Sumpter Valley railway is a narrow gauge line (36” across the rail head) built between 1890 and 1910 to open the forests in Oregon’s Blue Mountains to logging. Eventually, it encompassed 80 miles of track, but progressive line closure 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 and negotiated to lease 6 miles of the right of way from McEwan to Sumpter. 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. The final section to Sumpter was completed  in the spring of 1991.

The Sumpter Valley Railway Engineer for a Day programme allows visitors to operate a steam locomotive under the supervision of qualified SVR staff. It’s a wonderful opportunity to get behind the throttle of a steam locomotive and feel what it’s like to ride the rails.

I booked a session on 22nd September 2008. When I arrived at 9.00am, Mikado (2-8-2) #19 was out of the engine house at McEwan (the eastern terminus of the 6 mile line) and was steamed up. The crew had just finished a round of lubricating the running gear.

After an introduction to the locomotive controls, I set the brake valve, adjusted the Johnson Bar, took the throttle and we were underway.

The valley was really turned over by 42 years of dredging, and the tailings cover an area 8 miles long and a mile wide. This photograph shows some of the tailings on the right. They can also be seen clearly in satellite views on maps.google.com, like enormous worm casts.

Gold was discovered on the Powder River in Sumpter Valley in 1861, but the town really boomed after the railway arrived in 1896. A year later, the population had soared from about 200 to over 9,000! Initially, panning was the main means of extracting gold but, by 1905/06, the yield had dropped to uneconomical levels and more intensive dredging started in 1912.

The Sumpter Valley dredge was the third and last dredge to work the valley. It was built in 1935 and shut down in 1954. It is now an Oregon State Heritage site in Sumpter.

The dredge moved forward, scooping out rock in its 72 one-ton buckets. Inside, the rock was put through a series of steel cylinders that separated 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.

#19 rests quietly in the afternoon sun at Sumpter while we have lunch and explore the area.

The locomotive was one of two built by Alco to the railroad’s specification in 1920. They were sold to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad in Alaska in 1941. After retirement from service there in 1958, they sat in Skagway until 1977 when the WP&Y agreed to  donate them to SVRR.

Both locomotives stood outside the McEwan engine house until work started on #19 in 1992 at Doyle McCormack’s Daylight Locomotive Works in Portland, OR. Work continued for 4 years, and it was formally put into service on 4th July 1996. Originally a wood burner, #19 was later converted to burn oil.

A view forward from the engineer’s side of the cab.

As two water injectors are mandated by Federal law, a second 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.

A view forward from the fireman’s side of the cab.

The head of the air pumps can be seen at the side of the boiler.

The large pipe running just above the air pumps is the fireman’s water injector line.

A view of the backhead. The angled bar running from the centre to the right is the throttle, which controls the volume of steam supplied to the cylinders and, hence, the speed of the locomotive. I found the locomotive very sensitive to even quite minor adjustments of the throttle and it was a real pleasure to operate.

After assembling a train of freight cars, we eased out of McEwan at about 11.00am. Once out of yard, we notched up a little more speed and rolled on to Sumpter.

Related links:

www.svry.com

www.maps.google.com

www.historicsumpter.com/sumpter-oregon-dredge-park.html

Report a broken link or suggest a new one.

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.

Because there is no turntable or wye at Sumpter, we backed out of the station, pushing the train ahead of us.

A few hundred yards down the track, the locomotive uncoupled and ran along a siding to recouple the front end to the train. The siding switch is visible just behind the tender.

We then set out for McEwan.

Crossing Highway 7.

#19 pulls into McEwan.

From here, the cars went back to the yard.

The locomotive was reversed to the engine house.

In the engine house when I visited was the 2-truck Heisler #3. Built in 1914 by the Heisler Locomotive Works, it was once a Sumpter Valley Railroad logging engine.

Purchased by SVRR from the Boise-Cascade Corporation in 1971, #3 was restored after 4 years work, and was the first locomotive to operate on the restored line. While #19 undergoes repairs, #3 will take over excursions and the Engineer for a Day programme at the railroad.

With its fire extinguished, #19 was finally backed into the  engine house.

#19 will end 14 years of service on 31 May 2010 and begin a comprehensive overhaul. It should be back in service by 2012.

You can see more footplate action on the Nevada Northern #93 and Milwaukee Road #261 pages of this website.

Video Management have published a 4 DVD set Running a Steam Locomotive (click on the cover to search for these DVDs on Bookfinder.com)

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