BLW 2-6-2 from this long-abandoned Michigan shortline, at Nahma, Michigan.

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/MichRR ... to021A.htm

Another photo:

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/S ... ahmaMI.htm

When I first saw N&N No. 5, the wood-products company was still running, and the engine had had some work done, including replacement of the wood parts. The town still featured company-style houses, and fire ladders and buckets hanging under little roofs for the volunteer firemen.

A few years later things were a lot quieter. The engine was still not in bad shape, but starting to be neglected. But the formerly-deserted lumbering town was getting new cottages and houses by the shore of Lake Michigan. The fence in the picture is new; the engine did without one for years. Maybe as the U.P. starts to attract more of this kind of people and capital, there will be enough interest to keep up what must be one of the most obscure park engines in the country. It's about 5 miles off US-2, down a road on the former railroad R.O.W.

When I photographed the locomotive for steamlocomotive.info I nearly went nuts just trying to find the right turn off from the Highway. The whole area had a kind of "Twilight Zone-ish" feel to it.

Neat little locomotive though.

Doug

I came across the 5-spot kind of by accident back in 1996! My first trip driving up to the "U.P." myself, me and a friend decided to hunt down this obscure rail line that appeared on one of my old RR Atlases, but not on anything within the past 50 years or so. We followed the old ROW south of US-2, along some very-high numbered state hwy (sorry, the only map I have that actually lists the number is in my work van right now) that had more potholes-per-square-mile than all of the Interstates in Metro Detroit put together! At the time, I was fairly certain you could make out the old N&N ROW in the trees just to the west of the road. We followed the line for what seemed like an eternity, but fun nonetheless dodging the potholes until we hit Nahma. Go figure, it was my friend , the NON-railfan, who spotted the 5-Spot, not ME! While I was busy looking at "nothing but trees and dirt" along the roadway, there it was right in front of us! At that time it didn't have a fence, either. We pulled right up by the old American Playground Equip Co building and wandered over to the engine. It is right there by the street, so it seemed safe to go over and look at it. I notice now looking at the pictures I took and the photos from above that some time during it's hibernation that the big brass bell became MIA. I'm not sure when the one photo was taken above, but in my Oct '96 shots, it's gone. I also notice that it looks like the local contribution has given it a fresh coat of paint! It was looking rather worn when I shot it. The wooden cowcatcher was hanging on the ground, though barely attatched. I got a couple of good shots (sans fence) due to Ma Nature actuallly cooperating for once (and that doesn't happen too often in Michigan, let me tell ya!). Looks like I need to make another trip up to the Great White North and shoot an "updated" photo of the 5-Spot!

As a note, back in the early/mid '90's sometime, WDIV channel 4 (NBC) in Detroit did a short piece on Nahma and it's history. Narrated by the class act Mort Crim, the piece made mention of Nahma's lumber boom past, how it virtually was deserted after it was lumbered out and at the time the remains and stories of some of the buildings. For the folks that HAVE been up there- did you know that Nahma had a bowling alley and a ballroom? I think it was the alley that was destroyed by lightning not all that long ago. I wish I had taped that off the TV, 'cuz that was a VERY good piece.

Dave Jandron