Southern Pacific #9 is a oil-fired

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

, built by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

in November 1909. It was originally built for the Nevada–California–Oregon Railway and was sold to Southern Pacific in the late 1920s. The engine worked the rest of its career on the SP narrow gauge, except a brief season in 1953 when the locomotive was briefly loaned to the Plaster City railroad operated by the United States Gypsum Company. The locomotive, along with sisters #8 and #18, were nicknamed "The Desert Princess" for riding along the western and eastern deserts of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1954, there was a plan to purchase a new narrow gauge diesel from GE as SP #1, to replace numbers #9, #8 and #18. Whilst #8 and #18 were sold off, #9 was kept on as a standby locomotive to support diesel locomotive #1 in case of a breakdown. The engine and the two others, #8 and #18, survived into preservation. Southern Pacific #9 is now on display at the Laws Railroad Museum in

Laws, California Laws (formerly Station and Bishop Depot) is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Inyo County, California, Inyo County, California. Laws is located northeast of Bishop, California, Bishop on U.S. Route 6, towards the Nevada state ...

. The engine was also used in the 1948 film '' 3 Godfathers'', starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr.; as well as cameoing the 1954 - 1957 TV western series ''

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

'', starring Gail Davis.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Southern Pacific 9
Laws Railroad Museum
0009 4-6-0 locomotives Baldwin locomotives 3 ft gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1909 Preserved steam locomotives of California Narrow-gauge steam locomotives of the United States Individual locomotives of the United States

See also

References

External links