LE BARON
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They knew how to make them back then. You could do burn outs *wheel spin) with very little wheel degradationWhite wall tires no less....
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Anyone Else Fascinated By Old Locomotives?
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LE BARON
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Western Maryland #734
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LE BARON
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WMSR’s #734
LE BARON
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The Marent Gulch Trestle
This photograph captures a massive wooden railway trestle spanning Marent Gulch, a deep ravine in Montana, United States, built in 1883—during a time when America was driven by expansion, industry, and the relentless push westward.
Location
Marent Gulch lay in a rugged, mountainous region of Montana, an area that in the late 19th century was still wild, remote, and difficult to access. Steep slopes, dense forests, and deep ravines forced engineers to rely on tall wooden trestle bridges, which could be constructed faster and more cheaply than stone or iron bridges in such unforgiving terrain.
Time & Historical Context
The bridge was built during the Railroad Boom era, when railways became the backbone of the American economy. These lines connected mines, logging camps, newly founded towns, and industrial centers—transporting gold, silver, timber, coal, and people across vast distances.
At the time, Montana was rapidly developing due to mining rushes and natural resource exploitation, making rail access not a luxury, but a necessity—even when it meant building through extreme and dangerous landscapes.
Construction History
The bridge was constructed almost entirely of wood, primarily local pine and fir.
It was built without modern machinery—relying instead on human labor, horses, pulleys, hand tools, and iron spikes.
The workforce consisted largely of migrant laborers, former soldiers, and loggers, many of whom worked at dizzying heights with little to no safety equipment.
Human Scale (Yellow Circle)
The tiny figures visible within the yellow circle—both atop the bridge and at the base of the ravine—serve as a powerful and emotional reminder of the bridge’s immense scale. From such heights, a single misstep would have meant a fall of dozens of meters and almost certain death.
Historical Significance
The Marent Gulch Trestle was more than just infrastructure. It symbolized:
Human courage and desperation
America’s industrial ambition
The true cost of progress—paid in sweat, fear, and often human lives
Many wooden trestles like this were intended as temporary structures, later replaced by steel bridges or abandoned as routes changed. Yet this photograph freezes one such moment in time—when humans challenged nature with nothing but timber, iron, and determination.
It stands as a silent reminder that great progress is often built upon the labor of small, nearly forgotten people whose names history rarely records.
This photograph captures a massive wooden railway trestle spanning Marent Gulch, a deep ravine in Montana, United States, built in 1883—during a time when America was driven by expansion, industry, and the relentless push westward.
Marent Gulch lay in a rugged, mountainous region of Montana, an area that in the late 19th century was still wild, remote, and difficult to access. Steep slopes, dense forests, and deep ravines forced engineers to rely on tall wooden trestle bridges, which could be constructed faster and more cheaply than stone or iron bridges in such unforgiving terrain.
The bridge was built during the Railroad Boom era, when railways became the backbone of the American economy. These lines connected mines, logging camps, newly founded towns, and industrial centers—transporting gold, silver, timber, coal, and people across vast distances.
At the time, Montana was rapidly developing due to mining rushes and natural resource exploitation, making rail access not a luxury, but a necessity—even when it meant building through extreme and dangerous landscapes.
The bridge was constructed almost entirely of wood, primarily local pine and fir.
It was built without modern machinery—relying instead on human labor, horses, pulleys, hand tools, and iron spikes.
The workforce consisted largely of migrant laborers, former soldiers, and loggers, many of whom worked at dizzying heights with little to no safety equipment.
The tiny figures visible within the yellow circle—both atop the bridge and at the base of the ravine—serve as a powerful and emotional reminder of the bridge’s immense scale. From such heights, a single misstep would have meant a fall of dozens of meters and almost certain death.
