GARIBALDI, Ore. — The world’s only surviving standard gauge Class A Climax locomotive, Cabin Creek Lumber Co. No. 1, has been donated to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, the railroad announced today (Oct. 24, 2024).
The family of the late Victor C. Monahan donated the locomotive, which Oregon Coast Scenic intends to restore to operating condition. It would join a collection that includes a Shay and multiple Heisler locomotives, which will give it a representative of each of the three major geared locomotive manufacturers.
While Class B and C Climax locomotives survive elsewhere, the only other Class A locomotive is a 3-foot gauge locomotive undergoing restoration by the Corry Rail & Industrial Legacy Society and Museum in Corry, Pa., the home of the Climax Locomotive Works. Oregon Coast Scenic will consult with the Corry group as part of the restoration of Cabin Creek No. 1. The railroad already possesses key components, including a suitable boiler and Class A steam locomotive engine set returned to the U.S. from New Zealand.
“Today is a day that has been more than two decades in the making for me,” said Scott Wicker, the railroad’s founder and chief mechanical officer. “When I acquired the Climax A engine set from Richard Dunn years ago, I knew I had to get this engine to unite the two together. I am very excited about this.” Dunn, one of the authors of the 2002 book, “The Climax Locomotive,” rescued the engine set from New Zealand.
The locomotive was moved from Cabin Creek, Was., to Tillamook, Ore., on Oct. 16. Because of its small size, hopes are it will become a traveling exhibit representing the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad at events across the U.S.
Built in 1907 at the Climax Locomotive Works as shop No. 804, the 20-ton locomotive has a wooden-frame, two-truck design. It originally featured a wood-fired tee-style boiler and two-cylinder vertical engine, along with a unique two-speed transmission allowing the locomotive to shift between two different gears. It was built for the Cascade Lumber Co. of Easton, Wash., and later sold to Cabin Creek. In the early 1940s, the steam engine was replaced with a White truck engine, which helped keep the locomotive in service into the 1970s. After the Cabin Creek mill shut down, a portion of the railroad and the locomotive was saved, and some restoration work was done including rebuilding of the wooden frame.
The railroad says the project is possible only because of the foresight and effort of multiple generations of the Monahan family, and that it is “honored to have been entrusted with this artifact that is legendary in the railfan community and a family heirloom for the Monahans.” The Oregon Coast Scenic also thanks Burden’s Towing of Tillamook for moving the locomotive.
