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Sumpter Valley Railway
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Sumpter Valley Railway logo on a sign in Sumpter. Jeff Moore photograph. |
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History The Sumpter Valley Railroad and the several affiliated and associated lumber companies dominated much of northeastern Oregon for more than five decades. The railroad came into existence at a time when narrow gauge fever swept the land, and it stuck with the three foot gauge for its entire operating life. The railroad remained profitable from its opening to closing days and became one of the more interesting operations in the Pacific Northwest. The Sumpter Valley is also unusual in that it is one of the few railroads to have returned from the dead and is again today a major part of the economy the railroad operates within. The history section has been broken down into two pages, the first covering the original company and the second covering the reconstruction. Sumpter Valley Railroad: 1889-1961 Sumpter Valley Reconstruction: 1971-Present |
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Map 
Map of the Sumpter Valley Railroad mainline and associated updated (12/2023) logging railroads. The logging railroads map are transcribed from those in Rails, Sagebrush & Pine and then corrected using
available LIDAR imagery. Work on that continues and the map may be revised again as conditions warrant. |
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Locomotive roster Underlined numbers indicate a link to a page of pictures of that locomotive. Sumpter Valley Railway (original) The Sumpter Valley locomotive roster can be confusing due to some uncertainty stemming from incomplete records. This website since creation had a roster with several known errors, which have now been corrected to the best of current knowledge on the subject as gleaned from the work of Garrie L. Tufford, who authored a series of articles on Sumpter Valley locomotives in the Sumpter Valley Restoration Group's The Stump Dodger newletter in the early 1990s. The railroad commenced operations with four locomotives acquired from the Union Pacific, as follows: #1:1-Brooks 2-6-0, c/n 530, built 4/1881. Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 42", Weight 45,800 lbs. Built as Utah Northern #31; to Oregon Short Line and Utah & Northern #88 1889; to Sumpter Valley #1 circa 1890. #2:1-Brooks 2-6-0, likely c/n 626, built 12/1881. Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 42", Weight 45,800 lbs. Likely built as Utah Northern #42; to Oregon Short Line and Utah & Northern #99; to Sumpter Valley #2 circa 1890. #5:1- Brooks 2-6-0, likely c/n 520, built 4/1881. Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 42", Weight 45,800 lbs. Likely built as Utah Northern #29; to Oregon Short Line and Utah & Northern #86; to Sumpter Valley #2 circa 1892/1893. #285- Baldwin 4-4-0, c/n 4982, built 2/1880. Cylinders 12x16, Drivers 44", Weight 37,500 lbs. Built as Utah Western #3; to Utah & Nevada #3 1881; to Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern #285 1888; to Sumpter Valley #285 circa 1893/1894. Used principally as the Baker switcher. The railroad apparently intended locomotives assigned to freight and passenger duties to be in different number classes, hence the initial lack of numbers 3 and 4. Additional trackage and traffic caused the railroad to need more power as the operations exapanded. In 1899 the railroad renumbered the #285 to fill the #4 slot and acquired two additional locomotives from Utah, as follows: #3:1- Baldwin 2-6-0, c/n 5695, built 6/1881. Cylinders 13x18, Drivers 41":, Weight 45,000 lbs. Built as Minneapolis, Lyndale & Minnetonka #13; to San Pete Valley Railroad #1 late 1881, then renumbered 107 circa 1893; to Sumpter Valley #3 1899. Renumbered to Sumpter Valley #13 1906. Scrapped 1915. #6- Brooks 2-6-0, c/n 801, built 10/1882. Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 42", Weight 45,800 lbs. Built as Denver, South Park & Pacific #40:1; to Kansas Central #13 1883, then renumbered in 1885 to #106; to San Pete Valley Railway 1/1894; to Sumpter Valley #6 1899. The expanding system sent the railroad back to Utah for five additional locomotives, two from the Rio Grande Western in 1900 and three more from the Union Pacific in 1903, which exhausted the supply of available narrow guage locomotives in Utah. For unknown reasons the railroad skipped over the #9 as these locomotives arrived. #7:1- Baldwin 2-8-0, c/n 5164, built 6/1880. Cylinders 15x18, Drivers 36", Weight 56,000 lbs. Built as Denver & Rio Grande #74; to Denver & Rio Grande Western #74 1886; to Rio Grande Western #74; to Rio Grande Southern #30 1891; to Rio Grande Western #04 1899; to Sumpter Valley #7 10/1900. #8:1- Baldwin 2-8-0, c/n 5930, built 11/1881. Cylinders 15x18, Drivers 36", Weight 57,000 lbs. Built as Connotton Valley Railway #13; to New York Equipment Company 1889; to Salt Lake & Eastern 1889; to Utah Central; to Rio Grande Western #02 1898; to Sumpter Valley #8 10/1900. #10:1- Baldwin/OSL 2-6-0, c/n 5989, built 1/1882. Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 36", Weight 47,000 lbs. Built as an 0-6-0T as Connotton Valley Railway #16; to Salt Lake & Fort Douglas/Utah Western 1889; to Oregon Short Line 1897, who rebuilt it to a 2-6-0 and numbered it #4; to Sumpter Valley #10 4/1903. #11:1- Baldwin 2-6-0, c/n 4429, built 9/1878. Cylinders 12x18, Drivers 40", Weight 42,000 lbs. Built as Utah Northern #7; renumbered to #11 1885; to Utah & Nevada #4; to Oregon Short Line and Utah & Northern #11 1889; to Oregon Short Line #2 1897; to Sumpter Valley #11 4/1903. #12:1- Brooks 2-6-0, c/n 559, Built 7/1881, Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 42", Weight 45,800 lbs. Originally Utah & Northern #34, renumbered to #91 1885; to Oregon Short Line #3 1897; to Sumpter Valley #12 4/1903. The extension of the railroad to Austin in 1905, and especially the adverse grades against loads, caused the railroad to go looking for larger locomotives in 1905. By this point in time narrow gauge locomotives were getting scarce on the used market, but fortunately the Sumpter Valley found four large engines on Nevada's Tonopah Railroad, which was just then converting to standard gauge. The four arrived in late 1905 and retained their Tonopah numbers. #1:2- Baldwin 2-6-0, c/n 19211, built 7/1901. Cylinders 16x20, Drivers 44", Weight 81,290 lbs. Built as Chateaugay Railway #16, but returned to Baldwin after that railroad converted to standard gauge a year later. Reconditioned by Baldwin and sold to Tonopah Railroad #1 1904; to Sumpter Valley #1:2 1905. Retired 8/1934. #2:2- Baldwin 2-6-0, c/n 19210, built 7/1901. Cylinders 16x20, Drivers 44", Weight 81,290 lbs. Built as Chateaugay Railway #15, but returned to Baldwin after that railroad converted to standard gauge a year later. Reconditioned by Baldwin and sold to Tonopah Railroad #2 1904; to Sumpter Valley #2:2 1905. Retired 7/1930. #3:2- Baldwin 2-8-0, c/n 9519, built 9/1888. Cylinders 16x20, Drivers 38", Weight 82,080 lbs. Built as Nevada-California-Oregon #4; to Tonopah Railroad #3 1904; to Sumpter Valley #3:2 1905. Retired 4/1930. #4:2- Baldwin 2-6-0, c/n 24689, built 9/1904. Cylinders 16x22, Drivers 44", Weight 82,000 lbs. Built as Tonopah Railroad #4; to Sumpter Valley #4 1905. Retired 3/1932. Concurrent with the arrival of the four large locomotives from Nevada the Sumpter Valley renumbered most of the other power, instituting a system that put all of the Brooks Moguls in the #5-#9 slots, the two Rio Grande Western 2-8-0s as #10 and #11, and all of the oddball power above them. Renumberings and subsequent disposition of that power fell out as follows: #1:1 to #5:2. Traded to Eureka-Nevada Railroad #5 1912, later renumbered E-N #9 1919 after a rebuild. Badly damaged in engine house fire in 1927 and sold to Hyman-Michaels for scrap in 1938. Scrapped 1939 in South San Francisco. #2:1 to #7:2. Retired 1905. #3:1 to #13.