McCloud Railway 18

Last updated
McCloud Railway 18
V and t sept 19 and 20 038xRP - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg
No. 18 hauling an excursion train on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad on September 20, 2011
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works
Serial number41709
Build dateNovember 1914
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 2-8-2
 •  UIC 1'D1'
Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.48 in (1.219 m)
Loco weight178,400 lb (80.9 t)
Fuel type Oil
Boiler pressure180 psi (1.24 MPa)
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size 20 in × 28 in (508 mm × 711 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 39,667 lbf (176.4 kN)
Career
Operators
Class 18
Numbers
  • MCR 18
  • YW 18
  • VT 18
Retired1964
RestoredFebruary 2001
Current ownerV&T Railway Commission
DispositionOperational
References: [1] [2]

McCloud Railway 18 is a 18 class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive, it was built in November 1914 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW). [1] [2] [3] The locomotive was purchased new by the McCloud River Railway Company (MCR) in 1914 as a standalone purchase. [1] [2] No. 18 was bought by the Yreka Western Railroad (YW) in 1956 and bought back by the McCloud in 1998. [1] [2] It was restored to operation for McCloud in 2001 and operated there until it was sold in 2005 to the Virginia and Truckee Railroad (VT). [1] [2]

Contents

History

Revenue service

McCloud Railway No. 18 was built in November 1914 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW). [1] [2] The unit was sent to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco during 1915. [2] The display was jointly sponsored by McCloud Railway (MCR), Weed Lumber Company and Red River Lumber Company. [2] The unit was then returned to McCloud, where it worked most of its career. [4] [1] [2]

In 1956, as McCloud Railway was acquiring newer diesels from Baldwin, the unit was sold (like many McCloud steam locomotives at the time) to the Yreka Western Railroad (YW), a small, power-starved railroad also in Northern California. [1] [2] The unit was operated with No. 19 at Yreka until 1964, when the unit suffered a cylinder failure on a special trip and was taken out of service, however, due to the lack of funds and money to repair the damaged cylinder, it would be the last time No. 18 operated for the Yreka Western as it would be permanently retired from service, it was placed and stored under a tarp for the next thirty-four years. [1] [2] The unit languished in Yreka until March 1998, when the McCloud Railway bought the unit to assist No. 25 in railfan trips. [2]

Excursion service

That same year when the locomotive returned to McCloud, the railroad immediately began restoring it to operating condition to assist the No. 25, and after four years of restoration work, No. 18 returned to service in February 2001 and quickly became the favorite unit as it was bigger and stronger than No. 25 and handled the large grades on the road better. [1] [2]

In January 2005, with the imminent demise of the McCloud Railway as a financial entity, the unit was sold to Virginia and Truckee Railroad (VT) as an excursion unit. [2] No. 18 made its final run for the McCloud on August 7, 2005 and would remain in storage until April 2007 when it was leased to the Sierra Railroad in Oakdale, California for use on commuter trains. [2] No. 18 was eventually moved to the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in mid-summer of 2010, were it continues to haul excursion trains today. [2] [5] It was originally planned to be renumbered to No. 31, but was never renumbered. [2] The V&T Railway is owned by the publicly owned V&T Commission should not be confused with the privately owned Virginia & Truckee Railroad. [1] [2]

Apperences in media

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "McCloud River Railroad Company McCloud Railway Company Locomotive #18" . Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Steam Locomotive #18" . Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  3. ↑ "McCloud River 2-8-2 "Mikado" Locomotives in the USA". www.steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  4. ↑ Steam Locomotive Dot Com: McCloud River 2-8-2 "Mikes" in the USA
  5. ↑ McCloud Rails - Passenger Operations - Locomotive #18
  6. ↑ "Steam Briefly Returns to Montana For 'Yellowstone' Spin-Off". Railfan & Railroad . White River Productions. November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to McCloud River Railroad 18 at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.