Steam & Excursion > Never Underestimate The Talent & Skill Of The Backshop Boys!

Steam railroading was a very dangerous business back in the day.  There were hazards of all kinds faced by the crews who worked on these steam giants that we can hardly fathom today.

With the risk of catastrophic wrecks present each railroad had to rely on their backshop crews to be able to salvage the remains of steam motive power once it was caught up in one of these incidents.

I previously chronicled the terrible wreck that occurred with the collapse in August 1935 of the Little Baldwin Trestle on SP's Tillamook Branch:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,3796057,3796057#msg-3796057

I thought it would be of interest to see the miraculous repairs that the SP backshop crews at SP's Brooklyn facilities in Portland, Oregon could do when faced with the nearly destroyed #2833 from that wreck.

The final shot posted here shows SP #2833 in Los Angelas in June 1955, some 20 years after that terrible wreck in the Oregon Coast Range.  #2833 looks splendid in the later view with absolutely no sign of the prior wreck damage she had suffered.

This is surely a testament to the skills of the steam backhop boys of the day!



Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/16 03:28 by LoggerHogger.

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I'm always amazed at how backshops could bring these corpses back to life after a disaster.  I'm thinking of two Frisco engines coming back after a terrible headon collision back in the late '30s.  They were wizards.

I'm more amazed , that, the crews got it up the side of the hill, and to the Backshop in the first place !

miralomarail Wrote:
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> I'm more amazed , that, the crews got it up the
> side of the hill, and to the Backshop in the first
> place !

Notice in the accident picture that the walkway and other engineer side sheetmetal isn't bent up.  It was when it was recovered that it really got messed up.

> Notice in the accident picture that the walkway
> and other engineer side sheetmetal isn't bent
> up.  It was when it was recovered that it really
> got messed up.

There were TWO locomotives in the accident.  This might be the one not visable in the lead photo.

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> I'm always amazed at how backshops could bring
> these corpses back to life after a disaster.  I'm
> thinking of two Frisco engines coming back after a
> terrible headon collision back in the late '30s. 
> They were wizards.

AKA "cornfield meet"

Looking at that first photo, seeing the concrete bases on the oppsoing hillside, it's remarkable that they could even build that bridge back in the day.  That's what REALLY amazes me.  Just digging the holes to set the bases must have been really, really hard.  That is one scary photo.