Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge Railroad |
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Owenyo Mt. Whitney (Formerly Lone Pine) |
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All material courtesy of Rich McCutchan unless otherwise noted. See USE NOTICE on Home Page.  |
 A string of rolling stock shoved over the Owenyo turntable spur in 1946. |
 Ore carts waiting to be unloaded at the Owenyo Narrow Gauge / Standard Gauge junction. |
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 Owenyo Hotel and depot - 1939 |
 Livestock transfer station at Owenyo. |
 Slim Princess No. 18 at Owenyo |
 Engine No. 18 prepares for a desert run - 1953 |
 Engine No. 9 getting ready to head out to Laws. |
 Engine No. 9 heading home to Keeler in a night time run. |
 Engine No. 9 heading north out of Owenyo Station. |
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 No. 18 north of Owenyo - 1951 |
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 Owenyo Depot - 1954 |
 Narrow Gauge "Slim Princess" atop a standard gauge flat car. Here's an interesting image. In the last years of the railroad the narrow gauge locomotives were loaded onto standard gauge flat cars and transported to the SP Bakersfield shops for major work. There was a time the equipment would have work completed in the open air shops at Keeler and then towards the end at Owenyo. Could you imagine working on these locomotives in the hot desert sun of the Owens Valley? How hot would the metal get in the sun?...This photo was taken at Owenyo looking south/west. You are looking at the standard gauge tracks. The narrow gauge tracks were out of the photo to the left. Laws would be behind the photographer down the track, Keeler south past Owenyo. This is also locomotive #9 going in for repairs and paint. (Photo and text courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 Southern Pacific Engine No. 2758 at Owenyo (E-Bay auction item) |
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 Engine No. 9 pausing near the Mt. Whitney siding in Owens Valley - 1958 (ebay offering from Clark Frazier) |
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 "Hotel Boxcar" (?) somewhere along the Owens Valley SPNG. |
 SPNG water tower at Owenyo, CA - 1955 |
 Tall stack a-smoking, a "hook-up" jointed steam pipe to the steam dome beside the ready-track, crude fuel-oil supplying the tender tank (and being heated by the "fireboy" you can bet) - what a picture of narrow-gauge steam on its last legs in the desert of California. You wouldn't think it was February 21, 1954, at Owenyo - and with that old time string of cars behind, would you! Look at the glorious open-ender behind the little engine. Hard to believe that in just a mite over half a year more the little old ten-wheeler will run no more. In October a slim-gauge diesel, dubbed "Little Giant", took over, with big ceremonies - big bags of memory too. Originally rails of the Carson & Colorado, which began farther north in Virginia & Truckee country in the 1880s, this three-foot venture stretched hundreds of miles south into Owens Valley. Mining of precious metals had been the promise up north; down here there was some ore too - but also soda and potash deposits. There was a future for the C&C - the builders thought. But, like most mining ventures, it worked out differently. Different too was the reason Southern Pacific bought the southern portion of the Carson & Colorado in 1900. They were going to standard-gauge it and run through from Southern California to their mid-continent Overland Route - and so to Salt Lake and the East. But, at this time, the Harriman Interests took over S.P. And the Harriman-run Union Pacific was taking over the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake - to provide the much more direct route from the Southland north and east. So the little three-footer out in the desert remained just that, relying mostly on soda and potash for survival. Survive it did, for many a year, connecting with Southern Pacific's standard gauge rails at Owenyo - running, in the beginning, from Benton in the north, to Keeler in the south. But the SPNG was eventually cut-back from Benton to Laws as its northern terminus. The original eight Carson & Colorado wood-burning Baldwins, all 4-4-0s, were long-gone before #18 came to Southern Pacific from the narrow gauge Nevada-California-Oregon R.R. - in 1927. She had been #12 on the N-C-O. But those early American types of the C&C were something in their day, all "gussied-up" with pretty names derived from the towns they served: "Candelaria", "Bodie", "Churchill", "Bellville", "Hawthorne", "Benton", and "Darwin". These were the only locomotives the Carson & Colorado ever owned, which also boasted six wooden coaches and one-hundred-eighty freight cars, half of them open-platform for haulage of ore and mine timber. At one time the Panamint district, high in the Panamint Range, was a big shipping potential for ore, - and famed Cerro Gordo Mine, on the steeps above Keeler, was still around in the late 1870s. However, it was soda and potash deposits in Owens Valley that made up the backbone of traffice in the declining years of the C&C and later on for the same slim-gauge rails under Southern Pacific (Photo and text courtesy of Rob Sarberenyi archives - 1954 postcard) |
