Southern Pacific #18 – January and February 2020

Thanks to CCR friend and supporter Martin Hansen we have this great shot of #18 during what was possibly its final trip to the Bakersfield shops in 1954. Interestingly enough, locomotive #1774 also survived and is today on display in Globe, Arizona.

After all the excitement of the past couple years its been a relatively quiet start to 2020. With the new year underway we thought it would be good to lay out a few of the things we hope to accomplish in the coming years:

  • Complete the museum extension switch and continue track laying and right of way prep to extend the track towards the museum picnic area.
  • Begin the restoration of boxcar 1C/354 with documentation, some disassembly, and frame/end sill repairs.
  • Locate a more suitable pair of trucks, or rebuild the existing trucks under boxcar 15.
  • Continue to train our volunteers on the operation and maintenance of #18.
  • Continue to tie together and interpret the railroad exhibits within the existing museum grounds.
  • Add some display components to the Dehy Park display.

We hope everyone will continue to support us in 2020 and come on out to participate and see whats going on with #18 and the Eastern California Museum!

The subject of our next work weekend, the museum extension switch. This is how it looks today.