- Retired circa 1910. #4:1 (formerly #285) to #15:1. Traded to Eureka-Nevada Railroad #15 1912. To the Surprise Valley Railway #2 circa 1914. Likely scrapped 1917-1918. #5:1 to #8:2. Retired 9/1915. #6 retained its number. Retired 11/1915. #7:1 to #10:2. Retired 4/1924. #8:1 to #11:2. Scrapped 3/1913. #10:1 to #14:1. Traded to Eureka-Nevada Railroad 1912 but does not appear to have been shipped to Nevada. Gone by 1916. #11 to #12:2. Off roster by 1916. Gifted to University of Idaho. Scrapped 1942. #12:1 to #9. Retired 9/1914. As noted above, on 27 June 1912 the Sumpter Valley traded their #5:2, #14:1, and #15:1 to the Eureka-Nevada Railroad of Palisade, Nevada, in exchange for three E-N locomotives. The Oregon Lumber Company got one of the new locomotives, but Sumpter Valley put the other two inter service as follows: #14:2- Baldwin 2-8-0, c/n 28806, built 8/1906. Cylinders 16x22, Drivers 38", Weight 94,880 lbs. Built as Eureka & Palisade Railroad #8; to Sumpter Valley #14:2 1912. Retired 10/1931. #15:2- Baldwin 2-8-0, c/n 11075, built 7/1890. Cylinders 16x20, Drivers 37", Weight 78,580 lbs. Built as Alberta Railway & Coal Company #7; to Eureka & Palisade #10 1910; to Sumpter Valley #15:2 1912. Retired 1/1921. Heavier trains and a lack of any suitable power on the used market finally forced the Sumpter Valley to buy several new locomotives between 1915 and 1920. #16- Baldwin 2-8-2, c/n 42073, built 5/1915. Cylinders 17x22, Drivers 42", Weight 124,400 lbs. Purchased new; retired 1/1943. To Peruvian government 10/1944 through Dulien Steel. Disposition unrecorded. #17- Baldwin 2-8-2, c/n 42074, built 5/1915. Cylinders 17x22, Drivers 42", Weight 124,400 lbs. Purchased new; retired 8/1944. To Peruvian government 10/1944 through Dulien Steel. Disposition unrecorded. #18- Baldwin 2-8-2, c/n 42815, built 1/1916. Cylinders 17x22, Drivers 42", Weight 124,400 lbs. Purchased new; retired 1/1943. To Peruvian government 10/1944 through Dulien Steel. Disposition unrecorded. #19 (102)- Alco 2-8-2, c/n 61981, built 5/1920. Cylinders 19x20, Drivers 44", Weight 128,000 lbs. Purchased new; originally numbered #102, then changed to #19 to eliminate number duplication with logging locomotives. Retired 1/1941; to White Pass & Yukon #81; to Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction 1977; restored to service 1996. #20 (101)- Alco 2-8-2, c/n 61980, built 5/1920. Cylinders 19x20, Drivers 44", Weight 128,000 lbs. Purchased new; originally numbered #101, the changed to #20 to eliminate number duplication with logging locomotives. Retired 1/1941; to White Pass & Yukon #80; to Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction 1977. Cosmetically restored. #50- Baldwin 4-6-0, c/n 42865, built 2/1916. Cylinders 16x20, Drivers 42", Weight 93,300 lbs. Purchased new; retired 12/1941. To Peruvian government 10/1944 through Dulien Steel. Reported to be operating on the Ferrocarril Cuzco-Santa Ana Railroad as their #100 at least as late as the end of 1975. In 1940 the Sumpter Valley acquired the two steam locomotives that came to define the railroad in the minds of most railfans, a pair of 2-6-6-2T mallets built for the Uintah Railway. The railroad converted both from tank to tender type locomotives, using the tenders from the #19 and #20. The railroad removed the tenders from the #16 and #18 to go with the #19 and #20 to Alaska, and then sold those to to Peru as locomotives only. #250- Baldwin 2-6-6-2, c/n 59261, built 6/1926. Cylinders 15x22, Drivers 42", Weight 218,000 lbs. Built as Uintah Railway #50; to Sumpter Valley #250 June 1940; retired 6/1947; to Hyman-Michaels Company; to International Railway of Central America. Scrapped circa 1971. #251- Baldwin 2-6-6-2, c/n 60470, built 4/1928. Cylinders 15x22, Drivers 42", Weight 