Dynamometer Car at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific Dynamometer Car #137 was built in 1926 by Standard Steel Car with dynamometer equipment and instrumentation from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Designed to measure the performance of steam locomotives, it was assigned to the Motive Power Department but was also used for freight car testing. In the 1950s it was equipped with new instrumentation for diesel locomotive measurements. As measuring technology advanced, the car eventually became obsolete. It was retired in December 1975 and was donated to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California, by Southern Pacific in December 1979.

Santa Fe Locomotives at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

Pictured here at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California are Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe F7A #347C with F3B #347B coupled behind it. These passenger diesels are F-units built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and are painted in the Santa Fe's famous Warbonnet paint scheme.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #347C is an F7A that was built in September 1949 as #39C. It was renumbered to #306C in April or May of 1971 and was leased to Amtrak in June 1971. By August 1973 it had returned to ATSF and been renumbered to #347C.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #347B is an F3B that was built in January 1949 as #35A. It was renumbered to #307B in April or May of 1971 and was leased to Amtrak in June 1971. In August 1973 it returned to ATSF and was renumbered to #347B.

These two locomotives were retired in July 1975 and were donated to the California State Railroad Museum in March 1986.

Sacramento Northern Locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

Sacramento Northern locomotive #402 is pictured on the California State Railroad Museum’s turntable. It is an SW1 originally built by the Electro-Motive Corporation in 1939 as Western Pacific #502. Western Pacific sold it to its Sacramento Northern subsidiary in December 1965 and it became #402. It was retired in July 1981. When the Western Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific in 1983, the Sacramento Northern was merged along with it. The locomotive was donated to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California, by Union Pacific in October 1983.

Cab Forward Locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific AC-12 Class 4-8-8-2 #4294 was built by Baldwin in 1944 and was retired in March 1956. It is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific’s unique Cab Forward locomotives.

Southern Pacific purchased two conventional 2-8-8-2 articulated locomotives from Baldwin in 1909, but discovered the smoke posed a danger to crews in the tunnels and snowsheds of the mountainous routes they were needed for. The Cab Forward design was developed to solve these problems, placing the crew ahead of the locomotive’s exhaust. The first 2-8-8-2 Cab Forward locomotives were delivered in 1910 and proved to be a success for the Southern Pacific. In addition to the 2-8-8-2 wheel arrangement, Southern Pacific also ordered Cab Forwards with a 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement which were quickly converted to the 4-6-6-2 arrangement. In 1928, Southern Pacific purchased its first Cab Forwards with a 4-8-8-2 wheel arrangement, the AC-1 class. Southern Pacific ultimately purchased a total of 256 Cab Forward locomotives. All were built by Baldwin, and no other American railroad followed Southern Pacific’s example.

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific #4294 was the last steam locomotive purchased by the Southern Pacific. It was in service from March 19, 1944 to March 5, 1956. Southern Pacific wrote off its last Cab Forwards in September 1958. Southern Pacific #4294 was placed on display outside the Sacramento, California, station and dedicated to the city of Sacramento on October 19, 1958. In 1967 it was moved to make room an Interstate 5 ramp, and was stored at Southern Pacific’s Sacramento yards until restored in 1981 and placed in the California State Railroad Museum’s Railroad History Museum in Sacramento. 

Northwestern Pacific at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

This is the herald of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, which ran from Schellville and San Rafael to Eureka on the northern California coast. Established in 1907, the Northwestern Pacific was initially jointly owned by the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. The Northwestern Pacific purchased its last new steam locomotives in 1922. In 1929 the Santa Fe sold its half to the Southern Pacific, making the NWP a subsidiary of the SP. The last Northwestern Pacific steam locomotive ran on September 20, 1953. From then on, the Northwestern Pacific leased locomotives from its parent, Southern Pacific.

I think this herald was on the tender of T-46 Class 4-6-0 locomotive #112, which was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1908. It was last run in May 1952 and was retired on October 31, 1952. It was donated to the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society on June 18, 1953. Repainted in two-tone green, it was exhibited at Southern Pacific’s centennial display in Sacramento, California, in August 1955.  A restoration was completed on May 18, 1965, and it was moved to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento in 1978. It is the sole surviving Northwestern Pacific locomotive.

Nevada Short Line Locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

The Nevada Short Line was a short-lived 36-inch gauge railroad built to reach silver mines in Nevada. Established in 1913 and incorporated in 1914, the 12.5-mile railroad featured a switchback and a 6% grade. Nevada Short Line #1 was one of the line’s two locomotives. It is a 2-6-0 Mogul originally built by Baldwin in 1879 as Utah & Northern Railway Company #13. It passed through several owners before it was purchased by the Nevada Short Line in August 1913 and became their #1.The railroad was damaged by flooding in June 1918 and was abandoned on December 31, 1920. The locomotive was sold to a scrap dealer who resold it to the Nevada Central Railroad of Battle Mountain, Nevada, where it became #6. Like the former North Pacific Coast #12, Sonoma, it was acquired by Nevada Central’s general manager J. M. Hiskey and was used at the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco, where it last ran in October 1940. In 1941 it was donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, and was donated to the state of California in 1969. It is new displayed at the California State Railroad Museum’s Railroad History Museum in Sacramento, California.

Sonoma Locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum

Photo by Cliff West

North Pacific Coast Railroad 36-inch gauge 4-4-0 locomotive #12, the Sonoma, was built by Baldwin in 1876 and was last run in October 1940. The North Pacific Coast operated an 80-mile main line between Sausalito and Duncans Mills, but always faced financial difficulty. By the end of 1879, the Sonoma had been sold to the Nevada Central Railroad, where it became #5 and was named General J. H. Ledlie. It was still in service when the Nevada Central was abandoned in 1938, and the line’s general manager J. M. Hiskey acquired it and loaned it to the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. It was taken to the Southern Pacific shops in Berkeley on December 15, 1938, and made to resemble Central Pacific #60 Jupiter for the daily reenactment of the completion of the transcontinental railroad at the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco. After the exposition, the locomotive was put into storage in October 1940 and has not run since. It was moved to the new California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California, in 1977. In 1978 it was donated to the museum by the J. M. Hiskey family. It has been restored to its original appearance.