I'm currently redoing the roster for the Sumpter Valley website, trying to make it a little more comprehensive and accurate. Anyway, the history of the 19 is what I'm working on now, and I'd like some opinions and proofing. I don't have the restoration section completed yet, but it's a start. Any opinions, ideas, or information would be very appreciated.
Thanks in Advance, Taylor
ALCO Mikado, Sumpter Valley Ry. - White Pass & Yukon, No. 101 - 19 - 81, C/ N 61981
Completed by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York in August of 1920, locomotive number 19 was the second of an identical pair of steam locomotives constructed for the Sumpter Valley Ry., and was the last new steam locomotive ordered for the line. One of only two locomotives ever designed to Sumpter Valley specifications, number 19 was built to burn either wood or coal, was equipped with 19” by 20” cylinders, 44” drive wheels, and the locomotive and tender weighed in at 202,000 pounds empty. Though lettered for the Sumpter Valley Ry. the Mikado was delivered as number 101, presumably to be rostered as a road locomotive for the parent Oregon Lumber Company. At the time of delivery, the Oregon Lumber Company was in the process of building a new mainline from the Sumpter Valley Ry. connection at the of Austin, along the Middle Fork of the John Day River to Susanville. However, shortly after arrival, both locomotives were damaged in a fire that destroyed the South Baker roundhouse and during rebuilding, number 101 was renumbered from 101 to 19, and rostered with the Sumpter Valley Ry.
Over the years number 19 received several modifications and upgrades including an additional 11” air pump in 1923, a “Rushton” smokestack in 1929, and “Franklin” automatic fire doors in 1931. Though well suited for passenger service, crews regarded the 19 and her sister as “slippery”. Consequently number 19 was not used as the road engine for freights as prevalently as the older Baldwin Mikado’s, but was often stationed as a helper out of Austin especially towards the end of her Sumpter Valley career. With the arrival of the former Uintah Railway articulateds, number 50 on March 22, 1940, and the 51 on June 20, the Schenectady twin’s days were numbered. The tenders from both 19 and 20 had already been retired on March 1, 1940, and fitted with oil bunkers in preparation for use behind the soon to arrive articulateds. The end came on January 1, 1941, when number 19 was retired from the roster of the Sumpter Valley Ry. and put up for sale.
The White Pass & Yukon Route running from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory was in the market for newer and larger motive power. Numbers 19 and 20 were purchased for $5000.00 each, fitted with the tenders from Sumpter Valley Ry. Baldwin Mikado number 18 and Baldwin ten-wheeler number 50, and loaded aboard flatcars for shipment to Seattle. After arrival in Skagway, the 19 was overhauled at the White Pass shops repainted and renumbered 81. Rostered only months before the outbreak of World War II, the now coal burning Mikado was pressed into service and would soon join the war effort when the ARMY took over control of the White Pass & Yukon in 1942. After the end of hostilities, government control was relinquished back to the White Pass and number 81 was able to perform the duties for which she had been purchased. In the early 1950’s, number 81 was converted from coal to oil and received a new tender from a scrapped 190 Class Baldwin Mikado. Other changes included the installation of a power reverse, replacement of the spoked pilot truck with a solid wheeled version, a “New York” air compressor in place of the two 11” models, and relocating the whistle to the steam dome. Retired from service in 1957, number 81 was put into storage in Skagway.
Since the early 1970’s, the Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration Inc. had been in contact with the White Pass & Yukon about the possible availability of numbers 80 and 81. In 1977, a deal was finalized and the former Sumpter Valley Ry. Mikado’s were purchased for one dollar each. Volunteers arrived in Skagway to construct loading tracks and prepare the locomotives for shipment. Following the same route taken 36 years earlier, after being unloaded at Seattle, numbers 19 and 20 arrived back in Baker City aboard flatcars courtesy of the Union Pacific. The engines and tenders were then transported to the Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration site at McEwen and placed back on home rails.
