Builder Construction No. Date Type Cylinders Drivers Boiler Pressure Gross Weight Tractive Effort

H. K. Porter 5247 January, 1914 0-4-0T+T 10 x 14 inches 30 inches 165 psi 34,000 pounds (17 tons) 6,545 pounds

 –  Built new as Steptoe Valley Mining and Smelting Co. No. 3, McGill, NV
 –  Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. No. 309, McGill, NV
 –  Kennecott Copper Corp. No. 309, McGill, NV
 –  Acquired by PLA, August 1964
 –  In service, Castro Point Railway, 1970 to 1985; Tender added in 1980
 –  In service, Niles Canyon Railway, Sunol, CA, 1989 to 1992
       Converted to oil-fired in 1991
 –  Undergoing restoration, NCRy Brightside Shops, Sunol, CA

Steptoe Valley No. 3
The Club Car

By C. G. Heimerdinger, Jr.

For several years, it was rumored that the Kennecott Copper Corporation had two steam locomotives hidden away at their McGill, Nevada facility. McGill is near Ely and was the location of a large copper smelter. In the spring of 1964, a friend of mine stopped at McGill and made a search for the two "mystery" locomotives. All he found was a little and very ugly 0-4-0T, numbered 309. From what he was told, there had also been an 0-6-0 in the same storage yard, but it had been scrapped a year or two prior to his visit.

May of that year, I had a chance to visit the McGill facility and have a good look at the 309. She was not a pretty sight. In fact, the locomotive had the appearance of having had a flat iron dropped on her. She had a low cab with a flat roof that was at the same level as the flat-topped saddle tank. The saddle tank ran all the way to the front of the smokebox. While the locomotive did not make a good appearance, she was complete, with the exception of one builder's plate and the whistle.

The 309 was originally built by the Porter locomotive Company in 1913 for the Steptoe Valley Mining and Smelting Company, which was a subsidiary of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company.

It was Nevada Consolidated Copper that was developing the large copper complex in and around the Ely, Nevada area. The 0-4-0T was for use at their smelter complex at McGill, but it is unknown as to why a subsidiary company was used for the locomotive. In all, the Steptoe Valley Mining and Smelting Company had four 0-4-0T locomotives, and the subject of this article was originally numbered 3.

We know that when built, the Number 3 did not look anything like what I found in the desert many years later. Originally the locomotive was built as an oil burner, had an air pump, and was equipped with two headlights. The locomotive I found, and later purchased, was a coal burner, had no headlights, no air pump (or a place for one) and used steam brakes.

The name Steptoe Valley Mining and Smelter did not last long and was replaced with the name of Nevada Consolidated Copper; with the name change came a new number, 309. In time, Nevada Consolidated Copper was taken over by the Kennecott Copper Corporation, but they retained the number 309. As to why the little 0-4-0T survived is a mystery, as locomotives the size of the 309 (No. 3) were usually scrapped long before the diesel revolution took place.

Somewhere I was advised that in the late 1920's, the locomotive and her three sisters were set aside and then sold for scrap. The scrapper managed to cut up three of them, but then the "Depression" arrived, and he went out of business before he could cut up the final locomotive. Because the locomotive had been sold and was "off the books," everyone at Kennecott forgot about her, and she managed to survive. Whether or not the story is true is unknown, but it was obvious when we started to take a good look at the locomotive that it had either not seen much service or had recently been rebuilt before her last operation.

As I just stated, I went out on a limb and purchased the little 0-4-0T (she weighed 17 tons) along with the remains of an ore car. I wanted to also purchase a couple of little flatcars, but was advised that they were "not for sale". In early 1965, the engine and ore car were loaded on a flatcar and sent to the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association's facility at Rio Vista Junction. At that time, the Pacific Locomotive Association had arranged with Bay Area to develop its museum at Rio Vista Junction. But the distances proved to be too great for the few members we had at that time, so in 1966, our involvement with that site came to an end. The little 0-4-0T was the only sign of our presence at Rio Vista Junction.

In 1967, we established our museum effort at Castro Point (in Richmond, CA). In September and October of that year, the number 5 and 12 arrived, and early the following year, the Number 3 was trucked into Castro Point. It was George D. Childs that arranged for the move. Once at Castro Point, Karl Koenig and Dan Ranger started working on the locomotive. It was while they were working on the Number 3 that an older gentleman approached them. He wanted to know what they were doing, and if he could join them. The "older" gentleman was Pete Rogers who was a boiler man at Standard Oil. He was to be active at Castro Point for the next twelve years.

Pete kind of took over the work, and in the next few months, the old lagging and jacket were removed and everything on the locomotive was inspected. We were surprised at how good everything was. In 1969, both a hydro and a steam test were made. Shortly after those tests, the locomotive was operated at Castro Point for the first time. At this point, the locomotive consisted of a boiler on wheels. There was no lagging, jacket, cab, or saddle tank. A fifty-five-gallon barrel provided the water.

Shortly after that first trial run, Number 3 received new lagging and a jacket. Because of other locomotives arriving at the museum, work on the Number 3 slowed. Some time in the early 1970's "Bones" Andrews cut a section out of the tank exposing the smokebox and thus greatly improving the Number 3's appearance.

In the late 1970's, R. A. McAllister took over the rebuilding of number 3. Initially, the number 3 was rebuilt as a saddle tank locomotive without a tender; but once the locomotive was complete, Mac went to work building a tender to carry the large amount of wood fuel that was needed to keep the Number 3 in operation for a day. The tender was built out of that ore car frame I had purchased with the locomotive. It was about 1980 that the Number 3 was completed; and at that time, I donated her to the Association.

When Castro Point closed at the end of 1985, the Number 3 was stored, along with the M-200, on some private property near Niles Canyon; and shortly after the M-200 was delivered to the canyon, the Number 3 followed. I can't recall when the Number 3 first operated in the canyon, but it was to prove two things fairly quickly. Somewhere, someone got a hold of some coal, and we quickly found out that coal burners smoke far worse than wood burners. One trip and the canyon was full of black smoke. That was the last time we used coal.

While wood did not produce a great volume of smoke as compared to coal, it still produced enough to create a problem. Finally, the Air Quality Control Board demanded a change. As a result of their attention, the Number 3 was converted to burn oil, which was the fuel it had originally been designed to burn. Initially some fifty-five-gallon drums mounted in the tender held the oil; but in time, a custom-made tank was fitted into the tender. For three years, the Number 3 saw almost regular service as an oil burner operating in the canyon. The complaints about her smoke ceased once she was converted to oil.

Today, the Number 3 sits, "out of service" at Brightside. After eighty-two years of existence, she needs some major firebox work before she can run again. The hope is that some day that work will be undertaken, and the Number 3 will again be under steam.

Because of her small size, the Number 3 has been transported a number of times to various spots within the Bay Area in connection with special events. She even spent some time at the State of Nevada's Railroad Museum in Carson City. The Number 3 is not the only locomotive to see service away from our facility, but, by far, she has done so many times more than any other item of equipment. The numbers 2, 12, 233, and 1269 have all seen operation away from either Castro Point or Niles Canyon