle interrupting someones yoga
> class.

Omigosh, this just made me laugh SO HARD!!!!

fotorail Wrote:
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> This is the perfect engine to run between
> Watsonville Junction and Santa Cruz.


I honestly don't think that George is going to let #205 leave Oregon
unless it's just an excursion. He brought it to Oregon to
restore and run, besides, you can ride behind steam on the RC&BT
up in the timber any time you need a whiff of steam!

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/15 21:13 by truxtrax.