Steam & Excursion > Built New For This Line This Locomotive Came To An Untimely End!

The Oregon & Northwestern Railroad that ran out of Hines, Oregon to Sceneca had a history of only buying used locomotives from other operators. One of only 2 exceptions to this rule occurred in 1929 when the O&NW ordered this 2-8-2 from Baldwin.

The company decided it was time to add another engine to the roster and this 57-inch drivered Mike was just the ticket. You can only imagine the pride the company had a few months after the order when the Union Pacific freight train from Ontario, Oregon arrived in Hines with this new engine aboard.

O&NW #26 quickly became a favorite of the crews who ran the log trains between Sceneca and Hines on a daily basis. He power and steaming characteristics were just what the crews loved about her most.

Unfortunately, that all came to a horrible end on January 29, 1947 when #26 got away from her crew on the 2.6% grade down into Poison Creek Canyon and she careened off the rails in a pile of steel and iron that was beyond repair. The engine crew had bailed out of the engine after the first mile without brakes and the crew in the caboose sensed the runaway and cut the caboose off in time to avoid the wreck.

What a sad end to what had been the pride of the O&NW motive power fleet.


Martin



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/17 03:09 by LoggerHogger.

---

Each trip I take from John Day to Burns I get to wish I had been around there shooting Kodachromes of the Oregon & Northwestern. The ROW is still mostly intact along the hwy to imagine log trains moving south.

Interesting to see a Delta trailing truck (with booster!) and twin air pumps behind shields on a lokie like that. I wonder if it had a stoker?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/17 10:50 by CPR_4000.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting to see a Delta trailing truck (with
> booster!) and twin air pumps behind shields on a
> lokie like that. I wonder if it had a stoker?

Stokers don't work very well on oil fired steam locomotives.

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Stokers don't work very well on oil fired steam
> locomotives.

Aw come on Jack - they might be good if the oil is real thick!

Martin

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CPR_4000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Interesting to see a Delta trailing truck (with
> > booster!) and twin air pumps behind shields on
> a
> > lokie like that. I wonder if it had a stoker?
>
> Stokers don't work very well on oil fired steam
> locomotives.

Thought maybe, but couldn't tell from the photo.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HotWater Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CPR_4000 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Interesting to see a Delta trailing truck
> (with
> > > booster!) and twin air pumps behind shields
> on
> > a
> > > lokie like that. I wonder if it had a stoker?
> >
> > Stokers don't work very well on oil fired steam
> > locomotives.
>
> Thought maybe, but couldn't tell from the photo.

Well, if you look closely at the photo, there is no ash pan under the firebox, and no coal pile in the tender.

Yes, lack of visible ash pan is first clue...

What’s with the screen(?) on the top of the stack???
Was that common on oil burners used in the forests?

W.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, lack of visible ash pan is first clue...
>
> What’s with the screen(?) on the top of the
> stack???
> Was that common on oil burners used in the
> forests?
>
> W.

Yes it was.

Screen was a spark arrester, and yes, they were common on oil burners in the woods.

The 26 was the direct result of many many months of intense research by the Edward Hines organization, especially C.J. Pettibone. C.J. And his father F.W. had been with the Hines operations in Mississippi for many years before the move to Oregon- Hines sent F.W. to Oregon to effectively build the operation nearly the ground up, and he heavily involved his son in nearly every major decision. C.J. had a general idea of what he wanted in what became the 26; it’s clear Baldwin was favored from the outset, though the Hines company submitted a request for proposals to Alco, Porter, and Lima. Hines also considered and investigated diesel electrics at some lengths. In the end Alco and Baldwin both sent reps to eastern Oregon to tour the railroad, and Baldwin, Alco, and Lima all submitted quotes, which the Pettibones went over themselves in great detail, as well as taking them to outside parties (most noteably the Chicago & Northwestern) to get their evaluations. It should be noted everyone who looked at the adverse grade against loads from Trout Creek to the summit recommended articulated power, C.J. Pettibone was dead set against that as he felt the added capital and maintenance costs would be wasted on the rest of the line. The booster was added to help with this. Not seen in this photo is the feed water heater, considered a must have by C.J. on all Hines locomotives operating in Oregon on account of high fuel costs. The 26 cost Hines $65,000, plus an additional $200 added on later for a doghouse on the tender.

ONW promptly replaced the 26 with two large 2-8-2s acquired from UP, plus 20 flatcars to replace those destroyed in the wreck. While impressive looking machines, one Hines document described them as much older and not nearly as good for our operation as the 26.

Thanks for posting this, Martin!

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Posted from iPhone

Thank you for the additional history, Jeff.