Steam & Excursion > After The Last Run On This Railroad Steam Still Remained Inside!

By November 1966, the last trains from the woods had already arrived at the Pickering Lumber mill in Standard, California nearly a year earlier.  Even by this date, the last run to the woods for the board of directors had been run a month earlier to show them the line before the California Highway Department severed the mainline with a newly constructed  highway.  All seemed pretty gloomy for fans of steam, unless they knew where to look.

Even by that late date, there was still steam hiding and ready for operation at Standard.  Deep inside the Pickering machine shop in one of the bays one could still find a complete and serviceable Pacific Coast Shay in the form of Pickering #11 as seen here.  Her bell and headlight have been removed in preparation for her move to Rio Vista, California for her new owner Tom Irion who had purchased her the year before.

Fortunately for us, #11 would live to steam again, first at Rio Vista for a few years and then in the 1990's at Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad where she is today, on display and sadly not servicable.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/19 04:18 by LoggerHogger.

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Thanks to you and Tom Irion for a look at #11 resting at Pickering Lumber before moving to Rio Vista, CA.  Glad she continued to run for many years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/19 04:21 by cozephyr.

That's some serious lumber in that shop.   The inside of the structure is almost as interesting as the locomotive.
When they move a geared loco dead in tow, what do they do, disconnect the drive shafts?

Usually the universals and slip joints are removed.  Some times geared shafts on the trucks are removed too.

Here is Klickitat Log & Lumber Shay #7 in 1964 after she was towed from Klickitat, Washington to Tacoma. You can see that all her line shafts and geared shafts have been removed and stowed on the tender deck.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/19 07:00 by LoggerHogger.

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Is it possible they had an overhead Crain in that building from the looks of the heavy framing.

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Is there major problems that make it currently unservicable or is it doing a boiler inspection for a new certificate (still not cheap but less costly than a full restoration)?

#11 needs some boiler work and other running gear work to operate.  The current owner of MRSRR does not need her in service with the rod-engines able to carry the load at faster speeds.  She is not likely to see service again any time soon.

Martin