218,000 lbs. Built as Uintah Railway #51; to Sumpter Valley #251 June 1940; retired 6/1947; to Hyman-Michaels Company; to International Railway of Central America. Scrapped circa 1971. In addition to the above two of the Oregon Lumber Company Shays originally carried Sumpter Valley Railway lettering. #101- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 1884, built 1907. Cylinders 8x10, Drivers 29", Weight 48,000 lbs. Purchased new by Oregon Lumber Company, but initially lettered for Sumpter Valley Railway. #102- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 1885, built 1907. Cylinders 8x10, Drivers 29", Weight 48,000 lbs. Purchased new by Oregon Lumber Company, but initially lettered for Sumpter Valley Railway. Finally, the Sumpter Valley owned two small diesel locomotives used to switch the duel gauge trackage in the Baker City mill in the last several decades of operation. #100- Whitcomb 20-ton gas mechanical switcher, c/n 13013, built 3/1930. One source indicates unit built as Shirley Construction Company, then to Yale & Regan Company #8, then to Sumpter Valley #100 April 1930; another source indicates unit built new for road. To Davenport Besler Corporation 5/8/1937 (traded in on the second #101); to J.R. Simplot and converted to standard gauge; to Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction and converted back to narrow gauge. #101 (second)- Davenport diesel mechanical switcher, c/n 2245, built April 1937. Built for Balzer Machinery Company (Dealer); to Sumpty Valley Railway; to Edward Hines Lumber Company; to Denver & Rio Grande Western #50 1963; to Roaring Camp & Big Trees Railroad #50 1970; to Bob Shank, Durango, Colorado, 1981; to Colorado Railroad Museum 1984. Restored to operation in 2009 and is on display at the museum as D&RGW #50. Logging Locomotives The logging railroads tributary to the Sumpter Valley Railway rostered a large and interesting collection of locomotives. Oregon Lumber Company #1- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 226, built 11/22/1888. 28-ton model. Built as Salt Lake Valley & Fort Douglas #226; to Salt Lake & Fort Douglas Railroad #7; to Utah Central #7 4/8/1890; to Oregon Lumber Company #1 1893. Renumbered #105:1 circa 1924. #7- Lima 3-truck Shay, c/n 3345, built 11/20/1929. Last narrow gauge Shay built. 67-ton model. Purchased new by New Mexico Lumber Company, Dolores, CO, through Hofius Steel & Equipment and assigned #7; Returned to Hofius 12/15/1933; to Oregon Lumber Company #7 7/7/1937. Converted to oil burner 1941, then back to wood 1951. Sold 1961 to Black Hills Central Railroad #7; subsequently conveyed to LaPorte County Historical Steam Society, Heston, Indiana, where it survives today. #100- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1510, built 11/1924. 50-ton model. Purchased new. Scrapped 1950. #101- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 1884, built 3/25/1907. 24-ton model. Purchased new, originally lettered for Sumpter Valley Railway. Scrapped 1941. #102- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 1885, built 4/1/1907. 24-ton model. Purchased new, originally lettered for Sumpter Valley Railway. Stored out of service by 1941. Sold 1945 to McKim & Son (Dealer); Scrapped 7/1946, with boiler sold to Eagle Cap Laundry, Enterprise, Oregon. #103:1- Baldwin 4-4-0, c/n 5285, Built 1880. Cylinders 14x18, Drivers 41", Weight 48,000 lbs. Built as Carson & Colorado Railroad #1; to Eureka & Palisade 1907. Traded to Sumpter Valley 1912 and conveyed to Oregon Lumber Company #103. Probably out of service before arrival of 103:2 in 1921. Scrapped at Bates circa 1936. #103:2- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 1983, built 7/25/1907. 28-ton model. Purchased new by David Eccles/Oregon Lumber Company for Eureka Hill Railway, SIlver City, Utah; to Western Machinery Company (Dealer), Salt Lake City, UT, 1914; to Nevada Short Line, Oreana, NV, 6/1915; to Oregon Lumber Company 1921. May have been assigned #103 Renumbered #103:2. Wrecked 20 miles from Baker in 1927 and scrapped. #103:3- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1184, Built 1910. 