Roots of Motive Power, Willits, CA

The engine was leased to the Association until 1988 when it was bought by Chris Baldo of Willits CA. In 1999, the locomotive was shipped to the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad at Mineral, WA, for a full FRA rebuild. It was returned to service on 1st July 2001, and moved back to Willits. The engine is on loan to Roots of Motive Power until completion of the restoration of ex-California Western #14 shown later on this page.

A 2-6-2T (Tank) Prairie type locomotive, #2 is typical of the small, compact engines used on logging railroads.

Port of Olympia #2 was being steamed up when I arrived.

The locomotive was built by Baldwin in 1910 as #7 for the Black Hills & Northwestern, a subsidiary of the Mason County Logging Company of Bordeaux, WA, near Olympia. It became surplus to needs in 1928 and was sold to the Port of Olympia for use as a switch engine. It operated as their #2 until 1955. The following year, it was bought by Charles Morrow of Seattle, who was instrumental in founding the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association.

The locomotive has a 24’ engine wheelbase and
9’ driver wheelbase. It weighs 92,000 lbs, 66,000
on its 44” drivers. Equipped with Stephenson valve gear, #2 has 15” x 22” cylinders, a 12.8
sq ft grate and 71.8 sq ft firebox. With a total heating surface of 689 sq ft, it delivers 15,300 lbs tractive effort. Fuel capacity in the bunker behind the cab is 1 cord of wood. Water capacity is 1,000 gallons.

Right, #2 gets underway, hauling a short consist through the loop completed in 2000 that runs around the perimeter of the site.

After working for Bluestone Mining and its successors for 23 years, the engine passed through several more owners, last operating at the Blake Brothers quarry at Point Richmond, CA. It was purchased by Bert Rudolph of Willits, who preserved the engine at his ranch east of Willits for nearly 30 years. The engine was purchased from the Rudolph estate by Rogan Coombs of Fortuna and stored at Glendale, near Arcata, for many years.

The engine is on long-term loan to Roots from Rogan Coombs.

This two truck Heisler had just begun steaming up when I arrived.

The locomotive was built as #1 for the Bluestone Mining & Smelting Co., in 1916 by the Heisler Locomotive Works in Erie, PA. The Bluestone Mining & Smelting Company and the Mason Valley Mines Company operated 2½ miles of track from their mine to the railroad’s connection with the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad at Mason, NV. The line extended northwest from Mason up the east slope of the Singaste Range to the Bluestone Mine.

An oil burner, #1 weighs 94,000 lbs. It has 36" drivers and 15" x 12" cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, it delivers 18,800 lbs tractive effort.

The Heisler was one of several types of geared locomotive that were designed to operate on roads with light, uneven rail, tight radius curves and grades in excess of 4% like those in the
woods of California. Like the Climax and Shay locomotives, the Heisler was slower moving
than rod locomotives but was both nimble and powerful.

#4 was build for Holmes Eureka Lumber
Company in 1922 by Climax Manufacturing of
Corry, PA. It was sold to Pacific Lumber of
Scotia, CA, in 1937 and was retired there in 1954.
It was bought by Bert and Ferne Rudolph of
Willits the following year and acquired by Roots
in 1990.

An oil burner weighing 120,000 lbs, it has 35” drivers and 13½” x 16” cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, it delivered 26,400 lbs tractive effort. Today, it is operated at a boiler pressure of 50 psi.

#14 is another 2-6-2T (Tank) Prairie type locomotive, weighing 116,000 lbs, 85,000 on its 44" drivers. It has an engine wheelbase of 24' 8" and driver wheelbase of 18' 8". Equipped with Walschaert valve gear, it has 15" x 24" cylinders. The grate is 17.2 sq ft and the firebox. 72 sq ft. With a total heating surface of 1,035 sq ft, including 186 sq ft superheating, it operated at a boiler pressure of 180 psi delivering 18,777 lbs tractive effort.

The engine has a 500 gallon oil and 1,200 gallon water capacity.

This locomotive was built in 1924 as #1 for the California Fruit Exchange at Graeagle, CA, by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The CFE was formed in 1901 by a group of Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley orchard growers and packing houses. Its lumber department harvested ponderosa and sugar pine sawn to make the millions of crates the company used to ship fruit.

In 1938, it was sold to the California Western Railroad & Navigation Co., in Fort Bragg, CA, and renumbered #14, in 1948, California Western Railroad #14, and sold to Bert Rudolph in 1956.

This two-truck Shay was built in 1918 as North Bend Mill & Lumber Co., #2978. It has 11” x 12” cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi it delivered 22,580 lbs tractive effort.

The Robert Dollar Lumber Co., bought #2978 in 1946.

Above, while Bluestone Mining & Smelting #1 is building up steam, electrical power is supplied by Simpson Logging #600.

This Alco S-3 was built in 1950 for the Humble Oil Refining Company in Baytown, TX. It was acquired by the Simpson Timber Co., in 1979 to work at their log dump at Shelton, on Puget Sound, WA. Simpson Timber was started by Sol Simpson in 1890 in eastern Mason County, WA. It has grown progressively over the following years into a major producer of forestry and wood products in the Pacific North West.

Weighing 210,000 lbs and 44' 5" long with a
4-cycle 539 6L prime mover powering a GE
GT552A main generator to drive six GE 731 traction motors, it delivers starting tractive
effort of 57,500 lbs @ 25% and 46,000 lbs continuous tractive effort at 5 mph, with a top speed of 60 mph.

One hundred and twenty-seven S-3 units were built between 1950 and 1953. The only difference from an Alco S-1 is that the S-1 had Alco's Blunt trucks and the S-3 had standard AAR type A switcher trucks.