Steam & Excursion > The Show Is Over, The Guests Have Left, Time To Head For Home!

The afternoon of April 17, 1955 finds Sierra Railroad 2-6-6-2 #38 and 2-8-0 #28 cooling their wheels after arriving back in Oakdale, California at the end of the "End Of Steam" trip that had been run that day from Oakdale to Jamestown and back.  The passenger train with the hundreds of excursionists has already departed back to the Bay Area. 

All that is left to do is to service the 2 locomotives for their return trip to the roundhouse at Jamestown one last time.  #28 will run light back to Jamestown this afternoon, while #38 will wait till morning to depart.  When #38 returns the next morning she will take the daily freight train that is waiting there in the yards for delivery to Jamestown.  This will be the very last steam powered freight train on the Sierra.

The gloom of the rainy afternoon sets the mood for the few folks left to witness the end of regular steam operations on the Sierra Railroad.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/21 01:29 by LoggerHogger.

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Last runs are sad.

Even that poor dog knows this is a sad moment. Thanks for sharing .

Tom

And thirty years later people were feeling the same about the Baldwin S-12's.
Change happens.

Martin:

Thanks for posting, although re-living the end of steam on the Sierra is not on my list "have to have" events!

I realize that things change as time passes, but to equate the change from Steam to diesel with a change in diesel models later on, completely ignores the huge change moving from steam to infernal combustion involved. This included the Sierra's employees, its method of operatoin, its supporting infrastructure, and of course the sounds, sights, smells and feel of steam vs. dismals. The change from steam to diesel fundamentally changed the Sierra and America's railroads. Changing from a DDX34GDtx to a DDX35GDtx not so much.

John Mills

Martin...#38 more or less still exists.  Has any group seriously gotten together and tried to rebuild her to run?

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> Martin...#38 more or less still exists.  Has any
> group seriously gotten together and tried to
> rebuild her to run?

No.  She is privately owned and stored for now.  Someday she will likely move to a new home and possible restoration.

Martin

LoggerHogger Wrote:

> The afternoon of April 17, 1955 finds Sierra Railroad 2-6-6-2 #38 and 2-8-0 #28 cooling their
> wheels after arriving back in Oakdale, California at the end of the "End Of Steam" trip that had
> been run that day from Oakdale to Jamestown and back. 

This was actually in the morning before picking up the excursion consist from Santa Fe.  Ray Ballash took a nearly identical slide of that scene with the engines standing beside the framework of the new enginehouse at Oakdale.