26-ton model. Built as Moore Timber Company #1; to W.H. Eccles Lumber Company #2; To Oregon Lumber Company #103:3. #104- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1188, Built 9/1910. 42-ton model. Built as Nibley Lumber #2, Meacham, Oregon; to Hilgard Lumber/Blue Mountain Railroad, Meacham, Oregon; used briefly on Nibley-Mimnaugh Lumber, Wallowa, Oregon, but not relettered from Nibley Lumber; re-gauged to narrow guage at Sumpter Valley Railway shops in Baker City circa 1912 and used on the C.W. Nibley Lumber logging railroad out of Whitney; to Oregon Lumber #104 circa 1915. Scrapped 1947 in Baker City. #105:1- Renumbered circa 1924 from #1. Retired from active service circa 1934 and scrapped circa 1938. #105:2- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1533, Built 7/1919. 30-ton model. Built as Hallack & Howard Lumber #6, LaMadera, New Mexico, then moved in late 1928/early 1929 to Cascade, Idaho; to Oregon Lumber Company #105 6/1937. Scrapped 1949. Boiler sold to A.F. Coates Lumber Company, Tillamook, Oregon. Stoddard Lumber Company #1:1- Lima 2-truck Shay, c/n 244, built 6/29/1889. 13-ton model. Built as Sunny South Lumber #1, New Lewisville, Arkansas; to Stoddard Brother Lumber 1897. Scrapped 4/30/1920. #1:2- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1077, built 4/1911. 33-ton model. Built as Baker White Pine #1; to Stoddard Lumber #1:2 1929. Scrapped. #2:1- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1023, built 9/1898. 25-ton model. Built as Blue Jay Lumber #3, Sand Patch, PA; to Stoddard Lumber #2 1903. Scrapped circa 1920s. #2:2- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1199, built 2/1913. 35-ton model. Built as Baker White Pine #2; to Stoddard Lumber #2 1929. Scrapped. #3:1- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1360, built 5/1917. 36-ton model. Purchased new; Renumbered #5 1929. #3:2- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1355, built 8/1915. 45-ton model. Built as Baker White Pine #3; to Stoddard Lumber #3:2 1929. Scrapped. Boiler survives today on Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad, Felton, California. #4- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1460, built 9/1922. 40-ton model. Purchased new. Scrapped 1947. #5- Renumbered from #3:1 1929. Scrapped 1947. One of the boilers from either Baker White Pine #1 or #2 was later used in two sawmills, one run by Boyd Erickson fifteen miles west of Baker and then the Hudspeth Pine Mill at Mitchell, Oregon, after 1940. Baker White Pine Lumber Company #1- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1077, built 4/1911. 33-ton model. Purchased new; to Stoddard Lumber #1:2 1929. #2- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1199, built 2/1913. 35-ton model. Purchased new; to Stoddard Lumber #2 1929. #3- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1355, built 8/1915. 45-ton model. Built with a snowplow blade attached to front truck. Purchased new; to Stoddard Lumber #3:2 1929. Cavanaugh Lumber Company #3- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1085, built 9/1911. 32-ton model. Built as W.H. Eccles Lumber #1, Baker City; to W.H. Eccles #1, Cascade, Idaho, 1922; to Cavanaugh Lumber #3, Austin, OR, 1929. To Oregon Lumber Company 1931 but never used. C.W. Nibley Lumber Company #104- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1188, Built 9/1910. 42-ton model. Built as Nibley Lumber #2, Meacham, Oregon; to Hilgard Lumber/Blue Mountain Railroad, Meacham, Oregon; used briefly on Nibley-Mimnaugh Lumber, Wallowa, Oregon, but not relettered from Nibley Lumber; re-gauged to narrow guage at Sumpter Valley Railway shops in Baker City circa 1912 and used on the C.W. Nibley Lumber logging railroad out of Whitney; to Oregon Lumber #104 circa 1915. Scrapped 1947 in Baker City. W.H. Eccles Lumber Company #1- Climax 2-truck, c/n 1085, built 9/1911. 