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 Owenyo Station transfer trestle - 1958. Before Hwy 395 was put into place the Carson & Colorado Railroad carried many of the people and much of the supplies and mining material up and down the Owens Valley. The Carson & Colorado was purchased by the Southern Pacific in 1900 and continued on with the train movements until 1960......This photo was taken in 1958 and shows the narrow gauge train on the transfer trestle at Owenyo. The NG gondolas are dropping their load, looks like soapstone in this case, into the standard gauge cars down below. The SG cars in turn would be transported south down the Jawbone Branch to Mohave where they would be made into different trains to head out to different locations. There is so much to see out in the Owens Valley of the railroad if you take the time to look. The locomotive in this photo is #9 which is at the Laws Railroad Museum. (Photo and text courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 Owenyo Station transfer trestle - 2016. (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea) |
 Working on the transfer trestle at Owenyo (Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 When it was necessary to send a car or locomotive to the shops in Bakersfield, the narrow gauge equipment was loaded aboard a standard gauge flat. A special loading trestle facilitated such movements. |
 When locomotives needed repair they were sent by standard gauge flat car to the repair facility in Bakersfield. This is a photo of Engine No. 9 in February of 1951 |
 Narrow gauge Engine No. 9 adjacent to a standard gauge steam engine in 1951. |
 Owenyo Southern Pacific Railroad Depot - 1948 |
 Owenyo Southern Pacific Railroad Depot - 1940 |
 Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge Railroad at Owenyo - 1951 |
 Owenyo Southern Pacific Railroad - 1940 |
 Owenyo Southern Pacific Railroad - 1940 |
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 Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad - 1940 |
 Engine atop the transfer trestle at Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad |
 Engine atop the transfer trestle at Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad |
 Fan excursion train at Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad |
 Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad - 1954 |
 Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad - 1950 |
 Engine #9 at Owenyo on the Southern Pacific Railroad - 1955 |
 Standard gauge and narrow gauge boxcars at Owenyo - 1954 |
 SPNG boxcar repair area at Owenyo - 1950 |
 Engine No. 18 steaming through the Owens Valley |
 Engine #18 heading north out of Owenyo on the run to Laws. |
 Owenyo Turntable |
"An Historic Day at Owenyo"[pdf]
by Joe Dale Morris
Owenyo - Where the Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge (SPNG) and Jawbone Branch of the Southern Pacific Standard Gauge Met |
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 Owenyo, CA - 1954 |
 Owenyo SPNG yard |
 The Owenyo Hotel as seen in 1956 (photo courtesy Dennis Burke archives) |
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 Owenyo SPNG rail yard |
 Owenyo SPNG-to-Standard Gauge transfer trestle |
 Owenyo, CA - 1954 |
 Owenyo depot on the Owens Valley SPNG. |
 SPNG's #9 and #18 in Owenyo, CA |
 SPNG Derrick Car #1 that came from the standard gauge Central Pacific RR. If you look close it is much wider than the car it is coupled to. This is the wrecking/construction train you are looking at taken at Mina. The car the Derrick is coupled to is Wheel Car A-1. It was used to carry extra wheels and trucks when there was a wreck. The interesting fact is this derrick car never made it into Owens Valley. It was too wide to fit through the Mongomery Pass tunne between Mina and Laws. (text courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 SPNG's #18 in Owenyo, CA - 1950 |
 SPNG's #18 in Owenyo, CA |
 Owenyo Hotel at Owenyo, CA |
 Owenyo Hotel and Post Office at Owenyo, CA |
 SPNG yard at Owenyo, CA |
 SPNG yard at Owenyo, CA - 1960 |
 SPNG #18 leaving Owenyo, CA - 1955 |
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 Sagebrush and Sand |
 Transferring freight on the Narrow Gauge. |
 Engine #18 - now completely restored at the Eastern California Museum. |
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 Narrow Gauge Engine overhaul Transfer Dock at Owenyo. |
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 On the early runs of the Slim Princess a lot of pinon wood was heaved into the firebox of the engines for producing the needed steam. This picture, taken in 1902, shows the Charley Rose crew and team making a delivery of wood. |
"Narrow Gauge to Nowhere"[pdf]
by Mallory Hope Ferrell
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When the "Little Giant" diesel came on line in 1954 it began to mark the end of an era of steam powered locomotives in the Owens Valley. Nostalgia was heavily in favor of the steam engine, but water towers at very prescribed intervals and the high cost of maintenance of the boilers and steam lines spelled doom to the steam giants. |
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 A "condensed Princess" switches at Owenyo in 1938 |
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 The local band played while Engine No. 18 and the new diesel engine were displayed. |
 Engine No. 18 and the new diesel engine on displayed. |
 The "Little Giant" General Electric diesel takes over in the fall of 1954. Formerly called the X-1, the Little Giant was christened with a bottle of talc! |
 The "Little Giant" diesel engine passing Monola Siding (midway between Laws and Keeler) in 1959. A typical consist for runs in those days. |
 SP 1 (Narrow Gauge GE 50-ton, b/n 32266, built 9/54) has arrived back from Bakersfield where it was sent for service work and received a new paint job - the unit was originally delivered in black with orange frame stripes and silver ends. Photaken on the SPNG at Owenyo, CA on 08/25/59 by John West. (Photo and text courtesy of Rob Sarberenyi archives - 1954 postcard) |
