Technical Data
| Builder | Baldwin Locomotive Works |
|---|---|
| Number | 19671 |
| Date | November 1901 |
| Type | 2-6-0 (SP Class M-6) |
| Cylinders | 21″ diameter x 28″ stroke |
| Drivers | 63″ |
| Boiler Pressure | 200 lbs. |
| Gross Weight | 174,000 |
| Tractive Effort | 33,320 lbs. |
History
- Built as Vauclain Compound, converted to simple in 1912
- Retired by SP on September 24, 1956, at Sacramento
- Used by SP for several railfan excursions in 1957
- Last operated by SP on Knights Landing excursion trip on May 4, 1958
- Donated to Sons of Utah Pioneers on April 18, 1959, delivered to SUP at Corinne on May 9, 1959
- Displayed at Corinne, Utah, from 1959 to 1980
- Sold to New London Railroad and Village, Inc., at Heber, Utah, under a long term progressive sales agreement
- Moved by truck to Heber, Utah on April 22, 1980 (The tenders from SP 1744 and from UP 6264, and UP 6264’s boiler/cab assembly were moved on April 20th) (Pacific News, Number 234, February 1981, page 4-11)
- Returned to service in September 1980 for the Labor Day weekend. (Pacific News, June 1980, page 21; published in November 1980)
- Sold to Tarantula Corporation in December 1989, lettered for Fort Worth & Western Railroad (sale included possible final cash settlement between Sons of Utah Pioneers and New London)
- Moved to Texas in November 1990, by truck from Heber to Ogden, then by railcar from Ogden to Fort Worth (Privately-owned Heber Creeper operations formally ended on January 31, 1991; replaced by state-owned Heber Valley Railroad on July 1, 1992)
- Stored at Fort Worth until 1999; sold to Rio Grande Pacific Corp.; moved to New Orleans
- Complete rebuild completed in September 2000; cost of purchase and rebuild shown as $1.3 million; rebuild overseen by J. D. Morris
- Lettered for New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway as “The Big Easy Steam Train”; operated from December 2000 to May 2001
- Stored at New Orleans until 2007 (not damaged by Hurricane Katrina)
- Sold to Iowa Pacific Holdings on March 21, 2007; moved to San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad at Alamosa, Colorado, on May 9, 2007
- Operated through 2007 season, beginning with Memorial Day weekend in 2007; used daily on Alamosa-to-La Veta on “San Luis Express”, and round-trip weekend service from Alamosa-to-Antonito on the “Toltec Gorge Limited”; removed from service due to needed boiler repairs.
- Boiler separated from the frame and shipped to Historic Machinery Services Corp., in Springville, Alabama, for repairs; upon retirement of HMS Corp’s owner, the unfinished boiler was moved to Rusk, Palestine & Pacific Railroad (since August 2012, contract operator of state-owned Texas State Railroad) at Rusk, Texas, which has a complete steam shop capable of full repairs. Some parts for boiler repairs were, as of late 2012, being fabricated by Strasburg Rail Road at Strasburg, Pennsylvania. (as of late 2015, the boiler was still at Rusk, and the running gear, cab and tender were still at Alamosa)
- Boiler returned to Alamosa unfinished where it resided at time of PLA/NCRy purchase
- Locomotive purchased in pieces by NCRy/PLA in early 2020.
- Frame/Running gear/Tender/Cab relocated to NCRy Brightside yard in 2020.
- Boiler relocated to Stockton Locomotive Works in Antonito, CO in 2020 for continued rebuild under contract with NCRy.
Information used with permission courtesy of Don Strack’s Utahrails.net website.
The Pacific Locomotive Association (PLA) was proud to have been able to purchase native Bay Area steam locomotive, the Southern Pacific #1744, in early 2020 and return it to our Niles Canyon Railway to be rebuilt over five or more years to eventual operation on our railroad. The 2-6-0 Mogul built by Baldwin in 1901 operated for many years out of Oakland on the SP Western Division and in California’s Central Valley where the Moguls were fondly called “Valley Mallets” by their crews. The locomotive was made famous in later years by operating on several of the last steam railfan excursions on the Southern Pacific. After many years of operating around the United States, the #1744 is returning home to once again operate through Niles Canyon on the last leg of the transcontinental railroad.
After retirement from service on the SP in 1958, the locomotive was operated at the Heber Valley Railroad, moved to Texas and restored for a brief period of operation in New Orleans. Iowa Pacific bought the locomotive and ran it on the San Luis & Rio Grande over Colorado’s La Veta Pass in tourist service during 2007 until it was sidelined with boiler issues. The locomotive was disassembled, boiler work started and then stopped. The locomotive has sat disassembled since 2008 with the boiler moving from Alabama to Texas and then back to Colorado during this time. The engine’s frame & running gear along with its tender have been moved to the Niles Canyon Railway’s Brightside yard while the boiler remains today in Colorado at a contract rebuilder.
The Pacific Locomotive Association and its Niles Canyon Railway is currently in the process of working on the frame and running gear in its Brightside yard. The boiler has started to receive repairs. We are now at a point where we will need to begin to have the 1400+ new staybolts fabricated.
Please visit our Donate page to learn more about the current fundraising efforts for the 1744 and how you can help!
Life before Niles Canyon…
We are fortunate to have had many different photographs of the #1744 shared with us from various people and sites. Please visit our Life Before Niles Canyon… page for the #1744 at the button below to see some of these great photos.
Blog posts on SP#1744 progress to date:
SP #1744 Delivery blog posts
YouTube videos
In service image used at the top of the page provided courtesy of Jim Wrinn.