Steam & Excursion > Early Steam Pile Driver & Early Steam Locomotive-Cook, OR!

The steam made in the boilers of the early steam locomotives was quickly harnessed for a wide variety of other uses by the railroad they operated on.  Our case in point is seen with this steam powered pile driver in service on the Southern Pacific line West of Portland at Cook, Oregon.

Power for this work train is supplied by SP 4-4-0 #1476.  She has a steam pipe added to her steam dome that travels back to the steam engine on the pile driving unit.  While not a large pipe, this will supply more than enough power for the days job building and repairing trestles on the line.

H.L. Arey took the fine photo for us.


Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/15 05:14 by LoggerHogger.

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I've never seen a line going back like that.  I've seen plenty  of photos of engines with a pipe running up to the pilot deck and the pile driver was pushed around.
Unusual.

Not Cook; looks like Rex Hill.

MP733 Wrote:
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> Not Cook; looks like Rex Hill.

I'll second that.

Matt Starman
Greenleaf, ID

Thanks for posting Martin. This photo was also published in the SP In Oregon Pictorial on pages 74-5 with the location stated as "somewhere on Rex Hill". The pile driver is no. 1338 and the locomotive is class E-25 built by Baldwin in 1887 as UP 740 which was scrapped in 1925. This is an interesting 'where is it?' as it doesn't appear to be Cook due to the hilly terrain.

Scott Anderson
Lake Oswego, OR 

Scott

I am going off what H.L. Arey wrote on the negative sleeve.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/15 15:47 by LoggerHogger.