No. 25 was built in September 1925 by the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Schenectady Works in Schenectady, New York, it was one of four Prairies from ALCO, numbered 22–25, which were purchased for a total cost of $90,000.[1][2] The No. 25 was the largest and last steam locomotive purchased by the McCloud River Railroad (MCR). At the time, the McCloud was a logging railway and the No. 25 was used in this function until early summer 1955, when it was replaced by GE 70-ton switcher No. 1.[1]
Post excursions
McCloud Railway No. 25 pulls a 2008 railfan excursion train, on one of its last excursions for the McCloud.
It wasn't long, however, before the locomotive was brought out again on July 3, 1955 to open the Burney Branch by breaking a paper banner with a special excursion train.[2] After this, however, the locomotive was truly retired, but it remained on the property—the only steam locomotive to do so.[4]
In the following years, there were many requests for the No. 25 to be restored to operating condition for excursion service, which work officially began in the spring of 1962.[5][1][2] The locomotive return to service on June 9, 1962 were it lead a long excursion train from McCloud to its former haunts at Pondosa and return.[5][1] A contractor called the Mt. Shasta Alpine Scenic Railway ran regular excursions in the summer of 1964, and another contractor called the Shasta Huffen-Puff ran the service between 1967 and 1971, when equipment prices, insurance prices, and falling interest.[1]
This era of excursions ended in 1975, when the locomotive travelled to the Tidewater Southern Railway to be used in Bound for Glory, after filming was completed, No. 25 was put into storage.[1][2]
The McCloud River Railroad came under new ownership in 1977, and the new owners ordered President Bill Herndon to scrap the No. 25, but he resisted.[1] Herndon however, balked at the order, and negotiated back and forth with Itel, he eventually received permission to put the locomotive on public static display at McCloud River Railroad.[1] However, before these plans could be brought to fruition, the Great Western Railroad Museum approached the railroad with a proposal to lease and operate the No. 25.[1]
Great Western Railroad Museum
Beginning in late spring of 1982, the No. 25 was rebuilt to operating condition and put on long-term lease to the Great Western Railroad Museum (GWRM), who ran it on the McCloud in several annual excursions.[1][2] This service ended with a performance in a movie Stand by Me, filmed in 1986, No. 25 would be withdrawn from service once again and put into storage.[1] Right after this, the Great Western Railroad Museum sued the McCloud River Railroad for Breach of Contract, and in the settlement, obtained possession of the locomotive. They did not do anything with it, however, keeping it in storage on the McCloud property.[1][2]
McCloud Railway
The renewed McCloud Railway (MR) re-obtained the No. 25 in January 1996 and began restoring it to operational condition.[1] The locomotive returned to service under steam again on Labor Day weekend in 1997.[1] No. 25 would return to occasional excursion service for the railroad, but in February 2001, McCloud Railway 18 re-entered service, and after a doubleheader excursion, the No. 18 replaced the No. 25 and it was again put into storage.[6] It remained in storage for six and a half years until the summer of 2007 when a movie production team began restoring it to alternate its appearance for an unknown movie role, however, the plan to use No. 25 for the production of the unnamed movie never went through and No. 25 was once again put into storage.[1][2] The following year, No. 25 was rebuilt and return to excursion service for the McCloud in the summer of 2008 were it was altered back to its original appearance.[1] It made two excursions for railfan groups on November 1st and 2nd, but because most of the McCloud Railway is being abandoned, the locomotive ran on its homerails for the last time, and was put up for sale.[7]
Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad
In late March 2011, No. 25 was moved from McCloud, California to Tillamook, Oregon after it was purchased by the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (OCSR).[1] The locomotive was stored in the World War II-era blimp hangar and was steamed up on May 20th with passenger excursions planned to begin in the summer. It was moved to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad shop in Garibaldi, Oregon in July 2011 and as of 2024, it is still in service.[1][8]
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