P-B-L Photo Gallery #14

~ PHOTO GALLERY - PAGE 14 ~

S.P. NARROW GAUGE #18
Circa the 1940's - 1950's
~ Revised 4-26-03 ~

As history goes, the #18 came along a couple of years after the #8 and #9. And though sharing similar proportions, #18 was the only one of the three that was built with "Walschaerts" Valve Motion. Which placed all of the moving parts controlling the valve timing outside the frame, where it was easily accessible, instead of inside and accessible only from a "drop pit".

If you've even been to the Owens Valley, or on the other side of the mountains between Schurz and Hawthorne, Nevada, you know that dust and sand are what that country "grows best". And since dust and sand are the enemy of bearing surfaces, the easier it would be to keep them lubricated, the less often major work would be needed. That makes sense to us, so we'll conclude this essay by giving our "nod" to that explanation.

Among other differences between #18 and her sisters look for

The rivet pattern on her cab;
Tender hand railings are made of flat stock instead of pipe;
That extra tall "shotgun" stack;
That huge, riveted air tank hanging beneath the firemans' side of the cab...

Today, #18 resides inside a cyclone fence just off the hiway at the north end of the town of Independence. A group of fellows in that area have formed a "preservation group" that goes by the name of the "Carson & Colorado Railway, Inc." with the objective in mind of restoring #18 to operating condition at some point in the future. More power to 'em!

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