Valley Railroad No. 40 is a preserved

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

"Mikado" type

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

that was built by Alco in 1920. It was initially built as No. 101 for the Portland, Astoria and Pacific Railroad as part of their small order of locomotives. However, the order was cancelled, and the locomotive was subsequently sold to the

Minarets and Western Railway The Minarets and Western Railway was a Class II common carrier that operated in Fresno County, California, from 1921 to 1933. The railway was owned by the Sugar Pine Lumber Company and was built the same year the lumber company was incorporated ...

to pull logging trains. No. 101 subsequently went through several ownerships during revenue service, until it was retired in 1950, and by that time, it was renumbered to 40. After spending several years in storage, No. 40 made its way to the

Connecticut Valley Railroad The Connecticut Valley Railroad was a railroad in the state of Connecticut founded in 1868. The company built a line along the Connecticut River between Hartford and Old Saybrook, which opened in 1871. It was reorganized as the Hartford and Con ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1977. As of 2022, No. 40 is being used to pull tourist trains between Essex and Hartford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

alongside

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

No. 97 and 2-8-2 No. 3025. The 40 does currently have a surviving sister engine. Former Portland, Astoria & Pacific #102 went on to have a long working career in Canada on Vancouver Island. She was sold to the Alberni Pacific Railway in Port Alberni British Columbia and became their #6. She then operated for Macmillan Bloedel as their first 1055 until she was sold to Canadian Forest Products (Canfor) up in Northern Vancouver Island in Woss BC. She was first numbered 55, but then was renumbered to 113 which is the number she carries today. The 113 was retired in 1973, and was placed on static display. The company then brought her back to life in 1988 and used her for Canfor's company picnics. She was the pride of the line until she was retired again in 1995, and has ever since been placed on static display in Woss.

History

Original service life

In August 1920, No. 40 became one of four 2-8-2 "Mikado" type locomotives that rolled out of the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

's Brooks Locomotive Works in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and it was originally numbered 101. These four locomotives were initially constructed for the new Portland, Astoria and Pacific Railroad to be used to pull

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

trains in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. However, the railroad was quickly shut down before the locomotives were ever put into service, and they sat idle until 1921. That year, they were sold to the

(M&W), a subsidiary of the Sugar Pine Lumber Company (SPLCO). The M&W put No. 101 into service by pulling lumber trains between the

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

near

Minarets A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally ...

and the railroad's

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

at Pinedale. However, the SPLCO was struggling to pay their debts, and after the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

had risen, the company declared bankruptcy in 1933. As part of a

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

settlement, No. 101 was conveyed to the nearby

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

(SP). The SP couldn't make any usage out of light-weight 2-8-2s, so they soon sold No. 101 to the Birmingham Rail and Locomotive dealership. In January 1935, the locomotive was sold again to the

Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad The Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad is a short-line railroad operating in North Carolina. At one time the AR was a Class 2 railroad. The railroad has of track that runs from Aberdeen to Fayetteville, North Carolina. History The AR was inco ...

(A&R) in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, who renumbered it to 40 and converted it from burning oil to burning

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

. The A&R reassigned No. 40 to pull freight and

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

trains on their trackage between

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and Fayetteville, and it subsequently became a sentimental favorite of various crews that worked with it. On one occasion, however, the locomotive was involved in a major derailment that caused it to fall on its side. It was repaired and returned to service shortly afterward. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, No. 40 was used as a supply of hot steam for trains that carried military soldiers out of the nearby

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

US army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

base. After serving the A&R for seventeen years, No. 40 was retired from revenue service in 1952, and it was stored inside a small

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...

for the next several years. It became the only steam locomotive from the A&R to be spared from the

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

per's torch, since it was a sentimental favorite of various crews that worked with it, and the military trains out of Fort Bragg still needed a supply of heat. During special occasions, No. 40 would be towed out of the shed to various A&R communities to be displayed in local festivals. By the mid-1970s, the A&R began to consider donating No. 40 to the city of Aberdeen for permanent static display. Surviving Sister Engine: The 40 does currently have a surviving sister engine. Former Portland, Astoria & Pacific #102 went on to have a long working career in Canada on Vancouver Island. She was sold to the Alberni Pacific Railway in Port Alberni British Columbia and became their #6. She then operated for Macmillan Bloedel as their first 1055 until she was sold to Canadian Forest Products (Canfor) up in Northern Vancouver Island in Woss BC. She was first numbered 55, but then was renumbered to 113 which is the number she carries today. The 113 was retired in 1973, and was placed on static display. The company then brought her back to life in 1988 and used her for Canfor's company picnics. She was the pride of the line until she was retired again in 1995, and has ever since been placed on static display in Woss.

Connecticut Valley Railroad

In 1977, the

(CVRR), a tourist railroad that lies between

and Hartford over former

New York, New Haven and Hartford The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

trackage, was looking for a steam locomotive to serve as a running mate to their Ex-Birmingham and Southeastern

No. 97. After a CVRR employee discovered No. 40 and its disposition, the railroad made the A&R an offer they couldn't refuse, and the locomotive was pulled out of its shed and lifted onto two

flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...

s to be shipped to

. Upon arrival in Essex, No. 40 was test fired before it entered the CVRR's locomotive shops for an overhaul that lasted for less than two years. The locomotive entered service for the railroad in May 1979, and for the next several years, it remained as the CVRR's largest steam locomotive. In September 1985, No. 40 was taken out of service after damaging a tire on one of its

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

s. With No. 40 out of service, as well as No. 97 in need of an overhaul, the CVRR began searching for another steam locomotive for use in their operations, and they resulted in using

China Railway China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout Ch ...

s SY 2-8-2 No. 1647 as their main flagship for two years. By the time No. 1647 was sold off, No. 40's running gear was repaired, and the locomotive was put back into service for the 1992 season. The locomotive was taken out of service again by the end of the 1990s after the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

(FRA) enforced that any active steam locomotive in the United States go through a mandated 1,472-day overhaul, No. 40 was returned to service in 2007. In 2008, No. 40 lost its title as the CVRR's largest locomotive after the railroad purchased SY No. 58, which entered service for the CVRR in 2011 as New Haven No. 3025.

Film history

* One shot of No. 40 is seen in a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

's 1993 song '' River of Dreams''. * No. 40 is seen in multiple scenes in the 2021 Hallmark

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

film ''Next Stop, Christmas'', which stars Lyndsy Fonseca,

Chandler Massey Chandler Abit Massey (born September 10, 1990)"Will & Grace". ''Soap Opera Digest''. October 30, 2017. pg. 44. is an American actor and singer, best known for his portrayal of Will Horton on the daytime soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''. Massey ...

, and

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

, and it was directed by Dustin Rikert.{{Citation, last=Rikert, first=Dustin, title=Next Stop, Christmas, date=2021-11-06, url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15412176/, type=Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, publisher=Synthetic Cinema International, access-date=2022-01-10

References

External links