Recently I have made the trip form Albuquerque to Salt Lake City twice in ten days. We use the pass over Soldiers Summit, and just outside Helper, UT there is what appears to be a small locomotive boiler and a set of running gear on a ranch. It is close to a Vanderbilt style tender and some mining equipment, and is visible from the highway. (State rout 6)

Any one know any thing about this one? It does not appear to be listed.

Regards,
Kevin

Can you find us its location (and maybe even a view) on Google Maps, Bing Maps, or the like?

I can find it on G maps, but the picture is poor. None the less, Here are my best directions.

In Google maps go to Price, UT. There follow the 6/191 main road to Finney, State Highway 290, Lowdermilk road, Elberts road and State highway 6/191 form a square.

The tender and cars are on a "track?" paralleling Lodermilk road, with the tender closest to Elberts road.


Here is an attempt at the link,

Street view
3529 U.S. 191, Helper, Utah, United States

Counting back from the tender, there are three trees, and a smudge that is a railroad style boiler. A bit further South obscured in the brush is what looks like a set of running gear. It is much clearer from the road.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&om= ... 5,,1,-2.07


And the over head,


http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&om= ... 02462&z=19


Regards,
Kevin

Edit to fix road number...

...but it's a boiler from an Avery steam traction engine.

Jeff,

Obvious question, but any pics of the other artifacts mentioned?

Rob

Sure, I photographed the other artifacts. I also wrote this a few years back about the tender:

Along US 6 between Price and Helper, Utah is a large open field at Spring Glen that contains a relic of Helper’s steam days: the tender from Utah Railway 2-8-8-0 Mallet No. 201, one of the largest steam locomotives ever owned by that railroad.

While many railfans best remember the Utah for its fleet of white and red Alco diesels, before they arrived in 1952 the railroad relied on a stable of nine 2-10-2s and three 2-8-8-0s – all Baldwins - to move heavy coal trains between the mines of Carbon County and Provo. Like the Utah’s cabooses, the railroad’s steam locomotives were purchased through the Union Pacific Equipment Association, and thus their headlights, tenders, cabs, and even number indicator boards were all UP standard design.

The Utah’s 2-10-2s, Nos. 100-108, were the “bread and butter” engines of the road; six were ordered new in 1917, and three more were added in the 1920s. They were mainly as road engines, but were also used in helper service as needed.

Three big 2-8-8-0 compound mallets, or “Consolidation Mallets,” were built for the Utah by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in April 1918, numbered 200 – 202. They were based on a B&O design, and were identical in appearance to the Union Pacific 3600-series “Bull Moose” Mallets (at the time, fifteen of which were under construction at Alco).

The 200-series were used mostly for mid- and rear-train helper service in both directions from Soldier Summit, assisting the 2-10-2s up the hill with loaded coal trains. They were equipped with 57” drive wheels, 26” x 32” high pressure cylinders, 41” x 32” low pressure cylinders, Walschaert valve gear, Schmidt superheaters, and a boiler pressure of 210 PSI; this contributed to an impressive 96,227 pounds of tractive effort (just 39,143 pounds less than a Union Pacific Big Boy of 1941).

The 2-8-8-0s were well suited for mountain railroading and were touted as being supplied with “Baldwin’s flexible articulated frame connection,” which allowed them to negotiate a 9-degree curve on the mainline or a 20-degree curve in sidings, and tackle grades as steep as 2.4 percent. Tenders supplied were of the Vanderbilt type and were 36 feet long, as was standard on the UP. They held 20 tons of coal and 12,000 gallons of water, and rode on Vulcan four wheel trucks.

No. 201 arrived on the Utah Railway just after the 4th of July celebrations ended in the summer of 1918. The new Mallets were immediately popular with the crews, since they were equipped with Street type “C” automatic stokers (Rio Grande power, frequently leased to the Utah in the early days, was not yet outfitted as such). By all accounts they did their jobs very well, shoving trains up Spanish Fork Canyon day in and day out.

By the early 1950s, though, the Mallets days were numbered. While the Utah kept its steam power in excellent mechanical shape, by then the 201 and her sisters were showing the effects of 30-plus years of continuous service, and rather than purchase second-hand replacements the Utah management authorized the aquisition of six new Alco RSD-4s, which quickly took over most chores. Most steam power was scrapped, with the exception being three 2-10-2s that saw some limited use in Provo, then were store, and the No. 201, which – being in the best shape of all the Mallets – was stored serviceable in Helper Yard.

