Re: Silverton Northern Roster

BrockD&RGW488 Wrote:
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> Motor Cars-
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> Silverton Northern #1- Built in 1908 by Stover as SN (2nd) #1. Dismantled around 1914. Spare parts to Sunnyside “Casey Jones” rail bus.

In Rainbow Route p.300, the idea that Stover 1 contributed parts to Casey Jones is phrased as a reasonable conjecture: "Clyde Jones had designed and built Casey Jones... using a Maxwell motor and what were reported as junk parts. It is likely that the former Stover railbus was part of the junk." (Sloan & Skowronski 1975).

However, a photo published later shows that Stover 1 existed into the 1940s in a modified configuration, and could not have been a donor of any significance to Casey Jones. In the Jan/Feb 1994 NG&SL Gazette, p.89 photo shows the Stover chassis with a different car body, derelict in a field in Silverton in 1946! (posted & captioned by G. Deimling). The hood and engine are missing, and the car tub is cut down to a roofless front bench. Behind that is a flatbed platform. The steering wheel and shaft are intact in the 1946 photo, perhaps in use as a brake wheel? The contraption now looks like a bobber-work-goose.

Casey Jones did not use the hood or coach body of Stover 1, so perhaps window panes or passenger benches could be donor parts.

The bobber-work-goose version of Stover 1 is very intriguing! This is just reasonable conjecture, but it's possible Stover 1 did MOW/section service like its bigger cousin RGS Motor no. 6. But it is strange that Sloan & Skowronski apparently did not see it in SN company records after 1914. Perhaps it could be another mine-owned railcar?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2020 08:19AM by Shavano479.