Sumpter Valley Railway is a narrow gauge line (36") built between 1890 and 1910 to open the forests in Oregon's Blue Mountains to logging. Eventually, it encompassed eighty miles of track, but progressive line closures in the 1930s and 1940s led to abandonment in 1947. The tracks were then ripped up and the right of way sold.
In January 1971, Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration Inc., was established to breathe life back into part of the line. It negotiated to lease six miles of the right of way from McEwan to Sumpter, OR, and in 1975, levelling began and tracks were laid by summer the following year.
The first length of new line was officially opened on 4th July 1976, and the final section to Sumpter completed in spring 1991.
The Sumpter Valley Railway Engineer for a Day programme allows visitors to get behind the throttle of a steam locomotive and feel what it's like to ride the rails. I booked a session on the morning of 22nd September 2008.
When I arrived at 9.00 am, Mikado (2-8-2) type locomotive #19 was standing outside the engine house at McEwan, the eastern terminus of the six mile line, and was already steamed up. The crew had just completed a round of inspections and lubricating the running gear.
#19 weighs 128,000 lbs. Originally a wood burner designed to haul freight, it was later converted to burn oil.
With 19" x 20" cylinders and 44" drivers, it was also designed to operate at a boiler pressure of 170 psi, but now operates at 150 psi delivering 19,000 lbs tractive effort.
Above, a view looking forward on the fireman's side of the cab. The head of the air pump is at the side of the boiler. The large pipe running just above the air pumps is the fireman's water injector line.
In the view on the right, the fireman's injector control is the upright lever on the far left outlined in the window. The engineer's injector control is in the same position on the right.
Immediately to the right of the fireman's injector control is the boiler water sight glass. Just below and to the left of the fireman's drinking cup, with the lever jutting forward, is the firing valve.
Above, a view of #19's backhead.
The bar running at an angle from the centre to the right is the throttle. This regulates the volume of steam released through the dry pipe in the steam dome to the cylinders and, hence, the speed of the locomotive.
After an introduction to the locomotive controls under the supervision of the engineer, I set the brake valve, adjusted the Johnson Bar, took the throttle and we were underway. I found the throttle sensitive to even minor adjustments as I got the locomotive started, but it's important not to give too much steam at this point as it can cause the drivers to slip.
Above, a view forward from the engineer's side of the cab. As two water injectors are mandated by Federal law, a second feed line controlled by the engineer runs along the boiler just above the running board.
Ahead, you can see two cars and the caboose that will join the train for our trip. The Sumpter Valley Railway is one of the few that permits visitors to engineer a steam locomotive with a train of cars in tow.
After assembling our train, we eased out of McEwan at about 11.00am, notched up a little more speed and headed for Sumpter.
Above, #19 rests in the afternoon sun at Sumpter while we lunch and explore the area.
It was one of two locomotives built by Alco to the railroad's specification in 1920 (#19 & #20). Both were sold to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad in Alaska in 1941.
After retirement in 1958, the two locomotives sat in Skagway until 1977 when the WP&Y agreed to donate them to Sumpter Valley Railway.
Both locomotives then stood outside the McEwan engine house until 1992 when #19 was shipped to Doyle McCormack's Daylight Locomotive Works in Portland, OR, to be restored. Work continued for four years, and it was formally put into service on 4th July 1996.
Gold was discovered on the Powder River in Sumpter Valley in 1861. Initially, panning was the main means of extracting gold but, as the yield dropped to uneconomical levels, dredging started in 1912.
The Sumpter Valley dredge was built in 1935 and was the third and last dredge to work the valley. It moved forward, scooping rock into its seventy-two one-ton buckets. Inside, the rock went through a set of steel cylinders to separate it by size, sending smaller material deeper into the dredge.
Using water and sluices, the gold was then separated. The remaining rock passed through the back of the dredge and was deposited behind by another boom.
The dredge shut down in 1954 and is now an Oregon State Heritage site in Sumpter.
With no turntable or wye at Sumpter, we pushed the cars out of the station in reverse.
Above, a few hundred yards down the track, the locomotive was uncoupled and ran along a siding to recouple to the front end to the train.
The siding switch is visible just behind the tender.
We then set out for McEwan.
Above, crossing Highway 7.
The valley was turned over by forty-two years of dredging. The photo above shows tailings on the right, which cover an area eight miles long and a mile wide
Above, #19 pulls into McEwan.
It was then reversed to the engine house.
Below, with its fire extinguished, #19 was finally backed into the engine house.
The locomotive ended fourteen years of continuous service on 31st May 2010 and began a comprehensive overhaul required by Federal law.
It was scheduled to be back in service by 2012.
Above, 2-truck Heisler #3 was in the engine house when I visited. It was built in 1914 by the Heisler Locomotive Works of Erie, PA, for the W. H. Eccles Lumber Company of Austin, OR. In 1926, #3 moved to Cascade, ID, to the Hallock & Howard Lumber Company, which merged with the Boise Cascade Corporation in 1960. During its last years, it steamed occasionally as a standby boiler for the company's sawmill.
Bought by Sumpter Valley Railway in 1971, it was restored after four years work, and was the first locomotive to operate on the reopened line. While #19 undergoes repairs, #3 will take over excursions and the Engineer for a Day programme.
#3 weighs 80,000 lbs and is 33' long. A wood burner with 36" drivers and 14" x 12" cylinders, it operated at a boiler pressure of 180 psi delivering 16,000 lbs tractive effort.
You can see other Heisler locomotives on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Train Shed page of this website, the Cass Scenic Rail Road page and the Travel Town page. You can also see more footplate action on the Nevada Northern #93 and Milwaukee Road #261 pages of this website.
Related Links:
Sumpter Valley Railway Locations
Sumpter Valley Railway Website
Information on Sumpter Dredge
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Most of the information included on this page was drawn from Steaming Toward Sumpter 1890-2002, published by the Sumpter Valley Railway Co., in 2002.
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