Re: 99 Years Ago April 30th on the SVRy

At first glance, April 30th seems to have been a quiet day with No 5 and any westbound out of Baker cancelled, as well as the Whitney Night Helper. Even OLC 102 was out for a Sunday stroll. Only 36 loads went west compared to 64 the day before. But look closer – it's surprising how busy it really was including several trains with helpers including another three engine assault on Larch.

Engine 15 put in 4-1/2 hours working the So. Baker yard, so obviously they were still trying to get cars spotted for unloading from the day before. Not sure if the mill was working, but the cars are ready for Monday morning. Remember that unloading the logs into the pond would be fairly easy, but at this early date all the lumber would be loaded and unloaded by hand.

Trains 1 and 2 ran as normal, and don't forget there was a second round trip between Austin and Prairie.

Train No 6 left Austin with 18 as the road engine and 14 helping to Tipton with 8 lumber, 1 lath, 1 merchandise and an empty box. Engine 14 then dropped back and helped Extra 4 East with from White Pine to help it to Tipton with another 7 loads of lumber.

Meanwhile engine 16 as the Whitney Day Helper has made two turns to Larch leaving 12 log loads and an empty gravel. Somewhere by the time it was ready to leave Whitney, No 6 now included the 7 loads from White Pine extra 4 had picked up and another empty box. From Whitney to Larch train No 6 had 17 loads and two empties with both 14 and 16 helping. I'm not sure what the road engine was, but it appears to have been the 4. Engine 14 headed back west taking 3 loads of gravel back to White Pine on its way home to Austin. It isn't clear, but it looks as if No 6 continued on to So. Baker with engine 4, while engine 16 ran light back to Whitney. Engine 16 then apparently ran extra with 18 as helper taking 9 logs 5 lumber and 4 empty gravel to Larch. I'm guessing that engine 16 then headed home to Whitney and was done for the day. Engine 18 loaded 6 cars of gravel at Larch, then distributed 3 gravel and 2 steel between Whitney and its tie up at Austin.

This Sunday was clearly not a day of rest on the Sumpter Valley. This has been an interesting window into the past, however brief, that shows what a busy little railroad the SVRy truly was. Having to get every load every one to three steep summits made things more complicated than imagined at first glance. One interesting fact that should be noted is that four of the engines (almost half of the active engine fleet) including the three largest engines, had only been obtained in the previous two years. Prior to 1914 or the E-N trade, how did the SVRy keep up? There must have been an expected traffic increase circa 1915 that justified Sumpter Valley's investment in so many new locomotives not to mention the work trains dumping gravel and new rail. In early April one year later, the United States would declare war on Germany and enter World War I. I'm not sure what control USRA had over the SVRy, but at least it didn't kill it like the CM or LV&T. I'm guessing that SVRy's desire for new passenger cars was delayed first by funds being spent on new locomotives and rail, and then the war.

Thanks for posting this series Bret. Too bad its over – what else you got?