32-ton model. Purchased new; transferred to Cascade, Idaho, 1922; to Cavanaugh Lumber #3 1929. #2- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1184, built 1910. Built as Moore Timber Company #1; to W.H. Eccles Lumber Company #2; To Oregon Lumber Company #103:3. #3- Heisler 2-truck, c/n 1306, built 1915. Purchased new; to Hallack & Howard Lumber Company #3; to Boise-Cascade; to Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction 1971. Restored to service 1976. Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction The Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction currently rosters original Sumpter Valley Railway locomotives #19, #20, and #100 from the roster listed above. In addition, the group owns the following locomotives: #3- 2-truck Heisler, c/n 1306, built 1915. Cylinders 12x14, Drivers 36", Weight 80,000 lbs. Built as W.H. Eccles Lumber Company #3; to Hallack & Howard Lumber Company #3; to Boise-Cascade; to Sumpter Valley Railway Reconstruction 1971. Restored to service 1976. #110 (#101)- Plymouth 10-ton gas mechanical switcher. Originally Nelson Machinery Company, Ltd. (Dealer), North Vancouver, BC; to Atlas Mine & Supply Company (Dealer), Spokane, WA, circa 1972; to Crown Zellerbach Corp., Camas, WA; to Sumpter Valley Railway Restoration #101 circa 1982/1983, later renumbered Sumpter Valley #110. #118- Plymouth 15-ton diesel hydraulic switcher, c/n 6373, built 8/1963. Originally constructed as a mine locomotive without a cab. Built for Perini Corporation (American River Project), Auburn, CA; to McCormick-Morgan, Auburn, CA; to Wyckoff Company, Seattle, WA, 1985; to Pacific Sound Resources, Seattle, WA, 1992; to Sumpter Valley Railway Restoration; cab added July 1996. #720- General Electric diesel-electric switcher, formerly Chiquira Land Company and Chiquita Banana. In service, used to power excursion trains during periods of high fire danger in addition to plowing snow and other chores. ???- Plymouth 18-ton gas mechanical switcher, c/n 2533, built February 1927. Originally Coleman Creosoting Company, Seattle, WA; to West Coast Wood Preserving Company, Seattle, WA, 1929; to Baxter-Wyckoff Company, Seattle, WA, 1959; to Wyckoff Company, Seattle, WA, 1964; to Pacific Sound Resources, Seattle, WA, 1992; to Sumpter Valley Railway Restoration by 1996; to Smitty Smith, Baker City, OR, 2005; to Ed Carl, Barberton, OH, 4/23/2012. The Sumpter Valley Railway Restoration group also has two additional privately owned General Electric switchers owned by third parties on the property, former Chiquita Banana #805 and Southern Pacific #5103 . |
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Plowing snow on the Sumpter Valley. John T. Labbe Collection of Logging and Railroad Photographs, 1892-2010, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov.<.i>
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Almost all early Sumpter Valley Railway equipment originated on the Utah & Northern Railroad and came to
the SVRy via the Union Pacific. As a narrow gauge railroad with no ability to interchange cars with connecting
carriers, the Sumpter Valley had to provide all rolling stock used on the line. Any and
all traffic the railroad interchanged to the outside world had to be transloaded between narrow and standard gauge
cars in Baker City. Flatcars remained the largest single type of car used by the railroad through its history; the
company used them to transport logs in the early days and rough cut lumber in the last years. The Oregon Lumber
Company provided a large number of its own logging cars. Other types of cars rostered by the railroad included
livestock cars to handle animals, box cars, tank cars, and insulated boxcars used to handle agricultural traffic
