Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the oldest and only surviving example of the class " E-1"

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type wa ...

" Northern" type steam locomotive and the only surviving original Spokane, Portland and Seattle steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in May 1938. Nearly identical to the class "A-3" Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, it burns oil instead of coal. After years of running second-hand equipment, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) was allowed by its parent companies, Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway, to purchase its first new locomotives. These included three Northern E-1 class locomotives (700, 701 and 702) for passenger service and six Z-6 class Challengers ( 4-6-6-4s) for freight service. After retirement from service in 1956, the SP&S 700 was donated to the City of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in 1958. It was on static public display at Oaks Amusement Park until 1987, then moved to private quarters for the continuation of work to restore it to operating condition. It began making occasional excursion runs in 1990. In 2012, the 700 was moved to a new facility where it can again be viewed by the public, the

Oregon Rail Heritage Center The Oregon Rail Heritage Center (ORHC) is a railway museum in Portland, Oregon. Along with other rolling stock, the museum houses three steam locomotives owned by the City of Portland: Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700, an ...

History

Revenue service years

700 was delivered on June 21, 1938, joining the 702 pulling overnight passenger trains between

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

and

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, along the north shore of the Columbia River, with the 701 providing backup and pulling freight. Owing to an undersized

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, the Northerns didn't reach

until 1944. By 1947, the Great Northern Railway had begun to streamline its premier passenger train, The ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

'', and had started adding diesels to the locomotive mix. SP&S also started purchasing diesels at this time, but they arrived after the streamlined cars were brought into service and for a few months, the 700s pulled the Portland section of Great Northern's ''Empire Builder'' and Northern Pacific's ''

North Coast Limited The ''North Coast Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after t ...

''. In 1947, the 700 suffered a catastrophic

derailment In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially ...

and fell on her side while pulling a passenger train in Washington. It is unknown if the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

, or leading

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...

were injured or killed. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the E-1s continued to pull secondary passenger trains, but by 1954, the diesels had completely replaced steam for passenger service and the E-1s were relegated to pulling freight trains until 1955. Finally, on May 20, 1956, a spruced-up 700, with its normally grey

smokebox A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is e ...

painted silver, pulled its last passenger train. The ''Farewell To Steam'' run had a total of 21 cars carrying 1,400 passengers from

Wishram, Washington Wishram is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. The population was 342 at the 2010 census, up from 213 at the 2000 census. The site of the historic Celilo Falls is nearby. ...

, in the heart of the Columbia Gorge, and back again. After the trip, the 700, 701, 702, Challengers and other SP&S locomotives were sent to the scrap line. At the same time, however,

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

was offering to donate a steam locomotive to the city of

, and not to be outdone, the SP&S offered the 700. The two locomotives (SP&S 700 and

OR&N 197 Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co. 197 is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1905 for the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N). It has been owned by the City of Portland since 1958, and si ...

) were moved into Oaks Park along the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

in 1958 and were soon joined by SP 4449 where they sat for nearly 20 years. By 1960, No. 700 became one of only two SP&S steam locomotives left to survive, and the other locomotive is 2-8-2 No. 539, although 539 was originally built for the Northern Pacific Railway as their 1762.

Display at Oaks Park

For nearly 20 years the 700, along with the other two locomotives, sat behind chain link fences, slowly fading and rusting away. Only the attention of a single Southern Pacific Railroad employee, Jack Holst, saved the locomotives from complete uselessness. Mr. Holst regularly visited the locomotives and kept the bearings and rods well greased and oiled. Unfortunately, Mr. Holst died in 1972, before the first locomotive, SP 4449, was removed from Oaks Park and restored. In 1975, 15-year-old Chris McLarney started working on the 700, cleaning and oiling various parts. He founded the PRPA (Pacific Railroad Preservation Association) in 1977 to provide support for the preservation work. Between 1987 and 1989, the SP&S 700 was moved from Oaks Park to the Southern Pacific's Brooklyn Roundhouse, in southeast Portland, for the continuation of restoration work. With the support of many individuals and the Burlington Northern Railroad, No. 700 returned to operation on May 15, 1990.

1990 to present

Although it's the third largest steam locomotive still in operation and expensive to run and insure, the 700 has managed a number of excursions since its restoration on May 15, 1990, including an historic doubleheader with SP 4449 from

and back during the 2005

National Railway Historical Society The National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) is a non-profit organization established in 1935 in the United States to promote interest in, and appreciation for the historical development of railroads. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsyl ...

national convention and a 2002 "Steam across Montana" from

Sandpoint, Idaho Sandpoint (Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

and back. In the Spring of 2001, the 700 ran a special excursion called the "Homecoming" excursion that ran over the original SP&S mainline through the Columbia River Gorge and lasted 4 days from Portland all the way to Spokane WA. The 700 lead the train solo almost the entire trip. At one point during the excursion, it started having mechanical issues and BNSF 6308, an EMD SD40-2 locomotive which would also end up being preserved, was taken off of the train it was on and helped the 700 the rest of the way. The excursion ended as a result of a derailment between the tool car and the power car. The lead trucks on the power car caused the derailment to occur ending the excursion abruptly. It also was disguised as Northern Pacific #2668 in 1992 for the Northern Pacific Rail Historical Society's convention, as the SP&S E-1 design is identical to the NP A-3 class, other than the SP&S' Northerns burned oil, while the NP's burned coal. The 700 was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on January 25, 2006, as the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Steam Locomotive.

Disposition and maintenance

SP&S 700 inside the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, 2013

Until June 2012, the 700 and its two companions resided at the Brooklyn Roundhouse. The City of Portland was leasing the roundhouse from its owner,

(UP), but after the railroad announced plans to demolish the roundhouse to allow expansion of the

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...

, the engines needed to find a new home. The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, with significant support from the City of Portland, raised funds for a new restoration and visitor center adjacent to the

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI, ) is a science and technology museum in Portland, Oregon, United States. It contains three auditoriums, including a large-screen theatre, planetarium, and exhibition halls with a variety of hands- ...

to provide the city's steam locomotives with a permanent and publicly accessible home before the closure of the roundhouse. Construction of the new

began in October 2011 and the 700 and the other two locomotives were moved to the site of the new enginehouse and heritage center on June 26, 2012. They were moved indoors on July 28, once the enginehouse was enclosed. The ORHC opened to the public on September 22, 2012. Maintenance of the 700 continues to be carried out by the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association and a team of volunteers. The locomotive was taken out of service in 2015 for its 1,472-day inspection as mandated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Since then, dedicated volunteers have been working steadily to inspect, repair and reassemble the locomotive. In August 2020, Emery Trust awarded a grant of $35,000 to help complete No. 700's rebuild, and it is hoped that the locomotive will be ready to return to operation in 2023.

Notes

References

* *

External links

All aboard the SP&S 700

The Pacific Railroad Preservation Association

Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society

N Scale Kitbash/Scratchbuild of SP&S #700
{{National Register of Historic Places Oregon

700 The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Avar and Slavic tribes conq ...

4-8-4 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Transportation in Portland, Oregon Rail transportation in Oregon Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Hosford-Abernethy, Portland, Oregon Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Rail transportation on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Railway locomotives introduced in 1938 Preserved steam locomotives of Oregon