In 1955 the Utah purchased a new RSD-5 from Alco, bringing its fleet of diesels up to seven, and it became apparent that the stored steam locomotives would not be needed. The remaining two 2-10-2s were cut up in March of 1957, along with Mallet 201 at Helper. However, the 201’s tender was saved and converted into a water car. Its fading paint shows evidence that it was last serviced at Martin during 1964.

By the early 1970s the water car was no longer needed and it was destined to be scrapped. By then no other trace of the Utah Railway steam power still existed – the tender of 201 was the only survivor. Fortunately, a savior was found. According to Utah Railroads historian Don Strack, the tender was acquired by Mr. H. L. Lowdermilk of the Lowdermilk Construction Company, which in the 1970s was the largest construction company in central and eastern Utah. Mr. Lowdermilk was a fan of railroad memorabilia and other equipment, and over the years he assembled a small display of old iron at the entrance to the company’s equipment yard at Spring Glen. The tender was moved there and placed on a piece of panel track for display.

Today the Lowdermilk equipment yard is silent, and many of the displays have moved elsewhere. The tender remains, forlorn and rusting, along with some mining equipment, the boiler from an Avery steam tractor, and a derelict Fordson tractor.

- Jeff Terry

Thanks, I have been looking at that pace for more than a year or two. Mostly traveling to SLC, and by that point I just want to get on with the trip.
Regards,
Kevin

That steam tractor reminds me of something I'd see in my grandfather's back yard. How long has that avery been there and is there any technicals someone could explain, like how it works. I've never really seen a steam tractor before, so I'd assume that it works similar to a normal steam engine?

4449-

You know, there are search engines on the internet; Bing, Google, Dogpile, to name a few. A very valuable tool, that everyone should learn to use. A quick search on Bing took me right to a Wikepedia page on traction engines.

When your search engine leaves you high and dry, then you waste bandwidth and ask a question online. But please try and do your own research first. Yes, with the internet, now there IS such a thing as a stupid question.

EDM

That's exactly how I felt when I saw the tender too.

I wonder, what is gauge the Sullivan mine motor? No trolley pole but seems rather intact.

No. It's not that the question is stupid, it's that he asked it in the wrong place.

You don't wander into a seminar on Biblical-Era Literature or Contemporary Poetry and ask about punctuation usage or spelling. You don't wander into a Calculus class and raise questions about multiplication. You don't enter a forum on particle physics or electrical engineering and ask about ohms and resistance.

This forum is not the Source of All Railroad Knowledge. Most of the time, when I need answers to a particular rail-heritage or preservation question (this evening's example: "What is the heritage of the passenger cars the James Strates Carnival Train is still using?"), I end up cross-referencing at least three websites and two or more printed reference lists/books/periodicals just to be sure the information is halfway accurate. (When I copied/pasted the info on where N&W 475 came from before Strasburg, for example, I started with my memory, looked online and found the B&SV roster info, then cross-checked it with both Dave Conrad's book and the earlier 1967 book by Victor Koenigsberg. In effect, that was the results of 25 years of research and reference-library-building. All provided for free, because I'm crazy. And it's worth every penny.)

I've known young, curious "know-it-alls" and overly-enthusiastic rail enthusiasts over the decades, and I've even had to discretely chastise one or two that ran amok with erroneous information in print before the Internet made it so much easier. One of them is now a state archivist. Another is a regular here.

If it's meant to be, your time will come. Don't be in such a rush.

Apologies to 4449 on behalf of EDM, there is no excuse for replying to people with the word stupid and its being used all too often here lately, yes you could look it up on the internet and no thats not original running gear under it ! Traction engines had flywheels and gears driving the rear wheels with pistons on top of the boiler.

Look it up and you will be fascinated

You see EDM that wasnt so difficult was it.

Mike Pannell

Alas, an Avery was one of the few builds with a frame and undermounted engines below the boiler. However, their controls are probably the closest to a railroad locomotive (large reverse quadrant--overhead throttle). Being two cylinder engines, they are very smooth runners. Still--lots of neat stuff in the traction universe--and some good ideas for us in railroad preservation.

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

What's going on inside the smokebox? Looks like tubes along the inner side that we can see. Feedwater heater perhaps?

Steve

Looks like corrugated building siding in that smokebox. Why - I would not know.

There is another recent locomotive boiler find... or maybe from a traction engine. If anyone knows more what we might be looking at in the photo below, please follow the link and get back to John Barnhill about it.


http://www.trainweb.org/foothill/mqmystery.html