| September 04, 2019 02:24PM |
Word came to me last week from a friend of mine in Felton that Lindsey Ashbey has discussed leasing his former West Side Lumber #14 to the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge RR. #14 has been idle since Ashbey left the Georgetown Loop over 10 years ago.
The agreement being discussed is a lease for now with an option to purchase if #14 works out on the steep grades that are now shared by former West Side Heisler #3 and Shay #7.
Shay #14 came to the West Side in 1939 from the Hobart Estates where she was the #10 there after Swayne shut down for good. She had the distinction of pulling the last trains in from the woods on June 6 and 7, 1961 after the West Side shut down in October, 1960. In this fine Jim Wren photo we see #14 heading into the woods above Tuolumne for the very last time early in the morning of June 7, 1961.
In 1965, #14 was sold to Hal Wilmunder's Camino, Cable & Northern for it's short lived operation out of Camino, California on the former Michigan-California Lumber Co. logging grades. When that operation shut down, Lindsey Ashbey bought #14 and took her to Central City, Colorado where she ran there for a few years before going to the reconstructed Georgetown Loop Railroad.
If the lease is approved, #14 could arrive in Felton later this year.
Martin
Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2019 06:22AM by LOGGERHOGGER.
The agreement being discussed is a lease for now with an option to purchase if #14 works out on the steep grades that are now shared by former West Side Heisler #3 and Shay #7.
Shay #14 came to the West Side in 1939 from the Hobart Estates where she was the #10 there after Swayne shut down for good. She had the distinction of pulling the last trains in from the woods on June 6 and 7, 1961 after the West Side shut down in October, 1960. In this fine Jim Wren photo we see #14 heading into the woods above Tuolumne for the very last time early in the morning of June 7, 1961.
In 1965, #14 was sold to Hal Wilmunder's Camino, Cable & Northern for it's short lived operation out of Camino, California on the former Michigan-California Lumber Co. logging grades. When that operation shut down, Lindsey Ashbey bought #14 and took her to Central City, Colorado where she ran there for a few years before going to the reconstructed Georgetown Loop Railroad.
If the lease is approved, #14 could arrive in Felton later this year.
Martin
Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2019 06:22AM by LOGGERHOGGER.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
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