to and from Prairie City. In addition to revenue freight equipment, the railroad also had a large collection
of work equipment including snowplows, outfit cars, cabooses, and ballast cars. To handle passengers, the railroad owned a large number of passenger cars, again almost exclusively of Utah & Northern heritage. The original wood equipment gave way in 1918 to two three-car sets built new for the road by American Car & Foundry, with each set consisting of a Railway Pose Office, combination baggage/coach car, and a coach. When the original Sumpter Valley abandoned, the railroad found willing buyers for much of the original equipment. Most of the cars went to South America, while the railroad sold most of the passenger cars and some other equipment to the White Pass & Yukon railroad in Alaska. The railroad sold a good deal of equipment locally for use as sheds and outbuildings. The Sumpter Valley Railway Restoration group started out with four flatcars purchased from the Denver & Rio Grande Western, two of which the group rebuilt to haul passengers. The group successfully obtained a number of original Sumpter Valley cars, most reclaimed from non-railroad uses around the greater Sumpter area. The group has assembled an impressive collection consisting of steel container flatcars from the White Pass & Yukon, steel hoppers originally from the East Broad Top railroad in Pennsylvania that also came to Sumpter via the WP&Y, several other flatcars from Crown Zellerbach and Southern Pacific, various tank cars from several sources, and miscellaneous other cars. The group has also been able to take advantage of technology not available to the original Sumpter Valley, including mechanized track maintenance equipment. In addition to maintenance-of-way chores, the group also uses its freight equipment to operate chartered freights for photographer specials. Passenger Equipment pictures Freight Equipment pictures Company/Work Equipment pictures |
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| Photos of the Sumpter Valley Railway Logging Locomotive Pictures Photos by John Henderson Photos by Tom Moungovan The Sumpter Dredge A Visit to the Sumpter Valley in June 2012 Dewitt Museum/Prairie City Depot USFS Sumpter Valley Interpretive Site |
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References Books Loggers Handbook-Volume 1: Truck Logging by Pacific Logging Conference, Self Published, Portland, OR, 1941. Rails, Sagebrush, and Pine by Mallory Hope Ferrell, Golden West Books, San Marino, CA, 1967. Steaming Toward Sumpter 1890-2002 by Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration, Inc., Self Published, 2002. Sumpter Valley Logging Railroads by Alfred Mullett and Leanard Merrit, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2011. Sumpter Valley Railway by Alfred Mullett and Leanard Merrit, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2009. Switchback to the Timber by Clem L. Pope, Old Forest Publishing Company, Hood River, OR, 1992. Periodical Articles "A Former Stump Dodger in the Land of the Incas" by John A Kirchner and Ken Mills, June 1976 Pacific News; Pgs 10-12. "Four White Pass & Yukon 2-8-2's Come South for Tourist Duty" in July 1977 Pacific News; Pgs 20-21. "Stump Dodging Is Back" by Tom Moungovan, August 1976 Pacific News; Pgs 4-6. "Stump Dodging Is Back" by George E. Hardy, Jr., June 1976 Pacific News; Pgs 6-9. "Sumpter Valley Railway" by Mallory Hope Ferrell, June 1964 Western Railroader; Pgs 1-14. "The Return of the Sumpter Valley" by Larry Cantrall, May 1997 Railfan & Railroad; Pgs 41-49. |
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More on the Web Official Sumpter Valley Railroad website Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area Historic Sumpter (Visitor's Guide) Brian McCamish's Sumpter Valley site- lots of photographs. Larry Tuttle's Sumpter Valley Railway website Larry is a long-time volunteer on the railroad. |
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