Nostalgia & History > Sierra Railroad Mallet

This shot is of Sierra Railroad 2-6-6-2 #38 in front of the AT&SF passenger depot in Oakdale, Calif., Nov. 1954. Photographer unknown.

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Your photo has stirred up some questions. Back in the early '50's, prior to dieselization, didn't Sierra RR have two crews running each day? Example, #38 would handle the freight from Oakdale to Jamestown and return, doing all of the switching along the way. #28, #34, or #36 would handle the run from Jamestown to Tuolumne and return, doing all of the switching along the way. Freight cars were swapped between the two trains at Jamestown. Is this correct?
I have been told that #38 was run backwards from Jamestown to Oakdale because they couldn't turn it at Jamestown. However, I have seen movie footage of it being turned on the turntable at Jamestown; they disconnected the locomotive from the tender, turned them separately, and then connected them back together. What was the normal operating procedure for this? Also, there used to be a wye in Sonora (the original depot was in the middle of it), couldn't they turn #38 there?

During steam days, two crews operated. One ran Oakdale to Jamestown, and the other ran Jamestown to Tuolumne. Engine 38 was rarely turned at Jamestown, because, like you stated, the tender had to be seperated. The 38 ran tender-first back to Cooperstown, and was turned there on the wye, before continueing on to Oakdale. The wye at Sonora was removed in the 1920's. Engine 38 occasionally operated to Sonora to do switching work, but only ran past Sonora on two occasions that I am aware of. These were both passenger excursion trains to Tuolumne. I am posting a photo of #38 at Sonora. This view shows the engine parked next to side-door, passenger caboose #9. The entire crew has retired to the caboose to eat lunch. #38 is on the passing track, while the caboose and train is on the mainline. August, 1953, photographer unknown.

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There was a wye at Oakdale, but as I recall, it was not long enough to turn this articulated engine. As for turning it on the Jamestown turntable, that would only have been done during some work beyond minor maintenance on it and not for operating purposes.

What happened to the locomotive? Has it survived?

Doug Wrote:
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> What happened to the locomotive? Has it survived?

After Sierra dieselized in April of '55, the 2-6-6-2 was sold to Rayonier, Inc. @ Grays harbor, WA & worked for them into the mid-60's. I believe she now sits in pieces in McCloud, CA.

The Sierra #38 started out as Weyerhaeuser Corp #4, on their logging railroads out of Klamath Falls, OR. The Sierra purchased the loco around 1952 after testing a diesel. The #38 was used on the road for only around three years, as it was replaced by the two S-12's purchased new in 1955. After the Sierra dieselized the #38 went to Rayonier, Inc., who used it on their logging railroad out of Grays Harbor, WA. After Rayonier dieselized in the early 1960's the #38 was placed on display at the Crane Creek reload, at the north end of the line. Rayonier was getting ready to scrap the locomotive when it was purchased by Fred Kepner and moved to McCloud, CA, to join some other stuff that he had there. The locomotive was separated into three pieces (frame/running gear, boiler, tender) during the move and was not re-assembled upon arrival at McCloud. The frame and running gear are still in McCloud, on a narrow strip of land between the McCloud Railway main and the old Champion International truck shop on the eastern fringe of town, but the tender was moved to Merrill, OR during the winter of 2002/2003. Fred has made some preparations to move the rest of the locomotive out, but so far this has not been done.

JDLX
Elko, NV
http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails

Rare shot of Sierra 38 on passenger excursion train just above Black Oak Rd. crossing, 1953.

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Sierra #38 fresh from the paint shop, poses for Company photos in front of General Office, Jamestown, Calif., August, 1952.

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Beautiful photo of the train at Black Oak! Presently, this portion of the Sierra is in place, but unused for close to 20 years. Today, 100 yards further up the track there is a huge hole in the right-of-way where a mine (Black Oak Mine?) has suffered a cave-in, leaving a section of track hanging in mid-air.

Prior to the arrival of #38 on the Sierra, did they doublehead the trains from Oakdale (or maybe Cooperstown) to Jamestown, or double the hill, or perhaps just run two separate trains?

You can still see Rayonier #110 at Black Hills Central RR at Hill City SD>
Think she is a close cousin to above mentioned locomotive.
Blt by Baldwin in1928 and retired from Rayonier in 1968.
Possibly the only 2-6-6-2 in operation in USA.

You can still see Rayonier #110 at Black Hills Central RR at Hill City SD>
Think she is a close cousin to above mentioned locomotive.
Blt by Baldwin in1928 and retired from Rayonier in 1968.
Possibly the only 2-6-6-2 in operation in USA.

Locomotive #38 was turned at Oakdale every run down that way. The mallet would run in reverse from Jamestown to Cooperstown, turn on the wye there, and run in forward motion to Oakdale where she would turn for the trip back up the hill. The attached photo was taken at Cooperstown by the late Glen Beier, February 19th, 1955.

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Amazing that the tail track at Cooperstown was long enough for the 38!