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 Little Giant sets out cars at Zurich in a Hugh Tolford photograph. On April 25, 1960 the diesel hauled Baldwin No. 9 on her final trip to Laws |
 Little Giant was christened with a bottle of talc! |
 On April 25, 1960 the Little Giant diesel hauled Baldwin No. 9 on her final trip to Laws as the Carson & Colorado Narrow Gauge Railroad prepared to end operations. |
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 The "Little Giant" heading a long string of cars north of Lone Pine. |
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 The "Little Giant" switching at Owenyo. |
 View of the Owenyo Yard |
 SPNG Diesel #1- "The Little Giant" (Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
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 SPNG Diesel #1- "The Little Giant" (Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
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 The "Little Giant" in Cananea, Mexico. (Photo courtesy Duane Allen Ericson) |
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 The "Little Giant" switching at Cananea, Mexico. (Photo courtesy Duane Allen Ericson) "A while back there was a post about the Little Giant, and I wanted to share the story of this pic, and why I am relatively certain that it has been scrapped. The picture was taken around 2010, and if it is accurate that the locomotive was scrapped, this may be the last known picture (I hope I am wrong.). I was writing a book on the narrow gauge railroads of Sonora, Mexico, and knew I needed current pics of the locomotive as it was such an important part of the story, and was well known. I had written the mining corporation several letters in English and Spanish, asking permission to photograph the diesel, but no response. At one point I even tried to bribe the watchman to take a few pics for me. Around 2010, the mine was closed due a strike. Strikes in Mexico are very different than in the states: In Mexico the strikers physically take possession of the property and management flees as there is often violence. An old friend of mine in Arizona had an uncle who was one of the strikers, and through him it was arranged for me to visit the locomotive. Long story short, that’s how I was able to get permission to get onto the locked mining property and photograph the locomotive. I also got tangled up in a cartel gunfight on that trip, but that’s another story. When I returned home I was disappointed to find that only four pics of the locomotive survived as the SD card in the camera failed after this photograph." Duane Allen Ericson - April 2020 |
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 Owenyo Railroad Yard |
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 Owenyo Railroad Yards looking north from the Narrow Gauge Transfer Trestle |
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 Atop the transfer trestle at Owenyo (Dennis Burke Collection, courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
(Items in this section courtesy of Ray DeLea)  (No. 4 at the Candelaria Station in the 1880's by E.S. Hammack) |
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 Matron or Spinster? |
 Desert caboose hop. |
 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
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 Keeping No 9 in good running condition at Owenyo. |
 Engineer W.C. Ferguson in the cab of No. 9. |
 Diesel No. 1. |
 No 18 steaming along in a barren land. Thanks Los Angeles! |
 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
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 No. 22 in its Owens Valley Days. |
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 Cattle crossing and no automobiles. |
 No 18 steaming along in Owens Valley. |
 No. 18 with Lone Pine Peak in the background. |
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 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
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 Owenyo Station. |
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 The Slim Princess on a busy day. |
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 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
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 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
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 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
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"Farewell to the Slim Princess"[pdf]
by John B. Hungerford
 Steaming into the morning with caboose 401. |
 No. 8 with consist crossing the Owens River |
 Crossing buck at Mt. Whitney Siding. |
"Author's Footnotes to 4th Edition of The Slim Princess"[pdf]
by John B. Hungerford
 (Drawing by Carl Fallberg) |
Offerings Gleened off of Ebay |
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 SPNG #9 with a string of ore cars. |
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 "Little Giant" - Diesel #1 with Slim Princess Engine #9 steaming along between Keeler and Owenyo, CA |
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 SPNG Slim Princess #9 returning from Keeler to Owenyo - 1958 |
 SPNG Slim Princess #9 switching at Owenyo |
 Hand-Powered transfer gantry at Owenyo Station |
 The "Slim Princess" in Owens Valley (Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 Inverted crossbuck at the Mt. Whitney siding. |
