Steam & Excursion > Clean Air Made This Steam Locomotive The Last To Run Here!

By the mid-1950's the air quality in Los Angelas had become such a concern that legislation was enacted to try and stem the growing air pollution problem.  One measure that was put into law was the ban on steam locomotives burning either oil or coal for fuel.

These new laws left Union Pacific 0-6-0 #4439 as the last steam locomotive in the L.A. Basin to operate in regular service.  This also made her a prime candidate for use on railfan excursion trains as we see here.  On June 9,1956 #4439 is stopped in Glendale, California on one such trip.  She is literally stopping traffic and clearly is the center of attention for all present.

The attention gained by #4439 in this role as last of the steam locomotives in L.A. was sufficient to warrant her donation to the steam collection at Traveltown, where she resides today.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/19 07:43 by LoggerHogger.

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LoggerHogger Wrote:

> By the mid-1950's the air quality in Los Angelas
> had become such a concern that legislation was
> enacted to try and stem the growing air pollution
> problem.  One measure that was put into law was
> the ban on steam locomotives burning either oil or
> coal for fuel.

Various old threads have discussed the end of the engine's career and whether or not it was due to LA "banning" steam locomotives, including this one:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4245487

The conclusion of that thread, and of Don Strack's analysis at the following link, is that LA didn't specifically ban steam locomotives.  Rather, by the mid-1950's, the city had adopted air pollution laws whose general restrictions on making dark smoke would have made the continued operation of steam locomotives in regular service problematic, among other things.
 
http://utahrails.net/up-steam-roster/steam-roster-notes.php#up4439

In the case of 4439, in 1956 it spent most of its time on the Harbor Belt Line as a stationary boiler, but got to play locomotive once a week on Mondays, at which time the flues were sanded to clear out the accumulated soot.  An inspector with the L.A. County Air Pollution Control District observed the engine in violation of the pollution codes during one of those throat-clearing sessions (making smoke too dark for too long a period).  A subsequent hearing in February 1957 resulted in a variance that allowed the engine to keep running until its flue time expired in November, at which time UP promised to retire the locomotive.  The report of the hearing was published on pages 21-22 of the July 1957 Trains magazine, and its humorous tone makes it clear that the board was sympathetic to this "ancient and honorable member of the transportation world," and that they were happy to grant a stay of execution until the Feds' flue-time restrictions did the dirty deed for them:  

"We rather dread to see this fellow retire, and we suggest that he receive a pension from the Government as well as a Union Pacific pension, for his service-incurred disability.  We take the further liberty to suggest that he be given a vacation of not less than one month to travel across some lowlands where the moon will cast a shimmery gleam on the steam from his proud whistle, but above all to let him roam a mountain canyon or two where he and those who remember and love that sound can once again hear the echo of that wonderful WHOoooo-HOOoooo-hoooo."

This excursion, by the way, ran on June 9, 1956 and was sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society.  See:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4800464

Thanks for the great answer. I grew up a "lifer" railfan in Los Angeles and remember a lot of the folklore surrounding this engine.

Have fun, be safe, 
Bruce "Doc" Jones  Sierra Madre CA

Lies, damn lies!! It wasn't Clean Air that did it, it was those damn GP9s!!

Out

Always know someone has the real reason..........................sort of anyway will vote for either one.

Fun!
When I was discharged from the Army our first apartment was less than a block northeast (directly behind) the big hotel (which still stands).
Growing up in Glendale I remember seeing a UP diesel switcher on Glendale Blvd and freight cars spotted in the lumber yard about 2 blocks north of this photo (behind the train, the end of the line).