Author: Chris Hauf

The move of the SP 1744 frame seemed to be a simple process but as usual nothing is simple and things got more complicated as we delved into the details.  The frame & running gear being over 10’ wide would be a wide load on a truck, but what type of truck would be required?  While we knew the weight of the locomotive, what would just the running gear weigh?  Using our resources, we talked with anyone we could think of that had moved a locomotive in pieces to see if they had weights on both the boiler and frame and got the best information from Steve Lee of Wasatch Railroad Contractors who supervised the recent move of the SP&S #539 2-8-2 from the Grand Canyon Railroad back to Washington.  His weights on the boiler and running gear gave us a rough approximation of the running gear percentage of the total locomotive weight.  As we knew the weight of all the parts shipped in March, the parts weight was subtracted from the locomotive weight to get an estimated weight of 113,400 pounds for the boiler and running gear.  However, we did not know the weight of the boiler shell as it sat in Alamosa.  Not knowing the boiler weight, we could only estimate the running gear weight and it was too close to 80,000 pound weight limit to risk using a shorter trailer, so Renn Transportation ended up using a nine-axle truck and trailer able to carry more weight.  Fortunately, we did use the bigger trailer as based on truck scale weights the running gear ended up weighing around 90,000 pounds.

In Alamosa, Stathi Pappas removed the grease cellars and prepared the frame to roll by cleaning the axles and applying new grease.  The axles were blocked so they would stay in position when the frame was lifted.  Stathi supervised on August 31^st, 2020 as two Monte Vista Crane Company cranes lifted the running gear off the rails and onto the rails of the waiting Renn Transportation truck.  In addition to our thanks to Stathi for his help, the PLA wants to give a huge thank you to the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad employees for their assistance with the move. 

Peter, our driver with Renn Transportation, skillfully drove the loaded truck over the Continental Divide across 10,857 foot Wolf Creek Pass heading west through Colorado, then Arizona, through Las Vegas, onto I-15 across the California border, over Tehachapi to the Central Valley and into the Bay Area.  PLA volunteers built an unloading ramp at Brightside Yard on September 2^nd and the locomotive running gear was rolled off the trailer and onto the rails of the Niles Canyon Railway.  The long journey back home to California is over where the locomotive began its career working for the Southern Pacific Railroad nearly 120 years ago.

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Normally we like to share happier news on our website, but we wanted to let everyone know as soon as possible. Due to the many COVID-19 restrictions and the inability to properly plan, we are extremely saddened to announce our popular Train of Lights event for the 2020 Holiday season will not be feasible this year. Typically, we would begin preparations for this event now in early September and even earlier in August, but unfortunately we are unable to commit the necessary resources. Our concern is this signature event with current pandemic restrictions will not be everything people have come to expect, and we must be cognizant of the health and well-being of our volunteer corps who span all ages.

As this was our principal fund-raiser for the year, we still need to meet our financial commitments for the current and first half of the following fiscal year. If you would like to support us to help us get through this challenging time and loss of our operating revenue, you can make a donation or consider joining us. Membership is a great way to support our railroad, and it comes with many other perks as well. You can do both on our website via the links above.

Please understand this was a difficult decision for all of the volunteers here at Niles Canyon Railway. We do have our upcoming September steam runs if you would like a chance to support and ride with us. More details on those trips can be found on our website here.

We are hoping and our volunteers are fully committed to returning the Train of Lights to the rails of our Niles Canyon Railway if the conditions allow in 2021. Thank you again for everyone that has ridden our train over the many years.

The Niles Canyon Railway continues to follow the shelter in place order put in place in Alameda and surrounding counties in the Greater Bay Area to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, all train rides (Field trip trains/ Sunday train rides/Beer on the Rails/Riding the Rails for Relay) and volunteer efforts are cancelled until further notice. We will keep everyone updated as time goes on. In the meantime, we will keep posting interesting photos of our museum operations and from our archives on our Facebook and Instagram sites as a way to keep sharing our museum’s mission. We ask everyone to please stay safe, and we hope to be back out of the engine house soon enough.