Some Thoughts on Klondike Mines No. 4

Despite everything it has been through, Klondike Mines No.4 has to be one of the most original locomotives on the face of the earth. Nearly every part on it is original and retains the Baldwin Locomotive Works stampings. The driver and pilot wheel tires are original and have never been turned as an example. Most if not all of the "damage" that the locomotive has received has been the result of it have been taken apart into nearly every piece it could be and then sitting in a field in eastern Oklahoma for two decades with the parts haphazardly strewn about.

It is, as Earl pointed out in another thread, an "artifact". It was never really run enough to wear out anything.

Its current owners and caretakers have no plans to change that fact. The locomotive is in good hands and owned by folks who truly care about it and respect it for what it is and the history that it conveys. As Tim Bain has pointed out, the plan is to restore the locomotive essentially as it was when built, replacing items such as the incorrect cab and walkways it gained in Oklahoma with more correct ones. While it will be lettered for the C&S (it is after all going to Como), it will retain its real road number and will not be bastardized into some hokey C&S looking thing. Under the coat of paint and the spark arrestor it will remain Klondike Mines No. 4.

Now, if someone can drag a real C&S locomotive to Como, I bet everyone could easily be persuaded to paint No. 4 green and letter it for the Klondike Mines Railway!

Also, just to clarify, No. 4 is NOT going to be made into a 2-6-0! It will stay a 2-6-2! The trailing truck will be reinstalled.

Jason Midyette



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2017 12:26PM by Jason Midyette.