Sumpter Dredge

This photo of a part of the Sumpter Valley Dredge #3 has some narrow gauge significance. Certainly all of the heavy parts to construct the dredges were carried on the Sumpter Valley Ry. and photos record a small movable outhouse size depot named Dredge that was moved up or down the valley to be near to where the mining operation was occurring. This shot appears to have been taken after some stabilization efforts were underway to preserve the dredge, which is today the centerpiece of a State Park. Note the grade stakes in the fresh earth fill in the foreground. Part of the dredge stabilization was to rebuild its hull with appropriate material and having appear to be floating in a pond, though it it very much setting on a gravel bottom I believe. Our SVRR trains pass by the dredge on the way to the Sumpter depot and in fact our depot is within the bounds of the State Park. At one time, there was a plan to build a loop at Sumpter which would have had our track continue on around the dredge reconnecting further down the valley near our run-a-round siding. Unfortunately, the cost of two bridges put that project out of reach. The scan is from the SVRR Archive.