Steam & Excursion > This Photo Contains Quite A Few Oddities And Some Great History!

Every once in a while you come across a steam photo that contains a wealth of unique features  all in  a single frame.  Here is one such photo.  Depicted here is MEDCO #4 at the log landing near Butte Falls, Oregon in July, 1953.  Let's see if we can spot everything that is unusual here.

First, we have a Willamette geared locomotive as the center piece of the image.  As we know there were not many of these made (only 33 to be exact).  Even more unique is the fact that the fireman's side of this copy of the Shay locomotive is captured on film.  That is a rarity by itself.

Before we leave #4, we should notice 2 more features.  First the presence of a Gerlinger spark arrestor.  These were unique to logging lokies in the Pacific Northwest.  Produced by the Gerlinger Iron Works of Salem, Oregon this design of spark arrestor was very popular on oil-burning logging locomotives from the 1930's until the end of steam.

Lastly, as for #4, her spot plate is missing.  This was unusual for most non-logging steam locomotives, but not that uncommon for logging engines.  The loggers had a habit of draping cables and chains over the spot plates on the logging locomotives for storage and they would on occasion get caught on something which in turn tore off the spot plate.  #4 lost her spot plate early in her career at MEDCO's predecessor, Owen-Oregon Lumber Co.

To the right of #4 are 2 interesting pieces of logging equipment.  In the background we see the twin booms of a Clyde double-ender log loader.  The Clyde Iron Works of Duluth, Minnesota, produced a number of single boom log loaders including the famed McGiffert Loader.  In the teens they also came up with the big-daddy of them all in the form of the Clyde "double-ender". This big machine could yard in and load logs from both ends to speed the time needed to clear a landing of waiting logs.  MEDCO bought one of these and used it until the early 1950's.

The last item of interest, the old decrepit wooden coach to the right in this photo, has quite a story behind it.  That story was told to me by Elvis King (how could you forget that name?) back when we first got the Mount Emily Shay back running in Oregon in 1994.  During a visit to us while running the Shay Elvis told us he had been the first fireman on MEDCO's Willamette #4 (the same engine as in this photo) when nit was first delivered to MEDCO in 1924.  At the time the falling crew rode the log cars out to the woods and back each day because MEDCO did not have a crew car.  When the weather turned cold Elvis recounted that the loggers would all huddle atop the locomotive itself to try and get some warmth off it's boiler.  While this may have worked well for the loggers, it made the visibility for the engine crew trying to look down the track non-existant.

Elvis finally became frustrated enough with this problem that he went to the MEDCO main office in Medford to complain.  He was told that they sympathized with his problem but had no money to solve it.  Elvis was told that if he could come up with a solution that didn't cost the lumber company any money they would implement it.  Elvis then came up with a plan.

Elvis recalled seeing an old wooden Oregon & California coach languishing down at the Southern Pacific yards in Medford waiting to be burned for it's hardware and scrapped.  Elvis approached the SP yard foreman to see if he would donate the old coach to MEDCO to save the cost of it's scrapping.  The yard foreman gladly  agreed and even had the coach delivered to MEDCO the next day by the local SP switch crew.  This solved the problem of loggers climbing all over the MEDCO steam locomotives for the ride to woods and back in the winter months.  Elvis did say that he was so disgusted with MEDCO's ambivalence to the loggers health and safety over this event that he left the company soon thereafter.

All this contained in this single photo, makes you wonder what stories are hidden in other such photos.

Martin



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/18 04:23 by LoggerHogger.

---

Thanks for the photo and info, Marty.  Great, as usual.

The Clyde Iron Works in Duluth, you mentioned, started up in 1889, and still exists!  Well, sorta.  It's now a resturant - with an overhead crane.

-John

MORE great history.....thanks Martin.....the SORAIL folk will be all over this posting as they hope, I believe,  to get rail back to Butte Falls.   Another for The Trainmaster?    Arlen

---

Arlen,

Fine for TM.

Martin

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> First, we have a Willamette geared locomotive as
> the center piece of the image.  As we know there
> were not many of these made (only 33 to be
> exact).  Even more unique is the fact that the
> fireman's side of this copy of the Shay locomotive
> is captured on film.  That is a rarity by
> itself.
 In 2015 I viewed the Willamette and Shay at Mt Ranier RR. I did notice a difference with the reverse linkage for both locomotives (if there were other differences, I didn't notice them). I did not look at the Firemans side........ Do you know if there are any differences on the Firemans side?

> Before we leave #4, we should notice 2 more
> features.  First the presence of a Gerlinger
> spark arrestor.  These were unique to logging
> lokies in the Pacific Northwest.  Produced by the
> Gerlinger Iron Works of Salem, Oregon this design
> of spark arrestor was very popular on oil-burning
> logging locomotives from the 1930's until the end
> of steam.
Same year, I did a lot of train rides and cab rides in WA and CA. They were all oil fired.  I don't remember anything unique about the stacks such as the spark arrestor. They did sand the flues.
I'm wondering if Durango & Silverton will have an arrestor on their oil fired locomotive when it is put in service? 

Pat



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/18 13:07 by PatM.

It is rare when one of the fine photos you post is exceeded by the 'back story' . . . this is one of the exceptions with the background on the 'crew car' . . . always appreciate my daily dose of 'medicine' from Dr. Martin!

Craig
mcmrailvideos.com

Needless to say I enjoy the photo and story. More information for our No. 4 files. Thanks Martin.

Tony Johnson, archivist
Southern Oregon Railway Historical Society

TonyJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Needless to say I enjoy the photo and story. More
> information for our No. 4 files. Thanks Martin.
>
> Tony Johnson, archivist
> Southern Oregon Railway Historical Society

Tony,

I thought you guys might like this.

Martin

Are there any existing locomotives still sporting a Gerlinger spark arrestor?

Posted from Android

Martin, are my eyes deceiving me, or is that an extension pipe holding the whistle elevated above the cab, or something like that?  Whatever it is, I don't think I've seen that before.

Also, any cutaway drawings of how a Gerlinger spark arrester works?

As always, Martin; your steam postings are the best!

-Tom