Collection of 14 American locomotives to find new homes

WHAT is claimed to be the largest single private collection of steam locomotives in the US has been sold following the death of its owner.

The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad in Garibaldi has purchased the 14 engines, formerly owned by Fred M Kepner, who died in October last year. He had been collecting steam locomotives since the 1970s and set up the Great Western Railroad Museum, although his plans to operate the locomotives on the McCloud Railroad in California did not come to fruition.

Varied fleet

More recently, 12 of the locomotives had been stored on a leased Union Pacific site in Merrill, Oregon, while the other two were on another private site.

The locomotives are: 30in gauge McBryde Sugar Baldwin 0-6-0 No. 4; standard gauge Oregon-American Lumber Baldwin 2-6-2T No. 104 and 2-6-2 No. 105; 3ft gauge Glen Alden

Corp Vulcan 0-4-0 No. 28; standard gauge Long Bell Lumber Baldwin 2-6-2 No. 4; standard gauge Oregon Pacific & Eastern Baldwin 2-6-2T No. 1; standard gauge Sierra Railroad Baldwin 2-6-6-2 No. 38; standard gauge Great Northern Baldwin 2-8-0 No. 1246; Sierra Railroad Baldwin 2-8-0 No. 18 and Alco 2-8-2 No. 36; Pickering Lumber Corp. Lima 3-truck Shay No. 8; standard gauge Charles McCormick Lumber Baldwin 2-8-2 No. 100; Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Baldwin 2-8-2 No. 300 and Sierra Railroad Baldwin 2-8-2 No. 34, as well as a diesel locomotive, a coach, cranes, and wagons.

The Oregon Scenic Railroad plans to keep four of the locomotives – the two Oregon-American Lumber Baldwins, the Pickering Shay and Sierra Railroad No. 38 – to place on display in a museum, titled the Fred Kepner Memorial Collection. The rest of the fleet will be made available for sale to other preservation groups.