The Marent Gulch Trestle was more than just infrastructure. It symbolized:
Human courage and desperation
America’s industrial ambition
The true cost of progress—paid in sweat, fear, and often human lives
Many wooden trestles like this were intended as temporary structures, later replaced by steel bridges or abandoned as routes changed. Yet this photograph freezes one such moment in time—when humans challenged nature with nothing but timber, iron, and determination.
It stands as a silent reminder that great progress is often built upon the labor of small, nearly forgotten people whose names history rarely records.
LE BARON
Power User
A 100-ton mountain engine operating on the Canadian Pacific Railway near Field, British Columbia, 1899.
America's Most Powerful Locomotive Was So Extreme, Cities Had To Ban It — Jalopnik
In the 1950s, a new kind of locomotive made even extreme hills easy for trains to climb. But this extra-powerful engine came with significant downsides.
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UP # 52 was a 1st. generation gas turbine shown without a tender which they used to haul for more range.
Dave91TM
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We got 5 seats up the front for those of you who like the wind in yer hair and the bugs in yer teeth and don't ask me why there's a spruce tree up front, I can't know everything.
LE BARON
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Montana glacier Park 1916
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War Wagon On The Donner Pass -These 16 foot high A-units can plow snow banks as high as 12 feet
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anadian National Wedge Plow In Action
LE BARON
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The logging locomotive market was very competitive for a half century among the various manufacturers of steam locomotives. This include both makers of geared as well as rod-type engines. It seemed that none of the locomotive builders wanted to be left out of what they saw as the profits to be made by selling to these timber haulers.
Certainly the big 3 American locomotive builders were certainly as focused on expanding their market share as were the small builders. Lima had it's very beginnings by refining Ephraim Shay's patented design for his geared locomotive and had come to dominate the early market for logging locomotives. Baldwin was not far behind as it fist sold it's smaller 2-6-2T's to loggers and then expanded to build many 70-ton and 90-ton 2-8-2's especially designed for logging railroad use.
Last among the recognized builders of logging locomotives was that of ALCO. It seemed that ALCO had come late to the party and never found it's "niche" as had the other big manufacturers. That was until the came to develop their big 2-8-2T's in the 1920's.
In 1923 ALCo was approached by the Sugar Pine Lumber Co. of Fresno, California with a tall order to fill. SPL was a new company and was building a mill and logging railroad to tap their pine timber in the Southern Sierra Mountains of California. They wanted all new equipment for both their shortline railroad that connected the camps to the mill (the Minarets & Western Ry) and their new logging railroad in the mountains. Both Baldwin and Lima were too busy on other business to be able to fill this large order at the time so ALCO was eager to accommodate the SPL folks when they came calling.
The result was the development of the ALCO 2-8-2T. SPL ordered 4 of these engines from ALCo along with 4 standard 2-8-2 tender engines for the M&W. These 4 2-8-2T's would begin what would turn out to be ALCO's biggest inroad into the logging market. Before ALCO was done, they had built 21 of these sturdy sure-footed tank Mikes for a variety of lumber companies throughout the West. So successful were these engines that in 1927 SPL returned to ALCO to ask them to build yet a larger version of this locomotive in the form of a 2-10-2T. This one engine would be known for all time by ALCO as the "Minaret", in honor of the lumber company that first launched the company into this lucrative part of the logging market.
ALCO built 2 different sizes of these 2-8-2T's. The larger size, built for SPL and others had 20 x 24 inch cylinders, while the smaller size engines had 18 x 24 inch cylinders. Shown here at the water tank in Powers, Oregon in July, 1940 is Coos Bay Lumber ALCO 2-8-2T #12. She is one of the larger size ALCO 2-8-2T's and was built in April 1930.
In 1935, ALCO built the very last 2-8-2T and that was again for Coos Bay Lumber. That would be the 4th such engine ordered by CBL form ALCO, which certainly showed how much those lumber companies that gave these engines a try liked what ALCo had built
Certainly the big 3 American locomotive builders were certainly as focused on expanding their market share as were the small builders. Lima had it's very beginnings by refining Ephraim Shay's patented design for his geared locomotive and had come to dominate the early market for logging locomotives. Baldwin was not far behind as it fist sold it's smaller 2-6-2T's to loggers and then expanded to build many 70-ton and 90-ton 2-8-2's especially designed for logging railroad use.
