(The following story by Roy Gault appeared on the Statesman Journal website on September 1.)
SALEM, Ore. — A steam locomotive that was in service from 1938 through 1956 for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway will come to Salem on Saturday as part of the second Rail Safety Faire at Riverfront Park.
The SP&S 700, about 110 feet long and 17 feet tall, will steam into Salem about 10 a.m. and will back onto a siding between Court Street NE and A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village. It will pull a vintage passenger car, the Plum Creek, and a caboose. The passenger car and the caboose formerly were in service with the Great Northern Railway.
The train will leave its home base, Brooklyn Yard in Portland, today and will stop overnight in Tigard. It will be on display at Riverfront Park until 4 p.m. Saturday and will pull out of Salem for its return trip to Portland about 11 a.m. Sunday.
Tickets to board the locomotive and tour the cab are free and will be available next to the train at the Operation Lifesaver booth. More than 4,000 people visited when the train made a similar stop in May 2005 in Salem.
The engine was built in 1938 by Baldwin. It was never modified while in service and has been restored, maintained and operated as constructed.
It became listed in January on the National Register of Historic Places.
It is owned by the city of Portland and was restored by the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association. The club’s president, James Vanderbeck, will be the engineer.
The city of Salem Fire Department will do safety demonstrations and dispense rail-safety information, including railroad-crossing safety, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The train’s appearance will coincide with the visit of about 300 vintage vehicles to Riverfront Park for the 15th annual Carousel Cruise-In.