Re: Kahului 12

I don't know the full sequence, but it ended up in Chama in the early 1970's with the hope of rebuilding it for use on the C&TS. I think maybe Scenic Railways had purchased it for possible use on its Tahoe, Trout Creek, and Pacific railroad, and then shipped it to Chama when they shut down the TT&P operations. As I recall it, it was totally dismantled by that time - the boiler was off the frame and was set on a flatcar in Chama.

After a thorough inspection of the boiler involving removal of all the flues and completely descaling the boiler shell, it was determined that it would need too much boiler repair to be feasible for Scenic at that time. I remember that at least the bottom two ranks of flues were packed solid in baked mud, and the only thing keeping them from leaking was the hardened mud, as they were found to be full of holes after they were cleaned. A few boiler washes by the Kahului Railway over the years might have been a good idea!

That photo is inside the Kahului Railway backshop, which is still standing, and is where Matt Austin and crew rebuilt the Claus Spreckels in the late 1980's. Here is the building today.