More Scenes from Portland Rail Fair '96 and our Daylight Encounter!

The motor cars (shown below) are typical of the type used for years to move maintenance-of-way crews around the railroad. They are owned by the members of the Northwest Rail car group. The Amtrak cars were constructed in two series in the early 1980s and 1990s and represent the type of equipment found on most Amtrak long-distance trains today. The cars are some of the largest passenger cars in the world at 85-feet long and 16-feet high. The California Zephyr dome car is typical of the types purchased by railroads in the 1950s for service on the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. Upon retirement they were acquired for service on the "Montana Rockies Daylight" excursion train operating over Montana Rail Link between Sandpoint, Idaho and Billings, Montana. GP-9 and GP39-2 diesels were manufactured by General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD) in the 1950s (GP-9) and in 1974 (GP39-2).

Sumpter Valley #19 is a 2-8-2 that was constructed in 1920 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the Sumpter Valley Railroad. It is a narrow gauge engine with a distance between the rails of 36 inches versus the standard gauge of 56.5 inches. It remained in service on the SVR until 1941 when it was sold to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, which operated a line from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. During World War II it was instrumental in moving the enormous quantities of freight needed to construct the Alaska Highway. In 1977 it was purchased from the WP&Y by the Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration where it will be in excursion service on weekends and holidays during the summer months.

For more information on railroading, visit TrainLand, one of several theme lands here at ThomasLand.

Find books about SP4449, Trains, Railroads, Find videos about Steam Railroards, Trains Unlimited

Copyright ©1996-2002 ThomasLand Partners
San Jose, California, U.S.A.
Last updated: 05-Jun-2002 02:30 PM