Steam & Excursion > This Locomotive Is Photographed Today More Than When In Service!

A lucky few steam locomotives toiled away their active lives in relative obscurity with few photographs ever being taken of them.  Some perished this way and are nearly forgotten in time due to the lack of images preserved of them to remember them by.  Not so with this particular locomotive.

While Southern Pacific #4294 was not only the very last Cab-Forward ever built, she was also the very last new steam locomotive ordered by the SP.  One would think that would have earned her sufficient notoriety to be captured in thousand of photographs during her working career.  However, that was not the case.  First, her working career was begun during WW-II when railroad photography was all but banned.  Next, she was retired with just slightly over 12 years of service.  Both of these factors led to he being caught by camera wielding railfans only a few times while in service.

Once #4294 was retired by SP all her days of anonymity were to end.  First, she was placed on display at the SP depot in Sacramento along with the C.P. Huntington which made her the instant subject of countless photos and even postcards over the next 20 years.  If that were not enough, when the California State RR Museum was built in old-town Sacramento, #4294 was given a prominent place of display in the heart of the main building where tens of thousands of photos of her are taken each year by visitors to the museum.  She has been recognized since the early days of the museum as the single most photographed object in all the displays.

Few who visit #4294 today with all her shine and polish could ever imagine her back in the grimy days of service for which she was fist built.  Good for us that a few photos like this one survive to remind us what her working career actually looked like.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/18 02:46 by LoggerHogger.

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Oh, SP’s last steam engine....UP’s last steam engine...Golden Spike Centennial....oh, just thinking...

Heck yeah, fire it up.

Hotels for Ogden in May 2019 are north of $1000.00 for 4 nights now. 

czuleget Wrote:
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> Hotels for Ogden in May 2019 are north of $1000.00
> for 4 nights now. 

Not too bad- $250/Night... what do they normally run?

dbesade Wrote:
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> czuleget Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hotels for Ogden in May 2019 are north of
> $1000.00
> > for 4 nights now. 
>
> Not too bad- $250/Night... what do they normally
> run?

Yea, what he said ^^^

Got two nights at Super 8 with breakfast for $101

weather Wrote:
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> Got two nights at Super 8 with breakfast for $101

and complimentary bedbugs to boot.

LarryB Wrote:
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> weather Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Got two nights at Super 8 with breakfast for
> $101
>
> and complimentary bedbugs to boot.

Funny.  Super 8 is our go to.  Outlets to charge the batteries; TV to play back our day's shooting; a comfortable bed; breakfast in the morning (if we don't have to leave at some ungodly hour before they're up and running).

We're easy to please.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what kind of locomotive is the one on the left of this photo?  It doesn't seem to qualify as a cab forward; at least as there are no windows visible...
 

norm1153 Wrote:
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> Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what kind
> of locomotive is the one on the left of this
> photo?  It doesn't seem to qualify as a cab
> forward; at least as there are no windows
> visible...

That is the back of a steam derrick/wrecker.  

HotWater Wrote:
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> norm1153 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what
> kind
> > of locomotive is the one on the left of this
> > photo?  It doesn't seem to qualify as a cab
> > forward; at least as there are no windows
> > visible...
>
> That is the back of a steam derrick/wrecker.  

No....      I think it's one of the AC B-Units.
SR

SR-

An AC-12B.  That's pretty good.  If it's equipped with a steam generator, is it an ACP-12B?

Stan Hunter
Fair Oaks, CA

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> HotWater Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > norm1153 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what
> > kind
> > > of locomotive is the one on the left of this
> > > photo?  It doesn't seem to qualify as a cab
> > > forward; at least as there are no windows
> > > visible...
> >
> > That is the back of a steam
> derrick/wrecker.  
>
> No....      I think it's one of the AC
> B-Units.
> SR

When 4294 was displayed at Sacramento Depot near 1960, I would climb on it for fun. I gained a love of trains. I saved this postcard all these years. Few pics like this exist online. Sure glad the beast still rests at Sac.

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ACP-12B, ah! That’s pretty good!
SR

How are you doing, Stan?
Hope it’s all high green!

Being as how you can see the steam generator stack in the pic it must be an ACP-12B....

stanhunter Wrote:
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> SR-
>
> An AC-12B.  That's pretty good.  If it's
> equipped with a steam generator, is it an
> ACP-12B?
>
> Stan Hunter
> Fair Oaks, CA
>
> BoilingMan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > HotWater Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > norm1153 Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but
> what
> > > kind
> > > > of locomotive is the one on the left of
> this
> > > > photo?  It doesn't seem to qualify as a
> cab
> > > > forward; at least as there are no windows
> > > > visible...
> > >
> > > That is the back of a steam
> > derrick/wrecker.  
> >
> > No....      I think it's one of the AC
> > B-Units.
> > SR

BoilingMan Wrote:
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>


> No....      I think it's one of the AC
> B-Units.
> SR

And very rarely phtographed!

This locomotive depicted upon the T-Shirt I am wearing today.

Used to be available at the shop at the Musume.