 Transferring power poles from the standard gauge to the narrow gauge railroad cars at Owenyo using a hand powered gantry crane. (Photo courtesy Eastern California Virtual Transportation Museum) |
 Families of railroad employees at Owenyo posing for a photo in front of homes made of boxcars. (Photo courtesy Eastern California Virtual Transportation Museum) |
 October 1954 - The last official run of the Slim Princess at Owenyo. (Photo courtesy Eastern California Virtual Transportation Museum) |
 Engine No. 8 at Owenyo |
 The Owenyo Hotel |
 Owenyo and the Owenyo Hotel |
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 Engine No. 18 at Owenyo near the bucket bulk elevator. |
 Going through a disc of pics I have not looked at in a long time and finding some interesting views. This one taken atop a NG box car at Owenyo. Check out the little crane type thing on the right in the SG box car. You can also clearly see the difference between the narrow and standard gauge tracks in this view.....3 foot gauge on left and 4 foot 8 inches on the right. (Text and Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 What a wonderful shot of the Narrow Gauge in the Owens Valley. Just says it all. Running from Owenyo to Keeler backwards. Caboose at the head, auxiliary water tender tank #350, and 5 boxes being pulled. Inyo Mountains in the background. (Text and Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
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Owenyo Offerings from Ebay |
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 SP Engine #9 doing some switching at Owenyo - 1958 |
 The "Little Giant" Engine #1 on the transfer trestle at Owenyo. |
 SP "boxcar yard" at Owenyo. |
 Looking south along the SP narrow gauge tracks to the transfer trestle with the SP standard gauge. |
 SPNG engines #8 and 2853 at Owenyo |
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 SPNG "fan train" at Owenyo |
 SPNG "fan train" at Owenyo |
 SPNG "fan train" at Owenyo |
 SP narrow gauge and standard gauge cars at Owenyo |
 Owenyo, Engine #18 steaming along. |
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 Looking north along the SP Owenyo rail yard showing the transfer gantry in the center of the photo. |
 SPNG diesel locomotive #1- Owenyo, CA. |
 Owenyo, Engine #9 steaming along. |
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 Spike puller in opertion somewhere near Owenyo, CA |
 Graveyard of passenger cars at Owenyo, CA |
 Railcar converted to a home at Owenyo? |
 Owenyo, CA. |
 Boxcar Hotel (Photo courtesy Larry Vredenburgh) |
 Boxcar Hotel (Photo courtesy eBay) |
 Hand powered gantry crane at the Owenyo yard use to transfer bulk soda ash and other heavy items between the narrow gauge and standard gauge lines. 1937 |
 Owenyo (Photo courtesy Larry Vredenburgh) |
 SP #8 at Owenyo, June 21, 1954. (Photo courtesy of Mark Van Klaveren) |
 Owenyo Standard gauge on the left - September 19, 1950. Perlite loader in the foreground between the two cars unloading material from the narrow gauge on the right and loading into the standard gauge on the left. (Photo courtesy of Mark Van Klaveren) |
 SPNG-X-1 at Owenyo, May 30, 1956 (Photo courtesy of Mark Van Klaveren) |
 Owenyo (Photo courtesy Larry Vredenburgh) |
 The Owenyo Hotel (Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
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 Perlite loader/unloader at Owenyo, CA (Photo courtesy of John Norman) |
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 Mt. Whitney depot - constructed circa 1884. The depot was closed when the Lone Pine depot on the SP standard guage line was constructed. |
 03/21 SPNG side dump gondola (Photo courtesy of Dennis Burke) |
 Martin Hansen: "In this present age of modern mainline railroads with thousands of miles of track in operations, the thought of one of them keeping in service a rickety narrow gauge steam rail line located in a desolate and isolated area is hard to imagine. However, roll the clock back some 60 years, and this is exactly what was happening in the dry Owens Valley of Eastern California. It was there in the late 1950's that the mighty Southern Pacific hung onto the former Carson & Colorado narrow gauge railroad operating then as the Keeler Branch. Not only was this the only narrow gauge part of the SP at the time, it was also the last portion of the SP to see steam as motive power in regular operation. Even though SP had fully dieselized and retired all steam power by the fall of 1958, the Keeler Branch hung on with narrow gauge 4-6-0 #9 operating as active back-up power for the 50-ton GE diesel that AP had put into service in 1954. So remote was the Keeler branch, that SP had to load up the last of the operating steam power onto standard gauge flatcars for the trip to the SP shops at Bakersfield, California whenever they were in need of service. We see SP #9 returning from a servicing at Bakersfield in this photo taken in the mid-1950's. This ritual would continue until August 25, 1959 when #9 would make the very last revenue steam run of any SP steam locomotive. Now that steam has been gone from the SP for some 60 years and the SP as a seperate railroad is no more, it is nice to remember when even a big mainline railroad could still think on a small scale." (Photo courtesy of Dillon Trinh) |
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Mary Austin | |
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More, Owens Valley - Southern Pacific and Carson & Colorado Railroad |
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Willie A. Chalfant |
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This page was last updated on
11 March 2021