Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700 | |
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SP&S 700 standing idle waiting to start Christmas excursion December 2005 | |
Power type | Steam |
Builder | Baldwin Locomotive Works |
Serial number | 62171 |
Build date | May 1938 |
Configuration | 4-8-4 |
UIC classification | 2′D2′ h2 |
Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Driver diameter | 77 in (1,956 mm) |
Length | 109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) |
Weight on drivers | 290,200 lb (131.6 metric tons) |
Locomotive weight | 485,500 lb (220.2 metric tons) |
Locomotive & tender combined weight |
871,550 lb (395.3 metric tons) |
Fuel type | Oil |
Fuel capacity | 8,800 US gal (33,000 l; 7,300 imp gal) |
Water capacity | 20,000 US gal (76,000 l; 17,000 imp gal) |
Boiler pressure | 260 lbf/in² (1.79 MPa) |
Firegrate area | 115 sq ft (10.7 m2) |
Superheater area | 2,095 sq ft (194.6 m2) |
Cylinders | Two |
Cylinder size | 28 × 31 in (711 × 787 mm) |
Valve gear | Walschaerts |
Valve type | Piston valves |
Tractive effort | 69,756 lbf (310.29 kN) |
Factor of adhesion |
4.25 |
Career | Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway |
Class | E-1 |
Number | 700 |
Nicknames | "The Lady" and "The Queen of Steam" |
Delivered | June 21, 1938 |
First run | May 1938 |
Retired | May 20, 1956 |
Restored | 1990 |
Disposition | Runs in occasional excursion service; based in Portland, Oregon |
Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the only surviving example of their E-1 class 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive. Nearly identical to the A-3 class Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, but burning oil instead of coal.
After years of running second-hand equipment, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was allowed by its parent companies, Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway, to purchase its first new locomotives. These included three Northern E-1 class locomotives (700, 701 and 702) for passenger service and 6 Z-6 class Challengers (4-6-6-4s) for freight service.[1]
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700 was delivered on June 21, 1938 joining the 702 pulling overnight passenger trains between Spokane and Vancouver, Washington, along the north shore of the Columbia River, with the 701 providing backup and pulling freight. Owing to an undersized turntable, the Northerns didn't reach Portland, Oregon, until 1943.
By 1947, The Great Northern Railway had begun to streamline its premier passenger train, The Empire Builder, and had started adding diesels to the locomotive mix. SP&S also started purchasing diesels at this time, but they arrived after the streamlined cars were brought into service and for a few months, the 700s pulled the Portland section of the Empire Builder.
Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the E-1s continued to pull secondary passenger trains, but by 1954, the diesels had completely replaced steam for passenger service and the E-1s were relegated to pulling freight trains until 1955.
Finally, on May 20, 1956, a spruced up 700, with its normally grey smokebox painted silver, pulled its last passenger train. The Farewell To Steam run had a total of 21 cars carrying 1,400 passengers from Portland, Oregon, to Wishram, Washington, in the heart of the Columbia Gorge and back again.
After the trip, the 700, 701, 702, Challengers and other SP&S locomotives were sent to the scrap line. At the same time, however, Union Pacific Railroad was offering to donate a steam locomotive to the city of Portland, Oregon, and not to be outdone, the SP&S offered the 700. The two locomotives (SP&S 700 and OR&N 197) were moved into Oaks Park along the Willamette River in 1958 and were soon joined by SP 4449 where they sat for nearly 20 years.[2]
For nearly 20 years the 700, along with the other two locomotives, sat behind chain link fences, slowly fading and rusting away. Only the attention of a single Southern Pacific Railroad employee, Jack Holst, saved the locomotives from complete uselessness. Mr. Holst regularly visited the locomotives and kept the bearings and rods well greased and oiled. Unfortunately, Mr. Holst died in 1972, before the first locomotive (SP 4449) was removed from Oaks Park and restored. In 1975, 15-year-old Chris McLarney started working on the 700, cleaning and oiling various parts. He founded the PRPA (Pacific Railroad Preservation Association) in 1975 to provide support for the preservation work. With the support of many individuals and Burlington Northern Railroad, the 700 returned to operation in 1990.
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Steam Locomotive
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#700 at Portland's Union Station in June, 1991
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Location: | Roundhouse, UPRPR's Brooklyn Yard (SE Portland), Portland, Oregon |
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Built: | 1938 |
Architect: | Baldwin Locomotive Works |
Architectural style: | Other |
Governing body: | Local |
NRHP Reference#: |
05001557 [3] |
Added to NRHP: | January 25, 2006 |
Though it's the third largest steam locomotive still in operation and expensive to run and insure, the 700 has managed a number of excursions since its restoration in 1990, including an historic double header with SP 4449 from Portland, Oregon, to Wishram, Washington, and back during the 2005 National Railway Historical Society national convention, and a 2002 "Steam across Montana" from Sandpoint, Idaho, to Billings, Montana, and back.[4] [5]
The 700 was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 25, 2006 as the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Steam Locomotive.[6]
The 700 and its two companions now reside at the Brooklyn Roundhouse. The City of Portland leases the roundhouse from its current owner, Union Pacific Railroad (UP), but the roundhouse will be taken down in January 2012 so UP can expand the yard, leaving it unclear where the engines will be stored.[7] The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, with significant support from the City of Portland, is in the final stages of raising funds for a new restoration and visitor center adjacent to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, in the hopes of moving the city's steam locomotives to a permanent and publicly accessible home before the January deadline.[8] Meanwhile, the 700 continues to be maintained by the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association and a dedicated team of volunteers.[9][10]
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