Last engine of ‘Crookedest Railroad in the World’ returning

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:16 pm

Quote:

[Two-truck Heisler] No. 9, the last remaining piece from the fabled “Crookedest Railroad in the World” that once climbed Mount Tamalpais, is back in the Bay Area and on its way to a new home in Marin County.

The 98-year-old steam locomotive had been on display in the Humboldt County logging town of Scotia since 1953. A group of Marin residents purchased No. 9 at auction [earlier in 2018] and earlier this week loaded it onto a flatbed truck and moved it to a ranch in Sonoma County.

There they plan to rehabilitate the engine to museum quality and display it somewhere along the old railroad line that ran 8.19 miles and 2,400 feet from Mill Valley to the summit of Mount Tamalpais.

More:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/art ... o-16573766

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:05 pm

She's a good looker, I have to say, and considering how spectacular the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods was, how legendary it was, it's very understandable someone would want to bring this engine back.

OK, I know it's a dream, but dreaming doesn't cost anything (even first class!), and I wonder if the return of this engine could be the spark to rebuild the railroad, which has been gone for 88 years (closed in 1930). Yes, there would be a world of problems, among them environmental concerns, and fire hazards--but could all that be addressed?

An item of note. . .there were plans to electrify this railroad, but obviously that never came about. I wonder how what would essentially be a mountain trolley line would play today, with steam for special excursions or events?

And the gravity cars would add to it all!!

Brian Norden · **Posted:** Tue Dec 04, 2018 12:36 am

J3a-614 wrote:

She's a good looker, I have to say, and considering how spectacular the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods was, how legendary it was, it's very understandable someone would want to bring this engine back.

It is the only surviving locomotive! Most of the locomotives were Shays.

Last engine of ‘Crookedest Railroad in the World’ returning

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