Last among the recognized builders of logging locomotives was that of ALCO. It seemed that ALCO had come late to the party and never found it's "niche" as had the other big manufacturers. That was until the came to develop their big 2-8-2T's in the 1920's.
In 1923 ALCo was approached by the Sugar Pine Lumber Co. of Fresno, California with a tall order to fill. SPL was a new company and was building a mill and logging railroad to tap their pine timber in the Southern Sierra Mountains of California. They wanted all new equipment for both their shortline railroad that connected the camps to the mill (the Minarets & Western Ry) and their new logging railroad in the mountains. Both Baldwin and Lima were too busy on other business to be able to fill this large order at the time so ALCO was eager to accommodate the SPL folks when they came calling.
The result was the development of the ALCO 2-8-2T. SPL ordered 4 of these engines from ALCo along with 4 standard 2-8-2 tender engines for the M&W. These 4 2-8-2T's would begin what would turn out to be ALCO's biggest inroad into the logging market. Before ALCO was done, they had built 21 of these sturdy sure-footed tank Mikes for a variety of lumber companies throughout the West. So successful were these engines that in 1927 SPL returned to ALCO to ask them to build yet a larger version of this locomotive in the form of a 2-10-2T. This one engine would be known for all time by ALCO as the "Minaret", in honor of the lumber company that first launched the company into this lucrative part of the logging market.
ALCO built 2 different sizes of these 2-8-2T's. The larger size, built for SPL and others had 20 x 24 inch cylinders, while the smaller size engines had 18 x 24 inch cylinders. Shown here at the water tank in Powers, Oregon in July, 1940 is Coos Bay Lumber ALCO 2-8-2T #12. She is one of the larger size ALCO 2-8-2T's and was built in April 1930.
In 1935, ALCO built the very last 2-8-2T and that was again for Coos Bay Lumber. That would be the 4th such engine ordered by CBL form ALCO, which certainly showed how much those lumber companies that gave these engines a try liked what ALCo had built
LE BARON
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Built by Baldwin in 1930, Northern Pacific's #5002 was the 3rd of the famous Z-5 Class of engines to be built for that road. This was the first of the famous Yellowstone models sporting a 2-8-8-4 wheel arrangement.
This class initially suffered from some design flaws in their frames and cylinders that were corrected over the years by the NP shops. These changes made these were some of the most powerful engines ever to roam the mainline rails in the U.S..
Shown here at the end of her career on the NP turntable in Helena, Montana on May 21, 1956, this Yellowstone will be the very last of her Z-5 Class to be in steam. The coming of diesels to the NP relegated the Z-5 Class engines to helper service for their last years. #5002 is getting ready to spend her last day of steam doing just this kind of work when she was caught riding the turntable in this fine photo.
This class initially suffered from some design flaws in their frames and cylinders that were corrected over the years by the NP shops. These changes made these were some of the most powerful engines ever to roam the mainline rails in the U.S..
Shown here at the end of her career on the NP turntable in Helena, Montana on May 21, 1956, this Yellowstone will be the very last of her Z-5 Class to be in steam. The coming of diesels to the NP relegated the Z-5 Class engines to helper service for their last years. #5002 is getting ready to spend her last day of steam doing just this kind of work when she was caught riding the turntable in this fine photo.
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Port Of Grays Harbor Porter 2-8-2 #5 switching at the mill in the 1940's
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Keeping the brass number plate on Mower Lumber 3-truck Shay #5 was not easy in coal country.
LE BARON
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Elk River Coal & Lumber 2-truck Climax #3 simmers at her small serving shack in the John Krause photo. #3 was the last Climax to leave the Climax factory in Corry, Pennsylvania
LE BARON
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