Steam & Excursion > All Is Not As It First Appears In This View Of A Very Last Train!

At first when we look at this wonderful scene shot by Al Farrow we are led to believe Al had captured yet another great view of steam in action on his beloved Northern Pacific RR.. But if you look closer you will see that this is something quite different.

What Al has taken time to seek out is the very last train being operated on the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade Ry out of Chehalis, Washington. We see leased NP #1110 starting to bring in the last train on the line on May 9, 1955. ALCO 0-6-0 #1110 was leased by the CC&C because they had only one operable steam engine at the end of operations and they needed 2 engines on each train.

Why 2 engines? Not for power as the grades on the CC&C were not all that steep. Rather, they needed 2 engines to cross the Cowlitz River Bridge. The bridge had been condemned so that the crews would stop their train on one side of the bridge and then walk back to the engine on the rear of the train and then push the crew-less lead engine over the bridge. Once it was across they would walk back up to the lead engine and then proceed on their way, towing the train and the engine on the end of the train.

Such was the ingenuity of shortline railroaders back in the days of steam.


Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/17 04:35 by LoggerHogger.

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That is a great story

Posted from Android

Would this later become the Curtis, Milburn and Eastern?...and then the present Steam tourist line?

I still don't have a handle on all the logging lines in that area.

t4p.

TCnR Wrote:
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> Would this later become the Curtis, Milburn and
> Eastern?...and then the present Steam tourist
> line?


No, the CC&C ran eastward toward the Cascade Range from the NP mainline rather than westward toward the ocean.