Steam & Excursion > Two Steam Survivors Move Together At Their Last Operation!

The date is March 31, 1961 and steam has all but entirely disappeared from the railroad scene in the United States.  Nearly all mainlines have retired their last steam motive power years earlier and only a small handful of shortines have any steam power on the roster, and if they do, it is simply as reserve power for the new diesels.

By this time, most logging railroads have been abandoned all together in favor of the cheaper log haul of log trucks.  Those few logging companies that still use their own railroads to move logs to the mill have nearly all converted to modern diesel for this job.  So, to find to, still active, steam locomotives moving together through any rail operation on this late date is certainly worth a photo as we see here.

On this cloudy day at Hoko Camp, Washington on the norther tip of the Olympic Peninsula, Rayonier Inc. still had this pair of steam lokies not only on the roster, but still in active duty.  While Hoko Camp was also home to a pair of Baldwin diesels, Baldwin 2-6-6-2T #8 and Willamette #2 were still called upon to put in a days work on a frequent basis.

We are lucky that these 2 steam pots lasted in service so long.  #8 was saved from scrapping a few years after this photo by railfans Pete Replinger and Byron Cole, and #2 was preserved by ex-Rayonier employee, Jim Gertz.  #2 is now operational on the Mt Rainier Scenic RR and #8 was recently moved to Willits, California by her new owner Chris Baldo who plans to restore her to operation as time permits.

These were 2 of the lucky survivors of the steam era.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/19 03:04 by LoggerHogger.

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