Santa Maria Valley 2-8-2 # 21 passes FRA inspection

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

The Astoria Railroad Preservation Association announced that this 1925 Baldwin passed its FRA Pressure Test and Boiler Inspection earlier this month. The Mike was moved in pieces to Astoria, Oregon in 1991 and the locomotive has been undergoing a restoration since then.

Congrats to the ARPA!

Les

John Risley · **Joined:** Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:34 pm **Posts:** 966

Oohrah. Finally, I have watched in the background for so many years now. So glad for all who worked on her. Think she is a beautiful 2-8-2 which was my draw to her. Congrats again. Regards, John.

tom moungovan · **Posted:** Thu Jul 16, 2026 6:04 pm

Nice machine. This is a step up from the 44" drivered, 24" stroke smaller Baldwin locos.

Has a 26" stroke, 200 lbs. and 50" drivers if this old memory is on today. Think of her as
a slightly faster version of Sierra 34.

Tom

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

There aren't a lot of photos of the restoration, simply because it has been enclosed in a small building this whole time. This is the best one I could find, from 2022, Sandy Noyes photo. They have a city-owned 5-mile stretch of the ex-SP&S Astoria branch to operate on, it will connect to G&W's Portland & Western once some slides are corrected.