A-No.1 to Sugar Creek on No. 19 ... thoughts on a Pacific Northwest logger heading to the Heartland

Yreka Western No. 19’s sale to Jerry Joe Jacobsen for the Age of Steam Roundhouse last week marks the end of an era for this short line Mikado as a resident of the Pacific Northwest and the start of a new chapter for this western logging locomotive as part of a private collection in the Heartland. It is difficult to see locomotives leave their historic regions; I am a big believer in displaying and running them in their native environments; but I am also relieved to see it going to a new home where it will get plenty of love and care. She’ll be surrounded by one of the largest and most impressive collections of steam power in one place. For those lucky enough to catch one of the rare tours at Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugar Creek, Ohio, the treasure trove only gets bigger and better with No. 19’s arrival.

 My good friend Dave Crosby and I spend a day with the locomotive back in the summer of 2007 when we were on one of our famous cross-country road trips. We started in central California, and ended in Portland, a journey of about 10 days, so Yreka was a mid-point stop for us. A few things about the visit stand out. A reference to the engine’s starring role in the early 1970s movie “Emperor of the North” was spray painted on the water tank, “A-No. 1 to Portland on the No. 19. 10-24-33” She was headed with us in spirit, and running wide open with hobos and brutal conductors clashing in her movie role, but in reality she was actually crawling across her own railroad. She never got over 5 mph all the way from Yreka, Calif., to the Central Oregon & Pacific interchange at Montague, just a few miles. Railroad owner and engineer Court Hammond assumed a most unusual stance: One hand on the throttle and the other on the brake value – for the entire trip. The track had seen better days, thus the caution. On the fireman’s side, Bill Ainsworth, kept the water and the fire in balance. We crept through a lumber mill, where a diesel was marshalling cars. We remained on the rails and after arrival, Dave and I went into a café for lunch.

 We were just about done when one of the crew came in to tell us that the day’s freight, an SD9 pulling loaded centerbeams, had stalled and that No. 19 was going to rescue the freight. That doesn’t happen every day. So, we hurriedly finished, paid our bill, and headed out to catch the rare sight of a steam-hauled freight train. It was one last blast of glory for No. 19, never to reach Portland, now heading via truck and flatcar for Sugar Creek.