Re: Three More Questions

Michael,

Thanks for that information. I was following things pretty closely when they pulled the locomotives out of the enginehouse in 1975, and left #3 behind. But some of the plans behind Huckleberry’s acquistion of #3 some time later escaped me. I don’t recall the wheel press that you mentioned.

I first visited the Q&TL in 1963, and was amazed that the whole railroad had been left intact along with all the mining infrastructure. During that time, Quincy was besieged with offers to buy the locomtives, but the company steadfastly refused because they held out hope of resuming mining. As the railroad and mine sat there, the whole thing gradually fell to pieces. The flatcar holding the new boiler for #4 deteriorated and the boiler toppled to the ground. The caboose eventually burned. I understand there was a four-wheel caboose there that burned prior to 1963. There were perhaps 100 ore cars, and the company scrapped most of them along with all the rail, and the water tank and turntable at Mason around 1973-74.

The explanation that Quincy was in the process of scrapping #3 is interesting, but I don’t think that was the case. The locomotive was methodically blocked up inside the enginehouse minus its tender. The drivers had been removed and were lined up on a track outside. One of the driver bearing boxes was set up in the shaper with a bunch of build-up welding on it, ready to machine back to size.

One other question that intrigues me is this: What was the nature of the problems that apparently plagued #4 over a long period, and finally provoked the company to scrap it after buying a new boiler for it?