Once upon a time, a power shortage gripped the mighty Union Pacific where it hurt most- in their motive power department. Saddled with many, many tons of freight to move on short notice, they were forced to turn to other railroads for much needed assistance. It was a tough time for war weary railroads and almost all of them had so much to take care of on their own lines that only a few could help out. Strange as it seems, help came from way across the country in Brooklyn, NY where the little Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal agreed to allow their number 12, an 0-6-0T, to go west to aid the U. P. But just for one month since they, too were expecting an upturn in traffic. In fact, BEDT asked UP to reciprocate and send one of their Big Boys to help move the freight along the Brooklyn docks but the UP refused (after having received the BEDT engine).
Photos of the BEDT 12 on UP in that month of April, 1945 are very rare but here is one that has surfaced. It may be the only one and the photographer is unknown. The picture is dated April 1, 1945 and shows the BEDT 12 assisting a Big Boy on Sherman Hill on that rare occasion.
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BEDT 12 + UP 4004 B&W www.jpg [ 83.94 KiB | Viewed 3540 times ] |