Steam & Excursion > Some Steam Locomotives Are All Work And Not An Ounce of Style!

We can only wonder what the photographer that came across this locomotive in San Francisco, California thought as he decided whether to use up a shot on his roll of film on it.  He certainly must have thought twice whether the photo was worth taking, given the appearance of the locomotive in front of him.

While ALCO was the builder of Campbell Construction's 0-4-0T #2 that we see here, we can not blame them entirely for the final look of this locomotive.  Somewhere along the line she received cab wall seat boxes that did nothing for her looks and later also got a rather large slope-back tender tacked on to her rear pilot beam.  None of these additions did anything to improve her appearance.  The final touch is the half-inch thick layer of uniform dirt and grime she now wears.

She is clearly out of service in this view with her drive rods removed.  The pipe from her steam dome may indicate she has been serving as a stationary boiler in recent years.

She is steam and she tells a story.  I for one am glad she got her portrait taken on that day so long ago.

Martin



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/21 02:14 by LoggerHogger.

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I remember those days of the photography when they were economic decisions and for me they started with 24 or 36 exposure roll purchase and color or black/white.   In this case, not the good old days.     Arlen   

Poor thing is homely enough to have been designed by Amtrak

What's that, a combination sand/steam dome? And the saddle tank appears to be the largest one possible because you can't see any of the boiler.

Looks like it was built in somebody's garage out of scavenged parts and scrap metal. On Facebook they might call it a "Redneck Loco."
Bill Pyper
Lacey, WA
 

Turret cab. Looks like an ex navy gunner got hold of her. Front pilot took a hit also.